page 3 [FOCUSED FEEDBACK] New Melee Set - Sonic Melee

[JayboH]

2 hours ago, nightchrome said:

The "chance for hold" that is Migraine is neat and all, but I think literally everyone would prefer the standard -res instead.

Is there a reason this is not being considered?

Yes, probably due to possible balance issues and because Sonic Melee attacks have already existed for over 3 years within Sonic Assault which also deals migraine effects.

[JayboH]

19 minutes ago, ScarySai said:

This set either needs a ridiculous amount of buffs, or a delay.

 

This set is so bad that it makes the non-stalker versions of KM look good by comparison.

KM has gotten changes.

[nightchrome]

1 hour ago, JayboH said:

Yes, probably due to possible balance issues and because Sonic Melee attacks have already existed for over 3 years within Sonic Assault which also deals migraine effects.

I mean, Sonic Assault could probably use some buffing as well at this point...

[Shin Magmus]

4 hours ago, nightchrome said:

I mean, Sonic Assault could probably use some buffing as well at this point...

     Sonic Assault's -Res effect scalars and durations are incorrect and do not match the values Doms should have relative to all other ATs, specifically after the Sonic Attack recent changes.  I already made the thread on the Suggestions forum.  As for buffing the melee attacks... well maybe, but only if they still have parity with Sonic Melee in whatever form it takes. 

[Gobbledygook]

14 hours ago, Shin Magmus said:

     Well Earsplitter is a shared attack from some other sets so it's just using the same animation as those.  If they made an alternate animation for it, I'd like to see that backported to Sonic Manipulation and Sonic Assault as well.  Ultimately, I don't think the animations are ever going to please most people because you are in fact just yelling at people with this set.  The animation doesn't bother me as much as the more pressing mechanical issues.

 

Sonic doesn't necessarily mean vocal. Sonics operate on frequencies. Think about Flash. When he vibrates fast enough, he can phase. So a character could theoretically vibrate fast enough in an almost imperceptible rate of speed. The only difference is, the melee toons like being on the front lines, so they don't blast, they punch.

[Alchemystic]

25 minutes ago, Gobbledygook said:

 

Sonic doesn't necessarily mean vocal. Sonics operate on frequencies. Think about Flash. When he vibrates fast enough, he can phase. So a character could theoretically vibrate fast enough in an almost imperceptible rate of speed. The only difference is, the melee toons like being on the front lines, so they don't blast, they punch.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing some alternative animations on this powerset to lean into that, as all other sonic powersets have a 2nd animation suite designed for projecting attacks from the hands instead of screaming.

[ForeverLaxx]

All this talk about Attune needing to be a toggle for the server's sake just has me wondering why it can't be made into a Self Toggle that buffs the next attack you use with an Internal Cooldown attached to that buff. Rename it "Reverb" or something and let the weak attacks "hit twice" when consuming the buff and the bigger hits can put on a DoT or something instead.

 

Just seems less complicated mechanically, at least for the player, and fulfills the same role you're wanting out of Attune.

[robobl4de]

@Captain Powerhouse Attune DOT is once again cancelling Stalker Hide proc ATO, Placate still works fine like the last time.
Also i don't see any extra damage that the new T1 and T2 attack mechanic is supposed to do from hitting Attuned target (used it when the ring appeared and when there was no ring):

Spoiler

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Sonic Thrust for 34.81 points of Smashing damage.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Sonic Thrust for 34.81 points of Energy damage.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74

Strident Echo also doesn't seem to apply extra damage with new Attuned version :
 

Spoiler

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.

 

Edited 13 hours ago by robobl4de

[BrandX]

First thing I noticed...

 

Attune is listed second in powers to choose, but when hitting the costume designer, it's listed third.  It's also list third on the power listing when I hit Powers on the UI.  Even at the power selection screen at level up.  EDIT: Did a respec and Attune came as t3 there as well.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by BrandX

[Starhammer]

15 hours ago, Shin Magmus said:

because you are in fact just yelling at people with this set

Wouldn't it be amazing if these attacks generated little Biff/Pow bubbles in the style of ye olde Batman TV show, but instead containing quotes from popular drill sergeants (Such as Hartman and Hulka) and other famous yelly characters?

