Focused Feedback: Travel Power Updates (Build 2)

[Arcanum]

 

 This is a Focused Feedback Thread

• Please note that Focused Feedback threads are heavily moderated to ensure they remain on topic.
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• 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.
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    • 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.

 

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Build 2 - March 20th

Travel Power Updates

This update brings a wide range of buffs for travel pools, a brand new travel power (as part of an update to the Concealment pool), and some mechanical improvements to how travel powers work. Our goals with these changes were as follows:

1. Real travel powers (ie: actual power picks) should always be a significant step up over the free options (free jet packs should not be almost the same speed as Fly at level 50)
2. Real travel powers should never cause you to lose something you've already got (turning on Super Speed shouldn't cause you to lose Ninja Run's jump buff)
3. Classic travel powers (Fly, Super Speed, etc) should be on even footing with Origin Pool travel powers - and ideally, be better at the core thing they do (running, flying,  jumping)
4. Slotting travel powers for speed should actually matter (looking at you, Fly)
5. Free (prestige / temporary) travel powers shouldn't be made any slower than they are currently, but the gap between free and real travel powers needs to be made clear - the result being that real travel powers are now much faster (by boosting you above the standard speed caps), and free travel powers now cost more endurance than real travel powers

Note: This pass is primarily aimed at the mobility of each set - other aspects (ie: the attacks) were not in the scope of these changes, but may be looked at in the future.

 

Check out Bopper's detailed breakdown of these changes here

 

Gotta Go Fast

 

Travel Power Stacking

• Almost all travel powers are no longer mutually exclusive and can be activated at the same time, but only the strongest buff of each type (run speed, jump speed, jump height, fly speed) will apply
  • This ensures that every power you pick or activate will only ever improve your mobility
• Examples:
  •  Super Speed +  Ninja Run
    • Previously: These powers couldn't be used together - if you turned on Super Speed, you lost the jump buff from Ninja Run
    • Now: You'll gain the run speed bonus of Super Speed and the jump bonus of Ninja Run (along with the cool pose!)
  •  Mighty Leap +  Beast Run
    • Previously: These powers couldn't be used together - if you turned on Mighty Leap, you lost the run speed buff from Beast Run
    • Now: You'll gain the jump bonus of Mighty Leap and the run speed bonus of Beast Run (along with the cool pose!)
  •  Super Jump +  Combat Jumping
    • Previously: These powers couldn't be used together - you had to choose between Super Jump's speed and Combat Jumping's defensive buff
    • Now: You'll gain the jump bonus of Super Jump along with the defensive buffs of Combat Jumping
• Some exceptions:
  • Prestige Run powers (Ninja Run, Beast Run, Athletic Run) are still mutually exclusive with each other
  • Temporary jetpacks are still mutually exclusive with each other
  • Sprint powers still stack with other run speed buffs and are still mutually exclusive with each other
• Click buffs (eg: Inertial Reduction), external buffs (eg: Speed Boost), and auto powers (eg: Swift) still stack as they did before

Level Scaling

• Travel powers no longer increase in strength as you level up, the previous level 50 values now apply at all levels
• Travel speed caps no longer increase in strength as you level up, the previous level 50 values now apply at all levels

Inherent Fitness

• All Inherent Fitness powers are now gained at level 1 rather than level 2

Pool: Concealment

• Concealment has been updated to include a new sneaky & versatile travel power: Infiltration
  • Concealment is now classed as a travel pool - the first 3 powers in the pool are available immediately instead of just the first 2
  • Invisibility and Stealth have been merged together, the best parts of both powers are now available with just Stealth
  • Infiltration now sits where Invisibility used to be in the T3 slot
•  Stealth
  • Stealth radius increased to match the numbers Invisibility had before this patch
    • PvE radius has increased from 36ft to 55ft
    • PvP radius has increased from 389ft to 611ft
  • Out of combat defense increased from 3.5% to 7%
    • The defense bonuses suppression in this power has been cleaned up, and will now suppress if the user attacks, heals or buffs an ally, is hit by a foe or the user attacks or interacts with a mission objective
  • Added a new 'Invisible' customization theme that makes the player barely visible when active
•  Infiltration
  • Grants a run and jump bonus similar to Ninja Run
  • Grants out-of-combat stealth
    • 36ft in PvE, 389ft in PvP (the same values as Stealth before this patch)
  • Grants 1.75% out of combat defense

