Alchemystic

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Following on from another thread that popped up recently, I decided to try and adapt some material from the 'Water Control' powerset earlier in the thread to try and make 'Water Manipulation', so we had more powersets with cold damage, especially secondaries. I know @oedipus_tex made a great Water Assault set, so I'm hoping to expand on that with some custom melee powers that could work with that suggestion too. Water Manipulation - Sink: A single target immobilize power, deals smashing/cold DoT. Forms a smaller version of the 'Whirpoool' FX on the target's legs. - Hydro Slam: A moderate smashing/cold melee attack that uses the animation of Kinetic Melee's 'Body Blow' with water FX on the hands - Submerge: Suspends a foe in a bubble of water, dealing high smashing/cold DoT. Foes are held in the same (albeit larger) water bubble FX created by 'Hydro Blast' - Build Up: Standard build up power - Mist Cloud: This power is functionally identical to 'Smoke' from Fire Control, but creates an aura of mist rather than smoke on each foes' head. - Saturation: A toggle power that grants regeneration, recovery, as well as resistance to fire and toxic damage. Similar FX to the droplets from 'Wet Ice' - Aqua Burst: A new smashing/cold PBAoE melee power with knockup potential. Uses the same animation of Kinetic Melee's 'Burst', forming a globe of water before slamming it down with the FX of 'Water Burst' - Aqua Globe: Creates a much larger water bubble. Targets in the bubble (including allies) will hover, but with the swimming animation. Foes will be slowed with reduced maneuverability and defense. - Pressure Blast: A heavy cold/smashing melee power that uses the same animation as 'Energy Transfer', with similar water FX to 'Tidal Forces' on the arms.

I'd say make some more NPCs and give them access to powers from Water Blast. More Coralax maybe? Water themed Outcasts and Circle Mages? Maybe even Tsoo and Banished Pantheon bosses?

I've considered using some of the stuff from Peacebringers and Warshades, but I wouldn't want to take something that is intended to be unique to a certain archetype with some pretty heavy lore behind it. That being said, since there are some enemy types (such as the Drudges and Galaxy Soldiers) that make use of several attacks belonging to Kheldians, I guess the cat might already be out of the bag on that one. It might be possible to create complete powersets from the materials from Peacebringers and Warshades, but the issue is designing them in such a way that it doesn't just invalidate Kheldians altogether. Reusing the FX however, is still entirely on the table.

@Piecemeal if you ever get chance, theres plenty of plausible powerset ideas put forward by myself and the community in the Eco-Friendly Powerset Recycling thread! It's popped up a few times in Weekly Discussions, back when they were a regular thing, and has been an ongoing thread for over a year and a half! (Earth Blast was actually one of the powersets that kicked things off 😅 )

On the subject of toxic damage, how about some toxic themed ancillaries? Or... well, a little toxic damage at least. I noticed that we're currently lacking something in the Radiation department for ancillaries, and there's plenty of powers to play with since the addition of the Radiation Melee, Armor and Manipulation powersets. Radiation Mastery - Blaster/Mastermind - Ground Zero: An AoE debuff with some nice ally buff too - Proton Sweep: A close range cone power much like Static Discharge - Alpha Barrier: A personal protective power common to most ancillaries - Radiation Therapy: A self heal power seems fitting, as well as a little more damage - EM Pulse: Similar to EM pulse from Electric Mastery, so works nicely here Atom Mastery - Controller/Dominator / - X-Ray Beam/Ground Zero: A ranged attack for Controllers, and an AoE Debuff power for Dominators - Neutron Bomb: An AoE damage attack not uncommon for Controller/Dominator ancillaries. - Alpha Barrier: A personal protective power common to most ancillaries /- Devastating Blow/Accelerate Metabolism: A heavy melee attack for Controllers and the usual team buff for Dominators - Radiation Therapy: A self heal power that works nicely as a capstone power Nuclear Mastery - Defender/Corruptor - Electron Shackles: An immobilize power that seems common to ancillaries of this type - Alpha Barrier: A personal protective power common to most ancillaries - Positron Cell: A powerful hold that seems suitable here - Radiation Therapy: A self heal power seems fitting, as well as a little more damage - Devastating Blow: A heavy melee attack works nicely here Atomic Mastery - Scrapper/Stalker/Tanker/Brute - Electron Shackles: An immobilize power that seems common to ancillaries of this type - X-Ray Beam: A good ranged attack that works nicely here - Positron Cell: A powerful hold that seems suitable here - Neutron Bomb: An AoE damage attack as seen in most ancillaries for melee archetypes - Radiation Infection: A debuff power not unlike Darkest Night from Dark Mastery Radioactive Mastery - Sentinel - Electron Bonds: An AoE version of Electron Shackles, fitting in with other Sentinel ancillaries - Radioactive Smash: A simple melee power common to Sentinel ancillaries - Positron Cell: A powerful hold that seems suitable here - Atom Smasher: An AoE melee attack similar to other ancillaries - Radiant Aura: An AoE heal power that seems to be common for these ancillaries

