Forcefield Themed armor set

[UmbraIra]

This is something I've always wondered why it didnt exist in the original game.  I know the current buff/debuff set for focefields is full of knock and repels so it wouldnt be a simple port of a power set but I think in terms of art assets its a fairly simple set. 

 

Mechanically I was thinking of something like this

 

1 Deflection Field - Toggle: Self +DEF(Smash, Lethal), Res(Toxic, Defense Debuff)

2 Personal Forcefield - Toggle Self +DEF(All), Res(All)

4 Insulation  Field - Toggle: Self +DEF(Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative), Res(End Drain Defense Debuff)

10 Anchoring Field - Toggle: Self +Resistance (Hold, Sleep, Knockback, Disorient) +DEF (Smash, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative)  The defenses buff here would be minor similar to the passives available in SR or Invuln.

16 Detention Field - Ranged, Foe Capture (Special)

20 Dampening Field - Auto: Self +Res(Smash, Lethal, Energy, Endurance Drain)

28 Temporary Barrier - Self +Absorb

35 Dispersion Field - Toggle: PBAoE, Team(but not self) +DEF(All) This one reworked to function like grant cover from Shield Defense

38 Regenerative Barrier - Toggle Self: Invulnerable +Regeneration +Recovery Basically the same as hibernate from Ice Armor

 

 

[Leogunner]

Because some of the newer sets have gimmicks now, I'd suggest something Force Manipulation as a similar gimmick to Bio Armor that gives you 3 modes that change some of the powers: Hardlight mode, Force Reflection mode and Light Refraction mode.

 

Hardlight would be summed up as higher resist to debuffs.

Light Refraction would be -aggro and stealth

Force Reflection is -damage and knockback/down.

 

A power I'd propose would be an taunt aura:

Feedback Field - Toggle: Self +Res(mez), +Res(Smash, Fire, Energy) per foe; Foe -Dam, +END cost, chance of knockback mag 0.64

 

In Hardlight mode, the resistance per foe is increased and in Force Reflection mode, there is an additional chance to knockback a foe when they swing at you.

[jack_nomind]

This is something I've always wondered why it didnt exist in the original game.  I know the current buff/debuff set for focefields is full of knock and repels so it wouldnt be a simple port of a power set but I think in terms of art assets its a fairly simple set. 

 

I'm not sure I quite understand what's separating this from Energy Aura -- it looks like you even borrowed a few powers from that set.  What's the niche this hits which that doesn't?

[UmbraIra]

This is something I've always wondered why it didnt exist in the original game.  I know the current buff/debuff set for focefields is full of knock and repels so it wouldnt be a simple port of a power set but I think in terms of art assets its a fairly simple set. 

 

I'm not sure I quite understand what's separating this from Energy Aura -- it looks like you even borrowed a few powers from that set.  What's the niche this hits which that doesn't?

 

I would personally like it to be more unique than what I posted but I'm not sure how willing the team is to actually develop things so that was a set built from preexisting things.  Also aesthetically energy aura is not force fields.

[jack_nomind]

I would personally like it to be more unique than what I posted but I'm not sure how willing the team is to actually develop things so that was a set built from preexisting things.  Also aesthetically energy aura is not force fields.

 

I'd say your chances aren't worse to get an entirely new set than they are to get a set that's very similar to an existing one for the same ATs.  But somewhat more likely than either is to get "bubble"-style animations for EA, if that's the main objective here.

[Replacement]

This is something I've always wondered why it didnt exist in the original game.  I know the current buff/debuff set for focefields is full of knock and repels so it wouldnt be a simple port of a power set but I think in terms of art assets its a fairly simple set. 

 

I'm not sure I quite understand what's separating this from Energy Aura -- it looks like you even borrowed a few powers from that set.  What's the niche this hits which that doesn't?

 

I would personally like it to be more unique than what I posted but I'm not sure how willing the team is to actually develop things so that was a set built from preexisting things.  Also aesthetically energy aura is not force fields.

 

Err that's exactly what I thought EA's aesthetic was. If it's not a force field, what it supposed to be?

[Rylas]

Made some tweaks to the original suggestion to provide a bit of niche to the set.

