Wavicle

it's mostly just that it is functionally identical to Katana but not quite as good. It doesn't need to be a LOT better, it just needs something to distinguish it.

No, that was a wildly uncalled for response to that comment. You’re being extremely rude. You’ve explained your response to the idea. That’s enough.

that wasn't me, brainiac

rude, useless response.

I don't think you should have to be slotting for set bonuses for a power to be useful on it's own. There's no double speak. Not everyone plays the same way. I start at level 1 and play all the way, and I don't start slotting sets typically until fairly high level, so taking any power that is not going to actually get used feels bad. I feel the same way about several other power pools. It just happens that Tough and Weave are really important to a lot of my builds, and yes, worth the sacrifice, while the other power pools are sadly not. I ALSO think those other pools should get buffed, but it doesn't change the fact that the current implementation of the Fighting pool, balanced though it may be, feels bad to me, and many others. It's not fun, and it doesn't have to be that way just because that's how it has always been.

That's bad design. Every power should be desirable.

In fact, I'm NOT advocating to get rid of delaying gratification...not at all.

Counterpoint, if the available prerequisites are all so terrible that you don’t want to even take them to get to the good stuff, then they should be improved.

I personally think it's right for Tough to have a prerequisite. But I completely agree with those who point out how terrible it feels to have to take a power you aren't going to use to get it. What would people feel about adding a third t1 to the set? (OR folding Boxing and Kick into 1, by making "it" somewhat better, similar to Arcane Bolt, perhaps, and giving Cross Punch the same buffs with just the one prereq?) The idea I had was the following: Sturdy Auto 5% Defense Debuff Resistance (same value for all ATs) Enhanceable, accepts Defense sets

I'm pretty sure that is exactly the plan.

There are of course many sets that are overall fine but have a stinker power or two in them, but that's not the point of investigation here, I think. Sets that, imo, overall still need a bit of help, in no particular order (at this point a very short list): Assault Rifle Broadsword Kinetic Melee Mind Control Regen

It's a great fun playstyle to chase. IMO, with either Lightning Rod or Savage Leap and Shield Charge, you just don't need Spring Attack. Just not necessary. Use CT instead.

Slotting the Prot Bots themselves for End Red should do that.

I think it's because armor toggles limit your recovery even while not in combat. Other classes are able to recover quickly between fights. This is balanced (maybe?) by melee being way tougher AND doing more damage.

Keep your toggles on. Slot Endurance Reduction in your attacks. On a Tanker levelling up: 1 acc, 2 dam, 1 end red At higher levels you'll have more flexibility, obviously.

Most of the character replacement missions (those that actually involve fighting) are PAINFULLY poor in their implementation.

It's a good set. End costs maybe a little high, but you get a lot for that cost. Meteor is super entertaining. Good paired Kinetics (what isn't) or anything else with Self +End or Recovery.

Vulnerability takes exactly 5 seconds to recharge. The Opportunity bar takes 30 seconds to gain a charge, and if it's under 50 the Vulnerability icon will be grayed out. Maybe this is what you're seeing? Sentinels could never stack their Vulnerability debuff. Only their small always on proc. Since the proc no longer exists (it was replaced by having higher base damage) you can no longer stack that element. Previously if you hit your Vulnerability debuff when another Sentinel had already cast it, it would overwrite, thereby wasting some amount of time on one of the debuffs. Now you cannot waste it.

I don't really disagree, but I do want to point out that the perception range, and the high range of Vulnerability, allows us to put up the debuff even on Stealthy mobs when they are ahead of us. This is so that we can debuff to help our allies even if we aren't in attack range yet.

This is also a problem in some missions in Story Arcs, such as Rescue Jim Thunderhead Bartlett. Rescuees should not be able to take damage until AFTER they are rescued.

They are balanced for the primary element. Not secondary effects. Earthquake and Ice Slick have the same duration and recharge, the same end cost, ice slick actually has a slightly better knockdown chance. Elements like debuffs in a Control set are secondary effects that are going to typically be different in different sets. Earth Control has very little in the way of Defensive debuffs outside of Earthquake. Ice Control has defensive debuffs in everything EXCEPT Ice Slick. I'm not convinced that Ice Control lags behind anymore. That would have to be demonstrated.

Again, powers are not balanced that way. The set is balanced against the set. Not the individual powers.

If that's the best argument then it's DOA. Powers are not balanced against each other directly, but rather in the context of what the set as a whole brings. Ice Control has massive amounts of Slow that Earth Control cannot match. I'm not saying that Ice Slick SHOULDN'T have -ToHit, but this is not a good argument for it.

Sentinel version, maybe.

I saw this exact same behavior the other day, in the version of the mission from Trevor Seaborn.