Please consider this rework of Darkness Affinity: Black Hole

[Indigo Blade]

Hello.

 

     Over all, I believe Darkness Affinity is a great Controller Secondary.  However, one power in the set has never interested me and I'm willing to bet others have commonly skipped this power as well.

 

     Black Hole currently reads:  Opens up a Black Hole to the Netherworld that temporarily pulls in all foes within its grasp. The victims become phase shifted and are completely intangible. They are hard to see, and cannot affect or be affected by those in normal space. Recharge: Slow

 

Type: click
Cast: 1.03 seconds, 13 endurance
Recharge: 120 seconds
Affects: 16 enemies, 50' range, 20' radius, 4 area factor, 1 accuracy versus AoE or negative defense

 +3 intangibility for 30 seconds on target

 +3 immobilization for 30 seconds on target

 • -100% threat for 30 seconds on target 

(Stats taken from City of Heroes Wiki)

 

     As it is, intangibility powers are much maligned and this one is no exception.  There are few (but not zero) applicable situations for this.  Not very appealing for a Tier 8.

 

     I propose Black Hole be reworked to closer work like Gravity Control's Tier 8: Worm Hole.  Ranged foe teleport, Foe disorient, knockback

 

     You can open a gravitational Wormhole behind a targeted foe and violently push him, and all nearby foes, through it. The victims are sent flying out the other end of the Wormhole and are left Disoriented. You determine the location of the Wormhole's end, and can place it high in the air if desired. More powerful foes may be resistant to the Wormhole effects.

 

     I would just change the Foe disorient to either be a -ACC or a short Fear  debuff.

 

     I believe this change would make Black Hole more enticing as a T8 power to pick.  Also, I'd think a Black Hole would work similarly to a Worm Hole, but that's just me.

 

Thank you for your consideration,

     Indigo Blade

 

 

 

   

[Rudra]

Given the two names, I'm inclined to disagree with the proposed fix. How about a power that draws all targets into itself like Singularity, applies a Hold (since nothing is supposed to get out from a black hole even though now we know better), and have it do severe damage over time. I'm inclined to still make the targets intangible, but that part can be left out.

 

My reasoning is based purely on the names. As someone who does not take enemy intangibility powers, I'm fine with pretty much anything that makes the power more appealing.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Rudra
Edited to add missing closing parenthesis.

[biostem]

As counterintuitive as it may sound, I have come to appreciate that some sets have "skippable" powers.  They each serve a purpose, albeit a niche one.  

[TheZag]

I also dont mind sets having skippable powers but i prefer them to be skipped because i dont need that functionality.  Not because a situation where it is useful is extremely rare.

 

My version of black hole would be a location AoE stun followed by the vacuum effect from singularity.  Targets that resist the stun are still slowed and have difficulty escaping the black hole along with their recharge reduced and lower accuracy.

 

It could be useful more often,  still functional as a control although less on/off,  not a copy of another ability,  and actually function like many people think of when they think black hole.  

[arcane]

How about they just make it the same as Dimension Shift so you get a nice buff to the power but no cottages are harmed in the process… 

 

And on a different note IMO Darkness Affinity is already too powerful to add an AoE reverse repel vacuum pull to. 

Edited June 4, 2022 by arcane

[Naraka]

People don't like intangibility powers.

 

Why not address that?  And I don't mean by removing intangibility or just changing intangibility to just a simple hold effect.

 

The problem is a lot of the content is too straight forward so esoteric tactics and effects either never get used or come off as detrimental. What kind of enemy or power could be introduced that incentivizes the target not be there? That might be harder to think about since no one wants to give the foes in the game any teeth.

[sbloyd]

I favor the "pull in enemies" idea (and not just because I suggested it a year ago 😄 ).  Skippable powers can be a thing, but as mentioned above, make them skippable because they're just "not for you" - not because "they suck in almost every situation".

[TheZag]

I should also mention that my version of black hole doesnt take the rest of the set into consideration and that the set is probably already powerful enough.  I was just considering black hole by itself and what its name makes me think it should do.  Get stunned for 3 seconds while the black hole sucks you in and then you can move again but getting free may prove difficult since you are slowed but staying in hits you with -acc and -recharge.