Trickshooter's Force Shield Powerset Suggestion!

[Trickshooter]

I understand that the ability to make force fields is a classic comic book power, and I do like that powerset in this game.

 

HOWEVER... I've always felt that this game was really missing force fields as an armor powerset. Plenty of characters in comics have force fields, or at least can create force fields through some means (Magneto, Jean Grey, Invisible Woman, etc.), but I wouldn't describe their powerset as being 'Force Fields' (except maybe Invisible Woman). Some characters only have one around themselves that they can manipulate, like Unus the Untouchable, Skids, Cecilia Reyes, Armor, etc. This version of Force Fields, which I'm calling Force Shield to differentiate, is one I've wanted to see in CoX for some time.

 

This is my first attempt at designing an armor powerset, so numbers might be off, but I really tried to make it fit alongside the other sets. Numbers are all for Tankers.

 

Anyway, enjoy!

 

Force Shield
You wrap yourself in protective force shields that deflect nearly all forms of damage and soften the blow of most attacks that break through your defenses. Additionally, you can somewhat manipulate your forcefield offensively against foes. Force Shield offers defense and some resistance against just about all types of damage and debuffs, but has no direct Heal.

 

 Deflection Shield

Your force field defends you against the kinetic impact of Smashing and Lethal damage attacks. It also offers some resistance against Toxic damage, debuffs to defense and protects you from Stun and Hold effects.

 

Toggle Self +Def(Smash, Lethal) +Res(Toxic, DefDebuff, Stun, Hold)

 

16.5% Defense(Smashing)
16.5% Defense(Lethal)
20% Resistance(Toxic)
21.625% Resistance(Defense)
-12.975 Protection(Stun)
-12.975 Protection(Hold)

Recharge: 2s

Endurance: 0.26/s

 

 

 Kinetic Barrier

Activation of your force field is somewhat subconcious, and even while not actively being used it will soften the kinetic impact of some attacks. You will have increased resistance to Smashing and Lethal attacks, increased Max HP, and some protection from Knockback effects. It also offers some resistance against debuffs to defense.

 

Auto Self +Res(Smashing, Lethal, Knockback, DefDebuff) +MaxHP

 

10% Resistance(Smashing)
10% Resistance(Lethal)
-10 Protection(Knockback)
-10 Protection(Knockup)
21.625% Resistance(Defense)
187.4 Maximum HitPoints

 

 

 Insulation Shield

Your force field provides a stable environment inside that protects you from some energy and temperature extremes, defending you from Fire, Cold, Energy and Negative Energy damage attacks. It also offers some resistance to Toxic damage and protection from Immobilization and Sleep effects.

 

Toggle Self +Def(Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative) +Res(Toxic, Sleep, Immobilize)

 

16.5% Defense(Fire)
16.5% Defense(Cold)
16.5% Defense(Energy)
16.5% Defense(Negative Energy)
20% Resistance(Toxic)
-12.975 Protection(Immobilize)
-12.975 Protection(Sleep)

 

Recharge: 2s

Endurance: 0.26/s

 

 

 Refracting Barrier

Activation of your force field is somewhat subconcious, and even while not actively being used it will refract some of the energy of attacks away. You will have increased resistance to Fire, Cold, Energy, and Negative Energy attacks. It also offers some resistance against debuffs to endurance, recovery and tohit

 

Auto Self +Res(Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative, EndDrain, RecDebuff, ToHitDebuff)

 

10% Resistance(Fire)
10% Resistance(Cold)
10% Resistance(Energy)
10% Resistance(Negative Energy)
21.625% Resistance(EndDrain)
21.625% Resistance(Recovery)
21.625% Resistance(ToHit)

 

 

 Absorption Field

You can briefly create a durable outer layer on your force field that will absorb some damage and improve your damage resistance by a small amount. You can use this near allies to also provide them a portion of this protection. Doing so will reduce the amount of Absorb you receive (min. 10%), but the damage resistance you receive will increase for each ally affected (up to 3).

 

Click PBAoE Scaling Absorb, Scaling Res(All)

 

10% Absorb Does not affect caster
20% Absorb Caster only
10% Absorb Caster only if EntitiesHit < 3 after 0.5 second delay
10% Absorb Caster only if EntitiesHit < 2 after 1 second delay
1.25% Resistance(Smashing) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Lethal) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Fire) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Cold) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Energy) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Negative Energy) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Psionic) Up to 4 stacks
1.25% Resistance(Toxic) Up to 4 stacks

 

Recharge: 120s
Duration: 30s

Endurance: 13

Radius: 15 ft

Max Targets: 255

 

 

 Force Flux

You can send out a constant wave of force from your force field that has a chance to knock most foes to the ground. Even foes that manage to stay on their feet will have their defense reduced by the force of the pulse.

