Arcane Affinity/Sorcerous Blast

[Talisman49]

First off I love the Homecoming servers, it allows me and and my son to play our long lost City of Heroes. I have tried other servers to see what changes they have made and the Sanctuary server listed something that caught my eye, I generally play a magic type character and look for different ways to make a Mage/Wizard, I seen they had just introduced an Arcane Affinity/ Sorcerous Blast power set. My suggestion/question was is there anyway of Homecoming being able to adopt these power set? or do they have their own arcane power sets in mind for future content?

[Col. Kernel]

I am generically opposed to this because it ties the powerset to an origin, even if only in name alone.

 

Having said that, I'm not opposed to a more varied blast set.  So what are you looking for in a blast/buff set?  Would it be the animations, or perhaps several different types of elemental damage?

 

Get more specific about effects, and less specific about the origins of the power (e.g. there's no Magic type damage in CoH) and lets talk about what you're after in detail.

[EmperorSteele]

I had a similar idea, basically an "elemental blast" set with lightning, fire, ice and wind attacks so you could vary it up a little bit. Something that would go perfectly with Storm/ or Nature/ without hamstringing yourself.

[arcane]

56 minutes ago, Col. Kernel said:

I am generically opposed to this because it ties the powerset to an origin, even if only in name alone.

This. You make a mage by selecting the magic origin. That said if it’s a cool powerset I’m sure the devs well take a look and consider if it’s worth the time. Just don’t tie the powerset concept to an origin.

Edited February 28, 2021 by arcaneholocaust

[Col. Kernel]

2 hours ago, EmperorSteele said:

I had a similar idea, basically an "elemental blast" set with lightning, fire, ice and wind attacks so you could vary it up a little bit. Something that would go perfectly with Storm/ or Nature/ without hamstringing yourself.

An elemental blast set is exactly what I had in mind when I read the OP. 

 

It's probably a Radical Departure from base CoH, but I'd love to see multiple power choices   So the T8 would be a rain, and you'd have to pick one of Freezing Rain, Rain of Fire, Ice Storm, Torrential Downpour, etc.  Yes, I made the last one up.  What I'd really like to see is that you take the T8 and then you select which of the previous you're casting at the time of casting.  That's not going to happen tho.

[EmperorSteele]

I like making shit up, so as a follow-up to my post, here we go:

Elemental Blast: Instead of limiting yourself to one "element", you are able to blast your foes with a variety of attacks. Utilizing the full force of the elements allows you to more easily overcome a foe's resistances to one specific type of damage or debuff. This amount of versatility comes at a small price, however. There's no Aim or Snipe, and the base damage of these powers are slightly reduced compared to other blast sets (though this can be overcome). It's like the saying goes: "Jack of all trades, master of none".

Elemental affinity (Active as of level 6): Each power here does 7.5% less damage than other blast powers in it's tier or type; however, using 3 or 4 different elements within a 15 second period will grant a 10% damage buff to the T1-T4 attacks, and a 12.5% damage buff to the T5-T9 attacks. This buff lasts for 15 seconds, and locks out for 5 seconds thereafter. Using the T9 will satisfy this condition automatically, if it's not already active or in lock-out.

T1: Lightning Bolt - You zap your foe a with a quick bolt of lightning, dealing moderate/low energy damage. They may be shocked and unable to act for a moment. Moderate chance for a 3 second, Mag 2 sleep.
T2: Gust of Wind - You use a focused blast of air to deal moderate smashing damage to a foe and possibly knocking them back.
T3: Fireball - You blast a foe with a bolt of fire, which explodes on contact, dealing splash damage to any other nearby foes. Light Fire and smashing damage, light fire DoT.
T4: Freezing Blast - You overwhelm your opponent with cold air and wind, slowing them down and possibly freezing them. Moderate Cold DoT (4 seconds), Mag 3 Hold (8 seconds) -20% runspeed debuff (12 seconds).
T5: Chain Lightning - You blast a foe with a powerful burst of lightning, which will jump from foe to foe. Max targets: 5, deals high damage to the first target, then moderate to low damage to successive targets.
T6: Updraft - You summon a powerful blast of wind to come up from under your foe, spinning them around and tossing them in the air. When they land, they will take a good deal of smashing damage and may become disoriented for a few moments. High damage, moderate chance for an 8 second, mag 3 stun.
T7: Cone of Fire - You spray a 15 foot, 90 degree cone of moderately high-damage fire out in front of yourself. Foes caught in the blast may continue to take fire damage over time.
T8: Sleet - Icy rain patch: light DoT (cold and lethal), fear and slow, like other rains.
T9: Elemental Wrath - PBAoE nuke, you combine all your powers to create a small zone of chaotic destruction all around yourself for a few moments. Fire and earth erupt around you while ice and lightning hail down from above. Elemental Wrath deals its damage in 4 separate ticks, one for each damage type that it uses (Fire, Cold, Smash, and Energy). Has a high endurance cost, and nullifies recovery for 6 seconds.

