Dispari

Not sure if it's a result of Arsenal Control or Arsenal Assault, but every time I go to edit my weapon (set to Celestial Rifle that sits on back), it's reset to default, and tries to charge me money to change it.

You know you could preserve your character concept as having fun thematic powers AND they could also not suck, right?

The thing is, sleeps aren't completely useless. There are situations where they could help, and you could always manufacture a situation in a vacuum where sleep would solve it. Every time you say "nobody likes sleeps" someone inevitably says "well what about (scenario that might happen once every 15 missions)." I wouldn't deny that it is theoretically possible for sleep to contribute occasionally. I would just rather have a power that actually reliably does something useful in every single fight. But "drop the sleep for an immobilize" has been feedback since day one of closed beta, so it's safe to say it's not going anywhere. They did, briefly, test an AoE immobilize in the set; a web grenade that did smashing damage, but they did so by replacing the stealth power, which nobody wanted. Someone on the dev team really likes sleep powers I guess.

Except, a Corruptor is support, but not according to this system.

Scatter is always problematic. That's why all but like 2 control sets have AoE immobilizes. It's why the devs eventually introduced KB->KD IOs, because everyone hates AoE knockback. It's why later sets like Water Blast do knockdown by default. It's why repel effects are rare. Yes you CAN manage all these things if you want to do extra work just to prove you can, but you shouldn't have to. Just because there are a couple powers that cause scatter that aren't managed doesn't mean it's a good idea.

There's plenty of precedent for bad powers yes, but that doesn't mean we should do more of it.

Enemies wander and scatter when disoriented, which isn't a problem for sets with immobilizes.

I will also say the criticisms of the set and suggested changes here in open beta are identical to what closed beta looked like. Aside from the pet glow-up (which I do appreciate) and some power order changes, the set has not substantially changed.

Doms as a whole have had numerous balance passes, because they've always been a mess. I still remember when their base damage was Defender level, and when they just had random utility powers like Build Up, Aim, or Power Boost with no rhyme or reason.

What's unfortunate about this is theme is the main driving force for most people to make characters and try something new. But if they're stuck with sub-par sets, they probably won't enjoy their experience and the characters will be dropped. And if nothing substantial about this set is going to change, it's going to launch as a sub-par set.

The lack of S/L RES/DEF isn't an oversight, it's intended as an alternative option to some of the other epic sets. With this patch there are two dark sets, Dark and Soul, and they're intended to offer different powers and options for different builds. Some people might want the more exotic damage types instead. (Not saying I agree, just we talked about this in closed beta and that was the why. I would rather epic sets gave you a choice between the options with a power lockout system so you can't have both, but here we are)

Well no, because especially during the same patch we're trying to emphasize a "new player experience" to help new people adjust to the game, we're also rolling out something that teaches people wrong information about what ATs do and even conflicts with what the character creation screen says. It makes just as much sense as if they listed Scrapper as a mez role and Brutes as ranged damage. Some of these options are just on here to fill out space, and has nothing to do with reality. Whether people care about or want the reward involved is not the issue; we could keep that part while replacing the base system with something that actually makes sense.

It's most likely just that cones tend to come first in blast sets that Doms get them, to preserve the power order, and not to encourage any sort of gameplay. Net result is they just get worse powers which end up mixing with melee powers, creating a more annoying playstyle than most ATs. Earth Assault is an example of a Dom set that doesn't have to deal with cones, and it's a much better set for it. Other sets could follow that example, but simply don't. Anyway, as I said I'm not really holding out hope that the power would be changed, even if it would make the set more enjoyable to play. Buckshot is the weaker AoE, and Doms tend to get cones, because as you said, That's How It is.

Clearly it's not inconsequential since people have been arguing about it for 14 pages. If YOU don't care about the reward and don't care if you don't get it then that's good, but not everyone agrees. Most of us think if it has to exist it should at least be something that makes sense and isn't tricking new players wrong/confusing information.

Is this a real thing that a live dev said? That doms uniquely are supposed to bounce around like bunny rabbits changing position all the time? Or is it just extrapolated from the observation that Doms tend to get cones?

You're not wrong, but gotta shoot for the stars sometimes. Dominators do tend to get cone attacks, for some reason, even if they don't synergize with the set well. Trying to mix ranged cones with melee powers is always obnoxious.

Out of curiosity, why not?

There was a pass a while back to give all the control sets immobilizes that reduce KB to KD instead of simply disabling it entirely. All powers should have that treatment, including WAWG.

Just a quick one, but WAWG was increased from a 10 foot radius to a 25 foot radius. That's an area increase from 314 to 1962. The target cap was also raised from 10 to 16. This puts it pretty close to actual mez set AoE immobilizes, which have a 30 foot radius. Visualized, the difference is: Old version, targeting this Shocker but it not being wide enough to hit the Troll top right. New version, targeting the Grenadier and getting everyone but the security guard top right.

