Alchemystic

We had a thread going here too if you'd like to read!

I guess to make Short Circuit special

Short Circuit already does this.

So long as the AoE buffs also affect the player, you might be onto something. The one thing all these Melee/Support ideas like to ignore is that if you are in Melee you NEED some kind of personal protection. it's why I'm usually more in favor of Manipulation/Support or Assault/Support concepts, since you aren't melee focused enough to demand getting resist/defense toggles. So if a Melee/Support is going to work, and the melee element is going to be relatively unchanged, the support set needs to be tweaked to allow for personal auras, or have the caster included in AoE buffs as above. As for taunt? replace it with Power Boost maybe? (NOT Power Build Up). Other than that, I'm glad there's a Melee/Support post that isn't just some standoffish monkey vehemently defending the same half-baked idea that pops up here every week, so kudos for being open to ideas/feedback

I really like this idea! Giving VEATS more options to choose from could really diversify them. After all, the whole point of the VEAT story is that you can rebel against your former masters and carve your own path... I think like you've done yourself they should still line up nicely with the Arachnos theme, but they deviate away from the standard issue abilities they have access to. Since the VEATS can fill different roles, I decided to make the ancillary powersets different to one another to reflect that. So with that in mind, maybe this could work; Soldier/Widow Trap Mastery Your expertise with gadgetry has extended into the use of several traps designed to debilitate your foes. - Caltrops - Web Envelope - Acid Mortar - Poison Trap - Trip Mine Espionage Mastery Your stealth training has trained you in the use of several distracting or debilitating tools. - Caltrops - Throwing Dagger - Choking Powder - Blinding Powder - Smoke Flash Martial Mastery Your close combat abilities have evolved into advanced martial arts. - Reaction Time - Throwing Dagger - Storm Kick - Burst of Speed - Eagles Claw Poison Mastery Arachnos science yields all manner of virulent poisons and deadly toxins. - Neurotoxic Breath - Envenom - Paralytic Poison - Poison Trap - Weaken Soldier Only Rifle Mastery You are able to augment your rifle with additional fire modes and payloads. - Sleep Grenade - Slug - Buckshot - Ignite - LMR Missile Survival Mastery Your knack for self-sufficiency has enhanced your combat abilities. - Caltrops - Throwing Dagger - Rib Cracker - Throw Sand - Shin Breaker Gadget Mastery You have augmented your arsenal with several additional combat-purpose gadgets - Pistol - Smoke Grenade - Targeting Drone - Heavy Pistol - Trip Mine Triage Mastery Arachnos medicine is esoteric, often derived from the same twisted science behind its chemical weapons. - Sleep Grenade - Antidote - Triage Beacon - Alkaloid - Elixir of Life Widow Only Claw Mastery You have honed your claws and learned how to perform special attacks and manuevers. - Caltrops - Focus - Paralyzing Dart - Venom Barb - Shockwave Psionic Mastery Your psychic attacks have grown more powerful with advanced training. - Will Domination - Drain Psyche - Mind Probe - Psionic Lance - Psychic Shockwave Fate Mastery Your psionic powers have manifested the ability to tamper with fate itself. - Time's Juncture - Temporal Selection - Time Stop - Temporal Mending - Farsight Mind Mastery Your power of will has granted you more control over the minds of others. - Mesmerize - Levitate - Mass Hypnosis - Telekinesis - Terrify

I think as you say these powers would certainly take a dip in effectiveness, and dominator is a good example of how to do this properly. It's best not to think of these powers as direct ports from the powersets they belong to, but watered down versions that fill a gap in the archetype's repertoire, so they're likely always going to be sub-optimal compared to archetypes that are intended to make the most use out of them. The reason there's so many set-defining powers involved is mostly because it's quite tough making completely new powers, and these are a 'best fit' for the structure of most ancillary sets. One might argue powers like Personal Force Field, Hibernate and Telekinesis are all set-defining, but have seen use in ancillary powersets too.

most line up with conventional ancillary standards, which ones do you think should be toned down a bit?

Quite likely, which is why I figured making a few suggestions for asset reuse would help conceptualize it

Very nice stuff! I have to wonder if the Homecoming team are alright with taking things from other servers, cos this would save a lot of time.

