issue 27 Focused Feedback: Symphony Control

[The Curator]

Symphony Control

• New primary for Controllers and Dominators.
• Use the power of music to captivate and control the spirits of your enemies! Most of your symphonic abilities influence the mind of your enemies, causing psionic damage.

Powers:

 Melodic Binding  Ranged, Light DMG(Psionic), Immobilize, -Speed
 Hymn of Dissonance  Ranged, Light DMG(Psionic), Hold, -Recharge
 Aria of Stasis  Ranged (Cone), Minor DMG(Psionic), Immobilize, -Speed
 Impassioned Serenade Ranged, Minor DMG(Psionic), Confuse
 Dreadful Discord  Ranged (Cone), Minor DMG(Psionic), Fear
 Enfeebling Lullaby  Ranged (Cone), Moderate DMG(Psionic), Sleep
 Confounding Chant  Ranged (Cone), Superior DoT (Psionic), Foe Disorient
 Chords of Despair  Targeted AoE, Hold
 Reverberant  Reverberant Pet Summon

[EdgeOfDreams]

Can someone explain why a bunch of the powers in this set say "grant power: <whatever>" in their details? Is there some special set mechanic that wasn't explained in the patch notes?

[Captain Powerhouse]

In a future update that wont be visible, but thats part of how the pet's power repetition system works.

[Lazarillo]

Looks like a neat idea, especially with the pet not really being a "pet", it opens it up to a broad number of potential concepts.

Not a huge fan of the music notes in all the animations, though.  A note-free version would feel much more versatile.

[Bojutsu]

I'm very happy and excited about this power set.

What a great idea. 

Can't wait to try it out!

Thank you!

Edited July 12, 2022 by Bojutsu

[lightpunch]

I feel like Johnny Sonata and that Praetorian opera singer villain will be getting some new powers with this, neat. Wasn't on my list of dream controller sets but I'm intrigued -- looks like a lot of the powers deal damage, very curious to see what numbers it puts out. Also, cone-heavy, very different from most offensive sets in the game.

[Mezmera]

Have to agree from first glance it looks like a strong damage set through a lot of cones.  We'll have to see how the recharges are on the powers and the range of these cones and what the pet is all about.  

 

I was looking at was skippable and at first glance didn't notice the damage on the disorient and sleep cone.  Seems like the fear cone and t1 would be the ones to designate to skip if I must.  

 

Unique idea though and with all of that psionic damage you would think it would seem to step on Mind Control's toes but it looks pretty different in execution.  

[Ravenbane]

1 hour ago, Lazarillo said:

Looks like a neat idea, especially with the pet not really being a "pet", it opens it up to a broad number of potential concepts.

Not a huge fan of the music notes in all the animations, though.  A note-free version would feel much more versatile.

On the flip side I would VERY much like to see the notes applied to sonic blast. 

[Lazarillo]

3 minutes ago, Ravenbane said:

On the flip side I would VERY much like to see the notes applied to sonic blast. 

¿Por qué no los dos? is favorite maxim of mine.

[Psi]

Enfeebling Lullaby question.
 

Haven't been able to test this personally yet, but won't the pet's copy of this power almost immediately cancel out any sleep from the Player version since it also has a damage component?

[Dreamkeeper]

Echoing a comment already made, while the set seems really exciting (did some quick tinkering), a version without the music notes animations would help a lot with creativity/make the set feel a bit less "specific" to certain character themes.

[jojogladco]

Playing through with a Symph/Storm Controller the set felt fluid and fun from low levels and after boosting to 50 and fulling kitting out felt like a monster.

 

Might be the 1st confuse power I just can't be bothered to use, but because everything else in the kit just melts face and makes that extra bit of mitigation feel not needed. 

[Indystruck]

The phrasing on Aria of Stasis is "Your audience they take psionic damage and is rooted in place by Aria of Stasis" which can probably stand to be changed.
 

[Ravenbane]

4 hours ago, Lazarillo said:

¿Por qué no los dos? is favorite maxim of mine.

 

[WindDemon21]

This is quite a bit TOO many cones. Granted i like them, but it severely limits gameplay options when they never work around you, nor with corners/objects in the way. This is especially bad on the immobilize, as dark control will tell you. Forces you to only be able to play at range for the most part and won't mesh with sets well. Dark included, the aoe immobilize should be a large radius taoe, not a cone.

[Voltak]

As with other Single Target Confuse, strategically, I would like for the dmg component of the ST confuse in the new control Symphonic to go away.
The strategic use of confuse is hampered by the ST confuse now doing dmg. Since it now does dmg, the group around the target will become aggro'd.
There is no need and no one is asking for the ST confuse to dmg anything.
Traditionally confuse is not done with the hopes to aggro the group Seeds of COnfusion is different because it is AoE and it is short recharge. But single target confuse...
Still time to change this.
We don't need the dmg to remain, right? 
Would love to keep all ST confuse to work the same, no aggro.  
Much better than for it to do dmg and aggro the group.  
Leaves less options on how to open a group. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Voltak

[Nemu]

Focusing on power names:

 

Confounding chant could be changed to Jarring Tritone. Confounding aligns more with confusion by definition and this power stuns. Traditionally tritones were considered very dissonant and unpleasant. One could draw a correlation that it has a stunning effect back in the days when people heard it. Even today most emergency vehicle sirens use tritones to alert people.

 

If I read impassioned serenade I'd think it's a buff or something. Entrancing Serenade should align more with the confuse and "getting stuff to fight for you" nature of the power.

 

Chords of despair sounds so... negative, how about Captivating Encore? Captivating aligns a bit more with the idea that the power holds, chords of despair makes me think it's more fear related. 

