Alchemystic

I wouldn't say so. They may look similar, but they would be different enough to make sure neither are redundant.

Pretty much as it says in the title. Can we get a version of the Warburg Nuke as a permanent addition to our repertoire in the form of an Incarnate Judgement power? It could perhaps be refered to as 'Ballistic Judgement', and perhaps could deal a hybrid of Smashing and Fire damage like most explosives in game, with its secondary effects being split between a Resistance/Defense Debuff, and a powerful Repel effect.

As someone who really likes to delve into conceptualizing new powersets and ancillaries, I have a question for Black Scorpion and Synapse; What powersets were you guys working on that you wish you had a chance to introduce to the playerbase? We know there were plans for 'Wind Control' and a suite of origin power pools, but were there any projects that were in the pipeline that were never fully realized before the game's closure? I also have a semi-related question for Back Alley Brawler and Tunnel Rat; the biggest hurdle for new powersets is the VFX and Animation, which is somewhat of a limiting factor here in Homecoming. Are there any powerset (or incarnate power) concepts you wanted to explore that were unfortunately shelved due to the technical limitations of the time?

Nearing the closure of the game, we saw a large shift towards more traditional MMO models; the inclusion of subscription reward tiers, a more prominent cash store, and a focus on endgame content. What prompted the change in direction to follow after competitors like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic, and was there any apprehension about making such large scale changes to the game after so long?

I quite like what @Jiro Ito did with the Weather Mastery sets, and wanted to try my hand at filling in the gaps in the Storm/Wind based powerset theme and expanding it to Melee, Armor and Assault (We already have Storm Blast, Wind Control is in a weird limbo, and Storm Manipulation is something I've explored before). Wind Melee The idea for Wind Melee is to have a good mix of Smashing and Lethal damage, and using a lot of the 'fwooshy' animations to emulate the nature of wind. To do that, I picked out a few powers from Kinetic Melee to work as a template, and took inspiration from other Melee sets that incorporated summoned weapons to also utilize the fwooshy swordplay of Dual Blades into it. - Wind Strike: Basic Smashing melee power, using Kinetic Melee's 'Quick Strike' animation with whirling FX on the hand - Vortex Blow: Moderate Smashing melee power, using the 'Body Blow' animation from Kinetic melee with stronger whirling hand FX - Air Blades: Heavier Lethal melee power. Uses the 'Ablating Strike' Dual Blades power with two 'Fire and Ice Elemental' swords as the FX - Build Up: Standard Build Up power / - Taunt/Placate: Standard aggro management power - Assassin's Zephyr: Special Stalker attack with massive Smashing damage. Same animation as Kinetic Melee's 'Assassin's Strike', but with a projectile similar to 'Gust' from Storm Blast - Blade Cyclone: PBAoE Lethal/Smashing attack. Uses the 'Typhoon's Edge' animation with Elemental swords, with a Tornado FX around the player (Not available to Stalkers) - Wind Blades: A heavier version of Air Blades, using the 'Vengeful Slice' Dual Blades animation with Elemental swords - Vacuum Strike: A powerful Smashing melee attack cusing Kinetic Melee's 'Concentrated Strike' animation, with strong wind FX around the character - Shearing Winds: Ranged cone Lethal DoT power using Elemental Swords, uses the unique 'Air Cutter' FX belonging to Syndicate (One Thousand Cuts, but with longer range) Storm Assault: Storm Assault was fairly simple when you have a Blast and Melee powerset ready to go. For this, I opted not to use the blade powers from Wind Melee and instead opted to keep it to smashing damage instead, as there was already a lot of Smashing, Cold and Energy in the mix, and a fourth damage type may make it seem a bit of a mess. - Gust: Taken from Storm Blast, works as the first ranged power of the set - Vortex Blow: See above, works as the initial melee power - Jet Stream: Another Storm Blast power, though with smaller range - Hailstones: A more powerful Storm blast power, building the ranged element of the set - Build Up: Standard Build Up power - Thunder Clap: A power from Storm Summoning, repurposed as an AoE attack - Direct Strike: Another Storm Blast power, working as a long range sniper attack - Vacuum Strike: See above, works as a more powerful damage power for the set - Cloudburst: Taken from Storm Blast, working as the T9 high damage power Storm Aura: Armor powersets are a little easier to work with. Animations are simple and FX is a bit less tricky, so making a Storm Aura wouldn't bee too hard, especially with so much FX existing already. For this, I wanted to go for a damage based defense set, similar to Ice or Stone, with the usual trappings like personal healing, AoE effects, and some good utility. - Wind Shield: Uses a windy FX on the player body. Grants defense against Smashing, Lethal, Fire and Toxic damage, and resistance to ToHit and Perception debuffs - Stormcloud: Uses the 'Cloud and Lightning' path aura FX, dealing energy DoT in a PBAoE field (Not available to Stalkers or Sentinels) - O2 Saturation: Uses the 'O2 Boost' FX on the player, healing them and giving a boost to recovery for a short time - Temperature Protection: Same power from Fiery Aura, providing an autopower with resistance to Fire, Cold, Slow and Knockback - Climate Change: Uses the 'Benumb' FX from Cold Domination on the player body. Grants protection against Immobilize, Hold, Stun, Sleep, and Repel for a short duration - Mist Cloak: Uses the same FX as 'Steamy Mist', but on the player only. Provides stealth and grants small defense to Melee, Ranged and AoE (Stalkers get Hide at T1 instead) - Air Pressure: Autopower for Stalkers and Sentinels. Grants defense to Melee, Ranged and AoE - Storm Shield: Uses the 'Thunderhead' aura FX on the player body. Grants defense against Cold, Energy and Negative damage, and resistance to teleport and -endurance debuffs - Vortex: Creates a small 'Tornado' FX on the player. Draws enemies closer and reduces their ToHit and Defense. Stalkers and Sentinels get a version that repels instead - Microclimate: Uses a mixture of Storm Blast's 'Gust' and 'Intensify' FX on player. Grants a large boost to Positional Defense and Damage Resistance for a short time

