Trick Arrow Updates

[oedipus_tex]

In a post on the developer's corner on 9/20, the Curator says:

 

 

 

Is anyone else 😱😱😱😱? 

 

 

The post is here:

 

[roleki]

Maybe /TA will get a decent -Regen power.

[ABlueThingy]

3 hours ago, roleki said:

Maybe /TA will get a decent -Regen power.

That'll be the healing arrow

[oedipus_tex]

FYI if you haven't seen yet, TA updates are posted in recent beta patch notes. The set looks very solid now and could be a real boon for Controllers.

 

 

[VV]

"Acid Arrow

• Now applies a -special resistance debuff (Endurance, ToHit, Regen, Recovery, Recharge Time, and Endurance Discount debuffs against the target will be stronger)"

Oh myyyyyyyyy. Let me team up with a /Traps...

[ThrillMill]

If your not already working on Fire/TA/Fire you should at least consider doing so. Looking like it'll be an end game monster both solo and in a team setting. 

[Siderous]

3 hours ago, ThrillMill said:

If your not already working on Fire/TA/Fire you should at least consider doing so. Looking like it'll be an end game monster both solo and in a team setting. 

Was just thinking this myself.  Working on a concept to start one.

[Panache]

36 minutes ago, Siderous said:

Was just thinking this myself.  Working on a concept to start one.

Plant/TA/Fire for me. It's going to be glorious. 

 

[Siderous]

26 minutes ago, Panache said:

Plant/TA/Fire for me. It's going to be glorious. 

 

oooohhhh... that could be quite nice too

 

[KaizenSoze]

I have been testing TA on the defender side.

 

The number will be less for controllers, but the overall effect is close.

 

Between the -32% -toHit Flash Arrow, though there are caveats. You can soft cap defense with only ~23% defense.

 

Poison Gas Arrow, 25-50% -dam, 25% is un-resistable. Basically for you, a minimal of 25% resists for any effected mob.

 

And -25 def from Acid Arrow. So, you don't have slot accuracy. IE your pets will hit stuff.

 

TA is now tanky. I can stand in groups of 4x8 council, take the alpha, and destroy them with my ice secondary.

 

Mezzing is still an issue and massive Arachnos def debuffs are still problematic. But controllers have a primary to deal with that!

 

The main downside is you'll want to take everything.

Edited October 28, 2020 by KaizenSoze

[roleki]

I took Polarrhoid (Ice/TA controller) out for a spin on Test... it's a big improvement, for sure. 

 

EMP Arrow is kind of weird now; the -Regen duration was badly needed, and nobody is going to turn down mez protection and debuff resistance but it seems oddly-placed in a T9.  Since I can't really test it on... Test, I am going to assume that when they say the buffs apply to ANY ally in the target area, that THAT portion skips the max targets of 16.  So now a /TA can cover the bowl in an MSR?  Cool!

 

Stacking -DMG was a nice and unexpected bonus, and combined with the additional -ToHit from Flash Arrow, increases survivability a LOT. 

 

The additional -Res in Entangling Arrow gives you a reason to fire the darn thing, even against a Pylon. 

 

Speaking of -Res, the decrease in recharge/amp in duration for Disruption Arrow mean the two Recharge IOs I ported from my 'live' build are serious overkill.  I'm not sure I'll ever take advantage of the new EndMod set possibilities opened up by the -End debuff component that's been added to DA, but I appreciate the opportunity to move a slot elsewhere.  

 

The changes to Acid Arrow sound interesting, but either it doesn't work for your own debuffs (which makes sense) or the Power Analyzer is misreporting, because it seems none of the numbers move whether Acid Arrow was applied or not.

 

So far, this feels about right, with more meaningful debuffs and some stacking that encourages actually USING things like Entangling Arrow and PGA.  It will definitely force a /respec on my existing TAs, if only to adjust slotting a tad.  My Fire/TA corruptor may have to drop out of the Fighting pool to fit Flash and Glue arrow in 🙂

 

My onliest gripe is that they looked straight at /TA and still didn't give it a way to ignite its own OSA.  The rationale that "well, anyone can go get some temporary powers to ignite their OSA if they want to" only proves that it should be an ability inherent to the set itself.  To add insult to injury, they now allow you to boost range of OSA, so you can run further to get into range with your miserable Taser Dart or whatever, watch it miss, wait for it to recharge or go to use your temp power but oh damn, you're out of charges... it's a ridiculous and arbitrary hoop to jump through. 