Pool: Sorcery

•  Mystic Flight
  • Now increases your fly speed cap by 50% while toggled on (from 58.6mph to 87.9mph)
    • See Fly pool here for more information on this speed cap increase
    • This increased cap doesn't apply in PvP
     Translocation
    • Range increased from 300ft to 350ft
• Note: Rune of Protection has received some unrelated changes - see the Powers Changes section for more info

Pool: Speed

•  Super Speed
  • Now increases your run speed cap by 30% while toggled on (from 92.5mph to 120.25mph)
    • This increased cap doesn't apply in PvP
  • Now has a new momentum leap mechanic
    • Running will build up momentum, allowing you to perform a single very high, very long jump after approximately 4 seconds of running
    • Jumping will cause you to expend your momentum - after landing, you'll need to remain grounded and running in order to perform another momentum jump
    • Super Speed's icon will gain a yellow ring when you are at maximum momentum
  •  Speed Phase
    • New free secondary (server tray) power that doesn't require a power pick
    • Toggle, moderate endurance cost
    • Removes collision with characters (ie: phase shift without being untargetable), and sets you to Only Affect Self
      • This allows you to pass through enemies, allies, civilians, cars, and even the Atlas Park blimp!
      • The effects of this power (including the OAS component) will suppress if you are attacked or damaged by an enemy
      • Note: as this power doesn't actually make you intangible, it doesn't trigger (and isn't affected by) the No Phase timer
    • Null the Gull will allow you to hide Speed Phase's pop-up tray

Pool: Experimentation

•  Speed of Sound
  • Now increases your run speed cap by 30% while toggled on (from 92.5mph to 120.25mph)
    • This increased cap doesn't apply in PvP

Pool: Leaping

•  Super Jump
  • Now increases your jump speed cap by 30% while toggled on (from 78.2mph to 101.8mph)
    • This increased cap doesn't apply in PvP
  •  Double Jump
    • New free secondary (server tray) power that doesn't require a power pick
    • Timed toggle, 30 second duration (10s in PvP), 30 second cooldown shared with Jump Pack and Steam Jump
    • Allows you to jump to an unlimited height and jump again mid-air
    • Null the Gull will allow you to hide Double Jump's pop-up tray

Pool: Force of Will

•  Mighty Leap
  • Now increases your jump speed cap by 30% while toggled on (from 78.2mph to 101.8mph)
    • This increased cap doesn't apply in PvP
  •  Takeoff
    • Now increases jump speed cap by a further 10% (to 110.39mph) and boosts Mighty Leap to put you at the jump speed cap for 30 seconds
      • Previously this bonus was just under 20%, but it now stacks with the 30% bonus from Mighty Leap
    • Fixed a bug that was causing the power to display multiple icons when it hit foes

Pool: Teleportation

•  Teleport Target
  • The following changes have been made when teleporting allies only (the teleport foe component remains unchanged);
    • Removed the 4s interrupt window, significantly speeding up the activation time
    • Increased the recharge by 4s
    • These two changes combined result in the total time between teleports being the same if you have no recharge buffs or enhancements - but it will much faster if you slot for (or are buffed for) recharge
•  Teleport
  • Base range increased from 300ft to 350ft
    • Enhanced range (2x level 50 IOs) increased from 449.1ft to 523.95ft
  • The post-teleport hover buff has been adjusted
    • Now lasts up to 15s, rather than 6s
    • The hover buff will cancel if you move, interact with an objective, attack a foe or are attacked by a foe 
  • The actual teleport now happens at 0.6s rather than 1.17s into the 2s activation
    • This doesn't allow you to teleport again sooner, but it does allow you slightly more time to select the location of your next teleport
  • Location targeting has also received some improvements which also affect Teleport, see "Teleportation Targeting & /powexec_location" in the Miscellaneous section 

