modest

@Jacke Thank you for taking the time to correct your posts. We all make mistakes, and it shows strength of character that you took ownership and provided the corrected information. You may find the CoH Homecoming Powers API made by @RubyRed helpful when determining how a power functions. It includes all of the back-end data for powers currently on the servers, and the data for the powers in the i27 beta. @Bopper is also working on an updated City of Data spreadsheet. Here is a link to the version for the i27 Beta. I agree with your conclusion that Touch of Fear is an awful power.

This is misinformation. Prior to the i27 Beta, Touch of Fear did not do damage on any archetype. Touch of Fear was never a high damage single target attack. It is not a high damage single target attack on the live servers. Here are the steps that I took to verify the current status and history of Touch of Fear: I checked RubyRed's API. I checked the Paragon Wiki archives, and the Homecoming wiki. I logged into my Dark Melee Scrapper on Everlasting, respecced into Touch of Fear, and tested it. I observed my combat logs. Touch of Fear on the live (i26) servers has the following effects on a Scrapper: 3.0 terrorize for 22.35s on target. 30.00% chance for 1.0 terrorize for 10.43s on target. -11.25% to hit for 20s on target. Touch of Fear on the live (i26) servers allows the following IO set types on a Scrapper: Reduced Endurance Cost Enhance Recharge Speed Enhance Fear Enhance ToHit Debuffs Enhanced Accuracy I understand the dislike of the i27 Beta version of Touch of Fear. I am also highly critical of the power. However, please do not spread misinformation. If other players make claims that you are unsure about, please verify the veracity of those claims prior to repeating them. @Saikochoro was correct to ask this question:

Touch of Fear is the T8 power for Stalkers. I apologize for having besmirched the honor of your clan. Please consider yourself de-lumped with eyes wide open.

@Jimmy Please take the time to read the feedback from players who have tested the Dark Melee changes on the beta server. Of the players who have actually tested the new Touch of Fear, none of them have had anything positive to say about it. The beta version of Touch of Fear is objectively the worst spherical AOE power that Stalkers receive. I'll quote Bopper's post here with the numbers that back up that statement: If the intent of these changes is to improve the AOE performance of a set that underperforms in AOE damage, then what is the point of adding a new power to the set that is measurably worse than every other existing power? If the intent is to provide a quick fix to Dark Melee's lack of AOE performance, then might I suggest a simpler change: increase the radius of Shadow Maul to match the 10ft radius of Energy Melee's new cone, Power Crash. According to Ruby's API, Shadow Maul has a DPA of 38 and the new Power Crash has a DPA of 60.3 (without Arcanatime factored in either calculation). Shadow Maul has a radius of 7ft, and Power Crash has a radius of 10ft. This small change would provide Dark Melee with a considerable AOE boost from levels 2 through 35, and would negate the need to introduce any new or altered powers until the developers have a chance to give Dark Melee further consideration.

This is a valid opinion. I think that the set would be much improved by following what you describe: Scrap the i27 Beta Touch of Fear change. Increase the radius of Shadow Maul. I am most familiar with the Stalker version of Dark Melee, and on a Stalker the DPA of Siphon Life isn't very good. On a Stalker, Siphon Life is the T7 attack, but it has a lower DPA than the T2 attack. Increasing the DPA to the level of Smite would balance out the set. This would bring its Single Target damage to the level of Electrical Melee, a set that isn't particularly valued for its Single Target output. The PBAoE mini-nuke is a nice-to-have-but-not-necessary request. Captain Powerhouse put a version of the PBAoE nuke on a previous Beta patch for us to test, and it was very well received and quite fun to use.

Thank you to @Kanil for testing the Scrapper version of the set. Captain Powerhouse previously stated that the design intent for Touch of Fear is to be a filler AOE skill that can be replaced once a character is leveled to the point where they can take Epic pool AOE skills, or pool power attacks. Touch of Fear is intentionally balanced to have extremely low damage because it is intended to be used while buffed with a saturated Soul Drain. However, Scrappers and Brutes get Soul Drain at 26, and Brutes get Soul Drain at 28. That is just a few levels shy of when Epic pools are available. Touch of Fear underperforms significantly until Soul Drain at levels 26 and 28 respectively, at which point it becomes an average AoE attack if buffed by a 150% damage buff. On a Scrapper at level 50, with Soul Drain at 100% uptime, with Soul Drain gaining bonuses from hitting two enemies, and with Touch of Fear slotted to 100% damage, it will deal 117 damage (69.7 DPA). A minion at 50 has 430.80. It will take 4 applications of the skill to kill a level 50 minion, assuming that the minion has no resistance to negative energy. At level 50, a lieutenant has 857.50 health and a boss has 2,570.20 health. It will take 8 applications to kill a lieutenant and 22 applications to kill a boss, assuming that they have no resistance to negative energy. Stalkers do not receive Soul Drain, but let's be generous and assume that Build Up has a 100% uptime, and that Touch of Fear is slotted for 100% damage. In that (impossible) scenario, Touch of Fear will deal 135.6 damage (64 DPA). It will take 4 applications to kill an even level minion. It will take 7 applications to kill a lieutenant, and 22 applications to kill a boss.

