Suggestion (Powersets; Armor): Psychic Armor & Dimensional Armor

[moonligh7er]

I think we need some new armor sets. I know, not the most exciting thing to many. But hear me out on the awesome-potential! firstly, psychic and gravity have no complements in this area, and psychic is a sentinel set. I'd also like to get a little more psychic energy in corruptor. Some of these powers are for melee only; awesome potential for melee versions of the powersets too. Electric melee has some visually sick moves on par with electric armor, and.. Electric armor and stone armor are some of the most persistently-visually-appealing/active elements in the game as powers go beyond auras, esp. with static field, power surge, crystal or brimstone armor, and those floating psychic head crystals lol. And lightning rod just for the melee example. All absolutely brilliant--gorgeous work.

I adore some of the, esp. later moves I'm gonna list but list too many, they're unrefined and unbalanced as a whole, and I'm not married to most (esp. some like temporary phase-outs that are just recycles without added value like say "Time-Space Tear" below adds.. or other less novel ones--but I do think some version of the powersets could be absolutely incredible. What do y'all think? If I add more I'll make them a diff. color.

I think some of these the way I've described are quite complex and that means more work, but for powerful and memorable effects I think it could be worth it, like some Incarnate powers do like 5 things instead of 2-3. Judge for yourself.

I think all the auras, animations, moves, etc. in diff combos are available in the game to make some version of all of these, that itd be a matter more of recombining than creating really anything at all, and likely possible to make entirely from recycled resources. Anything missing that's too far out there?

Psychic Armor Powerset:

Psychics rely a lot on control for.. living, at all. Which makes sense. But that's not the only kind of archetype psychic is built into. I'd like to see that scene where the psychic, even if just for moments, walks through some crazy battle (or survives some crazy explosion) casually, overflowing with psychic energy, able to be resilient enough to walk through a moderate mob or, for moments every so often, a quite strong mob like a boss and effect their psychic will without like, hiding behind stuff or having to focus on keeping control up and not getting damage off. This is especially relevant to sentinel, where I personally would first pair it with psychic blast and then have a viable, in-theme armorset. Moderate versus stronger protection is fine, and check with the theme for psychic powers too (where psychic's ability to protect themselves and everyone can be fickle and/or have limits closer to endurance or their powers wearing away their health as they use them like pain dom, anyway where the psychic isn't op like an upset Scarlet Witch or something--but players should also get to be that op psychic for brief moments at a time with certain powers, and epic moments.
 

Psychic Armor would focus on defending against mental attacks, controlling enemy thoughts, and bolstering psychic shields. The moves should reflect the manipulation of psionic energy and mind-based defenses.

1. Mental Barrier (Passive): Grants strong resistance to psychic and psionic attacks while providing a small bonus to defense against all other types of damage. This could scale with the user's mental focus or discipline.

2. Empathic Shield (Active): Projects a barrier around the user and allies that absorbs psionic damage and reduces fear, confusion, and stun effects.

3. Telekinetic Deflection (Active/Passive): Creates a temporary shield that deflects physical projectiles and melee attacks using telekinesis, giving a defensive boost for a short duration or when attacks are imminent. Magnetic aura maybe? If that could be made more subtle.. smaller and/or with less objects.. and pink psychic storm-y? Idk just thinking. Actually if the effect on power elemental shields could be a semi-transparent sphere that only activates on incoming damage, that would be a super-authentic effect...

4. Cognitive Resilience (Passive/Active): Enhances resistance to both physical and psionic damage while reducing incoming mental control effects. Can be toggled on for a sustained reduction in incoming status effects like fear or confusion.

5. Psionic Feedback (Active): Reflects a portion of psionic damage back to the attacker. Useful against enemy telepaths and mind controllers.

6. Mental Fortitude (Passive): Increases willpower and endurance regeneration when under the effect of mental attacks, granting more resilience as psychic attacks wear on.

7. Psychic Nova (Ultimate/Active): Unleashes a massive pulse of psychic energy, stunning all enemies in the area and disrupting any ongoing psionic attacks. Acts as both an offensive and defensive ability to neutralize enemy telepaths.