Warshade

•  Shadow Recall
  • Mirrored all i27, Page 2 changes for Teleport Target
•  Shadow Step
  • Mirrored all i27, Page 2 changes for Teleport
•  Nebulous Form
  • Endurance cost reduced from 2.6/s to 0.65/s
  • This puts the endurance cost in line with Phase Shift

Prestige & Temporary Powers

•  Ninja Run +  Beast Run +   Athletic Run +  Temporary Jetpacks
  • All travel speeds remain unchanged
  • Normalized endurance costs to 0.57/s (slightly higher than Fly at 0.46/s)
    • These weren't consistent before - most were lower, some were higher
    • The PvP jetpack has not been modified and still has a 2.0/s endurance cost
  • These powers no longer benefit from global endurance discounts

Edited March 22, 2021 by GM Arcanum

[Bopper]

Havemt got on yet to test out the changes shown blue/green in the patch notes, but based on the description I like what I hear. I am curious on Speed Phase amd what the definition of "attacked by an enemy". Does this mean any attack will suppress your speed phase, or just attacks that hit you?

[Luminara]

1 hour ago, GM Arcanum said:

 Stealth

• Stealth radius increased to match the numbers Invisibility had before this patch
  • PvE radius has increased from 36ft to 55ft
  • PvP radius has increased from 389ft to 611ft
• Out of combat defense increased from 3.5% to 7%
  • The defense bonuses suppression in this power has been cleaned up, and will now suppress if the user attacks, heals or buffs an ally, is hit by a foe or the user attacks or interacts with a mission objective
• Added a new 'Invisible' customization theme that makes the player barely visible when active

Is that out of combat Defense added to the power as a discrete component, or was the overall Defense increased?  Point of the question is to determine whether the power's in-combat Defense is half of the new out of combat value, or half of the old out of combat value.  Meaning, is the in-combat Defense 1.75% or 3.5%?

 

1 hour ago, GM Arcanum said:

 Infiltration

• Grants a run and jump bonus similar to Ninja Run
• Grants out-of-combat stealth
  • 36ft in PvE, 389ft in PvP (the same values as Stealth before this patch)
• Grants 1.75% out of combat defense

 

And is there any in-combat Defense here?

[CaptainLupis]

2 hours ago, GM Arcanum said:

•  Evasive Maneuvers
  • Also provides the same level of defense as old Afterburner while out of combat, but this is removed while in combat
    • This bonus is suppressed for 10s when entering combat (the same as Stealth's out-of-combat defence)
    • The defense bonuses will suppress if the user attacks, heals or buffs an ally, or interacts with a mission objective
      • No longer cancels when being hit by a foe
  • Fixed a bug where the speed buffs on this power would be intermittent while used only with Group Fly
  • Endurance cost reduced from 0.52/s to 0.26/s

 

Oh well, my statement that it was useful for MMs and defenders didn't hold true for long...

 

Other than so that people don't have to respec, keeping defence in the new power does seem pretty pointless the way it has been implemented now. Ah well.

[Teirusu]

21 hours ago, macskull said:

Translocation doesn't have a built-in hover because you have to be running Mystic Flight to use it, and using that two-press macro means you'll drop out of the sky as soon as you teleport (sometimes this is desirable, sometimes it is not). A potential advantage of Translocation relative to Teleport was you didn't have to sit there and wait for 4 seconds before being able to move again, though the current set of changes sort of removes this restriction for Teleport. It's worth noting Translocation does not ignore bonuses such as range increase or endurance reduction, so any amount of those you have via IOs, buffs, or other powers will apply to Translocation even if it can't be directly enhanced.

 

I think the point of the travel power overhaul happening here is there was little reason to use the "old" travel power pools when the newer origin pools were better in virtually every way, so it makes sense Teleport would still retain some advantages over Translocation. The end result is Mystic Flight isn't going to be as fast as Fly and Translocation isn't going to be as flexible as Teleport, but that's okay from a balance perspective because you get both types of travel with only one power pick.