[gameboy1234]

Small issue on the latest patch, if I'm understanding correctly.  Brutes (at least) get Attune as a T2 power.  Which means someone starting could pick the power as their first attack at level one, and it doesn't really do any damage on its own.  Might be better to move it to T3, that way everyone starts with at least one damaging power and at least one that can interact with Attune.

 

[Shin Magmus]

17 minutes ago, gameboy1234 said:

Small issue on the latest patch, if I'm understanding correctly.  Brutes (at least) get Attune as a T2 power.  Which means someone starting could pick the power as their first attack at level one, and it doesn't really do any damage on its own.  Might be better to move it to T3, that way everyone starts with at least one damaging power and at least one that can interact with Attune.

 

     This was brought up, but quickly refuted by the fact that level 1 lasts approximately 30s and you have Brawl + Origin Power + Vet Powers + Temp Powers, so it's a non-issue.

[Captain Powerhouse]

26 minutes ago, gameboy1234 said:

Small issue on the latest patch, if I'm understanding correctly.  Brutes (at least) get Attune as a T2 power.  Which means someone starting could pick the power as their first attack at level one, and it doesn't really do any damage on its own.  Might be better to move it to T3, that way everyone starts with at least one damaging power and at least one that can interact with Attune.

Attune does damage on its own, but should be T3 regardless. Will look into it.

[Captain Fabulous]

23 minutes ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

Attune does damage on its own, but should be T3 regardless. Will look into it.

 

31 minutes ago, Shin Magmus said:

     This was brought up, but quickly refuted by the fact that level 1 lasts approximately 30s and you have Brawl + Origin Power + Vet Powers + Temp Powers, so it's a non-issue.

Looks like they do in fact listen to suggestions and feedback. 

[BrandX]

Did some early level testing on Scrapper Sonic/SR/Psi.

 

Seemed fine to me.  Attune should be t3 for sure imo.  Yes, the levels go by quick so it's not to much of a factor, but I'd rather choose between Sonic Thrust and Strident Echo for that first level than Attune (but I do go for Isolator badge).

 

I like the toggle Attune, but it seems to be of more limited use and I feel it should be tuned up a little.

 

Also skipped to 50 and did some testing on Pylons.  Went the @Ston way of testing and I was getting like it felt an average of 1:28 to 2:00 depending, so looking an average of 1:45 to me.   Take that for what you will.

 

HOWEVER, that was with Crosspunch over Sonic Clap, and this is disappointing to me.  Sonic Clap has the faster animation, but I'm getting worse times with a power from the Primary that is set up to take the same slotting AND work with Attune.

 

Sonic Clap use was clocking in with an average of 1:55.

 

Now, no, I personally wouldn't use any of the extreme builds in normal game play, but it shows me, improve Sonic Clap and maybe increase what the attacks do when used against an Attuned target.  Maybe increase that 10% to 20%?  

[robobl4de]

5 hours ago, robobl4de said:

@Captain Powerhouse Attune DOT is once again cancelling Stalker Hide proc ATO, Placate still works fine like the last time.
Also i don't see any extra damage that the new T1 and T2 attack mechanic is supposed to do from hitting Attuned target (used it when the ring appeared and when there was no ring):

  Reveal hidden contents

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Sonic Thrust for 34.81 points of Smashing damage.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Sonic Thrust for 34.81 points of Energy damage.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74

Strident Echo also doesn't seem to apply extra damage with new Attuned version :
 

  Reveal hidden contents

You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Smashing damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Strident Echo for 10.07 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.
You hit Vanguard MDC with your Attune for 10.74 points of Energy damage over time.

 

 

Just tested Scrapper, same thing : "Strident Echo and Sonic Thrust: Non stacking bonus scale 0.1 per second damage over time over 16"
This does not seem to work.
Side note: I preferred version 1 of the toggle, did so much more dps and scaled better with dmg buffs, even though the new mechanic seems bugged with not applying 0.1 scale dots from T1, T2, a Single target DOT doing less dmg than aoe toggle dots just doesnt feel right to me.