As I said in my previous post, this is meant to go along with Storm or Nature (hence the high number of debuffs and controls), though I'm sure it would also do well conceptually or mechanically with other sets or ATs (Dibs on an Element/Mental Blaster named "Ella Mental" =P)
 

Edited March 13, 2021 by EmperorSteele
missed a word

[oedipus_tex]

To answer the literal part of the question, Sorcerous Blast is coded in Issue 24 power format, where Homecoming is in Issue 25 power format, so it wouldn't be a clean transfer. However, Sorcerous Blast is publicly available on GitHub for any server that wants to use it. Not sure about Arcane Affinity.

[Puma]

I mean, multiple power sets are linked to a specific origin by name already (Assault Rifle, Dual Pistols, Devices, beam rifle, and traps, are clearly tech in some form, while dark miasma and Demon summon are clearly mystic in some form), so I'm not sure why that would matter.  Any creative person who REALLY wants to use a mystic or arcane blast set could easily come up with a non-mystic explanation just like a mystic character could explain that their AR is actually using enchanted bullets with tiny runes painted on them, etc.  

Hell...I had a science fiction based character who was a Demon/dark mastermind.  They were from an Alien desert planet and controlled trained beasts from that world that lived in the desert sands.  The dark powers were colored to look like sand.  

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Puma

[Replacement]

16 hours ago, EmperorSteele said:

I like making shit up, so as a follow-up to my post, here we go:

Elemental Blast: Instead of limiting yourself to one "element", you are able to blast your foes with a variety of attacks. Utilizing the full force of the elements allows you to more easily overcome a foe's resistances to one specific type of damage or debuff. This amount of versatility comes at a small price, however. There's no Aim or Snipe, and the base damage of these powers are slightly reduced compared to other blast sets (though this can be overcome). It's like the saying goes: "Jack of all trades, master of none".

Elemental affinity (Active as of level 6): Each power here does 7.5% less damage than other blast powers in it's tier or type; however, using 3 or 4 different elements within a 15 second period will grant a 10% damage buff to the T1-T4 attacks, and a 12.5% damage buff to the T5-T9 attacks. This buff lasts for 15 seconds, and locks out for 5 seconds thereafter. Using the T9 will satisfy this condition automatically, if it's not already active or in lock-out.

T1: Lightning Bolt - You zap your a with a quick bolt of lightning, dealing moderate/low energy damage. They may be shocked and unable to act for a moment. Moderate chance for a 3 second, Mag 2 sleep.
T2: Gust of Wind - You use a focused blast of air to deal moderate smashing damage to a foe and possibly knocking them back.
T3: Fireball - You blast a foe with a bolt of fire, which explodes on contact, dealing splash damage to any other nearby foes. Light Fire and smashing damage, light fire DoT.
T4: Freezing Blast - You overwhelm your opponent with cold air and wind, slowing them down and possibly freezing them. Moderate Cold DoT (4 seconds), Mag 3 Hold (8 seconds) -20% runspeed debuff (12 seconds).
T5: Chain Lightning - You blast a foe with a powerful burst of lightning, which will jump from foe to foe. Max targets: 5, deals high damage to the first target, then moderate to low damage to successive targets.
T6: Updraft - You summon a powerful blast of wind to come up from under your foe, spinning them around and tossing them in the air. When they land, they will take a good deal of smashing damage and may become disoriented for a few moments. High damage, moderate chance for an 8 second, mag 3 stun.
T7: Cone of Fire - You spray a 15 foot, 90 degree cone of moderately high-damage fire out in front of yourself. Foes caught in the blast may continue to take fire damage over time.
T8: Sleet - Icy rain patch: light DoT (cold and lethal), fear and slow, like other rains.
T9: Elemental Wrath - PBAoE nuke, you combine all your powers to create a small zone of chaotic destruction all around yourself for a few moments. Fire and earth erupt around you while ice and lightning hail down from above. Elemental Wrath deals its damage in 4 separate ticks, one for each damage type that it uses (Fire, Cold, Smash, and Energy). Has a high endurance cost, and nullifies recovery for 6 seconds.