 

Right, exactly.  I wouldn't be asking for any other additional buffs to Translocation that Teleport already has.  If you'd teleport without Mystic Fly on then you'd drop out of the sky.  It clearly makes sense that Teleport the power would be better then Translocation.  My use case would be to use a macro for Translocation to zoom from spawn to spawn while on the ground.  And, for that, it feels silly that I have to enable Mystic Fly briefly to us Translocation.  For example, I have a /Stone Armor brute and it be nice to occasionally us Translocation to get around.  It's nice that I now -can- turn on Mystic Fly while in Granite, but obviously it doesn't do anything for me besides allowing using Translocation to be used.

Sure, there's Combat Teleport that could be used for that but, unfortunately, it's range is pretty limited and doesn't always have the range to do this.  It seems mostly geared to quickly move from mob to mob within a single mob spawn.  More or less what Combat Jumping and Hover are geared for.

 

 

And since I talked about the Infiltration power getting a pop-up tray power for it's stealth option, why not give Teleport a pop-up tray power too?  Then, they'd all have a pop-up tray power and mechanically all function the same way? 

 

Teleport could get something called 'Dimensional Phased' that works similar to Super Speed's pop-up power?  Moderate cost.  Gives you stealth for 5 seconds after teleporting along with a rooting hover that lasts forever as along as the power is enabled.  That way, you could just walk away mid-teleporting journey if you need too, without worrying about falling out of the sky.

[ivanhedgehog]

Does anyone know if the tray power from superjump or afterburner can be hotkeyed with a keybind?

 

[Starforge]

12 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 

This may be the best patch note ever.

It's up there with this beauty:

Edited March 20, 2021 by Starforge

[chi1701]

1 minute ago, Starforge said:

It's up there with this beauty:

ive logged onto test, cant see anything in terms of visual fx, what am i missing?

[Myrmidon]

46 minutes ago, chi1701 said:

ive logged onto test, cant see anything in terms of visual fx, what am i missing?

That’s actually slang for adjusting the spawns so that they don’t completely destroy a casual player. It has nothing to do with F/X.😁

[Macchiato]

 

Just wanted to bring back my post from the other thread before debates about stats start coming in again. Let me just say that I am thrilled by how quickly the GFX matter was settled when it came to Stealth and Hover/Fly. I've since given them a look over and am satisfied, but thought I'd be remiss if I didn't talk more about the Teleportation FX I mentioned in that same post:

 

 

Quote

And on top of [the now-fixed issues with Concealment and Fly], there's also the fact that Teleport still lacks a Min FX option in lieu of the big pop of light, as had been requested in the last Issue when Teleportation was reworked entirely.

 

As it is now, with all Teleport FX, the power produces a flashy pop of light and a loud sound to indicate the power's use. I'm not bothered by the sound, I actually find it an important indicator of the teleport going off, but I do find less flashy visual options have been sorely missing in PvE for a long time, and the current options can't be colored dark to make them less invasive or minimal whatsoever.

 

In fact, coloring Teleport and Combat Teleport the darkest grey in the Bright palette produces white. Coloring it that same shade in Dark leaves it black, and the whitest shade in Dark is no better. However, that all is another story; I have found one exception and it is with the Warshade power Starless Step that was introduced last Issue.

 

Starless Step doesn't have anything BUT Minimal FX, no matter what color you give it. The flash is invisible, while of course still producing its basic animation; various people have reported it before, arguing that it is 'broken'. But this is actually incredibly desirable as an option for PvE and hints that something can be done for the other Teleport powers as well.

 

Especially since certain other powers have 'Min FX (Except in PvP)' options, I know and trust something can be worked out eventually. (Even if it isn't in this Issue.)

 

---

 

Now, my biggest paranoia in sharing this fact (coming from other communities), is with the possibility that the Powers team decides to go the route of just fixing Starless Step's FX instead of adding Min FX versions for the various Teleports.

 

The only reason I'm signalboosting this finding is with the utmost trust that the team doesn't look at it and just patch it out of existence, because not only would that suck for depriving people of an overdue aesthetic option, it would - in no uncertain words - make me that guy who couldn't keep his mouth shut; and as much as I don't like the sound of that, as a Teleporter main I would greatly appreciate getting Minimal Teleport FX off my wishlist, and I don't feel like I'm the only one.

