Focused Feedback: Seismic Blast

[Greycat]

58 minutes ago, Player-1 said:

What are everyone's thoughts on the Seismic Pressure mechanic? Have you found it happens often enough? Does the aura give you good benefits?

 

See prior comments a few posts up re: being unable to control the KD and potential issues. It happens often enough, I just can't tell *when* to expect it, as well.

[twozerofoxtrot]

1 hour ago, Player-1 said:

What are everyone's thoughts on the Seismic Pressure mechanic? Have you found it happens often enough? Does the aura give you good benefits?

Despite really enjoying the set tremendously,  this part largely flies well under the radar for me.

 

At best I happen to notice that Shards is empowered and I use it as a spender.

 

At worst it throws off my Build Up/Seismic buffs identical CDs. Minor but annoying. 

 

Popup text ala Critical Strikes proc to let me know it's up for spending would be a nice feature to have.

Edited November 7, 2021 by twozerofoxtrot

[Barbaric Penguin]

I haven't had a chance to pay attention to what Seismic Pressure mechanic does just yet, so I'll have to try it some more to see how it feels.

 

Overall the blast set feels pretty good. I like that Meteor is a "place and bake", and I like the effect of the Upthrust as it approaches the mob.

 

However, I do think Meteor takes far too long to hit after activated.  My combat log shows 5s between activation and damage hitting.  That's by far the longest of any blaster nuke.  I feel it should be more like the timing of Rain of Arrows so it doesn't end up hitting already mostly defeated group.  I can cast Meteor, Upthrust, run into melee and Tremor before Meteor lands.  One upside is the group doesn't aggro until after Meteor hits, so I can actually fire off both it and Upthrust and take no attacks until after they've both hit.

 

Upthrust is very dependent on how far you are away from the group when you use it.  If you're in the middle of melee, it goes off pretty much immediately after cast.  But the animation of the earth effect approaching is rather slow feeling if you're further away.  I feels like it should be sped up a bit.  I compare it to Explosive Blast from Energy Blast, which fires and hits far quicker.

 

The blast ST damage feels a bit low, too. How does it compare to Energy Blast ST damage? That's what I'd consider a pretty close comparison.  Since Stone is pure Smashing damage, it might need a bit of a boost to make up for the higher resistance in general with smashing.  Even Tombstone felt a little anemic compared to other blaster snipes I've used (not counting Fire, which is "special").

 

Again, overall, I think this set has been done quite well.  I was expecting "throwing rocks" in the animations, but I actually like the "stone cast" feel of it.  It makes it feel different from the other blaster sets.  It just needs a little bit of extra damage boosting and time to damage tweaks to fit right in.

[Trike]

2 hours ago, Player-1 said:

What are everyone's thoughts on the Seismic Pressure mechanic? Have you found it happens often enough? Does the aura give you good benefits?

If this is referring to the PBAoE of the shockwaves knocking down nearby foes, I like it. It greatly increases survivability, particularly at the lower levels.

[Trike]

I made a Blaster to try it, without any P2W powers as fillers. My initial impressions of the set are mostly positive. I can see what others mean about foes being obscured. That’s going to be a huge negative going forward when teaming with melee players. I tried the Lava and Crystal versions of the powers and they look cool, but they’re completely hidden by Stone Prison and Entomb, particularly the former, to the point where I actually found myself using it more sparingly so I could see the neat colors of the other powers.

 

While it definitely has Blaster-level damage, playing it feels like a robust Defender. It doesn’t feel Blastery at all. I have no idea about artists and animators on the team, but for a Seismic Blaster I think there should be at least a couple low-level powers which look like high-velocity rocks are being being thrown and shattering, sort of like Ice Bolt.

 

The powers as they are would suit a Dominator, for sure, but as a Blaster I kinda want to throw rocks. 😈

[JayboH]

15 hours ago, SuperPlyx said:

Is there any chance Stalagmite could be an AoE power? Even if it was less damage.

 

Does Seismic Shockwaves have a visual/graphic I am not noticing?

I doubt it, I consider stuns a hard control and no blast sets have that as an AOE.  Immobilize, sleep, knockback, slows AOEs for blast sets typically.

 

Beyond the icons in the buff bar and the red rings and icon changes for the affected powers?  I thought there was some camera shake, no?

 

The shake is present with Stone Melee since launch day so I don't consider it too much in Seismic Blast at all, it's fine.

