Trickshooter

I'm not sure why it displays as defense debuff, but it gives +30% Base Defense. Probably just a display error related to Base Defense being the defense type lowered by defense debuffs.

Forsakened? Defiled? Desecrated?

When it comes to Stone and Invulnerability, their resistance I consider "you're too tough to feel that attack" and their defense I consider like "the bullets just bounce right off" sorta deal. Probably similar with Ice (who was forgotten about by the OP, RUDE). The defense part is kind of explained by the defense combat messages, right? Some sets say "Deflected!" (Ice, Shield, Invuln, Stone), some say "Dodged!" (SR or Nin), and then purple insps say "Avoided!" (which I assume is some kind of probability alteration happening?).

Ruined

It might require higher graphics setting being enabled, but I couldn't tell you which, I didn't think it could be N/A. Could just be a limitation with running the game on a Mac, but I'm not sure. I would say turn up the graphics settings as high as you reasonably can and see if it becomes an option, and if it does, then roll your settings back to where you're comfortable and see what disables it as an option as you go. Edit: I might also be misremembering, but I think I remember something like this coming up years ago and that the sepia/black and white filters needed you to be in fullscreen mode, in case you were in windowed mode. I'm not at home to check whether that's the case or not, but figured I'd mention it just in case.

There is an option in the game settings to allow for full-screen effects like that, called Desaturation effects I think? Make sure you have it enabled. The new vision temp powers use that effect; it was previously only used for flashback/ouroboros missions where you go back in time.

This is just a thought I had, but I REALLY miss when Thermal's shields and debuffs had the heat waves effect. I know they were trouble for low-end PCs back in the day, but it's 2024! The .FX file still exists, I think (whether it still works is a different thing), so is there a way to add these back as an option? Likely in a way where only the user who wants to see them has to see them? Thanks!

I can't find any patch note referencing debuffs in Possess at all. I'm inclined to believe they are there by mistake? Especially when all the debuffs are flagged to ignore enemy level.

Was jumping in here to ask, what Regeneration buff in Radiation Therapy??? No Regen buff is listed in the short help or power description on my characters. Looks like only the Scrapper version even has this Regen buff, which makes me think it's not supposed to be there at all. Scrapper Radiation Therapy Tanker Radiation Therapy Brute Radiation Therapy Stalker Radiation Therapy

For clarity, Scorpion Shield's +Resistance is NOT unenhanceable in the way that prevents it from being boosted by Damage buffs; the power itself just does not accept Resist Damage enhancements. The +Resistance is grants can be enhanced if you can find a way to sneak Resist Damage or Damage enhancements in there, like maybe with Hami-Os? I can't remember if that's still a thing you can do. For +Resistance in a power to be truly unenhanceable, it needs the flag that says "Ignores enhancements and other boosts" with the little lock icon to the left of the +Resistance value on City of Data, as seen on Deflection Shield. Scorpion Shield cannot be slotted for Damage Resistance, but it's +Resistance IS enhanceable, so that's why the whole power is flagged to ignore external strength boosts.

I love the idea of a Ranged Staff Blast type weapon! Have you considered calling it a Scepter, rather than a Staff to differentiate it from Staff Fighting? Staff Blast works well enough, but you could also just call it what it is, similar to the other weapon sets, so possibly Energy Staff/Scepter or Power Staff/Scepter. I don't think Staves as a ranged set are anymore origin-limiting then the guns and bows are. Comics are full of staves/wands that aren't magical. Maybe it came from a high tech alien race, maybe it was designed by some hero/villain to pull energy from another dimension... heck, comics even have a mutant who uses a staff, kinda. Black Tom Cassidy used his shillelagh as a focus for blasting his mutant ability. I don't like the idea of basically copying Dual Pistols theme, though, or of the default damage type being smashing/lethal, only because I'm not sure what it's firing at that point. You could easily design it as a set around a more unique idea, like... Maybe every attack automatically cycles through Fire/Cold/Energy(Electric) damage as you use them, giving you a greater range of damage types that aren't weighed down by also being part Smashing or Lethal, but obviously you have less control over when to use them. Maybe the single target attacks grant stacks of some unique ability, and when you have X amount of stacks, your AoE attacks become "charged" and do more damage and have larger area of effects. Maybe every time you attack you gain a stack of whatever and when you have X amount of stacks, the next single-target attack you use becomes an AoE. Maybe you get a toggle when you take the powerset that lets you change your AoEs from standard ranged AoEs to higher damage PBAoEs at the cost of having to be closer to enemies. etc. etc. Point being, there is so much room for creativity because a staff that shoots energy is generic enough that could come up with so many gimmicks.

