Naraka

I think it might be time to dust off my Peacebringer. Nothing against the KB but I just haven't played any of my magic robot characters in a long time, Mercury-Mage being the PB.

Well hopefully I get it recorded so I can put it on TikTok. It might go viral and I can earn some pocket change lol

I get you. I just find it bizarre and, for lack of a better word, soft. It'd be like playing outside as kids but it starts raining and everything is getting soggy... I'd rather be that kid that just plays and gets muddy. The ones that want to keep their good clothes clean and play inside can just go... But apparently, those inconveniences should be eliminated because we need control. Sterility. Predictability. Isolation from emotions like frustration, anger and annoyance. Everything should just be the good Matrix that existed before the movies. I just don't vibe with that...

I guess we should all just become a hive mind and just agree on everything lol The things you pointed out: there's nothing wrong with those. Also, not everything has to be tailored for complete comfort and convenience. This constant directive to recreate this experience of retuning to the warmth of the womb with no worries, cares, opposition, ect is just bizarre to me.

Well, we have post react thingies. Jranger is mostly just an archaic version of that for a board that didn't have them. Posting jranger now...I dunno...I guess to get post counts up. Maybe add a jranger post react instead?

Considering most view such a change as a "buff" and also how it has broken some powers, I'd counter this suggestion with a more balanced option. Don't turn KB into KD, just turn KB *Off*. You want to turn a "tax" into a free slot, then you owe something back.

Didn't someone put out a pie-in-the-sky tier wish-list for a kind of "branched" AT concept that basically allowed you a selection of inherent powers at character creation? Of course, we know that inherent powers are not module in nature but rather built into the powers themselves...but what if it was possible to pick your inherent among a branch of them at character creation depending on your AT? Defiance old skool was a fun play style. I had my jollies with it but have adapted into my scrappier ways with my current blasters....but I would definitely roll a few old skool blasters that could seemingly obliterate things if they were put at that threashold. With IOs, it might actually be somewhat broken... The fascinating part would be what varied inherent powers could other ATs have? Bring in beta Stalker with its %HP damage AS to come solo some GMs?

I never overlook details. I just have to retroactively realign the character concept to make it a concept build.

Well, "elements concepts" tend to come with not only a damage typing/typing combo but secondary effect and it's that combination that describes the element. I think Radiation is fine because it's unique in dealing purely Energy damage combined with -def. I know most players don't care about -def but that doesn't make the effect null...it's just the current meta de-emphasizes hit chance to such a degree that 95% is the default...shifting metas, IMO, should be something the devs should shoot for....but yeah, Rad blasts have the power of debuffing def into the -100%...on a Blaster! Same with Elec blast. It's combination of energy, -END/-recovery AND the "shock" damage at low END is now the set's elemental concept. I don't think it needs fire damage although that could be the design for a different set. Although I do have an idea that could just copy the Energy Blast set but change some things (like the knockback), I don't feel like outlining a whole set but I think a cool mechanic for the set could borrow from Beam Rifle's Disintegrate mechanic combined with Rad Melee's Contaminate mechanic, making it a kind of "Heat Ray" set that does less damage (only energy) but will tag target as a 'Heat Conduit' that will start to take fire DoT when you keep blasting it enough but also apply fire AoEs around that target if you keep the heat up. AoEs like Energy Torrent and Explosive Blasts could be capable of marking multiple targets with 'Heat Conduit' for a brief moment (like 3 seconds), allowing all targets to be able to give off fire AoEs for that small window. Nova would be the one I'd suggest the most drastic change to though, making its activation *much* longer and making it a DoT that holds and provides the user +absorb to around half their HP while it casts (kind of to give it the Dual Pistols vibe) since that would be the only defensive tool the set has. It would be a mechanics-based Fire Blast with the look of Energy Blast, basically. The other idea would be a DoT version of Energy Blast with a toxic addition. Its elemental concept would be a niche "corrosive energy" elemental concept that melts physical objects into goo rather than split them apart on a molecular level (like Beam Rifle). It wouldn't have all the Knockback but I'd still have some defensive utility in its range because it would apply -movement and also have a mechanic also borrowed from Beam Rifle's Disintegrate mechanic that tags a target with your various blasts to then summon caltrop-like 5ft patches that drastically slow enemies that get caught in them. Every blast has a short "Dissolve" trigger on them that will not only cause them to possibly drop an "acid patch" but also cause your follow up attacks to cause some minor-to-moderate toxic DoT. It will look like Energy Blast but it has -movement as its core defense and requires more constant energy flinging to keep its damage up. It's nuke would be its main source of Burst as I'd give it a big energy damage PBAoE + a large acid patch that does high AoE damage for a short period after the blast.

