Normal Thomas
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Posts posted by Normal Thomas
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24 minutes ago, Naraka said:
As for changes to the set, I'm not sure. The only premium effect I would really like FF to have that it doesn't is the ability to create a placable obstruction that cannot be fired or walked through by ally or foe. Only teleportation and phase shift can bypass it. That is more powerful and has far more possible applications than any numerical stat change ever could.
That's an interesting one. I thought of a potential redesign of detention field making it a drop click power like Dimension Shift in Gravity Control. Foes would be stuck in the field for 10-20 seconds but could be effected by any player(s) entering the field.
Also loving the responses. @The Philotic Knight especially has some really great ideas. I might try my hand at a more total redesign.
6 hours ago, Peacemoon said:The fact you can skip so many FF powers can actually make it quite interesting in a very different way. You can play a FF defender much more aggressively, for instance. Or pair it up with medicine. It is a great set if you want to be good in teams at minimal power/enhancement investment, and use what you save to play with power pools etc that you can’t usually find space for.
Also not only is it light in powers/slots required, but it is light in time consumed. You pre-buff your team, and it doesn’t require you to really cast much in combat, so you can focus even more on what it’s paired with and other powers.
So in a paradoxical way, it’s weaknesses can be turned into a strength, and do give it a fun type of play style of its own.
I really wish FF defenders could shield themselves somehow though. It would make them much tankier and make up for the lack of debuffs, and really would suit the vibe of the set. I wouldn’t want the set to have debuffs added personally. I think being the premier set for making everyone hard to kill should be it’s thing, and that would be fun for a lot of people I think.
That's very true. My Mastermind could go all in on Leadership and Medicine because he skipped so many of the powers and that can be a huge strength of "skippable" powers. However that does lead me to question why those powers are considered "skippable" and what would it take to make them equally compelling options on the power pick screen.
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1 hour ago, 5099y_74c05 said:
You are most welcome! What did you go with?
I feel Traps has the best synergy. You've definitely made me want to check out Cold Domination and Storm Summoning though.
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Force Fields is an interesting set to me. My first level 50 was a Mercs/Force Fields Mastermind. One thing that stuck out to me and that probably sticks out to a lot of people as well is how many powers in Force Fields you can get away with skipping. I feel like most people go with Deflection Field, Insulation Field, Dispersion Bubble, Personal Force Field, Force Bubble and Force Bolt (usually because they have to). Everything else from there I think doesn't suit most people's playstyles or mesh well with how other people play the game (knockback is definitely frowned upon these days).
Now Force Fields is a very foundational set. Sonic Resonance, and to a lesser extent Cold Domination, Thermal Radiation and even Traps, all build off the house Force Fields built. Sonic Resonance in particular is the most one to one in terms of influence, it even has a foe capture power! Ultimately however these sets have very different cores and are more well rounded than Force Fields, showing the developers had gained a much greater understanding of their own game systems and player's desires.
I don't see Force Fields run much these days. I think the fact that it was made with an older paradigm of gameplay might be the reason for it but I don't necessarily see anything "wrong" with the set. Its focused around defense buffs and knockdown/knockback and that's exactly what it delivers on. It's also a very conceptually compelling set that features prominently as a power in comic books. However I do wonder, especially considering how powerset design has evolved through the game's history, what Force Fields would look like if it were made now instead of at the game's opening.
So, let's say you had an opportunity to reimagine Force Fields: Would you still create a set centered around defense buffs and knockback/knockdown with only marginal or no changes? Or would you turn the set on its head with a totally new vision of its concept?
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On 10/27/2020 at 9:08 PM, 5099y_74c05 said:
I think /Poison and /Traps are both excellent choices to pair with Ill/. I'll explain why below.
The main draws of Illusion/ is Phantom Army and to a lesser degree Superior Invisibility (Superior Invisibility + Team Teleport allows you and your team to infiltrate most missions undetected. ). The ability to manage aggro with your (nearly) invulnerable pocket tanks AKA Phantom Army is unique to Illusion. With the right build you can have PermaPA (or close) meaning Phantom Army has 100% uptime. This is achieved via +Rech Buffs and by stacking +Rech Set bonuses. PA is also immune to external buffs, meaning a PA centric build predominately benefits from Debuff oriented sets A draw back to some, the mechanics of PA requires the Ill/ Controller to work harder with its primary set power, especially in larger mob groups. Its even more difficult to manage aggro when people skip Flash, don't properly position Spectral Terror (Spooky) and skip GI or take it late in the game.
