Operative AT - I repackaged the old Striker with a new identity!

[Zepp]

Those work well for the AoE immobilize power. I've been looking at other sets for those powers already (look at my proposed power sets).

The issue is you still need six powers. Remove the T1 and electricity, mental, & plant need one more replacement power. That means you are looking for a defensive or defensive amalgamation T1, a T2 from control (usually), creating an AoE placate, and then looking for one more power to round out each of these sets. That will likely come from control sets to round them out. 
 

• For Psionic, maybe Mass Hypnosis for the AoE Immobilize, and Total Domination or Mass Confusion as a late tier power to round the set out.

 

• Electricity you would have Chain Fences for the AoE Immobilize and then possibly Short Circuit to maximize Endurance Drain?

 

• For Plants Roots would be the AoE Immobilize, then maybe go to Lifegiving spores for more regen? or Neurotoxic Breath from poison? Carrion Creepers or Fly Trap?

[Steampunkette]

17 minutes ago, Zepp said:

Those work well for the AoE immobilize power. I've been looking at other sets for those powers already (look at my proposed power sets).

The issue is you still need six powers. Remove the T1 and electricity, mental, & plant need one more replacement power. That means you are looking for a defensive or defensive amalgamation T1, a T2 from control (usually), creating an AoE placate, and then looking for one more power to round out each of these sets. That will likely come from control sets to round them out. 
 

• For Psionic, maybe Mass Hypnosis for the AoE Immobilize, and Total Domination or Mass Confusion as a late tier power to round the set out.

 

• Electricity you would have Chain Fences for the AoE Immobilize and then possibly Short Circuit to maximize Endurance Drain?

 

• For Plants Roots would be the AoE Immobilize, then maybe go to Lifegiving spores for more regen? or Neurotoxic Breath from poison? Carrion Creepers or Fly Trap?

Electrical Projection (Italics indicate changed powers)

Tier	Power
1	Charged Armor (Toggle+Res S/L/E)
2	Chain Fences (TAoE Immob)
3	Grounded (Auto +Res E/N/KB)
4	Lightning Field (PBAoE Damage Toggle)
5	Aim
6	Force of Thunder
7	Jolting Chain (Chain Knockdown)
8	Power Sink
9	Shocking Grasp

Endurance Manipulation, AoE Soft Control, Single Target Hard Control. My previous suggestion. We could drop Lightning Field or Grounded for the Misdirect.

 

As for Psychic...

 

Psychic Projection (Italics indicate changed powers)

Tier	Power
1	Mind Over Body (Self+Res S/L/P)
2	Mass Hypnosis (TAoE Sleep)
3	High Pain Tolerance (+Res All+HP)
4	Psi Blade (Melee Psi)
5	Concentration
6	Drain Psyche (PBAoE +Regen/Rec)
7	World of Confusion
8	Greater Psi Blade (Melee Psi)
9	Telekinesis (TAoE Hold/Repel)

Say goodbye, High Pain Tolerance!

 

[Steampunkette]

So, to Recap:

 

The Operative gets one inherent autostealth power that makes them somewhat stealthy but it isn't perfect.

Their second inherent is a bar that gives them mags of Control Protection, but decays with attacks the Operative makes. (No need to make it flat threshold based, we could give them Mag 10 at 100% bar and go from 9.9 mags down to 0 mags at the bottom of the bar without a problem, just a straight up sliding scale)

 

Their Primary Powerset is Assault (Modified where needed) and their Secondary is Manipulation with a small AoE Immob, a Defenisve power or two, and a sustain renamed to Intrigue. In the case of Psionic this is a fairly control heavy Intrigue, others balance Control and Melee, except Ki/Martial which is melee-centric and control-lite.

 

Over their career (Including Epics)  the character will get 3-4 Ranged attacks and 5-8 Melee attacks, several Defense Powers, at least one Control power but probably more. And 2-3 Support Powers.

 

... That's gonna be crazy complex to play. They're going to largely love being in melee and enjoy the ability to shoot runners or lock people into melee, get a few nice support powers on top of everything, and generally act as a melee-centric EAT with a variety of powerset choices rather than being locked in to Arachnos/Alien.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Steampunkette

[Zepp]

What happened to the AoE placate at T3? Also, going for Psi-blades seems to go against the controlly feel of Psi...

[Steampunkette]

8 minutes ago, Zepp said:

What happened to the AoE placate at T3? Also, going for Psi-blades seems to go against the controlly feel of Psi...

