Focused Feedback: VEAT Updates

[csr]

3 hours ago, Booper said:

 

You can't actually take Fate Sealed at level 1, it'll become available at level 1 after respec, but you'll still have an assortment of powers you'd be taking along with it. Unless you really want the mez resistance, you can get away with taking it later depending on what your exemplaring play-style dictates.

 

If I want Fate Sealed, it either needs to fit in the early build or I have to take a power I don't want simply because there aren't any good mez powers for Fortunatas before level 12.  Subdue is as good as it gets.  And even that isn't available at level 1, so you have one attack choice in a non-mez power.  You get Dominate at 12, Scramble Thoughts at 18 and then nothing more until 26.  With Fortunatas there are a dearth of controls early, and then there is a logjam of good powers of various types from 20 onward.  Due to that power choice order you have to load up the early levels of the build with non-attacks/pool powers or take attacks you probably don't really want.  [Edit:  Or go clawed like so many Fortunatas do now.]  In the end my build plan ends up using the L24 respec to have a playable build until the 30s when I then respec into a build that might have a use for Fate Sealed (which I currently have as the L38 choice in my build).

 

The troubling thing is even when trying to make a build that can benefit as much from Fate Sealed as possible, it's still an iffy choice.  You can stack Dominate one deeper and get about 5s extra Hold on Total Domination.  The rest of Fate Sealed's buffs are pretty trivial because everything dies before Psychic Wail or Aura of Confusion wear off anyway.  Confuse can already be easily stacked.  You don't need to stack Scramble Thoughts.  And stacking Subdue to Immobilize AVs or the like is hard because it fails 20% of the time and can't stack very deeply anyway (out of the box it's not even a perma-Immob).  I take one of the PPP Immobs just so there is one more thing it helps.

Edited February 5 by csr

[Wavicle]

13 minutes ago, csr said:

The troubling thing is even when trying to make a build that can benefit as much from Fate Sealed as possible, it's still an iffy choice.  You can stack Dominate one deeper and get about 5s extra Hold on Total Domination. 

this might be more about the questionable value of cc at high levels than the power itself.

 

If it was +50% then it could save you a bunch of slots.

Edited February 5 by Wavicle

[KeepDistance]

On 11/22/2023 at 8:45 AM, The Curator said:

Fate Sealed  Auto: Self +Mezz, +Res(Mezz)

I think this should be called "Auto: Self +Special, +Res(Status)" for consistency with existing in-game labels.

[balor]

Can someone reach out to the devs and ask if it possible to get power customization of the appearance for Pummel and Bayonet for Mace and Crab claw attacks?  It looks like they are trying to treat huntsman as part of the tool kit with offering animation for several of the ranged attacks.  It would be a great if there is an animation option that would fit with those attacks for Banes and Crabs.  It maybe outside what is possible but those two melee powers are worth it and at least a internal chat to see if it is possible.  

[ViridianDev]

1 hour ago, balor said:

Can someone reach out to the devs and ask if it possible to get power customization of the appearance for Pummel and Bayonet for Mace and Crab claw attacks?

 

At this time, there won't be more alt fx themes added to Arachnos Soldier powers; it would have to be considered for a future page. There's an internal limitation I was not originally aware of that prevents further proliferation.

[balor]

Thanks Viridian!  I will just deal with the redraws for now and maybe one day there might be a fix for it. 🙂

[Luminara]

52 minutes ago, ViridianDev said:

At this time, there won't be more alt fx themes added to Arachnos Soldier powers; it would have to be considered for a future page. There's an internal limitation I was not originally aware of that prevents further proliferation.

 

You tried your best, little buddy.  You still get ice cream.

[Wavicle]

Fate Sealed apparently now increases the chance to Immob, KB, and KD on some Fortunata Psi attacks?

[Sovera]

6 hours ago, Wavicle said:

Fate Sealed apparently now increases the chance to Immob, KB, and KD on some Fortunata Psi attacks?

 

To 100%, apparently.

[KaizenSoze]

10 hours ago, Wavicle said:

Fate Sealed apparently now increases the chance to Immob, KB, and KD on some Fortunata Psi attacks?

