Do you prefer power sets to be unique or similar?

[TheZag]

When you are choosing a power set for a new character,  many of them are fairly similar.  Blast for example has a small shot, medium shot, big shot, snipe, aim, AoE and a nuke on many of its choices.  Melee and control have their own pattern that is mostly followed.

 

Then there are several power sets that clearly dont follow the pattern.  Illusion control and ice blast are the first that come to mind for me and there are others as well.

 

So my question for you is do you like power sets that stand out as unique or wish they were more similar to other sets for that type?

 

Personally, i like having power sets available that have something different to offer.  Ice blast doesnt have a snipe or a nuke but it has a pair of holds and a pair of rain powers.  Illusion control is so different from other controls its probably quicker to say what it has the same...the T9 is a pet summon.

 

Im always happy to see new powers and power sets but im especially happy when they dont follow the 'traditional' format. 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by TheZag

[The_Warpact]

Different, this is probably why I dont do blasters or play sets that are too similar. 

The repetitive blast, blast aoe, blast melee, sniper, etc blah. Although I really like some of the secondaries.

In addition I love to choose weird set combinations, like Rad/Ice tanker.

Different, unique thats where its at.

[arcane]

I want to play as many as possible! Once I hit 100 50’s soon here, I will have only 8 powersets not leveled to 50 on any AT (3 MM primaries and 5 Dom secondaries, I believe).
 

Ofc this assumes (1) if the powerset name is the same, it counts, even though Sentinel’s for instance have a lot of little unique features and (2) let’s admit that Ninja Blade and Katana ate the same set 🙂

[Li_Sensei]

Illusion has a ST Hold, AoE Hold, A.N.Other control (Confuse rather than immob, and I may be stretching the point with that one...) A.N.Other Aoe soft control (Spectral Terror versus Flashfire, for example), Pet (Which Mind control doesn't get) and then more utility than you can shake a stick at.

 

I like the fact that's it's an oddball relic of the early days, and that it plays differently to most other control sets.

 

In fact, if you think about it, there was a lot more variation and differentiation between sets in the old Issue 0/1 sets.  Stone Armour, Invuln, Fire armour all play significantly differently to each other, Earth control is a VERY different beast to Fire control.  Broadsword and Claws, Fire Blast versus Assault Rifle, Kinetics versus Radiation Emission...

 

Maybe it's just getting jaded, but I do feel like the risk taking that was implicitly on display in the early sets got toned WAAYYYY the hell back for later powersets.  Maybe the massive effort involved in trying to get such disparate entities power balanced was a prompt in that move.

 

And given I'm an oddball who *LIKED* the original Stone armour, and still refuses to jump on my Stone/Fire scranker (who's been there, tanked that for pretty much everything in the game), take my words and opinions with a pinch of salt...

[Chrono-Bot]

Concept is huge for me *but* I have to admit I am drawn to the powers that stand out just so I can try them. I've been playing types I never played on live, minus my db/regen melee.

[Bill Z Bubba]

Can I like both? I'd like to see new powersets doing different things but what I hate seeing are powers shared between ATs that aren't the same beyond how their AT modifiers affect them.

[TheZag]

1 minute ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Can I like both? I'd like to see new powersets doing different things but what I hate seeing are powers shared between ATs that aren't the same beyond how their AT modifiers affect them.

 

We took a vote and the judges will allow it.

[Gwyrddu]

I prefer unique power sets, assuming there is some semblance to balance involved. Some of the coolest sets and abilities are also pretty unique as well. I will play devil's advocate though and point out that the more unique systems with each power set you have, the less likely you will have anything else that interacts with them though. So we will likely never see an IO set that interacts with blood frenzy or any other power set that benefits from the contaminated condition. It's a minor downside but one I see pop up in other games as well. For example D&D nearly every class and some subclasses have their own resource or mechanic and almost none of them have anything to do with anything else.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Gwyrddu

[Peacemoon]

I sort of like both. I like the sets to follow a similar formula but have space for their own interpretation.

None of the Control sets are the same, but they all follow a similar pattern. Same with Mastermind sets. I think if there was a set that was completely unique it might be a bit disorientating.

[Greycat]

3 hours ago, TheZag said:

 

So my question for you is do you like power sets that stand out as unique or wish they were more similar to other sets for that type?

