ScarySai

Problem: I have even less reason to include bone smasher if I only get one charge of focus. If I only get one, and only one, no change you can possibly make to bone smasher would make it worth using over ET.

On one hand, ET gets nerfed. On the other hand, I get to see someone's health bar get erased...

I agree, but two things to address here. 1: Is it valuable enough to overpower ET's capabilities? All of my testing from last night suggests that ET's contribution overpowers regen ticks substantially. They can't handle the nuclear fists. I made a bigger mess out of scrapyard than Mako did. 2: Bone smasher doesn't get a damage buff from focus, so what you're saying is more of a point for the non-focus team there.

I guess my problem is I don't see bone smasher offering anything valuable over ET for a DPS based archetype. Especially when the rotations that use ET are very capable of ripping harder targets in half, and stunlocking them. Anything below an EB gets almost erased by ET, which invalidates pretty much any debuff right there. Bone smasher's could be good on an AV, but it isn't good enough to make it worth spending focus on over ET. Power crash is amazing, energy transfer is amazing, yet with bone smasher, I feel like I have to avoid using it to do my job better. I think "abuse" is an awful way to put it. Brutes and tanks are another matter entirely, they kinda got left out on a very, very important mechanic.

Hey, let's not. I'm trying my best to not say removing focused BS altogether would be a good idea, though if other generators aren't added that's kinda where I'm leaning on it. ET is too important, it's like picking between crushing uppercut and sweeping to spend combo points on, but minus the more sources of generating combo points. You're always going to pick crushing uppercut when it's up between the two, that's just the logical decision.

I tried a few rotations on Scrapyard and +4 numina the other day, in both instances the ET rotations beat the bone smasher rotations substantially. ET just hits really, really hard. Also, let's stop fighting, children. At least pretend to be professional, take the fighting to PMs. The gap widens as teams are introduced, as bone smasher becomes less important the more debuffers/buffs are working with you.

I would be mostly okay with this, if that's how it would go down. But that's my own personal playstyle, others would be inclined to disagree for a variety of reasons. Like I said to you earlier, focused bone smasher is not bad, but it cannot possibly compete with ET. That's not a fault with either power, it's just the way things scale out, especially for stalkers. With ET I can beat the regen of a monster already, so why would I use focused bone smasher when it's weak regen would largely be resisted anyway? Especially when un-focused bone smasher is still pretty damn good, as opposed to slow ET really mudding the rotation a bit.

I have reason to believe the build up idea won't be considered, which is why I'm focusing on focused BS itself. BS generating EF in one way or another would be good. And again, brutes/tanks need more ways to generate focus, even if scrappers/stalkers get nothing else. Also, it's really not a "combo" system, so much as a build/spender system. There's a difference - just a minor annoyance is all.

We're not going to agree on lots of things here, so we should probably quit while we're ahead. Refining and improving the current system is likely the best way forward, lest we get another dark melee situation. To me, this thing is close to perfect, it just needs SOMETHING to make it more fluid. Energy assault can proc focus from beating the tar out of stunned targets. Globally, that would probably be a bit OP for the EM overhaul, but if bone smasher applied some kind of mark, like contamination, that caused further beat-downs on that target to generate focus, I could see that being something neat. At the end of the day, it's a very minor issue. EM could launch like this tomorrow and It would be my new main for quite awhile.

I imagine there's a fear that energy would become an unstoppable god if they did that, so if they implemented it, we'd take a hit on a few abilities. Though depending on severity, and if ET was touched at all, I could see energy assault's mechanic being ported in some way, like my idea above, maybe focused bone smasher could enable it, making it actually worth capitalizing on. @TrooEnergy melee's only identity is to hit things so hard that their brain melts and they stumble around as you beat on their sludge-heads more, until they fall down. You won't get always-on fast ET back without massive nerfs to everything else, that's why I prefer working with the system they have given us, it's more plausible for change to happen there.

No, but once you get to the higher end STJ chains for stalker, it's basically Shin breaker>AS>finisher, so it doesn't really need to be monitored at all. AS generates two combo points, that's why it's so strong and much more fun for stalkers. Plus, in the conversion from scrapper to stalker, it loses pretty much nothing of value. Hence it's popularity.

I don't really see a problem with that, outside of things being tuned down to compensate for it, which is why I don't really want to push that idea too much. Watching for focus procs and firing off an ET is the kind of thing I like, considering how fast ET is now, It's rather rewarding for me to maximize that and it keeps me on my toes.