Both Strength Manipulation and Blade Manipulation have been added to the list! Always happy to see more contributions from you guys 😊 On the topic of Manipulation and Assault powersets, I'll take a stab at using some of the stuff from Spirit Blast and Spirit Control to try and make some too, and further expand the theme! Spirit Manipulation - Spirit Binding: A single target immobilize power dealing light Negative DoT, using a single 'Soul Tentacles' FX on target - Torment: Standard melee attack with Soul Mastery FX on hands, target briefly has the Illusion Control 'Spectral Wounds' FX - Gravesite: PBAoE toggle that deals Negative DoT. Uses the 'Ghosts' aura on player with 'Cloak of Fear' FX - Sepulchre: A single target hold power that deals Negative DoT, uses 'Soul Storm' FX, including the levitation animation - Build Up: Standard Build Up power - Ghostly Form: A power that grants invisibility to the user, as well as regeneration and recovery. Uses the 'Shadow Meld' FX - Spirit Nexus: PBAoE Damage power, uses a large 'Soul Storm' FX on player with a growing 'Spectral Wall' FX from Illusion Control - Exorcise: Heavy Melee power, with Soul Mastery FX on hands, while target has the 'Soul Storm' FX momentarily. Deals bonus damage to Undead - Mass Sepulchre: An AoE version of Sepulchre Spirit Assault - Spirit Blast: Minor damage blast power using Soul Mastery's 'Dark Blast' FX - Torment: Standard melee attack with Soul Mastery FX on hands, target briefly has the Illusion Control 'Spectral Wounds' FX - Ghostly Bolt: Blast power with more damage that uses Soul Mastery's 'Gloom' FX - Spectral Barrage: Cone attack power that uses Soul Mastery's 'Night Fall' FX - Build Up: Standard Build Up power - Spirit Nexus: PBAoE Damage power, uses a large 'Soul Storm' FX on player with a growing 'Spectral Wall' FX from Illusion Control - Grave Lance: Long range sniper power using Soul Mastery's 'Moonbeam' FX - Exorcise: Heavy Melee power, with Soul Mastery FX on hands, while target has the 'Soul Storm' FX momentarily. Deals bonus damage to Undead - Spectral Ray: A powerful ranged power that uses the same FX as Soul Mastery's 'Dark Obliteration', though without the AoE.