Yeahhh... I think judging by overall response and the fact two different GMs have said this is unlikely to happen, I think we've passed "wasting people's time" now.

I don't see how this has anything to do with levels or zones, I think you're being a bit facetious here in hopes to undermine the greater argument. Sure there are things that warp the suspension of disbelief, but I'm not talking about CoH's attempt to rationalise game mechanics, I'm talking about how levels and zones were designed in such a way to make you feel rewarded for progressing. 1-50 zones ultimately diminish that, theres no sense of progress, it turns CoH into every other MMO; a pointless grind.

I'm interested

City zones were always intended to work as chapters in a character's career, making Kallisti a 1-50 zone means that a character could spend his whole career fighting the same fight and never really make an impact. There's a reason why theres a narrative element to security/threat level, and we used to see a lot of dialogue referencing it, but removing the concept of level-restricted access to one zone would invalidate the need for it in all other zones, and ultimately diminish the rationale behind security/threat level to begin with. With that in mind, I think it's completely the right call keeping Kallisti a 40-50 zone.

oh hey, I suggested this not too long ago too

PROTECTOR The protector is a highly adaptive defensive archetype, ready to lead the charge into the fray while defending both his allies and himself. The Protector's primary focus is shielding the team, and can adjust his approach to combat to better coordinate with his allies. Primary: Protection Secondary: Assault Ancillaries: Control & Ranged AoE Survivability: 7 Melee Damage: 4 Ranged Damage: 4 Crowd Control: 3 Support: 7 Pets: 2 Inherent: Unity - When a Protector is nearby his allies, he will receive a scaling endurance discount on all of his protective auras. The more allies that are nearby the greater this discount will be. In addition, depending on what archetypes his nearby allies are, he will receive an Accuracy and ToHit buff for his ranged or melee powers. (Melee - Scrapper, Stalker, Tanker, Brute, Warden. Ranged - Defender, Corruptor, Controller, Mastermind, Sentinel. Melee & Ranged - Protector, Blaster, Dominator, Peacebringer, Warshade, Arachnos Soldier, Arachnos Widow) Powerset: Protection 1 - AoE Armor toggle: This initial power acts much like an Armor power, but also grants the armor to nearby allies as well. Typically a resistance/defense power for smashing and lethal. 2 - Autopower: A simple autopower that will act as a baseline protection for the player. It could be as simple as a resistance power, or a +MaxHP power as seen in armor powersets. 3 - AoE Heal, Buff or Debuff: Similar to support sets like Empathy, Pain, Thermal and so on... a simple AoE Heal power or similar effect helps keep both you and your allies alive. 4 - Second AoE Armor toggle: Just as above, filling in resistance/defense power for fire, cold, energy and negative. 5 - AoE Damage/Debuff Power: Much like many armor and manipulation sets, having access to an AoE damage or debuff power helps keep on the pressure. 6 - AoE Mez Protection: A Click power that grants mez protection to yourself and nearby allies for a short while, definitely needed to keep the fight going. 7 - Self Heal/Buff: A little more in the way of personal survival could do well here, allowing you to keep yourself alive so you can continue to support your allies. 8 - AoE Debuff Power: Like before, another debuff power would do wonders to keep the enemy at bay, ensuring that you and your teammates have an easier time in the fight. 