KittyEater88

Really happy to see Smoke Flash and Blinding Powder merged. These were some really old relics that don't do much anymore, especially after Placate was made useful. It's also nice to see some KB protection added. That said, I'm tired of the lack of parity of Stalkers to their counterparts. This Page really highlights the design choices, where many of the improved power sets just completely blow over the Stalker AT and are left hanging. To stay on topic, why is it that Ninjitsu and Stalkers are not allowed to receive end sustain powers? We recently saw Regen get half of what it should have, but I think this was likely done simply to offset the cost of the new toggle. The Scrapper version got Kyoyo, and even nerfed, it still hasn't made it's way over. Ninjitsu also still has a bit of an identity problem. Is the goal to improve survivability through additional layers, improved healing, defenses, or the tools the set provides? Right now it does all of it but not very well. It doesn't have enough DDR to stand on it's own as a defense set but also doesn't have enough other tools to be well layered enough to overcome that. I see many options to do that. Sha could receive the Energize treatment, Caltrops could gain -ToHit, or the defenses could be brought up and DDR added to Rin. Stalkers have a lot of secondary options but the best, and really the only viable ones, are pure defense or well layered. Ninjitsu needs to pick which one it wants to be.

I think it's not that people want a Thorny Assault Scrapper, but that there are clear examples of powers like Impale and Hurl Boulder being not only enticing power choices because they are frigging cool, but that they are functional. Spines does not have the option to avoid the long animation powers that Thorns does, like Stone players can just skip Hurl Boulder. If not being able to remove the hang time comes down to an issue of the power doing too much, I'd happily give up the -regen to have a smoother chain. I'm also not sure why Lunge had to have it's scale and recharge dropped down. Since Lunge is required to apply the strengthed poison, which does not stack, I'd prefer to have slightly more lethal damage and the 6s CD back. Lastly, that leaves Spine Burst, and theres an elephant. The old 3s animation was universally disliked but the new version seems a tad weak and spammy. Yes, I feel the power may be worth using now but because of the low CD and damage, it's still not great. The reasons are obvious: Procs and Farming. If it can't be put back into a middle grounds of sorts, could it have the toxic damage portion increased in some way to compensate? The new poison effect makes Spines DoT dependent to reach full potential. Making Spine Burst emphasize this would be a middle ground, as we know realistically it won't have it's animation or cooldown improved because procs and farming are illegal.

I just tested this as I had the same concern. It seems the only portion actually checking is the damage, which also extends to interface. The +Max HP, +End/End Resist, and +Recovery seem to be auto. With two Amylo's, I am capping Max HP at 9 stacks. The power description should be updated, as it does not state clearly how this power is working, and does not mention the +recovery buff at all. Consume spam wasn't an issue for me as I am not using this power for the short lived 15 seconds of recovery, but the 45 second HP buff. It could have its animations trimmed, or at least the root removed, though. Having the HP buff require a target is slightly annoying, but Burn at least is applying it's KB protection out of combat, which will allow me to rebuild and drop significant KB IO investment. I don't rely on RoTP but the flat heal and HP bonus may help for when you aren't able to saturate Consume. And of course, Burn being somewhat unfucked makes me happy.

Back from vacation and played my main and oldest character, a Firex3 Tanker. This feels so bad. What is the point of playing an offensive armor set on this Archetype now? Why is an Archetype that was buffed 5 YEARS AGO now suddenly a problem, with zero measures taken in that time to reduce homogenization and enhance Archetype relevance and flavor?

On build 1, I didn’t notice Domination affecting Static Field as mentioned. I do wish the cap on Synaptic was still 16. While the chain effect is much better and consistent, I’m finding mobs that have wandered away from the main cluster to be just out of range of the jump, so I’d at least like to have the rest mezed. I’ve tried slotting Tesla for both control and damage and not seeing a huge difference as a Dom. This may be more apparent for Controllers. Not seeing a huge difference on Jolting or Conductive but the Gremlins are absolutely cranking. Still a tad squishy but not a total skip anymore.

