Alchemystic

Now that we finally have Seismic Blast and a whole heap of changes to other Stone/Earth powers, I have an idea that might help give the powersets a few more customisation options. We already have Lava and Crystal themes to play with, but I feel like something's missing... a Metal theme. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to work into the game, but having a texture theme that looks like raw/scrap metal would be a welcome addition to the customisation options already available.

Seismic Blast and Stone Armor are coming to Sentinels, but they need to have some powers replaced (namely Tombstone and Mud Pots) in order for them to fit the Archetype. In addition to that, they need to balance both powersets around the Sentinel Archetype so that it isn't over/underperforming compared to other options. It may take some time to get it right, which is likely why we didn't see it rolled out with the current Stone content, but it is definitely something that is being worked on.

To celebrate the new Stone powers being added to the game I figured I'd do a pro gamer move... recycle my own Stone Blast powerset! The development team did an amazing job of creating an incredible new powerset that surpassed all my expectations, and I really appreciate them putting the powerset that started this little project off into the game. Obviously the concept powerset here differs enough from the official version that we can still play around with the powers that didn't make it into Seismic Blast, so I've decided to reuse them and create a handful of new powersets based on the unused powers. Molten Blast - Molten Bolt: A new power that fires a smaller projectile than Lava Blast (see below), but has the same FX. Dealing moderate fire DoT - Lava Blast: A power belonging to the Minions of Igneous, hurling lava that deals high fire DoT - Lava Flow: A new cone power that uses similar FX to Plasma Spray (but orange and with lava FX layered over it). Deals moderate fire DoT in a cone - Aim: Standard aim power, uses the 'Volcanic Aura' FX - Basalt Bomb: Another power belonging to the Minions of Igneous, hurling a ball of magma that explodes and deals high fire DoT - Magma Blast: A new power that works as a larger version of Lava Blast, but leaves the 'Melt Armor' FX on the target. Deals superior fire DoT - Pool of Lava: A new power that works as a ranged version of Mud Pots, creating a patch that deals fire DoT and slows foes much like Rain of Fire - Ryolite: Another Minions of Igneous power, holds a foe and deals moderate fire DoT Eruption: A new power that creates a massive explosion that leaves a wide patch of lava, dealing very high fire/smashing damage and superior fire DoT. FX is a similar spout of liquid to Geyser (albeit bigger) spewing chunks of lava like other powers in this set. Targets have similar 'Melt Armor' FX as Magma Blast Molten Melee - Molten Strike: A new power that deals minor smashing damage and minor fire DoT, uses the standard Brawl animation and FX similar to Magma Smash (see below) - Magma Smash: A power belonging to Minions of Igneous, dealing moderate smashing damage and light fire DoT, uses the Boxing animation - Lava Burst: Similar power to Lava Flow (see above) but with reduced range. - Build Up: Standard build up power, uses the 'Volcanic Aura' FX / - Taunt/Placate: Standard aggro management power - Volcanic Blow: A heavier version of Magma Smash, which also leaves similar melting FX to Melt Armor. Deals high smashing damage and moderate fire DoT - Basalt Blast: A PBAoE version of Basalt Bomb, with similar damage values - Pyroclast: A close ranged attack that looks similar to Magma Blast (see above), but deals heavy smashing damage and moderate fire DoT - Ryolite Grasp: A melee version of Ryolite, though deals superior fire DoT Molten Assault - Molten Bolt: A new power that fires a smaller projectile than Lava Blast (see below), but has the same FX. Dealing moderate fire DoT - Magma Smash: A power belonging to Minions of Igneous, dealing moderate smashing damage and light fire DoT, uses the Boxing animation - Lava Flow: A new cone power that uses similar FX to Plamsa Spray (but orange and with lava FX layered over it). Deals moderate fire DoT in a cone - Lava Blast: A power belonging to the Minions of Igneous, hurling lava that deals high fire DoT - Build Up: Standard build up power, uses the 'Volcanic Aura' FX - Basalt Blast: A PBAoE version of Basalt Bomb, with similar damage values - Pool of Lava: A new power that works as a ranged version of Mud Pots, creating a patch that deals fire DoT and slows foes much like Rain of Fire - Magma Blast: A new power that works as a larger version of Lava Blast, but leaves the 'Melt Armor' FX on the target. Deals superior fire DoT - Ryolite Grasp: A melee version of Ryolite, though deals superior fire DoT

Geode seems like an odd fit for Stalkers, because they can already get Hibernate as a Patron Power in Leviathan Mastery. Not even Ice Armor gets Hibernate for Stalkers, and I assume that's because they didn't want players doubling up on it. So my concern is that having access to both Geode and Hibernate on a Stalker could present some issues. Nothing big, I'm sure, but still... worth making note of.

