CrusaderDroid

I think the best April Fools prank would be if every 1st of the month was April 1st.

I'm really not seeing it. Give Martial Assault a try on your next Dominator - if you still play the game. It's got thrown shuriken that get close enough to boomerangs.

It's funny since I did a Wealth control set about three days ago and haven't bothered to post it. What's even funnier is that this is a completely viable set even without the INF nonsense. I think the only weak points are Hemorrhage Funds and maybe Insider Trading - they're both long term delayed toggles on a Blaster that's more likely to get you KOed before anything notable happens. It otherwise looks like we should have it next April Fools.

You have my unequivocal support. Melee cones are the absolute worst.

I'll bite the bullet before the thread gets locked. So, you get a ton of much-deserved pushback from the beginning for several reasons, starting here. You don't lead with any design goals or explanations of the problem. There's no way to get everyone on the same page. You're not really pitching an overarching goal of the powerset here. It's just dumped with no explanation. You don't add any flavor description. Without any way to imagine any visuals, there's no way to tell if this is different from Psychic Blast. Which is really bad because... You made Psionic Dart from Psychic Blast worse. There's lower damage - Psionic Dart is marked as a moderate damage power. Without that base damage, this is really bad. A Blast set is supposed to prioritize damage, so hypothetically trading that away for +recharge slow compared to Psychic Blast is still a really bad deal. The consequences of this will keep popping up throughout the review. You absolutely are not going to convince anyone this set needs to exist when you are using the name of the set it's already similar to as a name for a power. Also loses to its Psychic Blast equivalent, which has more damage. We are 0 for 2 on the comparison check. Trying to quote this on mobile nearly gave me a mental breakdown. Good name. Not having a good description of its effects hurts a bunch here. It's hard to get hyped about the raw effects here compared to "Invades the minds of all enemies in target area and plays havoc with their nervous systems, dealing damage now and over time. Affected enemies have reduced healing, regeneration, and recovery." This is noticeably different from Psychic Blast, which is good. I'm not really keen on the effect myself - I think the focus on crippling enemy resources doesn't work well with the -recharge you have on your first two powers. It looks like the priority was the non-damage effects, which is rough on a damage set. If you're not going to push more -recharge, I'd stick with something that either helps your offense, like -res or -def, or ramps up more stuff you already have, like -recharge resist. I am unduly upset that you've managed to make MIND LIGHTNING sound so weak and forgettable. This just looks underpowered. Without even cursory numbers, I don't know if the -endurance will do anything useful, so I'm left staring at that light damage and wondering why you took one of Electric Blast's early powers, stripped out the self-END gain, and decided it was great for your fourth power. If you haven't noticed yet - about half of these issues could have been solved if you took the time to write more detail and sell both mechanics and theme. Maybe it'd still be a no-go with Psychic Blast, but at least you tried. It's Aim. No comments. Oh wow, this looks really cool. I bet Psychic Blast can't do- Oh. No. Wait. While it has a more useful set of effects, you're really not helping sell this as meaningfully different from Psychic Blast when you are copying powers from Psychic Blast. I generally suggest playing the games you want to design for. If you had, you would notice that on HC at least, primary power sets cap at 26, and secondary caps at 30. This isn't an ancillary power, so there's no reason why it's locked to 31+. The kit is in need of a generic high damage power at this stage, but boy does this come in real late. Around here is when I notice that Psychic Blast carries an unusual amount of control options for a blast set, and this set doesn't quite have the same level of control. This is also another power that needed a more verbose description. I can't tell if this is supposed to be some mind shockwave that directly attacks the mind or a psychic earthquake that throws a bunch of stuff at people. Same remarks re: level. What's the point of debuffing endurance and recovery? This is your nuke. They're supposed to be defeated or about to be. Why are you throwing in effects that only work on long, drawn out fights? Psychic Blast's big nuke, for comparison, disorients enemies hit. Even if they survive, they're now unable to fight back, letting you safely finish them off. --- Overall, Psionic Blast makes a poor case for its existence, unless you mean to have it be purely enemy-only. Its rider effects are less useful for pure damage characters, and its damage is notably worse since it tries to compensate for the perceived boost in power from those riders. Compared to Psychic Blast, it's just straight up weaker despite stealing two powers outright. Psychic Blast doesn't cripple its own damage and brings some good CC with it. If you wanted to avoid this, my best suggestions: Take the time to explain yourself and what you're trying to do. You're the expert on you. Without you putting down what you're thinking and why you're doing what you're doing, everyone is left to infer your motivations for themselves. People do pretty bad at this. Write down at least a sentence to explain each power. Make it sound cool beyond just the name. That's your chance to sell the visual. Don't dismiss feedback with "you're not a dev". This is the line of argument you'd expect from someone in high school. If you can't sell any of your fellow players on your idea, the devs sure as heck aren't going to bite anyways. Instead of attacking your detractors, figure out how they would do it instead. Anyone that immediately balks and disappears when pressed on this should be disregarded. That said... Sometimes you just end up with ideas that will not work. This set is too close to Psychic Blast in theme and mechanics. There's no real way to save that. In that case, accept defeat humbly and look to see how to avoid the pitfalls you've stumbled into with this attempt.

