Knockback, Stil a Dirty Word?

[Jacke]

2 hours ago, Starhawk32 said:

I find [ colour customisation ] a challenge at times.  Forget the idea where it hides my costume, but there are certainly times when someone makes a color that hides visibility in the game.  Particularly where there is a lighting extreme or in caves.

 

That's where this macro can help:

/macro FX "++noparticles"

 

I use it whenever I can't see things well due to effects.  But also have to use it again to turn particles back on.  Else I can't see SG Portals or Teleport Portals of the Vanguard type, likely other things as well.

 

 

3 minutes ago, Luminara said:

Fun Police out here eyeing the game like it's George Floyd and they got itchy knees.

 

At least it's not the other Police.

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Rokkeb]

The fact that knock back still exists and isn't auto turned to knockdown for every power for every at is proof that powers team despises melee player.

 

Nothing in this game is as disruptive to players as bad knock back is to melee players. And the number of bad knock back to good knock back I've experienced on HC severs is astronomically in favor of bad knock back.

 

The closest thing to disrupt gameplay to ranged players the way knock back does to melee (and also interferes with other ranged, just not as bad) are these phase fields they make enemies unmatchable unless you enter the field. But as far as I know there are two of those they're often skipped, and they're on longer CDs so can't be hot with every group.  Meanwhile a bad knock acksr can disrupt every single group of mobs for every melee on the team , for every mission of a TF.

 

And some people are here arguing in favor of one player being able to disrupt the entire play style of up to 7 other team mates? 

[Jacke]

27 minutes ago, Rokkeb said:

The fact that knock back still exists and isn't auto turned to knockdown for every power for every at is proof that powers team despises melee player.

 

I think all the continued existence of KB proves is that there's only so much Power Devs attention to go 'round.  There's only a few of them and they can't do everything every Page release.

 

 

[Ghost]

1 hour ago, Rokkeb said:

The fact that knock back still exists and isn't auto turned to knockdown for every power for every at is proof that powers team despises melee player.

 

Nothing in this game is as disruptive to players as bad knock back is to melee players. And the number of bad knock back to good knock back I've experienced on HC severs is astronomically in favor of bad knock back.

 

The closest thing to disrupt gameplay to ranged players the way knock back does to melee (and also interferes with other ranged, just not as bad) are these phase fields they make enemies unmatchable unless you enter the field. But as far as I know there are two of those they're often skipped, and they're on longer CDs so can't be hot with every group.  Meanwhile a bad knock acksr can disrupt every single group of mobs for every melee on the team , for every mission of a TF.

 

And some people are here arguing in favor of one player being able to disrupt the entire play style of up to 7 other team mates? 

You’re right.

The devs hate melee players 🙄

 

Guess there’s nothing further to discuss other than what other ways can the devs come up with to make melee players suffer.

[Biff Pow]

Blaster: (Novas all enemies)

 

Melee: "Hey I was herding them up to kill slowly"

[ivanhedgehog]

3 hours ago, Neiska said:

 

I don't see as forcibly turning off or changing other people's powers to be a "Synergy." A synergy is a compromise. That isn't a compromise. Am open to suggestions, so long as they are entirely optional and at the players discretion. But as spoken by others already, if such an "option" even was suddenly available, it would then go suddenly from option straight to obligatory, such as the KB to KD option has become among some.

The devs change lots of powers for their own reasons. occasionally they tell us why. Some we like, some we dont.

[FlammeFatale]

On 8/17/2025 at 9:34 PM, longdayinrehab said:

if you invest in a 2nd build, make one for soloing that doesn't worry about the KB. It's really fun to go ham with it sometimes.

 

You don't even need to invest in a second build. For soloing, you can just use a couple unslotters to replace your KB->KD enhancements, by procs for instance.

Then switch back to KB->KD when teaming. You can keep the alternative enhancements and unslotters in you inventory.

 

This is strictly to have some fun, because I found it is simpler to always keep KB->KD in AoEs. The KB tax is not so big, it does not make or break a build. And soloing, KB can be detrimental to my own KB-ing character, if I have melee attacks in the chain.

 

[blue4333]

question: is knockback why Energy Blast has a lower DPA than other powersets?

[Maelwys]

6 hours ago, Biff Pow said:

Blaster: (Novas all enemies)

 

Melee: "Hey I was herding them up to kill slowly"

 

*Enemies proceed to stand back up again because the numpty had their Nuke slotted for KB distance instead of damage aspect (let alone any procs) and never bothered to pop Aim+Build Up (with a Gaussian proc in it) before nuking*

 

Melee: "Great, so now we still have to kill them slowly but they're scattered over half the map!"

 

Tank: "And all of them want to eat the Blaster's face off because I've just taunted a fresh set of 17 enemies. This is what we call a self-correcting problem."

 

Edited 19 hours ago by Maelwys

[Solarverse]

10 hours ago, Neiska said:

 

I don't see as forcibly turning off or changing other people's powers to be a "Synergy." A synergy is a compromise. That isn't a compromise. Am open to suggestions, so long as they are entirely optional and at the players discretion. But as spoken by others already, if such an "option" even was suddenly available, it would then go suddenly from option straight to obligatory, such as the KB to KD option has become among some.

