Focused Feedback: Blaster Secondary Revamp

Jimmy · October 24, 2020

This is a Focused Feedback Thread

Please note that Focused Feedback threads are heavily moderated to ensure they remain on topic.
- Any off-topic posts in these threads will be removed without warning.
- The thread will be locked when no more feedback is required, but you are more than welcome to continue the discussion in a new thread.
The most up-to-date version of the changes will be listed in the first post.
The changes in each build will be posted as replies.
- Most changes from the previous beta build are listed in green.
  - Green text will become white text in the next set of patch notes.
- Any changes or fixes that are only relevant to the beta builds (ie: fixes / tweaks to new features) are listed in blue.
  - Blue text will be deleted in the next set of patch notes as it is only relevant to highlight changes between beta builds, not a changes from live.
- Known issues are listed in purple.

Blaster Secondary Revamp

After the game shut down, several new Blaster secondary sets were developed (eg: Tactical Arrow, Atomic Manipulation, Plant Manipulation), but these sets were generally quite overtuned in the crowd control department, whilst also lacking in incentives to get into melee range - both of these factors contributed towards the sets being a tad too safe.

Additionally, most of the legacy sets received some changes in the i24 beta just before the game shut down that were never really followed up on. This ended up with several sets (eg: Ice Manipulation, Electrical Manipulation, Energy Manipulation) being slight underperformers, especially compared to the new sets.

This round of changes aims to level the playing field for Blaster secondary sets, both towards each other and towards dedicated crowd control ATs. In general, you'll see many of the underperforming sets receive several buffs (both in terms of damage and survivability), alongside some reductions in the crowd control capabilities of most sets.

Tactical Arrow

Electrified Net Arrow
- Range reduced from 80ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
- Endurance cost increased from 5.2 to 7.8 to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Ice Arrow
- Range reduced from 80ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation ST mez powers
- Recharge increased from 12s to 16s
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Upshot
- +Recharge buff reduced to from 30% to 15%
- +Damage buff reduced from 100% to 81.25%
- +ToHit reduced from 20% to 15%
Flash Arrow
- This power's effects are no longer irresistible
  - This brings it in line with Smoke Grenade, which has always been resistable
Gymnastics (Replaces Agility)
- Gymnastics and Agility have been merged into a new toggle power
- Provides knockback protection, a 1.75% defence buff, a recharge bonus, a movement speed buff and some slow / mez protection
- If you previously had Agility, you now have Gymnastics
- The Jump bonus has been removed (the run speed bonus remains), but the travel power stacking restrictions have been removed
ESD Arrow
- Hold now only applies to robots
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
- Added Stun against all foes (does not override the robot hold):
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
- Now accepts Stun enhancements and sets
Oil Slick Arrow (Replaced Gymnastics)
- Similar to the Trick Arrow version, but does not have a defence debuff and only has a 15ft radius
- If you previously had Gymnastics, you now have Oil Slick Arrow
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Electrified Net Arrow
Glue Arrow
Ice Arrow
Upshot
Flash Arrow
Eagle Eye
Gymnastics (Replaces Agility, merged with T9)
ESD Arrow
Oil Slick Arrow (Replaces Gymnastics)

Atomic Manipulation

Electron Shackles
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Positron Cell
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Radioactive Cloud
- Hold effect has been adjusted:
  - 50% chance of hold by choking - choking foes might actually counterattack if hit
  - 50% chance of hold by barfing - barfing foes will continue emptying their stomachs until the duration of the hold expires

Darkness Manipulation

Penumbral Grasp
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Touch of the Beyond
- Increased the duration of the self buff from 60s to 120s
- The self buff now also provides Fear protection
- The self buff now auto-hits, regardless of if the enemy-targeting portion of this power hits
- Added a short, non-enhanceable Mag 3 Hold (in PvE only)
- The regeneration buff should no longer be weaker when used against higher or lower level enemies
- Fixed the duraton of the PvE Terrorize Protection
Dark Pit
- Recharge time increased from 60s to 90s
- Endurance cost increased from 13 to 20.18
- Stun changed from Mag 2, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)