Titan Weapons does not let me throw rocks at people.

@biostem mentioned in another thread that they wanted a ranged sword set. Coincidentally, I already had this one made. Guess I should post it! Blade Blast is more of a goofy experiment than an attempt to hit a particular mechanical niche. Mid-range AoE-heavy ranged attacker felt good enough to try and test out. The ability names are over the top because you need to be when your attacks are literally "I swing a sword and shoot a sword beam" repeated eight times. They're not meant to imply any origin. Blade Master is an experiment in whether a temporary boost is a good enough replacement for Aim. I think it's a good enough trade-off, with cool burst but no effectiveness on your higher powers. --- Blade Blast Use your sword to launch powerful cutting attacks through sword waves that can strike through multiple targets. Blade Blast attacks trade off range for target count, having roughly 40% less range than other ranged sets in exchange for significantly more AoE. Tier 1: Air Cutter - Horizontal swing that strikes a cone, dealing lethal damage to up to five targets. Tier 2: Split Wave - Vertical swing that deals more damage, but the “cone” is so narrow it may as well be a straight line. Tier 3: Seeker - Launch three sword waves in three rapid slashes that home in on your target for high damage and knockdown. Tier 4: Demon Crusher - Short-range wide wave damages and knocks back enemies. Also slows their movement speed for a short duration. Tier 5: Blade Master - Your next three Air Cutters, Split Waves, or Seekers have a to-hit bonus and no recharge time. Lasts 10 seconds or until you make any three such attacks. Tier 6: Heaven Scraper - Vertical slash is impossibly high, hitting in a narrow cone with doubled range compared to other Blade Blast powers. Grounds flying enemies hit. Tier 7: Blade Burst - Sword waves burst forth from you and damage and knock down all enemies around you. Tier 8: Soul Cleaver - Diagonal slash cuts through to the very soul of the target, dealing high damage and cutting their damage and to-hit. Tier 9: Spirit Unleashed - Horizontal slash hits pretty much everything in a 180 degree arc in that direction. Applies a very brief 1.5 second hold before dealing significant damage. Also lowers resist by a small amount.

Well, to-hit debuffs are like buffing your own defense against that target, so they're pretty good. I think you're in the wrong forum though. Maybe the Tanker forum has more relevant information.

Sure, sure, hence my proposal, which was "ammo swap but it's only for a few shots". Just different enough to be distinct in gameplay flow without losing the spirit of ammo swap, while opening up opportunities for flashy animations.

Can you not make this a thing in someone else's thread, too? Seriously? Please? I'm with you here though, the lack of an "implement" is notable enough that I think we could use a ranged staff weapon. I approve! Bonus: It's just a weapon. Staff-shaped gun/tech thing is totally within reason. It isn't locked to magic. I don't think the ammo swap is the way to go though. That's already Dual Pistols. Different damage types is helpful for getting around some enemies, but I don't think that's enough of a hook by itself. That said, depending on how complex you want it to be, maybe the "aspect" is a temporary effect that modifies your next three power uses or something. It gets close to ammo swap, but this setup lets you use it as part of another damaging ability, so you could do some sort of fiery staff slam that then grants extra fire to your next three attacks. Being able to attack and buff at the same time is pretty big for your action economy. It's a tricky one to get a hook. Keep at it though! Try putting down a few powers - it's easier than you think and helps get people focused on the mechanics instead of getting locked up on only the idea.

Thanks for the feedback! This is good stuff. I think you're right in shuffling the missiles and beam around. Mostly because having that single target nuke is pretty cool and adds diversity, mainly because now missiles have more room for damage and I love my missiles. I didn't think about the time limit or self-immobilization on the toggles. That would let me take the immobilization off of Power Cycle and keep roughly the same play pattern without quite as much clunkiness. Great idea. I'll make these changes some time after dinner. Thank you again for taking the time to look!

