Focused Feedback: Force Fields Revamp

[Wavicle]

45 minutes ago, brass_eagle said:

 

Replying to my own topic. I guess I misunderstood the slow -special portion. I tested an AE Claws / Regen +2 minion.

 

From power analyzer -- enemy has Fast Healing and Follow Up -- before and after:

 

 

It is working. However it did not affect the passive buff from Fast Healing, even though the -special regen should overcome the regen resistance in Fast healing I think.

 

Testing with a AE mob that has Integration did see the regeneration from the power go down though. I was confused.

 

 

If it works like Power Boost then this is the expected behavior.

It does not work on Passive abilities (Power Boost does not affect Health). It does work on Active abilities (like Integration, Instant Healing, or Regeneration Aura).

[Wavicle]

2 minutes ago, nethod said:

Damp bubble confuses me. When should It be used? on Devouring earth Eminators, crey protectors and such that buff other badies? 

 

is dampening bubbles design to be used on the post level 32 type mobs that sometimes do that kind of mass buffing like nemisis with vengence and all that?

 

It should be used like all the time, but yes, enemies that buff each other OR that debuff your team will be protected against using this power.

[WindDemon21]

On 10/4/2022 at 5:38 PM, The Curator said:

Activation time lowered to 1.67s from 3.07s.

Can we also do this with bonfire and the like too please

[Golden Azrael]

I'd be quite happy with idea of losing Force 'Bomb' and adding 'Dampening Field' in its place.

 

That way.  We have a very specific additional layer of force field.  One for debuffs.  Which the caveat that the 'field' doesn't 'move' with you.

 

Thus.  Keeping Force Bubble and repulsion separately intact.

 

Azrael.

Edited October 7, 2022 by Golden Azrael

[nethod]

5 minutes ago, Golden Azrael said:

I'd be quite happy with idea of losing Force 'Bomb' and adding 'Dampening Field' in its place.

 

That way.  We have a very specific additional layer of force field.  One for debuffs.  Which the caveat that the 'field' doesn't 'move' with you.

 

Thus.  Keeping Force Bubble and repulsion separately intact.

 

Azrael.

 

would miss that fancy new -15 res they are proposing on it though, and the faster animation. think it might be useful on autofire while targeting off a pet for lazyness

[Golden Azrael]

-15 res.  I'm not that fussed about.

 

I'm ok with the idea of a Force Field 'offensive' Offender 'Bomb.'

 

It never seemed like a 'bomb' to me at all.  I'm not getting the 'boom' from it.  I never did.  

 

Now.  Meteor.  THAT has the 'BOOM BOMB' factor.

 

Force Bubble didn't need fixing.  Losing it and replacing it with a static generate it and leave bubble?  The action is far more static.  THe action doens't move with you.  You're planted and often the fight is over way before.  Combat wise for FField?  Regressive.

 

Neither did Repulsion Field bar the ridiculous end cost.

 

To me, the one power that needs work is Force Bomb.  It's lame.  Always has been.

 

Maybe they can try something far more dramatic on Brainstorm.  Something that has more gravitas eg. like Shield Charge.

 

ERm...*thinks.

 

Force Bomb.  You hit the mob THAT hard with it, it leaves behind, generates...a Dampening field....with debuff protection rooted to the spot of the explosion....-res all around...  Force BOMB then reacts like an EMP attack.  It becomes a proactive element of combat...of offence AND creates 'beacheads' of debuff protection as the team makes progress. 

 

Offender!

 

Azrael.

Edited October 7, 2022 by Golden Azrael

[Golden Azrael]

When it comes to Defenders having a 'design pass.'  I'm wondering if we can have a Widdow style dual tree aka fork in the road choices to go full defender or full offender?  Or a mix of the two?

 

I'm very in favour of 'Self buff' as a design change.  So you can become Tank blasters do a degree.  Protectors.  Defenders.  Offenders.

 

It would add more edge to the Class.

 

Azrael.

[Riverdusk]

43 minutes ago, Golden Azrael said:

When it comes to Defenders having a 'design pass.'  I'm wondering if we can have a Widdow style dual tree aka fork in the road choices to go full defender or full offender?  Or a mix of the two?

 

I'm very in favour of 'Self buff' as a design change.  So you can become Tank blasters do a degree.  Protectors.  Defenders.  Offenders.

 

It would add more edge to the Class.

 

Azrael.

 

Sounds like what corruptors are supposed to be.  If there were differences in sets like that I'd think it'd be kind of neat to give defenders one version and corruptors another to help mix them up a bit more instead.

[agentx5]

On 10/5/2022 at 5:42 PM, Tath99 said:

Force Bolt Comment:

 

The /fun/ of this power, for me, was always in its quick recharge / availability.  Even if you missed, it would come around again.  The knockback was its reward.

