Trickshooter

It was -30%, I have it in a spreadsheet I was keeping with bugs (because if Corruptor was the base version, Defender version should've been -40%). I don't know when it was changed, though; it's possible it could have been done internally by Paragon. They had already gone through and fixed pseudopets in the Blast sets in Issue 24, so it's possible they were already in the process of correcting the Support set pets, too, when the sunset announcement was made and all development had to stop. Edit: I literally don't know why I have those number corrections for the EndDrain on Heat Loss. Assuming Corruptor is base, Mastermind would be -30, Defender would be -37.5. P.S. I hope, in addition to reviewing these pseudopet powers, some of the modifiers between Masterminds and Corruptors are reviewed as well. Almost all the melee tables for support effects for them seem to be reversed. Some ranged ones, as well. They aren't normally things that would come up, but might now if the pets will inherit modifiers from their caster soon. Melee Buff_Def (might not be reversed, seems strange that Corruptors would be the worst with Self +Defense, though) Melee Debuff_Dam Melee Debuff_Def Melee Debuff_ToHit Melee EndDrain Melee Fear Melee Heal Melee Immobilize Melee Res_Dmg (might not be reversed, same as Melee Buff_Def) Melee Sleep Melee Stun Ranged Stun

Holy smokes, a review of the shared pseudopets in the support sets!? 😮 I hope if this is a sign of future plans, that Trick Arrow is included and it comes with buffs, otherwise I worry some powers will be too weak for Controllers, Corruptors and Masterminds (since they're generally already considered weak for Defenders).

Uh... Castle had been gone for like 6 months before Time Manipulation even entered beta testing.

Isn't there a "Target previous enemy" option in the keymapping section of the options menu? I could swear there's one there. I don't worry about targeting specific enemies usually, but I usually set my Caps Lock key to "Target next friend" on any support character, so I feel like I've seen "previous enemy" as an option before. Edit: Paragonwiki says this is a keybind option, but the actual description sounds like it might not be what you want. Sounds like it's like Tab, but in reverse: /target_enemy_prev

Sorry, I meant how did you limit the power to boosting defense debuffs and defense debuff resistance without boosting defense buffs. I know defense debuffs and defense debuff resistance both affect the Base Defense attribute only, so I was asking if you limited it to only boosting that attribute and excluding the other 10 defense attributes. I was curious because Personal Force Field used Base Defense last I checked (and admittedly that could’ve changed by now), so if that’s how Adrenal Booster works it would at least buff the defense of PFF.

Just FYI: Sorcery > Magic Force of Will > Mutant Experimentation > Science Gadgetry > Technology Utility Belt > Natural

I remember the problem being something like the Genin would get stuck using their bows and refusing to use their melee attacks. They would stay at range and not attack until their bow powers recharged. The problem was specifically centered around using the bow, so all their archery powers were replaced with shuriken attacks, but numerically they were the same, they just no longer had to draw a weapon.

Can I ask how that was done? Is it new tech or is it simply limited to Str(Base Defense)?

Same for Frozen Aura on Tankers and Flash Freeze on Controllers.

Honestly, they probably just didn’t know. I tried to look through the old forums on the way back machine and I didn’t see it mentioned at all. It’s possible not many players, if any, noticed until recently.

Oh hahaha, you're right, I somehow forgot (even though I wrote that guide) that Damage Enhancements and Resist Damage Enhancements are the same Strength effects. 😅

That could work, but in my opinion it's a bit of a weird solution and kind of asking a lot (development-wise) in order to accommodate behavior that might not have even been intended. It all just depends on what the new devs consider the intended design and what they consider the bug. In this specific case, is Fade's +Resistance missing its flag to "Ignore enhancements & buffs" or is Fade itself missing its flag to be "Not affected by outside buffs/debuffs"? Both could be equally likely if not for the fact that Fade accepts Resist Damage Enhancements, which makes the latter option most likely the bug. Knowing that, we can assume that Fade was possibly not intended to benefit from Power Boost. If that's the case, then the new devs probably don't see a need to find a way to allow Fade's +Defense to continue to benefit from Power Boost.