With all this in mind I look at Ill/* pairs in these main favorable categories:
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Sets with recharge buffs
- /Kin
- /Rad
- /Time
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Sets with high LoTG slotting
- /Cold
- /FF
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Sets with FF IO slotting
- /FF
- Storm
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Sets with Debuffs
- /Cold
- /Dark
- /Poison
- /Rad
- /Storm
- /Time
- /Traps
- /TA
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Sets with Controls
- /Cold
- /Dark
- /FF
- /Poison
- /Rad
- /Storm
- /Time
- /Traps
- /TA
From my personal experience and preference, the more categories a set appears in the better the synergy. I'm not discount the remaining pairings of /EA, /Emp, /NA, /Pain, /Sonic and /Thermal, these pair well with Illusion/ too.
Incredible write up. Everything seems really compelling now!! The only challenge I have at the moment is making a name and concept for my character.
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Sets with recharge buffs
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I had an Illusion Controller on live but this was when leveling was slower (like around pre-I7 slow) and I had trouble getting him up to lvl 18 (when things really kick off). I now feel deeply I want to try and make one again (especially since its an easier ride to get a full attack chain) but I'm curious how other people play their Illusion controllers, what secondaries and epic/patron pools synergize well with Illusion and as with any power sets what to slot and what to drop. Get personal about what you love and hate about them! Maybe even lead me to some builds you like or use.
As far my current preferences I'm leaning toward Traps and Poison because they seem to be more offensive, active sets that still have some fun buffs for the team. My only lvl 50 controller (ever and on here none the less!) is Gravity/Time so I come in with that perspective when it comes to controllers. I am also adverse to taking Empathy and Pain Domination because while I do like to team, I value utility and versatility a lot and I don't want to play a set that can only excel on a team.
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On 10/15/2020 at 1:04 PM, carroto said:
Edit: I did think of one possible use. Presuming that SoAs get the same 50% chance to crit on AoEs that Stalkers get, it might be worthwhile to Placate before Crowd Control against a large number of enemies. Still, that's a 50% chance for a 50% crit. Also a large number of enemies means a higher chance to have hidden status broken before getting your crit.
Banes only get minicrits from hide status on melee attacks unfortunately (do wish I could crit with Disruptor Blast...). After reading these past couple of posts I've decided to save placate for my final power slot just for this reason. I was originally going to get acrobatics but after reading about that one IO I decided it was unnecessary (I also got too many toggles as is). Here's the new build I'm building towards after reading this thread:
SpoilerVillain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designerClick this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mace MasteryVillain Profile:
Level 1: Bash -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(7), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(13), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(13)
Level 1: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- StdPrt-ResKB(A), ResDam-I(3), ResDam-I(3)
Level 2: Wolf Spider Armor -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), Ags-Psi/Status(43)
Level 4: Combat Training: Defensive -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 8: Mace Beam -- GldJvl-Acc/Dmg(A), GldJvl-Dam/Rech(27), GldJvl-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(31), GldJvl-Dam%(31), GldJvl-Dam/End/Rech(46)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(11), HO:Cyto(11)
Level 12: Pulverize -- SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDmnofA-Dmg/Rchg(15), SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), SprDmnofA-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), SprDmnofA-Rchg/DmgFear%(19)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Shatter -- SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSpdBit-Dmg/Rchg(21), SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), SprSpdBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), SprSpdBit-Rchg/Global Toxic(25)
Level 20: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Mental Training -- Run-I(A)
Level 24: Cloaking Device -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 26: Tactical Training: Leadership -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(27)
Level 28: Surveillance -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), Acc-I(29), TchofLadG-%Dam(29), ShlBrk-%Dam(50)
Level 30: Poisonous Ray -- ShlBrk-%Dam(A), Dvs-Hold%(34), Apc-Dam%(37), Dvs-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Dvs-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Dvs-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- FuroftheG-Acc/Dmg(A), FuroftheG-Dam/Rech(33), FuroftheG-Dam/End/Rech(33), FuroftheG-Acc/End/Rech(33), FuroftheG-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(34), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(34)
Level 35: Web Envelope -- TraoftheH-EndRdx/Immob(A), TraoftheH-Immob/Acc(36), TraoftheH-Dam%(36), GrvAnc-Hold%(36)
Level 38: Call Reinforcements -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(39), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(39), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(40), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(40)
Level 41: Disruptor Blast -- Ann-Acc/Dmg(A), Ann-Dmg/Rchg(42), Ann-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Ann-ResDeb%(43), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(43)
Level 44: Shatter Armor -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(45), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Hct-Acc/Rchg(45), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Hct-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Summon Blaster -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(48), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(48), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(50)
Level 49: Placate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(7), Pnc-Heal/+End(31)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(5), EndMod-I(5)
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------------It seems strong and relatively affordable. I only have a handful of the IO sets so far but I did a mission and even with mostly generic IOs it played nicely.