 

Toggle PBAoE Foe Knockdown -Defense

 

14.96s Taunt (Mag 4)
0.67 KnockDown (3% Chance every 0.2 seconds)
10.5% Defense Debuff

 

Recharge: 4s
Endurance: 0.26/s

 

 

 Force Recoil

You manipulate your force field to extend outwards and then violently retract. Nearby foes will be pulled towards you, knocked to their feet and may be stunned.

 

Click Foe 'Gather' Knockdown Stun (Mag 2)

 

Mag 1.0 Gather
14.96s Taunt (Mag 4)
9.536s Stun (Mag 2)

 

Recharge: 45s

Endurance: 10.4

Radius: 15 ft

Max Targets: 10

 

 

 Slick

You can easily maintain a thin, slick layer of force field very close to yourself that will safely disperse some attacks away from you. Slick provides a small bonus to all Defense types, as well as resistance to slow, recharge and defense debuffs.

 

Auto Self +Def(All) +Res(Slow, RechDebuff, DefDebuff)

 

5% Defense(Smashing)
5% Defense(Lethal)
5% Defense(Fire)
5% Defense(Cold)
5% Defense(Energy)
5% Defense(Negative Energy)
5% Defense(Psionic)
5% Defense(Toxic)
40% Resistance(Speed)
40% Resistance(Recharge)
21.625% Resistance(Defense)

 

 

 Force Sanctuary

You can push your personal force field to its protective limits! Force Sanctuary creates a field around you that increases regeneration and recovery, and protects from many crowd control effects, then expands it out a few feet from yourself, offering the same effects to nearby allies. The focus needed to maintain this effect will limit your movement speed, recharge speed and damage while it is active. The strain of this power is too great to use it for long and it will automatically disable after 30 seconds.

 

Toggle PBAoE Team +Regen +Recovery +Res(Hold, Sleep, Disorient, Immobilize), Self -Speed -Recharge -Damage

 

200% Recovery
500% Regeneration
129.75% Resistance(Hold) Does not affect caster
129.75% Resistance(Stun) Does not affect caster
129.75% Resistance(Sleep) Does not affect caster
129.75% Resistance(Immobilize) Does not affect caster
-50% MovementSpeed Caster only
-50% Recharge Caster only
-75% Damage Caster only

 

Recharge: 240s

Endurance: 0.52/s

Radius: 15 ft

Max Targets: 255

Edited July 10 by Trickshooter
updated with suggestions

[FupDup]

My opinion on a Forcefield Armor is that Energy Aura already fills a very similar theme. Just look at the power names it has: Dampening Field, Kinetic Shield, Power Shield...The only thing missing is alternate FX for bubbles. Add that option and we've got Forcefield Armor at home. 

[Trickshooter]

4 minutes ago, FupDup said:

My opinion on a Forcefield Armor is that Energy Aura already fills a very similar theme. Just look at the power names it has: Dampening Field, Kinetic Shield, Power Shield...The only thing missing is alternate FX for bubbles. Add that option and we've got Forcefield Armor at home. 

 

The kind of thinking that would have prevented Willpower from being made.

[Rudra]

Energy Aura is basically what you are talking about. It even includes bubbles. (Edit: Kinetic Shield, Power Shield, Energy Drain, and Overload have bubble effects that go transparent with a lingering filler field.) (Edit again: And it uses both defense and resists.)

Edited June 14 by Rudra

[Trickshooter]

36 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Energy Aura is basically what you are talking about. It even includes bubbles. (Edit: Kinetic Shield, Power Shield, Energy Drain, and Overload have bubble effects that go transparent with a lingering filler field.)

 

No, it's not, but thank you.

 

  

36 minutes ago, Rudra said:

(Edit again: And it uses both defense and resists.)

 

To be fair, almost all the defense sets are a combination of defense and resistance, except maybe Ninjitsu. Even SR has passive damage resistance as they take damage!

Edited June 14 by Trickshooter

[Rudra]

And if you want a set that has a more localized force field effect, then there is Shield Defense with the Vanguard Shield or the Elemental Shield: Energy Shield.

