Feedback: Clarity of mechanics in power sets. Energy Melee

[Ukase]

Energy Aura. If I've played this powerset before, I've forgotten about it, and the character is in the back pages. Hopefully, I'll continue to sift through those characters and delete the ones I'll likely never play again. 

But, for now, I'm on an energy/energy scrapper. 

Initially, while it feels every bit as fragile as a controller does in the early levels, things are fairly straightforward. 

Then, I get to level 22 and have to option to slot Total Focus. 

 

I was in a rush, asked Help chat briefly, and just ended up taking it, despite really not grasping what "double Energy Focus" is. 
I've level 25, and I still await something in game to tell me what this is. I look at the HC Wiki for energy melee, and there's the same description, but no information. Just unparsed data. 

Anecdotally, I use it, and a white circle goes around Barrage. So, I think...is this that lame combo system? I use it. No extra damage. Why the circle? I do see the words "Energy Released" in blood red letters...but so what? It didn't do anything extra or special as far as I could tell. 

So, before I go to the scrapper section and ask for help, I thought - I can't be the only one who wants to know what this actually means. Look at all the blank space beneath the description. Surely they could have filled that in with information that would be useful, so I wouldn't have to tab out, visit the forums and ask. Right? 

So, my suggestion: explain what energy focus is, what it does, and if I should wait until it builds up more before I use Barrage, or should I use it as soon as I can? What if I never use it? 

[LightMaster]

35 minutes ago, Ukase said:

Energy Aura. If I've played this powerset before, I've forgotten about it, and the character is in the back pages. Hopefully, I'll continue to sift through those characters and delete the ones I'll likely never play again. 

But, for now, I'm on an energy/energy scrapper. 

Initially, while it feels every bit as fragile as a controller does in the early levels, things are fairly straightforward. 

Then, I get to level 22 and have to option to slot Total Focus. 

 

I was in a rush, asked Help chat briefly, and just ended up taking it, despite really not grasping what "double Energy Focus" is. 
I've level 25, and I still await something in game to tell me what this is. I look at the HC Wiki for energy melee, and there's the same description, but no information. Just unparsed data. 

Anecdotally, I use it, and a white circle goes around Barrage. So, I think...is this that lame combo system? I use it. No extra damage. Why the circle? I do see the words "Energy Released" in blood red letters...but so what? It didn't do anything extra or special as far as I could tell. 

So, before I go to the scrapper section and ask for help, I thought - I can't be the only one who wants to know what this actually means. Look at all the blank space beneath the description. Surely they could have filled that in with information that would be useful, so I wouldn't have to tab out, visit the forums and ask. Right? 

So, my suggestion: explain what energy focus is, what it does, and if I should wait until it builds up more before I use Barrage, or should I use it as soon as I can? What if I never use it? 

I agree with additional clarity, but the Wiki already stated how the Energy Focus mechanic does… it seems like you ended up skipping some parts of the page and not read it entirely.

 

Double Energy Focus occured when you score a crit with Total Focus as either a Scrapper or a Stalker, instead of double damage. This is due Total Focus already being one of the strongest Melee Powers a player can have. Energy Transfer is easily the most powerful Melee Power a player can have, but I’m not sure if a Scrapper can crit double damage with it; the Stalker cannot double damage but can Crit to receive no self-damage instead.

 

As for the powers that benefit Energy Focus:

• Barrage: Guarantee Disorient and the foe have their secondary effects weakened.
• Power Crash: Hits five additional foes in a cone (or six if you are a Tanker).
• Energy Transfer: Performs near instantaneously.

Edited Saturday at 02:51 PM by LightMaster

[Psyonico]

I'll point out that Barrage, Power Crash, and Energy Transfer *do* tell you what they do in "Energy focus mode"

For example, Barrage says:

You perform a quick punch that deals moderate damage. Coupled with other energy punches, Barrage can Disorient a foe. This power will have a 100% chance to stun and weaken the target's secondary effects and regeneration rate if used while in Energy Focus mode.

[Ukase]

30 minutes ago, LightMaster said:

it seems like you ended up skipping some parts of the page

This is always possible. My searches or "search-fu" has always been fairly weak. I'm looking here. I do appreciate your taking the time to explain it. 

There must be some other page you're looking at, because I didn't see anything like that. I just saw the same power descriptions as there are in game. 

[Uun]

If you're lvl 25 you don't have Energy Transfer yet, but the fast activation of this power when used with Energy Focus is the big payoff (it goes from a 2.9s activation to 1.2s). The buffs to Barrage and Power Crash are OK, but the buff to Energy Transfer, BOY HOWDY!

[Ukase]

16 minutes ago, Psyonico said:

I'll point out that Barrage, Power Crash, and Energy Transfer *do* tell you what they do in "Energy focus mode"

For example, Barrage says:

 

 

I can't disagree with you. But in my defense, it had been my first power pick. Quite some time had passed. Like a week, maybe.