 

On the powers themselves:

 

I guess the density of cones in the set belies the thought that like sonic blast, the sounds is coming from one place like a person's mouth. A whole orchestral ensemble is bit larger.

 

If you allow your interpretation to be a bit looser (like you are able to conjure sounds instead of blasting them out of your mouth), then it doesn't need to be so cone heavy. Especially the AoE immob. There are enough secondaries that are melee heavy and a cone immob means you need to reposition mid combat and that time spent repositioning + cast time + mobs chasing you since you moved means mobs are never rooted where you wanted them to be. I'm not a stickler for formulaic powerset design but this is one power that I'd prefer to stay as a targetted AoE across all control sets.

 

Likewise if that looser interpretation sticks then where are some opportunities to use drop patches for some powers as well. A Symphony is performed on a set stage right?

Edited July 13, 2022 by Nemu

[blue4333]

1) The pet is listed as <Earth Control>

 

2) The sounds for the powers seem a bit on the loud side? Not sure if it's just me but I only have my ingame sound volume at 3%

[JayboH]

6 hours ago, Mezmera said:

Have to agree from first glance it looks like a strong damage set through a lot of cones.  We'll have to see how the recharges are on the powers and the range of these cones and what the pet is all about.  

 

I was looking at was skippable and at first glance didn't notice the damage on the disorient and sleep cone.  Seems like the fear cone and t1 would be the ones to designate to skip if I must.  

 

Unique idea though and with all of that psionic damage you would think it would seem to step on Mind Control's toes but it looks pretty different in execution.  

I would skip the sleep, I know many people do that anyway outside of Electric Control, but as a reminder, since this one deals damage, any Interface damage procs will likely wake up enemies near instantly from the sleep due to their DoT that kicks in.

[JayboH]

5 hours ago, Dreamkeeper said:

Echoing a comment already made, while the set seems really exciting (did some quick tinkering), a version without the music notes animations would help a lot with creativity/make the set feel a bit less "specific" to certain character themes.

"Symphony" Control without music...?  wat

[JayboH]

Will echo what I said on the other server:  can Chords' projectile be sped up a bit please?  The pet could use some faster and tighter following behavior IMO too.

Edited July 13, 2022 by JayboH

[Aeolus]

I am very excited to get this set into the game. I think it is very creative; graphics looks impressive and something from the original game’s content creators. So, kudos on all the hard work it took into creating this amazing set.

 

Feedback wise, it’s a little too specific of a power set. Sonic Domination probably would have been a better power to create, since it is so generic in scope. Sonic heroes and villains are quite common (Black Bolt, Black Canary, Siryn, Claw, Banshee, etc). Music themed heroes and villains, not so much (Piped Piper, White Violin, Fiddler are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head). I’m seeing tons of opera singers, sirens, DJs, etc (not that is a bad thing, I’m all ready thinking of my music themed dominator at this very moment). With it being very specific, it limits replayability with other toons. Why create a new music themed toon when you all ready have one? This would have been a great reskin for the Sonic powersets in other archetypes or even a new sound effect option. The growling sound or the melodic sound as an option (however, I am not a coder and don’t know how it would work, just an idea). 

 

Including Sonic Assault feels like it would pair better with Sonic Domination rather than Symphony Control. Usually when introducing new powersets, they compliment each other (Seismic Blast and Earth Manipulation for example). Or a Symphony Assault to compliment this power set.

 

That being said, the originality of this powerset is remarkable. I will definitely be rolling one when it hits live. I’ve all ready played around with it for a few hours. I’m loving how many holds it has and making it mostly comes really plays well with my ranged Dominator playing style. It truly does stand out as a unique set.

 

So thank you to the devs for all your hard work and please don’t take this as harsh criticism, just feedback on this and future powersets. Thank you again!

Edited July 13, 2022 by Aeolus

[Agorazium]

First of all, thank you x a million to anyone involved in creating this set. My "main" for the last 15+ years is a light- and sound-themed toon and I feel like this set was tailor-made for her (Sonic Resonance is so boring lol).

 

On a slightly less subjective note, I really like the set. The # of cones doesn't bother me since I prefer consistent positioning on my characters but if it is an issue for most people I think some of the powers could easily (and thematically) be turned into PBAOEs instead. 

 

Seconded that the sfx are extremely loud, and that Chord's projectile feels very slow, even compared to the other slower AOE holds like Shadow Field.

[CountVampyro]

I built up a symphony/sonic controller & ran a quick solo Infernal mission,  It plays very strong, but the sounds on the symphony powers get a bit annoying after a while.  I can't imagine running this for hours in TF's, etc. & what it will sound like with a team full of these toons. 😱   Maybe include an option in character creation to change the power sounds to something a bit softer or more musically pleasant?  Otherwise, this looks like it will be a fun set to run with.  Thanks for all the hard work!

[Mezmera]

Okay so the set is pretty strong.  Not Plant levels of OP but some real nice aoe damage from Confounding Chant and proc'ing the aoe hold.  Enfeebling Lullaby is actually quite good it is a nice cone of soft control on its own but it also debuffs targets of 20% damage so if they are awoken they are doing less damage.  The pet is decent too. 

 

If you know how to play control and can get the most out of cones this is a nice set.  It does feel a little sluggish but that's coming from a Mind Control main where those animations are super fast.  Plus I paired it with the Sonic Assault and together they feel a bit slow but quite strong damage wise.  This is an aoe machine for certain.  

 

I found Hymn, Lullaby, Chant, Despair and Reverberant to be the must take powers.  I actually skipped the confuse which I don't do but being a ST control that will cause aggro I found better options in focusing towards aoe.  

Edited July 13, 2022 by Mezmera