8. Psionic Graviton (Melee Set Only)(Active/AoE Pull): The user taps into the minds of nearby enemies, compelling them psychically to be drawn toward the user. All foes within range are pulled toward the user over 3 seconds and immobilized briefly upon arrival. If enemies are already affected by fear or confusion, they are stunned for an additional 1-2 seconds. (PULL TO SELF)

9. Psychic Subjugation (Melee Set Only)(Active/Taunt): The user overwhelms the minds of nearby enemies, psychically compelling them to focus their aggression solely on the user. All foes within range are dominated and forced to attack only you for 6 seconds. (TAUNT)

10. Temple of the Mind (Active/Damage Transfer): The user taps into the psychic link between allies, diverting damage from any ally who falls below 30% health. The user takes a portion of the incoming damage in their place, absorbing 50% of the damage dealt to vulnerable allies.

11. Psychic Maelstrom: The user transforms into a swirling vortex of pure psychic energy, becoming a storm of psionic power. While in this form, the user gains immense resistance to psionic damage and boosts their defense against all forms of mental control, while unleashing waves of psychic damage to nearby foes. The transformation grants temporary immunity to fear, confusion, and mental debuffs. (Psychic Version of Power Surge! Like transparent in a pink thunderhead body and eyes aura??) Maybe the enemy the user is targeting or enemies in PBAOE range experience fear or confusion? Or insteadf that ofc there's the good old-fashioned (can use magnetic aura here perfectly) trope about psychics making a storm out'f every sharp object in the room, maybe with an AOE knockback--The traditional, ohsh, we made the psychic really mad scene--so it could have a little damage too, just for fun, or instead of damage apply a scourge like effect to enemies in area.

12. Mass-Induced Delirium (Active AoE Confusion): The user unleashes a powerful wave of psychic energy, overwhelming the minds of all nearby enemies. This causes them to become confused, attacking either the user or their own teammates, while unable to distinguish between friend and foe. The confusion forces enemies to either target the user or randomly strike their allies.

13. Some variant or incorporation of mass levitation would be SICK for an ultimate. Don't see enough of that one imo

14. Another strong trope I believe with more utility than perhaps seems at face value, you could essentially white-room an enemy where you two can only affect one another. If we wanna lesser and greater version of the power, the higher level version could in standard fashion become a targeted AOE instead of single-target. Strong potential for saving allies. Balanced by personal risk, but you're in control, so throw in some res or I think more appropriately def. Two slots seems like a lot though with so much strong potential for other moves. Makes sense as you scale up in power while leveling but... I don't think the utility is as widely applicable as say a hold power where you get ST then AOE versions.
    
    Affected enemies eyes should definitely glow bright, probly pink, probly their head/hair with maybe thunderhead or some kinda psycic-esque aura too? Confuse doesn't have the dramatic tell that possess does to not kill that asset til last, and I think that's easily avoidable here.

Dimensional Armor Powerset:

Another one of the most gorgeous powersets I don't see the powers from enough. Remind me to add, what is it, dimension shift? to the list of NPC powers that do not work in AE builder. Some of the aura effects generated esp. on enemies are awesome and like pretty much all of them in some form, often or usually exactly as they are, could be re-used here. Add some electricity, maybe a single subtle fire burst like from fire aura after some moves, as time-space is intimately linked not only with gravity but electricity and thermodynamics (honestly, could we borrow a form of effect from Incarnate pet summons?)

Gravity as the existing primary is alright but it really doesn't get into harnessing heady interdimensional stuff, and with this armor then archetypes other than troller could play with time-space.

Dimensional Armor focuses on protecting the user by manipulating space-time or alternate dimensions. It involves phasing between dimensions to avoid attacks, warping space around the user, and creating reality-bending defenses.

1. Phantom Shift (Active/Passive): Temporarily phase out of the current dimension, avoiding all incoming attacks for a few seconds. While phased, you cannot attack or be attacked, allowing time to reposition or regroup.

2. Dimensional Rift (Active): Opens a rift in space-time, pulling enemies toward it and immobilizing them for a short duration. Can disrupt enemy formations and give the user a tactical advantage.

3. Warped Armor (Passive): Grants resistance to all damage types by slightly distorting space around the user. This passive armor reduces incoming damage based on the intensity of the dimensional rift powers used.

