CrusaderDroid

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.

@temnixUnironically stop posting if you're not going to give a good reason why anyone should want the stuff you're posting. At this point you're just pushing down other threads that could use the activity.

Giant weather event with a bunch of code involved? But why?

I just want to give my minotaurs cool war paint. D: It doesn't have to be the whole list either, since I know the eyes won't line up properly. Just a few options so we can have a little more color to the heads.

I like this and everything you've posted. I think that's a fun way to let you skip a couple of powers without losing out on the big finishes. I actually appreciate excising Empower/Blinding Feint as a finisher completely, and moving it to an initiator position means you don't waste two attacks to get the biggest buff possible. That felt pretty bad to me - the powers might cool down, but I'm still taking hits here instead of being able to go all out with my biggest buff from the get go. I'm not entirely familiar with Kinetic Melee's woes yet. Can you name some of the issues you see in it?

Glad you like it! I, uh... I'm not really a fan of making anything throw up? It'd probably also require a hold so the animation plays properly, which I'm not sure I want on the power since it's already the "nerf everything" power that some buff sets get.

I figured it might be a good idea to hop on the Discord just in case something interesting popped up. Sure enough - a desire for a pistol control set! Enter Trick Shot, the dual pistol answer to Arsenal Control. Trick Shot is mostly themed around sharpshooting like a cowboy movie. Bullets aren't really a great way to non-lethally control someone and pistols don't have the space to accommodate grenade launchers and flamethrowers, so I figured it would be more sensible to prioritize damage over CC duration. Let me know what you think - control sets are really tricky. --- Trick Shot Disarm and disable opponents with swift and precise aim from your pistols. Trick Shot powers have short recharge times but trend towards low duration. They have better damage than average on account of shooting people with guns, although nowhere near a ranged set's damage. Tier 1: Disarm - Blasts the weapon out of a target's hand, sharply cutting their damage and dealing some damage. Might also terrorize. Tier 2: Tenderfoot Dance - Fire repeatedly at the ground to immobilize enemies in an area around your target for fear of getting shot in the feet. No effect on flying enemies. Tier 3: Hat Trick - Ricochet a bullet that can blast the hat off someone's head, striking multiple targets and knocking them down while dealing some damage. Tier 4: Taser Rounds - Swap your current magazines with taser rounds, causing your powers to deal bonus energy damage and drain endurance on hit for a duration. Tier 5: Gut Shot - Shoot your target in the gut. They're worse at literally everything for a duration. Deals high damage. Tier 6: Listen Up - A loud shot in the air terrorizes enemies near you. Pretty big range. Tier 7: Hobble Horses - Aim for the legs on every enemy in an area around your target. They take damage, are slowed, and have a chance to be immobilized and a lower chance to be held. Tier 8: Standoff - Put yourself and target enemy in stasis for 3 seconds, then shoot your target after 3 seconds, dealing high damage, knocking down, and holding the target. Your recharge speed is significantly increased for a duration. Tier 9: Sureshot - Unerringly fires on all targets in an area around your target, dealing damage and causing them to be held. Never misses.

I don't quite have the time to try out every single powerset to completion myself, but judging from the prevalence of powers like Cross Punch on many builds, at least some powersets are underperforming enough that it's better to run with pool powers over taking powers from that set. I know Super Strength is often talked about, but are there any others? What makes them so bad? And how can we fix them? For my money, I tried playing Dual Blades/Dark Armor Scrapper with an earlier character, and while I found Dark Armor to be pretty great, Dual Blades felt like it wanted me to take everything to be able to use the set, without actually giving me anything on most of its powers. The combo effects didn't feel uniquely powerful so much as stuff that other sets got for free, and Blinding Feint replacing Build Up meant that my self-buff (and Empower) combo was tied to hitting someone, with a missed hit granting no bonus. Having my combos drop because I missed the finisher was uniquely unpleasant, as well as an inability to switch combos if I didn't use the correct starter, but I can accept those as both programming issues and skill tests related to the use of the powerset. Maybe I was too low level and not correctly slotted out with that toon, but it seems like Dual Blades would have been much improved if either the reliance on combos for unique effects was diminished by putting more useful effects along the kit, or if the combos were pushed even further so they properly feel like the reward for using three otherwise-plain powers in a row.