Focused Feedback: Powerset - Control AoE Adaptive Recharge

[The Curator]

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Fire Control

 Cinders

• Endurance cost reduced from 15.6 to 8.528.
• This power now has Adaptive Recharge. It has a base recharge of 8 seconds, and each affected foe will increase the recharge by 14.5 seconds for a maximum total of 240 seconds. 

 

Ice Control

 Glacier

• Endurance cost reduced from 15.6 to 8.528.
• This power now has Adaptive Recharge. It has a base recharge of 8 seconds, and each affected foe will increase the recharge by 14.5 seconds for a maximum total of 240 seconds. 

 

Illusion Control

 Flash

• Endurance cost reduced from 15.6 to 8.528.
• This power now has Adaptive Recharge. It has a base recharge of 8 seconds, and each affected foe will increase the recharge by 14.5 seconds for a maximum total of 240 seconds.

 

Symphony Control

  Chords of Despair

• Endurance cost reduced from 15.6 to 8.528.
• This power now has Adaptive Recharge. It has a base recharge of 8 seconds, and each affected foe will increase the recharge by 14.5 seconds for a maximum total of 240 seconds.

 

Mind Control

 Total Domination

• Endurance cost reduced from 15.6 to 8.528.
• This power now has Adaptive Recharge. It has a base recharge of 8 seconds, and each affected foe will increase the recharge by 14.5 seconds for a maximum total of 240 seconds. 

 

Quote

Design Notes:

Early feedback about Adaptive Recharge has been mostly positive outside it's impact on procs, perhaps one of the most positive feedbacks we have received for a change to existing powers in a long time. Based on this, we will be expanding this system to more sets. We still are aiming to not homogenize every set into this schema. We are aiming to keep a rather even split between Adaptive Recharge 240s holds and area of denial ones. We will be applying these as it makes most thematic and playable sense for the individual set.

 

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[Riverdusk]

Very cool idea and very helpful for solo/small team players.  I'm a fan.

 

Only thing I'd ask along with this change is to also look at Illusion Control - Flash's animation time.  One of the big turnoffs of even taking Flash for me has always been its 3 second animation time along with it being a melee PBAoE hold.  A controller running into a mob and trying to use a 3 second animation time hold is a good way to get yourself killed.   

 

I believe the only other PBAoE controller holds are fire control and ice control which have a 1 second and 2 second animation time respectively.  Those are much more reasonable for the danger of going into melee to use them.

[Championess]

I was told that 'some' aoe holds along with having this adaptive recharge got a change to target location.  All I can see though is Gravity got that change but it also got pulsing damage and mag.  

 

Is it only Grav that got that target location change to its aoe hold?

 

Neat idea though

Edited Tuesday at 06:34 PM by Championess

[StarkWhite]

Just now, Championess said:

I was told that 'some' aoe holds along with having this adaptive recharge got a change to target location.  All I can see though is Gravity got that change but it also got pulsing damage and mag.  

 

Is it only Grav got that target location change to its aoe hold?

Electric Control got Paralyzing Blast turned into Tesla Coil.

[Championess]

2 minutes ago, StarkWhite said:

Electric Control got Paralyzing Blast turned into Tesla Coil.

 

Okay good to know.  Turning some aoe holds into location powers will make them feel clunky.  Some sets could go for the added damage and mag provided by that.  Glad it wasn't just a wholesale sweep to make aoe holds into target locations.

[Warspite]

I do like the change, just to confirm though, the 240 Max total recharge time, would still be able to be reduced by enhancements and global recharge correct?  So 2 to 2:30 max recharge time depending on how I slot it?

[Mezmera]

On 5/26/2025 at 5:03 AM, The Curator said:

Early feedback about Adaptive Recharge has been mostly positive outside it's impact on procs, perhaps one of the most positive feedbacks we have received for a change to existing powers in a long time.

 

Yeah I can see it having positive feedback its a neat idea for those longer recharging aoe controls.

