I think what the chart really doesn't show is how MASSIVELY VALUABLE are the debuffs from Storm Cell+High Winds and the knockdown from Lightning. It is NOT just a damage power, it's a survival power too.
I did some of that late in Beta.
Limited data, and very limited sample size, but it's better than nothing.
On a level 34 Storm/Ice Blaster, +1/x2 Council Radio mission.
With Storm Cell:
Without Storm Cell:
Not exactly a typo:
When you begin the "Wheel of Destruction" story arc (think it's lvl 25 blueside), the first mission is referred to as Part 2 and the second mission is referred to as Part 1.
It's the "accident gone awry" part. They sent him off into space, where he encountered a sun that his species had never been near in their natural state, which gave him powers. Science.
Storm Cell doesn't cause aggro and adds a sizable -Tohit debuff.
With other blasters and sentinels it's build up, nuke, and those mobs that are in range are probably dead, and then you have nothing for a while. With Storm you have significantly increased damage for large periods of time. It's a different playstyle.
Earth Manipulation should be a fine pairing with storm.
the set brings a whole lot of safety that can be applied even before combat begins.
Definitely, Cat 5 does not suck, but it is totally possible that the playstyle it offers is not what you're interested in.
Category Five is great. It may be you're not using it right? You have to cast it, THEN hit Intensity, and then keep attacking with your other abilities.
If you just hit it and then sit there it is weak, but that's not how it's supposed to work.
Jetstream is a bit weak as a cone and perhaps can be respeccd out of at high levels.
It does some of the best damage over time in the game AND it gets a lot of extra debuffs and soft control, for which it sacrifices up front damage. Slow but very steady.
You guys are using DPS to mean two different things.
Flamethrower now does it's full damage in little more than 4 seconds instead of 7. That's faster "damage per second" for those few seconds.
But what DPS generally means in games of this kind (leaving aside the "DPA" and "DPS" nonsense in the info screens in CoH) is how much damage your character does Per Second of Animation.
By THAT measure Flamethrower has not changed.
So in a long fight, FT is doing no different from before, but in short fights (most fights in CoH), it deals its damage in a much shorter period of time.
I just found a Storm Cell bug, in the mission Stop the Vazhilok Plot against the Promenade, from Officer Fields in Atlas Park.
I cast Storm Cell on the Vazhilok Life Machine, but after I destroyed the machine the Storm Cell stayed at its location rather than following me or engaging the boss.