9 - AoE Mega Buff/Debuff: As the capstone ability of this powerset, something with high power and long cooldown is likely best here, whether it's a buff or debuff. Examples: Fiery Protection - Flame Ward: A hybridisation of Fire Shield and Thermal Shield - Temperature Protection: Same power that belongs to Fiery Aura - Warmth: Same power that belongs to Thermal Radiation - Blazing Aura: Same power that belongs to Fiery Aura - Plasma Ward: A hybridisation of both forms of Plasma Shield - Thawing Heat: A PBAoE version of Thaw - Healing Flames: Same power that belongs to Fiery Aura - Consume: Same power that belongs to Fiery Aura - Melting Blast: A PBAoE version of Melt Armor Icy Protection - Ice Ward: A hybridisation of Ice Shield and Frozen Armor - Permafrost: Same power that belongs to Ice Armor - Chilling Embrace: Same power that belongs to Ice Armor - Icicles: Same power that belongs to Ice Armor - Glacial Ward: A hybridisation of Glacial Shield and Glacial Armor - Black Ice: A PBAoE version of Wet Ice - Hoarfrost: Same power that belongs to Ice Armor - Energy Absorption: Same power that belongs to Ice Armor - Heat Drop: A PBAoE version of Heat Loss WARDEN The Warden is an expert at close ranged crowd control, able to enter the fray and take on the worst of the assault. While the Warden lacks in damage, he is capable of locking down multiple foes and keep them from escaping Primary: Defense Secondary: Grapple Ancillaries: Ranged & Debuff Survivability: 10 Melee Damage: 6 Ranged Damage: 2 Crowd Control: 6 Support: 3 Pets: 2 Inherent: Lockdown - The Warden is a crowd controlling powerhouse. The more enemies surrounding the Warden, the greater the capacity of his crowd control powers; cones will be wider, spheres larger, and chains reaching further away. When there are fewer enemies surrounding the Warden, he will instead receive an increase to the accuracy and magnitude of his crowd control abilities. Powerset: Grapple 1 - Melee Stun/Sleep/Immobilize/Fear: The initial power in this type of powerset is a melee verison of a typical single target mez effect, most commonly and immobilize or stun, but sometimes a fear or sleep effect. 2 - Melee: The secondary power in these powersets is a basic attack power. Most of these can be borrowed from existing melee powersets and would act as a damage focused power. 3 - Melee Cone/Chain: A little AoE potential added to the mix in order to ensure that the Warden can aggro enough enemies to pull into a close enough proximity, ready to deliver his mez powers. 4 - AoE Taunt: An AoE taunt not unlike Tankers and Brutes, allowing the Warden more control over the mob and making it easier to herd them into a close group. 5 - Power Build Up: A variation of the standard Build Up power that also increases the effectiveness of seocndary effects, such as mez, buff and debuff, for a short duration. 6 - AoE Melee: Some more AoE potential in order to properly handle the larger mobs the Warden may face, while ensuring that he retains the aggro of a group. 7 - Melee Hold: A simple hold power that is delivered at melee range, allowing the Warden to completely contain the threat of one particular enemy while he deals with the rest of the mob. 8 - AoE Stun/Sleep/Immobilize/Fear: An AoE version of the powerset's initial power, allowing the Warden to contain a large mob and prevent them from escaping. 9 - AoE Hold: The Warden's capstone power, allowing him to potentially lock down a large mob and prevent them from being able to fight back, ensuring that he can better focus on more imposing targets nearby. Examples: Fiery Grapple - Singe: A melee version of Ring of Fire - Scorch: Same power that belongs to Fiery Melee - Breath of Fire: Same power that belongs to Fiery Melee - Taunt: Same power that belongs to Fiery Melee - Power Build Up: Standard boost power for the set - Combustion: Same power that belongs to Fire Manipulation - Smog Strike: A melee version of Char - Inferno: A melee version of Fire Cages - Cinders: Same power that belongs to Fire Control Icy Grapple - Snowplow: A melee version of Chilblain - Frozen Fists: Same power that belongs to Ice Melee - Frost: Same power that belongs to Ice Melee - Taunt: Same power that belongs to Ice Melee - Power Build Up: Standard boost power for the set - Ice Patch: Same power that belongs to Ice Melee - Freezing Touch: Same power that belongs to Ice Melee - Creeping Ice: A melee version of Frostbite - Glacier: Same power that belongs to Ice Control

I'm mostly thinking QOL for PvP and Teaming, as well as for people like me who forget what Patrons they're running sometimes.