As I said in my previous post, this is meant to go along with Storm or Nature (hence the high number of debuffs and controls), though I'm sure it would also do well conceptually or mechanically with other sets or ATs (Dibs on an Element/Mental Blaster named "Ella Mental" =P)
 

I like it, but I think I'd go for a different "schtick": lose the smashing damage from non-wind, and give +damage (source) to the element you're not using. 

Example: Fireball gives +DMG(cold, smashing, energy).  You could even go a step further and have it apply a damage debuff to Fire, but I'm not sure I like that degree of forced rotation.  

 

If the set doesn't have an Aim, I'd consider adding a +ToHit to the gimmick as well.

 

15 hours ago, Puma said:

I mean, multiple power sets are linked to a specific origin by name already (Assault Rifle, Dual Pistols, Devices, beam rifle, and traps, are clearly tech in some form, while dark miasma and Demon summon are clearly mystic in some form), so I'm not sure why that would matter.  Any creative person who REALLY wants to use a mystic or arcane blast set could easily come up with a non-mystic explanation just like a mystic character could explain that their AR is actually using enchanted bullets with tiny runes painted on them, etc.  

Hell...I had a science fiction based character who was a Demon/dark mastermind.  They were from an Alien desert planet and controlled trained beasts from that world that lived in the desert sands.  The dark powers were colored to look like sand.  

 

I don't know, Puma, I don't think this is the same.

A "Beam Rifle" may be a conduit of magical energy forged into a gun by an arcane gunsmith**.  Demon Summoning refers more to the final effect, since you can always make the argument that a demon is just an alien from another dimension where all the denizens are evil.

 

To make a Science "Sorcerous Blast" you must address (if you actually build lore) how your science character is specifically accessing Magic, because a synonym for it (Sorcery) is right there in the name.

 

Of course, we are all welcome to ignore the names and I think a lot of us do that - example would be the Dark Armor character I have where I made all the armor into off-white cumulonimbus clouds - but at that point why not try to bake that into the power set to begin with?  If "Elemental blast" or something similar hits the same effect, and has "cast" alt animations, that seems like a wiser path to develop on.

 

** I still want staves added to weapon customization for beam rifle.  I'm totally fine with it being held like a gun.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Replacement

[Puma]

On 3/1/2021 at 12:59 PM, Replacement said:

I don't know, Puma, I don't think this is the same.

A "Beam Rifle" may be a conduit of magical energy forged into a gun by an arcane gunsmith**.  Demon Summoning refers more to the final effect, since you can always make the argument that a demon is just an alien from another dimension where all the denizens are evil.

 

To make a Science "Sorcerous Blast" you must address (if you actually build lore) how your science character is specifically accessing Magic, because a synonym for it (Sorcery) is right there in the name.

 

Of course, we are all welcome to ignore the names and I think a lot of us do that - example would be the Dark Armor character I have where I made all the armor into off-white cumulonimbus clouds - but at that point why not try to bake that into the power set to begin with?  If "Elemental blast" or something similar hits the same effect, and has "cast" alt animations, that seems like a wiser path to develop on.

 

** I still want staves added to weapon customization for beam rifle.  I'm totally fine with it being held like a gun.

I think that's stretching. If saying your "demon summoning" isnt tied to "magic" origin because they're just aliens from a realm where all are evil, then you can say your "arcane/sorcerous" powers are really just an energy based technology used by inhabitants of another dimension.  Basically...what Thor in the marvel movies did with the "magic" of Asgard. 

"Arcane/Sorcerous" is just as inherently magic as "Devices/pistols/traps/assault rifle" are inherently technological.  Sure, you can get creative to explain it away, but my point is, there is definitely precedent for this in game.  

[dangeraaron10]

Or Magitek.

 

Y'all need to play some Final Fantasy.