I was literally copying my previous sets from earlier in the thread is all. Which is why I said we could drop Lightning Field or Grounded for the Misdirect.

 

And while the Psi Blades don't line up with the controlly feel of Psi it gets an AoE Sleep instead of an Immobilize, a Targeted Repel+Hold effect, and a PBAoE Confuse aura. That's pretty intensely controlly! And it's controls are all hard lockdowns.

 

Compare to Elec getting an immob (Ranged attacks still viable) and a knockdown (Lasts a very short time)

[Zepp]

Alright, just put together the sets. The purplish color is the armor (based on a 1/2 Sentinel strength amalgam of the armor set), the teal is a new power designed for the Intrigue sets, the green is the manipulation set (with the sustain moved to T₄), and the yellow are control powers. The T₂ control is an AoE immobilize-ish power, the other control powers are filled based on the gaps left by assault overlap. These are the only sets that need a second control power to fill a gap. Thoughts @Replacement or @Steampunkette?
 

Electric Intrigue (Electric Armor* + Electricity Manipulation + Electric Control + Intrigue)

Power	Level	Effect
Charged Armor	1	Toggle: Self +Res(++En, +Smash/Lethal/Fire/Cold/Psi, Neg,),
Chain Fences	2	Ranged AoE, Minor DMG(Energy), Foe Immobilize, -End, -Fly
Shock	4	PBAoE Foe Placate, -End, -Rec, Self + Res(Status Effects) [Can be cast while mezzed]
Force of Thunder	10	PBAoE, Foe Disorient, Knockback, Self +Regeneration, +Recovery
Lightning Field	16	Toggle: PBAoE, Minor DoT(Energy), Foe -End
Build Up	20	Self +DMG, +To-Hit
Jolting Chain	28	Ranged Chain AoE, Minor DMG(Energy), Foe Knockdown, -End
Power Sink	35	PBAoE, Foe -End, -Recovery, Self +End
Shocking Grasp	38	Melee, High DoT(Energy), Foe Hold, -End, -Recovery

(Jolting Chain (Electric Control) is more fun and adds to an offensive feel, but Short Circuit (Electrical Blast) would help for players looking to play as Sappers)

 

Mind Games (Willpower* + Mental Manipulation + Mind Control + Intrigue)

Power	Level	Effect
Mind over Matter	1	Toggle: Self +Res(S/L/P, -E/N/F/C/T), +Def(E/N/P/F/C, -S/L), +Reg
Mass Hypnosis	2	Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe Sleep
Mindtrick	4	Close (Cone) Foe Placate, Confuse, Self + Res(Status Effects) [Can be cast while mezzed]
Drain Psyche	10	PBAoE Foe -Regen, -Recovery; Self +Regen, +Recovery
Concentration	16	Self +DMG, +To-Hit
World of Confusion	20	Toggle: PBAoE, Minor DoT(Psionic), Foe Confuse
Scare	28	Ranged, Foe Fear
Terrify	35	Ranged (Cone), Minor DMG(Psionic), Foe Fear(Special)
Psychic Shockwave	38	PBAoE, High DMG(Psionic), Foe Disorient, -Recharge

(Terrify seemed the natural fit as it provides a little more damage, and more soft control)

 

Natural Intrigue (Bio Armor* + Plant Manipulation + Plant Control + Intrigue)

Power	Level	Effect
Evolution	1	Toggle: Self +Res(S/L/T), +Def(E/N/P/F/C), +Reg
Roots	2	Ranged (Targeted AoE), Minor DoT(Smashing/Lethal), Foe Immobilize
Seeds of Distrust	4	Targeted AoE Foe Placate, -ToHit, -Regen, Self + Res(Status Effects) [Can be cast while mezzed]
Wild Fortress	10	Self +Absorb, +Recovery, +Res(Toxic, Confuse)
Strangler	16	Ranged, Moderate DoT(Smashing), Foe Hold
Toxins	20	Self +DMG, +To-Hit
Spirit Tree	28	Place Tree: PBAoE, Team +Regen
Vines	35	Range (Targeted AoE), Foe Hold
Spore Cloud	38	Toggle (Targeted AoE), Foe -Dmg(All), -To Hit, -Regen

(This set is very regeneration oriented, however, Spirit Tree could be replaced by Lifegiving Spores (Nature Affinity), Neurotoxic Breath (Poison), Carrion Creepers (Plant Control), or Fly Trap (Plant Control).)