 

Deflection Field – Toggle: Self +DEF (Smash, Lethal), Res (Slow, Defense Debuff)

Personal Forcefield – Auto: Self +Res (S/L/F/C/E/N)

Insulation Field – Toggle: Self +DEF (Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative), Res (End Drain, Slow, Defense Debuff)

Anchoring Field – Toggle: Self +Resistance (Slow, Hold, Sleep, Knockback, Immob, Disorient) +DEF (S/L/E/N/F/C) 

Refractive Aura – Toggle: Foe Taunt, Damage Aura (Smashing, damage unenhanceable, based on foes in range up to 10 foes), +Res per foe (S/L/F/C/E/N/Slow)

Inertial Dampener – Auto: +Rech, Res (Slow)

Temporary Barrier – Self +Absorb

Oppressive Field – Toggle: PBAoE Foe Immbolize

Regenerative Barrier – Toggle Self: Invulnerable +Regeneration +Recovery Basically the same as hibernate from Ice Armor

 

The idea here is that on a tank, one could soft cap S/L/E/N/F/C with pool powers (Weave+CJ), and have 30% Resist to the same with 3 slotted Personal Forcefield and 10 foes in range of Refractive Aura. The idea behind Refractive Aura is that incoming damage is reflected back at those in range. And instead of repel-like mechanics (because Melee, duh), immobilizing one's foes with force fields makes more sense. As well as using force fields to keep you moving (slow resists). As a weakness, Toxic and Psi will mess your day up. If you want a heal, you'll have to dip into pool powers for that as well.

 

This would make it the typed-damage equivalent (in some regards) to SR, with non-scaling resists instead, and a bit of crowd control added in for good measure.

 

[edit] Forgot to mention, the resist to -Def should, at most, only total about 50-60%. There's a good amount of mitigation in the suggested set, so losing some defense should be manageable.

[UmbraIra]

This is something I've always wondered why it didnt exist in the original game.  I know the current buff/debuff set for focefields is full of knock and repels so it wouldnt be a simple port of a power set but I think in terms of art assets its a fairly simple set. 

 

I'm not sure I quite understand what's separating this from Energy Aura -- it looks like you even borrowed a few powers from that set.  What's the niche this hits which that doesn't?

 

I would personally like it to be more unique than what I posted but I'm not sure how willing the team is to actually develop things so that was a set built from preexisting things.  Also aesthetically energy aura is not force fields.

 

Err that's exactly what I thought EA's aesthetic was. If it's not a force field, what it supposed to be?

 

Comes off as more something like Dragon Ball Z auras to me.  Every other force field related thing in the game has the bubble aesthetic where EA is its own thing.

[_NOPE_]

May I chime in? I NEVER thought of this before, but I LOVE the idea of making a "Force Fields Personal Defense" set for melee types. Here's how I would do it, with the goal to making it as similar to the Ranged Force Fields set as possible, but just make the powers make more sense for melee characters:

 

[*]Personal Force Field - LEAVE IT EXACTLY AS IT IS, IT'S PERFECT!!! Melee types can use this as an "oh shit" escape power, OR use it to jump into a mob and take the alpha before dropping it.

[*]Deflection Shield - Make it ONLY self-targettable, keep it as a click power, and leave the numbers the same as Defender/Controller numbers otherwise (Defender numbers for Tankers, Controller numbers for Scrappers)

[*]Force Bolt - Leave the basic functionality as it is, but ramp up the damage to the equivalent of a melee character's Tier 1 attack power. Then they can treat this sort of like Hurl, but with lower damage and a faster attack animation. With the KB>KD enhacement, melee types have the choice to turn it into KD if they want.

[*]Insulation Shield - Make it ONLY self-targettable, keep it as a click power, and leave the numbers the same as Defender/Controller numbers otherwise (Defender numbers for Tankers, Controller numbers for Scrappers)

[*]Detention Field - The traditional purpose of this power for support ATs is to give them another chance to help mitigate damage from a REALLY bad target. Let's keep that theme. Keep the immobilize, keep the "inability to affect anything outside of the bubble". HOWEVER, DROP the portion of the power that prevents other characters from attacking the target, and reduce the duration of this power by at least half to compensate for the team being able to attack the target. Essentially, treat it as a "pseudo-hold" where the target can still use abilities that benefit itself (such as heals, etc.)