[FupDup]

14 minutes ago, Trickshooter said:

 

The kind of thinking that would have prevented Willpower from being made.

Not really? In terms of gameplay, WP was meant as a more balanced and passive version of Regen, but it fills an entirely different theme/concept. Regen is Wolverine or Deadpool, Willpower is Batman or Punisher. 

 

For Energy Aura vs Forcefield Armor, forcefields are pretty much a bubble of energy projected around the user. That Density Field power you suggested that slows enemy rech and spd is also a bit similar to Eng's Entrophic Aura power (which only provides -rech to enemies). And it's still a typed defense armor set with moderate resistance, which is again similar to Energy Aura. 

 

I'm not trying to poopoo on you or your ideas, I'm just saying that something we have now is very close to what you're asking for. If the HC team were to add bubbles as alternate FX to Energy Aura, it would fit the fantasy/theme of a Forcefield Armor set very accurately. 

Edited June 14 by FupDup

[Trickshooter]

16 minutes ago, FupDup said:

Not really? In terms of gameplay, WP was meant as a more balanced and passive version of Regen, but it fills an entirely different theme/concept. Regen is Wolverine or Deadpool, Willpower is Batman. 

 

For Energy Aura vs Forcefield Armor, forcefields are pretty much a bubble of energy projected around the user. That Density Field power you suggested that slows enemy rech and spd is also a bit similar to Eng's Entrophic Aura power (which only provides -rech to enemies). And it's still a typed defense armor set with moderate resistance, which is again similar to Energy Aura. 

 

I'm not trying to poopoo on you or your ideas, I'm just saying that something we have now is very close to what you're asking for. If the HC team were to add alternate FX to Energy Aura, it would fit the fantasy/theme of a Forcefield Armor set very accurately. 

 

Kinetic Melee vs Energy Melee, then? Savage Melee vs Claws? We have several powersets that are distinctive from each other in terms of concept and gameplay. That doesn't mean they're not similar visually and/or functionally. I mean, functionally Ice Armor and Energy Aura are pretty similar themselves. Typed defense sets with some resistance to most damage types, a slow taunt aura, an end drain that also buffs defense, a self heal... (yes, I know Energy Aura was kind of an Ice Armor replacement redside, but still).

 

I understand, I do, and I'm not against adding force field graphics to Energy Aura and calling it a day, but I'd rather it be distinct and not just vague energy themed. I want McDonalds, not a sandwich mom!

 

I'm not taking it personally or anything, but it was disheartening to put a lot of thought in to this suggestion and have the first response be like, "but energy aura" lol

[Trickshooter]

25 minutes ago, Rudra said:

And if you want a set that has a more localized force field effect, then there is Shield Defense with the Vanguard Shield or the Elemental Shield: Energy Shield.

 

I want a bubble!

 

Or if the best I can get is reskinned Energy Aura, some kind of effect that surrounds the body, like the Victoria aura in the costume creator.

[megaericzero]

Count me in on the opinion that Energy Aura could get there by having Force Field's visuals, though I do want to express:

1) Full points for fleshing out an entire set. It has its own feel in the reverse-Hand Clap and tier 9 powers. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing this set added.

2) Thank you for recycling Force Field's shields' names, including the internal name for Detention Field's icon - Refraction Shield. It shows a high level of care, attention to detail, research and love for the parent set.

[Trickshooter]

14 minutes ago, megaericzero said:

Count me in on the opinion that Energy Aura could get there by having Force Field's visuals, though I do want to express:

1) Full points for fleshing out an entire set. It has its own feel in the reverse-Hand Clap and tier 9 powers. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing this set added.

2) Thank you for recycling Force Field's shields' names, including the internal name for Detention Field's icon - Refraction Shield. It shows a high level of care, attention to detail, research and love for the parent set.

 

I do understand the Energy Aura thing, I promise lol

 

Thank you, though! Armor sets tend to check a lot of the same boxes (multiple toggles that cover the damage types, mez protection, some auto powers), so I was trying to find a distinctive playstyle in those utility powers. I know KB is kind of one of the signature features of Force Field, but also that no one would really want that in an armor set, so I tried to find a way to include the effect that was also useful for melee fighters, but also had some benefit to the powerset it was in (in this case, I thought it was a useful way to pull foes in to your taunt aura and get that defense buff from having enemies nearby).