I'm not a developer or a programmer, so this might not actually work, and even if it could, it might still be a lot of work and there might be a lot of exceptions and rebalancing of powers needed, but... There is a field for powers called something like "Strengths Disallowed". This is the field that prevents most Melee attacks from being affected by +/-Range and Pet powers from being affected by +/-Recharge. This is a different field from the one that prevents all outside buffs/debuffs, which is called something like "Ignore Strength" (with a value of "true" causing the "Not affected by outside buffs/debuffs." message you see on City of Data). Would it be possible for some of these powers, with effects that would otherwise be "Power-Boost-able" if not for their enhanceable +Resistance, to instead have Strength(Lethal Damage, Smashing Damage, etc.) added to the Strengths Disallowed field? Would this prevent +/-Damage from affecting the power at all and prevent the interaction between Damage buffs and Damage Resistance? Edit: Nevermind, wouldn't work, I have the dumb today. I guess if it had been that easy it would've been done by now.

I think you misunderstood what I meant. When I say "to accomodate Power Boost," I meant removing the ability to enhance the +Resistance with enhancements in order to allow Power Boost to affect the +Defense of the power.

When it comes to situations like this, the goal is generally to fix what's wrong while affecting players the least. Note that this is not always the same as affecting the least amount of players. The Problem: Damage Buffs increase the amount of +Resistance offered by Fade. The Cause: A combination of Fade's +Resistance being enhanceable, the power itself allowing outside sources of Strength (e.g. Power Boost), and the longstanding relationship between Damage Resistance and Damage buffs. The Solutions: Remove the +Resistance Remove the ability to enhance the +Resistance Flag the power to ignore outside sources of Strength Now let's examine these a bit more... Remove the +Resistance Obviously the least ideal. It fixes the bug, but it changes the player's understanding of what the power does; it no longer "works as advertised" from when they chose it. And for what reason? In order to leave an interaction between Fade and Power Boost, a power not even in the Darkness Affinity powerset. On top of that, it leaves people with enhancements in a power that do nothing now, costing them a respec or unslotters to remove the enhancements, not to mention the initial investment to get those enhancements that are no longer functional. Remove the ability to enhance the +Resistance While this is probably the option most people here will suggest, it's not ideal either. Why? Because while the power still works as advertised, you're still left with everything else from the last option, all just to accommodate Power Boost, which is only one power in one of the nine APPs Controllers can take. Flag the power to ignore outside sources of Strength Now, I know you're probably going to say, "This change also forces me to respec!" But, in all honesty, no it does not. Your build may no longer be ideal, but all of your enhancements still work in the powers they're slotted in. Fade still provides the buffs it always has and it still matches its description from before the fix; the only thing that changes, besides the bug with Damage buffs, is the interaction with Power Boost. This solution will definitely upset some people, as any of them will, but Fade itself changes the least with this option. That's what makes it the best option, even if it's not the most popular.

The answer: If Controllers were going to get Fearsome Stare, it just made more sense as a power in a Primary, so they put it in Darkness Control. Controllers had to wait 8 years for darkity-dark powers and anyone that played Dark Miasma pretty much understood why: It was like an AoE Hold and a ST Immobilize away from being a Controller Primary already. I'm surprised Darkness Affinity ONLY lost Fearsome Stare and Petrifying Gaze, honestly.

The only thing I wish Banes had was an alternate version of Combat Training: Defensive in Bane Spider Training that gave Melee Defense instead of Ranged Defense. Taking either one would lock you out of the other, of course.