[*]Dispersion Bubble - Let it keep ALL of the same effects that it has for the caster. Take OUT the effects for other users, but replace those effects with a proc for knockdown of all enemies in range. Let's say... start with 10% chance and tick it every second. We can play with the numbers to make sure it's not OP or lame. But I like the idea of this still giving extra Defense and status protection, while trading the ability to directly help teammates with buffs for the ability to keep enemies off their feet for longer.

[*]Repulsion Field - Just change the knockback mag to the knockdown mag (change the number to make it act as if the KB>KD enhancement was slotted), and leave the rest of the power EXACTLY as it is. PK pretty much ALWAYS has this power on at all times, it's is AMAZING for self defense, getting the enemies to fly away and keeping them busy with NO effort on my character's part. With melee characters having naturally tougher defenses, just replacing the KB for KD to keep enemies in melee range but off their feet makes sense to me.

[*]Repulsion Bomb - Just adjust the damage numbers to match the Tier 2 damage of Tankers/Scrappers and leave it alone otherwise. The additional benefits of the knockdown and chance to disorient make this power still make sense for a Defensive Melee set, but it gives the character just a little bit of ranged ability along with Force Bolt

[*]Force Bubble - This one is interesting to me. VERY few powers do "repel", this is one of those few, and I think the effect is really cool. I had to think about this ability alot, and as much as I LOVE the Repel power, it just makes NO sense on a melee character. So, here's my replacement, as the ONLY power that I'll replace. Still call it Force Bubble, still keep the size of the bubble, but instead of Repel and knockdown, it's a HUGE AoE Immobilize and SLOW... anything within it's range has to fight against the force of this power to even move at all, and if they CAN move (get past the high mag of the immobilize ability), they have to "push" through it, hard. So, enemies are automatically slowed the entire time they are inside of this bubble. As soon as they are OUT of the bubble, however, the slow effect IMMEDIATELY stops, and they can move normally. This will help the melee characters to keep the mobs from moving around and escaping.

 

What do you think?

[Rylas]

What do you think?

 

Please know I say this with seriousness, but also a healthy dose of friendly endearment as I know how much you love FF.

 

/JRANGER

 

...keep it as a click power...

 

...keep it as a click power...

... KEEP IT AS A CLICK POWER...

 

I mean, do you HATE melee types?? Did they wrong you as a child? Why would you do this to another human being!? I bet you wanted to be a dentist when you were growing up, you sadist!

 

As a predominantly melee player, I'm just not thrilled by anything KB. I know there's IOs for that, but you put the burden on the player to fix an undesirable situation. And many of things you'd like to keep the same just don't sound appealing at all. BUT... the idea for PFF being a alpha absorber isn't a terrible idea. I think you'd have to put a moderate recharge rate on there so it's not OP because then you could use it all the time. Maybe 20 to 30 secs? And making use of Repulsion Bomb is definitely good Tanker crowd control, so ok.

 

But practically straight porting it doesn't look appealing, and you haven't taken into account a good taunt aura.

 

Given all that, I'm redoing my suggestion.

 

Deflection Field – Toggle: Self +DEF (Smash, Lethal), Res (Slow, Defense Debuff)

Insulation Field – Toggle: Self +DEF (Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative), Res (End Drain, Slow, Defense Debuff)

Anchoring Field – Toggle: Self +Resistance (Slow, Hold, Sleep, Knockback, Immob, Disorient) +DEF (S/L/E/N/F/C) 

Refractive Aura – Toggle: Foe Taunt, Damage Aura (Smashing, damage unenhanceable, based on foes in range up to 10 foes), +Res per foe (S/L/F/C/E/N/Slow)

Personal Forcefield – Toggle: Self +DEF(All), +Res(All), Only affect self

Inertial Dampener – Auto: +Rech, Res (S/L/F/C/E/N/Slow)

Temporary Barrier – Self +Absorb

Oppressive Field – Toggle: PBAoE Foe Immbolize, Slow

Repulsion Bomb – Teleport Attack, Moderate DMG(Smash), Foe Disorient, Knockdown

 

Your idea for Force Bubble was one I had for Oppressive field, but thought maybe it would be too much. But you convinced me maybe not. So Immob for minion level and Slow for anything above that or that resists immob.

