EMP Arrow hold

[Uun]

It was my understanding that EMP Arrow was supposed to hold all targets, with electronic targets taking damage. I'm having a hard time following that on CoD. Who gets the 17.88 second hold and who gets the 8,344 second hold? It looks like the "electronic" tag is attached to both. (These are the corruptor numbers, but defenders and controllers show the same thing with different durations and damage amounts.) Unfortunately the in-game information for the power seem to be truncated and not showing all the effects. Before I go field testing this, can someone verify who the hold is effecting?

 

[Linea]

Are you looking at the old EMP Arrow on the out of date CoD?

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=defender_buff.trick_arrow.emp_arrow

 

I've looked, I can't tell either.  I'm pretty sure it's a pulsing field with a chance to hit, but if it does hit, it does damage to all, and hold to all, with extra +1s for electronics.   Poke @UberGuy or one of the powers devs to maybe get a better explanation.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Linea

[EmperorSteele]

I think that's the Controller "Overpower" mechanic, where all Controller CC abilities have a chance for an extra point of magnitude.

 

Dunno for sure though.

[GM Impervium]

Powers discussion should probably be in the AT section, so, moved 😃

 

Also, unsure if it's an issue with CoD or something else. I'm sure someone will come up with an answer for you, though!

[Onlyasandwich]

In-game detail on this is really weird, and lines up with the CoD info you quote:

The "electronic targets only" tag is still present in the text.

 

However, it definitely holds non electronic targets in testing. Even the mag 1 additional chance works, allowing you a 50% chance to hold bosses in one go.

 

This is not a pulsing field for the sake of the hold - the hold is a one-time affect. The pulsing field is only for the status protection and resists.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Onlyasandwich

[Mezmera]

On use my EMP Arrow seems to hold electronic targets with much more frequency than organic ones.  It's real apparent how this hold reacts on use when you're running something like say an Apex or Tin Mage.  Even if its targets don't get held it has great synergy with Ice Arrow for those harder targets.  

 

The least of the reasons to take TA's EMP Arrow is the hold though. 

 

Everyone in that bubble gets 13 mez protection from everything which you will really notice how good it is for instance on the ITF against Romulus' rez stuns.  You also give everyone 15% resistance across the board and also you get 33% endurance debuff resistance.  This lasts for 4 minutes as long as you're in the cage but you can get its recharge down to say 1:30 so it travels with you well.  

 

You're also applying a nasty debuff to targets inside this cage for a minute.  You're doing the potential of your TA a big disservice not taking this power.  Fantastic t9 power in its current form.  

Edited February 16, 2022 by Mezmera

[Uun]

4 hours ago, Mezmera said:

The least of the reasons to take TA's EMP Arrow is the hold though. 

Understood. It's more a question of how to slot it, as it only takes Hold and End Mod sets. 

[Mezmera]

9 minutes ago, Uun said:

Understood. It's more a question of how to slot it, as it only takes Hold and End Mod sets. 

 

Ah yeah it's tough.  TA doesn't benefit too well from slotting any one particular way it seems.  The benefit of TA is pretty front loaded in the powers themselves and since almost everything is a quasi rain with fast recharge slotting procs isn't all that desirable, except for Ice Arrow and what you want to get out of EMP Arrow.  

 

I slotted mine with 2 Synapitc Shock for the end drain and 2 Superior Entombs for the recharge and absorb proc along with that 6% resist.  I went for as much recharge in this power as I could get. 

 

If I were to really go for the gusto with this power I'd do 4 Unbreakable Constraints w/proc for that accuracy bonus and 2 Synaptic Shock for the end drain.  I'd still want this one to recharge as fast as I can proc calculation be damned.  

Edited February 17, 2022 by Mezmera

[Uun]

7 minutes ago, Mezmera said:

 

Ah yeah it's tough.  TA doesn't benefit too well from slotting any one particular way it seems.  The benefit of TA is pretty front loaded in the powers themselves and since almost everything is a quasi rain with fast recharge slotting procs isn't all that desirable, except for Ice Arrow and what you want to get out of EMP Arrow.  

