powerset suggestion New Powerset ldea - Armor Defense (hi-tech theme)

[Wingslord24]

On 10/1/2019 at 12:40 PM, Purrfekshawn said:

Concept: using highly technologically advanced armored suit, a hero (or villain) can withstand enemy attacks. This powerset is available for Tankers, Brutes, Stalkers and Scrappers and Sentinels. This powerset is based primarily on Resistance. Its unique mechanic is that its power "Dynamic Armoring" provides 3 toggles, only one of which can be run at a time. One of specific Toggles gives extra resistance to certain combination of damage input (but its value is pretty big, like 40%), so player has to choose what resists they want more while running certain content. Due to its theme "technology" its weakness is Negative Energy Damage, because NE has magical, not scientific, origin (in a manner of how Psionic is Invulnerability's weakness, Cold - Rad Armor weakness, Toxic - ELA weakness).

 

So, there are the powers:

 

T1: Armored Plating (AUTO)
Reinforced armor of your suit protects you from Physical damage, and also gives some minimal Knock protection. This power is always on and costs no endurance.
+Smashing Damage Resistance.
+Lethal Damage Resistance.
+Knockback Protection.
+Knockup Protection.
Accepts enhancements: Resist Damage, Resistance IO sets.

 

T2: Dynamic Armoring
Grants you 3 toggles (similar to Bio Armor or Dual Pistols). These toggles grant 
Accepts enhancements: Resist Damage, End Cost, Recharge, Resistance IO sets.

 

T2.1: Armor Boost (TOGGLE)
While toggled on - it significantly boost your resistance against Physical damage. It also resists Defense Debuffing effects. Can't be used in conjunction with Insulation Boost and Fortitude Boost.
+Smashing Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)
+Lethal Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)
+Defense Debuff Resistance.

 

T2.2: Insulation Boost (TOGGLE)
While toggled on - it significantly boost your resistance against Temperature and Energy-based damage types. Can't be used in conjunction with Armor Boost and Fortitude Boost.
+Fire Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)
+Cold Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)
+Energy Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)

 

T2.3: Fortitude Boost (TOGGLE)
While toggled on - this special modified life support system wards you against incoming biology-based threats. It increases Resistance against Toxic and Psionic damage, as well as Recharge Speed Debuffs. Can't be used in conjunction with Armor Boost and Insulation Boost.
+Toxic Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)
+Psionic Damage Resistance. (About +40% for Tanker and it can be enhanced)
+Recharge Speed Debuff Resistance.

 

T3: Insulated Plating (AUTO)
Layers of specific materials can be made to reduce damage dealt by temperature effects, as well as somewhat reduce Energy Damage. It also protects you from immobilization effects. This power is always on and costs no endurance.
+Fire Damage Resistance.
+Cold Damage Resistance.
+Energy Damage Resistance. (very little)
+Immobilize Protection
Accepts enhancements: Resist Damage, Resistance IO sets.

 

T4: Reactive Shield (TOGGLE)
Projects around you a defensive barrier that increases your Defense against Smashing, Lethal, Energy and Psionic Damage, grants Defense Debuff Resistance. All nearby enemies have very little (1% or less) chance to be Knocked Down. This is aura that taunts enemies if you're a Tanker or Brute.
+Smashing Defense.
+Lethal Defense.
+Energy Defense.
+Psionic Defense.
+Defense Debuff Resistance.
For enemies PBAoE, 10 ft, 10 max.
+1% chance to Knockdown per tick.
+400% taunt (only for Tankers/Brutes).
Accepts enhancements: Defense, End Cost, Recharge, Defense IO sets.

 

T5: Resistive Plating (AUTO)
Your armored suit has been modified to resist electricity and other forms of energy. It reduces incoming Energy Damage, Endurance and Recovery effects, on a very little degree - Negative Energy Damage. This power is always on and costs no endurance.
+Energy Damage Resistance.
+Negative Energy Damage Resistance. (very little)
+Resistance to Endurance Modification (86.50% for Tanker at lvl 50)
+Resistance to Recovery Modification (86.50% for Tanker at lvl 50)
Accepts enhancements: Resist Damage, Resistance IO sets.

