Focused Suggestion: Elec Blast lacks a chain power

[Galaxy Brain]

Something I realized today after electric affinity's release is that every electrical themed set in CoH has a chain power (except epics).

 

Chain Induction on Melee, Jolting Chain on control, over half of ElAf, Ionic Judgement... but no Elec Blast? 

 

The set is seen as on the lower half of blast sets currently, and the secondary effect is often called into question. If one of the powers offered chain blasting potential, it could carve out a bit more of a niche with added AoE damage on top of being thematically fun. The question is, which power? There are 2 blasts, and a snipe for ST attacks, as well as Tesla Cage for utility. Of those, I think making Zapp able to be a chain-snipe may be the best bet as the t1 and t2 should not be touched for Blaster balance, and Tesla Cage chaining would be akward. Zapp being able to chain could do less ST damage than other snipes (slow or fast), but uniquely let you summon powerful chain lightning that other sets do not have access to.

 

Voltaic Sentinel also is a point of interest. It shoots out a smaller version of Charged Bolts (T1) and already attacks targets randomly within its range, drawing aggro right to you. Sparky has been another point of contention as its damage contribution is hard to quantify vs if elec had a t3 blast. If it had a chaining bolt while active, maybe it could be enough to push the group clearing time a bit?

 

What are your thoughts?

 

 

[Caulderone]

I like the idea of making the VS's bolt attack into a chain.  I also like the idea of increasing VS duration while at it.

 

Zapp (or zapping bolt on Sentinel) would be great, too.

 

Or both.

 

And Thunderous Blast and Tesla Cage could both use an animation time shave, especially TB.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Caulderone

[nihilii]

Hard pass on nerfing Zapp's ST damage. The last thing Elec Blast needs is more AoE damage, with Ball Lightning + Short Circuit + Thunderous Blast and thanks to the sped up DoT on Homecoming, it's already great in AoE. Elec Blast is only lacking in ST damage, and only for Blasters, Defenders and Corruptors.

That's another thing: the Sentinel version proves it doesn't take radical changes to turn Elec Blast into a top tier choice.

 

Retrofitting complicated newer mechanics onto Elec Blast, changing its playstyle for an unknown result, seems like a rather inefficient approach when there's a working blueprint for improving Elec Blast. Bump the damage on Tesla Cage, for that matter give Voltaic Sentinel a longer duration... see if this doesn't fix all the issues already.

[summers]

The absence of a chain lightning style effect is quite glaring now!

[Razor Cure]

13 minutes ago, nihilii said:

Elec Blast is only lacking in ST damage, and only for Blasters, Defenders and Corruptors.

So..only 3 of 4 choices? Making one good ST pick! I just looked at Senty ElecB in mids, and damn, port that goodness to other ATs already!

 

 

[Naraka]

Could give each AT a different power that chains to add to replayability.

 

Blasters - T1 and T2 attacks chain off of a target you use Tesla Cage on.  People wanted Tesla Cage to do more damage but how about it enables additional AoE. It'd be controlable when you wanted to chain it to 2-3 additional targets and it's some of your better powers.

 

Sentinel - Chain Tesla Cage but only after defeating the target caged.  Since TC is already shorter duration (I think), it'd more likely just be a good finishing attack that also could chain to defeat another foe (and another foe if that foe is weakened too).  The hold is just a situational cherry.

 

Corruptor - Chain Zapp.  Does less ST damage but if you're scourging, who cares?

 

Defender - Voltaic Sentinel chain.  I'd say give it some sort of 2nd attack that also chains.  Maybe a chain immobilize or chain KB both adding some -recovery to the pet.

 

 

[Galaxy Brain]

15 minutes ago, nihilii said:

Hard pass on nerfing Zapp's ST damage. The last thing Elec Blast needs is more AoE damage, with Ball Lightning + Short Circuit + Thunderous Blast and thanks to the sped up DoT on Homecoming, it's already great in AoE. Elec Blast is only lacking in ST damage, and only for Blasters, Defenders and Corruptors.