 

There are a number of side effect systems in the game that players can't control, but the only one I dislike is for Psionic Melee, because like Shockwaves it is supposed to be a selling point of the set beyond theme.

 

That's interesting to know that Shockwaves will ignore sleeping targets.  That's actually pretty cool! 

 

I've mentioned Upthrust obscuring/being a bit obnoxious but the rest I am ok with including Tombstone.  Also mentioned Upthrust and Meteor taking too long several times, so it is nice to hear others chime in on that.  I never really noticed a damage problem outside of earlier build's Rock Shards and a bug with Meteor early on, as I figured it's probably in line with the resists I expect.  I admittedly didn't check the math and mostly gave it a run for its overall feel.

Edited November 7, 2021 by JayboH

[LuckyDuck]

Haven't tested extensively, but the recharge time reduction for Seismic Forces seems to be working as intended.  An already highly reduced recharge rate (24 seconds) was cut to 12 when the power was activated during shockwaves.  It almost feels like cheating.

[twozerofoxtrot]

Overall thoughts on the set to offer some counters to popular opinion:

I like the distinct lack of rock throwing. I think this makes sense for an earth-based power, as seen in a lot of contemporary animation like Avatar or Invincible. I wouldn't mine one other power (other than Rock Shards) having a toss or "levitate and throw" similar to Grav doms do, but with rocks, but overall I'm happy with how stuff is animating.  

I will agree that the sheer size of some of the effects obscuring everything is a bit much. That said, they animate and fade really fast so it's not cripplingly obstructive.

Speaking of Rock Shards, it feels like the runt of the litter. It's currently in my kit as 1) a set mule, 2) a spender, and 3) some AoE soft CC. Considering that all three of those are somewhat ubiquitous in the set overall, it feels like it doesn't have a strong role. I'd echo any comment that says Rock Shards needs it's damage adjusted slightly upward, perhaps significantly upward when empowered. Right now it's sort of like an expanded tickle for drawing agro I don't want; that's probably not the intent.

I love the long durations on Upthrust and Meteor. I love them. The ability to combo their hits to wipe out or significantly damage a +4/8 group is amazing. As for corpse blasting, my solution has been to dive the piles before using Upthrust (since the delay is in the travel time and nothing else) and holding Meteor for big engagements like boss fights (when in teams). Due to the baked-in survivability of Seismic Shockwaves, diving in for Upthrust (in teams) is very doable. Frankly I'm concerned that if Meteor's flash-to-bang time is lowered, it will reduce the overall damage as part of a formula. I'm likely in the minority but if my assumption is correct I'd rather keep it as it is with it's stupendous effects.

 

Agree with putting a crosshairs icon over the Tombstone in the eponymous power's icon. I sort of like the unique detail but the crosshairs will help it stand out as a snipe better.

Keep the meteor icon exactly as is. It's a distinctly unique nuke with it's "hang time" component and needs to be identified as such.

The combination of -Def and and KD provide immense utility, even before factoring in procs. I think this is getting overlooked in conversations about the efficacy of the set. Rad is accused of being anemic, and Energy is accused of being disruptive. Seismic seems to do better in both aspects, while also combining these useful secondary effects. I'm very pleased with it as a result.


 

Edited November 7, 2021 by twozerofoxtrot
I'm the worst proof reader in the world.

[carroto]

As a Combat Jumping junkie I can't play sets that require me to be on the ground all the time.  I had to shelve my /Earth Assault Dominator for this reason.  The last couple of big releases that had new sets have had nothing for me, and it looks like this will be another one.  Oh well to those of you earthbound Corruptors, Defenders, and Blasters: Enjoy!

[InfamousBrad]

Is the Blaster version of Mud Bath supposed to be ticking +defiance every pulse, even when idle?

 

[Wavicle]

9 hours ago, carroto said:

As a Combat Jumping junkie I can't play sets that require me to be on the ground all the time.  I had to shelve my /Earth Assault Dominator for this reason.  The last couple of big releases that had new sets have had nothing for me, and it looks like this will be another one.  Oh well to those of you earthbound Corruptors, Defenders, and Blasters: Enjoy!

I don’t think it requires you to be on the ground all the time. Just most of the time.