Neat! Glad we're on the same page. I don't think this set makes any such assumptions either? There's weapons on/inside you, and that's the idea. This... ...was just an attempt to give some examples that can fit other ideas that aren't just "power armor". It wasn't meant to be a comprehensive list of possibilities where your concept must fit this set or you are performing heresy.

As far back as I can remember, I always liked power armor heroes. You can't quite get them with the current powersets. Energy Blast and Arsenal Mastery can get you partway there, but it's not quite the same as having a walking armory doubling as your armor. Powered Weaponry is an attempt to address that, in a way similar to Primal Forces. Instead of dedicating multiple power picks to get the desired outcome, Powered Weaponry combines energy blasts, gunfire, missiles, and bombs in one set so you can pick other sets freely. The internal/mounted nature of its weapons also means it's a good pick for cyborg-esque characters hiding weapons in their body. Ideally it'd also have alt animations to create color-tinted hardlight weapons for Green Lantern-type "magic". Mechanically, this was an experiment on how to make Endurance a primary offensive stat. The main calling cards of this set are three toggles that continually do damage in exchange for ramping Endurance costs, to the point of unsustainability. Maybe I'm off-base with this - I'm open to pivoting to a different hook. The toggles all grant resist to help keep you alive while they're on. It'd be a little anticlimactic to get dropped while you're doing your big alpha strike. They're unenhanceable because this is a ranged damage set, not a tank set. Numbers are always up to negotiation - I tried to skew strong because it's easier to nerf something strong with a clear direction than buff something weak that has no clear direction. Power Cycle is meant to supplement the END- heavy playstyle and reward good builds by resetting your END at the height of your power. Not sure if it's enticing enough to merit the self-CC. This was a fun set for me to make. Please let me know if you like it or what can be done better with it. EDIT: New changes thanks to @megaericzero! Swapped the place of Missile Storm and Reactor Beam and removed AoE damage from Reactor Beam. Tried to emphasize Suppressive Fire is less about damage and more about debuffing with slow+to-hit penalty. Power Cycle no longer immobilizes, but all toggles now immobilize to prevent cheese via endlessly bombarding enemies while moving - this is City of Heroes, not Armored Core. --- Powered Weaponry Use internal or mounted weaponry to devastate your targets. Several powers can be toggled to continually damage enemies while improving your resistance, at the expense of endurance. Tier 1: Blaster - Palm or arm mounted energy blast. Deals energy damage, usual low cooldown power. Tier 2: Homing Missile - Fires a homing missile at a target for fire and smashing damage. Unfairly accurate. Tier 3: Suppressive Fire - Toggle to pepper a target and all surrounding enemies with shoulder-mounted gatling fire, continually dealing moderate lethal damage, slowing them down, and reducing their to-hit. Grants an unenhanceable 10% Resist to smashing, lethal, toxic, and energy damage and a 5% Resist to fire, cold, and negative energy damage, but you are immobilized while it is active. Endurance cost increases with time. Damage slightly increases with time. Tier 4: Power Cycle - Gain a damage and accuracy boost for the next 15 seconds. 5 seconds after using this power, restore all Endurance. Tier 5: Smart Bombs - Launches a salvo of small bombs that strike a cone for smashing and fire damage, with a chance to knock down. Tier 6: Repeller - Heavy blaster knocks back an enemy and does high energy damage. Tier 7: Reactor Beam - Channels your reactor into a powerful toggled beam on one target, continually dealing energy damage and reducing energy resistance. Grants doubled resists compared to the other two toggles while active. Still immobilizes you while active. Endurance cost increases with time. Damage slightly increases with time. Tier 8: Photon Cannon - Elaborately large cannon deals very high energy damage in a cone. Tier 9: Missile Storm - Toggle to continually bombard an area with high accuracy missiles for very high damage. Grants similar resists. Also immobilizes you while active. Endurance cost increases with time. Damage increases with time.

Because it's my thread and I decide what the hell I want to look for in feedback. Now stop spamming my thread with your off-topic arguments.

Please take this to PMs or another thread or what have you. I don't want this thread getting filled with arguments that end up tangential to the actual topic and get it locked.

Please take it to PMs? I don't want a back and forth in this thread getting it locked.

You can have it out in a different thread then. Please let me use my thread for my suggestions.

