Naraka

Frankly, there is a tragic gap in self-destructive powers. Being able to blow yourself up so the enemy doesn't get the benefit of killing you is a common trope. Bypassing debt and death counter would just be a bonus. I guess giving allies a bonus or applying an effect to enemies could be another. If it were usable (i.e. not a long cast time + long recharge), I could certainly think of a pool to fit it in and it would be a great fit for team utility (who doesn't like Vengeance?).

If you ask me, I think the interrupt attacks got way too much leeway with the HC changes. The AS change was already implemented but I still think it got off too easy. If you want to use AS interrupt free, you should have to have 3 focus up the moment you click it. For snipes, you should need a heightened level of perception (+ToHit) to get that no-interrupt snipe OR build up enough interrupt redux to make it insta and ontop of that, give Defender Vigilance a bonus to one of the ST attacks (usually the snipe) to help the AT solo. That aside, I think the IO bonuses for snipes get a bit of a pass because you often only are able to slot one. Also, maybe give Stalker AS the option of slotting snipe IOs into AS for variety (and if enough interrupt redux is slotted, make the hidden AS as fast as the current unhidden combat AS).

I didn't get far myself (I think a lvl 14 Tanker) with Rad. Nothing about it seemed to jump at me or draw me to it. Despite Invulnerability having fewer fun powers, I feel more drawn to it now (especially now that Stalkers have it) than I am Rad. Maybe eventually I'll bother trying it but it's a rung behind Stone Armor. I recall learning about the lesser Cold resistance but I am left wondering what enemies do cold damage. Malta Gunslinger? Some Crey mobs? A CoT boss and the random attack from Council/5th?...I guess there are some mobs in Night Ward too... If there's a proc meta for Rad, I'd know even less about that. Would it be crazy if Rad specifically played with its unique mechanic for Cold AND Fire damage? Like the more fire damage they receive, the less cold damage they take and vice versa? At least there's more fire damage than cold and it kind of makes conceptual sense.

What exactly is overtuned about Rad armor lol? Is it the offensive potential along with its res/regen? [EDIT] An Aside, I think removing the initial attack of Burn from FA while increasing the burn patch duration and adding a HoT would mesh well...maybe replacing the damage (supplement the damage loss by adding it to the DoT patch) with a KU (Backdraft!!) instead. Defensively, it'd still be weaker, offensively it's not king but functionally (sans min/maxer) it's actually just as good :]

Well, even without damage procs firing off nearly 100%, Burn is still a nice little AoE attack. As far as a balance pass on the other armor sets, I wouldn't say I *want* it, just think it'd be interesting to talk about. With a reshuffling, one could start talking about tier 9s, strengths, weaknesses and holes. Like, would you trade some of the proc uses in Burn to get innate KB protection in FA and maybe the option to use RotP while still alive? Shuffling around some of the bonuses of Bio to coincide with the adaptation toggles might be a nerf but it could also just mean you either have to stance-dance or make dedicated stance builds rather than just turning on Offense and rolling everything. I've never played Rad armor so no idea about that...

That's not really an excuse to leave something unbalanced. What that tells me is, most don't actually care about balance and just want a simpler build for [insert set] or it's envy that another set has more special things than your preferred set. Compared to the game itself, all armor is doing well and put incarnate and IOs on top of that, you can make a character with no armor nearly as sturdy as someone with armor and no IOs. Players ask for buffs all the time. I think it'd be more interesting to discuss what makes a set an outlier and maybe some possible solutions.

You might just be right here. How would you change Radiation Armor to be more balanced?

I remember reading a suggestion for Neurotoxic breath basically having a flag on targets hit that will recast whatever poison debuff they have on them, so it would act as a "refresh" (unfresh?) for your debuffs to save you some effort keeping enemies debuffed. Another was a contagion mechanic where Neurotoxic Breath (and I suppose Venomous Gas) had a chance to cause other poison debuffs to spread when caught in the cone. Since every splash debuff has 2 versions (main and splash), I would assume only splash versions would spread.

Why would I be mad? I'm not suffering from the crippling perception of my freedoms being ripped away by a set mechanic. I figure if I threw in some straw men for you you might understand my perspective that it's indeed a perception thing and you're not forced to take powers or use them in a specific order nor are you punished for going your own path. This does remind me of the days of pre-inherent fitness where the primary complaint was feeling forced to take fitness and how their freedom felt limited because of needing to save 3 power slots. Guess what? Now you don't have a choice. That's an example of *actually* having the freedom of choice removed because you have to take it. Would you consider that a positive or negative? Or likely an incongruent analogy from your perspective... I think it's a good idea to self assess what one considers to be freedom of choice and reflect because I see players seemingly taking their own freedoms away far more than any set combo mechanic does. Just look at all your builds and see what you fit into all of them and will limit your own options to fit them then chastise a set for not making said sacrifice effortless.