 

The reusing of the Force Field shield names was also kind of a nod to the Thermal set doing something similar. Both its shields are named after the similar shield in Fiery Aura (only internally for Thermal Shield though). It's actually kind of funny if you put Thermal Shield on a Fiery Aura user, the buff icons stack because of it.

[Rudra]

29 minutes ago, Trickshooter said:

 

I want a bubble!

 

Or if the best I can get is reskinned Energy Aura, some kind of effect that surrounds the body, like the Victoria aura in the costume creator.

 

1 hour ago, Rudra said:

(Edit: Kinetic Shield, Power Shield, Energy Drain, and Overload have bubble effects that go transparent with a lingering filler field.) (Edit again: And it uses both defense and resists.)

 

Edit:

1 hour ago, FupDup said:

The only thing missing is alternate FX for bubbles. Add that option and we've got Forcefield Armor at home. 

Edited June 14 by Rudra

[Trickshooter]

1 minute ago, Rudra said:

 

 

 

They're not bubbles. They're just glows and the circular aura taken from the Patron shields. Energy Drain does have a bubble effect, but only for 2 seconds.

[Rudra]

2 minutes ago, Trickshooter said:

 

They're not bubbles. They're just glows and the circular aura taken from the Patron shields. Energy Drain does have a bubble effect, but only for 2 seconds.

I logged in the game and checked before posting. And I kept the game open to alt-tab to so I could verify as I typed the post. Those 4 powers all have honest to goodness bubbles that encapsulate the character. It's just those bubbles go away after the filler field fills in. (Edit: And before anyone accuses me of saying permanent bubbles for the character should not be added to the set as alternate animations, that is no what I am saying at all. I am saying that Energy Aura already has actual bubble fields around the character. They can just be tweaked to not disappear after the animation has started. And additional bubbles can be added.)

Edited June 14 by Rudra

[FupDup]

I might be able to be persuaded on this if the def/res breakdown were changed to make it play/build a lot more differently from Energy Aura as it stands now. Ice Armor already being similar to Energy Aura only reinforces the need for more distinction here. 

 

Maybe this could be stronger typed defenses with weaker resists, go the other way with stronger resists but weaker typed defenses (too similar to Invuln then?), maybe go full potato and make the defenses positional instead. I also don't think it needs the Density Field debuff aura as it stands, not just to reduce overlap but also because Forcefields are normally associated with self-protection rather than offense (the Force Recoil aura can stay because that's more unique). 

[Trickshooter]

9 minutes ago, FupDup said:

I might be able to be persuaded on this if the def/res breakdown were changed to make it play/build a lot more differently from Energy Aura as it stands now. Ice Armor already being similar to Energy Aura only reinforces the need for more distinction here. 

 

That... is a fair judgment that I brought on myself.

 

10 minutes ago, FupDup said:

Maybe this could be stronger typed defenses with weaker resists, go the other way with stronger resists but weaker typed defenses (too similar to Invuln then?), maybe go full potato and make the defenses positional instead. I also don't think it needs the Density Field debuff aura as it stands, not just to reduce overlap but also because Forcefields are normally associated with self-protection rather than offense (the Force Recoil aura can stay because that's more unique). 

 

I actually originally had the taunt aura as Force Spikes, but then I realized that was just Icicles lol I do want the taunt aura to be something that affects the enemy in some way and also something that benefits Force Recoil, so the set has synergy with itself. I'm for sure open to trying other things. I'm also hesitant to add more defense as the base defense from the toggles is already the same base value as the SR toggles.

[megaericzero]

22 minutes ago, FupDup said:

I also don't think it needs the Density Field debuff aura as it stands, not just to reduce overlap but also because Forcefields are normally associated with self-protection rather than offense

Perhaps a Grant Cover-style power to draw a parallel to Dispersion Bubble? Paired with the tier 9, it could move this set towards being a partial support-hybrid armor set. You could keep a taunt effect so mechanically the set still has a taunt aura and thematically because enemies see you're the force field "generator" and thus see you as a priority target.

Edited June 14 by megaericzero
Typos. So many typos.

[biostem]

TBH, I'd rather see some sort of forcefield control or attack set, (or at the very least, perhaps some alternate bubble FX for the likes of gravity or mind control.

[CrusaderDroid]

I like what you're going for, and I think there's definitely room for Force Shield and Energy Aura to coexist.

