Discussion of the new /Son

[ryokoryu]

This is  a place to discuss the Secondary sonic manipulation and it's strengths and weaknesses.  lets go ahead and make this a good resource for veteran blasters and new blasters alike (I fall intot hat second category)  I primarily like doing TFs so levels a bit slow on my son/son so my experience is limited.  So far I have been taking the AE and cone powers.  I also took obviously the one I was forced to.  The knockback is interesting to me in that it less knocks and more repels enemies.  I love sound barrier so far flavor-wise.  I like the regen absorb on sentinels (I primarily play sentinels but the /son brought me over to experiment)  the PBAE from the secondary feels a bit underwhelming but this may be common to blap PBAEs.  Unfortunately the toon is leveling slow but I will get there.  What are you pairing it with, what have you noticed about the strengths and weaknesses of those pairings and the individual powers and how are you enjoying the set overall?

[Meknomancer]

I looked at the powers and just thought...melee. You have 1 ranged minor damage hold and a stun aoe cone for playing at ranged and both look fairly feeble although i havent tried either and i'm sure the hold can be procced out as some type of amazing damage like tesla cage from /elec. So... melee. I went rad as i was wondering about rads - def with the disruption field and /sonics -res stacking up. Good times. I posted the build earlier if you want to see the one i'm about to respec into after i tried running it with force so i could run repulsion field too and keep stuff knocked down but didn't have the endurance for it so its back to mace (yawn) and 45% s/l/e. Disruption aura and Deafening Wave run a radius of 15 and the rest is basically single target melee attacks so i can only imagine how rough it will play if you plan on hover blasting or playing at ranged.

[Wompy]

Only level 15 but so far I've found it to be pretty mediocre, the melee power animation is too long for a moderate damage melee attacks, blaster control powers in secondaries are all largely minion level mezzes and I'm not sure a small boost to stun etc is a worthy trade off for losing 25% damage on buildup

[Tonio]

I made an EB/SM blaster to try out the set.  Mostly for soloing, so the KB was gonna be fun instead of problematic.  Was awesome at first, since the T1 SM power is a high KB melee.  Very fun.

 

Unfortunately, the synergy stopped there.  Disruption Aura's hardly ever used, since EB's KB keeps enemies out of its range.  /SM should be pretty good for blapping, since it has 2 melee attacks (not counting T1, which has very low damage) and one PBAoE, plus the PBAoE -res aura.  The cone stun/KB could be good mitigation with a kb-2-kd in it, or could be used to transition to ranged (knock 'em back, blast with ranged AoE)?

 

I'm really not experienced enough with Blasters to be sure, though.  I'll probably reroll my EB/SM to something else /SM, see if that works better.

[Bopper]

12 minutes ago, Tonio said:

The cone stun/KB could be good mitigation with a kb-2-kd in it

The power is already a chance for knockdown, you don't need to put a kb-to-kd enhancement into the power.

[Tonio]

Just now, Bopper said:

The power is already a chance for knockdown, you don't need to put a kb-to-kd enhancement into the power.

Oh it is? I must've misread, nice!

[Bopper]

1 minute ago, Tonio said:

Oh it is? I must've misread, nice!

It might say knockback in the description, but if you check out the power details it should way 0.65 knockback, which makes it a knockdown since it's less than 1

[Meknomancer]

So after playing it for a few days and wishing i hadn't bothered respeccing into mace i am struck by how rooted you are during all the animations which i suspect/guess came from other sets and the cast times seem longer than mids says but thats just how it feels. I love the way i can pretty much hold a boss with a strident echo and earsplitter and deafening wave is great. Love sound barrier, wish disruption aura didn't detoggle every time i get mezzed. I had thought we'd see 50 fire/sonic blasters on day 1 but everyone seems very taken with energy changes and respeccing their alts due to changes. Best thing about i27 was touch of fear for me but i have to say i'm really happy to see a new set being brought in. I have a feeling some are gonna love it and some will hate it i don't see a lot of middle ground with sonic secondary you really have to play face to face with the mob to get the most benefit from the pbaoe/disruption and the melee attacks so blappers will love it i suspect. Ranged players will probably hate it as you would end up running the minor damage hold echo chamber and the soft control no damage sound cannon and the best powers in the set would be useless although thats not always a bad thing if you plan on taking lots of pool powers.