I haven't played Champions Online but it's interesting to know I had a similar thought process as someone out there. I did consider that being a problem (locking survival to location based drops) which is why I limited it to team support being a part of that aspect. It certainly would be limiting if a chunk of your survival made you move to a certain place. Here, however, the only location based buff that increases survival is Glyph of Inspiration. The main source of Ward Death is going to be the pseudo-damage aura that drops the little trip mine glyphs. I outlined toward the end of the write up that the team buff powers would likely be skipped and I sort of built the mechanic with that in mind. But that was just my idea. I'd like to hear more about how you would balance and use your suggested powers. Like, when I was talking about the stealth aura power, I may have been rather harsh but maybe I just see armor stealth powers outside of Stalker as extremely niche. The aura buff toggles are accessible tho but might be rather flashy if always visible. Not much else I'd say except the overall concept for a Mage Armor with a short duration powerful click defensive tool is a good basis for another set... Just needs flavor, IMO.

Not exactly. They do have different purposes and using them interchangeably will cause more confusion. Again, to functionally decrease damage, the subject is going to be the point of comparison... But it doesn't do what you're talking about (no part of Vigilance decreases damage). While effectively, the subject is either not distinct or the cumulative perspective is what is being described. It gives the perception of an outcome or effect so the point of comparison is going to be the situation of teamed vs solo and not vigilance itself. But even then, you're not really having your damage decreased, just not increased... But it could be perceived that way if you solo more often than you team with your Defenders... Which is why I initially used the word "perceptually" since it's more accurate but not as effective of a term when you're trying to debate... Which is why I'd suggest you use effectively because it is harder to dispose your arguing point as false.

The word you're looking for is "effectively", not functionally.

It was interesting when they were trying changes for Tanker, one of which was increasing their base Endurance by, I think, 15 points. I think that would be a nice and unique QoL change for Defender that not only effectively reduces endurance costs to a degree but also increases the effects of +recovery.

Unfortunately, you're incorrect. For it to be a functional damage drop, it would apply -dmg when teamed. Just because Build Up has a 10sec duration of +dmg does not make it a functional damage drop outside of those 10sec.

Well, conceptually, shield defense give a buffing aura to simulate using the physical shield to defend others. It is, indeed, an armor set meant to buff a team. All in all, I understand where you're coming from with the set mechanic, I just think it's going to have limited capacity as outlined by the sets you mentioned. Yeah, much of the buffing those sets provide is leaning toward flavor rather than the mechanical differentiation compared to other sets which makes me believe that an armor set is only going to ever get a similar level of buffing capacity without making the set's main function pay for that capability. Basically, if the buffs you want in the aura are anything decent, I'd foresee having to pay by limiting the effective mitigation the set can accomplish. Part of the reason I suggested the pet summoning "glyph" mechanic is because it requires more interaction to obtain that team buff, possibly giving a bit of breathing room to make the buffs a tiny bit better because they aren't as straight forward or guaranteed. Lastly, I just don't think a team stealth aura is all that useful for a melee character. Unless it also has some feature to lower aggro of those team members, it would be relying on visual flare to make interesting. But those are just my thoughts along with me throwing around ideas to keep discussion going.

Not functionally. Perceptually.

I wouldn't be against it. The main benefactors of a low min chance to hit are those that soft cap most of the time so those hit hardest would likely be them... ...but then Force Field probably wouldn't be the only set reaping the benefits of turning the hard floor to a soft floor.

I think debuffs that don't aggro is a feature to some powers. There could be more (one I can think of are Flash Arrow) but certainly not all of them. That's just too easy lol

That's the thing. I *CAN* think of *ACTUAL* concepts that literally take the visuals of Energy Blast but gives them a purpose to exist besides not wanting to slot KB to KD IOs. I already thought of 2 different ones and you've got nothing.

The reason I think this is boring is because this serves no conceptual use. It's purely mechanical and can be completely duplicated with slotting. The thing is, you *can* create a unique concept with an interesting mechanic but you chose not to, leaving only an empty agenda laying out for everyone to see. I'd almost think this was a joke post rather than a serious suggestion. Is the next suggestion going to be splitting Storm Summoning into 2 sets too? Or just come up with an actual set idea. It wouldn't be the first post to reuse an existing set but with a different design/concept.

Boring.

Make sure to push those mobs into the insta-death spikes and pits. Make Storm Eagle proud.

Storm Summoning is *better* than other support sets, overall. And before you pick cherries, yes, sets like Time are better, but sets like Thermal, Empathy, Sonic, ect don't touch its level of offense and personal safety.

Well, if you're used to steak and caviar, a bbq sandwich isn't going to be as fancy lol

Lol well apparently I already attempted to hijack the thread. If you're planning to do a set write up in another thread and you want some feedback, you can ping me. I spend entirely too much time talking about random ideas. As for your ideas, Force Field does provide debuff resistance but only to defense debuffs and endurance drain. As for resistance to resistance debuffs, that technically exists with resistance buffs...i.e. a +res to smashing damage will resist smashing resistance debuffs. There is no other way to resist resistance debuffs.