4. Dimensional Echo (Active): Temporarily summon alternate-dimension versions of yourself to assist in combat. These copies act as temporary shields and attackers, confusing and overwhelming enemies.

5. Reality Break (Ultimate/Active): Tear open the boundaries between dimensions, disorienting enemies and warping their attacks. Enemies within a large radius are stunned or weakened, and their attacks may be redirected to alternate dimensions, greatly reducing damage dealt.

6. Chrono Shift (Active): Temporarily alter the flow of time around you, reducing the cooldown of all abilities and increasing your movement and attack speed. *Similar to Temporal Reconstruction

7. Spatial Recoil (Passive): Enemies attacking you are momentarily phased into another dimension, reducing their damage output and disrupting their positioning.

8. Reality Collapse (Melee Set Only)(Active/Teleport): Tear open dimensional seams, teleporting all enemies within a certain range directly to you. This disorients the enemies, leaving them vulnerable and briefly stunned as they adjust to the sudden shift in reality. (TP TO SELF)

9. Interdimensional Surge: The user phases between multiple dimensions, gaining substantial resistance to all forms of damage and the ability to pass through physical objects. During this state, the user can toggle between teleporting (or just pulling) enemies who try to escape back to their position or knocking them away with a powerful dimensional force. The interdimensional shift also reduces incoming damage by 50% due to the user’s partial presence in alternate realities. Maybe for melee archetypes they can temporarily click on attacks that will TP them to the enemy and then set them off? Like temp auto combat teleport set to location target for all melee powers?

10. Quantum Collapse: The user creates unstable pockets of reality, reducing incoming damage while occasionally phasing out of existence to avoid attacks. The closer the user gets to 0 HP, the more frequently they phase.

11. Time-Space Tear (Active/Teleport/Disorient): The user tears open a rift in reality, temporarily transporting themselves and nearby enemies to an alternate dimension. In this dimension, the laws of physics are distorted, and both the user and enemies are instantly reduced by 50% of the user's current health. It'd also make sense to make some of that +DMG instead of dmg avoidance. After being returned from this alternate plane, enemies are disoriented and unable to focus properly, suffering reduced accuracy and slower reactions. Or heck, let them channel a magnetar star for a min and theme it like that-! Terrifying.

12. Temporal Reconstruction (Support/Instant Cooldown Reset + Healing): Manipulates time to instantly heal allies and reset the cooldowns of specific or all? abilities, allowing the team to recover quickly and strike back with their most powerful moves. By rewinding time on key abilities, the user ensures that allies can unleash high-impact powers more frequently in critical moments. *Similar to Chrono Shift but better

Edited September 8 by moonligh7er

[FDR's Think Tank]

With Psychic Armor, I would focus on a few aspects:

First off.... if it's strong to Psychic Damage, what is it's weakness? Hot/Cold Damage?

 

Second off, I like what you did with Temple of the Mind... but this set should have more things like this. Psychic Armor should be potent and grabbing aggro, but also transforming aggro enemies into non-threats with fear/mind effects. (Since Aggro Caps exist, you need a way to surpass the cap and a Psychic Set, as a manipulator of the mind, is perfect opportunity.)

 

Third: I can see you're working with some concepts of Willpower in there, but maybe Psychic should focus more on how the Psychic Tank is able to Psyche their opponents out. It's not just about fear, but possibly giving To-Hit Debuffs instead of relying on the normal Resist/Defense Buff mechanics. It would make this set stack really well with any pool powers that can boost traditional defensive options, since it would be harder to hit Defense/Resist caps when your powers basically ignore that aspect.

 

 

Dimensional Armor sounds fun, but I have a questions:

Phase Shift would probably work well for a Sentinel and Stalker as a Panic Button.... but for a Tank, a Brute, and a Scrapper.... what would the effect on Aggro Be? Are they still able to Taunt in Phased form? Will it even matter if NPC's can't target them? Phase Shift is tricky to balance. Either it's going to end up being totally useless for many builds... or it's going to become incredibly broken, especially since players can take Teleporter's Phase Shift and juggle between them.