What is Symphonic Inspiration, you might ask? Well, first, the idea is that it's the support counterpart to Symphony Control. Wouldn't that be Sonic Resonance? No! During the beta testing of Symphony Control, it was made clear that Symphony Control was NOT intended to be Sonic Control, the point being that Sonic Control was still a set that could happen. But what I took that to mean was that within the CoX world, Sound and Music are essentially separate "elements," so to speak: 'Sonic' powersets deal in vibrations, decibels, force, and the physical effects caused by them; Symphony powersets, on the other hand, deal in manipulating emotions. Second, it's inspired by my favorite D&D class, the Bard and their familiar Bardic Inspiration ability! (Unrelated sidenote: Bard is my favorite D&D class, BUT my favorite tabletop class is Pathfinder's Witch.) Bards use the power of words and music to both inspire and manipulate and that's kind of the idea behind this set. And much like a higher Charisma will improve Bard abilities, the buffs in this set can be improved by strategic use of it's debuffs, with each of them granting at least one stack of an ability called Charm. What is Charm? Well that takes us to... Thirdly, this set is a bit of a rework of my old Hyper-Intellect powerset. I did really like that set, but I did struggle with what it should look like visually and some powers really were pushing the limits of creativity when it came to explaining how someone super smart could do them. But I think the idea behind that set, namely that using 6 of it's powers improved Leadership-esque toggles, could really work for a music-based support set based on Bards. So let's get in to it. I'll admit that this isn't as in-depth as my Telepathy powerset suggestion, with regards to animation ideas and buff/debuff values. I might come back and update it to include that stuff, but it's not here for now. Symphonic Inspiration Music has a powerful ability to influence the feelings of those that hear it, and that's how you utilize your musical talents. You can both inspire your allies or discourage foes in battle with your melodic performances. Symphonic Inspiration mixes many single-target debuffs, which grant stacks of Charm (up to 5), and area of effect team buffs, which receive small bonuses to their effects for each stack of Charm you have. Curtailing Canticle You perform a quick tune that afflicts a single enemy with over-encumbrance, slowing their movement and action speed, as well as reducing their damage output. Click Single-Target Foe: -Speed, -Recharge, -Damage Charm: 1 Stack for 20s Recharge: 10s Debuff Duration: 20s Rondo of Restoration You perform a song of restoration that heals a single ally's hitpoints and rejuvenates them, increasing their endurance recovery. Click Single-Target Ally: Heal, +Recovery Charm: 1 Stack for 20s Recharge: 4s Buff Duration: 20s Scherzo of Surety You maintain a song around yourself that improves your and your allies' defense, allowing you to more easily avoid attacks. Affected targets are also more resistant to Holds and Stuns. For each stack of Charm, up to 5, Scherzo of Surety will give a bonus, unenhanceable, buff to Defense for a short while. Toggle Team: +Def(All), +Res(Hold, Stun), +Special Charm Bonus: +1% Unenhanceable +Def(All) per stack (Up to 5) Recharge: 15s Buff Duration: 2.25s every 2s Minuet of Mettle You maintain a song around yourself that improves your and your allies' damage potential, allowing your abilities to do more damage. Affected targets are also more resistant to Taunts and Placates. For each stack of Charm, up to 5, Minuet of Mettle will give a bonus, unenhanceable, buff to Damage for a short while. Toggle Team: +Dam(All), +Res(Taunt, Placate), +Special Charm Bonus: +2.5% +Dam(All) per stack (Up to 5) Recharge: 15s Buff Duration: 2.25s every 2s Arresting Aria You perform a commanding tune that stops a single enemy in their place. They are left Held and with weakened resistances. Click Single-Target Foe: Hold(Mag3), -Resistance Charm: 1 Stack for 20s Recharge: 18s Debuff Duration: 20s (Mag3 8s Base Hold) Sapping Strain You perform a song that drains the endurance from a single enemy. Additionally, their recovery is slowed and their abilities cost more endurance to use. Click Single-Target Foe: EndDrain, -EndDiscount (PvE Only), -Recovery Charm: 1 Stack for 20s Recharge: 10s Debuff Duration: 20s Sonata of Skill You maintain a song around yourself that improves your and your allies' chance to hit, allowing your abilities to hit more often. Affected targets are also more resistant to Fear and Confusion. For each stack of Charm, up to 5, Sonata of Skill will give a bonus, unenhanceable, buff to ToHit for a short while. Toggle Team: +ToHit, +Perc, +Res(Fear, Confuse), +Special Charm Bonus: +1% Unenhanceable +ToHit per stack (Up to 5) Recharge: 15s Buff Duration: 2.25s every 2s Muddling Madrigal You perform a cacophonous song in a cone in front of you, overwhelming the senses of all foes hit. They will suffer from reduced chances tohit and reduced defenses. Some weaker foes may even suffer confusion and attack their allies. Click Cone Foe: -ToHit, -Defense, Confuse(Mag2, 50% Chance) Charm: 2 Stacks for 20s Recharge: 40s Debuff Duration: 20s (50% Chance of Mag2 3s Base Confuse) Demoralizing Dirge You perform a disheartening song all around you, severely affecting nearby foes for a good while. Foes exposed to your Demoralizing Dirge will have reduced damage, regeneration, endurance recovery, and most will be left trembling in fear. Additionally, the strength of all their secondary power effects will be weakened. Click PBAoE Foe: -Damage, -Recovery, -Regeneration, -Special, Fear(Mag3) Charm: 3 Stacks for 30s Recharge: 120s Debuff Duration: 40s (Mag3 15s Base Terrorize)

