Eco-Friendly Powerset Recycling!

[Alchemystic]

So I've seen a lot of Mastermind powerset ideas recently, so I've been itching to try my hand at another. What I'd really like to see is an occult-themed powerset that featured humanoid henchmen instead of demons or zombies. Something I think we're missing in the Mastermind sphere is Cultists, with the Player leading them. This powerset uses a similar torch weapon to Luddite Torchbearers and Carnie Seneschals, which can be customized to have different colors, along with the colors of pet powers.

Visually, these pets use alot of NPC costume parts borrowed from factions such as the Luddites and Shepherds so it's a little hard to visualize their appearance here, but it would use the assets available from those enemy groups to build unique outfits for the henchmen.

Cultists

 

- Fling Flames: Single Target ranged attack that uses the standard 'Wand Cast' animation to send out a projectile similar to 'Char' or 'Choking Powder'

 

- Call Acolytes: Summons up to 3 Acolytes. Acolytes are equipped with a dagger and hand crossbow.

Basic Powers:	Dagger Stab (Melee Moderate Lethal), Hand Crossbow (Ranged Moderate Lethal)
Equip Powers:	Dagger Slash (Melee High Lethal), Aimed Shot (Ranged High Lethal)
Upgrade Powers:	Dagger Slice (Cone Moderate Lethal), Fire Bomb (AoE Moderate Fire DoT)

 

- Spit Fire: Taken from the Seneschal Lore Pet, spitting a flame projectile at long range from the torch

- Equip Cultists: First Upgrade for Henchmen, holds the torch aloft like the Mace Mastery summon animation

 

- Fire Breath: A power taken from Luddites/Carnies, breathing fire in a cone from the held torch

 

- Call Fanatics: Summon up to 2 Fanatics. They use crossbows with Archery/Trick Arrow powers

Basic Powers:	Brawl (Minor Smash), Aimed Shot (Ranged High Lethal), Blazing Arrow (Ranged High Lethal, Minor Fire Dot)
Equip Powers:	Weapon Butt (Melee Moderate Smash), Explosive Arrow (AoE Moderate Smash/Fire), Perfect Shot (Very High Lethal) Smoke Grenade (AoE -ToHit, -Per)
Upgrade Powers:	Oil Slick Arrow (AoE Knockdown, Special), Ranged Shot (Sniper, Extreme Lethal)

 

- Brand: Strike an ally pet with your torch, dealing minor fire damage but increasing their Damage, Recharge, Recovery and Mez Protection.

- Call Zealot: Summons a Zealot, who uses a torch like the player and counts as a Dominator. Melee powers use the torch as though it was a War Mace

Basic Powers:	Scorch (Melee Moderate Fire/Smash, Minor Fire DoT), Fling Flames (Ranged Moderate Fire DoT), Char (Ranged Hold, Minor Fire DoT)
Equip Powers:	Spit Fire (Ranged High Fire DoT), Bonfire (AoE Knockback, Minor Fire DoT), Cremate (Melee High Damage Fire)
Upgrade Powers:	Fire Breath (Cone Moderate Fire DoT), Cinders (AoE Hold), Incinerate (Melee High DoT Fire)

 

- Upgrade Equipment: Second Upgrade for Henchmen, holds the torch aloft like the Mace Mastery summon animation

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2024 by Alchemystic

[biostem]

Potion Blast:

 

Using various concoctions, (be they something you crafted in a lab, produced naturally, or acquired through other means), you are able to afflict them upon your foes, causing a wide range of debilitating effects.  This set's special "schtick" is that every power causes some degree of "splash damage", which deals some toxic DoT to enemies near your primary target.

 

1. Venomous Spittle: Deals minor toxic damage and imparts a -def and -res effect on the target. (Uses envenom's animation)

 

2. Dart of Queasiness: Deals some initial lethal damage + a toxic DoT.  Toxic Dart does NOT have any splash damage, but has a small chance of making the target nauseous, which causes them to double over and "generate" a small, temporary puddle around them that deals minor toxic DoT to any enemies that step in said puddle. (Uses the animation from toxic dart)

 

3. Enfeebling Globule:  You propel a mass of compounds toward your target, which can blind or otherwise weaken them.  Deals minor toxic damage and imparts a temporary -tohit and -dmg effect. (Uses alkaloid's animation)

 

4. Noxious Breath:  A cone attack that deals toxic damage to any enemy caught within it.  Slows affected enemies' movement speeds and recharge rates. (Uses neurotoxic breath's animation)

 

