Focused Feedback: Blast Power Set Updates

[The Curator]

Blast Power Set Updates

Assault Rifle

Slug

• Cast time lowered from 1.67s to 1.4s.

Beanbag

• Power replaced with Aim.

Sniper Rifle (Quick)

• Cast time lowered from 1.67s to 1s.

Ignite

• Replaced with Incinerator. Incinerator does DoT over 5.6 seconds to a single target, for a total of 56.17 dpa (Blaster values).
• If the target is currently under the effect of -defense debuffs, the DoT is extended to 7.1s, for a DPA of 70.82 (Blaster values).
• Can target flying enemies.

Flamethrower

• DoT now is applied over 4.7s, down from 7.1s (same damage).

Full Auto

• Arc increased from 20 to 90 degrees.

Dark Blast

Abyssal Gaze

• Cooldown lowered from 20s to 11s.
• Damage increased from scale 0.472 to scale 0.707.
• Hold Duration reduced from scale 8 to scale 4.4.

Dual Pistols

Suppressive Fire

• Cast time reduced from 1.67s to 1.5s.
• Recharge reduced from 20s to 8s.
• Damage increased from scale 0.1 to scale 1.64.
• Hold effectiveness reduced.

Piercing Rounds

• Resistance debuff now is applied while using any round type, stacking changed to replace.

 

Fire Blast (Blaster and Sentinels only)

Fire Blast

• Cast time lowered from 1.67s to 1.2s to match Defender/Corruptor version.

Psychic Blast

Will Domination (Blaster Only)

• Renamed to Dominate Will
• Recharge lowered from 20s to 4s
• Cast time lowered from 1.1 seconds to 1 second
• Damage lowered from 1.24 scale to 1.0 scale.
• Moved to T1

Will Domination (Defender/Corruptor)

• Recharge lowered from 14s to 10s (Damage unchanged).
• Moved from T6 to T5.

Psionic Lance (Defender/Corruptor)

• Moved from T3 to T6.

Psionic Dart (Blaster Only)

• Renamed to Psionic Darts.
• This power is now a 10 target cone (60', 30 degrees).
• Recharge increased to 12s.
• Damage lowered from 1.0 scale to 0.8321 scale.
• Moved to T4

Telekinetic Blast (Defender/Corruptor)

• Moved from T5 to T3.

Mental Blast (Defender/Corruptor)

• Recharged increased from 4s to 6s.
• Damage increased from scale 1.0 to scale 1.32.

Subdue (Defender/Corruptor)

• Cast time reduced from 1.67s to 1s.
• Recharged lowered from 6s to 4s.
• Damage reduced from scale 1.32 to scale 1.0.

Psychic Scream (Defender/Corruptor/Sentinel)

• Cast time lowered from 2.67s to 1.87s.

Psionic Tornado (Blaster/Defender/Corruptor)

• Cast time lowered from 2.37s to 1.83s. (Applies to Sentinels as well)
• Radius reduced from 20 feet to 15 feet.
• Damage increased from scale 0.89 to scale 1.1.

Scramble Thoughts (All ATs)

• Renamed to Scramble Minds.
• Now a chain.
• Cast time lowered from 3s to 2s.
• Main target will be stunned, additional targets might get hit with a randomized status effect of either Sleep, Immobilize, Placate, Terrorize, or Hold.
• Damage increased from 0.25 scale to 1.0 scale.

Seismic Blast

• Timing adjustments in Seismic Stress buildup, players should be able to more quickly notice orange rings and decide what power to use next based on this visual information.

Water Blast

• Powers should build up Tidal Force stacks even if they miss.

Enhanced Water Jet

• This power no longer has a lockout window.

Tidal Forces

• Tidal Forces should clear all existing stacks of Tidal Power before applying 3 stacks.

[Vanden]

Fire Blast on Live:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/879445026130776135/1090847482470215760/Pocket_D_2023-03-29_23-44-14.mp4

Versus on Brainstorm:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/879445026130776135/1090847511096332420/Echo_Plaza_2023-03-29_23-31-51.mp4

 

Mm, that's good stuff

[Parabola]

Very excited to have a play with AR and Psychic Blast - I have concepts that have been waiting for those revamps for a very long time :).

 

If we're looking at Dark Blast would it be possible to give some attention to the way the cones line up?

 

 

[ScarySai]

AR changes are insanely good, I'm not as familiar with psychic blast as a comparison point, but this new version definitely slaps too.

 

Won't miss ya, beanbag. Rip bozo.

[PoptartsNinja]

Flamethrower doing damage during its animation rather than a half-second after the animation finishes is really nice, too.

 

 

 

It feels like an actual attack now.