omg I miss you guys so much! 😭 For the writers: I’ve had this theory that Praetorian Vanessa Devore is in Mother Mayhem’s original body, that’s why Tilman takes Aurora’s body and why P-Vanessa looks like a Carnie version of Sister Psyche. Was that ever the intention? For the powers team: Hi guys! Sorry I was so annoying, I just really loved Defenders, but speaking of… did you ever have any plans or ideas on how you hoped to address some of the underperforming sets like TA, FF and Sonic? I can’t really say ‘Buff TA!’ anymore, but I’ve always been curious. P.S. have you checked out my Telepathy powerset suggestion? Jk! Unless… 👀 You guys were the best, thank you for tolerating us! For JLove!: What costume stuff was your favorite to make, and did you ever create things that ended up never making it in to the game? I'm not sure who this one is for, but: What ever happened to going to the moon? Those little spaceship/rocket easter eggs were on the map for so many issues!

Thanks! The idea with Hypnotize is it is mostly a debuff, the mag 2 sleep is just a bonus against minions. Sorry 😅 Numbers-wise, I feel it falls in line pretty well amongst the modern sets like Time, Electric Affinity and Nature, and even some older sets like Dark and Rad. As far as the EndDiscount debuff, in PvP I would probably replace it with an end drain or recovery debuff effect. I wouldn’t want to open that can of worms.