Ok, I do like this set, but the more I look at it, the more I'm just so confused by how limited it seems, I guess. Shock: I think this fits pretty well with many of the tier 1 powers with the addition of -Regeneration. Rejuvenating Circuit: Overall, I think it's fine. It could probably be a bit more potent, so I would consider lowering the upfront heal a bit and adding some Heal-over-Time. Galvanic Sentinel: I like that it solves a lot of issues for a solo/small team player with the set, and that it also now comes with a -Regenation as well. I think it's still a bit weak and could use a -Endurance aura. As others have said, on some teams it won't be that useful, but if it had a bit more utility it could be useful as an alpha absorber, draining endurance and soaking up that alpha damage. Energizing Circuit: This just seems very limited. It could use the addition to +Speed and +Recovery. That would really help it sound more like something "energizing". Faraday Cage: All good here. Empowering Circuit: This I feel could also use an additional effect. I'd go with +Recharge. Defbrillate: I just wish this had some effect on enemies, but I'm fine with it staying as is, too. Insulating Circuit: This power is just so odd to me. It's purpose seems a little lost because the set already has tools to deal with incoming damage. The only comparable power is Wild Bastion, but I understand the purpose of that power; Absorb to protect your health bar while the attached Heal-over-Time recovers it. The heal is a bit unnecessary because Nature isn't short on healing, but I understand why the two effects are together in one power as they make it clear when to use it. I guess I don't see when Insulating Circuit is the right power to use; you just use it because it's there and it's not NOT helping. Amp Up: Honestly, I would drop the +Special and +Recharge from this power, and just make it a PBAoE that adds the endurance-draining, knock up-causing bolts to all nearby allies attacks for a short while. That to me would make it more fun to use. Right now, it seems like something with no real purpose; you really just put it on ally because you have it, not because it will add much to a fight. Static: With no self-buff from this, and with the effect only affecting 3 mostly situational powers, why even have it? And I don't mean that vindictively! I just feel like, at this point, it's starting to seem like a leftover mechanic from early in the set's development and now we're trying to come up with ways to keep it while it's becoming less and less useful. I don't want anyone to feel discouraged. I understand that support sets are probably the most difficult to design because there's no real buff/debuff formulas to follow, no 'token' powers (Build Ups/Aims, Confronts/Taunts/Placates), and no real formulas or standardized tiers. I think this can be a good set, and it definitely fills a character concept niche that's been missing, but I think overall it needs more focus on an intended goal.

Well, I'll see if I can see any differences between them all in better detail whenever I'm home.

The only difference I can see between the Tanker and Scrapper versions while not at home (besides the Taunt) is that the Tanker version's PvE +Def(AoE) activates for 2.25s every 0.5s, while every other effect lasts 0.75s. The Scrapper version's effects are all set to activate for 0.75s every 0.5s. Is it possible that the timing of the +Def(AoE) is throwing off the other effects of the power? If so, you'd only see this have an effect on the Res(Def) in PvE, as the PvP effects (the Def(AoE) again and AoE Elusivity) also activate for 0.75s every 0.5s. Can someone test if the Res(Def) correctly works on a PvP map? Also the Brute version of Evasion is set up for every effect to activate every 2s for 2.25s (instead of every 0.5s for 0.75s like the Scrapper version), except that the AoE Elusivity it gains in PvP only lasts 0.75s, so that is also a bug.

Here's an interesting bit of info: At one point, the plan wasn't to have these kind of generic names that some of the Control and elemental Melee sets have now. Ice Control specifically was at some point called Ice Formation. You can see these names by looking at the internal names of the power icon graphics. Earth Control > Earth Grasp Ice Control > Ice Formation Fire Control > Fire Trap Illusion Control > Illusions Dark Melee > Shadow Fighting Fiery Melee > Fiery Fray Ice Melee > Icy Onslaught Energy Melee > Power Punch I can only assume these were all eventually standardized in order to make it more obvious what they did just by reading their names.

@Super Atomis giving those other names more as examples, rather than saying it now fits because of those two. The name "Shock Therapy" was clever, but the powerset names tend to be a bit more straightforward, as a description for what they do. Shock Therapy as a name follows more like what an actual power would be named. I would expect like an Electric set's heal to be named Shock Therapy, rather than the set itself to be named that. It's the difference between Thermal being called Thermal Radiation or Cauterizing, or Cold being called Cold Domination or Permafrost, sort of thing.

I'd be fine with the name being Electrical Affinity. I like that you can say you're an Elec/Elec Defender/Corruptor/Controller. If a name change is still being considered, what about Static Induction? Ties back to the Static effect of the powers, sounds a bit clever while still having that 'scientific' sounding name to tell you what the set does, and relates to Electrostatic Induction, "a method to create or generate static electricity in a material by bringing an electrically charged object near it."

The set definitely works a lot better with the chaining powers jumping back to the caster, and having the pet so a solo player can use these is a huge help too. Faraday Cage's changes are very welcome. Graphics are easier on the eyes, new duration reduces some of the set's clickiness, and the addition of all damage types makes it feel more unique and less like one of the other Mez Protect toggles just turned in to a location AoE. Shock still feels like I wish it did something else. Perhaps if it gave 2 stacks of Static? Or -Defense or -Resistance? I like Galvanic Sentinel, but I think its effects are just a little too weak. I think it could be improved by an aura that ticks -Endurance/-Recovery on nearby enemies in addition to spamming Discharge. Also, Galvanic Sentinel's Discharge is inheriting Recharge slotted in to the pet summoning power. Probably not intentional.