@megaericzero I think pretty much any Melee set would be viable as a Blaster Secondary! I know @Normal Thomas had a go at porting Super Strength to Blasters some time ago, which you can find here; I like the Power Toss and Rage ideas, it definitely helps move it into the direction of a Manipulation set instead of a Melee one. I would maybe give 'Challenge' a +endurance or +recovery effect to help push it more in that direction.

There's been a few discussions on the subject of changing weapon sets like Archery or Assault Rifle into other weapons or devices, such as a Bow into a Crossbow, or a Rifle into two SMGs, or even turning any of these weapons into grenades or other throwing weapons. From what I understand, Weapon powersets are pretty hard-coded to only ever be those weapons, and it's nigh impossible to change it. Plus, the amount of effort it takes to change these things (animations, FX, etc.) is almost as much work as starting from scratch, so most times they just make it a whole different powerset instead.

So I was originally going to make a separate thread for this, but I remember hearing from one of the older developers that making alternate FX for powers (like we see with dark's Soil Noir customisation) is actually about the same amount of work as making a new powerset entirely. I was pondering how it might be possible to add a 'Soul Mastery' FX style for Dark Blast and Dark Control, as a lot of the powers appear to have a Soul Mastery variation, but I think it may be possible to instead turn it into something new. So to that end, I want to use the Soul Mastery FX to create new powersets, starting with 'Spirit Blast' and 'Spirit Control'. To make these powersets stand out from Dark powers, they instead deal hybrid damage in the form of Negative/Psionic, and have a minor -Mez Resist effectinstead of -ToHit. Instead of the purple/gold coloration, these powers will instead be dark teal/mint green in color. Spirit Blast - Spirit Blast: Minor damage blast power using Soul Mastery's 'Dark Blast' FX - Ghostly Bolt: Blast power with more damage that uses Soul Mastery's 'Gloom' FX - Spectral Barrage: Cone attack power that uses Soul Mastery's 'Night Fall' FX - Medium: Standard Aim power, but also increases the -Mez Resist effect on powers. Briefly cover's the user's body in the 'Shadow Meld' FX - Grave Lance: Long range sniper power using Soul Mastery's 'Moonbeam' FX - Spirit Binds: A cone immobilize power that deals Negative DoT, using the same FX as 'Soul Tentacles' - Ghostly Ray: A powerful ranged power that uses the same FX as Soul Mastery's 'Dark Obliteration', though without the AoE. - Spectral Burst: A heavy AoE power that uses the same FX as Soul Mastery's 'Dark Obliteration' - Grave Call: A massive PBAoE DoT attack that uses a smaller version of the 'Void' Judgement FX, with affected targets swarmed with the 'Soul Storm' FX Spirit Control - Spirit Binding: A single target immobilize power dealing light Negative DoT, using a single 'Soul Tentacles' FX on target - Sepulchre: A single target hold power that deals Negative DoT, uses 'Soul Storm' FX, including the levitation animation - Spirit Binds: A cone immobilize power that deals Negative DoT, using the same FX as 'Soul Tentacles' - Possess: Same power from Dark Control, but using the 'Soul Storm' FX on the target's head - Spectral Form: A power that grants invisibility to the user. Uses the 'Shadow Meld' FX. If outside of combat, also grants intangibility - Spirit World: An AoE intangible power that works much like 'Dimension Shift', creates a giant ring with similar FX to Illusion Control's 'Spectral Wall' - Coalescence: Pet power that uses defeated foes to summon wispy Soul entities per target that fly towards enemies and explode with Negative damage - Mass Sepulchre: An AoE version of Sepulchre - Revenants: Similar power to 'Haunt', but summons three entities and gives them 'Spirit Blast' as an extra power

Decided to have a stab at this myself so I'll crosspost it here; https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13484-eco-friendly-powerset-recycling/?do=findComment&comment=625771 (few other MM powersets in there too!)