[WindDemon21]

17 hours ago, Barbaric Penguin said:

The blast ST damage feels a bit low, too. How does it compare to Energy Blast ST damage? That's what I'd consider a pretty close comparison.  Since Stone is pure Smashing damage, it might need a bit of a boost to make up for the higher resistance in general with smashing.  Even Tombstone felt a little anemic compared to other blaster snipes I've used (not counting Fire, which is "special").

I just went online and thankfully all ST powers are actually better than each equivalent energy blast so i'm pretty happy with that and makes sense since it doens't have a real protective secondary effect like energy blast has. IMO energy blast is the most rounded "baseline" damage set to go off of, except for explosive blast being tier 8 which it clearly needs to be tier 6 or lower. (and power push needs the sent treatment or something).

 

Also i wish rock shards hard an alternate animation. I hate that dumb two arm fling. Give us the like energy torrent animation for it please.

 

Upthrust and Meteor as well do need to have their connect times sped up but otherwise the rest of their stats are good to go, besides meteor being too weak, and having the dumb vector knockback. Should be KD only at least, but needs its recharge reduced for the amount of damage it does. The only other nuke with that long of a recharge is Blizzard which does 60% more damage with much better side effects even if it's dot, but that also means in current form that most of it's damage is already done anyway before meteor would even hit. IE all other nukes with that same damage amount recharge in 2 minutes and 25 seconds, not 2 minutes and 50 seconds. It's also listing it's accuracy in game on beta as only 1.00x, where all others are 1.40x and blizzard (also location) is listed as 2.00x. The stats on meteor actually I rescind really need to be fixed as it's actually the worst nuke in the game at this rate.

 

As per the animations, I actually like the "no projectile" single target stuff cause that means the damage hits right away instead of lagging behind waiting for the projectile to connect.

 

The shockwaves I just really percieve as a bonus. REALLY good if you're a blapper, but otherwise just kinda helps to keep you safe at range. Since it's flavor and not "needed" to reach the full dps of the set, it's just a bonus (which is how all mechanics really should be IMO with the exception of actual combos ie dual blades and stj)

 

That said i'm otherwise in love with the blast set and in love with the earth/plant I made and need it live NOW! lol

 

Sidebar: I was really hoping for a "lava flow" power similar to stats in rain of fire, but wouldn't hold my breath now.

 

Side-side bar: regarding the animations, meteor as a nuke i wouldn't see much but entomb even though fleeting does seem a bit big and should be toned down to fit npc size.

 

Edit: yeah definitely needs the animations of entomb and upthrust minimized. And meteor and upthrust definitely need their connect times sped up. Stalagmite also feels in a very weird spot, where it's not worth it damagewise unless it has the seismic force bonus. though it's disorient is really good, and it's rech is good, though not enough to fill the chain in place of encase and comes late. Though I can't complain cause the set's ST can work just fine without it altogether so its just kinda awkward but not necessary. I'd feel more-so like the secondary effect of the powers should be disorient and not the -fly/jump it is now. Having the snipe too giving 5 single target attacks seems a bit overdone as well, lamenting me to reiterate how much I'd rather have a lava flow type rain power instead of stalagmite.

 

Also that knockback on meteor... Please change it to knockup instead.

Edited November 7, 2021 by WindDemon21

[Spaghetti Betty]

I tried a Seismic/Dark Corruptor. My feedback will be based on that.

 

I have to agree with the sentiments that a lot of the powers feel same-y. That might just have to do with the visuals, as I feel like it's fine that Seismic is a pretty straightforward blast set. Stone Melee is the same way; a very straightforward set. I was expecting some more boulder-chucking. IMO, that would've made the set more visually impactful.

 

On the same topic of visuals, the biggest stinker to me is Upthrust. That power is waaaay too big. It looks cool, but I'd compare the size of it to using Fault on the Crimson Prototype. Seeing as how I play mostly melee, I'd probably just stop looking at the screen if there were multiple members on my team using Seismic Blast. However, this complaint could be made for a lot of powersets in a team setting, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

I do like the visual for Rock Shards though. And the SFX. Visually and audibly, this is about what I'd want from a stone blast cone move. The move itself, though, is uh, ehhh.

 

As for the seismic pressure thing, I honestly couldn't grasp what it was doing or if cashing out the resource was having any real effect, except for Stalagmite doing more damage, but unfortunately, it only was doing about as much damage as Tombstone in my experience. I found myself leaning more towards cashing out pressure on aim to decrease the recharge.