 

 

 

 

[Luminara]

On 10/28/2020 at 10:22 AM, roleki said:

My onliest gripe is that they looked straight at /TA and still didn't give it a way to ignite its own OSA.  The rationale that "well, anyone can go get some temporary powers to ignite their OSA if they want to" only proves that it should be an ability inherent to the set itself.  To add insult to injury, they now allow you to boost range of OSA, so you can run further to get into range with your miserable Taser Dart or whatever, watch it miss, wait for it to recharge or go to use your temp power but oh damn, you're out of charges... it's a ridiculous and arbitrary hoop to jump through.

 

I covered this in the feedback thread, but I'll say it again here for others who might be reading.

 

OSA was deliberately balanced around being a debuff and soft control.  The recharge time is three minutes faster than the nukes it was performing on par with in terms of damage when the power was created.  A big part of that balance decision, not making OSA the T9 and setting the recharge time to six minutes, was due to TA not having an in-set ignition mechanism.  The rules were bent for OSA.  Adding an in-set means of lighting it would require a re-examination of the balance, and the end result would not be favorable.  Additionally, OSA was never an under-performing part of TA, nor has it required any bug fixes since the server timing bug was located and squashed (years and years ago), so it wasn't on the list of things to adjust when the HC team started working on TA.

 

It is what it is, and in light of the consideration given to it for being a debuff and soft control first, it's fine.  There are multiple other options for igniting it beyond origin or temp powers.  We still have access to *PPs with Energy/Fire damage, procs, the Sorcery pool, teammates or critter actions to defeat OSTarget and ignite the slick.  You don't have to run into melee range to ignite it with an origin power, or hunt for temp powers and hoard charges.

[Coyote]

I'm very disappointed in the changes. We all asked for a Healing Arrow since we know that Defenders who can't Heal aren't proper defenders, and instead of getting one, we got a Resistance Arrow (formerly known as EMP Arrow... now it's Irradiate Allies Arrow). I guess this means that TA Defenders still aren't proper Healz0rs :(.

 

🤪😝

[roleki]

6 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

I covered this in the feedback thread, but I'll say it again here for others who might be reading.

 

OSA was deliberately balanced around being a debuff and soft control.  The recharge time is three minutes faster than the nukes it was performing on par with in terms of damage when the power was created.  A big part of that balance decision, not making OSA the T9 and setting the recharge time to six minutes, was due to TA not having an in-set ignition mechanism.  The rules were bent for OSA.  Adding an in-set means of lighting it would require a re-examination of the balance, and the end result would not be favorable.  Additionally, OSA was never an under-performing part of TA, nor has it required any bug fixes since the server timing bug was located and squashed (years and years ago), so it wasn't on the list of things to adjust when the HC team started working on TA.

 

It is what it is, and in light of the consideration given to it for being a debuff and soft control first, it's fine.  There are multiple other options for igniting it beyond origin or temp powers.  We still have access to *PPs with Energy/Fire damage, procs, the Sorcery pool, teammates or critter actions to defeat OSTarget and ignite the slick.  You don't have to run into melee range to ignite it with an origin power, or hunt for temp powers and hoard charges.

And that all makes sense, if it were still 2005 and THAT was the state of the game it was balanced against.  You would have to agree that the game has evolved a little bit since then; after all the amps that have been handed out willy-nilly in the intervening years, it seems odd to declare TA as the line in the sand.  

 

Myself... in light of the fact that the debuffs out of TA are so much more effective *and* EMP Arrow has been amped into a pinata of Frankenstein abilities, I would suggest they drop the DPS of the lit oil slick, add the slightest pinch of fire damage to some other power, and call it a day.  OSA was a saving grace when TA was the weakest set; now that it's finally getting brought into line with other 3rd-tier sets, maybe it won't need a nuke in its pocket to generate interest.

 

The reason I care so much about this is because it is ridiculous to think an archer what would carry such an outlandish array of arrows would forget to bring a goddamn match with them.  Throughout human history, wherever there has been a bow, there have been arrows that were on fire.  If Bo & Luke Duke could do it, so too should a Defender.  

[Omega-202]

I haven't remade my TA defender on HC yet, but don't most people just ignite OSA with a secondary power or the Tech Origin Taser Dart?  I specifically chose Tech Origin on my TA just for the free taser, which isn't even a thing on HC because anyone can take any origin power.