Devices

Toxic Web Grenade
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Taser
- Fixed this power doing PvE damage in PvP
Field Operative
- This power now has a No Fade customization them
  - Selecting this theme will stop the power from fading the player body
Gun Drone
- Now has 80% resistance to all damage
- Taunt aura reduced to 8ft, mag 3, max of 4 targets
- Death explosion now has a knockup component
- Fixed an issue with resistance buffs not stacking properly

Electrical Manipulation

Electric Fence
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Thunder Strike
- Cast Time reduced from 3.3s to 2.53s
Dynamo (renamed from Lightning Field)
- Moved from T3 to T6 (see Power Order Changes below)
- Is now the sustain power in the set (along with the existing damage aura component)
  - No longer has an endurance cost to run
  - Provides a Recovery and Regeneration buff
- If you are concealed (from Stealth or a similar power) this power will not impact foes unless you are in combat (it will no longer accidentally break stealth)
- If you had Force of Thunder, it will now be replaced by Dynamo and keep the same enhancements from Force of Thunder
Force of Thunder
- Moved from T6 to T8 (see Power Order Changes below)
- No longer provides a sustain buff
- Stun changed from Mag 2, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
- Knockback chance increased from 30% to 100%
- If you had Lightning Field, it will now be replaced by Force of Thunder and keep the enhancements from Lightning Field
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Electric Fence
Charged Brawl
Build Up (moved down from T5)
Havok Punch
Thunder Strike (moved down from T7)
Dynamo (moved up from T3, renamed from Lightning Field)
Power Sink (moved down from T8)
Force of Thunder (moved up from T6)
Shocking Grasp

Fire Manipulation

Ring of Fire
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Cauterizing Aura
- If you are concealed (from Stealth or a similar power) this power will not impact foes unless you are in combat (it will no longer accidentally break stealth)

Energy Manipulation

Energize
- Now provides a small amount of Stun protection (PvE only)
Stun
- Recharge reduced from 20s to 14s
- This power now has synergy with Power Boost and Boost Range
  - With Boost Range active, this power becomes a ranged Stun
  - With Power Boost active, this power becomes an AoE (instead of boosting its duration)
- Stun will have an orange ring whenever either of these buffs are active
  - As highlight rings can only be one color, Power Boost and Boost Range are also getting a pale white ring to make it easier to know if their buffs are still active, without having to look at the buff bar
- Full combo details:
  - Stun = 14s recharge, 7ft range, Mag 3 scale 10 stun, single target
  - Stun + Boost Range = 14s recharge, 60ft range, Mag 2 scale 10 stun + Mag 1 scale 6 stun, single targets
  - Stun + Power Boost = 90s recharge, 7ft range, Mag 2 scale 5 stun + Mag 1 Scale 2.5 stun, AoE (10 targets)
  - Stun + Power Boost + Boost Range = 90s recharge, 60ft range, Mag 2 scale 5 stun + Mag 1 Scale 2.5 stun, AoE (10 targets)
Total Focus
- Cast time reduced from 3.3 seconds to 2.53 seconds

Ice Manipulation

Chilblain
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Frigid Protection
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
- If you are concealed (from Stealth or a similar power) this power will not impact foes unless you are in combat (it will no longer accidentally break stealth)
Shiver
- Half of the debuff now lasts 60 seconds (previously the entire debuff dropped off after 15 seconds, now only half of it does)
Freezing Touch
- DoT on this power now lasts 10s, delivering additional cold damage ticks (11, up from 6)
Frozen Aura
- This power now inflicts damage and accepts damage enhancements and sets
- Sleep changed from Mag 2, Scale 20 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 20 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 12 (stacking)

Martial Combat

Ki Push
- Damage lowered from scale 1.32 to scale 1.0
- Recharge time reduced from 6s to 4s
Reaction Time
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
- If you are concealed (from Stealth or a similar power) this power will not impact foes unless you are in combat (it will no longer accidentally break stealth)
- Fixed power customization labels
Throw Sand
- Stun changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
Eagles Claw
- This power now has a chance to cause lethal internal bleeding damage over time, similar to the set's Storm Kick