 

I'm not sure this is the play, though. You need three separate toggles for a mix of typed defenses (which I think is worse than positional defenses? Correct me if I'm wrong) and mez resist, which is eating too much room in the set and doesn't leave open enough for the unique stuff like Force Recoil and especially Force Sanctuary, which is incredibly cool and something I'd like to see more of in the set. I think megaericzero has the right of it by moving it towards support tank - that's a pretty unique space that is only possibly contested by Shield Defense, which doesn't get the PBAoE pull of Force Recoil anyways.

 

If you merge Insulation Shield with Refraction Shield, you'll free up a power you can use for extra ally utility.

[FupDup]

37 minutes ago, CrusaderDroid said:

I like what you're going for, and I think there's definitely room for Force Shield and Energy Aura to coexist.

 

I'm not sure this is the play, though. You need three separate toggles for a mix of typed defenses (which I think is worse than positional defenses? Correct me if I'm wrong)

Typed defenses are often considered worse than Positionals because they can be harder to build for, but the big exception is Psi damage because there are some "unpositional" Psi attacks that cut straight through armors like SR and Shield and can only be blocked by typed Psi def. On the flipside, it can also sometimes be hard to build ranged defense on melee toons due to Mako's Bite 6 slots being the main source of it. 

 

And it is also a good point that Fire, Cold, Energy, and Negative tend to be bundled together in the same power for def/res in most other armors rather than split up (outside a few cases like Stone Armor). 

Edited June 15 by FupDup

[Trickshooter]

On 6/14/2024 at 9:01 PM, CrusaderDroid said:

I like what you're going for, and I think there's definitely room for Force Shield and Energy Aura to coexist.

 

I'm not sure this is the play, though. You need three separate toggles for a mix of typed defenses (which I think is worse than positional defenses? Correct me if I'm wrong) and mez resist, which is eating too much room in the set and doesn't leave open enough for the unique stuff like Force Recoil and especially Force Sanctuary, which is incredibly cool and something I'd like to see more of in the set. I think megaericzero has the right of it by moving it towards support tank - that's a pretty unique space that is only possibly contested by Shield Defense, which doesn't get the PBAoE pull of Force Recoil anyways.

 

If you merge Insulation Shield with Refraction Shield, you'll free up a power you can use for extra ally utility.

 

On 6/14/2024 at 9:38 PM, FupDup said:

And it is also a good point that Fire, Cold, Energy, and Negative tend to be bundled together in the same power for def/res in most other armors rather than split up (outside a few cases like Stone Armor). 

 

Most of the armor sets have 3 armor toggles anyway, it's just typically one is Smash/Lethal, one is Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative, and one is Mez protection. I just decided to divide the defense types and mez protection amongst the 3 toggles. Also, keeps it aligned with the other Defense-based sets which can typically slot 3-4 Defense IO sets (Ice, Shield and Energy; SR can do 6-7, but shhh).

 

I could combine Insulation and Refraction Shield, but I would need to shift things around a few powers in the set so that one toggle isn't doing so much of the heavy lifting. If I did that and added another power, it would have to be one that doesn't benefit the user's survivability as much, kind of like Grant Cover in Shield.

 

On 6/14/2024 at 9:38 PM, FupDup said:

Typed defenses are often considered worse than Positionals because they can be harder to build for, but the big exception is Psi damage because there are some "unpositional" Psi attacks that cut straight through armors like SR and Shield and can only be blocked by typed Psi def. On the flipside, it can also sometimes be hard to build ranged defense on melee toons due to Mako's Bite 6 slots being the main source of it.

 

Typed defenses can also be a pain because there are plenty of debuffs in the game without a defense type to check against so they can get through your defenses easily, but that's also why I tried to cover most of them in the set, as well.

 

As far as the set using Typed over Positional, even though regular FF provides defense to all types and positions for fairness, I think thematically they're considered a type-based defense, which is why I stuck with that.

Edited June 24 by Trickshooter

[Hyperstrike]

So you're wanting something that's VISIBLY similar to Force Field?

That's a cosmetic change.

 

[Trickshooter]

  

3 minutes ago, Hyperstrike said:

So you're wanting something that's VISIBLY similar to Force Field?

That's a cosmetic change.

 

Y'all are no fun.

[Hyperstrike]

52 minutes ago, Trickshooter said:

  Y'all are no fun.

You're welcome!

I love making it easier for GMs to work on the platform without wasting their efforts.

[Rudra]

You two are going to get this thread locked....