What power sets I feel need attention.

[Cementi]

Ah the power of insomnia. When you start to think about rather inconsequential things like what sets do you think are the weakest in the game? Do they simply need a power to be tweaked to be improved or does the set need an entire rework? So here are my 3 am thoughts. I fully expect a lot of people to disagree but hey putting this down might download it from my brain and let me sleep. Who knows, maybe some of these ideas will work for people.
 

One rule I would try to adhere to is rather than removing or completely changing the functionality of a power give the players the option to pick the old option or the new option. Making them mutually exclusive.
 

First up Inherrents since they don't really fit into any particular category. Out of all of them I kind of feel the Soldier's and Widow's got the most shafted. My solution would be to make them have an aura buff field for their teammates that got stronger and had different effects depending on the type of archtypes on the team. Similar to how Kheldians get buffs for themselves except they make their teammates better.
 

Ranged sets for me has to be Energy Blast. The sight of it seems to make Tank's and Brute's cringe. I wouldn't remove the Knockback as it's always been part of the set and there are people that like it. I would remove the randomness of it though. Especially on the aoe's. Energy Torrent could be useful if it consistantly pushed the whole group. Explosive Blast I would change to a knockdown as having mobs scatter in all directions is just plain bad.
 

Blaster Manipulation sets honestly seem to have been reworked pretty extensively allready. I don't have enough experience with blasters after those reworks to offer an opinion. Those that I thought needed help back in the day certainly have gotten it.
 

Control for me is a toss up between Ice and Mind. Of the two though I feel Ice lags behind more though some would argue the lack of a pet in Mind makes it worse. In the interest of selecting only one though I would go with Ice and I would make Shiver do some damage, maybe somewhere in the 20 to 30 base damage ballpark.
 

Buff/Debuff sets it would have to be Force Field. Just seems redundant with everyone soft capping their own defenses. Certain situations make the extra buffer of defense nice, or when teaming with lower levels but that's it. I would add a power that could be selected instead of PFF. Maybe call it Conversion Field. When toggled on you would get a small defense buff and any attacks directed at you regardless of hit or miss would give a small stacking damage buff. Kind of a mini fury mechanic. For Detention FIeld I would put in the choice of something called Reflection Field. Fluff wise it would reflect damage the target attempts to do back upon themselves. Mechanic wise simply make it a strong damage debuff and resist debuff.
 

Melee set's, as much as I would love Hand Clap to do damage Martial Arts is what needs the most help. Make Dragon's Tail come earlier in the set. The Defense buff on Storm Kick is nice, not sure why they didn't give it to the stalker version. I would also add a small -resist debuff to the set similar to how sonic works. Fluff wise with each strike you knock them off balance making it easier to land solid blows. 
 

Pet sets naturally of course it is Merc's. I know far more qualified people have gone over this (actually all of these heh). My take on Mercs would be to alter Serum. Make it slightly less potent but at the same time make it an aoe buff and drasticly reduce it's cooldown. I would also put in an alternative choice called Advanced Tactics that would significantly buff to hit, damage, resist and defence of all your pets while toggled on. The catch would be that the endurance cost would be far to high to maintain for any significant length of time and give the power a respectable cooldown so you could not just keep retoggling it. Maybe a 60 second cooldown. As a offensive toggle it would also drop when getting mezzed.
 

Assault sets is a toss up for me between Energy and Icy. I would probably buff Icy Assault's damage a touch but that's all.

Defensive sets would be Regen. I would give them the same treatment as the Sentinel set. In addition increase the effectiveness of Resilience by adding in a scaling resist affect like what Super Reflexes has.
 

That's it. Naturally there are lots of skippable powers out there that could use something but the rest of their sets seem good enough to me that it isn't a big deal. These are the ones that stand out to me as stuff I simply wouldn't play except for very specific concepts.
 

I hope to see some constructive responses when I wake up. I know it's a pretty broad topic but wanted the discussion to be under one place. I am under no illusions that any of these would happen. Simply my thoughts and frankly many are on powersets or archytpes that don't really interest me concept wise enough to run. They still seem to be the weakest links though and I was attempting to be objective instead of saying buff this set that I like. (Really would love Hand Clap to do damage though lol). Good night or good morning depending where you are.

PS I know there are typos it's 3 am I see the red lines and am to lazy to go fix them because this seems to have worked and I can now go sleep.
 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Cementi
Forgot Defensive sets section.