Again, this isnt about what is and isnt possible, it's about what's optimal.

Emphasis on optimised. Trick Arrow and Traps for example would have a very hard time in melee compared to Radiation or Pain. There's also knockback powers like Repel, Hurricane, Repulsion Field and Force Bubble that run counter to the melee playstyle, and there's also the fact that not many of these powersets offer personal protection, which is something a melee archetype needs. The biggest hurdle preventing Melee/Support from happening is quandaries like these.

It's come up a few times. Long story short; support powersets aren't optimised for close range, so they would have to be revised in order to adapt to the new melee oriented style of play.

Perhaps if we were able to take the formatting tools from AE souvenirs and apply them to the in-game emails system we would have a workable version of what you're looking for.

Force Field/Psionic Defenders for soloing

Jranger is just shorthand for "no because that idea is stupid"

You mean this self-insert power fantasy game attracts people with bumptious tendencies? whaaaaat.

I also forgot to consider, it might not be possible for this badge to be retroactive, so anybody with a dedicated badge-hunting character wouldn't be able to attain the badge which would be infuriating.

I guess almost two years of curating this thread paid off, and I couldn't be more delighted that it was the first batch of suggestions that made it through to development! I've always wanted more Stone/Earth powers, so I'm overjoyed to see them implemented in the game!

This sorta works for games with a heavy focus on endgame content, like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2, but CoH only dipped its toe into the waters of endgame content before it was closed down. We only have a handful of trials and task forces and one zone dedicated to the post-50 experience, so I don't think there's enough content to really merit a max level pass in a game like this.

All this would do is encourage people not to participate in content so they don't risk losing out on the badge. People would purposefully avoid getting involved and stay far away from the action in case they draw too much aggro, and would likely refuse to do anything with ambushes or large mobs just in case. The only people I can see getting the badge are people who sit in on farms, or Brute mains trying to prove a point, which opens up an entirely different can of worms.

If we're looking at what's most feasible, I guess it makes sense to go melee first since it's less work and benefits 4 archetypes.

Chances are it may be possible to remove the flames from the whip, maybe even make the whip itself opaque instead of translucent, but it will always have the same 'shape' so to speak. That's because the whip is the FX, which makes it especially hard to work with. I think that mostly falls down to the code being unable to support weapons with their own set of animations for different powers, so they opted to make the whip into an FX asset to workaround that. Since that's the case, it wont be possible to add new 'models' to the whip like we can with weapons and shields, nor can we really change the way the whip moves. The most we can hope for is being able to re-use the whip FX with different player animations so it looks a little different, but since the whip powers had animations designed specifically to go with the FX, even that may be difficult.

We have 4 existing animations, as well as space for both a Build Up and a Taunt/Placate, so that fills in 6 of our 9 powers. So realistically we only need 3 'new' attack animations to fill in the rest, one of which would likely be an AoE. We know that the whip itself isn't an object, it's purely FX based much like Spines/Thorns, so that kinda limits us in terms of adding completely new powers. But, if the whip FX can be applied to other player animations, like those from weapon powersets, we might have something to work with. Only problem is finding which animations can support the FX without it looking too messy.

"epic powersets" is a colloquial term that was likely derived from similar mechanics from other games, they're never referred to as anything other than Ancillary Pools or Patrol Pools in-game.

I think it was the intention of the old development team to revamp underutilized maps and create new story arcs to accommodate that. We've seen as much with Faultline, Dark Astoria and Galaxy City, the latter of which didn't get revamped right away, but was planned to be an incarnate zone fighting high level Shivans. Other Hazard Zones were also on the list, but no definitive plans were revealed before the game was shut down, but at least we know that was the direction the old team were going. I know that the new development team are currently working on content for Boomtown and Kallisti Wharf, so we know that they have the ability to change aspects of certain zones to suit new narratives, but the scope of that isn't quite clear yet. Personally, I wouldn't mind if the zones stayed at the same level range, but featured new content, just like Faultine and Boomtown. So that not everything is geared towards incarnates like Dark Astoria and Galaxy City were intended to be.

Easiest thing you could do is take Water (or Fire) Blast and color it appropriately, and take Degenerative Interface to get Toxic DoT on your attacks.