[Booper]

35 minutes ago, Parabola said:

If we're looking at Dark Blast would it be possible to give some attention to the way the cones line up

Not looking at Dark Blast AoE this page. Hopefully in the near future. 

[DeviousMe]

Any chance there could be a multi-select between Beanbag/Aim and Ignite/Incinerator for AR, like we have with Arachnos Widows and Soldiers of Arachnos? I'm not sure about our community at large, but I greatly enjoy those powers, and would rather not lose them.

[Galamane]

Thx for the work Guys! 

[MechaMarshmallow]

I'm saddened by the removal of ignite. I don't think anyone really likes Ignite as it is now, but being able to place a persistent fire patch was fun - not to mention that it was aoe and with an immobilization effect you could reliably get the full 139dpa value. In that context, Incinerator feels like a direct downgrade - a nerf in exchange for a quality of life improvement.

 

Instead of changing this unique power to another mediocre single target blast in a set full of mediocre single target blasts, couldn't Ignite just be changed to say, spawn the fire under the selected target (to remove the target location clunkiness) and have the mob fear effect removed so you don't need to immobilize? Maybe the damage numbers would need to be tweaked if that makes it too strong, but c'mon. This is Assault Rifle. Even with these buffs it's not holding a candle to fire or ice blast.

Edited April 5, 2023 by MechaMarshmallow

[Echo13]

I don't like changing Ignite to Incinerator; Ignite may be bad, but it's the most unique power in AR and has some interesting play to it over just another ST attack - not to mention the -DEF rider feels a bit redundant as a requirement given it's on AR in the first palce. It feels like it'd be better to buff Ignite rather than just port over Incinerator - removing the fear effect, giving it up front damage maybe, or a slow? Hell if you want to go a bit further, make it an incendiary grenade for a faster activation time but the same role as a patch-planter. Any of those'd be more interesting than just ditching the concept entirely.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Echo13

[LoD]

I don't like losing Ignite either. It wasn't a good power as is, but being able to place a burning patch, even out of combat, was fun. I feel like it could have just been worked on to improve in some way like removing the fear or something. Getting rid of it completely for a sentinel port just feels like a lazy "fix".

[ScarySai]

Ignite was a garbage power that was anti-synergistic to the mostly-KB set it belonged to.

 

Incinerator would be perfect with a shorter dot duration (and more damage), a shorter cast, and the loss of the -def conditional.

 

If people wanna light random things on fire for the luls, some kind of temp power could be made to the same effect, I'm sure.

Edited April 6, 2023 by ScarySai

[princezilla]

Yeah I'm on the same page as the others with regards to ignite, the power isn't great as is but it's very unique and helps the set stand out. There has to be a way to fix it that doesn't change the core of what makes it fun.

 

Aim is definitely welcome to the set but I don't like that it comes at the expense of Bean Bag which provides useful and fun utility to the set. Personally I'd rather see buckshot dropped, it's outclassed by all of the other AoEs in the set and is especially redundant with the changes to full auto.

[FupDup]

The only compromise I'd support is doing something like how Sentinel SR can choose between Master Brawler or Practiced Brawler but not take both. So this means if you want to take Beanbag instead of Aim and/or Ignite instead of Incinerator, you'd be able to. 

 

If people want to make bad builds I don't want to stop them, but they shouldn't hold back others from making good builds. Assault Rifle has deserved this ascension for a long, looooooong time. Don't you dare take this from us. 

[LoD]

I can assure you my AR blaster doesn't need some incinerator power to be good. It already is good. No one is saying Ignite is a good power, we're saying it's a fun and unique power that could have been actually improved on to make it good instead of just some lazy replacement for a questionable power.

 

[High_Beam]

I am gonna be running my three DP Blasters tonight to see the impact from the changes to Suppressive Fire.  On the surface I am not pleased that its hold is reduced even further.  I have enough issues with it being a heavy damage low-to-no hold power on a Sentinel.  I know Blasters aren't supposed to be controllers but damn, they aren't one trick poines. 

[WindDemon21]

3 minutes ago, High_Beam said:

I am gonna be running my three DP Blasters tonight to see the impact from the changes to Suppressive Fire.  On the surface I am not pleased that its hold is reduced even further.  I have enough issues with it being a heavy damage low-to-no hold power on a Sentinel.  I know Blasters aren't supposed to be controllers but damn, they aren't one trick poines. 

Agreed, thoguh, the help that it does for the set's low single target damage is VERY welcomed, I'd say don't lower it that much, lower it a little, but not that much. Let it still be possible to double stack on a +3 boss with a boosted stun purple. tbh not a fan of any of the new attacks that have a control added on them having their duration reduced so low to make it nothing but a detoggle, stalagmite, the new psy blast will dom change , which i'll get to why that's bad too when i review all these changes.

