JayboH

...although that would still make them substantially worse than any other set before Serum

You do; you can choose to go in melee for a PBAOE sleep and used ranged attacks instead of the hard-hitting melee attacks, which won't trigger Shockwaves, or Meteor, which doesn't trigger Shockwaves, or Epic powers which doesn't trigger Shockwaves, or Pool powers which don't trigger Shockwaves.

I'm sure it's the same reason why Seismic's crit is so small: balance reasons. It's the entire reason why Scrappers didn't get this set so long ago - and why Super Strength is also not available. If ported as-is, I've been told the damage would be way too insane. Don't want Scrappers basically getting Assassin Strike on Heavy Mallet, Seismic Slam, or Knockout Blow.

Yeah I could see that being switched, but what about swapping Brimstone's placement with Mud Pots instead?

I think it's been mentioned that Mercenaries might be the worst powerset in the entire game. I keep going back to that quote stating that if Mercs had their damage doubled they would still only be in the middle of the pack. That's crazy.

Force Fields - yes, this set could use a 2nd revamp, but it is still stupidly strong for what it does - a single defender can softcap an entire team on just SOs if I recall. I would welcome revisions. Empathy is fine as is IMO - intentionally ignoring the arguments about debuffs over heals, the set is really not bad or in need of a rebalance. Regeneration - oh hell yeah, this has become a meme at this point. Anyone arguing against Regen needing retooling has got to be trolling - not that you can't make it work, but they are very aware and I've seen the devs and GMs make jokes about it as well. Masterminds are slowly getting fixes which I am thankful for. It's a lot of work. Outside of that, I would vote Poison getting a revamp above Force Fields and even Sonic Resonance above Force Fields. Super Strength's Rage issue is probably a hard problem to solve and might be the reason it hasn't been proliferated yet.

It trades at best - one cc for another. You may have a point about synergy but it's not a bug at any rate - if it is Mud Pots then yes it is a bug and a problem.

Well, it isn't a problem at all - because then the set isn't fighting against itself. It's a side effect of the player pairing it with Seismic Blast.

Granite did not get new graphics, which Scrappers do not get. Geode looks great, which is only on Scrappers.

Confirmed via ice/ice scrapper. I turned off Icicles, hit Frozen Aura, watched them not wake up from Chilling Embrace, but then when I dropped Ice Patch they woke up. ...and they should wake up after falling on their butts IMO even though they aren't taking damage, simply due to the nature of what is happening. I doubt I could stay asleep if I fell on the ground after all. So if Mud Pots is the culprit and it is not Shockwaves, we really need to know.

I bet it's Shockwaves, if it is Mud Bath I want to know though because that would be a really weird bug.

Number one I reported before, it's just a text change from an earlier build. Number 2 - is it Mud Bath or Shockwaves that is waking them up? I saw your other post.

When testing this on Cryptic, I didn't take Salt Crystals, but that's weird that Mud Bath is waking them up. It isn't doing any damage. It only slows. Could you figure out why from the combat log?

Yes to both.

I suppose it's good that it's still faster than Short Circuit, and I would think a blaster might get more out of a CC power than others due to squishiness. Thank you for clarifying though; I said earlier I might be misunderstanding. Was I right about the activation time?

Time probably.

The cold damage proc is hopefully a sign of things to come. There is not enough for this damage type in my opinion, that being Interface proc choice and damage auras (Icicles.)

That's a gameplay choice argument, like a min/maxer yelling at a newbie for selecting something that isn't optimal. The best argument you could make is that you want the activation sped up for the initial hit to make it more worth it. The other option is Ball because the nuke takes awhile, and we have to dismiss manipulation AOEs and pools because of player choice when it comes to balance.

Only toyed with the new placate awhile back on Cryptic but it seemed to work well.

Played with this a bunch on Cryptic, but did not take Fault, and it felt pretty good to me. Testing showed it as slow clearing but very safe due to the high amounts of CC the set is known for. I thought Seismic Smash felt fine with its changes. I know Hurl Boulder has prob been sped up since its inception but it could still be a hair quicker IMO.

...why would you use anything when everything is dead? I don't get your argument so far. Changes to a powerset shouldn't be about making sure some powers are skippable so a player can grab tough/weave for their builds. Currently that's what I've perhaps misunderstood you to say.

Nice, thanks

Last time I tested it was on Nov 1 on Cryptic.

If you never play with others that can hold aggro to prevent your VS detoggle, it's useless. If you never play with others that can grant status protection to prevent your VS detoggle, it's useless. If you never take powers that grant your character status protection to prevent your VS detoggle, it's useless. If you only fight enemies that can hit you with a status effect that detoggles VS, it's useless. ...you see my point? It's a player's choice. I prefer the toggle, especially since the original had such a long cooldown and a very large up front end cost.

I like the unique icons and hope they stay. My only nitpicks on the most recent patch was that Upthrust and Meteor were just a hair on the slow side and might end up corpse blasting on the regular - otherwise the set feels pretty good.