If nothing else, nothing else at all - Brutes and tanks especially need another way to generate focus. They can't do the crit shenanigans that stalkers and scrappers can.

I wouldn't say it's 'held hostage', if they removed the bonus effect I doubt it would cause any problems at all. But that's boring. I'd like the option to use it, there's just no reason to. Nerfing ET isn't going to be a good idea there. More focus generation could be nice, perhaps targets hit by focused bone smasher are 'marked', and slapping them around a bit can potentially generate focus? I don't really have any ideas for how to fix it, just want to highlight the problem for the powers that be. I don't want to cause a massive balance shift with the set, because it's basically close to perfect. If buffing focus came at the cost of nerfing throughput, I would be worried about gimping throughput.

Expanding on my earlier complaint about lack of other ways to generate focus: due to how quickly we get ET after unlocking TF, I feel like focused bone smasher is mostly a trap for rotations. I'm focusing my tests on stalkers, but it really should apply to all energy users. That's not to say bone smasher with focus is bad, far from it - it's actually pretty good - the problem is it has to compete with ET for a very limited resource. PC is fine, because it does something ET can't do - AOE, but in every situation I can see focused bone smasher being nice to have, I don't see it being nicer to have than the massive nuke to the face that fast-ET is. Perhaps if there were other ways to generate focus, or at the very least we were able to pool it, I could see myself weaving in a focused BS from time to time, but as of right now, it feels more like a trap.

Typically unless you are using an MMO mouse, for modern gaming mice the top button near your thumb is button5, the one below is button4 and the mouse wheel is button3. For binds, left click would be 'lbutton' Double check with Synapse/logitech/whatever you use, or just look up your mouse if you aren't sure.

I find the logic behind not letting it use LOTGs 'because set mule' to be arbitrary. If I'm using CJ, it's because I'm using super speed as my travel power, and don't want to fly or teleport. If I'm using fly/hover/afterburner, it's likely a range focused build, or because flying is awesome. If I'm using teleport, it's because I want to instantly relocate as my main method of getting around in combat, whether it's to escape a bad situation, punch a sniper in the face or to slip through a crack that would otherwise not be doable. LOTG is just a bonus on top of that. Letting CT use it does not cause any problems, nor does it infringe on the former two power options. Denying it the best buff just because of some unfounded fear of min/maxing is ridiculous. --- As for fold space The more I play with this, the more I feel like it needs SOMETHING to stop mobs from scattering the minute you drop them. Crowd control would be too much, and likely steps a bit on gravity's toes too much, so I was thinking, what if we added taunt to it?

On one hand, I get concerns with making ToF too strong, with soul drain and such in mind, it's very easy to make dark melee go from "godlike single target, okay AoE" to the most powerful thing in the game. On the other hand, scrappers can already take fireball or ball lightning if they really want to. Targeted AoE slotting lets me cram another -res proc and ragnarok into tight builds, so that's not really something I consider a problem at all. It does feel pretty weak, though.

100% agreed. I love the Powexec_loc changes, I love combat teleport's functionality (iffy on the buff, but regardless), I like the idea behind the untouchable status on teleport, but teleport itself still feels sluggish and generally terrible. The only reason I have it on the shade is because I'm forced to, really. While having untouchable for the opener is cool in a way, I'd trade it in an instant for a more responsive travel power. As someone who hates the hover in teleport, please no.

They actually don't damage you at all, it's just a heal.

I'm unfamiliar with psi melee, so correct me if I'm wrong, but... 1: You aren't getting a critical insight boosted GPB twice per rotation, yes? 2: Psi's other attacks aren't as beefy as energy's other attacks, right? 3: ET is pure energy, Psi is typically not resisted much, or hugely resisted with no in-between.

The reliance on total focus to get fast ET off is no doubt an intentional balancing attempt. That's why I don't see any scenario where that gets lifted. More ways to generate focus would be a lot more plausible as far as buffs go.

Claws has follow up and a longer recharge. Spin also doesn't debuff or knockdown anything, so it gets more leeway in the damage formula. I agree that ToF should hit just slightly harder, or at least animate faster. If the ability didn't feel so sluggish the current implementation wouldn't bother me much. Perhaps if it were a longer cd and had a 1.65ish activation time?

I am aware of the intent, I was asking them of their personal results. Sheesh.

I didn't notice this at all during my testing. Are you certain?