Leogunner

It's not so much that it's overpowered and moreso that it has all the essentials of a specific kit all rolled into one set and in not-so-small amounts. That specific kit being offense. The outlined Sonic Resonance kit would just be the opposite but with defensive support. The main different between them though is, very few people care about overwhelming defense if its at the cost of offense. Again, I'm not saying it's OP per say, just VEEEERY convenient when you're mostly only caring about offense. Like, if kinetics had fulcrum shift buffed even more (more damage?) it wouldn't really be that breaking if the set completely lacked any +rech buffs. Or if the damage buffs came at the cost of +Endurance Costs so you NEEDED that extra recovery just to break even...But no. Kinetics is pretty much your 1 stop shop if you want to overcharge your team's offense. But I tend to look at Empathy as a set that is properly proportioned. Strong buffs are not group wide and upkeep is likely why so many play the set (people that like to support like using their support powers, i.e. upkeep, and for those powers to make a nominal difference to the recipient).

Why are you so certain of that? I find it intriguing to see a "nerf something popular" thread. I'm not against it (probably the opposite) I just don't know what angle you're working from. Why need it now? Personally speaking, the synergy that kinetics presents within the set alone is very high. The upkeep of its effects has been made less over time and coupled with IOs, it presents a trifecta of offensive support. It'd be like sonic resonance being capable of capping all damage res types, buffing max HP of all team members and pumping out constant +absorb and +Regen. With everyone running maneuvers, you can cap def ontop of that for free to have an unkillable team.

It's a different play style. I already have blackstar slotted for rech which requires close range. Stack blackstar, venomous gas and poison trap, I'm mostly safe. If I wanted to be really safe I'd stack IO bonuses for more defense. But as is, my build is standard IOs that mostly hurts for more rech.

Wow, this sounds fantastic! One aspect of buff sets that kind of have put a large strain on more static bubbler sets is long duration powerful buffs. Bubbler sets are ok for this usually if they are limited in the variety of buffs they offer (such as Cold Dom not having heals and +resist). Even if a buff set has a powerful long duration buff, it's balanced if it's Single Target. When you get sets like Time Manipulation that basically just does all the standard buffs in AoEs it really just goes to show how out of place such sets are. This set sounds like it was made correctly taking into account limitations on target caps while having limitations on durations and thus having opportunity costs in their upkeep. Upkeep. I feel this is a statistic for buff/debuff sets not taken into account until this set. The application (range/AoE) and frequency (cast time, recharge and duration) of your support powers. If ever support sets get a rework (along with other portions of the game), this would be an important aspect to balance support sets with. If the application is trivial, the frequency should take a hit. It the frequency and application result in low upkeep, the set as a whole should have limitations on what it can apply. EDIT: I was also kind of blase about playing this set but by how you described it (having more of an upkeep requirement), I really want to play this set either as a team-oriented Defender, a more toggle/defensive oriented Controller, or any kind of MM (but you need to remove the Galvanic Sentinel pet for MMs).

Broadsword has some advantages over Ninja Blade with regards to damage per activation having more clout when you can control when you do 2x damage.

Would be kind of neat if you could choose a neighborhood and then that is your beat and as you spend time in the zone and clean up the streets (this should take quite a while, not something one can do in a few sessions) that certain events will spawn (likely through an NPC trigger) that others could participate in as well.

Is it thought? One aspect we're forgetting here is the "at 50" part. People do take certain powers to make leveling easier and there is a teensy itty bitty amount of the game that comes before lvl 50 and there's the possibility people do /respec on their way and as more powers become available. But then I suppose if you only care about end-game viability, we should start adding great amounts of damage and slashing recharge times to a lot of things.

Curious how ranged slotting affects these differences. I know, once I have it frankenslotted for max acc, DMG, end and range, it can get to around 23ft long... Not amazing but at that range, it practically hits whatever is "right over there 👉". If the target manages to move colder before I can use it is when it sux.

I still propose a newer debuff opposite of an Endurance Discount, being an Endurance Tax. Then you just have to make sure the mob's attacks have appropriate base cost.