Link Minds

Tested on a BA/Psi/Psi Scrapper to get a better idea of how the set performs. To echo what many others have said, my first thought is that this should be a defense-based set. That’s not just based on my own subjective opinion of what a psionic armor would conceptually look like, but also on precedent already in-game: Psionic-themed epics, Fortunatas, Arachnos units, and other NPCs that lean heavily on defense as their first layer of protection. The damage aura does a laughable amount of damage, coupled with random mez effects. While clearing Cimerorans on the wall, I initially thought it was contributing—until I realized they weren’t mezzed at all; they had just run out of endurance. The set needs to commit—either go all in on mez or go all in on damage. Right now, it’s not leaning toward the controller-esque side like Dark Armor, or the offense-heavy side like Radiation Armor. As a result, the set lacks a clear identity. At present, Psionic Armor feels like it’s trying to do too much and failing to do any of it well. Other hybrid-layered sets succeed because they still have a clear emphasis. For instance, Willpower combines resistance, defense, and +HP, with a generous dose of situational regen to make those middling layers work together. It’s passive, and when you’re going down, you usually know it’s coming to react accordlingly. Psionic Armor, in contrast, feels like the active version of Willpower—except you’re supposed to have more control over your survival. But here’s the issue: if you use your active clicks to boost/refresh regen, your absorb is down and Mori is on cooldown, you’re out of luck. And those clicks were wasted. Because the set lacks DDR, what little defense it does provide is quickly stripped away, leaving you reliant on middling resistance and absorb. Once those are gone, the regen won't save you. I also tested the new Regen set alongside Psi Armor and found it just as viable in most situations, despite all of Psi’s supposed "layers." Regen is known to be vulnerable to burst damage and alpha strikes, but the rework has improved it significantly. If I’m going to rely on active clicks and get no added offensive benefit, I’ll stick to the classic.

My $.02: Seismic Blast has so much potential but just falls too short due to the limiting nature of the sets mechanics, and a few powers heavily weighing the set back. While I understand not every set is Fire/Ice, these two are so far ahead that it is hard to not be a bit resentful of the ways many of us work to find creative ways to make underutilized sets like Seismic a fun experience. Even the mechanical and balance issues aside, Seismic has such a wonderful theme that I would expect to see it played more commonly in-game...but it's just not. On the contrary, when I do see someone in a group with this set I honestly pray they will not use the problem power. This is not a post to tear down devs, it is a post from a player who cares enough about the work that has been done to keep us coming back. Seismic really doesn't need much to make slingin' rocks more fun. Rebalance Seismic Shockwaves As the video above shows, this secondary effect is really weird sometimes and as such, I completely ignore the knockback effect. Next, you have the build/spend nature of the set. If you are not on the ground, you do not earn SS stacks. If you accidentally leave the ground, you do not gain stacks, or expend them. Example being some streets where there a little curb, or a dip on the floor of a cave map, or maybe you have Super Speed/Speed Boost and slingshot unintentionally. This is super frustrating to play around because the grounded requirement takes away many movement choices. I'd be okay with that if the restrictions weren't so heavy handed. You already need about 5 attacks, all of which must be from within the set, to build up to Enhanced Stalagmite. Skipping over terrain by accident or chasing a runner that lept over an object out of line of sight is immersion breaking and makes me want to kil skulz. Entomb: This in every way is a worse version of Power Burst. It is slower and has a longer cooldown but does the same damage. Our good ol' boy Bitter Ice Blast does more damage with just one more second CD and does it almost a second faster. Will Domination is also comparable and recently buffed, so serves as an example that folks are listening and open to some changes. Entomb in it's current state is a skip, leaving Tombstone as your bread & butter, while you stay grounded and play the build SS game to use Stalagmite. Rebalance Seismic Force: An Aim power that you have to either cheese by jumping to not waste your SS stacks, or just not use. This one is odd to me because Seismic is not the only Build/Spend powerset out there but is the only one that has negative consequences of your power choices. Water Blast's Tidal Forces is a better example of this, as well as Titan Weapons Build Momentum. Both of these sets encourage you to continue 'building and spending'. I should not be punished for using this power, nor should I have to leave the ground to avoid a penalty, which defeats the purpose of the theme and design of the set. I don't need a cooldown reduction, just either grant me stacks of SS or prevent Seismic Force from consuming stacks. Rebalance Meteor: This is the one that makes me leave teams. As it stands, the knockback effect is such a detriment that I have had to bail on Task Forces because mobs were plastered through the wall on a kill all and that ended our run. Yes, Nova and other powers can also do this but Meteor practically guarantees my session with that group is going to be frustrating. Additionally, Metor is so hard to pull off. If you have the abilities and coordination to keep mobs in the landing area long enough to hit them, it is equally likely they are already defeated. Ever had one of those CoT Bosses cast this and you've already moved on and almost forgotten you were almost in danger? This power in it's current state will always be skipped because it is a liability and not practical to use.

Can't select Epic abilities beyond the first 2 powers, in any epic pool.

Done.

Will Domination (Defender/Corruptor) Recharge lowered from 14s to 10s (Damage unchanged). Moved from T6 to T5. The Defender version of this power has a 12s recharge time. The Corruptor version has 10s but it appears to have a lower damage value as well.

Will Domination (Defender/Corruptor) Recharge lowered from 14s to 10s (Damage unchanged). Moved from T6 to T5. The Defender version of this power has a 12s recharge time. The Corruptor version has 10s but it appears to have a lower damage value as well.

OBLIVION GUARD! Arsinn and Kitty Eater