[arcane]

IMO: sets most in need of a facelift: Assault Rifle, Force Field, Kinetic Melee, perhaps Mercenaries

 

AT’s most in need of love: Masterminds, Sentinels

 

VEAT’s need power color customization and no redraw QoL type stuff but performance-wise they’re fine.

 

Mind Control and Regeneration and dominator assaults look like other things you’re highly underrating.

[EmperorSteele]

Control in general is depreciated in late game content, especially when Incarnate powers come into play. But Mind seems to get shafted a bit more, considering that many of its controls stop working thanks to the actions of inattentive teammates.

 

Sleeps, this is obvious. They wake up when attacked. If the team is ready for it, fine, but I've lost count of the number of times the team was busy with a group, a second one tries to engage, I put them to sleep... and then someone turns away from the fight and fireballs the sleeping guys and we get overrun. And it's always a fireball, even if we don't have any fire blasters on the team, it's so weird!

 

Confuse. Sure, you can attack without fear of retribution, but people seem to love insta-killing shield drones, Rikti Guardians, Immunes Surgeons... you know, critters that are now helping the party? When I bring this up, it's 50/50 as to whether or not the response will be "dont tell me how to play my character" So, whatever, but it's kind of a waste of time confusing those things then and I guess I should just mindlessly attack like everyone else!

 

Terrorize is the same deal as sleep. The critters won't attack or move unless you hit them, so of course people instantly go after the fear'd dudes instead of the ones actively shooting. Whatever.

 

Tk affects four targets in addition to the anchor. If the anchor dies, the whole ability fizzles, freeing the other four. Guess who always dies first?!

 

/rant

[tidge]

Hey! I'll join a rando thread to casually mention a couple of AT-specific issues that have affected me.

 

I agree that the VEAT inherent (Conditioning) simply doesn't feel like it is performing much. I've seen the arguments about the Recovery numbers... but I'm not persuaded that it really is all that great. Maybe a +MaxEnd bonus instead? Something on the scale of the later available accolades?

 

The VEAT redraws are an issue, and the ever-present Crab backpack falls into this same QoL category.

 

I definitely think that Mastermind primaries should NOT need to take the level 6 henchmen boost power... especially when two of the henchmen summons come AFTER level 6... the level 6 enhancements should just be baked into the henchmen upon summoning. Masterminds should have some sort of power (available at level 6) that allows all of them to slot the enhancements that provide global bonuses for henchmen... it's a jerk hacking move that some primaries/secondaries have to sacrifice actual henchmen slots to get these bonuses.

 

Something (subtle?) needs to be done with the Presence pool. I suggest making Invoke Panic available as a second power pick, because requiring two choices of Pacify / Provoke / Intimidate is simply cruel... as all three work against each other. Pacify is a real stinker, if kept it ought to at least be able to act like Placate (for classes with such powers). If that is too complicated, convert it to a variant of (old Concealment pool) Stealth... at least then we could slot something useful in it. The other powers are fine as is, including recharge times.

[Cementi]

1 hour ago, arcane said:

IMO: sets most in need of a facelift: Assault Rifle, Force Field, Kinetic Melee, perhaps Mercenaries

 

AT’s most in need of love: Masterminds, Sentinels

 

VEAT’s need power color customization and no redraw QoL type stuff but performance-wise they’re fine.

 

Mind Control and Regeneration and dominator assaults look like other things you’re highly underrating.

I was looking more at what was weakest in each power category rather than the weakest sets over all. I was really aiming to avoid any pet project kind of bias. Everyone has their favorite AT's. People will always feel their AT got missed so it would be nice to see every class get something at the same time even if it was small to avoid that.

I really don't think Assault Rifle needs help. While it is one of the more resisted damage types it still feels like it does some really good damage. I feel like it's an underrated set as it isn't flashy enough. Kinetic Melee is close but I still think Martial arts is worse. I see Kinetic Melee characters. I don't recall seeing a Martial Arts in recent memory.

Masterminds have gotten some love. I liked MM's before despite their draw backs. Now with the pet cooldowns reduced I love them. I can't help but make more. I also know it has been stated that they are looking at more MM changes so I am looking forward to that. Hopefully making their attacks relevant either by upping the damage or making the attacks add something else. Sentinel's as an AT are in need of help. While there are some solid combos the majority of them are kinda meh. My Beam Rifle/SR is my go to when none of my group is on and I don't feel like pugs. I go solo a random TF with him. It just isn't all that fast as it's damage is pretty anemic.