Gonna try my hand at an NPC themed Mastermind primary similar to the previous Carnival Mastermind suggestion. For this one, I wanted to look into one of my favorite factions; Vahzilok. One of my characters was a Necromancy/Traps mastermind that tried to emulate the Vahzilok theme, but I feel that the Necromancy henchmen just don't quite cut it. However, I do want to make the henchmen a little more distinct so that they stand out compared to normal Vahzilok mobs, and also make the theme more accessible. Biomechanics: - Charged Bolts: Same power from Electrical Blast, serving as the basic attack power of the set. - Constructs: Summons up to 3 minions. These minions look like Vahzilok Cadavers, but with bolts in their neck and the Exposed Brain hair style. Basic Powers: Zombie Brawl, Resistance (Toxic, Energy, Smashing, Sleep, Fear) Augment Powers: Zombie Vomit, Projectile Vomit Upgrade Powers: Static Discharge, Charged Zombie Brawl (Replaces Zombie Brawl) - Lightning Bolt: Another power from Electrical Blast, funcioning as the higher damage blast power of the set. - Augment Minions: First upgrade power for minions. Adds Exposed Brain w/ Wires hair style and Dr. Kane style torso implants (see below). - Ball Lightning: Another Electrical Blast power, working as the set's AoE attack power. - Abominations: Summons up to 2 greater minions. These minions look like Vahzilok Abominations, but with bolts in their neck and the Exposed Brain hair style. Basic Powers: Charged Zombie Brawl, Jacob's Ladder, Projectile Vomit, Resistance (Toxic, Energy, Smashing, Sleep, Fear) Augment Powers: Zombie Vomit, Bile Spray, Havoc Punch Upgrade Powers: Short Circuit, Thunder Strike, Dynamo - Overclock: Unique power that gives a single minion a significant boost to damage, recharge and recovery. The minion takes damage over time and if it is defeated it self-destructs. - Golem: Summons a single powerful minion. The minion looks like a scaled down version of Dr. Kane's 'Abomination' monster boss, but lacking as many implants at first. Basic Powers: Havoc Punch, Static Discharge, Shock, Resistance (Toxic, Energy, Smashing, Sleep, Fear) Augment Powers: Thunder Strike, Short Circuit, Tesla Cage Upgrade Powers: Foot Stomp, Ball Lightning, Hurl - Upgrade Minions: Second upgrade power for minions. Adds 'Electricity' aura and Dr. Kane-style metalic hands to all minions (see below). (From left to right; Construct, Abomination and Golem)