Thank you for your feedback. It would be nice if some crit mechanic were implemented. I did not suggest it because I tried to follow the precedent set by other melee nukes.

I created a separate thread in the Suggestions forum where I proposed Dark Melee changes that are different than the ones in this thread. I am cross-posting that thread here because the changes that I propose are significantly different than what is on the test server, and more closely follow the original proposals that Captain Powerhouse made in a previous Beta Feedback thread.

The developers have indicated that they wish to make changes to Dark Melee on all archetypes in order to make the set more balanced. The changes that I propose are independent of those that are a part of the i27 Beta. Please direct comments on the i27 Beta changes to this thread. The perceived problem with Dark Melee is that it lacks AOE damage compared to other sets. It is also lacking in single target damage, but it arguably makes up for this lower damage by providing utility in the form of tohit debuffs and a slight heal in Siphon Life. The Scrapper, Brute, and Tanker versions of Dark Melee benefit from Soul Drain, a 30 second damage and tohit buff that scales based on the number of enemies hit when it is cast. The changes that I propose would not significantly increase the single target damage. The intention of these changes to create a balanced power set. Shadow Punch – Increase the damage by 10%. Shadow Punch is currently a poor performing power on all archetypes. A slight increase in damage would make it a good filler. This would especially benefit Tankers who are forced to take this power. Smite – No proposed changes. Shadow Maul – Increase the radius to 10ft. Keep the animation time, damage, radius, and target caps as they are. This would increase the damage so that it performs above the damage formula. Here's why I do not think that this is a problem: Every high-performing power set receives at least one power that does not follow the damage formula. War Mace: Clobber. Claws: Spin. Street Justice: Crushing Uppercut. Super Strength: Knockout Blow. Stone Melee: Seismic Smash. i27 Energy Melee: fast Energy Transfer, Stalker Power Crash. Titan Weapons: I won't comment on specific powers because Titan Weapons is currently being worked on. Please check the Beta Thread for details. There is precedent for 8-10ft cones in other melee sets. Frost in Ice Melee. Power Crash in i27 Energy Melee. Guarded Spin in Staff Fighting. Defensive Sweep in Titan Weapons. Sweeping Strike in Titan Weapons. Crowd Control in War Mace. This would be the only substantial source of AOE in the set until the T9. Siphon Life – Decrease the animation time or increase the damage so that the DPA matches the DPA of Smite. This would provide Dark Melee with two moderate damage single target attacks. Dark Consumption – Move to T4. No functional changes. Soul Drain – No proposed changes. Midnight Grasp – No proposed changes. Touch of Fear – Move this power to T9. Turn it into a PBAoE mini-nuke power. This idea was originally proposed by @Captain Powerhouse. It was disparaged in the feedback thread, but I think that the idea is good and should be pursued. The PBAoE would have the same damage, recharge time, radius, and target cap as Lightning Rod from Electrical Melee. The PBAoE would not teleport the character. Instead, it would retain the existing tohit debuff and 3.0 terrorize for 10.43s. The PBAoE would deal damage in 8 ticks over 4 seconds. This fits thematically with Dark Melee's existing powers. The PBAoE would not be able to crit. Here is how the proposed Dark Melee would look on the archetypes: Scrapper Power Level Effect Shadow Punch 1 Melee, Minor DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Smite 1 Melee, Moderate DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Shadow Maul 2 Melee (Cone), High DoT(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Dark Consumption 6 PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +End Siphon Life 8 Melee, Moderate DMG(Negative), Foe -To Hit, Self Heal Confront 12 Ranged, Foe Taunt, -Range Soul Drain 18 PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +DMG, +To Hit Midnight Grasp 26 Melee, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Immobilize, -To Hit Touch of Fear 32 PBAoE, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Fear, -To Hit Brute Power Level Effect Shadow Punch 1 Melee, Minor DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Smite 1 Melee, Moderate DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Shadow Maul 2 Melee (Cone), High DoT(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Dark Consumption 6 PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +End Siphon Life 8 Melee, Moderate DMG(Negative), Foe -To Hit, Self Heal Taunt 12 Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Taunt, -Range Soul Drain 18 PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +DMG, +To Hit Midnight Grasp 26 Melee, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Immobilize, -To Hit Touch of Fear 32 PBAoE, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Fear, -To Hit Tanker Power Level Effect Shadow Punch 1 Melee, Minor DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Smite 2 Melee, Moderate DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Shadow Maul 4 Melee (Cone), High DoT(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Taunt 10 Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Taunt, -Range Siphon Life 16 Melee, Moderate DMG(Negative), Foe -To Hit, Self Heal Dark Consumption 20 PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +End Soul Drain 28 PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +DMG, +To Hit Midnight Grasp 35 Melee, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Immobilize, -To Hit Touch of Fear 38 PBAoE, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Fear, -To Hit Stalker Power Level Effect Shadow Punch 1 Melee, Minor DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Smite 1 Melee, Moderate DMG(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Shadow Maul 2 Melee (Cone), High DoT(Smash/Negative), Foe -To Hit Assassin's Eclipse 6 Melee, Special Damage(Smash/Negative) Build Up 8 Self +DMG, +To Hit Placate 12 Ranged, Foe Placate, Self Stealth/Hide Siphon Life 18 Melee, Moderate DMG(Negative), Foe -To Hit, Self Heal Midnight Grasp 26 Melee, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Immobilize, -To Hit Touch of Fear 32 PBAoE, Superior DMG(Negative), Foe Fear, -To Hit Thank you to @Bopper and @Kanil for discussing this with me on Discord, and credit to @Captain Powerhouse for the idea of adding a mini-nuke with a DoT component to the set.