I still say, if combat were modified in some way to make fights last longer than 15sec, the utility of sapping becomes more apparent. This is actually why I enjoy the early 30 levels because it's more likely, when difficulty is appropriate, that fights can last and escalate for multiple minutes. Nerfing damage, buffing foes, limiting AoE, modifying mechanics...sapping isn't the only aspect of the game that is marginalized.

I think another possible avenue to seek to keep the crit on Dark Consumption for Scrappers (I was in the camp that didn't want to remove AT abilities from various powers) is just make it so the %crit for it is lower and not affected by outside buffs. Similarly, powers like Spine Burst for Stalkers has a toned down crit chance when used from Hide. All in all, I really wanted DC to keep its power, even if it was at the cost of not making the optimal situation for its use off of recharge.

Combustion is also a long duration DoT of about 13 sec and is a PBAoE. Rain powers have to do a ToHit check for every hit throughout the duration. Anyway, like I said before, if you want lots of upfront damage from the power, procs exist for that.

I'd like that too but then you'd have to change the name of the versions of DC in epic pools.

Will it have a 15sec -ToHit debuff? I think that'd be a nice addition to have. Having a lot of burst damage (what people are arguing for to oppose the DoT) even on a team isn't necessary. People keep saying "the team will have killed off the foes by the time..." and that's kind of the point. DoTs are there to kill off foes that survive with a sliver of health. When a fire corruptor dropps a Rain of Fire and Fire Ball but some of the minions are left with a 1/5 of health while the little bit of fire DoT is inching them closer, that's what DoTs are there for. And if you want burst damage, just put procs in it. There are 4 available to put in it...5 if you put that ToHit debuff in there. Since the damage is over a Dot, how about a name change? Dark Decay? I never was a big fan of using Equilibrium as it's not very "dark" lol

Thank you. I was going to post about how the feedback was getting far too stubborn.

I think the only thing I don't like about the Elite versions of groups idea is limiting it to Incarnate content. I'd rather not have to wait 45+ levels to encounter advanced content nor do I not enjoy the prospect of being bogged down by every team toting various incarnate powers to trivialize the fun.

I think that's kinda the point. You get the most powerful self damage boosting power at the price of NOT being able to chain AoE everything down.

I agree. As for the Shadow Maul change, most that were rooting for the changes don't like or want Shadow Maul.

They also don't tend to have +recovery powers to offset those toggles. I do advocate for giving NPCs more powers though, not to justify sapping builds but as a means of diversifying combat.

It is as debilitating, it's just players have different priorities than NPCs. NPCs simply want to slow players down while players want NPCs dead NAO! One is indicative of controlling the pace of combat while the other is effectively eliminating combat itself.

The current setup for DE is more damage if you're topped off on END. But I find it interesting you use the word "gimp" if the build, itself, has a strong/reliable +END tool to recover lost endurance. Would that not be considered building for purpose rather than "gimp"? Seems like every build having all the same goals (+def, +rech, +recovery, +dmg) "gimps" build diversity. I'm not trying to change that but it's to paint my perspective on that matter as a whole.

It's a pun. I'd prefer that over Affinity. But aren't Surge Protectors suppose to protect from unexpected voltage spikes not cause them?

I feel like this is gas lighting. Am I crazy or was this all started (with the initial name) by outrage cancel culture?

Well you won't see the moved or deleted posts. But it does go beyond just this particular example of the name "Shock Therapy". That's not censorship. That's criticism. Tangentially controversial. I'm willing to drop that whole debate because it'd be going off topic further. As for Electrical Interface sounding like an incarnate ability, I can see that...but of course it's just a suggestion. I'm for seeking some better options for the name if that is indeed a possible avenue of change for this set.

Yes, I suppose most of my criticism of your post was labeling other criticism as wholly negative without context. I appreciate the feedback on my suggestion. I feel the name is pretty interesting is because Interface works on various levels with electronics, antennae, machines, programs and even people. Interface is as broad a term as affinity but fits electricity themes better.