Why Telepathy? My favorite era of the X-Men comics has always been the Claremont era leading up to Fall of the Mutants and then the stories in the Australian outback. And my favorite character during that era was Psylocke. Now, most of you know Psylocke as a purple haired ninja with a psychic knife, the focused totality of her yadda yadda yadda. The obvious inspiration for the Psionic Melee powerset, right? But during the early days of Psylocke with the X-Men, she was actually a purple haired British woman whose main value to the team was the support she offered via her telepathy and her main form of defense was psychic deception and her thought-disrupting mind blasts. This version of telepathy has always been my favorite portrayal of the power and was the inspiration for this suggestion. This set is designed as a buff/debuff set for Defenders/Controllers/Corruptors/Masterminds, but all values are for Defenders because I was lazy. Telepathy Use telepathic might to fortify the minds of your allies and mislead the thoughts of your foes. Telepathy features a mix of buffs and debuffs to assist your team, specializing in providing protection from Psionic damage and slowing the attack rate of foes. Mind Blast Blast a foe with a psionic bolt that weakens them physically, lowering their damage potential, slowing their attack rate, and increasing the endurance cost of their attacks. Click Single-Target Foe: -Damage(All), -Recharge, -EnduranceDiscount -31.25% Damage(All) -62.5% Recharge -50% EnduranceDiscount Recharge: 16s Duration: 30s Animation: 1.0s (Subdue) Endurance: 8.528 Restore Psyche Telepathically heal the mind of an ally, recovering a significant amount of their hitpoints. An ally healed by Restore Psyche will also be less likely to be hit by Psionic attacks. You cannot use this power on yourself. Click Single-Target Ally: Heal, +Defense(Psionic) 1.96 Heal +10% Defense(Psionic) Recharge: 4s Duration: 60s Animation: 1.97s (Psychic Wail) Endurance: 13 Psychic Static Target an enemy and fill their mind, and the minds of nearby foes, with Psychic Static that will lower their ability to concentrate. Foes affected by Psychic Static will have reduced chances to hit and slowed recharge rates. Toggle Targeted AoE Foe: -ToHit, -Recharge -18.75% ToHit -62.5% Recharge Recharge: 8s Duration: 0.75s Animation: 3.1s (Tar Patch) Endurance: 0.52/s Probe Thoughts Probe a foe's mind for their weaknesses and share that info telepathically with your allies, effectively lowering your target’s defense and resistance. You can also gain insight in to their buffs and debuffs via your Combat Attributes menu. Click Single-Target Foe: -Defense(All), -Resistance(All), +ViewAttributes -25% Defense(All) -30% Resistance(All) Recharge: 16s Duration: 20s Animation: 1.67s (Mental Blast) Endurance: 10.4 Psi-Shielding Shield an ally's mind against control effects. Psi-Shielding grants a single ally moderate protection from Hold, Sleep, Stun and Immobilize effects. Their perception will also be increased, as well as their resistance to Psionic damage. You cannot use this power on yourself. Click Single-Target Ally: +Resistance(Psionic, Hold, Sleep, Stun, Immobilize), +Perception +10% Resist(Psionic) -12.975 Mez Protection (at 50) +Perception Recharge: 4s Duration: 60s Animation: 1.1s (Will Domination) Endurance: 5.2 Conceal Presence Telepathically hide your and your allies presence from nearby foes, effectively granting Stealth. Disguise Presence will also provide a small amount of defense to all damage and resistance to psionic damage, as well as Fear and Confuse effects. Toggle PBAoE Ally/Self: +Stealth, +Defense(All), +Resistance(Psionic, Terrorize, Confuse) +Stealth +5% Defense(All) +20% Resistance(Psionic) -8.65 Mez Protection (at 50) Recharge: 15s Duration: 0.75s Animation: 2.03s (Mass Hypnosis) Endurance: 0.52/s Hypnotize Hypnotize foes in a cone area in front of you. Hypnotized foes will have reduced speed, attack rate and be easier to hit. Weaker-willed enemies may fall asleep but will awaken if hit with damage. Click Cone Foe: Sleep (Mag2), -Recharge, -Speed, -Defense(All) Base 15s Sleep (Mag 2) -31.25% Recharge -62.5% Speed -18.75% Defense(All) Recharge: 60s Duration: 30s Animation: 2.03s (Fearsome Stare) Endurance: 8.528 Siphon Psyche Siphon psionic energy from foes surrounding you and telepathically distribute it amongst your allies. Foes hit by Siphon Psyche will have significantly reduced damage potential and regeneration rates, while you and your allies will receive a buff to yours. Click PBAoE Foe: -Damage(All), -Regeneration, Team: +Damage(All), +Regeneration -25% Damage(All) -250% Regeneration +25% Damage(All) (Does not stack) +2.5% Damage(All) per foe +100% Regeneration (Does not stack, Unenhanceable) +10% Regeneration per foe Recharge: 160s Duration: 45s Animation: 2.5s (Short Circuit) Endurance: 13 Coordinate Thoughts Telepathically link the minds of you and your teammates, sharing strategic knowledge instantly and improving combat capabilities. Coordinate Thoughts will greatly buff your team's Defense to all damage and ToHit chance for each teammate in range, as well as significantly reduce the endurance costs for all powers for a short while. Click PBAoE Team: +Defense(All), +ToHit, +EnduranceDiscount +12.5% Defense(All) (Does not stack) +1.25% Defense(All) per teammate +12.5% ToHit (Does not stack) +1.25% ToHit per teammate +74.5% EnduranceDiscount (Does not stack) Recharge: 360s Duration: 60s Animation: 3.67s (Mind Link) Endurance: 26