Mental Manipulation

Subdual
- The range of this power is not being adjusted and will remain at 80ft as increased range is part of the secondary effects for Mental / Psionic powers
Telekinetic Thrust
- Recharge increased from 6 seconds to 16s
- Cast Time reduced from 2.07s to 1.67s
- Damage Scale increased from 0.8 to 2.92 (per the standard damage formulas)
- Moved from T3 to T9 (see Power Order Changes below)
World of Confusion
- Moved from T7 to T3 (see Power Order Changes below)
Scare
- Moved from T8 to T7 (see Power Order Changes below)
Psychic Shockwave
- Moved from T7 to T8 (see Power Order Changes below)
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Subdual
Mind Probe
World of Confusion (moved down from from T7)
Psychic Scream
Concentration
Drain Psyche
Scare (moved down from T8)
Psychic Shockwave (moved down from T9)
Telekinetic Thrust (moved up from T3)

Ninja Training

Immobilizing Dart
- Toxic damage over time doubled to bring it in line with other single target immobilize powers
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Sting of the Wasp
- Recharge increased from 5s to 10s
- Damage increased accordingly (per the standard damage formulas)
Choking Powder
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Shinobi
- No longer grants a damage buff outside of stealth
- Now grants the caster a 20% chance to inflict lethal criticals with every attack
  - The amount of damage will be based on the recharge time of the power
  - Usually this will be 80% of the standard damage formula
  - This bonus damage ignores enhancements and damage buffs
- Movement buffs have been removed (they are not present on live)
The Lotus Drops
- Recharge decreased from 28s to 14s
  - This was much higher than intended
Blinding Powder
- Sleep magnitude increased from 2 to 3
- Chance for Confuse mag increased from 2 to 3
- Chance for Confuse scale lowered from scale 20 to scale 8
- Accuracy lowered to 0.8 (to match other AoE CC powers)
Golden Dragonfly
- Recharge increased from 12s to 20s
- Damage increased accordingly (per the standard damage formulas)

Plant Manipulation

Entangle
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Skewer
- Cast Time reduced from 1.67s to 1.23
Strangler
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Spore Cloud
- Moved from T9 to T5 (see Power Order Changes below)
- No longer grants a Defiance buff
  - As a toggle, it never should've given one
- -Regeneration debuff now scales with player level
  - -59.32% at level 20
  - -80.33% at level 40
  - -90.83% at level 50
Wild Fortress
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
- VFX will now stay active as long as the toggle is active
Vines
- Hold effect has been adjusted:
  - 50% chance to hold foes at scale 8 mag 2 + scale 5 mag 1
  - Foes not held in this way will be held for scale 1.5 mag 2 and immobilized for 17.88s
- This power can now be enhanced for immobilization
Thorn Burst
- Moved from T5 to T9 (see Power Order Changes below)
- Cast time reduced from 3s to 2s
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Entangle
Skewer
Strangler
Toxins
Spore Cloud (moved down from T9)
Wild Fortress
Ripper
Vines
Thorn Burst (moved up from T5)

Temporal Manipulation

Time Wall
- Now inflicts scale 1 energy damage to bring it in line with other single target immobilize powers
- Now accepts Damage enhancements and sets
- Range increased from 50ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Aging Touch
- Base damage slightly reduced from 1.32 to 1.02
  - This power was doing more damage than intended
Time Stop
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Temporal Healing
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
- Fixed a timing bug in the non-absorb buffs this power provided that caused intermittent buffing
Future Pain
- Recharge increased from 11s to 18s
- Endurance cost increased from 11.024 to 16.848
- Damage increased accordingly (by about 52.8%, per the standard damage formulas)
End of Time
- Recharge decreased from 22s to 17s
- Endurance cost decreased from 20.176 to 16.016
- Damage decreased from scale 1.552 to 1.232 (per the standard damage formulas)
Time Shift
- Stun changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)

Architect Entertainment

AE versions of these powersets have been updated with missing powers and to match current power effects

Jimmy · October 24, 2020

Build 1 - October 24th, 2020

Spoiler

Blaster Secondary Revamp

After the game shut down, several new Blaster secondary sets were developed (eg: Tactical Arrow, Atomic Manipulation, Plant Manipulation), but these sets were generally quite overtuned in the crowd control department, whilst also lacking in incentives to get into melee range - both of these factors contributed towards the sets being a tad too safe.