Since I've already made an Assault powerset, might as well put in the rest of the effort and build a Blast and Melee powerset out of it, 70% of the work has already been done after all! And while I'm at it I might as well try my hand at an Aura/Armor powerset so the Illusion theme is present in every powerset category. Illusory Blast: Using some of the material from Illusory Assault, I decided to flesh out the idea of a blast powerset. To round out the powers, I borrowed some themes from other sources, such as the ravens seen in Savage Assault/Beast Mastery, reimagining them as doves to play into the Illusionist theme. - Glance: Weaver version of Spectral Wounds. Lacks as much skull FX and has a quicker attack animation. Deals Psionic/Negative damage - Spectral Wounds: Taken from Illusion Control. Isn't available to Dominators so works well here. Now does Psionic/Negative damage. - Conjuration: Similar power to Call Ravens/Unkindness. Summons illusionary doves to deal Psionic/Lethal damage. They are colored white instead of black and have a Fireworks FX. - Aim: Standard Aim power. - Prestidigitation: AoE power that uses the 'Murder of Crows' costume change emote, though colored white like Conjuration. Has 'Fireworks' FX too. - Phantom Pain: Heavier version of Specral Wounds. Uses same FX with the 'Cloak of Fear' FX layered over it, and uses a different attack animation. Deals Psionic/Negative - Figmentation: Creates a field that deals psionic DoT and slows enemies down. Uses 'Spectral Wall' FX on a larger scale. - Bolide: Similar power to 'Flash', except it Stuns instead of Holds. Uses similar FX and leaves the 'Fireworks' FX on the eyes. - Spectacle: A heavy AoE power that uses the 'Gleam' FX with 'Fireworks' going off everywhere. Deals massive Psionic damage and may Stun. Illusory Melee: Building on the melee theme I used in Illusion Manipulation and Illusory Assault wasn't easy, even with some of the powers already conceptualised. The idea was to include a lot of misdirection in the powerset, and figured playing up the 'mirror clone' idea would work well here. - Flinch: Uses the 'Initial Strike' animation to do two attacks. First deals psionic, the second deals smashing. Uses the fist FX of 'Mental Strike' on the first blow. - Feint: Uses the 'Barrage' animation to do two attacks, much like Flinch. Deals greater psionic/smashing damage. Uses 'Mental Strike' the fist FX on the first blow. - Feign Strikes: Cone melee power that uses the animation and FX of 'Flurry'. Deals alternating psionic and smashing damage. - Assassin's Deception: Unique Stalker attack, uses the Martial Arts Assassin's Blow animation, but with the 'Mental Strike' fist FX. - Build Up: Standard Build Up power. - Taunt/Placate: Stabdard Taunt/Placate power. Uses the 'Fireworks' aura as a special effect. - Legerdemain: A defensive attack that works like Parry/Divine Avalance. uses the 'Body Blow' animation from Kinetic Melee, with 'Glowing Aura' and 'Fairy Dust' FX on the arms. Deals light Psionic damage. - Misdirect: PBAoE melee power, uses 'Spring Attack' animation. Also summons a mirror copy to do the 'Dragon's Tail' animation while you are in the air. Deals psionic/smashing damage. (Not available to Stalkers) - Sleight of Hand: An attack that uses the 'Smashing Blow' animation from Kinetic Melee, with Fairy Dust/Glowing Aura FX on the arms. Deals heavy Psionic damage - Bait and Switch: Special teleport attack. uses the 'Shield Charge' animation, first sending a mirror copy to deal psionic damage, then following up yourself with smashing. Illusory Armor: Armor is typically a little easier to work with, all you really need is a few auras and FX, the harder part is making it stand out from the others in terms of playstyle. Illusory Armor is a mix of Dark Armor and Super Reflexes, creating a Defense based set with supportive abilities. - Spectral Shield: Melee Defense toggle that also increases resistance to Smashing/Lethal slightly. Uses the standard 'Glowing Aura' FX. - Myopic Blur: Ranged/AoE Defense toggle that also grants resistance to Defense debuffs. Uses the same aura as 'Prestige Power Dash'. - Illusive: Autopower that increases Resistance to Psionics, Negative and Energy damage, as well as granting protection to Taunt, Confuse, Placate, -ToHit and -Perception effects. - Houdini: A click power that grants protection against Hold, Immobilize, Slow, Sleep and Stun, and minor resistance to Cold, Fire and Toxic. Uses the same FX as 'Practiced Brawler'. - Obfuscation: Autopower that increases Defense to all damage types and increases Perception. - Invisibility: A stealth power that increases defense slightly. Uses the same FX as Superior Invisibility. (Stalkers get Hide at T1 instead) - Terror: Same functionality as 'Cloak of Fear'. Uses the same aura 'Spectral Terror' has. - Sleepwalk: AoE toggle that causes foes to fall asleep and suffer a speed debuff. has a heavy 'Fairy Dust' FX, and uses the same FX on the enemy's eyes when asleep. - Decoy: Summons a single Decoy. It looks identical to the 'Mirror' version of Phantom Army, but it's only abilities are an AoE taunt and intangibility. Also has a fireworks aura and plays taunt/mocking animations for effect.