 

T6: Stimulant Delivery (TOGGLE)
Your armor has built-in life support system that constantly monitors the state of your health and counters any dangers to it. While toggled on it gives your protection against Hold, Sleep, Stun, Terrorize and Confuse effects, boosts your Regeneration Rate, protects from Toxic and Psionic Damage.
+Hold Protection.
+Sleep Protection.
+Stun Protection.
+Terrorize Protection.
+Confuse Protection.
+Regeneration Rate.
+Toxic Damage Resistance.
+Psionic Damage Resistance.
Accepts enhancements: Resist Damage, Healing, End Cost, Recharge, Resistance IO sets, Healing IO sets.

 

T7: Reconstruction (CLICK)
Your armor has nanotechnological self-repair system that can be used to forcibly repair it even on battlefield! This will rapidly heal you over time, restore endurance, while also empowering your resistance against all damage types except Negative Energy for first seconds of the effect.
+Rapid HoT Effect (like how Sonic Attack Scream rapidly deals damage).
+Rapid Endurance over Time effect.
+Smashing Resistance.
+Lethal Resistance.
+Fire Damage Resistance.
+Cold Damage Resistance.
+Energy Resistance.
+Toxic Damage Resistance.
+Psionic Damage Resistance.
Accepts enhancements: Resist Damage, Healing, End Mod, End Cost, Recharge, Resistance IO sets, Healing IO sets, Endurance Mod IO sets.

 

T8: Jet Charge (CLICK/AUTO)
Utilize built-in jetpack to close distance between you and your foes. This will deal Smashing damage to foes near targeted location and knock them down. Additionally taking this power automatically grants you high protection to Repel, and Knock/Repel Resistance effects, and Speed Debuff Resistance.
Click:
+Self Teleport to Targeted Location.
+Smashing AoE to Targeted Location.
+High chance to Knockdown foes.
Auto:
+Repel Protection.
+10000% Knockback Resistance.
+10000% Knockup Resistance.
+10000% Repel Resistance.
+Jump, Fly, Run Speed Resistance.
Accepts enhancements: Damage, Accuracy, End Cost, Recharge, Targeted AoE Damage sets

 

T9: Overclock (CLICK)
Power up your armor systems to dangerously unstable level, including shields and weapon systems, which will increase your Defense against all types except Negative Energy and give Defense Debuff resistance. This increases your overall damage dealt. You rapidly recover Endurance. Your armor also emits radiation in all directions, reducing Defense and ToHit Chance of nearby enemies and taunting them. When effect of this power wears off, your Recovery and Regeneration rates will be halted for a while. Cooldown - 8 minutes.
Self:
+Smashing Defense for 1 min.
+Lethal Defense for 1 min.
+Fire Defense for 1 min.
+Cold Defense for 1 min.
+Energy Defense for 1 min.
+Psionic Defense for 1 min.
+Defense Debuff Resistance (very high)
+Damage for 1 min
+100% Endurance
+Recovery for 1 min
-2000% Recovery Rate after 1 min for 15 s
-2000% Regeneration Rate after 1 min for 15 s
Enemies: PBAoE 16 targets max:
-Defense
-ToHit
+400% taunt (only for Tankers/Brutes).
Accepts enhancements: Defense, End Cost, Recharge, Defense Debuff, ToHit Debuff, Endurance Modification, Defense IO sets, Defense Debuff IO sets, ToHit Debuff IO sets, EndMod IO sets.

 

*for Stalker version Insulated Plating receives same Energy Resistance as Resistive Plating and Resistance to Recovery & Endurance Modification (not that powerful as Tanker's version). Resistive Plating is replaced with "Stealth Mode", that works in a manner of "Hide". "Stealth Mode" is T1, Armored Plating - T3, Insulated Plating - T5.