VEAT's do certainly need a no redraw option. They are in an ok place as stated I would just like a more impactful inherrent.

Don't see alot of Mind Control out there. While I personally don't mind it every conversation I have had with someone seems to have a negative spin on it. It's solid but feels like it's missing something. That's why I put Ice Control below it.

Assault sets overall are pretty decent. As stated I was looking for the weakest in each category in my opinion.

Every regen I have seen is a debt collector. Sure you can put a billion or so influence in them to make them work but you shouldn't have to. Even with that I feel that if you put the same funds into virtually any other set you will get something just as if not more effective.

[Mezmera]

36 minutes ago, EmperorSteele said:

Tk affects four targets in addition to the anchor. If the anchor dies, the whole ability fizzles, freeing the other four. Guess who always dies first?!

 

Of the tweaks to control and Mind specifically this is about the only power that could have significance if they tinkered with it.  If I ever did have an extra power to take I'd just take TK to stack control onto AV's during those fights, but then there's always a better power to take, like flurry.....

 

The rest of that control in Mind I feel your rant but those powers are very strong.  Rather than adjust everyone else's playstyle to fit smartly engaging things I'll just toss it out there "Hey I'll keep Ghost Widow asleep for us" and if they want to wake her with them pesky fireballs that's on them when she soul crushes them to death.  I could tell them we could avoid that risk with allowing me to save her for last for us but I also enjoy vengeance so march on good friends.  

 

Hopefully these new Hard Mode's that accentuate how important control can be will teach them fireballing brutes a thing or two about tactics.  

Edited October 22, 2021 by Mezmera

[Cementi]

10 minutes ago, tidge said:

Hey! I'll join a rando thread to casually mention a couple of AT-specific issues that have affected me.

 

I agree that the VEAT inherent (Conditioning) simply doesn't feel like it is performing much. I've seen the arguments about the Recovery numbers... but I'm not persuaded that it really is all that great. Maybe a +MaxEnd bonus instead? Something on the scale of the later available accolades?

 

The VEAT redraws are an issue, and the ever-present Crab backpack falls into this same QoL category.

 

I definitely think that Mastermind primaries should NOT need to take the level 6 henchmen boost power... especially when two of the henchmen summons come AFTER level 6... the level 6 enhancements should just be baked into the henchmen upon summoning. Masterminds should have some sort of power (available at level 6) that allows all of them to slot the enhancements that provide global bonuses for henchmen... it's a jerk hacking move that some primaries/secondaries have to sacrifice actual henchmen slots to get these bonuses.

 

Something (subtle?) needs to be done with the Presence pool. I suggest making Invoke Panic available as a second power pick, because requiring two choices of Pacify / Provoke / Intimidate is simply cruel... as all three work against each other. Pacify is a real stinker, if kept it ought to at least be able to act like Placate (for classes with such powers). If that is too complicated, convert it to a variant of (old Concealment pool) Stealth... at least then we could slot something useful in it. The other powers are fine as is, including recharge times.

Ill admit that the idea of making mastermind pet upgrades baked in instead of a power choice is interesting. Would certainly free up some space for the Dev's to get creative and put some more interesting options in those slots. I play MM's a fair amount so I feel campaigning for more sweeping changes than a buff to Poor Mercs feels like chasing a pet project lol so I have to admit I had not really thought about what could be done to the AT over all.

I didn't touch on pool powers as it was 3 am and my brain forgot about them which was a good thing heh. Only characters I take Presence on is my MM's and it's for Provoke so I had not thought about it beyond it. You raise good points on the set though as the powers do seem kinda contradictory. Almost like they should have been two different sets heh.

[Mezmera]

As for what powers need attention I'm sure they have a good feel for a lot of them based on data on selected and avoided powers.  

 

AT's:  I'd probably agree Masterminds especially late game but they've always been an unusual AT.  Sentinels are a passion project that is a hodge-podge of various AT's, it's going to be real hard to buff them and not tune up other squishies to compensate.  

 

Pools: Yeah there's a few pools that could use some tweaking, Presence for sure, Concealment to me still doesn't feel convincing to take when you can take other pool shields that don't suppress their ability.  