I approached the changes with the mindset that they were a QoL change that would improve the AoE output of the set, but play testing revealed that they were not. It's not a question of "moar damagez", and framing someone else's opinion in this manner is not helpful and only serves to devalue your argument. On a Stalker, Touch of Fear takes three or more uses to kill an even-level minion at lower levels. At level 50 with T4 incarnates, it can take four or more uses to kill a level 50 minion. It is nearly impossible to hit more than three targets with the skill. With a 6ft radius, the target cap of 10 is functionally meaningless. These issues go beyond the lack of damage; the power has fundamental problems with its functionality and design. The skill is not much better on a Scrapper. It appears to have been designed with the idea that it will be affected by a fully-saturated Soul Drain at all times. This is a terrible design choice because that does not reflect the actual game play of a Dark Melee character. Even if we accept the premise that Touch of Fear will be under the influence of Soul Drain that provides a permanent 120% damage buff, Touch of Fear slotted purely with damage IOs will deal 178 damage (84 DPA) over 3.1 seconds in a 6ft radius. In comparison, Spin from Claws slotted in the same way with 0% damage buffs from skills will deal 228 damage (86 DPA) in an 8ft radius to 10 targets. Again, that's without Build Up/Folow Up applied to it. The skill looks even worse when compared to the top performing AOE skills such as Fire Ball which, on a Scrapper, deals 144 damage (121 DPA) in a 15ft radius to 16 targets. I'll expand for a moment on why it does not make sense for Touch of Fear (or any of Dark Melee's skills) to be balanced with the assumption that they will be affected by Soul Drain. The simplest and best argument for why this should not be done is that this has not been the practice for any other power sets that receive damage% buffs. For example, Blasters receive damage buffs from their inherent Defiance. Blaster ranged attacks are not given lower damage to compensate for the significant damage buff that Blasters receive. Some Blaster secondaries (Martial Combat: Reach for the Limit) provide additional damage buffs. The skills in Martial Combat were not balanced with lower damage to compensate for the damage buff. It simply does not make sense to do so. Edit: @Bopper pointed out to me that Mid's is incorrect and that Soul Drain on a Scrapper can actually buff by 150% total. I do not think that the extra 30% will meaningfully change the function of Touch of Fear, but I am editing my post here for accuracy. Bopper kindly calculated Touch of Fear with the 150% modifier for me. With a fully-saturated 150% Soul Drain, Touch of Fear is behind Fireball, Exploding Shuriken, Whirling Smash, Spinning Strike, and Ball Lightning. It's my opinion that it's not reasonable to balance Touch of Fear as if it were affected by this 150% damage buff, but I'm adding this information to this post for accuracy.

I performed some playtesting tonight with the latest version of Energy Melee on the beta server using an Energy Melee/Energy Aura Stalker. My impressions are that it is now a well-balanced set. My only criticism is that the flow of combat was not as smooth as a set without build/spend mechanics, but I don't think that can be avoided. The build/spend mechanic of this set felt good to me. The Stalker version of Power Crash was enjoyable to use. I also wish that it wasn't a spender, but it wasn't a large annoyance. I might have been annoyed by Power Crash using my focus stacks it if I were playing a build that had lower recharge. My overall impression is that this set is well designed and ready for live.