This is probably a tiny hangup of mine but it's a bit strange seeing all the Patron Powers share the same coloration. That'd be fine, if it wasn't for the fact so many of the powers actually share the same icons too. Maybe giving them their own color schemes might help identify just what powers are being used, so perhaps something like this; Mu Mastery - Mace Mastery - Leviathan Mastery - Soul Mastery - (yes I did just increase hue by 90 each time but it turned out pretty good I guess)

Still, some pretty cool implications! The teasers show us Warriors in Kallisti, and these same trucks make an appearance too... perhaps we're seeing potential plot hooks for Kallisti content? Goldbrickers vs Warriors? They both have some curious ties... They both have references to Greek mythology, and both appear to be interested in stealing/smuggling artifacts... not to mention Kallisti itself refers to the old tale of the Golden Apples of Discord.

Hmm, I just noticed this in Kallisti Wharf too. (coordinates are 275.2 58.0 4174.5) ....curious 🤔

I also quickly cobbled together a working version of 'Toxin Assault' too, and did a slight revision to the Toxin Manipulation powerset I did some time ago to reflect these changes. Toxin Assault You are able to produce a variety of vile concoctions and project them at your foes. Toxin Assault focuses on dealing toxic damage, and delivers weakening poisons that reduce regeneration, or corrosive substances that erode defenses. - Venom: A simple minor toxic quick damage power. Uses the FX of the Snake's 'Venom Spit' power - Poison Touch: A moderate toxic damage melee attack that reduces regeneration. Uses the 'Freezing Touch' animation with standard poison FX - Poisonous Spray: A cone damage power with a heavier -regen debuff. Uses the same FX as the Snake's 'Venomous Spray' power - Toxic Bolt: A moderate toxic damage ranged power with a -regen debuff. Uses the 'Venom Bolt' projectile from Arachnobots - Toxins: A special version of Build Up that works like the Plant Manipulation power of the same name, and similar to 'Envenomed Blades' from Martial Assault. - Poison Burst: A PBAoE Melee attack that deals moderate damage and reduces regeneration, uses the same explosive visuals as Plant Control's 'Spore Burst' - Corrosive Slick: A power that delivers a toxic DoT field and reduces defense. Uses the puddle FX from Experimentation's 'Corrosive Vail' power, but delivered by Poison's 'Alkaloid' projectile instead - Acid Burst: A close range cone attack that delivers high toxic DoT over a short range and reduces defense. Uses the same FX as DUST's 'Toxic Burst' power. - Caustic Blast: A short ranged superior toxic DoT power that heavily reduces defense. Uses the projectile of Nature Affinity's 'Corrosive Enzymes', but lacks the floral FX And here is the new updated version of 'Toxin Manipulation'

I believe the change was made so that Roleplayers weren't repeatedly disturbed by people flying by to collect their inspirations

I may have another Blast Set up my sleeve, but this one is a little less conventional. So far, I pitched the idea of Toxin Control and Toxin Manipulation... but how do people feel about Toxin Blast? I know we have no current DPS powerset that inflicts toxic as it's core damage type, and the reasoning behind this is that toxic damage is supposed to be rare, or at least resistance to it is. But that was a design choice made pretty early in the game, and may be outdated. So with that being said, here's an idea for a purely toxic based Blast powerset; Toxin Blast! Toxin Blast You are able to produce a variety of vile concoctions and project them at your foes. Toxin Blast focuses on dealing toxic damage, and delivers weakening poisons that reduce regeneration, or corrosive substances that erode defenses. - Venom: A simple minor toxic quick damage power. Uses the FX of the Snake's 'Venom Spit' power - Toxic Bolt: A moderate toxic damage ranged power with a -regen debuff. Uses the 'Venom Bolt' projectile from Arachnobots - Poisonous Spray: A cone damage power with a heavier -regen debuff. Uses the same FX as the Snake's 'Venomous Spray' power - Poison Bomb: An AoE power that deals toxic damage to multiple targets, and reduces regeneration. Uses the same projectile as Poison's 'Antidote' and explodes into a cloud similar to that of 'Venomous Gas' from the same powerset - Aim: Standard Aim Power - Corrosive Slick: A power that delivers a toxic DoT field and reduces defense. Uses the puddle FX from Experimentation's 'Corrosive Vail' power, but delivered by Poison's 'Alkaloid' projectile instead - Caustic Blast: A short ranged superior toxic DoT power that heavily reduces defense. Uses the projectile of Nature Affinity's 'Corrosive Enzymes', but lacks the floral FX - Acid Burst: A close range cone attack that delivers high toxic DoT over a short range and reduces defense. Uses the same FX as DUST's 'Toxic Burst' power. - Virulence: A PBAoE power with superior toxic DoT, reducing both regeneration and defense. Uses the same FX as the 'Rapid Boil' costume change emote, with heavy poison particles on affected foes.

