electric_emu

I spent some time with it on a Sentinel (Storm/Fire) and two Blasters (Storm/Fire and Storm/Martial). Some thoughts: It is a lot of fun and the overall presentation/feel are amazing. Direct Strike/Lightning Strike is one of the coolest looking powers in the game now. Cat 5's intensification fx feel great as well. I love the intensification/storm strength mechanic. It is creative, novel, and very thematically appropriate Also appreciate how the set performs on Sentinels, since you're not quite as hamstrung by lower target caps compared to some other sets. There are a few nits to pick. Hailstones... the chunks of ice are too... blue, I think? They look like what happens when I try to change Ice Swords and have to select an "ice" color myself that ends up looking a bit off. Cloudburst's animation is great but lacks a certain punchiness when it hits. Chain Lightning's animation is weird. I think I'd rather see something closer Electrical Affinity buffs, Electrical Blast's attacks, or simply a ranged Chain Induction. Storm Cell is really tough to keep track of. Happy to see its fx are being tweaked so I won't say much else. I will echo some others and say Storm Cell should have a lower recharge (but keep the duration!). Perma out of the box would be ideal, since the set kind of hobbles when it's not active. Since it's prone to wandering (I think, again it's hard to tell lol), you are still encouraged to replace it occasionally so lots of global recharge or a recharge enhancement aren't wasted and lower level characters get the full benefits as soon as they pick it up.

It is difficult to oversell how nice Combustion is on Tankers now. If you want to maximize Fiery Melee's potential, I think Tanker is the way to go. Tankers don't need Cremate's mitigation and have perfectly serviceable single target options later on. However, despite the changes to power availability the leveling experience is noticeably less pleasant due to limited single target options at lower levels. And it's not like Scrapper/Brute FM is bad.

idk if scaling would even need to be reduced too much if you have to go without an inherent. Inherents put in a lot of work across all archetypes, especially where DPS is concerned.

When the Scrapper ATO (Critical Strikes) triggers, it gives ALL your attacks a 50% chance to crit for the next 5 or so seconds. So you slot it into a power, proc it by using that power (as denoted by a big red "Critical Strikes" over your head) and then go to town. It follows the normal PPM rules, so if you slot it into the right power you have a lot of control over when it triggers but it's not quite as much crit control as Stalkers get. You're still dealing with a 50% chance to actually crit after it triggers, so if your follow up includes a big ST attack you will occasionally be disappointed. It is absolutely glorious when using AoEs though.

Katana's DPS is better, basically. Its powers have some of the quickest cast times of any melee set. Broadword deals more damage per hit, but not nearly enough to make up for how fast Katana is. I imagine the target cap and arc/radius buffs are what allows Tanker Katana to pull even further ahead than Scrapper/Brute Katana. The sets are indeed clones of each other in that their powers follow the same framework (right down to the T9 pseudo-cone). It's the cast time, recharge, and damage that differ and Katana's just, well, better for it.

I used this combo fairly extensively to test the Sent changes on Beta (I was comparing it to my Ice/ Blaster). Highly recommended! Stone is super sturdy and Ice Blast is just good all around.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, my monkey brain lights up when I see a power can take Def Debuff sets. And when I see that I'm doing more damage. On the other, planning a build around aggressively slotting a single (very good) proc is... annoying. Your ability to make use of 6-slot (and sometimes 5-slot) bonuses is hamstrung. If your other powerset is already crunched for slots you'll be feeling it even more. For DPS, I would prefer a simple numbers bump to the set than relying on Achilles Heel. Right now, a fully built FM character feels pretty good. But I don't love that a proc is doing a lot of the work.