[justicebeliever]

May I chime in? I NEVER thought of this before, but I LOVE the idea of making a "Force Fields Personal Defense" set for melee types. Here's how I would do it, with the goal to making it as similar to the Ranged Force Fields set as possible, but just make the powers make more sense for melee characters:

 

<snip>

 

What do you think?

 

Don't know why you think you are such an expert on Force Fields  ;)

 

+1 for this, I love FF and this would be an awesome set.

 

Edited to snip out the unnecessary text I quoted.  Thanks Jack for the reminder :)

[jack_nomind]

May I chime in? I NEVER thought of this before, but I LOVE the idea of making a "Force Fields Personal Defense" set for melee types. Here's how I would do it, with the goal to making it as similar to the Ranged Force Fields set as possible, but just make the powers make more sense for melee characters:

 

<snip>

 

What do you think?

 

I think if you're serious about keeping the Deflection, Insulation, and Dispersion numbers the same as they are, this set ends up with more defense within three powers than SR gets in six -- but has no other layers, so it's in the same boat as pre-scaling-resist SR was.  It ends up being overwhelmingly good against easy content (since it softcaps easily without any sets at all, and anyway minions would never stand up again) and overwhelmingly bad against difficult content (anything with +acc that's immune to the constant free KDs and immob).  Speaking as a primarily melee player, I'd skip the attacks unless I needed a slot mule, and end up with 1 (mandatory), 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9, so it's a six-power set.

 

I like the enthusiasm and I'm sure there's a way to adapt FF to melee, but you'll need to trash most of the KB/KD/etc, lower the Defense numbers, and add at least one more layer.  I wouldn't recommend keeping the attacks.  Click attacks are usually going to be "the new OP" (e.g., Gloom/Moonbeam) or "always skipped" (e.g., Shuriken).

[marcussmythe]

Agreed as to minimal clicks, and to needing another layer.

 

Consider moving from (heresy!) Typed to Positional Defense.  We really dont need another set with holes in it, and weve a lot of typed-defense sets already, and the existence of a mixed-mitigation positional-defense no-holes set that also includes perma-buildup means that the bar has been substantially raised to make another power set.

 

The balance point is probably Shield.  Look at Shield.  Look at the DEF and RES from shield.  Then look at AAO and Shield Charge.  Once your giving out the same DEF and RES as Shield, you need something 'else' for the set thats as good as AOO and Shield Charge, or you are kinda wasting time.  Based on current trends, a passive regen and end recovery would be a popular choice, and/or maybe a pair of PBAOE siphon-style powers, one for health, one for END.

 

Or a teleport nuke and perma-buildup, if you think you can sell it.  Ive long said I want the Shield mechanics without the big hunk of wood and the animation weirdness that go with it.

[_NOPE_]

...keep it as a click power...

 

...keep it as a click power...

... KEEP IT AS A CLICK POWER...

 

I mean, do you HATE melee types?? Did they wrong you as a child? Why would you do this to another human being!? I bet you wanted to be a dentist when you were growing up, you sadist!

What the issue with keeping it as a click power? Frankly, the one thing that always irritated me whenever I tried to play a tanker was having to manage multiple toggles and the endurance drain of them. I'd MUCH rather just click a bubble and "refresh" it every 4 minutes or whatever.

 

As a predominantly melee player, I'm just not thrilled by anything KB.

If you'll notice, I kept knockback on ONE power - Force Bolt. And that was intentional, since it's single target. Precision knockback. I'd love to hear what specific issues you have about my suggestions.

[_NOPE_]

Agreed as to minimal clicks, and to needing another layer.

 

Consider moving from (heresy!) Typed to Positional Defense.  We really dont need another set with holes in it, and weve a lot of typed-defense sets already, and the existence of a mixed-mitigation positional-defense no-holes set that also includes perma-buildup means that the bar has been substantially raised to make another power set.

 

Ummm... the FF bubbles have BOTH Typed AND Positional Defense. Look again.

[marcussmythe]

Agreed as to minimal clicks, and to needing another layer.

 

Consider moving from (heresy!) Typed to Positional Defense.  We really dont need another set with holes in it, and weve a lot of typed-defense sets already, and the existence of a mixed-mitigation positional-defense no-holes set that also includes perma-buildup means that the bar has been substantially raised to make another power set.