 

So i started out running force and had to run through scorp arc to unlock mace. Malta mish, end drained, held surrounded and ........took almost no damage. Mez wore off i tried getting toggles back on and got drained and held again and still took almost no damage. So i gave up and made a break free. Any other blaster i would of been dead right away but the added resistance from sound barrier made a big difference. I can see the secondary working well with archery, beam, dp, elec, fire, ice, psi, rad and water. Sonicx2 i suspect would rank up there with a sonicx2 fender/corr. Assault rifle/energy/dark i wouldn't bother with either too much kb or cones to work around it would be very awkward especially when you decide to hop in and use the good stuff. But its coh someone will find a way to make everything work and be awesome with it 🙂

[VashNKnives]

 My new Son/Son/Mace blaster is now 51 w/ a few accolades and musculature radial doing DA Incarnate stuff. (solo +1x8 w/ bosses) This is what I think of this combination:

General:

1. Melee range is the best place to be to get the most out of your aura, strong melee, and nuke
2. Awesome tricks at your disposal to control the fight - don't underestimate siren's song or echo chamber both filled with procs
3. I don't need Howl but would have liked to take it for team content when I just felt like ranging it
4. Defense cascade failure is a quick bad thing and clarion is very nice thing, so another emergency power like hibernate or something can smooth things out (I chose afterburner)
5. your -res + controls really bring something to team play that some other blasters lack
6. good thing to have -res b/c smashing / energy damage isn't exactly exotic - but procs are good at adding some flavor

New Powers:

1. Sonic Thrust = awesome free air superiority type power - juggle them bosses
2. Strident Echo = quick DoT and hold to stack with echo chamber - you'll be surprised at how often you'll hold hard targets
3. Echo Chamber = the damage for this ramps up quickly with procs - second highest single target DPA for my build
4. Sound Booster = fire it as soon as it recharges
5. Deafening Wave = reminds me of psychic shockwave - nice for lowbie taskforces, to follow-up the nuke, and rotate with siren's song for AoE
6. Sound Barrier = really solid sustain - kind of a jack of all trades but will stack well with I/O buffs 
7. Disruption Aura = thematic and reliable
8. Sound Cannon = fast activation and like siren's song - this is good out of the box so I just put the FF proc in the default - rotate with siren's for AoE control
9.  Earsplitter = hits like a truck and has a comfortable recharge

 

Stun fun:

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Sonic Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Scream -- Thn-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(21), Thn-Dmg/Rchg:50(15)
Level 1: Sonic Thrust -- Mk'Bit-Dam%:50(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(11), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg:50(11), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg:50(13), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33)
Level 2: Strident Echo -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg:35(A), BslGaz-Acc/Hold:30(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx:35(7), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg:35(9), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(9), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(7)
Level 4: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(13), Rct-ResDam%:50(46), Ksm-ToHit+:30(33), BlsoftheZ-ResKB:50(23), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx:50(46)
Level 6: Echo Chamber -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold:30(A), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(31), UnbCns-Dam%:50(40), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%:50(40), NrnSht-Dam%:30(48), GldJvl-Dam%:50(46)
Level 8: Shout -- Thn-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), OvrFrc-Dam/KB:50(21), GldJvl-Dam%:50(23), Apc-Dam%:50(45)
Level 10: Sound Booster -- GssSynFr--Build%:21(A)
Level 12: Amplify -- RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg:20(A), RctRtc-ToHit:20(36)
Level 14: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel:50(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB:50(31)
Level 16: Deafening Wave -- SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect:50(A), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(25), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg:50(25), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg:50(17), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(17), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(29)
Level 18: Sirens Song -- PstBls-Dam%:50(A), JvlVll-Dam%:50(29), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg:50(27), CaloftheS-Heal%:50(27), Ann-ResDeb%:50(43)
Level 20: Sound Barrier -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:30(A), NmnCnv-Heal:40(33), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx:40(34), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg:40(34), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg:40(34), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(36)
Level 24: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(31)
Level 28: Disruption Aura -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(43)
Level 32: Dreadful Wail -- SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%:50(A), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(36), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg:50(37), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39)
Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(45)
Level 38: Earsplitter -- SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc:50(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg:50(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg:50(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(42), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx:50(43), Hct-Dam%:50(39)
Level 41: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel:50(45), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 44: Sound Cannon -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 47: Screech -- Thn-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(48)
Level 49: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance 
Level 1: Quick Form 
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A), Prv-Absorb%:50(40), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(50)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PwrTrns-+Heal:50(A)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve 
Level 0: Portal Jockey 
Level 0: Task Force Commander 
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion 
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon 
------------

