Some problems with Storm Summoning

[RogueWolf]

Storm is a crazy fun set. But...

 

1. For having so few toggles, it is a flipping endurance hog. Even with Performance Shifter, Panacea+Miracle proc+Numina proc on Health, and a few other endo set bonuses elsewhere, it's barely manageable. I can't even imagine how this will work with Evasive Maneuvers tacked on. Besides the casting cost on the instant powers, I think Snow Storm is a bit high for the benefit. Steamy Mist is .05 higher that most others, too.
    
2. Tornado is often difficult to cast if you lose track of the mouse pointer (which is easy to do on big teams) It will either extend out of range, or give an error if you aren't pointing to the ground. Other mouse-click location powers don't seem to have this problem.
    
3. Why is O2 single target only when it's the only heal? I get that it adds mez resist, but that'd be much more attractive as a targeted AoE.

Edited April 8, 2021 by RogueWolf

[MTeague]

Hm. Well my Stormy is a Defender, so maybe Vigilance covers me more than I'm thinking... but for the most part I've had very few End issues in battle while levelling my Stormy.

 

Now, there were stretches, low-20's, where if I was soloing, I basically had to take a knee and Rest after damn near every fight, because it's that point of your career where you have all kinds of powers but not NEARLY enough slots to go around. Even if you're using Attuned Sets, you may still not have enough End Redux to just keep going 100% nonstop. But I never ran out mid-battle.

 

Teaming, it's just a strategic decision of what toggles NOT to run. If I'm teaming and running Manuevers and Steam Mist and Tactics and flopping mobs on their buts with Freezing Rain and dropping resistances with Howl / Scream / etc, then do I really *need* to be running Snow Storm?  Probably not.  Hurricane I almost never run on teams. It can be used for good, if you're careful to skim the edge of a pack and not sitting on the tank. But I've dealt with enough "eewwww it has repel! turn it off turn it off!!!!" that I don't bother anymore.  Soloing though, Hurricane is your FRIEND, full stop. 

 

Never had a problem targetting Tornado, or Freezing Rain or Lightning Storm. I have keybinds for each and it's tap-click, tap-click, tap-click. 

 

O2 boost I barely use as a heal until I start getting to late 30's or early 40's, when I can afford to give it a couple extra slots. 

But I always use O2 boost to free people from Stuns, etc, and always to try to cover melee if we're fighting mobs that do lots of Endurance Drain. (Malta / Carnies / SuperStunners, etc)

Edited April 8, 2021 by MTeague

[Wavicle]

1 hour ago, RogueWolf said:

Storm is a crazy fun set. But...

 

1. For having so few toggles, it is a flipping endurance hog. Even with Performance Shifter, Panacea+Miracle proc+Numina proc on Health, and a few other endo set bonuses elsewhere, it's barely manageable. I can't even imagine how this will work with Evasive Maneuvers tacked on. Besides the casting cost on the instant powers, I think Snow Storm is a bit high for the benefit. Steamy Mist is .05 higher that most others, too.
    
2. Tornado is often difficult to cast if you lose track of the mouse pointer (which is easy to do on big teams) It will either extend out of range, or give an error if you aren't pointing to the ground. Other mouse-click location powers don't seem to have this problem.
    
3. Why is O2 single target only when it's the only heal? I get that it adds mez resist, but that'd be much more attractive as a targeted AoE.

1. It is an end hog, that's true. But it gives a Lot of safety and contributes significantly to damage both through debuffing and the pets. 2 end red in each heavy cost power AND/OR Cardiac Alpha can help.

 

2. You can make a keybind or macro with "powexec_location target Tornado" or similar commands to make it easier. It won't ALWAYS work, but it usually will.

 

3. If the set had an AoE heal it would be way too good. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Wavicle

[RogueWolf]

The endo issues are only when solo. I don't notice the drag as much when I'm on a team. Deciding what toggles to not run isn't really a solution, though. The cast times compounded with the higher cost of steamy mist and snow storm makes it an often aggravating challenge to solo.

