After having 500+ veteran levels with my Storm Blaster (Storm Blast / Ice Manipulation, and definitely my favorite character to this day), and after testing the new storm blast on beta, I must say that I'm seriously concerned. The set went from "Lightning on almost every hit / excellent AoE", to "Waiting for a miracle to happen for the lightning to trigger". The whole idea feels like a massive nerf to me, and it loses the "punch" it has on live. The play feels hollow, frustrating, broken, definitely slower on lightning procs, and alien compared to what Storm Blast used to (or meant to) be.
Guys, if you ask my humble opinion, there's nothing wrong with Storm Blast, and it works VERY well. The "storm preparation" is what slows it down slightly, but! Instead of changing the core of the set, I have a better idea to offer for PvE:
How about instead of all these changes, to simply lower Storm Cell's casting time as mentioned above and recharge only (the new values for both are great), let it move, and allow it to actually "Stack" one or two times with itself and with other players' Storm Cells producing more lightning for more damage? Like how it happens with Leadership power pools.
Do the same thing with Category 5, reduce the cooldown to "Hail of Bullets" or "Full Auto" standards, and allow it to mingle with Storm Cell as it is right now.
Also guys, please stop comparing Caterogy 5 with a "Traditional" nuke. Storm Cell does not have a nuke. Category Five is a storm, something unique, which if you currently combine with Storm Cell, you have the perfect storm, and a massive AoE that lasts for 20 seconds, as long as you keep attacking.
I have spoken.