Now, every subdue immobilize, telekinetic blast KB'ed, Psi nado KU'ed 100%

 

Makes for a even stronger controller type Fort. I have a flying ranged Fort build I use for hard modes.

 

Depending on how you build, it's not a hard power to squeeze in. I like it.

[csr]

1 hour ago, Wavicle said:

Fate Sealed apparently now increases the chance to Immob, KB, and KD on some Fortunata Psi attacks?

 

You still aren't going to be Immobilizing anything tough (like a +3 Boss) unless you forego a chunk of damage for Immobilize, but the buffs to TK Blast and Psi 'Nado should help by giving soft-control powers in the power choice order where there is slack (before level 20).  And it makes it easier to stomach passing up the claw attacks and taking TK Blast and Subdue at 1/2.  That level 20-30 range of power choices is still packed on a control-centric build.  Looking over the build I've been trying to optimize I have to decide which of Total Domination, Mind Link or Confuse gets delayed to 32.  Probably Total Domination, though the build I have on test skipped Mind Link for Confuse at the 24 respec.

 

It would be nice for control-centric builds if Scramble Thoughts and Total Domination were swapped in the power order.

[Wavicle]

1 minute ago, csr said:

 

You still aren't going to be Immobilizing anything tough (like a +3 Boss) unless you forego a chunk of damage for Immobilize, but the buffs to TK Blast and Psi 'Nado should help by giving soft-control powers in the power choice order where there is slack (before level 20).  And it makes it easier to stomach passing up the claw attacks and taking TK Blast and Subdue at 1/2.  That level 20-30 range of power choices is still packed on a control-centric build.  Looking over the build I've been trying to optimize I have to decide which of Total Domination, Mind Link or Confuse gets delayed to 32.  Probably Total Domination, though the build I have on test skipped Mind Link for Confuse at the 24 respec.

 

It would be nice for control-centric builds if Scramble Thoughts and Total Domination were swapped in the power order.

My suggestion is skip Confuse so you can have Mind Link and the AoE controls.

[Luminara]

3 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

My suggestion is skip Confuse

 

[Wavicle]

It’s a great power, but it’s not necessary when you have all that armor, damage, and Holds. There are so many good choices, I don’t know what else you would skip.

Edited February 8 by Wavicle

[Wiseguy]

Yeah, confuse is the weakest Fort power imo.

[KaizenSoze]

2 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

It’sa great power, but it’s not necessary when you have all that’s armor, damage, and Holds. There are so many good choices, I don’t know what else you would skip.

I would prioritize AOE controls solo, because you can lock the mobs into a tight group and pound them with AOEs.

 

Confuse is very niche I only used it to take out problematic bosses. Scramble minds fills that roll now with damage.

[csr]

27 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

My suggestion is skip Confuse so you can have Mind Link and the AoE controls.

 

I'm soloing on test, and the AoE damage isn't great so fights take a bit longer than I'd like, so I went with Confuse over Mind Link at 24.  For teaming I think pushing Confuse back is probably better.  Of course, going with a clawed Fortunata and treating Fate Sealed as a filler power for the late 40s would probably be better yet.  But that's not what I'm testing.

 

So far running the Striga arcs (Francios' atm) the toon plays like a gimpy Ice Blaster or Dominator.  The Blaster would do significantly better damage with about the same durability and a bit less control (the only AoE control available at level 25 is 'Nado's KU).  The Dominator would have far better control and comparable damage.  Both would likely have travel powers, which I couldn't fit in.  Though I do haz mez prot.  And a little team buff power in TT: Man at 6.7% Def.

 

So, a little disappointing compared to the alternatives, but definitely playable.

Edited February 8 by csr

[Wavicle]

imo not taking Mind Link asap is an error

[csr]

6 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

imo not taking Mind Link asap is an error

 

I'd agree if I was teaming, but solo and testing Fate Sealed's value, I decided to push it back.