 

Suggestion:

 

Keep the power on a quick recharge.  Have the -resistance debuff stackable X times.  (Divide the intended total resist debuff by stack size.)

 

Allow the power to be used quickly.  Make a fun gameplay loop out of multiple applications of the Force Bolt.

 

(Define Force Field as a debuff capable set, but it has to work harder at it, than purer sets.)

 

Force Bubble to Dampening Bubble Comment:

 

I can understand the intention of 'hardening' the defences.  A good change.  Well done!  I have a harder time accepting the desire to dampen (apply strong debuffs) to enemies.  Was there really a call / desire for this?  What I mean to say is, many other sets apply strong debuffs,  does Force Field HAVE to join the same club?

 

Why not say, apply a +special [Impact] effect (like Gravity Control) as enemies hit within are assumed to collide with each other and the interior walls of the Bubble?  Or as an extra +special on Force Bolt striking enemies within the field?

 

A Dampening Field, doesn't feel Force Field unique, nor punchy to me.  It feels like the Force Field set matching numbers with other sets.  

 

 

Player suggestions from Force Field users FTW! 😄

And yes as @Golden Azrael said, force bomb isn't much of a bomb.  It could use some work.

Idea:

What if force bomb did reverse knock-back, or knock-to if you will.
Like you toss it out, and it knocks all the affected targets into a cluster/pile, ripe for a teammate with an AoE to take tactical advantage of that situation?  Like a little temporary blackhole singularity or something?

Edited October 8, 2022 by agentx5

[gameboy1234]

16 hours ago, Tath99 said:

To further restate the current Live design of the Repulsion Field / Force Bubble synergy.  Repulsion Field especially & Force Bubble are absolute aggro magnets.  This allows a cunning Force Fielder to /use/ this to lure enemies close and Field / Bubble 'tank'.  For the benefit of themselves and their team (albeit at risk if you try this with a Defender's HP). 

 

Just randomly spitballing here:  Apply a small taunt to one or both of these powers?  And allow Taunt Enh to be slotted for those who want more, perhaps.  Is there a Taunt proc in game?

 

I guess also if you really want to you can get Provoke. 

 

OK now I want Personal Force Field to affect only self, *except* for Taunt powers like Provoke.  Yes I want to stand in the middle of a group of foes and make waggle ears at them and go "you can't hit me, nyah nyah."

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by gameboy1234
Fixed quote

[nethod]

1 hour ago, gameboy1234 said:

 

Just randomly spitballing here:  Apply a small taunt to one or both of these powers?  And allow Taunt Enh to be slotted for those who want more, perhaps.  Is there a Taunt proc in game?

 

I guess also if you really want to you can get Provoke. 

 

OK now I want Personal Force Field to affect only self, *except* for Taunt powers like Provoke.  Yes I want to stand in the middle of a group of foes and make waggle ears at them and go "you can't hit me, nyah nyah."

 

 

agro is not taunt per say as they are meaning on bubblers...- if you softcap defenses for everyone on your team it becomes possible to pull a lot of mobs on top of the team, which expands the 16 mob agro cap further to a "per person" and spreds it to others. big swaths hit by forcebubble, then the bubbler would drag it back to team and rebuff shields usualy will distribute the agro to rest.

its a big reason behind the outcry to leave force bubble alone - that power is the biggest mobile agro tool there is, can grab a lot.

[gameboy1234]

54 minutes ago, nethod said:

which expands the 16 mob agro cap further to a "per person" and spreds it to others.

 

Well the 16 (I thought it was 17) mob cap went away last update, so that's no longer an issue.  Just get in their face any way you like, they'll all follow you now.  Though quickly grabbing aggro away from the bubbler still sounds like a smart plan.

[ForeverLaxx]

21 minutes ago, gameboy1234 said:

 

Well the 16 (I thought it was 17) mob cap went away last update, so that's no longer an issue.  Just get in their face any way you like, they'll all follow you now.  Though quickly grabbing aggro away from the bubbler still sounds like a smart plan.

The aggro cap still exists. Any mob beyond that cap, which I'm pretty sure is still 17, will only attack you with ranged attacks but won't follow you around to do so. In a team, this means those extra mobs could just target and chase someone else, and if you're aggro-capped, taunting them off your team to get their aggro means the oldest mobs on your aggro list fall off, causing those mobs to now search for new targets.

 

You can't herd an entire map yourself as you're suggesting. Even if you were solo, those mobs still won't follow you if they're beyond your aggro cap limit.

[Wavicle]

Personal Force Field still says it is "Res(All except Toxic)" but in fact is is Res(All). The tooltip and notes should be changed.