 

**For Overclock PBAoE - it seems game engine doesn't support lingering buffs that affect everyone around you, except that is toggle power. There are 2 solutions. 1st simple - make Overclock produce wide PBAoE on activation, that hangs Defense & ToHit debuffs at enemies, is autohit as well. 2nd - make Overclock grant power in a manner Contamination effect of Radiation Melee does that would autocast -DEF -TOHIT at enemies near owner.
 

***Names may be not final.

That is leading to an origin pacific power. it needs to be something all can use.

[OEM61]

On 11/16/2024 at 6:59 PM, Puma said:

WHY DOES MY LIZARD HAVE TO CARRY AROUND A SHIELD WHEN HE'S SUPER SLICK?!?!?! 

  

 WHY DOES MY LZARD HAVE TO HOLD TWO PISTOLS WHEN HE COULD SHOOT DUAL PISTOLS FROM HIS FISTS?!?!   
 
WHY DOES MY ROBOT HAVE TO COVER HIMSELF IN STONE WHEN HE'S WALKING ARMOR?! 
 

 I'm sorry but this is how your entire comment chain in this thread reads. 
 

Because you want those specific things.
Because you envision your character as a gunslinger or a character that is covered in stone or that uses a sword or axe or whatever.

And since I can make a character that uses power armor just by using the costume creator there is no need for a "power armor" set.

I can not make a character that uses pistols without a power set that lets them use pistols.
 

On 11/14/2024 at 5:36 PM, Super Atom said:

I see people with "Atom" all the time who aren't radiation anything. They've colored their fire or energy melee or any number of things to be radiation. This is the kind of creativity some players work with.

I support the idea of a new armor set that is mostly tech based because we just don't have any. It being designed to be a companion armor to Traps or devices is a wonderful idea. It would probably need a lot of fleshing out and testing, but overall the concept of "Power Armor" as a new armor set would be a great addition. If they ever get around to Gadgetry power pool, it would go wonderfully with the concept.

 

quick tidbit; i know you can force the tech concept yourself by using other armor sets, but having one designed around Tech like other power sets have been would be nice too.

The first part of this response is why we do not need this sort of power armor set.

I see, and have made, characters that used power armor without ever having a "power armor" set, and this includes ATs that do not have access to a defense set at all.

But there is a difference between fire and radiation* in that each offers unique bonuses that play into a broader theme.
Fire has a DoT effect and Radiation applies a defense debuff to those targets, just as Energy Blast has knockback and Dark Blast has a to-hit debuff and so on.
There was a small discussion in the game a week or two ago about "solar-inspired" characters and what sort of powers each character used, with a few different answers forthcoming.  One uses fire, another uses energy, a third uses radiation, whatever.  That's all fair.

Someone can make a character that wears armor, powered or otherwise, and use different defenses, too.  That's also fair.  My "power armor" character might use Invulnerability while someone else's might use Energy Aura and a third might have some magical armor that has Dark Armor powers and so on.

If there is some set that would offer a unique take on defense then great.  If it has an item-based theme for clicks and toggles then whatever.  Some sort of "Gadgeteering" set where the character uses a variety of short-term buffs, for example.  As long as it makes sense and they can make alternate animations for "tech" and "arcane" themes (and best yet, if they can make some "no-item" animations as well).  But this set?  It ain't it.

Name the characters that use some sort of "power armor".
Iron Man, War Machine, Steel, Booster Gold, Master Chief, Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, whoever.

I'm guessing that the vast majority can be covered, in a broad sense, by some existing power sets.  These are characters that are not limited to some specific set of abilities so there may be no "perfect" match (War Machine would have to carry an Assault Rifle, for example), but the general idea can be matched up**.  I can make a "City of Heroes" version of those characters using existing powers and more-or-less do what that character does.

When you find one that can't, that's what should be looked at.  How can I make that character's powers into a set***?  Whether offense or defense.


Of course, these are just my opinions.