[Koopak]

18 minutes ago, FupDup said:

The only compromise I'd support is doing something like how Sentinel SR can choose between Master Brawler or Practiced Brawler but not take both. So this means if you want to take Beanbag instead of Aim and/or Ignite instead of Incinerator, you'd be able to. 

 

If people want to make bad builds I don't want to stop them, but they shouldn't hold back others from making good builds. Assault Rifle has deserved this ascension for a long, looooooong time. Don't you dare take this from us. 

This isn't an either or, the existing powers can be made to not suck, instead they are being replaced, that's the problem. And I can assure you the other changes in the set are doing a lot more for AR's rise into being middling, rather than bottom of the barrel than ignite becoming a dot with a DPA roughly on par with the buffed attacks, this leaves AR with five high DPA ST usable attacks, when most sets are more than capable of performing well with three. Ignition is just another ST attack in a set with plenty of that.

No one is saying AR doesn't need buffs, and I have no problems ditching beanbag, but Ignite doesn't need to be turned into a half baked Sentinal clone to make the set good. We can have our cake and eat it too with a tiny bit more effort.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Koopak

[ScarySai]

In order for ignite to be made as good as incinerator out of the box, it'd have to root your target, make things standing in it convert all knockback to knockdown, and work on fleeing mobs reliably.

 

That's the bare minimum, and I really doubt we're getting anything like that. The novelty of ignite is fun, we all love lighting our friends on fire, but in terms of function, it's unrealistic to expect "just buffing" ignite to work.

[WindDemon21]

3 minutes ago, Koopak said:

This isn't an either or, the existing powers can be made to not suck, instead they are being replaced, that's the problem. And I can assure you the other changes in the set are doing a lot more for AR's rise into being middling, rather than bottom of the barrel than ignite becoming a dot with a DPA roughly on par with the buffed attacks, this leaves AR with five high DPA ST usable attacks, when most sets are more than capable of performing well with three. Ignition is just another ST attack in a set with plenty of that.

Right, the only thing AR needs to help it's ST, is reducing the activation time of the snipe's quick form, that's it. If you want ot keep beanbag, but give it decent damage without murdering it's stun duration, that would be helpful too, but, well, *looks at last post*

[Koopak]

3 minutes ago, ScarySai said:

In order for ignite to be made as good as incinerator out of the box, it'd have to root your target, make things standing in it convert all knockback to knockdown, and work on fleeing mobs reliably.

 

That's the bare minimum, and I really doubt we're getting anything like that. The novelty of ignite is fun, we all love lighting our friends on fire, but in terms of function, it's unrealistic to expect "just buffing" ignite to work.

Taunt overrides Affraid (lets not confine ourselves to solo play), and just reducing Affraid values could also work to make the set more useful. Honestly Its a little silly that AVs run from crap like caltrops. Big bad AV should shrug off some patchs and only run where theres several layers imo

Edited April 5, 2023 by Koopak

[RadiantPhoenix]

As a fan of the idea of a "Psychic Blast" powerset, I think the changes sound pretty cool.

Probably not enough to make it one of the best sets, but the AoE attacks besides Psychic Wail might not make me feel bad for taking them anymore.

Two things the notes don't mention:

• What is the damage scale on Sentinel Scramble Thoughts being changed to? I think it was already higher than 1.0
• Does this mean that Blaster Psychic Focus is being moved up from T4 to T5?

[Vanden]

6 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

Agreed, thoguh, the help that it does for the set's low single target damage is VERY welcomed, I'd say don't lower it that much, lower it a little, but not that much. Let it still be possible to double stack on a +3 boss with a boosted stun purple.

 

Looks like it went from a Mag 3 Scale 8 stun/hold to:

 

Mag 3 Scale 3.2 stun with no ammo toggled

Mag 2 Scale 5 hold with Cryo ammo

Mag 3 Scale 2 hold with Incendiary ammo

Mag 3 Scale 4 hold with Toxic ammo

[ScarySai]

2 minutes ago, Koopak said:

Taunt overrided Affraid, and just reducing Affraid values could also work to make the set more useful. Honestly Its a little silly that AVs run from crap like caltrops. Big bad AV should shrug off some patchs and only run where theres several layers imo

I'd just read it more like the AV being smart enough to not stand in your obvious deathtrap.

 

As vehemently against the ignite train as I am, I at least understand it to a degree.

 

What I will never understand is people who want to keep beanbag over aim.

[Koopak]

2 minutes ago, powerofvoid said:

Two things the notes don't mention:

• What is the damage scale on Sentinel Scramble Thoughts being changed to? I think it was already higher than 1.0

Assuming CoD is up to date, 1.0 https://cod.uberguy.net./html/power.html?power=sentinel_ranged.psychic_blast.scramble_thoughts&at=sentinel