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I took a minute to double-check this... the +Regen is scaling off the enemy, the +Rec isn't. Tested against L16 and L20-25 using an L22 Blaster.

I found a bit of time to test this partially and it seems that at least those tested do NOT suppress. In fact the baby heal of Cauterizing Aura will actually break Sleep. I tested Fire (HoT), Ice (AoT), Tac Arrow (Regen) and Reaction Time (AoT). None of the sustain effects suppressed when Slept or Held (I only tested those two states and the sustain elements of the named powers).

Apparently they've done a balance pass on the sustains already in Closed Beta. I'm eager to see what was done (besides nerfing Tac Arrow). [Edit:] Touch of Darkness has a 50% Acc bonus, 11.2s cycle time and 60s buff duration out of the box. So that's not bad. What is, is that it scales off the foe's level, meaning that when fighting higher level foes it not only misses more often, but also provides less of a buff. That's the part I hope they fixed in Beta.

I don't think the self-centered components suppress. I assumed that was why Cauterizing Aura doesn't show the damage component - because it's actually a 2nd power that suppresses. (Frigid Protection also shows only the self-centered components in the Detailed Info.) I'll check that when I get a chance. I do find casting Force of Thunder all the time to be tiresome though. Even with the KB and Stun components. I feel guilty putting it on auto in Hami raids and the like too, since it's so annoying when run every 10.5s (and at that cast rate it eats 11% of my DPS).

They take time to cast (lowering your DPS) and can't be cast while mezzed. You also either need to monitor your buffs or end up casting them more than necessary (they don't stack). None of those are major drawbacks, but they are drawbacks relative to the toggles.

I actually find the two fairly well balanced. But then I solo a lot, so I take a fair amount of damage regularly. If I need healing between fights I use greens or Rest. One problem I didn't address is that 5 of the 8 +Regen sustains are clicks (Dark, Elect, En, Mental and Ninjitsu). All the AoTs and the HoT are toggles (as are the +Regen sustains in Atom, Devices and Tac Arrow).

The Absorb-over-Time's are stronger in HP/s than the +Regen powers. Even at capped Blaster HP (which buffs +Regen) they are about the same. So it really comes down to your play style as to which is better. If you have lots of time when you're not being attacked (moving slowly between spawns or with little aggro bearing onto you due to teammates, control, or whatever reason) then the +Regen will likely be better. If you take small amounts of damage pretty much constantly then the AoTs will likely be better.1 If you take a large amount of damage in a short time then the Awaken will be better - because you're still a Blaster.2 Note 1: Fire Manipulation's Heal-over-Time is pretty much the best of both worlds, with HP/s matching the AoT's but the "down time" advantage of +Regen. (Of course, it has no debuff, and aggros.) Note 2: The AoT effectively gives you a tiny bit more max HP, so is very slightly better at avoiding spike death.

"Universally" is an adverb that means "in every case".

On what? Was there a post somewhere that stated that all Blaster sustains are now Absorb-over-Time powers? If so, I missed it.

Absorb over time powers that refresh quickly work as you describe. The other Absorb powers work much like a HP buff that ignores the cap and doesn't affect Regen. As for Blasters... most Blaster secondaries don't get any Absorb. Unless they are changing that in Page 6, the count will be 8 +Regen, 5 Absorb-over-time and 1 Heal-over-time.

That's not uncommon in noun phrases. Such as "atom bomb" or "baseball bat". However, to continue the pedantry... "Neurotoxin" probably shouldn't be capitalized. 🙂

There is a grammatical error in that as well as the typo. It should either be "gasses that quickly start" or "gas that quickly starts", not "gas that quickly start".

I just double-checked this... it does NOT appear to work in HC despite the DDR in AD not being listed as unenhanceable. That's what I get for not double-checking Mids/I19 memories before posting. That's 2 Membranes to be yanked and repurposed. My DDR is running about 9% lower than I thought. On the plus side, it will be perma-double stacked with IOs giving about 88% DDR.

I was about to post the same reply. My SD/Dark uses 2 HOs in AD and has capped DDR except for about a 3-second window where it's around 75%. And that's with just the Alpha slot and no Purples. [Edit:] On checking in game the DDR was NOT being enhanced as Mids and my I19 memories said.

I wish I could "Like" this twice... or thrice. [Edit]: Maybe Nemmy Vengeance should put massive aggro for all affected onto the one who defeated the Lt.

A good list. 10 should be Temblor's arc, as that's the one in which you destroy her sub.

That's a Mids' database issue. Terrify doesn't do -ToHit, just Damage and Fear. I don't think it ever did -ToHit, so someone updating the DB probably mistook it for Fearsome Stare.

Without an NDA there would be no talks at all, let alone any progress. I take that back... there would be talk. It would be NCSoft lawyers writing increasingly threatening cease-and-desist letters to everyone involved.

Based upon the hint link... I'm going to guess the first is about the start of porting critter costume parts to player use. The second has me baffled. Sonic Armor? Self-targeting for support set buffs? Wind Control with disappointing graphics?

That's why I said "loosely" related. Seeing the backwards compatibility of the launcher made me once again wish that Win 7 client bug was getting some attention.

That's great. On a loosely related matter: Has anything been done to resolve Windows 7's queuing issue with the character list?

Core also gives Healing and Mez buffs. So it's +4% Pet Defense versus +2% Defense for others and the 30' extra radius. Still not balanced, but then Incarnate abilities aren't well balanced in general,

This particular patch went live on April 21st. It's the Beta patch from April 5th that hasn't gone live (or even to staging) yet. I think the last two posts before mine were both meant for that thread. And this thread should probably be closed.

Apparently, procs don't work in Traps/Seeker Drones (at least on MMs). I tried Bombardment, Positron's Blast and Clouded Senses. None of them fired even once in basic testing. According to the Recharge on the pet power, all should have max proc chance.

Changing things in a way that doesn't make them clearly better is not a good idea. However, I think what's currently on Beta is clearly better than what is currently on Live. Most of the "improvements" suggested beyond the current Beta set either require significant additional work or aren't really a significant improvement, IMO. I'm curious as to what the dev discussions have been for the last month, and whether or not some of that significant work is being done or contemplated. As of now, I'd suggest that if significant additional work hasn't already been put into the upgrades, what's on Beta should go Live as is and any additions or improvements should be shelved for a later date.