@megaericzero I like the look of this! Follows the Assault powerset format quite well, and makes good use of existing powers. My only notes would be to have 'Pistols' as the initial ranged power, and swap 'Empty Clips' for 'Dual Wield' as you have two cone attacks, although some Assault sets are known to break this room by using a cone power at T9.

Looking at what @ironjoe suggested, I wonder if it would be possible to expand the phantoms/illusionist theme? Currently we have Illusion Control (as well as ironjoe's Carnival MM set), but no direct pairing in terms of secondaries. So with that in mind, I wanna try and expand the 'Illusion' powers theme a little, starting with a support powerset and an assault powerset. I've tried my hand at making an Illusion Manipulation set for Blasters, so I'll be using some material from that to assist with the ideas here. Illusion Projection: Illusion Projection focuses on a good mix of buffs, debuffs and light mez. It also borrows powers from Dominator's version of Illusion Control so Controllers arent missing out. The main theme of this set is position; whether covering your own or drawing the enemy out of theirs. - Vertigo: Single target immobilize power. Identical to Dominator's 'Spectral Wall', but does not deal damage. - Glimmer: AoE power that lowers ToHit and Perception. Uses the same FX as 'Flash' but centered on the target, as well as using the 'Fireworks' eye aura on affected targets. - Distract: AoE field that reduces enemy Defense and Range while Taunting them towards it (like Omega Manuever) Creates a visual burst similar to the 'Fireworks' aura. - Shroud: AoE toggle that grants Stealth and Defense to self and allies. Uses same stealth FX as 'Group Invisibility', but with a 'Fairy Dust' aura to display radius. - Distortion: AoE toggle that grants Defense and Absorb-Over-Time. Uses similar FX to 'Glowing Aura' and small refracting 'Gleam' FX on affected targets - Mirage: A PBAoE power that Placates foes and debuffs their Defense and Mez Resistance briefly. Similar FX to 'Smoke Flash' and 'Fairy Dust' - Dazzle: Ranged AoE disorient power. Identical to Dominator's 'Gleam', but does not deal damage. - Decoy: Summons a single Decoy. It looks identical to the 'Mirror' version of Phantom Army, but it's only abilities are an AoE taunt and intangibility. Also has a fireworks aura and plays taunt/mocking animations for effect. - Dreamscape: AoE field that makes all targets intangible. Causes Sleep to proc over on foes. Similar FX to 'Fade' but no eye aura and a heavy field of 'Fairy Dust' to mark the area. Illusory Assault: Illusory Assault focuses on dealing psionic damage, but also mixes in either negative or smashing. Ranged attacks will deal some negative damage to the foes along with their attacks, while melee powers deliver two strikes; one psionic, then one physical. - Glance: Weaver version of Spectral Wounds. Lacks as much skull FX and has a quicker attack animation. Deals Psionic/Negative damage - Flinch: Uses the 'Initial Strike' animation to do two attacks. First deals psionic, the second deals smashing. Uses the fist FX of 'Mental Strike' on the first blow. - Spectral Wounds: Taken from Illusion Control. Isn't available to Dominators so works well here. Now does Psionic/Negative damage. - Feint: Uses the 'Barrage' animation to do two attacks, much like Flinch. Deals greater psionic/smashing damage. Uses 'Mental Strike' the fist FX on the first blow. - Build Up: Standard Build Up power. - Feign Strikes: Cone melee power that uses the animation and FX of 'Flurry'. Deals alternating psionic and smashing damage. - Figmentation: Creates a field that deals psionic DoT and slows enemies down. Uses 'Spectral Wall' FX on a larger scale. - Misdirect: PBAoE melee power, uses 'Spring Attack' animation. Also summons a mirror copy to do the 'Dragon's Tail' animation while you are in the air. Deals psionic/smashing damage. - Phantom Pain: Heavier version of Specral Wounds. Uses same FX with the 'Cloak of Fear' FX layered over it, and uses a different attack animation. Deals Psionic/Negative

Nice to see more Mastermind sets being suggested! I know 'clown summoning' was a popular gag back in the day, but nice to see it realized as more than just an april fools joke 🙂