=============

* Existing powers don't matter here, though.  Any argument that "we didn't need a radiation set because we could just use fire or energy blast" is long gone.  We have those sets.  Getting rid of them now would make no sense.

The OP and any defenders of the idea need to justify this set at this time.  The fact that a fully-funded dev team created a power set 18 years ago doesn't justify anything that would happen right now.  That the current team put a set into the game in the past doesn't even matter.  Whatever justification they had for whatever set applied to that set and that time.


**  If they wanted to add some sort of non-weapon animation to the weapon powers I would generally be in favor of it.  Let my character fire bullets from their hand.  Let them launch grenades and missiles from their chest.  Let them swing their fist with the same effect as a weapon.
But optional, of course.
Similarly, I wouldn't mind a weapon option for non-weapon powers.  Let someone have a flamethrower through which they generate their fire blast powers, or an ice cannon for their ice blast powers, and so on. 

But as I said before, I can make a power armor character without a power armor set.  I can not make a sword-wielding character without a sword set.


***  Of course, the game's limitations may not allow for that, or there may be undesirable side-effects.
We know that Atlas existed in the game's mythology.  We know that he could grow to immense size.  We also know that allowing characters to grow to immense size would probably create problems for the players (how would they fit on some maps?  How much would they obstruct other players' view?) and may not even be possible for the game to do.

While Giant-Man and Colossal Boy can make for some epic comic pages and sequences, a size-increasing epic AT may not be as fun as the idea sounds at first listen.

Edited November 18 by OEM61
Just added a line between the main post and my *ed explanations.

[Super Atom]

2 hours ago, OEM61 said:

The OP and any defenders of the idea need to justify this set at this time.  The fact that a fully-funded dev team created a power set 18 years ago doesn't justify anything that would happen right now.  That the current team put a set into the game in the past doesn't even matter.  Whatever justification they had for whatever set applied to that set and that time.

 

Nobody has to justify adding a power set to the game. The main draws of City of Heroes is variety, replayability, and customization. Adding power sets is a very important part of all three, especially 20 years in. That's like saying "Hey we don't need anymore stories, we have enough."

 

The concept of "tech" armor of any kind is such a simple and common sense addition that it shouldn't be this debated. It's a common theme that could benefit from having its own choice if people want to feel even more techy. With the lack of a Tech origin pool solidifying the need for more tech-based stuff, it's easy to see why this would be a request and this certainly isn't the first time.

 

tl;dr : More common theme additions is never a bad thing. It supports peoples creativity and gives us more to do. SR already existed yet we still got Ninja to support that theme because its a common theme. This is also why we still need Plant and Water armor 👀

 

Edited November 18 by Super Atom

[biostem]

While I do agree, in general, that "Power Armor", at least in game terms, is more about selecting a particular existing powerset, then building a costume that reflects that aesthetic, what I haven't seen are any actual proposals of how this proposed set would actually function, and how it would differ enough from the existing armor sets...

 

EDIT to strike-out my secondary point.  TY @Super Atom!

Edited November 18 by biostem

[Super Atom]

24 minutes ago, biostem said:

While I do agree, in general, that "Power Armor", at least in game terms, is more about selecting a particular existing powerset, then building a costume that reflects that aesthetic, what I haven't seen are any actual proposals of how this proposed set would actually function, and how it would differ enough from the existing armor sets...

 

is this not just the OP?

[Enamel_32]

^Agreed. "Power Armor" is a suggestion I had been considering making on and off for quite some time now, and the only conclusive part of the design I could come up with was "something mechanically distinct from regen/willpower/invulnerability/super reflexes/etc. but still fairly low-FX" because costumes are necessarily going to be cooler, more imaginative, and more appropriate for a given player than if the set overlaid geometry on the player like bio or stone armor. What you're left with is... fiddly to craft an identity around.

[OEM61]

11 hours ago, Super Atom said:

 

Nobody has to justify adding a power set to the game. The main draws of City of Heroes is variety, replayability, and customization. Adding power sets is a very important part of all three, especially 20 years in. That's like saying "Hey we don't need anymore stories, we have enough."

