New Dark/Toxic blast powerset; Blight Blast

[Alchemystic]

So! for a time I've been thinking what blast powersets we have at our disposal and how the damage types are a little disproportionate.

 

• So far we have five powersets that use Energy Damage: (Energy, Sonic, Radiation, Electric, Beam Rifle)
• four that use Smashing Damage: (Energy, Sonic, Ice, Water)
• four that use Lethal Damage (Assault Rifle, Archery, Dual Pistols, Ice)
• four that use Fire Damage (Fire, Water, Assault Rifle, Dual Pistols)
• three that use Cold Damage (Ice, Water, Dual Pistols)
• and only one each for Negative, Psychic and Toxic damage (Dark, Psychic, Dual Pistols).

 

Now, since Psychic damage is supposed to be 'rare and exotic' so I can excuse that, it seems odd that Negative damage doesn't have many other powersets with access to it, especially blast powersets. I know that Toxic damage is supposed to be more rare than Psychic damage, but since the only way of accessing it is via the Ammo Swap power in Dual Pistols I think it could potentially be explored elsewhere.

 

So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and come up with a powerset that is focused on delivering both Dark damage and Toxic damage; Blight Blast.

 

This powerset is designed specifically to utilise those two damage types, and pairs well with many other powersets to help conceptualise and explore different themes; Pair it with Poison or Ninja Training to focus on delivering deadly poisons. pair it with Bio Armor to make a putrid monstorsity, or maybe pair it with Nature Affinity or Plant Manipulation to send spores and natural toxins to your foes! You could even pair it with anything like Radiation or Dark to make all sorts of concepts!

 

I think we have plenty in the way of existing assets that can be drawn from Poison, Radiation, Bio and Plant based powersets to amalgamate into a putrid looking FX theme, as well as a plethora of attack animations that could easily be used along with them.

Blight Blast

You are capable of withering away your foes with blasts of necrotic blight. Blight Blast focuses on delivering a mixture of Negative damage and Toxic damage as you wither away your enemies. Enemies subject to multiple attacks may become Blighted, and may spread this blight to their nearby allies, lowering their regeneration rate and healing received.

 

 - Putrid Bolt: (Ranged, Light Negative, Minor Toxic DoT)

A quick blast of putrid essence, with a low chance of Blighting your target.

 

 - Atrophic Blast: (Ranged, Moderate Negative, Light Toxic DoT)

A more powerful blast of atrophic rot, with a higher chance of Blighting your target.

 

 - Infection: (Ranged Chain, Moderate Negative/Toxic DoT)

You release a deadly infection that chains between targets and deals good damage over time, but also can transfer Blight from one target to another.

 

 - Incubate: (Self +ToHit, +Special)

Greatly increases your chance to hit of your attacks for a few seconds, and also increases the chances of attacks inflicting or spreading Blight.

 

 - Necrotic Lance: (Sniper Superior Negative, High Toxic DoT)

An extremely long and accurate strike that creates a withering necrosis on your foe, devouring them with extreme damage over time. This power has a guaranteed chance of Blighting your target if this power is used as a sniper attack. Even if activated in combat, this power has a high chance of Blighting your target.

 

- Miasma: (Targeted AoE, Sleep, Special)

You create a cloud of petulant fumes that blankets a targeted area. Foes caught in the miasma may fall extremely ill and begin choking on the fumes, and have a higher chance of spreading Blight to other foes

 

 - Enervate: (Close, High Negative/Toxic DoT)

You deliver a bolt of enervating toxin that greatly harms your foe, and has a high chance of Blighting your target.

 

 - Parasitic Drain (Ranged, Medium Negative/Toxic DoT, Self +Heal over Time)

You infect your foe with a parasitic toxin, transferring their life essence to yourself to mend your wounds. If used on a blighted target, the healing you receive is greatly improved. 

 

 - Virulence: (PBAoE, Extreme DoT Negative/Toxic, Hold)

you unleash a deadly virulent shroud around yourself, spreading to all foes in a large area. Foes affected suffer extreme damage over time, and may become overcome by a foul sickness that has a chance to hold them and spread Blight to nearby allies.

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Tyrannical

[Galaxy Brain]

[Trickshooter]

I like it.

[SeraphimKensai]

Well we're at it, could use a similar melee and control set.

[Alchemystic]

9 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Well we're at it, could use a similar melee and control set.

Radiation melee actually inspired a lot of this set with its 'Contamination' mechanic.

 

I think for control we could potentially work with the stuff in Radiation Manipulation to fully realise it into a proper control set. I made a little post about it in my other powers thread;

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13484-eco-friendly-powerset-recycling/?do=findComment&comment=148404

[Alchemystic]

Out of curiosity, does anybody have that table that displays the most common NPC resistance/defense values throughout the game?