The original dev team tried this with a scrapped archetype called 'Primalist' that was intended to be some sort of animal shapeshifter. Mechanically it was supposed to work a little like Khleldians with a focus on melee and a unique mechanic that changes the secondary effects of powers depending on your form. I cant remember why it was cancelled, but if I had to guess, it was a coding nightmare. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Primalist

I think at the moment Wind Control is just data and power icons, there's no FX for it, which is the hardest part of making a powerset. However, I think we could potentially 'borrow' FX from a few different sources; namely Storm Summoning, MinFX Ice Armor and maybe a few things from Darkness Control. Player animations from other control sets would probably be the easiest way to go about this too. - Updraft: Animation (Same as Lift/Levitate) - FX (the whirlwind from MinFX Ice Armor) - Downdraft: Animation (Same as Frostbite) - FX (whirlwind from MinFX Ice Armor, but in reverse) - Breathless: Animation (Same as Shadow Field) - FX (same as Shadow Field, but with the vapor of Steamy Mist too, individual targets gain a small whirlwind around their head) - Wind Shear: Animation (Same as Hurricane) - FX (smaller version of the Breathless FX, with Hurricane FX around you legs) - Thundergust: Animation (Same as Gust) - FX (Smaller version of Gust) - Microburst: Animation (Same as Flashfire/Thunder Clap) - FX (Gust from above) - Keening Winds: Animation (Same as Snow Storm) - FX (Same as Breathless, but with Arctic Air FX too) - Vacuum: Animation (Same as Crush) - FX (Tornado FX, but with a small whirlwind around their body) - Vortex: Animation (Same as Singularity) - FX (a tiny version of the Breathless FX that hovers around like Singularity) Vortex Powers: - Blast of Debris: FX (Same projectile as 'Throw Debris' from Slag Golems) - Whirlwind: FX (Smaller version of Hurricane) - Hail of Debris: FX (Sped up version of the 'Magnetism' costume aura) - Crash of Thunder: FX (Same as Thunder Clap from Storm Summoning)

Made an update to this post with a few Natural/Tech themed ancillaries, there's a few there already that fit, but it wouldn't hurt to have more!

Got one more, since over in another thread @Communistpenguin made a note that we don't see many Natural/Tech themed ancillary powers, so I'm gonna try and include some in this batch too. Blaster / Mastermind Bow Mastery / - Acid Arrow/Stunning Shot /- Poison Gas Arrow/Blazing Arrow - Enduring / - Disruption Arrow/Eagle Eye / - Oil Slick Arrow/Explosive Arrow Controller / Dominator Hellfire Mastery / - Corruption/Hellfire Aura / - Crack Whip/Hellfire Breath - Ember Shield (Self Only) / - Lash/Abyssal Reconstruction (Self Only) - Consume Defender / Corruptor Device Mastery - Taser - Body Armor - Serum - Targeting Drone - Fortification Scrapper / Stalker Ninja Mastery - Immobilizing Dart - Shurikens - Masterful Throw - Choking Powder - Trick Shot Tanker / Brute Wild Mastery - Call Swarm - Web Envelope - Call Hawk - Web Cocoon - Unkindness Sentinel Combat Mastery - Caltrops - Heavy Blow - Throw Sand - Spinning Strike - World of Pain

Brawl gains a little more use when you pick up all the melee attacks from Fighting, but I don't think many Scrappers would opt for it.

Good point! Perhaps instead Spectral Terror could work? Or somerhing like Drain Psyche?

I like them! I was initially avoiding doing Dark or Electric since Soul and Mu exist, but you did a pretty good job at making them stand out! Any ideas for Electric themed sets for Controller/Dominator and the Melee Archetpes?

at least Bio gets MinFX, I see more people using that that the normal FX

I think there was some mention of a complete overhaul of Stone Armor a while back, both mechanically and visually, so I expect if that's the case then Stone Mastery should also get these changes.

I did toy with the idea of adding in special mobility powers, but judging by the poll and people's comments, it doesn't look to be a popular concept. I did keep some sort of mobility element in the 'Trickery' powersets, in the form of an extra effect included with the melee defense/mez protect powers, some of these powers have greater mobility than others depending on theme.

I think a taunt device like the 'Omega Maneuver' might work pretty well for an Archetype like this. The idea of a 'Sniper's Nest' intrigues me, it would certainly set the Archetype apart from Stalker, but I think it would only encourage more people to go play a /Ninja Training Blaster instead.

I think an AoE fear effect is what Stalkers get right now, and I didn't want to copy everything about their stealth mechanic at least The unique mechanic I decided might be best for them is since they attack from an obscure position, they have a chance of remaining stealthed even after the sniper attack. I was also considering deployables like those, something like Triage Beacon or Tree of Life, creating a small zone where they would gain some kind of benefit. The 'decoy' bit plays into the Ancillary Power Pools, having included a pet power to help mitigate the aggro and provide fire support. It'd be the first Archetype that has Pets in its Ancillary sets (excluding Patron sets), which I think would be pretty cool.

I think it comes pretty close to the "Striker" that @Captain Powerhouse is working on, so it may be more possible than you think!

Check out a post I made a little while ago that works pretty much like your first suggestion; I like the archetype symbols too! I even got my own for a sniper...

the secondary set that was going to be included with Guardians was going to be a Support/Defense combo. But other than that, I'd probably say a Manipulation/Support archetype is likely the way to go.

Perhaps some of these can be achieved by spawning in zone events depending on how many X origin characters are present in Y zone for Z amount of time.