 

The concept of "tech" armor of any kind is such a simple and common sense addition that it shouldn't be this debated. It's a common theme that could benefit from having its own choice if people want to feel even more techy. With the lack of a Tech origin pool solidifying the need for more tech-based stuff, it's easy to see why this would be a request and this certainly isn't the first time.

 

tl;dr : More common theme additions is never a bad thing. It supports peoples creativity and gives us more to do. SR already existed yet we still got Ninja to support that theme because its a common theme. This is also why we still need Plant and Water armor 👀

 

But I never said that we don't need any more of anything.
I specifically said "If there is some set that would offer a unique take on defense then great.".
I even mentioned how adding some alternate animations to some powers would allow for some more concepts.

It should be clear that I am not against new things.  I'm all for new things as long as they are interesting.

This is not.

Adding a bunch of stuff just because it's stuff is not a good use of anyone's time.

And speaking of good uses of time, I am going to go find something more interesting to read around here. 

[Indystruck]

Much like with Beam Rifle, you can have magical power armor or such.

[Purrfekshawn]

On 11/15/2024 at 7:58 PM, srmalloy said:

This is what I did with Toksichniy Podlesok ('Токсичный Подлесок', 'Toxic Undergrowth'), a Dark/Plant Blaster; I colored all of her Dark Blast attacks a black/green color to suggest firing off blasts of various plant toxins. I also have characters with Fire blasts that are recolored to a blue-white color, because the color of a fire is black-body emission, and red/yellow is relatively low energy, while blue-white is much higher energy, so it represents them firing higher-power blasts than just ordinary flame.

 

The only issue I have with someone recoloring other sets to look like radiation is that the vast majority of them accept the incorrect color of the Radiation powersets as what their color should be, the bright green 'radiation glow' is a false association that comes from luminous radium paint, and the green color is the color of the light the phosphor emits, not the radium itself. Radium by itself actually has a light blue glow:

Most radiation is invisible, but emitted radiation traveling faster than the speed of light in whatever medium it is passing through emits Cherenkov radiation, which is a bright blue -- the reason the radium sample above glows; this is most commonly seen in water-bath reactors:

But someone's choice of color for their powers is a stylistic thing for that character, and while it may grate with me to see lots of characters running around with green radiation powers, I'm not going to tell them they're wrong for doing it (don't get me started about the buoys in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, though; in the entire live run of CoH, I was the only one who brought it up with Positron as a mistake and provided him with documentation about it).

 

Also there's uranium glass tableware that is luminous under UV-rays, and it produces exact that lime/salad color we can see in game when placed under UV lamp. It's not dangerous it doesn't emit ionizing radiation since depleted uranium is used for it.

Almost in 100% comic radiation or radioactivity is associated with yellow-green color, and radioactive waste is given that color too, to the point that giving actual Cherenkov radiation color would be an offset.

 

It's almost same as in Pokémon franchaise, all electric abilities Pokémon have yellowish-goldish color, think that of the Pikachu, despite that Tesla coils produce bolts in air those are lit in violet-ish color, much like We have in City of Heroes as default electric power color (except for Mu powers).

 

[Rudra]

3 hours ago, Purrfekshawn said:

It's almost same as in Pokémon franchaise, all electric abilities Pokémon have yellowish-goldish color, think that of the Pikachu, despite that Tesla coils produce bolts in air those are lit in violet-ish color, much like We have in City of Heroes as default electric power color (except for Mu powers).

Electricity, like fire, comes in multiple colors when you can see it. It can be a yellow, pale blue, blue, pale purple, violet, or white as far as I have seen so far. (Edit: I'm not sure how they get it violet, because normally electricity is a white, yellow, or pale blue when I see it.)

 

Edited November 24 by Rudra

[srmalloy]

2 hours ago, Purrfekshawn said:

Also there's uranium glass tableware that is luminous under UV-rays, and it produces exact that lime/salad color we can see in game when placed under UV lamp. It's not dangerous it doesn't emit ionizing radiation since depleted uranium is used for it.