 

I will have to try that with Tornado as a workaround. Thanks.

[arcane]

Sorry, Storm is an A+ set in need of no buffs.

[Communistpenguin]

1 hour ago, arcane said:

Sorry, Storm is an A+ set in need of no buffs.

I mostly agree. Thunderclap could use a little love or tweak. Its a pbaoe minion only(iirc) stun with a loooong animation and I think poor acc? While I love the animation, getting frozen in place surrounded by mobs can be a bit dicey. I'm not sure what should be changed, it is not widely regarded as a great power in the set. Maybe remove teh root while the animation plays?

I should specify, My stormie is a defender, on a controller it would be much more manageable.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Communistpenguin

[arcane]

4 minutes ago, Communistpenguin said:

I mostly agree. Thunderclap could use a little love or tweak. Its a pbaoe minion only(iirc) stun with a loooong animation and I think poor acc? While I love the animation, getting frozen in place surrounded by mobs can be a bit dicey. I'm not sure what should be changed, it is not widely regarded as a great power in the set. Maybe remove teh root while the animation plays?

Oh yeah. That one. I wish I could justify it because the animation is beautiful.

 

I guess I have “set is amazing as a whole [but maybe doesn’t get there because of every power]” and “set has 9 whole powers I’d rather not miss” separate in my mind. Though Trick Arrow satisfies both criteria now 😄
 

Thunderclap definitely ranks 9th. Then Snow Storm and O2 fight over 7th/8th. The rest I have never skipped (now that Gale = FF proc and Sudden Accel proc), though I have considered skipping Hurricane (but not gone through with it).

Edited April 8, 2021 by arcane

[Communistpenguin]

Also, Gale if you don't have the KB->KD proc, is also a edge case. It also suffers poor acc and has limited function. Though the kb->KD io  and a acc enhancement solve this pretty well. 

[Wavicle]

4 minutes ago, Communistpenguin said:

Also, Gale if you don't have the KB->KD proc, is also a edge case. It also suffers poor acc and has limited function. Though the kb->KD io  and a acc enhancement solve this pretty well. 

The low acc is a fair point, but the power is great even without kb>kd.

 

Let me put it this way:

 

If Power Thrust is a good level 1 power then Gale is also a good level 1 power, since it does what Power Thrust does but in a huge ranged cone.

[MTeague]

I took Thunderclap on my Storm/Sonic, largely because the animation and sound is just awesome lol. 

It does have lessened accuracy. I think only 0.8 default acc.  But I tend to have lots of +acc from set bonuses, and a decent amount from the IO's slotted in the power itself. It tags things pretty reliably for me. 

 

Really though, on the Storm/Sonic, I can pair it with Screech to stun a boss for a decent long time. Usually not a major issue, Hurricane means they Whiff For Days anyway. 

Thunderclap is also sometimes handy to lock down a squad of minions. Some minions are more serious than others. /eye Sapper

Edited April 8, 2021 by MTeague

[arcane]

25 minutes ago, Communistpenguin said:

Also, Gale if you don't have the KB->KD proc, is also a edge case. It also suffers poor acc and has limited function. Though the kb->KD io  and a acc enhancement solve this pretty well. 

Sure, but what kind of loon isn’t slotting this bad boy with BOTH KB>KD AND FF +RECH anyway 😉

[Razor Cure]

2 minutes ago, arcane said:

Sure, but what kind of loon isn’t slotting this bad boy with BOTH KB>KD AND FF +RECH anyway 😉

My Ill/Storm troller, for one. I dont have the slots for it, and I have perma PA anyway.

[Wavicle]

.9 for Gale, .8 for Thunder Clap.

 

Gale’s great, TClap is poo poo.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Wavicle

[Wavicle]

oh, I should add, Gale's great but my Defender respecced out of it after getting Tornado and Lightning Storm.