[Galaxy Brain]

Toxic is most resisted, negative is the least resisted 

 

Source: I made that chart 😉

[Alchemystic]

27 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

Toxic is most resisted, negative is the least resisted 

 

Source: I made that chart 😉

Awesome!

 

I was going to double check it just to make sure I didn't make a fool out of myself before I made a point about it.

 

I was going to suggest that the toxic damage be increased, since I noticed it was pretty high on dual pistols, and I dont think toxic resistance is as rare as the game makes it out to be.

 

the lack of defense to it however might have to be accounted for.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by Tyrannical

[Galaxy Brain]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1arWBGWuwGCWqSrkLgnWK26xNTrILUO_QNKn8034A3L0/edit#gid=1363586932

 

Direct link too

[Alchemystic]

2 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1arWBGWuwGCWqSrkLgnWK26xNTrILUO_QNKn8034A3L0/edit#gid=1363586932

 

Direct link too

That's pretty nuts, I would have thought negative and toxic would have been the other way around for sure!

 

Guess my impression was formed from how accessible those resistances are to players! (pre i25 that is).

[Leogunner]

First Impression:

 

You only need to swap 2 powers and the overall "theme" can be replicated by Darkness Blast.  Basically what I'm saying is it's Darkness Blast with a debuff "Contamination".

 

Personally don't have an issue with the set or concept.  Just think if they make new particles for it, why not retro-fit this set so that Darkness Blast can borrow most of them to broaden its customization.

 

As for damage type variants, while it's cool and all, it's a secondary concern when making a character concept.  For example, can you make a "blood blast" by coloring Water Blast red?  If not, I have turned sets like Psi Melee into "Cryomancy Melee", Kinetic Melee into "Pixy Dust Blast", etc.  It's all about color/weapon customization.

[Alchemystic]

23 minutes ago, Leogunner said:

First Impression:

 

You only need to swap 2 powers and the overall "theme" can be replicated by Darkness Blast.  Basically what I'm saying is it's Darkness Blast with a debuff "Contamination".

 

Personally don't have an issue with the set or concept.  Just think if they make new particles for it, why not retro-fit this set so that Darkness Blast can borrow most of them to broaden its customization.

 

As for damage type variants, while it's cool and all, it's a secondary concern when making a character concept.  For example, can you make a "blood blast" by coloring Water Blast red?  If not, I have turned sets like Psi Melee into "Cryomancy Melee", Kinetic Melee into "Pixy Dust Blast", etc.  It's all about color/weapon customization.

Blast sets do indeed seem more formulaic than that of other powersets, which is why this powerset does look a lot like dark blast, because it was a good comparison to work with. 

 

However, I think this set has plenty to offer that sets it apart from dark;

 

- Dual type damage that doesn't use lethal or smashing

- A combo mechanic as seen in many modern powersets.

- Healing and Regen Debuffs instead of ToHit debuffs.

 

I'm open to using dark as a concept for many things (I have even used it as a toxic theme myself) but I'm not just thinking about it from a FX point of view,. I'm mostly taking into consideration the absence of certain damage types and creating something that works both mechanically and thematically, so players have more variety for builds, and there is less compromise for what could pass off a toxic blast set conceptually.

 

I will admit, I usually opt for 'concept first, powers later' too, but I always have that nagging voice in my head saying "this would be better if X powerset existed". I spent some time figuring out what could pass for a poison themed primary; Dark Blast was a strong candidate, as was Dark FX theme Radiation Blast and Fire Control, and of course Water Blast was considered too.

 

But having a powerset that fully realises a concept on it's own without any compromise is always great. I remember the amount of Thugs and Robotics Masterminds who just wanted Dual Pistols and Beam Rifles, and now we have them, so hopefully this little suggestion fills the conceptual gap a little more. 

 

As for just putting the FX on Dark Blast? I got told by a dev once that creating FX for powersets is a challenge, and at that point it could just as well go on a new powerset since most of the work is already done.

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by Tyrannical

[Leogunner]

I'm not so much bringing into question your suggestion, more implying another aspect not touched on in the post: namely, animation times.  If the animation times conform to those of Darkness Blast, you can then borrow the animations/particle fx of this set for Dark and vice versa.

 

 

[Alchemystic]

Just now, Leogunner said:

I'm not so much bringing into question your suggestion, more implying another aspect not touched on in the post: namely, animation times.  If the animation times conform to those of Darkness Blast, you can then borrow the animations/particle fx of this set for Dark and vice versa.

 

 

The animations I had in mind were likely going to be similar to the 'Poison' and 'Dark Alt' animation sets, plenty of throwing and spitting, as if you were secreting the stuff 😀