 

 

 

"Yes."

 

The "standard" set layout is fine as a guide, but if every set followed it as gospel... it would be pretty boring. You could collapse them down into one and just give them custom graphics instead. I want sets to inspire ideas for characters, or backstories, or just be fun and unique in their own way - whether it's secondary effects, look, breaking that order, or having some other quirk... at least up to a point. When they start feeling like they're there to have you chase a mechanic (see: dual blades combos,) they become less fun.

[iBot]

I'd have to say I like power sets that are different enough that I don't feel like I'm playing "XYZ" just now it is YELLOW!.  That sort.  I really like some of the unique sets in CoH that step outside the formula for that AT and mix in different aspects from other power sets.  I like that defense based characters play differently from resist based.  I dislike the sameness of most blaster sets, even though blasters are my favorite AT, and is probably why I only have 2.  I would like to see in the future even more proliferation of powers with mixing of different affects.  I know there are limits to the game engine but pushing those would be fun to see.

[biostem]

I think it's a 2-pronged question:  A power set must be able to accomplish its primary purpose, (damage, control, etc) - so if it deviates too far from that goal, it'll be less played.  At the same time, sets should have a distinct enough feel so that they don't all become simple recolors of one-another.  It's a tricky balance to achieve.  That being said, I'd rather the sets have a more unique feel to each of them...

[DougGraves]

I want powersets to be on a sliding scale of doing several things.

 

Blaster powersets should basically all do the same damage.  But they can do single target damage, aoe damage, control, and debuff.  So powersets should have a mix of these. 

 

It would be fine for blaster powersets to have 5 powers that were essentially the same for all sets - single target attacks of different power but with a different secondary effect.  Then the other 4 powers provide the real customization.  AoE, control, or whatever. 

 

You could have a set with 4 control powers, 4 aoe powers, a mix, etc.  So you  can pick a set that has the balance that you  want.

[DoctorDitko]

I confess I'm all about the diversity. I don't want any powerset to be the OP FOTW OMG winner. I think they should all have their strengths and weaknesses, but there should be reasons to try every one.

 

One of my favorites is Storm/* Defender. It plays like nothing else. It's a very... extrovert power set for a Defender.

And a huge blast to play, once you suss it out!

 

 

 

 

[biostem]

17 minutes ago, DoctorDitko said:

And a huge blast to play, once you suss it out!

 

I see what you did there...  

[TheZag]

ive never tried dual blades,  partly because i didnt want to learn and manage combos.  but now that i have a few more hours (months) of CoH under my belt i may give it a go.  my guess is the combo building melee sets are the most different feel when it comes to melee.

[ihatethewind]

3 hours ago, TheZag said:

ive never tried dual blades,  partly because i didnt want to learn and manage combos.  but now that i have a few more hours (months) of CoH under my belt i may give it a go.  my guess is the combo building melee sets are the most different feel when it comes to melee.

Ironically you can pretty much ignore the combos for DB, the best attack chain doesn’t even use them as far as I remember.  Aside from my pedantic response though I tend to also avoid the combo sets.

[SuggestorK]

Have to add,.. why not both, so both will be my answer too.

 

Just please no more mechanics that prevent a healthy power usage flow (long Cast/Animation Times beside an overpower T 9 Attack)... like Kinetic Melee, Titan Weapons,.... and my bane's attacks are so slow... i saw ppl do 3 attacks until one of my mace attacks was finally done in a Council TF Yesterday, just couldnt get into the flow....

[Bill Z Bubba]

6 hours ago, ihatethewind said:

Ironically you can pretty much ignore the combos for DB, the best attack chain doesn’t even use them as far as I remember.  Aside from my pedantic response though I tend to also avoid the combo sets.

 

Ran an ITF with my newish DB/Nrg Scrapper last night. Thanks to the extra recharge from Entropic Aura, her two attack chains are BF, SS, AS, repeat for ST and BF, SS, TE, repeat for AoE. She's putting out some healthy numbers and I don't even see the combo circles show up at all.

[Without_Pause]

Similar in that they have a variety of tools versus being overly dominant in something specific, ST vs. AoE. I do like sets which have shorter animations but there's a large number of sets which have at least one which I take issue with. I do like variation is terms of what the sets do and how they feel. Playing a Widow/Fort has very much been "Why didn't anybody tell me about this earlier?" vibe to it.