 

I just don't want my suggestion to be half-heard and made at the expense of something else's removal.

[Sovera]

1 hour ago, arthurh35353 said:

That's probably the float bug where some people where stuck stuttering/jittering on the floor due to the VFX.

  

Why was my comment on flipping this around to that SS/SJ/TP actually are improved to match Fly's lower threshold of needing less slots hidden?

 

It's a valid part of this discussion as it throws into question the Devs design paradigm on travel powers. Currently they are looking at the fact that Fly is somehow overperforming by not needing a lot of slots to reach it's (built in) caps. Teleport on the other hand really requires at least 3 or 4 slots to hit its cap. Fly is attractive for builds where you could put those slots into other, direct combat powers for set bonuses that are far more attractive or to allow you mule LotG +recharge.

 

Travel power set bonuses even mirror or match that. There are really no outstanding 3rd or 4th  set bonus for investing in travel powers. Almost all their useful abilities actually give you an effective dead slot for something like stealth or -KB. IIRC, most don't even have more than 4 or 5 pieces in their sets.

 

Teleport is still not really being equalized for travel powers as jump, flight and run get free enhancement out of slotting swift and hurdle with your travel power bonus. Why doesn't hurdle allow you get a small bonus to range that you can boost with range modifiers? You could even put it is as because of your training in landing from leaps, you know how to brace/aim yourself for hitting things at long range. An extra 10 feet that you can enhance to 12 or 13 feet with the free slot is not game breaking. And hey, gives poor sentinels a possible way to recover a little range. 

 

Teleport is ludicrously expensive endurance-wise. SS/SJ/Flight can get you across the zones with only a blip on their end for about 66% or 75% of the speed? But Teleport with the same End slotting (because everyone hates to waste slots on -END as it's never the purpose of the power to spend END) and you can be down to 5% to 10% max end at the end of the journey across large zones (or even run out in the shadow shard if you aren't careful.)

 

((Ooh, another brainstorm thought. If you want to equalize long range END cost for teleport but not short hops across rooms, give Teleport a End Reduction buff that stacks for 10 seconds on the teleport power. So the longer you teleport across a zone, the cheaper the power is to use, but just going across a room won't affect it.))

 

Should SS/SJ and Flight have their END costs increased so that you are almost out of END by the time you cross a large zone?

 

Why do AT sets like Bio Armor give nothing to range bonuses for teleport when they give (or are going to give) benefits to run/jump/flying?

 

The stacking effect for the endurance cost is quite brilliant IMO. Like most things such as Fly being considered OP despite everyone able to buy a jetpack for 5k the cost of Teleport is a relic from the past. There is no travel power that sucks so much endurance that it may simply turn off.

 

The fact Teleport is clunky as heck is enough of a downside by itself without the need to artificially add another just because 'fastest travel power'. If in a straight line. And in open air.

[ForeverLaxx]

1 hour ago, Jimmy said:

You are still able to use Ninja or Beast run along with other travel powers if you so choose.

Which is going to be great. The only reason I use the "stance" setting right now is to be in Ninja Run Stance while using Superspeed, but being in that stance constantly even with all movement powers turned off makes you look really silly. Like, trying to "Naruto run" through a sea of molasses silly. Being able to have the power that provides the stance on at the same time as the "real" movement power is going to be a big boon. Not just for the stance, but for the jump height bonuses.

 

Probably my favorite travel change coming down the pipeline, if I had to pick only one thing.

[TerminusEst13]

Thank you very much to everyone at Homecoming for paying attention to player feedback and responding to players! Likewise, thank you very much for tweaking travel powers, a lot of these are IMO very well-needed tweaks.

 

I missed apparently some extremely in-depth discussion last thread, so I apologize if this is opening up a can of worms. But if I had to pick nits, a 300ft to 350ft increase to Teleport...on Test with my multi-slotted Teleport character, that got me from the tram to just over the badge-hill in Talos. I wouldn't mind just a touch more range, if that's all right!

 

Even if not, though, this is a super cool update and I look forward to zipping around.

