Scrapper Energy melee power order and 'lack' of combos

[Razor Cure]

I tested the new Energy melee on the beta server, and found it is now awesome! But..I used the automagic boosts to get right to 50, before testing. Now the update is Live, and I am playing a scrapper up, I did notice a lack of combos in the early game. Scrappers get Total Focus at 26..so for half the game (sorta), you have NO way to actually take advantage of the combo buffs to PC and EP. 

 

That just feels wrong, and a bit sad to me, as every other set with combos (TW, StJ, WB) can at least get one 'special' effect going by level 10 or earlier. Dual Blades is different of course, and I cant recall when the earliest combo is possible for that set.

 

I get why TF comes in at 26, as it is your second best attack, and if it was moved down the order..what would go at 26? Part of the issue is COnfront being shitty (how many scrappers take it, from the data mining?) and using up a low level power pick (which is silly, cause a lowbie scrapper wants to kill things..but makes even less sense if confront was moved to 26).

With Scrappers being the 'incomparable' (according to the AT desc) melee, not being able to actually use the defining mechanic of a set, until 26 just feels wrong.

 

How about giving BuildUp the 'energy stored; buff, so scrappers can at least use EP or PC with the extra effects?

[SeraphimKensai]

I have a lvl 50+ em scrapper on Everlasting, and I agree, Buildup should at the very least cause "stored energy" maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea on creating a 10% proc to store energy from any non spender ability in the set.

[Vanden]

Every time a Build Up has some other effect to it, the actual damage buff is weaker. See: Fusion, Chronos, Bloodthirst, Combat Readiness, Build Momentum, etc. In this case we'd be trading that buff for an extra effect that you might not even want (given your level), that would get used up immediately by one move, and then for the rest of the Build Up buff you'd just have a lesser buff than is typical. I'd rather keep the 100%/80% damage buff.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Vanden

[SeraphimKensai]

Well perhaps a proc chance for energy storage like I said on non spenders, so energy punch, bone smasher, and whirling hands.

[Razor Cure]

11 minutes ago, Vanden said:

Every time a Build Up has some other effect to it, the actual damage buff is weaker.

Very true. And I hate it as well. I reckon the damage buff should be normalised on all of those combo BU powers too.

[Haijinx]

This is hardly unique.

 

A lot of melee sets have progression issues.  

 

 

[Razor Cure]

2 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

This is hardly unique.

 

A lot of melee sets have progression issues.  

So? Its ALSO a set that just got changed and looked at. Doesn't mean it couldnt use other tweaks.

[Bopper]

The system isn't intended to be driven by the combo mechanic. It is more of a graduation/maturation of your power. By the time you reach level ~20, you gain Total Focus and one or two of your other powers will be able to do a little extra. But even without the combo mechanic, the changes to EM should hold up. In other words, you don't need the combo to play the set early on, rather the combo unleashes your potential at later levels.

[SeraphimKensai]

Bopper, you're right EM holds up pretty well so far. I've taken mine on 5 TF's so far and it gets the job done. It feels damage wise right where it should be, the animations look like enemies are getting a wallop. Some of the attacks seem just slightly slower then they should be but that's probably because I didn't take Hasten.

[Troo]

7 hours ago, Razor Cure said:

I tested the new Energy melee on the beta server, and found it is now awesome! But..I used the automagic boosts to get right to 50, before testing. Now the update is Live, and I am playing a scrapper up, I did notice a lack of combos in the early game. Scrappers get Total Focus at 26..so for half the game (sorta), you have NO way to actually take advantage of the combo buffs to PC and EP. 

 

That just feels wrong, and a bit sad to me, as every other set with combos (TW, StJ, WB) can at least get one 'special' effect going by level 10 or earlier. Dual Blades is different of course, and I cant recall when the earliest combo is possible for that set.

Ya..

You are pointing out a bit of the chicken before the egg-ness of a now late blooming set. At least Total Focus is not the T9.. right? (Brutes get TF at 18.. Stalkers get AS early)

Slowing down the recharge on Energy Punch is a bit harsh for the low levels. Bone Smasher should feel great.