If I'm understanding correctly, the ATO simply has a proc that puts you in Hide status so that you can get an extra crit in. The ATO has always had the "cancel on damage" flag, but it was broken until recently. The net result is the ATO proccing gave you a 10 second window of hidden that cannot be broken, so you can get your free crit (the point of the proc). A consequence of fixing the "cancel on damage" flag means this ATO is now significantly worse, and the proc can go off and leave you with nothing if you are unhidden early. Basically the "cancel on damage" flag should be removed from the ATO to restore functionality.

If the stated goal is to help new players make better decisions when forming teams then it's actually teaching them wrong (as a joke!) by having several ATs listed as something they aren't. Maybe it started with noble intentions but it's clear several ATs were crammed into ill-fitting spaces just so there could be approximately balanced categories, which is simply not the way the game works. And what's the point of having people memorize a new system with its own nonsensical rules for exactly one application? I will say again that just asking people to bring a variety of different ATs is infinitely easier to understand and do without anyone having to learn anything or argue about (for 12+ pages).

Regarding recent changes, my thoughts on the set are: 1) I understand why we have Buttstroke and Elbow Strike; all Dom sets are a combination of melee and range. Even if I feel melee attacks are unusual for a gun-based set, it's part of the class identity, and technically Doms do more damage in melee, so they aren't bad. Also having a PBAoE in the form of Trip Mine helps justify this. And the overall lack of cones in Control means you can mostly stay in melee if you want to. That said: Buckshot. It's a cone. I think M30 Grenade would be a better fit for the set. Outside of this one power there's no other reason an Arsenal/Arsenal Dom needs to back out of melee range. I know, Doms tend to get cones, it is what it is. But it's not entirely unprecedented. Anyway this one is a long shot but it's how I feel. 2) While we're on the topic of the melee powers, I don't understand Elbow Strike. The set is about having a gun and this power is you just punching someone. The gun doesn't come into play at all. Is this an animation problem? Are there no other animations for a melee attack with a gun that would work? I would even prefer some sort of anime nonsense uppercutting someone with the gun to just not using the gun at all. It would be like having a karate kick in the middle of Radiation Blast. I don't get it. 3) The changes to the unique version of Trip Mine are making it pretty good. It has the best features of the blaster version, not being interruptable, while also having a knockdown (one less power to not have to reign in KB on. Looking at you Buckshot and the possible replacement M30 Grenade). So this is good. 4) The utility in this set is good, I like the general Power Up option and Targeting Drone is quite good. It goes a long way toward making sure those low accuracy mez powers land. 5) Snipes are always good and I appreciate its inclusion here. It's one of the better powers. 6) Ignite is a good power, though it does make enemies flee like pretty much all damage patches. Hey you know what would help with that? If the Control set had an immobilize...

A slow is not an immobilize no matter how much you enhance it (and who enhances for slow in something like that anyway?). It would do nothing to keep AVs from running all over the place, for instance. In fact, slows tend to make them panic and start running, which is a reason the set needs a proper immobilize. I really hope "the set has slow" isn't the reason we're not getting one. I would point out, slow-heavy sets like Ice, Earth, and Gravity still have one. Immobilize also goes beyond just having a way to keep enemies still. For Controllers it's an important tool to trigger Containment on all targets. It also often serves as one of the only reliable, quick-recharging sources of damage. Anyway, I hopped on and played with the set for a bit. 1) Being able to take the hold right off the bat is good, and makes the set more immediately playable. Most sets start with a hold and it's the easiest way to get Containment going and give you an early solo option, so this is the right decision. 2) I took Sleep Grenade to test it, even though I would absolutely skip it in a real build. I can see what you're going with with the changes, and it's not necessarily a bad idea. The point is to have a quick-recharging sleep that you can put out at any time. It gives it a unique opportunity compared to other sets where you could theoretically drop sleep every 5 seconds, and always have a power to drop on extra spawns or just to open with. And with it being on-demand it's not conflicting with things like the confuse and whatnot, because it's a conscious decision. Still, it just isn't a very good power, and from my experience and the feedback given above by other posters, most people would rather have the version that ticks if we ABSOLUTELY HAVE to have a sleep for SOME reason. I'm sure it was done so that domination/containment actually work on it, but here's the thing. This version of the power is actually worse than what it was, and it's not like it was good to begin with. And second, and I KNOW you're tired of hearing this, but you know what else would work in this slot that would work with domination/containment and still have a useful slow effect, and be overall 1000 times more useful to the build? An immobilize. 3) The increased radius on Smoke Canister increases its area from 1256 to 1962 which is a pretty good change, and will make it easier to hit full spawns if they're fully spread out. -perception in particular is a tentative debuff, since if anyone in the group sees you it will aggro them all, so I would say this is a good change. 4) Tri-Cannon is... All right it's not a lot, but I understand the limitations we're working with and I appreciate the effort put in here. 👍 Here's the boi we're working with: I have some thoughts on Assault too but I'll post those in the appropriate thread.

We got frag grenade 😄

Not quite. Mass Hypnosis has a 45s recharge and twice the duration. This seems meant to be a short-duration AoE sleep you can fire out basically whenever you want.