[arcane]

13 minutes ago, Razor Cure said:

My Ill/Storm troller, for one. I dont have the slots for it, and I have perma PA anyway.

I guess it’s not like you can’t  still have other FF procs going. My Ill/Storm chains LS-Tornado-Gale-Psinado for more or less perma FF.

[Razor Cure]

3 minutes ago, arcane said:

I guess it’s not like you can’t  still have other FF procs going. My Ill/Storm chains LS-Tornado-Gale-Psinado for more or less perma FF.

Do the FF prics in LS and Nado even give you + rech, sicne they are pseudo pets?

[arcane]

Just now, Razor Cure said:

Do the FF prics in LS and Nado even give you + rech, sicne they are pseudo pets?

On cast, yes. Not constantly. But if you have multiple procs you just keep casting em 🙂

[DZKFire]

Most of the end problems I encounter on my Storm characters are from Lightning Storm, which has a ridiculous end cost. On my Ill/Storm, it took about 25% of my end bar, or at least an enormous portion of it. What makes it worse, a lot of people - including me - prefer to proc load it which leaves little room for END redux enhancements.

 

I don't mind the blue bar problems though, it would be too powerful of a set without it

 

All of this is counting the obvious of knowing when to (not) use Hurricane, though 

Edited April 8, 2021 by DZKFire

[Razor Cure]

11 minutes ago, DZKFire said:

Most of the end problems I encounter on my Storm characters are from Lightning Storm, which has a ridiculous end cost. On my Ill/Storm, it took about 25% of my end bar, or at least an enormous portion of it. What makes it worse, a lot of people - including me - prefer to proc load it which leaves little room for END redux enhancements.

 

I don't mind the blue bar problems though, it would be too powerful of a set without it

 

All of this is counting the obvious of knowing when to (not) use Hurricane, though 

Agreed. For the damage LS does..the end cost is insane. Even more considering it is static. VS an AV, its nice, but a normal mod that will die in 5-15 secs..not so much.

[Wavicle]

11 minutes ago, Razor Cure said:

Agreed. For the damage LS does..the end cost is insane. Even more considering it is static. VS an AV, its nice, but a normal mod that will die in 5-15 secs..not so much.

But it is also useful in fights that don’t last 5-15 seconds, keeping whole groups on their butt, draining end, and helping with damage.

[Communistpenguin]

I dunno, my LS only costs 18 end. My slotting is 

Force feedback proc

Devestation: Dam/end

Devestation: Dam/Rech

Thunderstrike: Dam/end

Thunderstrike: Dam/end/rech

Basic Rech io

 

That gets me +95.1% dam, 117.2% rech(41.44 sec recharge time) 73.6% end(17.98 end cost)

[MTeague]

That explains the difference in my experience then. I usually don't go completely nuts with Procs.  My stormy has LS six-slotted with the full Thunderstrike set.

 

I mean, intellectually, I know proc's are very powerful.  I know I'm probably making some sub-optimal choices.

But I can only ever Frankenproc like 1-2 powers per character.  And even then I still hear the wailing of broken set bonuses haunting my dreams.

 

[Communistpenguin]

4 minutes ago, MTeague said:

That explains the difference in my experience then. I usually don't go completely nuts with Procs.  My stormy has LS six-slotted with the full Thunderstrike set.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't all that acc from thunderstrike wasted on LS? I don't think it needs it?

[MTeague]

1 minute ago, Communistpenguin said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't all that acc from thunderstrike wasted on LS? I don't think it needs it?

a) missing sucks

b) set bonus / ranged defense was my main reason

[Wavicle]

2 minutes ago, Communistpenguin said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't all that acc from thunderstrike wasted on LS? I don't think it needs it?

Depends. Probably not necessary if your target is in the freezing rain, which of course it usually is. But the thing does miss sometimes.