Sonic Blast needs some love

[kelika2]

The -res isnt really justifying its lower damage.

I mean hell, [Wall of Force] does more damage than Shockwave, and shockwave does less damage than [Howl] even with its -res on

The only time you will see someone praise Siren's Song is some soloist sleeping a group and picking things off one at a time

 

Consider bumping up Shockwave and Siren Song's damage up a bit

[biostem]

It's not just about what the powers do directly, but how they also benefit your team;  the -RES is a literal force multiplier, as you are effectively increasing the damage of everyone else who attacks that target.  While I'm not against having the numbers looked at, I think -RES is one of the most powerful debuffs one can apply...

[Spaghetti Betty]

Since Shockwave is meant to be a Gale clone, I feel like it's fine. Siren's Song, however.. No idea what they were thinking giving a blast set an AoE sleep. Personally, I would just get rid of that power entirely, but I'm not a dev.

 

If any power in Sonic needs a damage buff, it's Screech, IMO. The set really lacks another decent ST blast. If you're bouncing a sound wave off an opponents ear drums so precisely that it overloads their senses, I feel like that should do some heavy damage.

[Rudra]

You usually sacrifice power for precision. That said, a precise strike can be more deadly than a strong one depending on the target and what is hit in either case.

 

Edit: As for why have an AoE Sleep in a blast set? When solo, it gives CC options. Doesn't really help on a team though.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Rudra

[Spaghetti Betty]

13 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Edit: As for why have an AoE Sleep in a blast set? When solo, it gives CC options. Doesn't really help on a team though.

Not knocking AoE sleeps as an option, just seems like a redundancy in the set with Shockwave being an easily loopable and oftentimes more effective CC while soloing. Neither are really that worthwile in team play.

[biostem]

35 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

Siren's Song, however

When I'm soloing my /son defender, siren's song is a great way to temporarily remove some enemies form a fight so I can focus on the ones I want to better setup my buffs/debuffs.  I can then pick off one enemy at a time as I see fit...

[Ston]

44 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

If any power in Sonic needs a damage buff, it's Screech, IMO. The set really lacks another decent ST blast. If you're bouncing a sound wave off an opponents ear drums so precisely that it overloads their senses, I feel like that should do some heavy damage.

 

If screech were to get a damage buff, I think the following powers would need to get one as well:

• Stunning Arrow
• Beanbag
• Suppressive Fire
• Scramble Thoughts
• Stalagmite

Personally, I think this is the way to go since they do decent damage on sentinels. Buff blaster ST stun damage and add a couple stun damage procs... problem solved IMO.

[arcane]

I think it needs S/T help slightly more than AoE help. Having BOTH (1) no snipe and (2) heavy hitter animation a couple of hours long puts it in perhaps last place for single target potential. AoE isn’t great, but you can make the cones work if you try. My Sonic/Time has procs in cones and Clarion Radial and the AoE could be worse I guess.

[arcane]

12 minutes ago, Ston said:

 

If screech were to get a damage buff, I think the following powers would need to get one as well:

• Stunning Arrow
• Beanbag
• Suppressive Fire
• Scramble Thoughts
• Stalagmite

Personally, I think this is the way to go since they do decent damage on sentinels. Buff blaster ST stun damage and add a couple stun damage procs... problem solved IMO.

Suppressive Fire (fits hold procs) and Stalagmite (chance for extra extreme damage) are better than the others here, but yeah, I’d have no problem giving these attacks reasonable base damage.

[Spaghetti Betty]

47 minutes ago, biostem said:

When I'm soloing my /son defender, siren's song is a great way to temporarily remove some enemies form a fight so I can focus on the ones I want to better setup my buffs/debuffs.  I can then pick off one enemy at a time as I see fit...

To each their own. I've found that I prefer ragdoll physics as a CC over sleep 90% of the time.

[biostem]

13 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

To each their own. I've found that I prefer ragdoll physics as a CC over sleep 90% of the time.

If there isn't a convenient wall around and/or I want to keep the enemies where they are, sleep is better, IMO.  It's also an easier go-to if I don't want to worry about a KB->KD IO...

[Greycat]

Honestly, the main thing I want to adjust in Sonic Blast are the *sounds.* Something consistent and sensible instead of "Hey, I'm a wolf!" "Hey, I'm a tech gun!" "Hey, I go woowoowoo!"