[Wavicle]

There seems to be some kind of bug with Repulsion Bolt, it occasionally spawns from below and to the left instead of at my position...difficult to duplicate, it is sporadic. This was on a FF/Beam Defender.

[Dreamkeeper]

Overall he new FF set plays fine. I love the bomb animation speed up, changes to force bolt, and while I don't think it thematically makes sense, don't mind the -res added to some of the powers. However I think the loss of Force Bubble is pretty terrible. Dampening field is cool in that it provides debuff resistance, but replacing repulsion field with this power is a better choice than replacing Force Bubble which provided absolute safety to melee attacks as well as positioning and soft control. Even thematically, Force Bubble feels like a great and powerful t9 power (though i may be in the minority). Repulsion field is such a small area of effect and a poor replacement for Force Bubble (not to mention the distracting and nauseating animation), you can no longer use it to the same degree you could Force bubble to protect teammates/pets. 

 

If nothing else, is it not possible to give Force Bubble and Dampening field the same treatment as Master and Practiced Brawler that sentinels have where you can only choose on or the other? 

[Wavicle]

BUG: Repulsion Field is incorrectly detoggling instead of suppressing when I get Slept.

Speaking of which, the general Feel of the set would be VASTLY improved if Sleep protection was added to Dispersion Field. But the above is an actual bug that should be fixed.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Wavicle

[Wavicle]

With the faster tick rate from today's patch Repulsion Field is much more reliable.

 

However, I still believe a small -Speed debuff attached to it would help even further, either that or increase the radius on the Knockback portion. Enemies are still able to get to melee more frequently than desirable.

What would feel intuitive is if the radius matched Dispersion Bubble.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Wavicle

[Wavicle]

there is Incorrect Text in the info for Repulsion Field, it says Force Bubble instead:

 

This Toggle power creates a field that keeps all foes at bay, protecting all allies inside from melee or short ranged attacks. More powerful foes may be able to penetrate the Force Bubble, but may slip and get knocked down and forced back if they try.

[Wavicle]

BUG: Detention Field plays an animation when you try to use it outside of line of sight, although the ability does not execute.

[Wavicle]

I think you should just make Detention Field into a Hold. That would make the whole set usable in a straightforward way.

[Golden Azrael]

I've played the current live version of FF with Energy last night and the 'new' Beta version.

 

I just can't get into the new changes.  It just doesn't play with the same hard edged authority at all.   Combat doesn't feel the same.

 

Took on two Death Mages in P.Island.  Dampening Field does seem to afford protection.  It's ok.  But now, 'Am I in the bubble?  Am I out of it?'  With Force Bubble you can an in indelible sense of where things are and the combat field is nicely defined by it, much to the annoyance of mobs who you are pressing against.

 

Force Bubble is a pivotal and iconic Tier 9 power for Force Field.

 

I think somebody mentioned having a choice of Tier 9s from Force Bubble and Dampening Field.  I'd settle for that.  Don't see why we can't have some of the debuffs split off into Dispersion and some into Force Bubble.  And that way you keep the dynamic nature of the force fields moving with caster.

 

Team combat is that fast these days I find powers that just 'sit' there get overtaken by fast moving events.  You've cast a static Force Field and everyone has already moved onto the next mob.

 

Azrael.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Golden Azrael

[BillyMailman]

Unrelated to everything else, I haven't gotten on Beta yet (and this beta is apparently moving damn fast, patch 3 already!), but have one objection that in no way requires testing things:
 

The new power should probably be named Damping Bubble, not Dampening Bubble. The language is definitely muddled around the two terms enough that you certainly can call it dampening, but damping is considered slightly more correct. But more importantly, it leaves open the option of a future Water Control power, or maybe a Watery Armour aura power, called Dampening Bubble. And that gag just seems too good to pass up, to me.

[RoboKnight]

Could we please keep Force Bubble a toggle? I don't like the 90 second recharge version to be honest.

 

[gameboy1234]

2 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

Dampening Field does seem to afford protection.  It's ok.  But now, 'Am I in the bubble?  Am I out of it?'  With Force Bubble you can an in indelible sense of where things are and the combat field is nicely defined by it

 

This is actually a good point. With Faraday Cage, you get a really strong AOE effect, and there's an effect on each affected person too, a relatively bright red effect attached to their head.  You can tell pretty much at a glance who has the power effect on them.  Dampening Field has a really soft visual effect, or maybe none at all.  It could be dialed up without any problems imo.  If nothing else, the SFX from Faraday Cage could be reused and recolored (both of them), though I'd like to see a different individual effect myself.

 

(Detention Field still needs a better SFX too, or maybe just an SFX because it seems to have none at all.)