Almost in 100% comic radiation or radioactivity is associated with yellow-green color, and radioactive waste is given that color too, to the point that giving actual Cherenkov radiation color would be an offset.

Uranium glass can be made in a range of colors, from the common pale green to pink and yellow; the green glow when exposed to UV light is fluorescence, and has nothing to do with the radioactivity of the uranium. This is again an example of popular perception conflating fluorescent glow with radiation glow.

 

That radiation is popularly depicted as toxic green does not make it correct, no matter how widespread the misperception is. Outside of any Çerenkov radiation emitted, if a sample of radioactive material is glowing of itself, it will be black-body radiation from the temperature of the material, not a glow of radiation. The photo of the Elephant's Foot at Chernobyl, a mass of corium that had melted through the floor and was originally so radioactive that it could deliver a lethal dose of radiation in three minutes, had to be illuminated with a flashlight when Artur Korneyev used an automatic camera to photograph it in 1996:

[Enamel_32]

On 11/19/2024 at 2:15 PM, Indystruck said:

Much like with Beam Rifle, you can have magical power armor or such.

 

This had me thinking: if you were to observe a hypothetical "power armor" set of any type in the game, what would stand out? How would you describe the way it plays?

 

I would expect some themes to emerge:

• Automation, dynamically reacting to the current situation
• An element of resource management (click powers, stacking buffs, endurance, etc.)
• Multiple modes, or player-initiated overrides to default behavior

If you work backwards from that (or hey, pick your own) criteria, is there a name that works regardless if character origin? Maybe something like Automated Defense or Intelligent Armor?

[biostem]

I think the simplest route to go to give this hypothetical "armor" set its own unique flavor would be to make it heavily absorption-based;  Have some powers produce the absorption points, another increase how many such points are generated each pulse/cycle, another that improves that tic rate, another click power that applies a big chunk of absorb all at once, then maybe a couple auto powers that represent a base level of defense or resist, so you have some protection, even when your shield gets knocked down or your armor is otherwise breached.

[Player-1]

Hello everyone,

 

This topic is interesting as it highlights how much overlap Armor powersets have when looking at individual powers. For example, Dark Armor's Murky Cloud is a toggle that grants resistance to Fire, Cold, Energy, and Negative damage types. Electric Armor's Conductive Shield is also a toggle that grants resistance to those same types, but thematically it differs from how Murky Cloud tackles the same task.

 

With this in mind, what really makes Armor powersets stand out are the handful of key powers each have. Dark Armor has crowd control toggles and Dark Regeneration. Electric Armor has Power Sink, Lightning Reflexes, and Grounded to seperate it from the rest. Shield Defense even has a good bit of overlap with Invulnerability if you look at just the toggles and damage types, but it not only thematically differs but also has access to Shield Charge and Against All Odds. 

 

Saying a powerset will not work because it is similar to an existing one ignores what specifically new options it could bring to the table.

 

To me personally, "Power Armor" is less about the armor and more about the "Power". A knight in enchanted armor, a mutant with super tough skin, and somebody in a high-tech Power Armor suit are all functionally immune to attacks from normal bladed weapons for example. However, the Power Armor character may uniquely be able to use a "Divert Power" ability to either spend a lot of endurance or increase their endurance costs in order to then deal much more damage. Or have a unique attack similar to Shield Charge where the Power Armor's abilities damage surrounding enemies. Thematically, the three characters mentioned could even all use the same "Power Armor" powerset but with customized FX!

 

In short: to me it is more about "what unique things does a powerset bring to the table?",  and less about "we already have a powerset that resists smashing and lethal".

[biostem]

What if we took a different approach;  Make this proposed "power armor" set consist of mostly passive/auto powers, with only a few "active" powers;  A "shield overlay" click power that applies a big lump of absorption, or a cloaking device that grants stealth, a targeting system that grants acc or tohit, etc, but otherwise, no toggles...