I just recently found the "poster" I made for that story arc!

Hey, thanks for being a fan of my old powerset suggestion! I still have this email from Arbiter Hawk from 9 years ago: "I remember reading Probability a few months back and thinking it was the best player proposed set I'd ever seen." Always made me feel good. 😁

Honestly, I'd rather just remove the tiny damage from Flash Freeze, as that is the only difference between it and Mass Hypnosis I can think of that warrants FF having double the recharge time compared to MH.

I just happened to see this post (not sure why clicking on the thread brought me to it specifically lol). +/- Special powers have always been weird because they used the Ranged_Stun (I think) modifiers, which always made them best for Controllers and worst for Corruptors. Looks like Ice Arrow uses the Ranged_Res_Boolean modifier, which frankly makes the values between the ATs make more sense (even if Ice Arrow looks to be a little too good). I wish they'd carry this change over to most of the Special powers.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was originally designed with the idea that Controllers weren't going to get it because it was control-heavy, like Dark Miasma (and possibly because it didn't really have any thematic pairing with Controller powersets). But then some higher-up decided that creating a NEW powerset, especially one with totally new art assets and animatons, wasn't a good use of company resources if it was only going to be available to one archetype. That sort of thing happened very infrequently outside of new primaries for Masterminds (which, let's be honest, were still very infrequent).

Effects like -Perception are not inherently immune to aggro, but rather every power that causes these types of effects are individually flagged not to notify mobs. So adding a single-target stun to Flash Arrow (which I don't think is necessary) would not make it suddenly generate aggro. It would have to have that flag changed to "Always" for that to happen. The reason this sort of thing happens with effects like procs is because, in the Powers system, procs are like separate powers that have their own flag, which I think very very few (if any) are flagged not to notify mobs.

I've been aware of incoming improvements for about 6 months, I think. Not everything went in the direction I would have gone, but overall I'm very happy to see what has been done. Wish I could say I had more to do with it, but I haven't played much, if at all, in the last couple of months. My job suddenly changed and I have a lot more responsibilities now, lost about 60 lbs and got engaged, so life is kind of getting in the way of video game time. 😅 Hope to get some time to add more thoughts and search for bugs soon-ish.

This is the intended behavior and replaced the old functionality in Issue 18. In PvP, it still works the old way, which is also intended. The description was never updated. For clarity, it only adds bonus Fire damage to attacks in Melee Damage sets, so it wouldn't affect Fiery Aura itself, pool powers, or Epic/Patron powers.

Have you checked to see if the effects still works correctly with different customization options or with the original appearance? This has happened with a few other powers before, and it's usually that one of the customization options has broken, not the actual power itself. Verifying that would likely help in finding the cause of the bug that needs fixing.