While the criticism for the mez resistance is noted, it's not as productive of a critique when the rest of the tools in the set are being ignored. Having some extra mez resist early on could just be flavor and balanced by the rest of the sets tools (or holes). As for the OP'd ideas, it does remind me of another suggestion I made for a Psi armor. It also has mostly mez resistance and a short duration/recharge click mez protection like a break free. It was more of a niche idea because most of its protection was from autos and further still, it had a unique effect to gain lots of def/res/Regen only while it was mezzed *AND* would explode with an AoE power that would control 10 foes with whatever mez it was under when it used it's break free. Having another offensive focused armor set is, I suppose, in the minority of expertise but in the meta of things, I don't think we need another dps benchmark for melee. It is an idea tho. Curious what others feel about it compared with the spread we already have.

...does anyone else want to tell him? Okay, I'll tell him... ...You already play the game the way the devs want you to. It's not like you're playing some sandbox game that lets you make up your own rules. Narrowing it down to individual powersets, I'd just say games can be more fun when you're cooperative. If this was a table top RPG, it's not as fun when you're not playing ball with the other players or the GM and it's harder to make the campaign unique and engaging if you're actively trying to subvert the game to your own expectations. Sure, a good GM is flexible to adapt to the players but that's not a one-way street. And people now-a-days have weird definitions for words. Not getting a participation trophy is now punishment, it seems. I wouldn't be surprised if *playing the game* to get something would be considered punishment. But then I guess I'm starting to sound like a hypocrite since I said before that you should be free to hate. Hate what you want, I suppose, but I think you're hyperbolizing quite a bit.

Well there you go, I don't usually have a lot of +rech or Hasten in my builds, so for me, Dull Pain isn't perma (maybe close to perma though if I get lucky chaining the 1-2 attacks that get the +rech KB proc in them). I also tend to only play in the 20-40 level ranges the majority of the time. In my case, I tend to use DP for both a heal and a "If I need to heal, I'll heal with gusto" and might use DP before Reconstruction then use Reconstruction from then on. If I feel DP isn't going to cut it by itself, I'll use it + Instant Healing and ride that, relying on Reconstruction to keep me from not dying. I find, most of the time, I don't just use MoG by itself. I'll use MoG knowing I'll need to use DP+IH soon after it wears off then Reconstruction to patch things over. It's kind of complicated to outline since I gave the layman's version of my approach and rational but I always feel engaged and scheming on what's going to happen next. I kind of feel similar playing Bio as a stance dancer, swapping stances for specific effects on my clicks but some of the effects there feel over-balanced and almost like they were made to not care which stance you're in and just click them. I do it anyway but that's because I just like active sets.