Additionally, most of the legacy sets received some changes in the i24 beta just before the game shut down that were never really followed up on. This ended up with several sets (eg: Ice Manipulation, Electrical Manipulation, Energy Manipulation) being slight underperformers, especially compared to the new sets.

This round of changes aims to level the playing field for Blaster secondary sets, both towards each other and towards dedicated crowd control ATs. In general, you'll see many of the underperforming sets receive several buffs (both in terms of damage and survivability), alongside some reductions in the crowd control capabilities of most sets.

Tactical Arrow

Electrified Net Arrow
- Range reduced from 80ft to 50ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
- Endurance cost increased from 5.2 to 7.8 to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation T1 Immobilize powers
Ice Arrow
- Range reduced from 80ft to 60ft to be in line with other Blaster Manipulation ST mez powers
- Recharge increased from 12s to 16s
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Upshot
- +Recharge buff reduced to from 30% to 15%
- +Damage buff reduced from 100% to 81.25%
- +ToHit reduced from 20% to 15%
Flash Arrow
- This power's effects are no longer irresistible
Gymnastics (Replaces Agility)
- Gymnastics and Agility have been merged into a new toggle power
- Provides knockback protection, a 1.75% defence buff, a recharge bonus, a movement speed buff and some slow / mez protection
- If you previously had Agility, you now have Gymnastics
ESD Arrow
- Hold now only applies to robots
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
- Added Stun against all foes (does not override the robot hold):
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
- Now accepts Stun enhancements and sets
Oil Slick Arrow (Replaced Gymnastics)
- Similar to the Trick Arrow version, but does not have a defence debuff and only has a 15ft radius
- If you previously had Gymnastics, you now have Oil Slick Arrow
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Electrified Net Arrow
Glue Arrow
Ice Arrow
Upshot
Flash Arrow
Eagle Eye
Gymnastics (Replaces Agility, merged with T9)
ESD Arrow
Oil Slick Arrow (Replaces Gymnastics)

Atomic Manipulation

Positron Cell
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Radioactive Cloud
- Recharge time increased from 90s to 180s
  - As an AoE hold it should always have had a higher recharge similar to other Blaster Manipulation AoE mez powers
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)

Darkness Manipulation

Touch of the Beyond
- Increased the duration of the self buff from 60s to 120s
- The self buff now also provides Fear protection
- The self buff now auto-hits, regardless of if the enemy-targeting portion of this power hits
- Added a short, non-enhanceable Mag 3 Hold (in PvE only)
Dark Pit
- Recharge time increased from 60s to 90s
- Endurance cost increased from 13 to 20.18
- Stun changed from Mag 2, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)

Devices

Taser
- Fixed this power doing PvE damage in PvP
Gun Drone
- Now has 80% resistance to all damage
- Taunt aura reduced to 8ft, mag 3, max of 4 targets
- Death explosion now has a knockup component

Electrical Manipulation

Thunder Strike
- Cast Time reduced from 3.3s to 2.53s
Dynamo (renamed from Lightning Field)
- Moved from T3 to T6 (see Power Order Changes below)
- Is now the sustain power in the set (along with the existing damage aura component)
  - No longer has an endurance cost to run
  - Provides a Recovery and Regeneration buff
- If you had Force of Thunder, it will now be replaced by Dynamo and keep the same enhancements from Force of Thunder
Force of Thunder
- Moved from T6 to T8 (see Power Order Changes below)
- No longer provides a sustain buff
- Recharge increased from 30s to 90s
- Stun chance increased from 50% to 100%
- Stun changed from Mag 2, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
- If you had Lightning Field, it will now be replaced by Force of Thunder and keep the enhancements from Lightning Field
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Electric Fence
Charged Brawl
Build Up (moved down from T5)
Havok Punch
Thunder Strike (moved down from T7)
Dynamo (moved up from T3, renamed from Lightning Field)
Power Sink (moved down from T8)
Force of Thunder (moved up from T6)
Shocking Grasp