 

To wrap up my overall experience with the set, this makes a fantastic Defender-oriented blast. I wouldn't be too miffed if the overall damage of the set was left as is and the focus was driven more towards a debuffing set, maybe with slow and some -def thrown in some places. If it were released as is to the public, I would probably skip Rock Shards and Stalagmite in my builds. If the payoff for cashing out pressure on Stalagmite was increased in some way, I would reconsider picking it up.

[Telephone]

I just played around a little bit, and I think the set felt pretty good. The one thing I really wish is that the set had a Slow somewhere in it to combo with Meteor. Since Upthrust is an AoE and says it makes the enemies heavy, perhaps that could have a Slow added when empowered by shockwaves (ideally without consuming the shockwaves).

 

If that's not feasible, then perhaps there could be an instant-hit Slow in the Meteor AoE, to keep enemies from running out of it while the main animation occurs. This could be short-duration (just the length of the animation itself).

[psylum1]

My major complaint about that you have to be on the ground to build seismic pressure. I know the typical counter to this would be that "Well it's an Earth Power, Of course you have to be on the ground." However this limitation hampers creativity and nudges you toward a specific play style to get the most out of the set.

[TheDreadnought]

12 minutes ago, Telephone said:

I just played around a little bit, and I think the set felt pretty good. The one thing I really wish is that the set had a Slow somewhere in it to combo with Meteor. Since Upthrust is an AoE and says it makes the enemies heavy, perhaps that could have a Slow added when empowered by shockwaves (ideally without consuming the shockwaves).

 

If that's not feasible, then perhaps there could be an instant-hit Slow in the Meteor AoE, to keep enemies from running out of it while the main animation occurs. This could be short-duration (just the length of the animation itself).

 

I like this idea a lot, though I also like the non-alerting nature of Meteor as is. I could see this affect also being a Fear or Sleep affect to mimic the paralysis some feel when observing something big happening. 

[WindDemon21]

16 minutes ago, Telephone said:

I just played around a little bit, and I think the set felt pretty good. The one thing I really wish is that the set had a Slow somewhere in it to combo with Meteor. Since Upthrust is an AoE and says it makes the enemies heavy, perhaps that could have a Slow added when empowered by shockwaves (ideally without consuming the shockwaves).

 

If that's not feasible, then perhaps there could be an instant-hit Slow in the Meteor AoE, to keep enemies from running out of it while the main animation occurs. This could be short-duration (just the length of the animation itself).

*cough* lava flow rain power *cough* lol

[WindDemon21]

So to recant: Upthrust and Entomb, smaller gfx, upthrust needs to be sped up to impact, And Meteor's acc is too low, dam/rech stats are way off, knockback needs to be changed to knockup and not so much, and hit time needs to be vastly sped up. Would honestly prefer it as a targetted aoe instead of a location aoe as well.

[Vanden]

17 minutes ago, Telephone said:

If that's not feasible, then perhaps there could be an instant-hit Slow in the Meteor AoE, to keep enemies from running out of it while the main animation occurs.

 

The animation has those little baby meteors hitting before the big daddy shows up, why not just have it do teeny damage and knockdown until the meteor arrives?

[Underfyre]

44 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

So to recant: Upthrust and Entomb, smaller gfx, upthrust needs to be sped up to impact, And Meteor's acc is too low, dam/rech stats are way off, knockback needs to be changed to knockup and not so much, and hit time needs to be vastly sped up. Would honestly prefer it as a targetted aoe instead of a location aoe as well.

 

**Drops a meteor the size of a house on their heads**

Missed?

[Riverdusk]

22 hours ago, Wavicle said:

 the sound is a bit much, and the screen shake is way too much.

 

There is an option to turn off screen shake (which I always do), it is just in a very weird spot.  Menu-Options-Controls-Mouse-Camera Shake

[Wavicle]

1 minute ago, Riverdusk said:

 

There is an option to turn off screen shake (which I always do), it is just in a very weird spot.  Menu-Options-Controls-Mouse-Camera Shake

Yeah, I know. But there are not, so far as I know, other power sets that have this “feature” on nearly every power in the set. It’s too much. I like having screen shake on for the few powers that use it appropriately. This set has it too much.

[Riverdusk]

Just now, Wavicle said:

Yeah, I know. But there are not, so far as I know, other power sets that have this “feature” on nearly every power in the set. It’s too much. I like having screen shake on for the few powers that use it appropriately. This set has it too much.