This whole talk got me remembering old posts about ideas and suggestions for combo mechanics I read about. Overall, it's not always about fitting in a box but rather doing things other sets cannot do. One idea in particular is I had to search for by @Leogunner: Pasted here: Trinity Beam Arm-Cannon (Ranged Blast Powerset; Blaster/Corruptor/Sentinel Primary||Defender Secondary) It's namesake outlines it's ability to infuse up to 3 powers into another. It utilizes an operating mode called "Trinity Charge" when active removes the interrupt period of some of your cannon blasts but forcefully ends this mode. Other powers in the set can be used to charge another attack (up to 3). Charging past the limit causes fire DoT to the user and overwrites the oldest charge. *1. Arm Buster (Ranged; Moderate DMG(Energy), chance of Knockback, +Special) - Shoot a single burst of energy at a target. The burst of energy has a moderate amount of concussive force that can push a target off its feet. In conjunction with Trinity Charge, instead of firing an attack, you add a buff that adds minor energy damage and a chance to knockback to the attack you decide to charge. Can stack 3 times, adding the minor damage and chance of KB for each stack. *2. Buster Cannon (Ranged; High DMG(Energy), +Special) - Focus a beam that energizes the target with energy until they combust. In conjunction with Trinity Charge, instead of firing the attack, you add moderate energy damage to the attack you decide to charge. Can stack 3 times, adding moderate energy damage. 3. Buster Array (Targeted AoE; *Interrupt*; Moderate DMG (Energy/Smashing), Fire DoT; +Special) - A barrage of exploding blasts that requires a period to prepare. If used in conjunction with Trinity Charge, the interrupt period is absent and you're forced out of Trinity Charge mode. If fully charged (having 3 stacks), this attack also causes additional fire DoT to all targets hit. *4. Cannon Flash (Ranged; Minor DMG(Energy), foe Stun, +Special) - A quick flash from your attack renders the foe dazzled, searing them with minor energy damage. In conjunction with Trinity Charge, instead of firing an attack, you add a buff that infuses stun and moderate energy damage into the attack you decide to charge. Cannot stack multiple times. 5. Trinity Charge (Self Toggle; +ToHit, +END Discount; +Special) - Trinity mode allows you to infuse three blasts into your next attack. Only some of your charges can be infused and only some stack with themselves. These charges, whatever effects they hold, will affect any targets you hit with your charged attacks. Once a charged attack is fired, all charges disappear. If you have 3 charges and use another charge attack, you will receive moderate fire DoT and overwrite the oldest charge. Interruptible powers have shorter casts by removing their interruption period if used with this toggle. Turning off the toggle puts a time limit on the charges you have (10sec) and will apply the charge effects to your next attack. *6. Trinity Beam (Ranged Cone; High DoT (Energy), foe -def, -res, -special; +Special) - Unleash a brilliant beam of energy, engulfing all before you, reducing the defense, resistance and (stun)mez resistance to all foes hit. In conjunction with Trinity charge, instead of firing off the attack, you add a buff that infuses a high DoT(energy) and -def/-res/-(stun) into the attack you decide to charge. Cannot stack multiple times. 7. Cannon Torrent (Ranged Cone; *Interrupt* Moderate DMG(Energy), foe repel) - Immediately unleashes a steady stream of energy that repels foes within 15ft of you back. Foes further than 15ft will continue to be pulsed with energy damage however, interrupting this attack will prematurely end the effect. In conjunction with Trinity Charge and if fully charged, this creates a field for the duration of the attack that continues to repel foes back even after you move onto bigger and better blasts. You are then forced out of Trinity Charge mode. 8. Overcharge (Ranged; *Interrupt* Extreme DMG (Energy), +Special) - This attack requires some time to prepare. Fires a shot that consumes the target in an explosion of energy. In conjunction with Trinity Charge, the interrupt period of this attack is eliminated but you are forced out of Trinity Charge mode. If fully charged (having 3 stacks), Trinity Charge will be turned off but recharge immediately however Overcharge will be put on a longer recharge. 9. Omega Buster (PBAoE; Extreme DMG(Energy), DoT(Fire), foe stun) - Overcharge your Trinity Cannon but instead of you eating the recoil, you give the foes around you a taste, engulfing them in hot energy as well as leaving them dazzled. Has no effect in conjunction with Trinity Charge or the other charge buffs you have. The powers with a "*" next to the numbers would be the attacks that turn into buffs while you have Trinity Charge active. While Trinity Charge is active, those * powers technically have no animation meaning you can move while you click them...they still have an activation so they aren't instant cast though. Another effect is, you can add secondary effects of one power to another, for example you can add Arm Buster's chance of KB (as well as some of its damage) to Buster Array which makes it an AoE chance of KB...or you can add Cannon Flash's Stun (and some extra damage) to Cannon Torrent to get a repel+stun cone. The tier 9 nuke is isolated from the mechanics, making it a good opener or finisher. For an AT like Defender who might be more occupied by other duties, having the option of just overlapping your attacks into 1 strong strike might be more fruitful rather than keeping up a certain DPS rotation for attacking. For an AT like Blaster, it would be very dynamic since you could use the set a multitude of ways, just keeping on your Trinity Charge and charging up your blasts into one strong one and while you build up the charge, you can use your blaps to put on the pressure, unleashing the the attack on a prime target. For a Corruptor, their specialty seems to be DoT and this AT has 3, one that you can infuse into another attack if desired. You could technically infuse Trinity Beam with Trinity Beam if you wait for its recharge without using other attacks....it's a complex opportunity cost that incorporates downtime to your advantage. I don't play Sents so no idea about them.

Outside of Resurgence, probably yeah. WP doesn't really have any skippable powers although I'd be curious if anyone skips Fast Healing and just goes with RttC as their bulk of regen... ...but then most Regen don't take Revive either so it's still rather even. Personally speaking, I utilize my regen powers on a priority basis, higher priority used first: 1. Reconstruction 2. Dull Pain, Instant Healing 3. Moment of Glory On top of that, I have preventative use of these same powers just like any other set that goes in reverse priority. Lastly, the name of the game when I play Regen (and a lot of times, any powerset combo) is "What can I do to protect the use of my priority powers?". Inspirations are an obvious and all-encompassing option but mixing things up with CC, strategy pulls, target prioritization, etc is what makes the game fun and not just repeating button mashes on the same enemies in the same maps until I get tired of playing the game (again).

Man, FFXIV must be making it's money off of whales and not people that enjoy playing the game for the amount of freedoms it offers. Somebody should tell them they are doing it wrong and give back all those millions of dollars along with all the other MMOs that restrict combos.

Offensive support (+dmg, -resist, +rech, ect) will be valued higher than defensive support (-dmg, -ToHit, -rech, ect) and utility support (teleport, debuff resistance and control) will mostly end up just being nice to have but not necessary. They all can be useful or drastically shift a fight but being around better equipped players will emphasize the previous paragraph.