Energy Manipulation

Energize
- Now provides a small amount of Stun protection (PvE only)
Stun
- Recharge reduced from 20s to 14s
- This power now has synergy with Power Boost and Boost Range
  - With Boost Range active, this power becomes a ranged Stun
  - With Power Boost active, this power becomes an AoE (instead of boosting its duration)
- Stun will have an orange ring whenever either of these buffs are active
  - As highlight rings can only be one color, Power Boost and Boost Range are also getting a pale white ring to make it easier to know if their buffs are still active, without having to look at the buff bar
- Full combo details:
  - Stun = 14s recharge, 7ft range, Mag 3 scale 10 stun, single target
  - Stun + Boost Range = 14s recharge, 60ft range, Mag 2 scale 10 stun + Mag 1 scale 6 stun, single targets
  - Stun + Power Boost = 90s recharge, 7ft range, Mag 2 scale 5 stun + Mag 1 Scale 2.5 stun, AoE (10 targets)
  - Stun + Power Boost + Boost Range = 90s recharge, 60ft range, Mag 2 scale 5 stun + Mag 1 Scale 2.5 stun, AoE (10 targets)

Total Focus
- Cast time reduced from 3.3 seconds to 2.53 seconds

Ice Manipulation

Frigid Protection
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
Shiver
- Half of the debuff now lasts 60 seconds (previously the entire debuff dropped off after 15 seconds, now only half of it does)
Frozen Aura
- This power now inflicts damage and accepts damage enhancements and sets
- Sleep changed from Mag 2, Scale 20 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 20 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 12 (stacking)

Martial Combat

Ki Push
- Damage increased from scale 0.8 to scale 1.32
Reaction Time
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
Throw Sand
- Stun changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)

Mental Manipulation

Telekinetic Thrust
- Recharge increased from 6 seconds to 16s
- Cast Time reduced from 2.07s to 1.67s
- Damage Scale increased from 0.8 to 2.92 (per the standard damage formulas)
- Moved from T3 to T9 (see Power Order Changes below)
World of Confusion
- Moved from T7 to T3 (see Power Order Changes below)
Scare
- Moved from T8 to T7 (see Power Order Changes below)
Psychic Shockwave
- Moved from T7 to T8 (see Power Order Changes below)
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Subdual
Mind Probe
World of Confusion (moved down from from T7)
Psychic Scream
Concentration
Drain Psyche
Scare (moved down from T8)
Psychic Shockwave (moved down from T9)
Telekinetic Thrust (moved up from T3)

Ninja Training

Immobilizing Dart
- Toxic damage over time doubled to bring it in line with other single target immobilize powers
Sting of the Wasp
- Recharge increased from 5s to 10s
- Damage increased accordingly (per the standard damage formulas)
Choking Powder
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Shinobi
- No longer grants a damage buff outside of stealth
- Now grants the caster a 20% chance to inflict lethal criticals with every attack
  - The amount of damage will be based on the recharge time of the power
  - Usually this will be 80% of the standard damage formula
  - This bonus damage ignores enhancements and damage buffs
The Lotus Drops
- Recharge decreased from 28s to 14s
  - This was much higher than intended
Blinding Powder
- Sleep magnitude increased from 2 to 3
- Chance for Confuse mag increased from 2 to 3
- Chance for Confuse scale lowered from scale 20 to scale 8
Golden Dragonfly
- Recharge increased from 12s to 20s
- Damage increased accordingly (per the standard damage formulas)

Plant Manipulation

Skewer
- Cast Time reduced from 1.67s to 1.17s
Strangler
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 12 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Spore Cloud
- Moved from T9 to T5 (see Power Order Changes below)
- No longer grants a Defiance buff
  - As a toggle, it never should've given one
- -Regeneration debuff now scales with player level
  - -59.32% at level 20
  - -80.33% at level 40
  - -90.83% at level 50
Wild Fortress
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
Vines
- Recharge time increased from 90s to 180s
  - As an AoE hold it should always have had a higher recharge similar to other Blaster Manipulation AoE mez powers
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)
Thorn Burst
- Moved from T5 to T9 (see Power Order Changes below)
- Cast time reduced from 3s to 2s
Power Order Changes

Spoiler

Entangle
Skewer
Strangler
Toxins
Spore Cloud (moved down from T9)
Wild Fortress
Ripper
Vines
Thorn Burst (moved up from T5)