 

There are other things, such as Quantum Collapse that just seem tremendously broken. Warped Armor... does it grow based on other Dimensional Armor Powers active... or does it grow based on how many Gravity/Dimension attacks are being used in it's vicinity? Both seem a tad difficult to scale properly. Teleporting Enemies with Interdimensional Surge sounds a bit mystifying, sure, it would be very cool, but I question what the PURPOSE of it would be, since most of the time, teleporting is to either get into melee range or bring enemies into melee range. Is this something that teleports RANGED strikers into Melee range? Because it sounded like it would teleport melee strikers away.

 

It's possible you don't quite understand the consequences of Phase Powers in the game mechanics, because typically, Phase implies the character cannot be targeted by enemies while phased. (They also can't target enemies) but what ends up happening for NPC's..... is they simply target something else. For a Tanker, Brute, and even Scrapper... this is REALLY REALLY Bad. You want your opponents close because your powers mostly require melee range, but also your job (To varying degrees and scale) is holding Aggro. You would need to make a special Phase Shift state that can be targeted, but is immune to attacks.... Which might actually be broken. But It would solve some of the issues with phase reliant powers while making the Teleporting Phase Shift distinct enough that most people wouldn't have reason to take both.

 

Also... what's Dimensional Armor's key Defense Category and what's the built in weakness? 

 

Some of this reflects on how City of Heroes is built. You have to consider how the set functions at the role it's designed for. I know Stalker Builds would LOVE having an extra Phase Shift option for escaping consequences... but it just might be too potent, especially in PvP scenarios. You might say "But it's already Unbalanced" and my point is you don't want to turn it into a Dimensional Armor Stalker's private playground.

 

 

[moonligh7er]

On 9/7/2024 at 9:07 AM, FDR's Think Tank said:

With Psychic Armor, I would focus on a few aspects:

First off.... if it's strong to Psychic Damage, what is it's weakness? Hot/Cold Damage?

 

Second off, I like what you did with Temple of the Mind... but this set should have more things like this. Psychic Armor should be potent and grabbing aggro, but also transforming aggro enemies into non-threats with fear/mind effects. (Since Aggro Caps exist, you need a way to surpass the cap and a Psychic Set, as a manipulator of the mind, is perfect opportunity.)

 

Third: I can see you're working with some concepts of Willpower in there, but maybe Psychic should focus more on how the Psychic Tank is able to Psyche their opponents out. It's not just about fear, but possibly giving To-Hit Debuffs instead of relying on the normal Resist/Defense Buff mechanics. It would make this set stack really well with any pool powers that can boost traditional defensive options, since it would be harder to hit Defense/Resist caps when your powers basically ignore that aspect.

 

 

Dimensional Armor sounds fun, but I have a questions:

Phase Shift would probably work well for a Sentinel and Stalker as a Panic Button.... but for a Tank, a Brute, and a Scrapper.... what would the effect on Aggro Be? Are they still able to Taunt in Phased form? Will it even matter if NPC's can't target them? Phase Shift is tricky to balance. Either it's going to end up being totally useless for many builds... or it's going to become incredibly broken, especially since players can take Teleporter's Phase Shift and juggle between them.

 

There are other things, such as Quantum Collapse that just seem tremendously broken. Warped Armor... does it grow based on other Dimensional Armor Powers active... or does it grow based on how many Gravity/Dimension attacks are being used in it's vicinity? Both seem a tad difficult to scale properly. Teleporting Enemies with Interdimensional Surge sounds a bit mystifying, sure, it would be very cool, but I question what the PURPOSE of it would be, since most of the time, teleporting is to either get into melee range or bring enemies into melee range. Is this something that teleports RANGED strikers into Melee range? Because it sounded like it would teleport melee strikers away.

 

It's possible you don't quite understand the consequences of Phase Powers in the game mechanics, because typically, Phase implies the character cannot be targeted by enemies while phased. (They also can't target enemies) but what ends up happening for NPC's..... is they simply target something else. For a Tanker, Brute, and even Scrapper... this is REALLY REALLY Bad. You want your opponents close because your powers mostly require melee range, but also your job (To varying degrees and scale) is holding Aggro. You would need to make a special Phase Shift state that can be targeted, but is immune to attacks.... Which might actually be broken. But It would solve some of the issues with phase reliant powers while making the Teleporting Phase Shift distinct enough that most people wouldn't have reason to take both.

 

Also... what's Dimensional Armor's key Defense Category and what's the built in weakness? 

