thundersquall

Firstly, all of these power changes are really exciting! The work that goes into them is very appreciated, and the chance to give feedback is awesome. I have good and not-as-good things to say, but it's all said in good faith. Of course it's all my own limited opinion, but hopefully it's useful nonetheless. I tested the Beta changes for a bit today. Some details on what I was doing: PI Radios against Arachnos, Council, Carnival, CoT Difficulty set to +4/x5 I was a FF/Water Defender, teamed with an Illusion/NRG Dominator and a Ninja/Time Mastermind For Incarnates, only my Alpha (Agility Core) was slotted I started with auto-IO, and then replaced some with better ones (ATOs, a couple staple uniques, and I think 2 purple sets for the +rech) Background/disclaimer: I have never played a Force Field character before today. I had some timely inspiration for one recently, but I didn't want to make it because I knew I would be underwhelmed by the set. I looked through the set (live version) and thought "I can't justify playing this when sets like Cold, Time, and Traps exist". Even if it fits a concept, I knew I wouldn't feel useful playing it. Thoughts on Powers PFF: I can't really imagine using or even picking this. The power just doesn't feel support-like at all and I would want to replace it with something else entirely (see suggestions below). Saying that, I appreciate that dev time and resources are limited so it's all hypothetical of course. Deflection Shield and Insulation Shield: I want to like these so much! Adding ~23% Defense to my team should feel really cool, but it doesn't. Anyway, I know these weren't changed, but as the quintessential powers that people think of in FF, I wonder if they should be? Detention Field: I don't think this one was changed either, but I wanted to mention it because it's mentioned alongside PFF a lot as a removal/rework candidate. For MLTFs, multi-AV fights, or scuffed pulls, I like it for co-ordinated teams that can communicate. Dispersion Bubble: The other quintessential FF power. Making the application last some extra time is a really nice QoL! Same problems as the other +Def abilities though. Repulsion Field: I didn't use this, but I like the idea. Kind of like a walking KD field with the enhancement slotted! Awesome! Repulsion Bolt and Repulsion Bomb: It felt good using these to keep enemies off their feet, but that's already what they can do on live. With some +Rech, Bolt was up enough to floor some priority targets, and Bomb was up to start every fight. The -Res debuff is useful and it's nice to have some more offensive capability. Dampening Bubble: This ability feels very cool. I noticed that the debuffs are tagged with unresistable. That's a really cool addition that is pretty unique, so I hope it's deliberate. Of all the abilities in this set, this one and Dispersion Bubble fit the "power fantasy" of the set for me, which is what would get people to enjoy playing it and feel useful. That is: being able to make a zone in which my team is Very Safe™. Thoughts Overall The set seems working as intended. I didn't notice any bugs or weirdness. Looks and animations are fine too, though I didn't do any customisation. Like I alluded to above, I think the functional changes are in the right direction, but they don't do enough to make the set appealing for players and teams in CoX as it is today. Identity: When I think of picking FF, I think of playing a set that excels at putting up defensive barriers between and around my allies and enemies. I want to mitigate my enemies' attacks or actions. Someone else said it above, but giving a set an identity is probably better than trying to make it compete on the same terms as other sets. -15% Res is useful, but when Cold can hit a whole group with Sleet, FF still feels eclipsed. To be clear about this, I think the issue is that Cold also gives enough +Def (and +MaxHP to the tank and +Recovery to the team) at the same time. FF, on the other hand, will just put the +Def over the softcap. To be clear, I think FF should be worse offensively than Cold, but it should be better defensively. Numerically it is in terms of Def numbers and mez protection, but unfortunately Def is the stat with the least concern for the most part, and Cold does other things on top of that. Power fantasy: I think one core issue with the power fantasy of FF is that even if you are contributing a lot, it's not very visible. We've all seen people say "thanks for the heals" when it was actually a sum of many factors that's keeping them alive. It's very easy to notice things like your sliver of red health filling up and turning green. Similary, it's very noticeable when enemies are getting shredded by Freezing Rain, or are flopping about on an Oil Slick. When Dispersion Field stops a mez, Insulation Shield deflects an attack, and Dampening Field reduces an AV's regen, it's not clear that it's doing that even if it is really useful. I think both the FF user and their team would appreciate the set's power fantasy a lot more if we could change it to make it not only more useful, but also more visible. Suggestions (Hopefully making suggestions is appropriate here. If not, I'll happily say this elsewhere) Things like +Absorb and +DDR on the shields have been suggested before and I think that's on the right track. Even some unenhanceable +Res (other than Toxic), or a wider variety of debuff resistance would be great. FF is overlooked because the thing it buffs is often in abundance anyway, so make it buff other things! I like the +Absorb especially because it's very visible. A team member can see the grey on their health bar and know that their bubbler is helping, and the bubbler can see it and know that they are making a difference more obviously. Of course, it's good in actual function too because surviving alphas is the most threatening part of a lot of content. Extra effective MaxHP is a great starting point for a defensively-inclined set like this. I would suggest a ticking absorb like Spirit Ward maybe, or one that refreshes after a certain duration of taking no damage. If replacing powers is on the table: Some kind of short duration, but very effective barrier. Could be massive +Absorb for a few seconds, +Res for a few seconds, or even an intangible if the target could still attack. FF isn't active and I think that also contributes to the whole visibility thing I mentioned above. I think a power like this would appeal a lot to the power fantasy of mitigating enemy action and being a protector. It would also be super useful in the alpha survival case, or for telegraphed attacks from AV's. A power that gathers enemies together. It could be targeted on a team member, enemy, or ground position, idk! This would be a fun and unique way for the set to act offensively without tacking on -Res, -Def, or -Regen. Force fields can push stuff out, why not have one that can pull them in and gather them by knocking them inward, or having a Singularity-like pull? End Thanks for reading this post that got WAY longer than I expected. You're all doing great work and I hope some of this can help out!