 

There were some discussions that touch on similar:

Spoiler

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/23365-focused-feedback-energy-melee-revamp/page/9/?tab=comments#comment-279442

Feedback On the First Ten Levels of Energy Melee (Posted October 25)

 

As I said I would, I rolled out a new character, a scrapper, this time starting from lvl 1, and beginning through the 'early game' experience instead of jumping straight to the endgame. Really want to get a feel for how the "new energy melee" feels.

 

The Starting Steps

I took a couple of steps that somebody rolling out a new character on live would likely not be able to take. This test is not completely devoid of freebies because I wanted to try out the SOs change and the priority is checking out how EM feels overall.

• Rolled out "Safehouse," made a costume with shoulder kitty.
• Freebied lots of inf.
• Ran to P2W and bought out pretty much everything.
• Playing +0/x1 to start but anticipate fussing with this setting to test the feel as we go forward. Set to have solo bosses.
• Ran the "Save Atlas Park" story (Habashy->Sondra->Aaron)
• Ran the first "Shining Stars" arc
• Started the Kings Row Skulls storyline
• By level 10 I had: energy punch (1); resist physical damage (1); barrage (2); temp invuln (4); bone smasher (6); build up (8); resist elements (10)

So How'd It Go?

Since it's only the first ten levels and we're just "getting stahted" here, there isn't a whole lot to note, but I have a few high-level thoughts.

• At the beginning, energy punch feels a little slow with its slower recharge time. This is personal preference, but I like my T1 skills to be overall faster hitting, and I would swear that on live right now energy punch is a noticeably faster recharge time than barrage. For the first few levels, it caused a bit of a slow down in combat. This is quickly remedied, and probably isn't even anything worth noting as the first few levels end up in the rearview so fast.
• Then level 6 came around, and I got bone smasher, and hoo boy things got spicy. The new animation time for BS is great. I love it. EP->barrage->BS (and vice versa, opening with BS) felt nice.
• The new upgrade capability, and SOs being available right out the gate, are game changers for early leveling, and its noticeable with Energy Melee. Being able to kit out SOs right away made my quibble about the EP recharge time a non-issue. Enhancement management was made so much easier with this change, and it was a fix I didn't even know I wanted. It's not cheap, though (at level 10 I spent almost 300K inf just to get my slotted SOs upgraded). Folks without a lot of spare inf to go around are going to end up poor very quickly. It is not the kind of thing players will be able to afford doing every level (if they're like me; I'm very bad at accumulating inf). This is not the thread for that discussion so I'm going to leave it at that.
• On scrapper, Energy Melee feels amazing. It hits hard, but currently does not feel overtuned (SO FAR) compared to other sets I have played on scrapper. The crits are beautiful. The powerset just feels "right" and fits my scrapper concept like a glove.
• Took on bosses without issue.

The Bottom Line

In short: It feels good, man.

 

That's probably all you need but I love to hear myself talk (erm... type?)  so...

 

In the first ten levels, I'm still sold on new EM. It feels smooth. I couldn't believe how fast I got through these first ten levels. I got a bit of tunnel vision because of how much fun I was having that I almost got myself killed. Overall, not a whole lot of the changes have come into play yet (eg energy focus mechanics) so I don't yet know how things will change when that time comes. However, the early level changes such as new bone smasher feel great. Wouldn't call it a verdict yet, but so far I haven't wanted to touch my live characters because I've been so engrossed on the beta EM.

 

Next Steps

I'll shift gears to the Hollows and do the "Frostfire" storyline. I may also even try to run caverns of transcendence solo. I'll also finish off the kings row storyline and start running around in Steel Canyon. There's a midnighter storyline to level through.

 

Hope this wasn't too rambly and actually provided some feedback of worth!

 

Energy Melee for Scrappers & Energy Melee Revamp Focused Feedback Threads

Spoiler

Focused Feedback: Energy Melee for Scrappers

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/23366-focused-feedback-energy-melee-for-scrappers/?tab=comments#comment-277606

 

Focused Feedback: Energy Melee Revamp

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/23365-focused-feedback-energy-melee-revamp/page/9/?tab=comments#comment-279442

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Troo