Warden Archetype

[Starhammer]

First off, I know there's been discussion of using Warden instead of Guardian as a name for a Support/Melee AT, but I have a better idea.
Make Warden a Armor/Control AT following the Sentinel concept.

Wardens would have a Armor primary powerset comparable to Brutes without taunt in their auras.

They would have a Control secondary set similar to Controllers, but with a shorter range (comparable to Sentinels, maybe even a little shorter). AOE's should probably also be a bit smaller or affect fewer targets.

Their AT power would be "Lockdown" (It's a working name... I know it's also the name of a holds enh set, so it'd need to change). The function of the power would be to provide a bonus to status effect magnitude of +1 at level 1, +2 at level 25, and +3 at level 50. Additionally it would provide the same amount as a status effect protection to self (meaning even if your armor set is weak against some status effects, you still have something against them).
Their Epic/Patron pools would be predominantly support powers. Nothing that could compete with a real support set, but something to empower the "Jack of all trades" feeling.

Being well armored, they should generally get right into the middle of combat, but with no taunt effects they should not interfere with other melee tanking efforts. Their damage will not be very high, but they have the advantage of (some) range keeping them from having to put as much effort into chasing after runners they missed.

[Psyonico]

Wouldn’t it make more sense to have it be Control/Armor instead?  If Armor is the primary, it would have similar stats to a tanker, not a brute.

 

Also, the lockdown idea… it would mean they have mag 4 hold at level 1, which is enough to hold almost all bosses, that sounds really overpowered.  On the flip side, the +2 and +3 mag would be pretty much meaningless since mag 4 will overcome pretty much everything without PToD and even with mag 6 holds, a single player couldn’t hold through PToD.  It would pretty much be relegated to “make Hami greens get held faster”

[MTeague]

I can safely say I would never play this archtype. 

That is of course, not a reason not to make the proposed AT. The devs either will, or will not, as they see fit. Out of our hands.

 

But I do think the proposed AT would struggle mightily to do damage.  I will say those who play it would need to carefully choose their armor set favoring something with a damage aura like Fire, and a control set with decent sources of damage (Plant?) or at least plan on loading up damage procs over control duration.  Controllers can at least lean on a support set to provide increased  damage potential (Storm Summoning, Kinetics, Dark Miasma, etc). And of course Dominators have an entire secondary devoted to damage. 

 

I also feel the armor set is somewhat redundant. My controller locks spawns down and takes no damage because they're busy looking at the pretty flowers, or the sparkly lights, etc. It seems to me the armor set is ... a fifth wheel on a wagon.

 

Still. Choices are choices, and more choices are usually good.

[Steampunkette]

Control/Armor is redundant. Both powersets mitigate incoming damage.

 

They'd also be completely useless against AVs. 

 

All in all, an ineffectual AT that does little more than 'survive' at things.

[skoryy]

I never get the point of Control/Armor. Taunt is control and who needs holds when you have armor? You're re-inventing the wheel.

[Starhammer]

20 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Wouldn’t it make more sense to have it be Control/Armor instead?  If Armor is the primary, it would have similar stats to a tanker, not a brute.

 

Also, the lockdown idea… it would mean they have mag 4 hold at level 1, which is enough to hold almost all bosses, that sounds really overpowered.  On the flip side, the +2 and +3 mag would be pretty much meaningless since mag 4 will overcome pretty much everything without PToD and even with mag 6 holds, a single player couldn’t hold through PToD.  It would pretty much be relegated to “make Hami greens get held faster”

If we're following the Sentinel Pattern, it doesn't matter so much which is labels as primary, as both would be somewhat reduced in effectiveness. And as sets for any new AT would have to be rebuilt from the ground up more or less, mostly just strongly resembling the original versions, performance and powers can be tweaked to suit the new AT function. In this case being improved survivability when control powers are insufficient either to the number of enemies or individual power of enemies. Contributing to the control on the GM without getting flattened when it targets you for instance. If there's a concern that it can't do enough damage, make sure all the armor sets have a damage aura... sets that don't normally can be adjusted appropriately. Personally because of the reduced damage potential (also, more aoe than single target in most cases) I feel like the armor on the set should be better than most other armor sets while still being slightly lower than tanks. Maybe higher values than Brutes, but a slightly lower cap (IIRC, Brutes have the same cap as tanks, with base values closer to Stalker).

As for the Lockdown effects (which I'm not desperately attached to), again, individual power performance and availability can be tweaked to go along with the bonus so that it provides a steady increase in effectiveness without being overwhelming too early. You can change the T2 hold for instance into a mag 1, knowing it will stay mag 2 with the buff and be as effective, while becoming more effective at higher levels. Frankly the more important side of Lockdown, which Controllers and Dominators don't have is the status protection (which supplements their armor powers, which, if necessary, can once again be adjusted to keep performance relevant at each level).

For those who are unable or unwilling to see the value in it, consider that maybe it's not for you. This is something I would play and enjoy, and I expect plenty of others would find it enjoyable also. Always nice to have more ways to do things.