They're incarnate soup

On the subject of Earth Powers.... I already touched on bringing over Stone Mastery to Dominators, but what about other Archetypes? Earthen Mastery - Blasters/Masterminds - Quicksand: A debuff power much like those in other Blaster/MM ancillaries - Salt Crystals: An AoE sleep power which seems like the traditional fit here - Rock Armor: An armor power that provides similar defensive properties to Ice Armor - Earth's Embrace: A power that fulfils a similar purpose to Hoarfrost - Stalagmites: An AoE stun that works as a nice capstone power for the set Geo Mastery - Defenders/Corruptors - Salt Crystals: A traditional AoE sleep power as seen in other sets - Fossilize: A single target hold that seems quite common for these ancillaries - Rock Armor: A protective power that should line up with other ancillaries of this type - Earth's Embrace: A less conventional self-buff power for defenders/corruptors, but works nicely - Seismic Smash: A good heavy melee attack as seen in one or two other ancillaries for this archetype Rock Mastery - Scrappers/Stalkers - Stone Prison: Since this is basically a mirror of Earth mastery for Tankers/Brutes, I've kept the powers the same. - Salt Crystals: ^ - Fossilize: ^ - Quicksand: ^ - Stalagmites: ^ Stony Mastery - Sentinels - Stone Cages: An AoE immobilize which is very common for Sentinels - Stone Mallet: A heavy melee attack which also fits the Sentinel formula - Fossilize: A single target hold that fits nicely here - Tremor: An AoE melee power that has a good chance to knockback foes - Quicksand: A good debuff power similar to that of other Sentinel ancillary sets

I think it's because the model they used for Granite Armor is that of the Devouring Earth rock minions, which don't have alternate crystal or lava textures. However, I think an easy fix for this would be to use the 'Animate Stone' models from Earth Control as customisation options that could be used in it's place.

I imagine now that some inherent and temp powers are available to customise, that enhancement 'powers' might also be able to receive the same treatment, right?

Which is why I suggested playing content at level 44, as it also prevents your team from using incarnate powers.

So far one of the biggest issues with the game is that people dont feel challenged, and that's usually coming from a perspective that incarnate powers, IO sets and accolade powers are all in play. So, I think a fairly simple way of providing more difficulty options to the game is to expand the current notoriety system. So far, the most a leader can do to set a challenge (besides running +4/x8 on difficult mobs) is to simply run content at lower levels, which will disable the use of incarnate powers, and also makes IO sets less effective. Of course, not everybody is going to enjoy the idea of losing access to some of their core powers, or perhaps want to keep their IO bonuses but lose the incarnate powers. So with that in mind, how about more notoriety options to help us provide a little more challenge? Here's a few new features I was thinking; No incarnates - fairly simple, all incarnate powers are disabled while in mission instances. Alpha only - All incarnate powers except Alpha will be disabled. No set bonuses - your IO set bonuses are disabled, but the base enhancement bonuses are still in effect Level limit - You can manually reduce your level on the fly, allowing you to experience the game at lower levels more easily. No accolade passives - Your accolade autopowers will be disabled (click activated powers will still be available) With these options in mind, I think it would also be best to have notoriety options in general be more transparent to the rest of the team. Right now, you wont know right away what options have been enabled, but I think it would be good to make an addition to the team UI with a 'Notoriety' button that opens a window to reveal what notoriety options have been set. Whenever a team leader changes the notoriety options, the button will turn red (just like when you receive a new email or your inventory is full) to indicate that changes have been made. Hopefully this wont be difficult to implement, and with a way for teammates to track notoriety options, it wont take players by surprise either. I'll also emphasise that these are options, not changes, so it would be entirely in the hands of the players.