Temporal Manipulation

Time Wall
- Now inflicts scale 1 energy damage to bring it in line with other single target immobilize powers
- Now accepts Damage enhancements and sets
Aging Touch
- Base damage slightly reduced from 1.32 to 1.02
  - This power was doing more damage than intended
Time Stop
- Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking)
Temporal Healing
- Absorb has been adjusted to match Cauterizing Aura's Heal per Second and can now stack up for up to 12 seconds
- No longer shows floating numbers by default
  - A new "Show Floaters" theme is available if you prefer seeing the Absorb numbers
Future Pain
- Recharge increased from 11s to 18s
- Endurance cost increased from 11.024 to 16.848
- Damage increased accordingly (by about 52.8%, per the standard damage formulas)
End of Time
- Recharge decreased from 22s to 17s
- Endurance cost decreased from 20.176 to 16.016
- Damage decreased from scale 1.552 to 1.232 (per the standard damage formulas)
Time Shift
- Stun changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to:
  - Mag 2, Scale 8 (non stacking)
  - Mag 1, Scale 5 (stacking)

Architect Entertainment

AE versions of these powersets have been updated with missing powers and to match current power effects

Vanden · October 24, 2020

I would like to repeat the request to split Energize in Energy Manipulation into an unslottable toggle that gives the end discount, and a slottable click that gives the heal and +Regeneration. This would have the following benefits:

1. It makes it possible to use the heal reactively to taking damage

2. It’s less necessary to put the click on auto, making it go off when you don’t expect, such as when you need to quickly attack something that could kill you, or when it eats up your precious Build Up/Aim time

3. It frees up the auto slot for another power, and Energy Manipulation has two other powers that could be used for that

If a free end discount toggle is too powerful, you could give it some kind of downside, like -50% regen while the click heal is not active; something meaningful, but manageable.

Vanden · October 24, 2020

Needs attention: the melee versions of Stun in Energy Manipulation (standard and Power Boosted) play a projectile FX, even though the power is not ranged in those modes.

Eva Destruction · October 24, 2020

I'm not sure of the reasoning behind the Electric Manipulation change. It's a perfectly good Blapper set as is. Force of Thunder works nicely as soft crowd control with a KB-KD IO in it, which leaves plenty of slots for the sustain portion, leaving Lightning Field as a damage aura. The stun is meh, but that's fine. Elec Manipulation isn't a controllery secondary, it's a melee-heavy secondary, and buffs should focus on making it better at what it already does, not trying to make it do something else. I'm not a fan of balancing sets by making them more samey. If someone wants a controllery secondary, there are plenty or others to choose from.

Thunderstrike did need a buff, no argument there. Long animation times are the death of blappers.

Vanden · October 24, 2020

Request: shrink the icy shockwave FX of Frozen Aura to match the actual area of effect of the power. The shockwave is much, much bigger than the actual 10-foot radius of the power.

Also, maybe add an Ice Sword Circle power customization theme to Frozen Aura? Pretty please? 😁

WindDemon21 · October 24, 2020

Thank you for finally fixing the absorb toggles. Energy manipulation still needs boost range to be an auto, energize should be a toggle, and powerboost should honestly be a toggle as well.

WindDemon21 · October 24, 2020

Also agreed on force of thunder. I would rather it stay earlier and at 30 seconds for the knockdown rather than 90 for more stun.

(However keeping the regen and recovery in the lightning field power is good)

Dark manipulation also really needs its sustain NOT in a click foe power.

Snowdaze · October 24, 2020

You did absolutely no favors for Darkness Manipulation, it is going to defiantly remain one of the least used blaster secondary's. I tried to bring some attention to this some time ago check my signature for previous post.

Vanden · October 24, 2020

For anyone wondering about the changes to the absorb toggles: its a bit of a buff and a nerf, leaning more towards a nerf, IMO. It now takes about 6.5s for the toggles to reach the level of absorb the live versions give you every 3s. However, the ticks of absorb now stack, and after 12s you reach the maximum absorb value, which is 80% higher than the maximum on live.

LQT · October 24, 2020

3 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Electric Fence

Charged Brawl

Build Up (moved down from T5)

Havok Punch

Thunder Strike (moved down from T7)

Dynamo (moved up from T3, renamed from Lightning Field)

Power Sink (moved down from T8)

Force of Thunder (moved up from T6)

Shocking Grasp

Could this be either reorganised or reworded so the ups/downs make sense? Either go 9 to 1 with the current wording, or change the wording as right now it's backwards with that orientation.