5. Corrosive Flask:  You throw a vial of caustic compounds at the targeted location.  It deals heavy toxic DoT and has a slight chance of causing any enemies that pass through it to pass out due to the noxious fumes, (small chance at a knockdown effect). (This would use the animation from corrosive vial)

 

6. Paralyzing Poison - Moderate toxic damage + a hold effect. (Uses the paralytic poison animation)

 

7. Rage Serum - Produces confusion in the afflicted target, and causes them to emit a noxious cloud, which deals minor toxic DoT. (This would use the adrenal booster animation)

 

8. Noxious Trap:  You place a device on the ground that emits a toxic cloud for a short duration.  Any enemy entering its AoE suffers minor toxic DoT and can become disoriented. (Uses the animation for poison trap)

 

9. MOAP - You create/emit/conjure the "Mother of All Poisons" above yourself, then hurl it at an enemy.  They, and all nearby enemies, take heavy initial toxic damage, as well as toxic DoT.  Targets defeated by this attack have a small chance of reanimating as a temporary "Sludge Monster" that fights on your side for a short amount of time. (Uses the animation for neutron bomb as well as either a hydra or shivan npc model for the sludge monster)

Edited December 10, 2024 by biostem

[biostem]

Void-Blade Melee

 

Basically, this set would use as many of the blade attacks from psi melee, only dealing negative and cold damage.  Each attack has a chance of applying the "Desolation" debuff on targets, which slows the target and applies a tohit debuff upon them.

 

1. Lesser Void-Blade (uses psi blade's animation, only with a slightly lower damage value, but also a slightly quicker recharge), deals minor cold + negative energy damage.

 

2. Void-Blade Thrust (uses the quick-version of Assassin's psi blade) - deals minor cold & neg damage.

 

3. Void-Blade Sweep (uses psi blade sweep's animation), deals moderate cold+neg damage in a cone.

 

4. BuildUp

 

5. Whirling Void-Blade (uses broadsword's whirling sword animation) - deals moderate cold+neg damage in a PBAoE

 

6. Taunt/Confront (depending on the chosen AT)

 

7. Extricate Void-Blade (uses the crack whip animation from demon summoning) - deals moderate cold+neg damage in a PBAoE

 

8. Greater Void-Blade (high cold+neg damage)

 

9. Executioner's Void-Blade (uses the long version of psi blade's assassin's blade), deals high cold + negative energy damage.  Special:  If a target is already afflicted with "Desolation" and the target has less than half health remaining, this power recharges instantly.

Edited December 11, 2024 by biostem

[Alchemystic]

As of today, this project has reached it's 5th year, and also curated 200 powersets!

 

Words can't express how grateful I am to the contributors here who have helped make these two milestones possible! It's been a great journey getting to this point, and it's been wonderful seeing people still taking an interest in this project 5 years later!

Even during times where I had to step away, it was amazing seeing people carry on supporting the thread, and still finding the potential for new powersets even after I struggled to find inspiration myself. 200 powersets is no small amount, and we couldn't have reached that number without the community here, whether people who have been here from the early days to newcomers who have stumbled onto it recently. It's been an interesting 5 years, and seeing even some small amount of the works here make it into the game has been an amazing feeling, whether it was purely coincidental or not!

So what does this mean for the thread moving forward? Surely after all this time there's little else to be done? Those observant amongst you may have noticed that we're nearing a point where we might not be so reliant on recycling old assets moving forward, with new content really pushing the boundaries of the game engine, and overcoming certain coding obstacles once thought impassible.

However, I think regardless of that, we're still likely to see new powersets using current assets as it's likely the more efficient option, but it could mean that we could see newer material introduced in future, which in turn means more that could potentially be used here!

So, here's to the future! Thank you again everybody!

[LightMaster]

On 12/7/2024 at 7:04 AM, Alchemystic said:

Any ideas what animations and FX specifically? 🤔

Alright, so:

• By default, Tier 1 to 4 uses a small explosion FX. Tier 5 to 8 uses an explosion FX used by Tripmine. And Tier 9 uses an explosion FX right when a Cyberwarrior explode (Summer Blockbuster exclusive bosses, in the Time Gladiator second half)
• Explosion Swap uses no animation but changes the FX; Gravitas uses dark-themed explosive FXs of Dark power sets or FX of Gravity power sets, EMP using either Energy or Electric power sets, and then Energy or Psionic power sets, or Peacebringer’s Luminous Blast FX, for the Flashbang variant.
• As for the individual attacks;
  • Bomb Punch uses the animation used by Energy Punch.
  • Bomb Kick uses the same animation as Kick from the Boxing Power Pool.
  • Both Blasting Clap and Dynamite Clap uses the Hand Clap animation of the Super Strength power set.
  • Assassin’s Bomb uses the animation for Energy Melee variant Assassin’s Strike.
  • Preparing Explosives uses gun clip sounds, and uses Battle Fury aura for FX. Uses standard power-up animation.
  • Provoke/Taunt/Placate uses standard animation.
  • Roundhouse Boom uses Shin Breaker animation, and added a spinning effect for the character to give an impression of doing a roundhouse.
  • Armageddon Punch uses Knockout Blow animation of either Super Strength or the Blaster, Mastermind and Sentinel version of Leviathan Mastery.