 

Fair enough 🙂

[Upgrade9]

On 11/5/2021 at 2:50 AM, Booper said:

 

Seismic Blast

New primary for Blasters and Corruptors, new secondary for Defenders.

 

You can manipulate earth and stone to defeat your foes. The crushing force of many Earth Powers can reduce a target's Defense.

 

Being of the Earth, you are the most powerful while on the ground. While grounded, your attacks increase Seismic Pressure. As your Seismic Pressure increases, the cooldown of other Seismic Blast attacks is reduced and your chances of triggering Seismic Shockwaves around you also increase. These Seismic Shockwaves will have a chance of knocking back foes and, while standing on the ground, empower some of your attacks. Rock Shards will have its area and damage increased. Seismic Force will cooldown in half the time. Stalagmite will deal a large amount of damage.

•   Encase  Ranged, Light DMG(Smash), Foe -Jump, -Fly, -DEF

  • Encase a foe in stone for a short moment, dealing damage and lowering their defense. They will also become heavy, limiting their ability to jump and fly for a short time. 

  • Encase grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Shatter  Ranged, Light DMG(Smash), Foe -Jump, -Fly, -DEF
  • Cover a foe in stone shards and shatter them, inflicting light damage and lowering their defense. They will also become heavy, limiting their ability to jump and fly for a short time. 

  • Shatter grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Rock Shards  Ranged Cone, Light DMG(Lethal), -Defense, Special
  • You launch a volley of stone shards at your target in a sweeping cone. These shards stab into the target, causing lethal damage. They will also continue to suffer additional lethal damage over time.

  •   If affected by Seismic Shockwaves, this power will halt the shockwaves, the up front damage will be increased and damage over time accelerated, foes will be knocked down, range will be increased to 80ft and arc to 50 degrees.

  • Rock Shards grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Entomb  Ranged, High DMG(Smash), Foe -Jump, -Fly, -DEF

  • Entomb foes in a big boulder, dealing high damage and lowering their defense. They will also become heavy, limiting their ability to jump and fly for a short time. 

  • Entomb grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Seismic Force  Self +To Hit, +DMG, +Special

  • Greatly increases the chance to hit of your attacks for a few seconds. Slightly increases damage.

  •   If affected by Seismic Shockwaves, this power will halt the shockwaves and Seismic Force will recharge in half the time.

•   Upthrust  Targeted AoE, Light DMG(Smashing), -Fly, -Defense, Chance to Knockdown
  • You channel seismic energy into the earth, causing a micro-fault to erupt under your target. This causes a shard of rock to thrust upward out of the ground, dealing smashing damage and lowering their defense. Affected foes will become heavy, limiting their ability to jump and fly for a short time. The force of the eruption can knockback enemies.

  • Upthrust grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Tombstone  Sniper, High DMG(Smash), Foe -Jump, -Fly
  • Create a giant pillar of stone, creating a Tombstone around your target dealing extreme damage and limiting their ability to jump and fly for a short time. 

  • This is a sniper attack, and is best fired from a distance as it can be interrupted. If you are engaged in battle this attack becomes instant-cast. If you are not engaged, it will do bonus damage.

  • Tombstone grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Stalagmite  Ranged, Variable DMG(Smash), Foe Disorient, Special
  • You can cause a Stalagmite to erupt under an enemy dealing minimal Lethal damage and Disorienting them for a good while. You must be on the ground to activate this power.

  •   If affected by Seismic Shockwaves, this power will halt the shockwaves and deal extreme damage. Bonus Damage is only 2/3rds enhanceable.

  • Stalagmite grants one stack of Seismic Pressure.

•   Meteor  Ranged (Location AoE), Extreme DMG(Smashing) Foe Knockback
  • You call down a meteor strike from the sky at a specified location. All targets within 30' are caught in the blast radius, taking extreme damage and being knocked back.
  • Note: This power uses the knock vector system. You'll notice the foes will be knocked up and back.

WHy? WHY? in all the world of blasters does this set have the most "Light dmg attacks"?  Its like its not even made for a blaster more like a defender.   Can this be adjusted please?

[0th Power]

Posted it earlier in the thread, but here it is again:  Any thought to changing "Meteor" to "Meteorite" to be accurate?