Vanden · October 24, 2020

7 minutes ago, Snowdaze said:

You did absolutely no favors for Darkness Manipulation, it is going to defiantly remain one of the least used blaster secondary's. I tried to bring some attention to this some time ago check my signature for previous post.

The duration is doubled and you’re now guaranteed to get the buff, even if you use it on an intangible target. I agree converting Death Shroud would be a lot easier to manage but you don’t have to be a Veruca Salt about it.

Snowdaze · October 24, 2020

Just now, Vanden said:

The duration is doubled and you’re now guaranteed to get the buff, even if you use it on an intangible target. I agree converting Death Shroud would be a lot easier to manage but you don’t have to be a Veruca Salt about it.

It's the only single target required to activate sustainment buff. If they can move the sustainment in Electrical Manip, they can move it in Dark. Skips off singing "Volcano Girls"!

Eva Destruction · October 24, 2020

1 minute ago, Vanden said:

The duration is doubled and you’re now guaranteed to get the buff, even if you use it on an intangible target. I agree converting Death Shroud would be a lot easier to manage but you don’t have to be a Veruca Salt about it.

Remembering to click a power every 2 minutes is not difficult to manage. Again, converting a damage aura means players have to choose between slotting for sustain and slotting for damage. Blasters are about damage, they shouldn't have to sacrifice it for anything, certainly not because some players don't want to keep track of a click sustain. Super Reflexes Scrappers have had to deal with clickies since launch, it's not that hard, and there are plenty of sets with toggle-on-and-forget sustains for players who don't want to deal with clickies.

WindDemon21 · October 24, 2020

4 minutes ago, Vanden said:

The duration is doubled and you’re now guaranteed to get the buff, even if you use it on an intangible target. I agree converting Death Shroud would be a lot easier to manage but you don’t have to be a Veruca Salt about it.

I'm inclined to strongly agree with snowdaze. Until its changed from a target based power to a toggle, I will never play darkness manipulation on a blaster.

Eva Destruction · October 24, 2020

1 minute ago, Snowdaze said:

It's the only single target required to activate sustainment buff. If they can move the sustainment in Electrical Manip, they can move it in Dark. Skips off singing "Volcano Girls"!

Single target required is a non-issue, the fact that a target is required at all kind of is. Force of Thunder can be activated without a target, and it would be nice if the Dark Manip sustain could be too. But it shouldn't be in Death Shroud.

WindDemon21 · October 24, 2020

2 minutes ago, Eva Destruction said:

Single target required is a non-issue, the fact that a target is required at all kind of is. Force of Thunder can be activated without a target, and it would be nice if the Dark Manip sustain could be too. But it shouldn't be in Death Shroud.

They need to make the single target fear power, a pbaoe fear toggle like cloak of fear with a wider radius. Put the sustain as a toggle in it there. Would be perfect.

Snowdaze · October 24, 2020

1 minute ago, Eva Destruction said:

Single target required is a non-issue, the fact that a target is required at all kind of is. Force of Thunder can be activated without a target, and it would be nice if the Dark Manip sustain could be too. But it shouldn't be in Death Shroud.

Never said it should be in death shroud, I favor a Kuji-In Toh clone, you want to ditch the resists and pop in a Fear burst? Whatever... But yes my biggest hugest issue is that it is target dependent to even activate.

Snowdaze · October 24, 2020

Just now, WindDemon21 said:

They need to make the single target fear power, a pbaoe fear toggle like cloak of fear with a wider radius. Put the sustain as a toggle in it there. Would be perfect.

They need to just re-imagine darkness manipulation, as something that is not the cookie cutter garbage it is.

HyperAi · October 24, 2020

I cant for the life of me find the "show floaters" option they mentioned in the notes to see the numbers. Where is that located?

Indystruck · October 24, 2020

On the whole, I'm still gonna skip the sustain in Darkness Manipulation, but the rest of these changes seem interesting, especially on Ninja Training.

Vanden · October 24, 2020

6 minutes ago, HyperAi said:

I cant for the life of me find the "show floaters" option they mentioned in the notes to see the numbers. Where is that located?