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1 hour ago, Dragon Crush said:
Not trying to be mean, but what did you think knockback enhancements did? Or did you just manage to never see they existed?
Thought they increased the knockback distance, not the magnitude.
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3 hours ago, Uun said:
We already have enhancements and IO sets that do this.
Never bothered to put a knockback enhancement in mids (or in game for that matter) before so I didn't realized that knockback enhancements already increased knockback/knockdown magnitude.
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Interesting idea but your suggestions seem better suited for procs. For example, a chance for increased knockback or knockdown.
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I remember Guardian! I was @GeneralTeknos back then. I mostly played as Sgt. Devon (Mercs/Force Fields), Lythos (Dark Melee/Regen) and Cyclone Cyan (Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu). I'm on Everlasting now and my global is @Future Force Warrior. I definitely see some familiar faces here and I hope to run into y'all someday!
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10 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:
Psi Mastery stands out because of Indom Will and still getting a resist armor. Indom Will is just a flat out incredible power for Controllers. One of the strongest powers in any APP pool for any AT.
For Electric Controllers, Mu Mastery for Power Sink.
Primal is great for builds that can use Power Boost.
Leviathan has Water Spout, which IMO is a power that doesn't get nearly enough respect.
Mez protection and psi resistance definitely seems like a pretty killer app for an APP/PPP. The main thing keeping me from it is the long animation times for the attacks. Like, propel already takes a minute so I want some faster attacks too. That and psionic doesn't necessarily fit with my theming.
Ice seems way more tempting now but I definitely feel secure in my decision to do primal forces.
Definitely interested in more opinions and experiences with the PPPs. -
So what's are the favorite patron and ancillary pools for Controllers? While I do mean this in general (I'm always super interested in what powersets are consider "the best") I'm also looking for a specific pool that will vibe well with my Gravity/Time Manipulation Controller. This build is a rough outline and a bit fantasy (probably don't have the dedication to get all those IO sets) but these are the powers I'm hoping to pick up. As far as what I am considering here it what I am considering:
I already have a nice attack chain and damage output cause of my primary so I'm looking to augment that and hopefully add some utility. I'm very interested in Primal Forces cause of power boost but I do find the utility and damage output of the other sets I listed good as well. Obviously I got the late game in mind and while I'm not super dedicated to being the best and being able to solo +4/x8 etc. I'd like something that could keep up.
SpoilerHero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designerClick this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: ConcealmentHero Profile:
Level 1: Lift -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(17), Acc-I(17), Acc-I(19)
Level 1: Time Crawl -- Acc-I(A), Slow-I(50)
Level 2: Gravity Distortion -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Hold-I(3), RechRdx-I(5), Acc-I(5), Acc-I(7)
Level 4: Temporal Mending -- HO:Golgi(A), HO:Golgi(7), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 6: Propel -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(9), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Apc-Acc/Rchg(11), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Apc-Dam%(13)
Level 8: Fly -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Time's Juncture -- EndRdx-I(A), Slow-I(19), Slow-I(21)
Level 12: Hover -- Srn-Fly(A), Srn-EndRdx(46), Srn-EndRdx/Fly(50)
Level 14: Temporal Selection -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 16: Distortion Field -- Slow-I(A), Slow-I(29), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 18: Gravity Distortion Field -- Hold-I(A), Hold-I(21), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(25), Acc-I(27), Acc-I(27)
Level 20: Time Stop -- Hold-I(A), Acc-I(37), Acc-I(37)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 24: Crushing Field -- GrvAnc-Immob(A), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(37), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg(40), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg(43), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx(43), GrvAnc-Hold%(43)
Level 26: Stealth -- DefBuff-I(A), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 28: Farsight -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), DefBuff-I(31), DefBuff-I(34)
Level 30: Wormhole -- Acc(A)
Level 32: Singularity -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Acc-I(33), Hold-I(34), Hold-I(34)
Level 35: Slowed Response -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), Acc-I(36)
Level 38: Chrono Shift -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(39), RechRdx(39), EndMod(39), EndMod(40), EndMod(40)
Level 41: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 44: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 47: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 49: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(15), EndMod-I(15)
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What would Force Fields look like if was made with a modern design philosopy?
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by Normal Thomas
I love Force Bolt. I used that power a lot solo as my force fields Mastermind. I definitely think they need to up the damage to make it a viable attack and maybe add a splash knockdown effect like Propel has now.
I never understood Clarity in that set, especially since the Sonic Dispersion Bubble already provides mez protection