DarckRedd

Huh. Seems I fell victim to an urban legend. I'll adjust my post to account to it.

I have to disagree with the changes to Bombardment. First, very few if any endgame builds actively slot for AoE defense, since so many AoE attacks are also tagged as Ranged or Melee; many players will simply ignore that set bonus and add a proc. At that point, the set is strictly worse than Positron's Blast; it'll join the dustbin of all the unused targeted AOE sets that can't compete with Posi. See downthread; it appears this is a myth. Still, I think AOE defense is of limited utility. Moreover, the ranged bonus, though strong, was entirely reasonable. Simply put, the sixth set bonus in a set has a higher opportunity cost than all the others; by taking it, you are choosing not to slot other useful enhancements, like the -Res in Annihilation or KB conversion; by taking that last piece, you are closing the door on any other unique or proc the power might have slotted. This means that the sixth bonus has to be balanced accordingly, which is why the sixth-piece ranged defense was a fine choice. I'd also note that there is a case to be made that Bombardment is one of the stronger targeted AOE. There is some truth to this, but this is simply because most of the targeted AOE sets are poorly designed. There is no reason to continue designing new sets according to a flawed design simply to keep them consistent with sets made under the old system; it's akin to throwing good money after bad. As to Shrapnel, I think it will also see little use. It's mainly a victim of structural problems with the IO set system; regen, resists, and damage are all not worth slotting for, and accuracy is only marginally more useful. For example, a 4% damage bonus is barely perceptible to a human player, especially in an environment where abilities like Aim, Build Up, and Fulcrum shift exist. Conversely, rech and defense come in useful amounts. This would require a more substantial revamp of the IO system to fix; until that happens, I think Shrapnel isn't going to be appealing to most players. In light of all this, I would recommend going back to the previous version of Bombardment and scrapping Shrapnel entirely. That said, I do agree that the 3.75% ranged defense may be a bit too high, so I could also see reducing it slightly.