[TraumaTrain]

I also need some love, but that's also not likely to happen.

[macskull]

6 hours ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

If any power in Sonic needs a damage buff, it's Screech, IMO. The set really lacks another decent ST blast. If you're bouncing a sound wave off an opponents ear drums so precisely that it overloads their senses, I feel like that should do some heavy damage.

Adding damage to Screech would be cool, since Sonic is one of the sets lacking a snipe and never got buffed after the quick snipe change. Honestly though cutting down the animation time on Shout would do wonders for the set.

[Golden Azrael]

I think that Screech could be a super cool snipe.  A snipe that stuns!

 

Any Sonic/Sonic Manip' builds out there.  

 

1st 5 pages of the blaster thread and none?

 

I'm enjoying mine.  L35 so far.

 

Azrael.

[arcane]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:16 PM, macskull said:

Adding damage to Screech would be cool, since Sonic is one of the sets lacking a snipe and never got buffed after the quick snipe change. Honestly though cutting down the animation time on Shout would do wonders for the set.

This. Making the heavy hitter the set already has not feel so meh seems like the most logical first step.

[kelika2]

How about Screech being bumped to Moderate/high damage and add that Chain mechanic to jump to up to 5 targets

[Rudra]

Erm... how does a screech jump from target to target? If you want it to affect multiple foes, making it a cone makes more sense.

[kelika2]

2 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Erm... how does a screech jump from target to target? If you want it to affect multiple foes, making it a cone makes more sense.

Hey if we can target the inner eardrum specifically on one target, why not go for 4 more?

[Rudra]

Just had a thought based on screech jumping from target to target, and it was mildly amusing. If you want to make screech affect multiple foes and don't like cones, how about it being a ST target attack as is, but the affected target is induced into making a secondary screech that is a small radius AoE affecting up to 5 targets? 😄

[kelika2]

1 minute ago, Rudra said:

Just had a thought based on screech jumping from target to target, and it was mildly amusing. If you want to make screech affect multiple foes and don't like cones, how about it being a ST target attack as is, but the affected target is induced into making a secondary screech that is a small radius AoE affecting up to 5 targets? 😄

Same reason the attacker can know where the eardrum is of every creature it attacks is, just works.

[Rudra]

Apologies. The laughing emoji is me expressing how much that thought tickled me. It was actually meant as an alternate idea to affect multiple foes. You screech a full effect power at a target, and the target is induced into creating a weaker affect with a small radius effect centered on the affected target.

[kelika2]

Just now, Rudra said:

Apologies. The laughing emoji is me expressing how much that thought tickled me. It was actually meant as an alternate idea to affect multiple foes. You screech a full effect power at a target, and the target is induced into creating a weaker affect with a small radius effect centered on the affected target.

sounds like a plan

[macskull]

5 hours ago, Rudra said:

Erm... how does a screech jump from target to target? If you want it to affect multiple foes, making it a cone makes more sense.

This is a game where I can shoot fire out of my palms, throw a ghost shark at someone, encase allies in a block of ice, or surround an opponent with toxic fungal spores. Using "theme" or "it wouldn't work this way in real life" to justify withholding buffs is just lazy.

 

EDIT: Suppose I should point out this isn't really directed at you so much as it is venting my frustrations at the powers guy for using ridiculous arbitrary rules in deciding whether a power is balanced.

Edited May 5, 2022 by macskull

[Rudra]

Except in those cases, illogical or unrealistic as those may be, they still have a foundation in what could be construed as reasonable in a world of super powers and super physics. I guess I'm just old fashioned and like things to have a sense of possibility. The jumping mechanic is a good tool, I just think a ST target attack that afterwards blossoms into a radius makes more sense and doesn't require the player to take suspension of disbelief to whole new levels.

 

With some effort, almost anything can be justified. I just keep hoping that if someone gives an effect they would like to see, they give that justification so I can follow along.

 

Edit: Like in my proposal, the justification would be the player character hits the target with screech. That attack inflicts its full effect on the target. The target is induced into a howl, whether by pain, reflex, or other; which applies a weaker effect to other targets within the radius since it is not a pinpoint attack but a general area scream.

 

Edit again: Note that my proposal is also unrealistic and illogical. My justification is presented as being logical because of the nature of a super world.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Rudra