[Wiseguy]

I don't mean to nitpick your build - its your choice and playstyle after all, but wouldn't it be better to push back either of the Combat Trainings and take Fate Sealed at level 1? Mind Link is ridiculously good, even solo. It's basically the signature ability of any Widow, and IMO the biggest reason to play one. Even if you can't perma it until later as a Fort, it's worth having up whenever you can.

 

Not even talking optimal play here, just suggesting ideas.

[balor]

On 2/2/2024 at 5:00 PM, Booper said:

The taunt is a click power, that ideally will trigger immediately when the pet is summoned, but it may take a few moments to activate. I may tweak it into an auto power that applies the taunt periodically. Hopefully it keeps the attention of the baddies a bit longer 

Thanks for looking into this. I have been playing more of an Omega bomber over the last few days, testing at various difficulties with both damage-focused sets and stun-focused. This one could still use some tuning besides the taunt oddities. Also, can you give a suggested "How to" for the Omega Maneuver from the test character that you all had to use to tune this skill in?

 

The reason I'm asking is that I don't see much use for it in the current state. It requires being heavily slotted to either boost the stun duration (near 23s ish) or damage output to +101.4%. I also have my cooldown around 71s with Hasten rolling.

 

A few observations:

 

1. At the current cooldown of 240s, I don't get to use it enough with control or damage to make it a worthy investment. I suggest that the cooldown value be reconsidered so that it can be part of the rotation.

2. Even at a +101.4% damage increase, it still does not kill +0 level white minions for such a large investment. Again, the cycle time for a damage-focused tool makes this the least valuable power out of the Crab power set by a large margin.

3. Using it as a stun power works the best between the options of damaging vs stuns. The downside is the number of missed or resisted mods and the cycle time of the power.

4. The taunt being addressed will make this power technically work but will not put this power in the grey zone or on par with any of the other choices. When the taunt is fixed, I will test it more mid-combat.

 

[WindDemon21]

On 2/4/2024 at 8:11 PM, Major_Decoy said:

I was wondering if there was any chance to speed up Poison Dart. I don't know if there's anything wrong with it, per se, it just seems really slow whenever I use it.

Dear god yes. There is no reason for this power to be 1.5s, it needs fixed to 1s for a tier 1 weak attack.

 

Edit: with proper damage scaling obviously before anyone would say regarding that. It's the tier 1 attack it should be the main fill-attack and be fast, and on that note the animation also just kinda lags you there after it finishes. The actual animation is only about 1s and thus the activation time should be as well to match.

 

Dart burst also should be on a shorter cast time as well.

Edited February 8 by WindDemon21

[Booper]

51 minutes ago, balor said:

When the taunt is fixed, I will test it more mid-combat.

The taunt was turned into an auto in build 4,  refreshing every 1s. Are you seeing anything odd with the taunt between when the OM is summoned and when it is detonated? 

[csr]

1 hour ago, Wiseguy said:

I don't mean to nitpick your build - its your choice and playstyle after all, but wouldn't it be better to push back either of the Combat Trainings and take Fate Sealed at level 1? Mind Link is ridiculously good, even solo. It's basically the signature ability of any Widow, and IMO the biggest reason to play one. Even if you can't perma it until later as a Fort, it's worth having up whenever you can.

 

Not even talking optimal play here, just suggesting ideas.

 

I could, but I have Fate Sealed at 18 in the L24 respec.  I never take CT: Off.  There are plenty of options in Fort builds for 1 to 18.  The problem is that level 20-30 stretch where you have one more good power than choices due to Mind Link and Confuse both unlocking at level 24.

 

As for Confuse... Aura of Confusion is good enough with a Malaise set in it, so I'm making Confuse into a ghetto mass control power with the Purple set.

 

I still think it would be appropriate for Fortunatas to have at least one AoE CC power available for the level 24 respec, rather than having the 3 it gets unlocked for consecutive power choices at 26, 28 and 30.

Edited February 8 by csr

[WindDemon21]

In addition as well, could the defense on combat training: defense be changed to 2.5% to all 3 positionals, or even just change it to aoe? Being melee defense only is really pretty dumb on a fortunata build. At least aoe defense, or all 3, would work on either widow or fortunata builds.

Edited February 8 by WindDemon21