 

Howling good time:

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Sonic Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Scream -- Thn-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(21), Thn-Dmg/Rchg:50(15)
Level 1: Sonic Thrust -- Mk'Bit-Dam%:50(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(11), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg:50(11), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg:50(13), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33)
Level 2: Strident Echo -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg:35(A), BslGaz-Acc/Hold:30(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx:35(7), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg:35(9), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(9), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(7)
Level 4: Echo Chamber -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold:30(A), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(31), UnbCns-Dam%:50(40), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%:50(40), NrnSht-Dam%:30(46), GldJvl-Dam%:50(46)
Level 6: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(13), Rct-ResDam%:50(46), Ksm-ToHit+:30(33)
Level 8: Shout -- Thn-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), OvrFrc-Dam/KB:50(21), GldJvl-Dam%:50(23), Apc-Dam%:50(45)
Level 10: Sound Booster -- GssSynFr--Build%:21(A), RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg:20(23), RctRtc-ToHit:20(43)
Level 12: Howl -- Artl-End/Rech/Rng:50(A), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng:50(31), Artl-Acc/Dam:50(48), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech:50(48), Artl-Dam/End:50(50), Artl-Dam/Rech:50(50)
Level 14: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel:50(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB:50(31)
Level 16: Deafening Wave -- SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect:50(A), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(25), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg:50(25), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg:50(17), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(17), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(29)
Level 18: Sirens Song -- PstBls-Dam%:50(A), JvlVll-Dam%:50(29), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg:50(27), CaloftheS-Heal%:50(27)
Level 20: Sound Barrier -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:30(A), NmnCnv-Heal:40(33), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx:40(34), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg:40(34), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg:40(34), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(36)
Level 24: Amplify -- RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg:20(A), RctRtc-ToHit:20(36)
Level 26: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(43)
Level 28: Disruption Aura -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 30: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A)
Level 32: Dreadful Wail -- SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%:50(A), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(36), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg:50(37), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39)
Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(45)
Level 38: Earsplitter -- SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc:50(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg:50(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg:50(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(42), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx:50(43), Hct-Dam%:50(39)
Level 41: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(48)
Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def:50(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance 
Level 1: Quick Form 
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A), Prv-Absorb%:50(40), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(45)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PwrTrns-+Heal:50(A)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve 
Level 0: Portal Jockey 
Level 0: Task Force Commander 
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion 
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon 
------------

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by VashNKnives

[nihilii]

On 11/27/2020 at 6:09 PM, Wompy said:

the melee power animation is too long for a moderate damage melee attacks

I came here wondering about this very topic. I'm only level 5 and it bugs me already. Are we sure the animation for Strident Echo is 1.67s (1.848s with Arcanatime)? It feels longer for me, on a female character if that matters. It's like there's a slight delay at the end of the animation.

 

Edit: I think there's definitely something wrong with Strident Echo's animation. Here's how I tried to test it:

 

I made a level 50 DP/Sonic on the Test server. I didn't slot any enhancements. No toggles were activated, nothing boosting recharge.

 

Pistols has a base recharge of 4 seconds. Executioner's Shot, Echo Chamber, Dual Wield and Strident Echo all have 1.67s animations (1.848s with Arcanatime). If the listed animation times are correct, whenever I use Pistols then 2 of the other 3 powers, I should have a slight lag of 2 server ticks before Pistols activates again, provided I queue powers in advance to eliminate my own lag.

When I did Pistols -> Echo Chamber -> Strident Echo, Pistols was recharged before Strident Echo finished and activated immediately.
When I did Pistols -> Echo Chamber -> Executioner's Shot, Pistols was not recharged before Executioner's Shot finished, and took a couple ticks to activate.

When I did Pistols -> Echo Chamber -> Dual Wield, Pistols was not recharged before Dual Wield finished, and took a couple ticks to activate.

I repeated this test 10x with each combo and got the same results 10x. This seems to suggest Strident Echo has an extra root time in its animation. It's not much, perhaps the real animation is 2s rather than 1.67s.

(Also, the character was male, so this probably isn't a male/female/huge issue. The animation is likely bugged on all genders.)

 

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by nihilii