Troo

new recommended player created content.. pretty awesome! thanks @GM Sparky

oops forgot to add Aracanatime example for a 2.67 sec activation. It's closer to 3 seconds (iirc 2.904) this can be important for powers that have secondary effects. a long activation can shave a significant percentage of time off the length of an effect. why? because the effect is not applied at the end of the animation.

there's a good bit to unpack but let me try and start here. (I tried to send this as a PM to avoid cluttering the Combo thread but you are "unable to receive messages".) yes, the current out-of-the-box base cycle time is about 12.67 seconds for Energy Transfer. comparing that to 22.67 & 21 at first may seem like a big difference (nearly 10 secs) but once we throw recharge and Hasten in there that 10 sec difference shrinks significantly. 3 SOs took a 20 sec recharge to about 10.25 sec. Add Hasten and it's near 7.55 sec. Add the <1 sec activation = 8.55 3 SOs on a 10 sec recharge to about 5.13 sec. Add Hasten and it's near 3.77 sec. Add the 2.67 sec activation = 6.44 situationally these could be pushed closer to a difference of <1 and Arcanatime could come into play. Arcanatime link

whew. thanks for the additional details.

anyone know if this is being addressed or is on a list/road map?

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awesome.. gonna just borrow this for Lion Hart here: LionHart.costume

ranged claws.. NEW SET!

does this mean Granite is the new MoG but with penalties?

Stun is a good pairing on melee. Stun also goes well with 'Concussive', new set new name. Cosmic Burst is one of my favorite powers because of the stun. I'd take a set that did that. "Cosmic Burst smashes the target with cosmic particles. The attack is very short range, but the damage is devastating and can leave most targets Disoriented and with reduced Defense."

sure (standard disclaimer: I may miss some stuff or get some incorrect. I will edit as needed.) for Energy Melee there is a opportunity for a 2x effect on a critical for those ATs which can get a critical. the unreliable nature of that aspect can be janky. if a player has an effect available it can be spent inadvertently if not paying attention, this could also be considered janky. take EM Stalkers for example (there's a good bit going on.. not including what might be happening with their armor set, etc.): Assassin's Strike while hidden vs not hidden Assassin's Focus (which can stack 3x, each giving 33%?, so we want 3 right?) Energy Transfer while hidden vs not hidden Energy Focus (which can sometimes double activate and can be spent 3 ways) Total Focus while hidden vs not hidden Power Crash with Energy Focus vs without Energy Focus Energy Transfer with Energy Focus vs without Energy Focus Barrage with Energy Focus vs without Energy Focus an ATO proc that can make player hidden (4 or 5 ppm) an ATO with low chance to trigger Buildup on Scrappers it's all about the crits.. but some things don't crit even though players will read elsewhere "All Scrapper melee attacks have a chance to land a Critical Hit for up to double damage. The higher the rank of the target, the greater the chance for a successful Critical Hit." I could say 'janky' might be harsh.. because there were jankier versions proposed. I'd be willing to say 'a bit janky'. Really I just like saying the word janky.

Do you feel the same about the specific outlier powers like Irradiated Ground and Burn?

it was never going to happen when adding AoE became a requirement. that said, the level of global recharge available in the current game is problematic for the amount of burst damage. could have gone simple and lowered the activation time for TF and maybe swapped the activation times for BS & old ET. might have worked just fine to minimize the corpse blasting which was a primary issue. could have made a non-combo mechanics version of EM with the two AoEs and no corpse blasting.. you know, the 'adjustments' that were needed. (I've got money to put on which would be played more?) I agree, however this was Energy Melee's shtick, single target burst damage. Trying to sustain that burst damage over long periods came with penalties and could really hurt. note: not much survived the bursts. between bursts was movement to the next targets. regardless, forcing janky combo mechanics onto an existing power set was a choice. the same results could have been achieved differently. want to rework an existing power set to include a new combo mechanic.. make a new power set. seems pretty simple.

That's all I'm saying. As a whole the new Energy Melee "has acceptable high performance without being too strong on performance builds". Start taking aspects away from the new Energy Melee set and still claim it is better.. even objectively that is poppycock. Skip Total Focus now and it might be a below average to bad set. Total Focus gates Energy Transfer from being overpowered. ET is limited by the activation time of the combined powers (which players can't change) versus recharge which can vary wildly..

continued.. FYI: Total Focus was skippable pre-nerf. (slow and superfluous) Stuns helped manage targets. Placate was used not just "held/slept targets". Are we attacking AVs or Pylons, PvPing a Tank? Targets don't survive that long. Reasonable recharge kept ET available every third attack if I remember correctly. For attack chains I used pre-nerf we'd need to include multiple targets, drop Total Focus and include Stun, Air Superiority, & Placate. What I provided was an example of what a player might do, simplified. p.s. I appreciate your efforts. I also giggle a little when you talk about Stalker attack chains & tactics.

Yes, this was when discussing the comparisons of the new options under consideration and areas of concern with the rework. Don't confuse that with what the old Energy Melee did and how the old version would be definitely broken with one or two of the new changes. The link also shows: "It also helps show why it is broken to have a full time fast Energy Transfer (fET) exist with the new faster Total Focus (fTF), especially for Stalkers who would have BU > AS > fET > fTF > BS > fAS possibilities." (plus fast snipes) Folks promoting that the new Energy Melee is better in all ways is simply false. It can be better at AoE now and that had a cost. It can also be dialed in to fit some attack chains and that had a cost. The new EM is different. It has acceptable high performance without being too strong on performance builds. Previously it was too strong, hence the heavy nerf.

Great topic! Depending on the character and the enemy group, here's some generic roles I learned to prioritize; Healers first (Surgeons, Menders, etc) Buffers/Summoners Special Status/De-togglers (Blind, Mezz, Etc) Debuffers Non-Anchors Bosses Anchors (if remain) Luckily many groups only have one, two or three of the above top four.

Good for you. Gotta speak up or your uses will get steamrolled. The folks in charge just disagreed with how you and others used it. (right or wrong) (I'm not a Stone Armor expert.. the new design might also lean toward completely IOd builds rather than lower level or leveling builds.)

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This isn't true either. Man, folks just make shit up sometimes.