[macskull]

5 minutes ago, TerminusEst13 said:

Thank you very much to everyone at Homecoming for paying attention to player feedback and responding to players! Likewise, thank you very much for tweaking travel powers, a lot of these are IMO very well-needed tweaks.

 

I missed apparently some extremely in-depth discussion last thread, so I apologize if this is opening up a can of worms. But if I had to pick nits, a 300ft to 350ft increase to Teleport...on Test with my multi-slotted Teleport character, that got me from the tram to just over the badge-hill in Talos. I wouldn't mind just a touch more range, if that's all right!

 

Even if not, though, this is a super cool update and I look forward to zipping around.

It's not a lot of range increase, so you won't see much benefit from it over short distances. Once you factor in range enhancements basically being more effective and the extra range making it faster over long distances 50ft is pretty generous. That's basically the difference between 91MPH and 106MPH, assuming no range slotting or bonuses. With ED-capped range slotting that changes to 142MPH and 166MPH.

Edited March 21, 2021 by macskull

[Jimmy]

When fully slotted, it's getting close to not being able to see where you're teleporting to if you haven't got a high draw distance!

 

I think Teleport is in a good spot, but if for some reason we did think it needed another buff I don't think the range would get touched any further.

[Hartanna]

32 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

When fully slotted, it's getting close to not being able to see where you're teleporting to if you haven't got a high draw distance!

 

I think Teleport is in a good spot, but if for some reason we did think it needed another buff I don't think the range would get touched any further.

 

Any chance on Kheldian Dwarf teleport getting the same love?

 

I said it in the last feedback so I'll just note it quick here:

The Nova and Dwarf should get the same flight speed / tp range buffs as everything else.

They've always been on par with other travelers and I'm going to be so sad to have to drop forms

just to get from point A to point B.

 

Is there a reason they're being left as the slowest now?

I love watching the squid fly, and it belongs as one of the fastest in the sky.

I don't think Pool Powers should out-do primary/secondary powers.

 

Thanks so much for your guys' work!

[ivanhedgehog]

I am loving what i see so far, some good feedback and responsiveness to that feedback. Cant wait for this to go live.

 

[Itikar]

What happened to the project of customization for ninja run and the other prestige travel powers?

 

I hope it is still ongoing as I was really looking forward to it. Of course, it's totally no rush. :)

[Starforge]

12 minutes ago, Itikar said:

What happened to the project of customization for ninja run and the other prestige travel powers?

 

I hope it is still ongoing as I was really looking forward to it. Of course, it's totally no rush. 🙂

Check the costume editor under inherent.

[Itikar]

Oh, lovely, I did not see that in the patch notes!

[Starforge]

Yeah, if you were talking about the Stance Selection changes to the prestige powers, that was actually added in the Page 1 update in November.

[Itikar]

And... actually it is not there. The sprints can be edited, but the prestige runs still cannot.

 

Just checked on Brainstorm.

[Captain Powerhouse]

44 minutes ago, Itikar said:

And... actually it is not there. The sprints can be edited, but the prestige runs still cannot.

 

You customize the Stance under Inherent > Stance

This passive power sets your stance regardless what power you are running.

[Itikar]

2 minutes ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

 

You customize the Stance under Inherent > Stance

This passive power sets your stance regardless what power you are running.

Pardon again, what I meant was a customization for ninja/beast/athletic run that allowed to remove the cloud of smoke.

 

I think I may have misunderstood some earlier patch notes and announcements at this point, sorry.

[VV]

Hey, all this sounds great!

 

One quick thought on the below. Can we get the air control from Combat Jumping with Super Jump, like we get it from Hover and Fly?

14 hours ago, GM Arcanum said:

•  Super Jump +  Combat Jumping
  • Previously: These powers couldn't be used together - you had to choose between Super Jump's speed and Combat Jumping's defensive buff
  • Now: You'll gain the jump bonus of Super Jump along with the defensive buffs of Combat Jumping
•  Fly +  Hover
  • Previously: These powers couldn't be used together - you had to choose between Fly's speed and Hover's defensive buff
  • Now: You'll gain the fly speed of Fly, along with the air control and defensive bonus of Hover