 

Yeah, not sure why that silly idea keeps being associated with me, but that wasn't my idea, nor anything that I have supported. 

[Solarverse]

6 hours ago, Ghost said:

You’re right.

The devs hate melee players 🙄

 

Guess there’s nothing further to discuss other than what other ways can the devs come up with to make melee players suffer.

 

I can think up of some ways. Give all NPC's PBAoE auto hit Endurance Drain. Give all NPC's Phase. Give all NPC's PBAoE Fear. Give all NPC's 0 resists to knock back. No player will want to play Melee ever again. That'll fix'em once and or all.

[Solarverse]

31 minutes ago, blue4333 said:

question: is knockback why Energy Blast has a lower DPA than other powersets?

 

Energy Blast is the only power in game that has never seen a nerf or a buff. To the best of my memory, Energy is the same today as it was upon release.

[FlammeFatale]

10 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

Going down the list, in no specific order:

• AoEs (everything dies too fast)
•  
•  
•  
• And any power or play style that they personally dislike (why are you doing that?  it's wrong.  WRONG)

Fun Police out here eyeing the game like it's George Floyd and they got itchy knees.

 

You forgot ugly characters. Back on live, I once got kicked out of a team because the leader found my character ugly.

 

The discussion went like this:

leader: I don't like your character.

me: why?

leader: because she is ugly.

... proceeds to kick me.

 

This was in team chat, not tells, and must have triggered some group discussion.  5 minutes later, the team had reformed without the aesthete leader and re-invited me.

 

 

[ZemX]

5 hours ago, blue4333 said:

question: is knockback why Energy Blast has a lower DPA than other powersets?

 

No.  DPA is literally an accident per the original design of this game.  The original Live devs had no idea it even mattered.

[Maelwys]

25 minutes ago, ZemX said:

DPA is literally an accident per the original design of this game.  The original Live devs had no idea it even mattered.

This.

IIRC Endurance Cost was (for most toons) very much the main limiting factor in how quickly you could trigger attacks.
And Recharge Time was a pretty big secondary factor.
So unless you had a pocket Kinetics or Empath buffbot; you were SOL and had to fire off attacks much less frequently than their animation time limitations allowed.

...then they gave us Inherent Fitness; IOs, and Incarnates.
 

[SuperBear]

I've given up (given in?) to the Energy Blast hate. I just unslotted them and play other characters. For me personally, I got tired of being questioned every single damn time before even getting the invite. "Do you have KBKD?, Do you know how to play your character?, Do you know not to attack until after the herding is done? (So wait till they're all dead, then attack?) Got it." Really? Hell, I still get hate for having Meteor and I have to swear on my parent's grave that I have KBKD in order to get the invite. Oh and Phantasm "Please dismiss that pet or leave." Sigh... I've been playing, and supporting this game since launch. The date the character is created is in the bio. It's become easier to just not play Energy Blast at all, which sucks because I really like it. Shrug.

[Xulf]

Wow.  Still grinding, I see.  I can't decide whether many of you remind me of a bunch of old ladies in a sewing circle bitching about the neighbor down the street or a box of hammers desperate to find a nail.

 

What I would say to all the people hesitant to play energy blast is just this:  Play what you want, how you want.  Don't let the cry babies or the resume takers decide your fun.  Just one star them and move on with your life.  I'm not advocating griefing but I am saying that a chance for kb is literally baked into every power of that set, save "aim".  If the lot of you are as good at playing this game as you imply, you should be able to compensate.  If not, maybe you aren't that good.  To quote Sgt. Highway (and the Marines).  Improvise, adapt, overcome.

 

I was always lead to believe the primary purpose of a game was to have fun, not to treat it as a six sigma/continuous improvement project.  Guess I was wrong.

 

*After reading this, I can see where the internet lawyers will misinterpret  --You too have the right to play as you wish.  Kick, one-star, leave teams.  Have fun the way you want as well.

[Solarverse]

3 hours ago, SuperBear said:

I've given up (given in?) to the Energy Blast hate. I just unslotted them and play other characters. For me personally, I got tired of being questioned every single damn time before even getting the invite. "Do you have KBKD?, Do you know how to play your character?, Do you know not to attack until after the herding is done? (So wait till they're all dead, then attack?) Got it." Really? Hell, I still get hate for having Meteor and I have to swear on my parent's grave that I have KBKD in order to get the invite. Oh and Phantasm "Please dismiss that pet or leave." Sigh... I've been playing, and supporting this game since launch. The date the character is created is in the bio. It's become easier to just not play Energy Blast at all, which sucks because I really like it. Shrug.

 

My main is Energy Blast and I play him at least once any time I log in. I have never been asked if I slot KB to KD and even in the times of the old before that existed, I learned extremely fast to aim my KB toward a corner or the wall where the Tank resided, if that were not possible I stuck to hammering the Highest Ranked NPC to lowest in Single Target. In my experience, nobody says a word. I guess they wait and see how I play then say nothing once they see how. Then again, 95% of the time, I run my own teams, so maybe my point of view is a bit moot. 

[golstat2003]

Sees the topic of the thread and walks back out again.

 

NOPE

 

[Oklahoman]

22 minutes ago, golstat2003 said:

Sees the topic of the thread and walks back out again.

 

NOPE

 

 

But... that's a looping GIF... so...