Darksouls is a bad analogy lol It's gameplay is actually far more simplified than an MMO. It just relies on knowledge and reaction speed for survival. The worst you'd get from missing a glowing ring here is maybe a 15% loss in damage on a mob that would die with or without the bonus.

Nothing unique there. In FFXIV, spamming your hotkeys so no time is wasted is required and practically a feature of MMOs. Although, it constantly bit me in the ass playing Blade & Soul since your hotkeys dynamically change throughout your combos or when you get CC'ed.

I feel the divide here is the misconception that the combos highlighted by the system is outlining the meta-game goal of max performance. You can use whatever skills you calculate to be maximum but the combo system is meant to give bonus effects, not max performance. Tangent: I find it odd how players could be so concerned with how bad-A their character looks standing still but only ever bother using the attacks that barely have animations because they're mostly only concerned with performance.

I dunno, TW is most fun when you get prime time unloading. It's least fun when mobs die quickly that I have to reposition or left putting down onesies and twosies. The obvious psychological solution is to just make mobs flow endlessly and stack but you'll just be frustrated when you can't. I suppose I often take the bad with the good. The good is also just the fun in watching my character swinging that weapon aroundv or running around with it wielded. The bad being it's clunky by design compared with a normally sized weapon like a katana or staff.

Do you dislike playing Brute? I couldn't imagine being able to function well leveling up or even in any team capacity with that mentality. As far as combos as a whole, I guess I'm in that odd outlier that thinks all combos and styles are good it's just some are better than others. I might not play Dual Blades as often as other sets but I wouldn't want the set reduced or look at the function with disdain because power sets, like most games, are like ice cream or food in general. Just because I don't want a flavor right now doesn't mean I won't want to have some later or even if I don't like the flavor, someone else likely does. If it's okay to love, it's okay to hate. With regards to new sets, the OP highlights an important point in that there are only so many ways to dress a set. Without extra features from unique mechanics, there's only so many combos of damage types and secondary effects and even then, many of the existing damage types and secondary effects provide precious little in the field of "uniqueness" to justify the set existing. Concluding on the subject of gameplay, fun factor and strategy, it's no secret the game is limited on naturally building difficulty which limits strategy. Requiring the player to successfully perform to maximize their performance is a common gameplay loop while requiring the player to be aware of their surroundings and the enemy is the other. The latter is not as prevalent, especially on teams, so the former is likely going to be the only portion you're directly concerned with. I'd say, those that don't like interacting with various combos simply don't want obstacles in maximizing their performance which is understandable but foolish since it's practically the only loop left that makes the game categorized as interactive. I think the best approach moving forward, both with current combo sets and new sets, is to iron out wrinkles that could make the combos too clunky but don't be too concerned with inconveniencing the player if the hoop has a reward. Further still, I'd like to see more combos similar to Dual Blades (like a ranged boomerang set) but I think it's also important to introduce sets with mild combos that are mostly background like Rad and Psi melee. Shock Therapy did this well, being mostly a background combo functionally, but don't be afraid to make something more involved.

Buff/debuff sets are the most varied sets in the game so their effectiveness is often going to lean on play style, build and preset combination. Poison is a more active debuff set that can stack a lot of effects if the fight lasts that long but the beauty is going to shine when you pair the set... Just like the rest of the sets. I went poison/dark defender because dark has a lean towards prolonged fights and safety. Throwing out a Blackstar opens up to them put down a trap or start dropping resistance or spreading out those slows/disorients. It's got some melee ranged powers to chain if power is going to be the goal. The only contention you run into with sets is if your expectation for every set is the same this ultimately playing the same.

I noticed how you left out one of the other defining aspects of "energy" powers in this game: knockback. But I'll agree with Aurora_Girl on this and say Energy Control would literally be Gravity Control. Even ignoring the strong conceptual ties to gravity, the aura created by Gravity Control's powers are very shiny and energy-looking and could be conceptualized as the user controlling a coating of energy to shut down enemies. Your pet is even a ball of energy. Now if you'd like to create a set suggestion around energy, that might be more entertaining as you could show us how it would differ from other control sets similarly to how posters have made suggestions for Light Control despite Illusion Control existing.

That type of perception isn't limited to just Regen tho.

Do you have the formula? Also any variables like transmission medium that isn't a cerebral synapse. I'm not even being that pedantic. I'm sure there has been in-game lore about the study of mental powers since characters like Mother Mayhem had a while branch of medical professionals that end up creating such meta-humans. It's not something I look for but I wouldn't put it past the writers to make some tongue-in-cheek references to the slow "thought projectile speed" of the game because it is a rather unique style of mental powers in CoX. On the other hand, most other media portray mental powers as near instant when, in reality, thoughts are certainly not instantaneous.