 

Some of this reflects on how City of Heroes is built. You have to consider how the set functions at the role it's designed for. I know Stalker Builds would LOVE having an extra Phase Shift option for escaping consequences... but it just might be too potent, especially in PvP scenarios. You might say "But it's already Unbalanced" and my point is you don't want to turn it into a Dimensional Armor Stalker's private playground.

 

 

Appreciate the solid response! Many valid points. I'm bad at quoting but hopefully this makes sense as covering all.

If it's strong against psi, something game game desperately needs a little more of (imo both psi damage and res, beyond that one accolade Elusive Mind that gives you mad psi res for a short time every 25 min...). Psychics are the master race lol, that's why we only get half-arsed versions of them on screen, cuz they'd tantrum everyone outta reality. I don't have a problem with how fairly niche it is in the game as is, in a fashion similar to on-screen (makes certain enemies way more fun/terrifying/awful, which I support), but I'd lovve to see a little more of it, and these defensive complements. Heck, make a new AV arc to launch it where you'll highly benefit from somebody with this build being on the team (and either could be more pure, selfish armor or more team defense, or both over diff archetypes). (Or just unlock full misson-building tools and I can finish mine. 😉 jk nr)

I think psychics should be weak to dark. Maybe it's Pokemon influencing me lol but it seems to make sense... as we've seen with both Wanda and Legion and Phoenix. Also electric could be said to do something that interrupts them neurologically. Not sure, but ofc it'll need a weakness.

Quantum Collapse is a mechanic already see nin a form in the game with procs (eg Preventative Medicine). It would only be as OP as devs decided to make it. Though the list obviously is not balanced due to entirely too many powers, no power is inherently broken as the devs have full control over numbers. Ofc balancing them may leave some powers with a, "why even," status, but that's why I appreciate discussion. I'm just a bit of a writer and so I've more of a mind for concept than numbers (value of discussion again) cuz in my writing I'm God and if Marvel can put Scarlet or Legion on screen any anyone survive I can probly do about anything haha, but in CoH the game's existing laws of nature are God and some of y'all are a lot more familiar with the numbers.
 

Phase shift tbh I didn't come up with. For each list I asked AI to come up with a powerset based on it's knowledge of CoH mechanics, and then all the interesting powers I came up with (100% of the powers beyond 7 for ea list, and I changed some'f the others to be more imaginative or different). I agree about phase shift. I think the mechanic should be included cuz... interdimensional... but more like Quantum Collapse, or something.. else, cuz phase shift as you alluded to would kill melee utility. If Quantum Collapse seems broken but you like the idea, I'm sure it can be adjusted numerically or conceptually, or just not make the final cut cuz there's plenty else to work with.

Interdimensional Surge seems the most apparent to me. It's just like Blackstar or Fold Space, but a different animation. Any melee ought to adore it. Since you brought up distinguishing range/melee, it might be fun is switching the place of melee and ranged enemies. Ofc this is conceptual and not numbers thinking, as it seems more useful if you deal a lot of damage to melees then switch them out with the ranged guys or guys who aren't in melee range but within TP range ofc. I think that'd be an interesting team mechanic, where hopefully the team can finish off the melees that are no longer taunted. Regardless of which, those TP'ed to the user would be under taunt ofc. This move would ofc only be for a melee variant of this set. Another reason I included way more move than a powerset's worth and some that don't match, cuz I see some very similar powersets in-game tweaked only relatively slightly for diff archetypes, and I think that'd make sense to do at least with a psychic/psionic armor. Really, anybody can also be a bit psychic... I'd almost say throw it into epics as an armor option vs the rez/hibernate type saves we see in epics, but I believe so few moves could never do it justice.

 

As for powers with phase mechanics that aren't pure phases (eg phasing out to avoid an attack only here or there), this is no bit different than any other defensive ability that avoids or absorbs an attack (eg invuln, super reflexes), it's just a different animation. It could easily be coded not to remove aggro, a valid concern, cuz take Quantum Collapse, you're not out of phase long enough for them to stop trying to play whack a mole with you, unlike other phase powers where it's like, 'okay we can't hit him he can't hit us in a sec when he phases back in, let's finda new target.'