I just spent some time testing the on a FF/Seismic Defender. FF holds a special place in my heart as it was my very first level 50 on live, so I was a bit... whelmed when I read the patch notes. However, testing it pleasantly surprised me. Some thoughts: Repulsion Bolt: Works as advertised, but feels a bit "busy" on a Defender (and by extension a Corruptor) that has an entire set of ranged attacks to use. The -Res is quite nice when solo. Ready to ship, I think. Repulsion Field: Controversial, but a worthy replacement for Force Bubble in regular play. I can understand that the loss of Force Bubble is a sore point in the instances it is useful on live. But Repulsion Field does its job very well in standard door missions. The ability to disable the repel with a KB2KD is a nice touch, offering some level of customization that Force Bubble and the live iteration of Repulsion Field lack. It's also nice that Repulsion Field is no longer completely redundant. Force Bomb: I love this power. Excellent debuff, excellent crowd control, and a fantastic place for procs (have you considered renaming it Proc Bomb lol). Unlike Repulsion Bolt, it feels right at home alongside ranged attacks in the blast set, probably thanks to its new speedy cast time. It allows you to soften up a mob, laugh off what's left of the alpha (thanks Dispersion Bubble), and delete a group in short order. Dampening Bubble: I'm on the fence about this. I tested it on "difficult" enemies groups - Carnies and Arachnos - and definitely noticed a difference when it was active vs when it wasn't. But its cooldown and stationary nature make it a bit cumbersome to use. It's not quite ready for every spawn (even when slotted for recharge and a healthy amount of global recharge), but it's also available just often enough that it seems to encourage "casual" use. So it just feels inconsistent, like I'm either spamming it and then don't have it when I need it or saving it and almost never using it. And it's definitely a power that should be carefully deployed. Reducing the effectiveness of debuffs needs to happen before you're debuffed. So it's not like you can "save it for an emergency" because you really should use it proactively. Maybe this is better on a Controller, where you can cycle your mitigation tools (AoE CCs) and Dampening Bubble to effectively handle group after group, but that's not really an option for Defenders and Corruptors for the most part. I would propose either increasing the strength of Dampening Bubble's effects (possibly increasing its recharge to compensate, making it truly a power you "save for the boss"), or making it a toggle (possibly toning down the values a bit, giving you a stable but less potent benefit). As is, it's just kind of unwieldy. The idea overall is good though. Personal Force Field: I'd say leave as is. It's a good escape power and decent mule for uniques. Maybe let it accept resistance sets too? Detention Field: The idea is fine, just needs to not be so punishing to use. I'd suggest what others have: make it a time-limited toggle (max 30s?) so you have the freedom to shut it off. It'd still be a niche power, but much more user-friendly.

Stone/Fire Tanker or Fire/Stone Sentinel, haven't made up my mind. I liked both after messing around with them on beta a bit. I should probably build out a decent Tanker since I haven't found one that really clicks yet (the new power availability will help me not get bored). Also going to see if my Blaster's build needs to be tweaked now that I can ditch Ring of Fire.

I agree. I think Tankers and Defenders are the big winners, insofar as archetype-wide impact. Flexibility in choosing your first power in an armor set isn't meaningful since virtually every build I can think of wants both T1 and T2 sooner or later. This is much less pronounced with Defender primaries, as there are some dud T1s that Corrupters and Controllers may be keen to avoid. But that's an issue with individual sets and even then both powers are usually useful to some extent (like Infrigidate). Blast sets, like many melee sets, typically have a clear winner between T1 and T2, which discourages you from picking the inferior option since higher tier powers will eventually replace one of them in your ST attack chain (why would you take Flares and Fire Blast when you'll eventually be spamming Blaze, Blazing Bolt, and even Fire Ball?). But to the point, the builds I tested on beta (leveling 1 to 15ish with 2XP), this change is amazing. Tankers in particular feel like they can actually do more than just stand around.

Will you at least share the Antarctican mangos?