[tidge]

I really like Invoke Panic and Unrelenting and I never mind having to take any one of the first three... its just that taking two of the first three makes one of those (even more?) useless, and it is downright painful to burn four slots in a pool under those circumstances. Imagine if we all had to take Boxing, Kick and Tough to get Weave!

[PeregrineFalcon]

Yeah. I hate the fact that so many of the pool powers are, frankly, useless. I really feel that no power should be useless especially if it's a prerequisite to another power.

[arcane]

1 hour ago, EmperorSteele said:

Control in general is depreciated in late game content, especially when Incarnate powers come into play. But Mind seems to get shafted a bit more, considering that many of its controls stop working thanks to the actions of inattentive teammates.

 

Sleeps, this is obvious. They wake up when attacked. If the team is ready for it, fine, but I've lost count of the number of times the team was busy with a group, a second one tries to engage, I put them to sleep... and then someone turns away from the fight and fireballs the sleeping guys and we get overrun. And it's always a fireball, even if we don't have any fire blasters on the team, it's so weird!

 

Confuse. Sure, you can attack without fear of retribution, but people seem to love insta-killing shield drones, Rikti Guardians, Immunes Surgeons... you know, critters that are now helping the party? When I bring this up, it's 50/50 as to whether or not the response will be "dont tell me how to play my character" So, whatever, but it's kind of a waste of time confusing those things then and I guess I should just mindlessly attack like everyone else!

 

Terrorize is the same deal as sleep. The critters won't attack or move unless you hit them, so of course people instantly go after the fear'd dudes instead of the ones actively shooting. Whatever.

 

Tk affects four targets in addition to the anchor. If the anchor dies, the whole ability fizzles, freeing the other four. Guess who always dies first?!

 

/rant

People would probably appreciate Mind Control more if or when Seeds of Confusion is balanced appropriately. That and the questionable sense of needing a mediocre pet tends to devalue Mind Control’s incredible T9 in a rather misleading way.

 

If not for pitchforks, this would’ve likely already happened.

Edited October 22, 2021 by arcane

[Cementi]

18 minutes ago, arcane said:

People would probably appreciate Mind Control more if or when Seeds of Confusion is balanced appropriately. That and the questionable sense of needing a mediocre pet tends to devalue Mind Control’s incredible T9 in a rather misleading way.

 

If not for pitchforks, this would’ve likely already happened.

Yeah people get overly salty about nerfs. Sometimes it has to be done from a workload stand point. It's easier to dial one thing back than dial 10 things forward.

Personally I kind of like not having an uncontrolable pet that does dumb things. Allows me to control things better.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Cementi

[plainguy]

Force Field.. Without a doubt.. 
It just really is useless with this current state of the game.. 

It was awesome PRE IO..  

Pre IO my gripe was you had to be a stone tank an empath, Kin, some scraper and Fire Blaster to get a team..  
Now with IO's you pretty much don't need anyone, which I guess is cool in some ways because now you can be anything.. 
But Poor Force Field has been definitely left behind.. 

[mrgambit]

Martial Arts needs some love for sure. It has some strengths but those strengths could be accentuated. If I could make a greedy pick in sets that could use some TLC? Battle axe comes to mind. Unless you're sold on the concept of using an axe, or prefer more knockdowns. I rarely find a reason to want to use it over war mace. This could creep into rework territory but I wish it had something to differentiate it from its sibling some more  (Different animations, maybe a radically different power.)

[Uun]

I've been playing Martial Arts since I3. There have been quite a few fixes over the years and it's much better than it used to be. In its current state, it's really good for ST damage but is lacking in AoE. I think converting one of the powers into a cone (Storm Kick?) is about all it needs.

 

Mind Control right now is much better for dominators than controllers. It would benefit from allowing fear and confuse to set up containment. Telekinesis needs a rework. I don't think I've had it in a build since they changed it back on live. (I know it used to affect more than 5 targets and would hold bosses, but I can't find a description that predates the changes.) Mass Confusion needs its recharge reduced, but not to Seeds level. There have also been some good suggestions about changing it so the mobs in the AoE all gang up on the target.

 

Aside from the damage boost solo and on small teams, the defender inherent should provide a more useful benefit on teams. As currently configured, it provides no benefit if the defender is doing their job  - you get an endurance discount if your teammates are dying. This reminds me of how the blaster inherent originally worked - you did more damage the lower your hit points.