 

I was wondering too about how procs would be impacted.  Since holds can slot a lot of damage procs and there is a long recharge on an aoe hold this made for some good extra damage on the sly.  Were people finding at the full 16 targets hit procs were firing as before, less, more?  Were procs over or under-firing on less targets?

[LastHumanSoldier]

2 minutes ago, Mezmera said:

 

Yeah I can see it having positive feedback its a neat idea for those longer recharging aoe controls.

 

I was wondering too about how procs would be impacted.  Since holds can slot a lot of damage procs and there is a long recharge on an aoe hold this made for some good extra damage on the sly.  Were people finding at the full 16 targets hit procs were firing as before, less, more?  Were procs over or under-firing on less targets?

 

Adaptive change dumpsters proc rate.
Its an intended change I believe.

 

[srmalloy]

While I have no concerns about it being functional, I'm not sure Adaptive Recharge is going to be a good mechanic to apply to all of the powers it's being swaged onto. Take Cinders, for example; you're whirling cinders around your body; that shouldn't care how many people are standing around you to be hit by them; you're applying the same effort regardless of how many people get hit. It's like throwing a grenade, then realizing because the grenade blast hit an extra four targets this time, it's going to take you longer to pull another grenade off your belt and pull the pin -- it's fabricating a mechanic that feels more as if it's dependent on how the player defines the way their character's powers work. For example, the notes on Ground Zero -- the power has the character releasing radiation into the environment around them; at the point where it's released, the number of affected targets is indeterminate, and not affected by anything the character does -- once they release the radiation, they've expended the effort, and whether it affects one target or ten is irrelevant to the effort they expended. Other powers, like Mass Confusion, where the character is actively working to confuse targets in an area, is different; there the character is having to focus on each additional target affected, so increasing the recharge based on the number of targets affected can be justifiable.

[Ridiculous Girl]

4 hours ago, Warspite said:

I do like the change, just to confirm though, the 240 Max total recharge time, would still be able to be reduced by enhancements and global recharge correct?  So 2 to 2:30 max recharge time depending on how I slot it?

if i remember correctly, recharge will reduced the overall recharge of the power globally.

[Player-1]

11 hours ago, Warspite said:

I do like the change, just to confirm though, the 240 Max total recharge time, would still be able to be reduced by enhancements and global recharge correct?  So 2 to 2:30 max recharge time depending on how I slot it?

 

Recharge enhancement / buffs will also effect the adaptive recharge. 

[Mellows]

Will this also be be used for the fortunata versions of total dom and aura of confusion?

[Parabola]

In general I like the sound of this - it's clever and solves an obvious problem. My biggest concern is that it's introducing another mechanic to the game that isn't going to be immediately obvious to players who are not well versed in what is going on under the hood. It's always been recognised that the interaction between global vs local recharge and ppm isn't an ideal situation because of exactly this issue.

[Jaxman100]

Was there any factors to determine which AoE Holds received this treatment? 

 

Testing this while solo or on a small team, I'm just spamming Glacier now. There's no reason not to throw it at every group, then wait and see if Arctic Air confuses everything, if not cast Glacier again. 

 

Is the added recharge intended to apply only if a target is Held or also apply if the power misses?  Simply noticing if you miss a couple of targets, the power is then just back quicker. Not a ton of play testing, but it feels like a powerful change. Making an AoE hold a focal point power of a build vs. an emergency use power. 

[ExeErdna]

From what I played with them a lot of those holds just weren't good for most players. Especially Cinders, Glacier and Flash a lot of players may not understand but unironically Controllers like to be in melee range. It's very high risk for the frail class yet when you start combat TP'ing into groups is when those three really shine. Now instead of something you saved and maybe used once per mission. Honestly, these buffs make it really seem like all to need is the throw in 2-3 acc/mez pieces and call it a day or go for the 4 slot Basilsk's Gaze. Allowing a bit more flexible slotting. Since I either put Will of the Controller set there or Unbreakable Constraint with the Ghost Widow Proc.  So now you'll have 2-4 slots to play with and most players won't notice that much. Yet it seriously helps Total Dom and Chords since I did not like using those two