 

Ummm... the FF bubbles have BOTH Typed AND Positional Defense. Look again.

 

Umm... the original proposal at the top does not have positional defense, merely typed.  Look again.

[_NOPE_]

 

Sorry, I thought you were just talking about FF in general.

[marcussmythe]

*nods*  No worries - and me too, that reply of mine was snarkier than needed.

[Rylas]

What the issue with keeping it as a click power? Frankly, the one thing that always irritated me whenever I tried to play a tanker was having to manage multiple toggles and the endurance drain of them. I'd MUCH rather just click a bubble and "refresh" it every 4 minutes or whatever.

 

Unless you're running all of DA, it's not that difficult to handle the endurance demand of toggle armors. I don't slot for end on most toggle sets anymore, just attacks. Toggles are very cheap. Click mez powers aren't exactly popular, but one click power for your protection isn't so bad. Doing that for two armor sets that provide the overwhelming majority of your survival doesn't sound appealing at all.

[Leogunner]

Reading the thread and my post, I must have deleted parts as I was tapping my mobile screen.  Lol it is missing some parts and is worded weird.  Anyway, I was proposing using the powers of the OP but incorporating the 3 toggles mode similart to Bio Armor's gimmick. To fully flesh out my idea, I'll just copy/past the OP and splice my idea in there to give it a bit of flash and uniqueness.

 

 

1 Deflection Field - Toggle: Self +DEF(Smash, Lethal), Res(Defense Debuff)|Hardlight = +Res(Defense Debuff, Slow, ToHit Debuff)|Light Refraction = Self +Stealth, +Perception

 

2 Personal Forcefield - Toggle Self +DEF(All), Res(All)

 

2 Insulation  Field - Toggle: Self +DEF(Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative), Res(End Drain, Defense Debuff)|Hardlight = +Res(Defense Debuff, Snare, ToHit Debuff)|Force Reflection = +END Discount, Resisted Mez grants +Rech Bonus up to 5 stacks

 

3 Anchoring Field - Toggle: Self +Resistance (Hold, Sleep, Knockback, Disorient) +DEF (Smash, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative)  The defenses buff here would be minor similar to the passives available in SR or Invuln.

 

3 Feedback Field - Toggle: Self +Res(mez), +Res(Smash, Fire, Energy) per foe; Foe -Dam, +END cost|Light Refraction = Foe -ToHit|Force Reflection = Foe chance of 0.64mag knockback, additional chance of 0.64mag knockback to foe attack

 

5 Detention Field - Ranged, Foe Capture (Special)

 

6 Dampening Field - Auto: Self +Res(Smash, Lethal, Energy, Endurance Drain)

 

6 Density Conversion - Auto: Grants Hardlight, Light Refraction and Force Reflection modes

 

7 Temporary Barrier - Self +Absorb|Hardlight = +Res(Smash, Fire, Energy, END Drain, ToHit Debuff)|Light Refraction = additional +Absorb|Force Reflection = +Damage Bonus after Absorb is diminished

 

8 Dispersion Field - Toggle: PBAoE, Team(but not self) +DEF(All)|Hardlight = Team and Self +Res(ToHit debuff, Defense debuff)|Light Refraction = Team and Self +Perception, +ToHit

 

9 Regenerative Barrier - Toggle Self: Invulnerable +Regeneration, +Recovery, Immobilize|Light Refraction = Immune to Immobilize (you can move with it on); Foe Placate upon activation|Force Reflection = Foe -Damage Bonus, knockup upon activation, disorient

 

Hardlight mode grants overall: Additional resistance to Def Debuff, END Drain, ToHit Debuff, Slow, Snare, Smashing damage, Fire damage and Energy damage and Team resistance to ToHit debuff and Def Debuff.

Light Refraction grants overall: Self Stealth, Perception bonus, higher capacity absorb from Temporary Barrier, Team +Perception and +ToHit, the ability to move while in Regenerative Barrier and -ToHit to foes near you.

Force Reflection grants overall: Self END Discount, +Rech Bonus, Damage Bonus after Temporary Barrier depletes, an Aura that has a chance to knockdown foes, and an area of Crowd Control that knocks up foes, disorients them and decreases their damage.