This feedback is for the Dark Melee changes that are on the Beta server as of Tuesday, November 10, 2020. I tested Dark Melee on a Dark Melee/Energy Aura Stalker. My feedback is for the Stalker version of Dark Melee. Shadow Maul: The power changes notes state that the target cap of Shadow Maul was reduced from 10 to 5. This version of Shadow Maul has a 7 ft. radius and 120° arc. I tested this version of Shadow Maul by attempting to line up groups of enemies in the Rikti War Zone. I gained their attention, then circled until they were in as tight of a clump as possible. Once they were grouped together, I faced the group as close as possible and activated Shadow Maul. I was unable to hit 5 enemies in any of the tests that I attempted. I suspect that the cause of this was the 7ft radius. My recommendation is to increase the radius to 9ft or 10ft. My conclusion when testing this change is that the target cap reduction does not have a measurable impact on the power because it is either incapable of hitting 5 enemies in most game play. Touch of Fear: Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to provide constructive feedback on this power because, as far as I can tell, it has no redeeming qualities. Touch of Fear is a Targeted AOE attack with a 7ft range, a 6ft radius, and a target cap of 10. On a Stalker, it does 5 ticks of 9.60 negative damage over 3.1s (48 damage). It has an animation time of 1.97 seconds before Arcanatime. Here are the issues that I identified with this power: It is functionally impossible to hit more than 3 enemies with this power due to its 6ft radius. The 10 target cap is essentially meaningless. The damage is too low to be meaningful. At level 50 with full T4 incarnates, this power takes four or more applications to kill a level 50 minion. The damage takes too long to be applied. 3.1 seconds is simply too long, especially given the low damage per tick. The animation time of 1.97 seconds is too long. It would be tolerable if this were an exceptionally high-damaging power. Conclusion: After play testing these changes, I have come to the conclusion that the target cap change to Shadow Maul has no measurable effect on the power. Touch of Fear is the single worst AOE power that I have ever play tested, and I have no positive feedback to provide regarding it. Every aspect of that power is poorly designed. When Dark Melee AOE buffs were first discussed, @Captain Powerhouse suggested providing Dark Melee with a mini-nuke similar to Lightning Rod, but without the teleport component. I thought that his suggestion was good at the time, and I still feel that it is a good suggestion. I recommend completely removing these changes to Dark Melee from the i27 update until a better solution can be devised. Dark Melee is currently an under-performing set based on the tests performed by @Galaxy Brain. If these changes are implemented, then they will have no positive effect on Stalkers. These changes are effectively a minor but unnoticeable nerf to an under-performing set.

I would love for Sonic Attack to receive a balance pass. I've played a lot of Sonic Attack: the character "Modest" has always been a Sonic Attack Defender. Here's a short list of what I would recommend: Increase the damage on all powers other than Dreadful Wail. The cones need the damage increased the most. They are Sonic Attack's sources of AOE, and without proc slotting their damage is horrid. The single target attacks do not need a huge increase in damage. A small increase would make this set more enjoyable. Decrease the animation times of Scream, Howl, Shockwave, and Shout. Shout is especially miserable given that it is a low damage attack with a 2.9 second animation. Change the knockback in Shockwave to knockdown. Increase the arc of Shockwave to 50% to match the arc of Siren's song. Sonic Attack's cones have relatively low range, and it would be nice if they were given a wider arc to compensate for that poor range. Increase the range of Siren's Song to 50ft to match the range of Howl and Shockwave. It is annoying that the three cones in this set do not have the same range. Add a 8 second -res debuff component to Shockwave and Siren's Song. The -res debuff is Sonic Attack's only appeal. Two of its AOE powers lack the -res debuff that the rest of the powers have. Lower Siren Song and Screech's recharge to 16 or 18 seconds. Increase Shockwave's recharge to between 10 and 16 seconds. Ideally, add @Bopper's "echo" mechanic to the set. Mercenaries, Assault Rifle, and Kinetic Melee are the three other sets that come to mind. Archery and Sonic Resonance are under performers, but I don't think that they're bad enough to need an "emergency fix".

Resistance and regeneration debuffs are the most impactful debuffs at the end game. Resistance debuffs directly increase the damage of the entire team. They also allow a team to deal damage above the damage cap of their archetype, and increase the damage dealt by damage procs. -Regeneration debuffs are very helpful against targets with high health and regeneration. The values of powers that debuff regeneration are typically either 500% or 1000%. Those percentages are so high that they have a large impact even if they are heavily resisted. Damage and ToHit are heavily resisted, but they can be layered/stacked enough to have an effect. For example, my Storm/Dark Defender can lower a level 52 Praetorian archvillain's ToHit to 32%. As a result, due to the way that tohit and defense work, the archvillain has a 9.90% ToHit chance. That extra survival is not necessary for an end game team, but it is a meaningful debuff when solo.

That is not how resistance debuffs work. Resistance debuffs are resisted by resistance.