Would those work? Meanwhile, I’m thinking about doing some more Ancillery Masteries for Sentinel, it got pretty few compared to other Archetypes.

Edited December 30, 2024 by LightMaster

[LightMaster]

Alright, decided to take a shot for more Sentinel’s Ancillery stuff.

 

As you may notice, the Sentinel’s Ancillery Pool tend to be very formulaic compared to other Archetypes’ Ancillary Pools; three Control powers, one Melee and one PBAoE, with one of them replaced by a summon for Patron Pools.

 

This formula also make Sentinel Epic Pools feel unfocused, causing Sentinel players to either pick only one from any chosen Epic Power Pool, or not at all. Doesn’t help that Sentinels doesn’t need Mez Control power all this much.

 

Thusly, the Ancillary Pools I thought for the Sentinel have either of the following; 3 Control + 2 Melee, 3 Melee + 2 PBAoE or 3 PBAoE + 2 Control (with PBAoE either support, control or damage-dealing), allowing better focus on giving the Sentinel more to do. The Control powers will also focus on stat-modifying debuffs rather than mez debuffs as a pseudo-crowd control as well, akin to the Affinity power sets that inflict the former type of debuffs.

 

Idea 1: Nature Mastery (3 Control + 2 Melee)

Based on Nature Affinity and Spines.

“You have advanced Mastery over nature and are able to control foes. You may also have access go spiny melees that can inflict slowdown, reduced recharge and Toxic Damage over Time on foes.”

Tier 1-1: Corrosive Enzymes (Ranged, Foe -Res and -DMG), from Nature Affinity

Tier 1-2: Lunge (Melee, Moderate Lethal DMG, Toxic DoT; Foe -Rech and -SPD), from Spines

Tier 2: Ripper (Coned Melee, Superior Lethal DMG, Toxic DoT; Foe -Rech, -SPD and Knockdown), from Spines

Tier 3: Spore Cloud (Toggle Targeted AoE; Foe -DMG, -Regen and -ToHit), from Nature Affinity

Tier 4: Entangling Aura (Toggle PBAoE; Foe Hold), from Nature Affinity

 

Idea 2: Light Mastery (3 Melee + 2 non-DMG PBAoE)

Based on Energy Melee and Illusion Control.

“You have adanced Mastery over light to help allies around you to hide and blind foes around you. You can also use the power of energetic light to inflict Energy and Smashing damage with each their own potential debuff.”

Tier 1-1: Group Invisibility (PBAoE; Team Stealth and +DEF), from Illusion Control

Tier 1-2: Power Crash (Coned Melee, Moderate Energy/Smashing DMG; up to three Foes Disorient), from Energy Melee

Tier 2: Flash (PBAoE; Foe Hold), from Illusion Control

Tier 3: Whirling Hands (PBAoE Melee, Moderate Energy/Smashing DMG; Foe -DEF), from Energy Melee

Tier 4: Energetic Nova (Melee, Extreme Energy/Smashing DMG; Self -HP; Foe -ACC and -ToHit), from Energy Melee with Illusion Control Flash’s FX

 

Idea 3: Storm Mastery (3 PBAoE + 2 Control)

Based on Storm Blast and Wind Control.

“You have advanced Mastery over the power of the storm and can make foes around you more likely to miss. Additionally, you are able to control further away enemies by draining their Endurance.”

Tier 1-1: Hailstones (PBAoE, Cold DMG; chance of Knockdown on Foe), from Storm Blast

Tier 1-2: Keening Winds (Ranged Targeted AoE; Foe Chance of Confusion, Foe EndDrain, Self +End), from Wind Control

Tier 2: Wind Shear (Toggle PBAoE; Foe -SPE, -Fly, -ToHit and -DMG), from Wind Control

Tier 3: Cloud Burst (PBAoE, High Cold DoT; Foe -Rech and -ToHit), from Storm Blast

Tier 4: Turbulance (Ranged Targeted AoE, Moderate Cold/Lethal DoT; Foe EndDrain, -Rech and -ToHit), based off Vacuum from Wind Control

Edited Wednesday at 04:10 AM by LightMaster