VEAT improvement suggestions

[KaizenSoze]

More feedback on Night Widows after flipping back and forth between my Fort and NW builds. On top of what has been said.

 

NW Mental Blast needs to be on par with Subdue. Current base damage is 58 vs 98, raise the recharge to balance that out.

 

Make smoke grenade -tohit base worth slotting.

 

Psychic Scream needs an overhaul. It is by far the worse T9 VEAT power. The damage is meh, the cast time for the damage is poor. If you check the powers taken, Night Widows take this power 32% of the time.

 

Let's talk numbers - dpa = damage per activation

Psychic scream, 67 dpa, recharge 16, cast time 2.67, 60 ft cone 30 deg, -50% recharge

Psychic Wail, 224 dpa, recharge 145, cast time 1.97, 25 ft AOE, mag 3 stun with -70% recharge

 

NW being primarily melee character is given a narrow cone, which is hard to use in melee, as their T9.

 

Blue sky idea one, turn Psychic Scream into a snipe.

[Starhammer]

I can take or leave most of the suggested power changes. For me VEATs work amazingly well, and until I start doubledipping my Leadership from the Pools, my end is quite manageable.

However, I wholeheartedly agree on No Redraw and optional Crab Backpacks.

 

The Crablegs look awesome when you're just standing around, but they don't always (rarely) fit the theme of a desired character (I know, heresy, making the theme something other than full fledged member of the NPC group). Generally I just don't bother with Crab advancement just because of the mandatory costume debuff. I firmly believe costumes should never be forcibly tied to powers, whether that means the lasers just don't match up with your gun, or a Dual Pistol character shoots bullets out of their hands (invisible guns) or any other imaginable combination. But I make a lot of VEATs. I'd love to take the armor route instead of the stealth route on some of them, without having to give up my costume preferences.