I've messed around with the set a bit, the changes leave the set in a pretty good place. Especially love the quicker cast time on Combustion, much more satisfying to use! Pure fire damage on the Fire Sword powers is nice too, a great thematic and mechanical change. However, I agree with what others are saying that the other changes aren't in keeping with the "Fire" theme. Fire's "secondary" characteristic is adding damage and that is consistent in every other Fire-themed powerset. On live, Fiery Melee accomplishes this with some unimpressive DoT. So one approach is to just pump the numbers up. Make Fiery Melee the "Fire Blast" of melee sets, basically. Very little utility but loads of damage. Another approach would be to replace Build Up with something like Embrace of Fire from Fiery Assault, but probably restricting its effects to Fiery Melee to avoid the (likely) unwanted buffing of Fiery Aura. And regardless, something needs to be done about Breath of Fire. I get that every version of it is pretty bad, but it's especially pronounced in Fiery Melee on non-Tankers. Fire Blast doesn't need the extra AoE and Fiery Assault has other options in primaries and epics. The simplest change is to just replace it with (new) Combustion on Brutes and Scrappers and possibly Incinerate on Stalkers. Then just let Gauntlet do the work for Tankers. Otherwise, it needs something. A bigger arc or faster cast time, maybe? A useful debuff? Maybe just insane damage to compensate for its long cast time and bad AoE. I could see repurposing it as a toned down Golden Dragonfly/Head Splitter working. Not quite so much damage since animation suggests a range/arc a lot more forgiving than those powers, but something more or less intended for a single target that can pick up a few more with careful positioning.

So I've been comparing an Ice/Stone Sentinel to my live (copied) Ice/Fire Blaster. I've only been running PI Radios, but so far the Blaster is clearing maps a lot faster. Of particular note, the Sent is leaving a lot more lieuts standing around and needing to do more cleanup. Target caps are really noticeable on x8. But even without target caps getting the in the way, the Blaster has an entire secondary set full of tools geared toward doing more damage. Build Up, Hot Feet and FSC are putting in a lot more work than Brimstone's damage proc. And not all Sent secondaries have ways to add damage like Blaster secondaries do. And of course Defiance is doing its thing too. Things got interesting when I turned the difficulty up. For the most part the Blaster is still winning out, but when he slows down it's because he's dead which of course happened more often for him than the Sent. But also not as much as I thought. A lot of Blasters' "toughness" at higher levels comes from their ability to just kill before being killed, even with softcapped s/l/e. The Sent is even slower, which itself has led to a faceplant here and there as tougher enemy groups have more time to do unpleasant things (Carnies amirite). That's all to say that so far, having very unscientifically tested a grand total of two builds, new Sents feel just about right. Their DPS isn't so good that they can frontload alphas and just "out-DPS" enemies that will otherwise stomp them like Blasters can, but their extra durability is enough that they don't need to nearly as much. The trade off feels appropriate, but I'm gonna play around with some other sets before passing final judgment.

Ah okay I see what you mean. My mistake, it seems to be working properly.

For what it's worth, I moved around a bit to see if anything changed further from the ground. I was able to fight mobs at max range (from above) with the buffs still showing. And flying to the top of the map (out of combat) didn't change anything either.

Cleave turning into a bomb is fun. I also like the vacuum. Nice to see Axe differentiated from Mace and, to a lesser extent, Broadsword.

So I was checking on a few things and realized that Stalkers can opt out of Hide now. Which is... hilarious. I imagine almost every well-optimized build would want Hide eventually, but I suppose we can expect a few "Hideless" Stalkers. It might even be attractive on some of the more streamlined Stalker sets (Invuln, for example) if you really want to see your character all the time.

Combat attribute window seems to show all of Terra Firma's buffs applying while flying. Combat log doesn't report any changes when flying versus on the ground either. Not sure if that's the case with other conditional autos as I am not familiar but wanted to point it out. Beyond that, first impression: very sturdy as expected. Seems comparable to the Scrapper and Stalker version. Like the Stalker version, Sent Stone Armor is a lot more endurance friendly without Mud Pots. I am certainly not complaining.

I messed around with the ATO a bit. This appears to be exactly how it works. I had it slotted into Inferno, so it was going off with each use (every 22 seconds-ish on my build). I'm sure it could be better optimized, but seems like it could pretty helpful against AVs, EBs, and monsters with high uptime. Can Vulnerability stack if used by more than one Sent? I have been testing solo.