[Troo]

Balance.. the knife's edge. (and why diversity can be hard)

Design limitations.

The addiction to combo mechanics.

 

Given the above, flavor can easily be found reskinning and mix-n-matching various powers into a wide array of sets.

 

My preference: Plain Jane, hard hitting with one non-combo trick up the sleeve. (Unique)

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Troo

[JnEricsonx]

On 11/10/2021 at 10:01 PM, TheZag said:

ive never tried dual blades,  partly because i didnt want to learn and manage combos.  but now that i have a few more hours (months) of CoH under my belt i may give it a go.  my guess is the combo building melee sets are the most different feel when it comes to melee.

Honestly, as someone who loved their DB/WP scrapper back on live, the combos became muscle memory.  That and the fact that each power in the combo does light up in your power bar.  So hit power X, power Y lights up, hit that, power Z, etc.

[Lazarillo]

I do like sets to have a little bit of flavor among them.  That said, a lot of the ways uniqueness gets established is through janky mechanics that make sets more of a chore than anything, often not to any real benefit in terms of style nor number crunching.  Psi Melee, for example, just really feels un-worth the hassle of wondering if Insight is going to come up or be locked and how long buffs last, etc.  Water Blast can also be frustrating because of the way the Tidal Force mechanics work.  And I'm basically just not even gonna try to understand what's going on with the new Seismic Blast sets.

 

But on the other hand, I enjoy how my Mind/Dark near-Blaster Dominator plays very differently from my "glorious chaos!" Plant/Savage Dominator, or how I have a super fun team support Pain/Sonic Defender who's different from my "the blue shield icon means he's a tank" Time/Rad.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Lazarillo

[wjrasmussen]

On 11/10/2021 at 10:03 AM, TheZag said:

When you are choosing a power set for a new character,  many of them are fairly similar.  Blast for example has a small shot, medium shot, big shot, snipe, aim, AoE and a nuke on many of its choices.  Melee and control have their own pattern that is mostly followed.

 

Then there are several power sets that clearly dont follow the pattern.  Illusion control and ice blast are the first that come to mind for me and there are others as well.

 

So my question for you is do you like power sets that stand out as unique or wish they were more similar to other sets for that type?

 

Personally, i like having power sets available that have something different to offer.  Ice blast doesnt have a snipe or a nuke but it has a pair of holds and a pair of rain powers.  Illusion control is so different from other controls its probably quicker to say what it has the same...the T9 is a pet summon.

 

Im always happy to see new powers and power sets but im especially happy when they dont follow the 'traditional' format. 

 

 

Yes

[DreadShinobi]

I generally find myself latching on to specific power sets that fit my playstyle and then proceeding to make an excessive number of variants searching for which combination works best for me.

 

For example I have played plant doms with rad, fiery, and thorny assault secondaries, and plant with poison on controller. I do have a grav/fiery dom and enjoyed mind/fire before the servers went down, but otherwise I am far more likely to make another plant dominator with a different secondary than I am to play a primary that is not plant because plant control is like a pair of pants that fit just right! My play experience with plant/rad, plant/fire, and plant/thorny were all unique enough in my book. As with plant control same goes for energy aura stalkers that given time which I do not have, I would make an EA stalker with nearly every primary before touching any other secondary [and each EA stalker I have made has felt entirely unique from any other, they just all have that fabulous foundation], or with fire blasting blasters, I am more likely to play fire with every blaster secondary before touching a primary that is not fire or any brute that is not fiery aura. And yes I realize this may not be very relatable but how I enjoy coh :> homogeneity can be good as @Bill Z Bubba points out, I equally share my frustration around powers being adjusted for some instances but not all, and this is an issue being perpetuated by the changes being made by our current dev team, and will hopefully be looked at eventually, hopefully before a hole is not dug too deep where there are too many differences between powers that all have the same name but perform vastly different depending on if is dark mastery soul drain or soul mastery soul drain or domi hurl boulder or scrapper hurl boulder. However homogeneity between power sets as @DougGraves suggests above would take a whole lot away from the unique play experiences that I've had and can still have replaying powersets that I enjoy with new combos.

Edited November 28, 2021 by DreadShinobi