It’s a power customization theme, at the tailor.

Rejolt · October 24, 2020

Ninjitsu: Shinobi has had the +movement removed from the help text (it had no movement buff on current HC build), but would like the movement put back in to match sentinels and scrappers' versions (even if it gave slightly less). Having the melee do more than the primary blasts and the paboe recharge improved makes /nin play so much better.

Now off to test sonic manipulation. There's almost too much to test lol.

Katharos · October 24, 2020

I'm sceptical about the broad direction of blaster reworking. Each time the Homecoming team decides to make common powers uniform (in damage, recharge time, range, duration, base accuracy, etc) and each time the Homecoming team adds new cross-set uniformity (high damage single target melee T9s, everyone gets identical PBAOEs, roughly identical power orders, blaster t1 and t2 blasts must be exactly the same) it comes across that Homecoming is focusing more on making power sets successful on a self-contained level, rather than creating opportunities for cross-set synergy. Worse, it comes across that the Homecoming team is largely interested in making sets successful in the same way, over and over. I've seen this in the sets for other ATs in this update, but I think it's currently best exemplified by blaster sets.

I'm concerned by this quote from the OP in particular: "lacking in incentives to get into melee range." Blaster secondaries don't have to universally motivate melee play. I'd much rather develop the individual personalities of the control-heavy blaster sets by leaving the control elements alone - that is to say, to allow them to be uniquely strong among blaster sets - while making the melee powers hot trash. Allow them to be specialised. Even the best blaster control powers will not match up to a controller or dominator because blasters do not share their inherents, and if one has concerns in that area, it'd be better addressed by making dominator and controller inherents stronger, thus allowing for a more diverse range of viable play. Or, if that's too overarching, make the comparable powers of a dominator and controller better. Dominators aren't among the least played ATs for no reason. (And I don't think controllers really need to worry about blaster-control competition anyway, looking at the most recent statistics.)

To be clear: I do like the transparency of the standard damage formulas. But I think that should be a guide for set balance, not a noose, and I don't think a primary or secondary set should be considered in a vacuum, separate from the primaries and secondaries it can be combined with. I also agree that there is a difference between an underperforming set and a set with "personality," and that some sets do simply need buffs, or nerfs, and that this update had some very necessary buffs and nerfs for blaster secondaries.

I have a related concern that the Homecoming team's deep investment in a set's interior success (as opposed to success on a cross-powerset basis) is leading the Homecoming team to "fix" all skip powers by making them must-haves. For better or worse, skip powers are currently necessary. For most viable builds - and even for quality of life purposes - there are a certain number of power picks that must be used on either power pool powers or epic pool powers. Everyone wants a travel power. The game is balanced around hasten. Most ATs and power sets really need the fighting pool. There are more specialised examples - like blasters wanting an epic pool resist/defence toggle - but skip powers allow for room to include those things without making a set perform just plain worse than it should, and it allows for more freedom in when to pick up powers. It's rough that the Homecoming team is leaning towards making all 18 powers from your primary and secondary necessary at the same time they're making legitimately fun and interesting origin pools while also fixing the existing pool power sets. I'm not sure I'll have space to look at the new teleport powers!

Also, can blaster Shadow Maul get the size increase that scrappers did? Please? I don't think the darkness manipulation/ice manipulation buffs went far enough.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Katharos

Nemu · October 24, 2020

2 hours ago, Eva Destruction said:

I'm not sure of the reasoning behind the Electric Manipulation change. It's a perfectly good Blapper set as is. Force of Thunder works nicely as soft crowd control with a KB-KD IO in it, which leaves plenty of slots for the sustain portion, leaving Lightning Field as a damage aura. The stun is meh, but that's fine. Elec Manipulation isn't a controllery secondary, it's a melee-heavy secondary, and buffs should focus on making it better at what it already does, not trying to make it do something else. I'm not a fan of balancing sets by making them more samey. If someone wants a controllery secondary, there are plenty or others to choose from.

Thunderstrike did need a buff, no argument there. Long animation times are the death of blappers.

Patch notes had me at the first half talking about Electric Manip being under-tuned and then I see the change to FOT.

Please don't touch my FOT, it's fine as it is.

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Focused Feedback: Blaster Secondary Revamp

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