Since we're on the topic of frequently requested powersets, I figured I'd try my hand at the much demanded 'Psionic Aura' powerset. It's come up a fair few times in the suggestions thread already, but I wanted to give it a try using the same power-recycling methodology that this thread is based around. To that end, I've actually found a fair few existing powers that can be borrowed and used to create a Psionic based armor powerset without many tweaks, and enough unique FX assets from other sources to make up the rest of the powerset. Psionic Aura - Telekinetic Armor: A new toggle power that uses the same FX of Psionic Mastery's 'Mind over Body'. Grants Smashing/Lethal Defense and resistance to KB, KD and Immobilize - Mind Shield: A new autopower that improves Psionic resistance and defense - World of Confusion: Taken from Mental Manipulation, works nice as an AoE damage power with additional mez potential - Psionic Armor: A new toggle power that uses the same FX of Psionic Mastery's 'Indomitable Will'. Grants Fire/Cold/Psionic Defense and resistance to Hold, Stun, Confuse, Sleep, Taunt and Placate - Synaptic Armor: A new toggle power that uses similar FX to 'Mind Probe' (throughout your own body). grants Energy/Negative Defense and resistance to Slow, End Drain, and -Recharge - Mask Presence: Taken from Widow's Teamwork, filling a similar role to Energy Cloak and Cloak of Darkness (Stalkers get Hide instead) - Foresight: Another Widow power, providing a little more mez protection and a slight boost to defense - Drain Psyche: Another Mental Manipulation power, draining enemy regen and recovery to boost your own - Mental Empowerment: A new click power that greatly increases recharge, perception, ToHit and provides an endurance discount. Uses similar FX to 'Fortitude'

Got a pair of new ones, each of them based on suggestions made here in this thread or in the wider forum. For the first, I'm going to try and make a Blast powerset that draws from the ideas of 'Telekinetic' or 'Gravity' style projection, borrowing from both themes to make a Kinetic Blast powerset, which allows me to reuse some material from the Kinetic Assault powerset earlier in the thread. The second one is going to follow the idea of 'Speed Melee', but to ensure that it's not too niche I'm going to try and incorporate it into a sort of 'Sonic Melee' powerset that has similar themes, and borrows FX from other Sonic powersets. Kinetic Blast - Kinetic Bolt: A new power that uses the animation for Quick Strike to project a small kinetic projectile dealing light Smashing/Energy damage - Kinetic Blast: Another new power, using the animation of 'Hydro Blast' and FX of Focused Burst, dealing moderate Smashing/Light damage - Repulsing Torrent: Taken directly from Kinetic Melee, which works nicely as a ranged cone power - Propel: Taken from Gravity Control, but with similar FX to Kinetic Melee's 'Power Siphon' ability - Draw Debris: Standard Aim power of blast sets, but also adds Lethal damage to attacks. Player gains the 'Magnetic' aura FX for the duration. Attacks have similar small props - Burst: Another taken directly from Kinetic Melee, fitting for a PBAoE damage power - Scatter: A new cone power that uses the 'Wall of Force' animation, projecting random props much like Propel, dealing high Smashing/Lethal damage - Focused Burst: Taken from Kinetic Melee, working as a close ranged high damage blast attack - Collapse: Another new power that creates a large AoE field that barrages foes with random props, dealing extreme Smahsing/Lethal DoT Sonic Melee - Quick Attack: A low Smashing/Energy damage attack that uses the 'Initial Strike' animation with Sonic FX on the fists - Sonic Strikes: A heavier Smashing/Energy attack that uses Energy Melee's 'Barrage' animation with heavier Sonic FX on the arms - Pummelling Blows: A cone attack that deals moderate Smashing/Energy DoT and uses the 'Flurry'/'Shadow Maul' animation, with waves of Sonic FX hitting targets - Tempo: A build up power that also increases recharge on your Sonic Melee attacks - Sonic Propulsion: Similar power to 'Burst of Speed' from Martial Combat, teleporting you to enemies and dealing low Smashing damage in an AoE - Dizzying Feint: Similar power to 'Parry'/'Divine Avalanche', dealing light damage and boosting defense. Uses the Kinetic Melee 'Body Blow' animation - Quaking Blast: An AoE power that uses the 'Geyser' animation, creating a sonic field much like 'Liquify' that deals moderate Smashing damage and knocks foes down - Vibrate: An extreme Smashing/Energy DoT power that uses the 'Concentrated Strike' animation, with heavy Sonic FX on the arms - Ripple: A close ranged cone power that uses Street Justice's 'Sweeping Strike' animation, projecting a wave of Sonic FX and deals high Energy/Smashing damage

My take would be to go for similar wording to other existing powers. 'Explosive Force' and 'Anchoring Field' come to mind for the T1 and T2 powers. As for the rest of the powerset it mostly follows the typical Control formula, but I'm a bit sceptical over not having a dedicated AoE Hold ability, and instead having a massive damaging power, which is uncharacteristic of powersets of this type. I'd personally substitute Barrier Implosion for an AoE hold, and bring it down to a T8 power. I would also probably put Compression Field as the new T9 and rework it into a pet that functions much like Gravity Control's Singularity. I think with those changes today have a pretty solid Control set.