I like Primal Forces. I'll edit this in as soon as I get home. I don't think a short resist drop before hitting is OP if it only has enough time for that hit and isn't a high damage hit by itself to begin with. I guess it's a numbers thing. I'll see if I can find a better effect. Thanks for your feedback!

@Player2I appreciate the defense, but please drop it? I don't want this thread to turn into a back and forth war and get locked.

This overvalues the damage type over the theme and effects, and requires lining up three power picks instead of one. I don't think that's a fit for the hypothetical audience of the set I'm proposing, since Storm Blast is pretty firmly centered around...well, storms, especially with Supercell. I am all ears for a better name. Do you have any suggestions for a better name so we can move on from this to discussing its mechanical merits?

Now I'm not picky about animations or names, but I did think about this. I wish people read the whole thing instead of seeing red at "Sorcerous". I really don't care what it looks like. I just want a versatile-feeling set for those "archmage" fans. If it works out for Inspector Gadget But From A Gritty Universe, I'm okay with that too. Right now you don't have that kind of generalist option for powers unless you pick, ironically, the tech options.

Sure, okay. It's just a name. I'm more attached to the flashy effects and the versatility and the overall gameplay feel of the set than I am to the exact name of the set. No need to thumbs down over a name. What name would you think is best, then? Primal Forces sounds like a good start. Primarily the diversity in effects and the constant ramping power, pretty much. Your typical spellcaster in most media that isn't locked into one element generally has a bunch of cool tricks up their sleeve. I wanted that to carry through. I did! I'm not actually picky about animations, although this one is pretty easy to shoehorn in with existing animations, which is definitely a point in its favor. I'm more interested in seeing the mechanics and feel of the set. I'm not sure why it's counterproductive? Because someone might disagree it's not really a magic set? Because people might not tie in magic with Technology or Science, like in Shin Megami Tensei, or with Mutation, like Scarlet Witch, or with Natural, like all the xianxia cultivation shenanigans? Okay, fine, they disagree. We can talk about what else to call it. I'm alright with that. I care more about the mechanics being pushed - the name can be anything. You have any suggestions along those lines?

More horns would be fun, yes. More anything, really, but more horns is good.

Well, on the one hand, I think it's mechanically possible. Bio Armor's Adaptation grants three powers for the price of one, so we have coding precedent for powers that give you more powers. On the other...why? The limitations between powersets and the tools they're missing are part of what makes them unique and what gives City of Heroes its charm. If you give this kind of feature to all the control sets, they'll all be able to cover more ground with their kits that they couldn't before. That'll break down those differences between sets and make their individuality worse. If this was a planned feature for a brand new control set, and the set was balanced around that, that would be pretty cool. As it stands, this is giving too much to too many, and I don't think it's a good idea.

There was mention of a desire for Toxic Blast as a set in a thread. I figured I'd try it out myself. I came up with Venom Blast, for those characters that like poisons and snakes but don't want to be using a support set (or for Poison/Venom Defenders). It's a little on the plain side, but I think the heavy DoT focus coupled with being a toxic damage set is unique enough to merit trying out and testing. Every power applies a resist shred for two reasons: it helps to empower the user with the idea of stacking a ton of DoTs on a target, and it means that you're always contributing even if your target is blown up before half your DoTs finish ticking. --- Venom Blast Overwhelm enemies with intense poisons that wear down their defenses and vitality. Venom Blast powers do notably more damage than nearly every other set, but this damage is generally backloaded as a DoT, with lower initial damage. Venom Blast powers all apply a 2.5% resist debuff on hit. Tier 1: Snakebite - Your typical tier 1 for a ranged set. Tier 2: Toxic Spray - Your typical “harder hitting, longer recharge” tier 2 alternative. They can't all be crazy cool. Tier 3: Nerve Shock - Targets their nervous system and additionally lowers their attack and to hit on top of damage. Tier 4: Noxious Fog - Spray a cloud of concentrated poison at a target area. The cloud has a short duration, but quickly deals significant damage to enemies caught inside. Tier 5: Aim - As usual. Tier 6: Cobra Fangs - Twinned blasts that deal high damage and slow the target enemy. Tier 7: Pit of Vipers - Ephemeral snakes rise up and strike all targets around your target. Inflicts a 5% toxic resist debuff on top of the normal resist debuff. Tier 8: Spider's Touch - Sniper attack. Tier 9: Medusa - Lash out with a blast of paralytic venom, damaging and holding all enemies around you.