 

I slotted mine with 2 Synapitc Shock for the end drain and 2 Superior Entombs for the recharge and absorb proc along with that 6% resist.  I went for as much recharge in this power as I could get. 

 

If I were to really go for the gusto with this power I'd do 4 Unbreakable Constraints w/proc for that accuracy bonus and 2 Synaptic Shock for the end drain.  I'd still want this one to recharge as fast as I can proc calculation be damned.  

For the time being I'm going with 5 Basilisk's Gaze, which comes close to maxing the recharge and the hold duration and provides a 7.5% global recharge bonus. 

[Mezmera]

18 minutes ago, Uun said:

For the time being I'm going with 5 Basilisk's Gaze, which comes close to maxing the recharge and the hold duration and provides a 7.5% global recharge bonus. 

 

Recharge and End Mod are the two attributes I want most to enhance in EMP Arrow.  I'd test out some End Mod to see how you like the end drain.  

[Onlyasandwich]

1 hour ago, Uun said:

Hold

I typically either go 4 basilisk in it, or throw the 5 leftovers from the Purple set after using the proc in another power.

 

The res and mez prot are really great, but I actually primarily use it as a hold. It handles a spawn for me sometimes when Oil Slick is down and I have extra attention. When doing so, it's worth noting positioning so you team benefits from the static field.

[Uun]

I went to DA and tested it on some BP and Talons. I was definitely getting the 8 second hold (15 seconds enhanced), not the 18 second hold (31 seconds enhanced). I assume electronic targets get the longer hold. 

[UberGuy]

10 hours ago, Linea said:

Are you looking at the old EMP Arrow on the out of date CoD?

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=defender_buff.trick_arrow.emp_arrow

 

Er. CoD isn't out of date. It has been current since about a week after Page 3 landed.

[UberGuy]

Regarding the original question: You have to pay attention to the nesting of the sections in the power, as indicated by the lines on the left-hand side of each row of information.

 

 

See how there is a line on the left that runs from that first "100% chance" (above where your picture starts) row down to the first "if target>enttype eq 'critter'".
Then, indented a bit inside of that line there's another line that runs from the 2nd "100% chance" (the first one in your picture) to "if target.HasTag?(Electronic)"? And then there's another, separate line at the 2nd indentation level running from the third "100% chance" down to  "if !target.HasTag?(Electronic)". Those nested or split lines show you how the effects are grouped, with the controlling condition at the bottom.

 

So it reads like this:

 

If the target is a critter:

  The target loses -40% Endurance
  The target suffers -500% Regeneration for 45s
  The target suffers -500% Regenerationfor 15s
  If the target has has the "Electronic" tag:

    The target takes 68.... points of Energy damage

    The target suffers  suffers a 17.88s mag 3 hold

    There's a 50% chance the target suffers another mag 1 of the same duration.

  If the target lacks the "Electronic tag:

    The target suffers  suffers a 8.334s mag 3 hold

    There's a 50% chance the target suffers another mag 1 of the same duration.

If the target is a player:

  etc....
 

So basically the Electronic tagged things get a longer hold and damage, while others get a shorter hold.

 

PS: In case you hadn't seen it, the nesting stuff is actually outlined in the help pages.

Edit: Fixing my own misreading of the blocks!

Edited February 17, 2022 by UberGuy

[Uun]

39 minutes ago, UberGuy said:

If the target lacks the "Electronic tag:

Thanks very much for explaining that. I followed the nesting stuff but missed that the tag on the first group said "if target.HasTag?" while the tag on the second group said "if !target.HasTag". Those exclamation marks are hard to see.

[UberGuy]

15 hours ago, Uun said:

Those exclamation marks are hard to see.

 

That's good to know. Any suggestions on how to improve it? Bigger font? Something else?

[Uun]

On 2/17/2022 at 2:25 PM, UberGuy said:

That's good to know. Any suggestions on how to improve it? Bigger font? Something else?

Don't get old?

[UberGuy]

14 hours ago, Uun said:

Don't get old?

 Doing my best without considering any extreme measures.