 

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Zepp

[Replacement]

Looking good.  I saw Mass Hypnosis coming and I think that's a good call -- it also really justifies the cone fear later on.

 

The one place you guys have diverged from me is that I'm quite fond of removing the Mez Protection from their passive and putting it in their Placate in lieu of secondary defensive benefits (e.g. +resist).  And that's fine.  It's the level of detail that could be moved around pretty easily in testing, without wildly changing gameplay expectations.

 

As for the class being complicated to play -- I guarantee it will be easier than a Dominator.   An AT that will always have more actions than time to use them all (made oh-so-much worse by the desire to perma-dom).

 

In terms of gameplay, I believe there are 2 "gaps" in the AT playstyles that this can fill.  When I say gap, I mean a void in the scales of comparing one AT to another. 

Example scale:  Scrapper -- Brute -- Tanker.  This is a pretty simple linear scale.

 

Scale 1: Blitzkrieg, shock-and-awe

Stalker -- Operative -- Blaster. 

 

Scale 2: Stacking the battlefield, Active defense (e.g. mez and positioning)

Blaster -- Operative -- Dominator.

 

More than slight boons to their direct controls (which I think will really round them out), the intended major difference in the "battlefield" angle is utilizing stealth to better-choose how to engage and smoothly disengage.  If done right, that should help them feel like an Operative -- the person on the battlefield who fights with a plan and always stays mindful of all the exits.  

Edited October 2, 2019 by Replacement

[Replacement]

Actually, while I like Electric and Psionic @Zepp, I don't know about Nature.  I think your direction makes sense, and I get Regen is one of those mechanics where it takes a lot of stuff coming together for it to even start being useful, but it's a lot to come out the gate with a way-stacked defensive toggle.  I wonder if something like High Pain Tolerance wouldn't be better (auto, 5%ish resist all, +Max HP which will benefit any future +Regen).

 

I'm actually OK with Spirit Tree, though.  It, their absorb shield, and a regen-oriented t1 would set up a far more skirmish-minded Operative. 

 

 

A lot of options there but... Let's  take a moment to remember Vines is better than most Controller Controls.  Mag 3 aoe hold, can be used every other spawn with just basic IOs.  Its drawback is a double cast time -- which is largely negated if you're using it from a position of stealth.  It'll be a strong set.

[Zepp]

1 hour ago, Replacement said:

The one place you guys have diverged from me is that I'm quite fond of removing the Mez Protection from their passive and putting it in their Placate in lieu of secondary defensive benefits (e.g. +resist).  And that's fine.  It's the level of detail that could be moved around pretty easily in testing, without wildly changing gameplay expectations.

Alright, I moved the mez protections and a [Can be cast while mezzed] label to the AoE Placates and removed them from their T₁. I think that might work better as it gives them the right amount of mez vulnerability, while giving them an escape as well.

[Steampunkette]

I like the concept of your sets, but I feel like you're putting too much power into the tier 1 defensive power. I get that defenses are built as sieves and you're supposed to get a variety of powers to cover the various damage types, but I still feel like sticking them with S/L/(Set Type) for resistances and typed defenses or Ranged/AoE for Positional defenses is the better path to go.

 

It gives them some durability towards the most common damage types, plus one special type (or some common vectors) but doesn't quite give them enough to make them melee-happy characters.

 

At least 'til the EPPs.

 

I've gotta say, though, I LOVE that you're setting up different placate structures. PBAoE, TAoE, and Cones are the kind of variety placates deserve! Particularly with an AT that uses ranged attacks rather than exclusively melee ones.

[Zepp]

Well, @Steampunkette, I do get where you are coming from, I just think that a very low level of broad-spectrum defense will be better way to provide sufficient durability for survivability while keeping them moving in and out of melee range. With stronger S/L/+x resistance, S/L/+x Defense, or Ranged/AoE Defense; the incentive will be to melee S/L/+x damage type opponents and range the rest (or just stay in ranged for Ranged/AoE Defense sets. The goal is to promote a dynamic combat flow that incorporated melee and ranged attacks. And broad-spectrum low level protections do that better.

Thanks for the compliment regarding placate structures. I tried to pick appropriate effects for the specific sets with variety. I'm glad it was appreciated. I also really like some of the names...

[Zepp]

I added @Replacement's archetype to the compilation thread. I probably should have listed it a while ago, but I am working on two conference websites and one conference app that have had me swamped with work beyond my usual overbearing load. So I am a tad slow on some things lately.