Wow. First glace this is much, much more friendly to "traditional" leveling. Especially secondary T8 and T9 no longer competing with APP/Patron unlocks not to mention easing the woes of late blooming sets significantly. And then there's now a choice of T1 or T2 in secondaries, which is huge.

I agree, but it's hard to pin down just what level of power boost is appropriate to warrant a crash with an armor set. Your examples of Blaster nukes is a good one, a target-uncapped Inferno is totally worth a crash imo (we're just going to ignore Judgment). But armors? So you get a minute or two of effective immortality. Survivability is easy to come by, relatively speaking. If you show me an Invulnerability character that "needs" to pop Unstoppable I'll show you a bad build and even worse player. Yes, even assuming we're "balanced around SOs." So if you're gonna keep a crash what makes it worth it? I'd say damage. It's a bit antithetical to an armor set, but I'd totally use Unstoppable or whatever with a crash if it made me a wrecking ball (even if the durability aspect were scaled back a bit). Kind of like Rage from Super Strength, but turned up to 11. That is worth being dead if it runs out in the middle of a group of enemies, I think.

Combustion and Consume are indeed skippable. Burn is weird. Some people seem to really like it, but I don't find myself using it that much. Burn wants really to be your first power you use when you jump into melee, that honor should normally go the incredible Fire Sword Circle. By the time you've used FSC (and whatever AoE your primary has), Hot Feet and Cauterizing Aura have already started to scatter whatever is left standing so the burst of damage on Burn's initial cast is mostly lost. And Burn's AoE is fairly small... so it just doesn't seem like it does a whole lot while it runs. Obviously you won't have that problem against a hard target, though. It can help for what I like to think of as survival through chaos. Anything short of an AV/EB is not going to stand there to hit you with Hot Feet AND Burn on them. It does good damage, but FSC does more. And it has mitigation value, but Hot Feet does the job better with its huge range and added slow. I think you can make Burn a decent proc bomb thanks to its higher base recharge, but I haven't tried. My current main is Ice/Fire. I have Burn because it's good place for Obit, but I rarely use it. Sometimes when I miscalculate or the mobs were spread out before I jump in I'll use it for cleanup, but almost never in an "everything else went according to plan" situation.

Definitely agree. Frozen Armor for Corruptors and Defenders would be a nice alternative to Scorpion Shield. I know energy defense is miles ahead of cold resistance in terms of utility, but still. And if I'm being selfish it also helps round out "elemental" themes better, which I am personally a massive sucker for lol

It's great on either. Because EnA is a defense set, a Scrapper and a Brute will have very similar levels of durability while their DPS gap remains the same. On the offensive side, EnA provides +recharge which both archetypes benefit from, as opposed to raw damage bonus in sets like Shield Defense (which Scrappers make better use of). I guess you could say +rech helps a Brute generate Fury more easily, but Fury isn't in short supply even with counterintuitive sets like Ice Armor. With that in mind, from a min/max perspective, I'd lean Scrapper. Higher DPS with a minimal loss of survivability (and still one of the sturdiest Scrappers you can make). But that's also not a compelling reason you shouldn't go Brute either, they can tank a bit better if you're into that thanks to a proper taunt and a stronger taunt aura. I'd go with concept. Characters tend to feel more "smash" or more "scrappy" depending on design, so just go with your gut. You really can't go wrong.

I like BS on a Scrapper or Stalker for big Head Splitter crits. I've tried it on a Brute and it works fine, but the gap with Katana widens somewhat with Kat's superior DPS and easier fury generation. Never tried it on a Tanker. For secondaries, I mained a BS/WP Scrapper for ages on live. Parry compliments WP's layered, regen-focused mitigation incredibly well (and works well thematically as a bonus). For a more modern feel, Bio would probably produce even better results with the added bonus of more damage.