For Dimensional Armor's scaling res or def, again a super basic power that I have no investment in that's just like one'f the other passive armor powers, I'd kind of like it to scale based on how many enemies you have targeting you IF it's not a melee version of the set (otherwise... easily broken), cuz that'd be super helpful for squishies and makes sense ('psychic linked/attentional energy,' w/e). As written it says all categories, but more thought through I imagine Dimensional Armor could be res or def, if that's what you mean. Overall I think the various passive/toggle/active shields should provide most resistance to psychic and physical, then most everything else, and be weak to dark and electric. Toxic is another thing that it could be made v.weak to and make sense. Fire and stuff just don't make sense for it not to be able to extremely capable of redirecting, say, fire. Things like electric can disrupt them neurologically, toxins including rad can be beyond their ability to do anything about psychically requiring specialized scientific knowledge or w/e.

I'm not married to anything like willpower, or res or def or damage scaling with any particular thing, or any particular build-up type mechanic liek rage or w/e possibly called, "psionic charge," or a likeness. I think including no overall mechanic like this (other than maybe move-specific ones mentioned) would be fine for a non-melee variant (also, sometimes I just don't feel like playing a mechanic like that, but psychically it'd make sense working either way), and instead some type of scourge effect, but maybe only scourge on enemies that are targeting you... obv probly not for a corruptor set tho. But, for a corr. set, maybe phase your allies out instead of yourself, maybe partially... say strong def but only their offensive powers or powers of a certain level rating make it through into the dimension without losing some dmg efficacy (and so probly give it a visual warning and strong text label, a slight grace period for attacks to make it through full force)... there are other mechanics that teams whine about like group flight or Transcendence Invocation, but this one could reverse a team wipe.

Possible toggle or moderate recharge active--Temp switch out defense for damage. Psychics might be overwhelmed by their own rage and subconsciously divert  from shields to mental weapons, or take some kind of debuff for spending too much time in the mind of a particular foe. Something about quieting the mind/silencing the voices lol.

Really anything can be done with either powerset due to the nature of them--That's their only inherently OP thing lol.

Edited September 8 by moonligh7er

[moonligh7er]

Another possibility... Let the psychic temp reverse the (single or targeted AOE) enemy's def/res (so then strong to what they're weak to, weak to what they're strong to). Or let them gain res or def for whole team to the powers of the enemy they're targeting, as a single-targeted toggle or a toggle that follows your targeting changes. That could possibly bring a lot more powers into play in different scenarios that could for most of the fight be near useless, for the whole team. I think this could add a lot of value to gameplay overall. Not inherently broken I don't think; just seems like a spicier version of a +to hit, esp. like in pain dom where I'm combo'ing it with -def. Disable the OP aspects of it or it entirely it in PvP if broken, like a lotta stuff is, isn't it?

Dimensional could summon a dopple with a dimensional effect. Here's evil/inverse-alignment you from another dimension, have fun fora few sec. Dopple's one of the coolest, and underplayed game elements. Doesn't even work as a triggered boss spawn in AE, not for me anyway.

Heck, getting off the topic of armor perhaps but as an aside a mechanic would be cool to let a psychic, 'possess,' an enemy NPC or player (glowing eyes at least and maybe stormhead for a 360 degree tell, God please lol), somehow decide which of their powers they have access to manual control over (random-eh, least or most powerful, primary or secondary, longest recharge would be funny and merciless lol, etc.), and severely lower the psychic's res &/or def during this. Alternately, walk em off a building or fly them up in the air and fall lol (not even srs dmg unless u'd die from a bicycle accident anyway) and that would have way more funny and interesting value than some of the other, "yeah ok thanks for the 2-shot hold/stealth-gank," PvP mechanics, so I'll hear nothing on that lol.

I like confuse's mechanic where you might not pay attention and get a couple attacks off on friendlies, but.. Possess in the game in PvP or teamplay is extremely underwhelming and I think v.poorly done as-is; it doesn't seem to do anything v.noteworthy, definitely nothing fun. Why isn't my possessed ally attacking me with random moves? They don't even seem to be a threat me as in confusion's mechanic. W/e's going on it's lame, or if there's something to it I've just never seen it yet. Esp. not fun in AE arcs. Just to interject that...

Edited September 8 by moonligh7er
clarity