That's another thing: the Sentinel version proves it doesn't take radical changes to turn Elec Blast into a top tier choice.

 

Retrofitting complicated newer mechanics onto Elec Blast, changing its playstyle for an unknown result, seems like a rather inefficient approach when there's a working blueprint for improving Elec Blast. Bump the damage on Tesla Cage, for that matter give Voltaic Sentinel a longer duration... see if this doesn't fix all the issues already.

Porque no los dos?

 

I agree that Tesla should be the sentinel version to give the set a Freeze-Ray equivalent of sorts and boost the ST output. Likewise, every other elec set has a chaining power to cement that as an electric staple and its odd now to see Elec Blast without iconic Chain Lightning anywhere.

[nihilii]

9 hours ago, Galaxy Brain said:

Porque no los dos?

Subjectively? I dislike porting newer mechanics onto older powersets. It changes its identity; whether to a meaningful extent or not is another question, but still.

 

Subjectively, electric boogaloo? Elec Blast (and end drain) are IMHO a lot better than most people give it credit for (even on Blasters, Defenders and Corruptors), in a world of fast elec DoTs, fast snipes and crashless nukes. There's a finite amount of buffs you can give a powerset without making it too strong. Can Elec Blast get a chain power *and* a damaging Tesla Cage *and* a longer duration Voltaic Sentinel? I don't know. What I know is that Elec isn't hurting for AoE damage as is. So adding a chain ability to Elec might turn out to be a "wasted" buff in that it improves performance according to theoretical formulas, but that improved performance turns out to be minimal due to overkill in practical gameplay.

 

To put it another way, Elec needs help dropping bosses, not minions or lieuts. It would be great if we get both a chain power on, say, VS attacks and a damaging Tesla and a longer duration VS, but it'd be a shame if we got a chain power *over* a damaging Tesla or a longer duration VS.

 

Somewhat more objectively? I'm mostly reacting to your suggestion Zapp might take a damage hit. It's one of the cornerstone of Elec ST damage as is, and if anything Elec needs more ST damage. So any buff to other aspects can't come at the expense of what ST damage we currently have.

Edited April 2, 2020 by nihilii

[Parabola]

I have to agree about not wanting to see zapp be reduced in damage. The fast snipe change was a huge buff to elec blast as it was desperately lacking a single target attack chain. Damage could be added to tesla cage but the weak link power to my mind is really voltaic sentinel. If that could be buffed to the extent that it genuinely made up for the lack of a third tier blast then elec blast would be in a pretty good place. I suppose overall I'm not seeing the need to have a chaining mechanic in elec blast simply for the sake of it.

[Replacement]

This is fascinating. I agree that, thematically, electric blast should have a chain. But objectively, @nihilii is right and ST is the problem.

 

My proposal may not be technical feasible, but here it is:

1) When using all ST blasts on an ally, it chains to whomever they are targeting. This essentially adds a visual-chain to targeting through allies.

2) Small damage bonus when doing so. It might also let you make some trick shots, either shooting enemies you lack LoS on or extending effective range.

3) Make Voltaic Sentinel targetable. The synergy should be obvious.

4) Make other tweaks to the set as well, namely around little V's duration and cast time.

[Galaxy Brain]

I like the idea around making the ST attacks chain off of a target if they are hit by Tesla Cage...

 

Actually, given how Electric Affinity works, I wonder if its possible to allow the ST attacks to chain briefly if you use Aim? Rename it to say "High Voltage" and for 10 seconds your st attacks can chain lightning to X targets for theme. X in this case is whatever value they look for when (Aim) is active, otherwise its 0 

 

I agree the ST damage could use some love, which is where Tesla and VS should be buffed. But, I want to explore where a chain attack could be implemented since it is now a highly thematic part of electric sets that is missing.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Galaxy Brain