Edited 7 hours ago by robobl4de

[Captain Powerhouse]

28 minutes ago, robobl4de said:

Just tested Scrapper, same thing : "Strident Echo and Sonic Thrust: Non stacking bonus scale 0.1 per second damage over time over 16"
This does not seem to work.

 

Thanks for the info, found the bug and should be fixed on the overnight patch.

[Captain Powerhouse]

55 minutes ago, robobl4de said:

Just tested

 

Seems Faultline decided to patch earlier so.... fix might be in brainstorm right now.

[TerminusEst13]

If Attune is going to stay a foe-based toggle, would it be possible to at least give it Taunt's activation range so it can be applied on approach with bunnyhopping rather than needing to be in the fray already?

[Captain Powerhouse]

4 minutes ago, TerminusEst13 said:

If Attune is going to stay a foe-based toggle, would it be possible to at least give it Taunt's activation range so it can be applied on approach with bunnyhopping rather than needing to be in the fray already?

 

Not sure if you mean what I think by bunnyhopping, but unlike earlier iterations, you should be able to do a fly by activation and regardless how far you end at the end of the hop and cast time the power should remain active. It should now only drop if the target dies, you are mezzed, run out of end, or just turn it off yourself.

[WindDemon21]

2 hours ago, BrandX said:

Did some early level testing on Scrapper Sonic/SR/Psi.

 

Seemed fine to me.  Attune should be t3 for sure imo.  Yes, the levels go by quick so it's not to much of a factor, but I'd rather choose between Sonic Thrust and Strident Echo for that first level than Attune (but I do go for Isolator badge).

 

I like the toggle Attune, but it seems to be of more limited use and I feel it should be tuned up a little.

 

Also skipped to 50 and did some testing on Pylons.  Went the @Ston way of testing and I was getting like it felt an average of 1:28 to 2:00 depending, so looking an average of 1:45 to me.   Take that for what you will.

 

HOWEVER, that was with Crosspunch over Sonic Clap, and this is disappointing to me.  Sonic Clap has the faster animation, but I'm getting worse times with a power from the Primary that is set up to take the same slotting AND work with Attune.

 

Sonic Clap use was clocking in with an average of 1:55.

 

Now, no, I personally wouldn't use any of the extreme builds in normal game play, but it shows me, improve Sonic Clap and maybe increase what the attacks do when used against an Attuned target.  Maybe increase that 10% to 20%?  

It's because the power has too short of a recharge/damage value. Why i suggested they fix it by increasing it's rech/damage ratio to 12 or 14s, given it's area as well it really should be a 10 target cap having pretty much double the area of frost, but half the target cap? Makes no sense, along with it having one of the worst KD chances, when the power is basically hand clap that does 100% chance. It should be more: 12s rech, 10 target cap, damage scalar up, and honestly 100% chance to kd given what it is, but at least like 75%

[WindDemon21]

23 hours ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

But we are getting off topic again.  What do you like . . . or not like . . . about Sonic Melee?

Sure thing!

 

1. Sonic Thrust: Animation/sound is good, but should still not be required to get the effect out of attune. Recharge is a bit fast, but this is ok as a "get now respec out later power", but if it's still required for attune (which it is to get the increased DOT which is much stronger than the 10% damage boost), that wholly breaks that and it becomes a crap power.

 

2. Strident Echo: Great power, does what it's supposed to do, Only issue is cast time is a little long for the lower recharge/damage value. Should be closer to 1.3s.

 

3. Attune: Cast time is too long for what it does to use in an attack rotation, so it becomes a "use once only for every target" power. As a toggle, it's also terribly annoying, but this is known, so hopefully they'll figure out how to make it work as a click, but then it still has the same issues i just mentioned. This power should still just be a self-toggle, that grants the addtional DOT on a target done with any sonic melee powers, similar to a guaranteed brimstone armor, with obvoiusly less DOT on the aoes, due to more of the single target DOT"s stacking higher. It's current iteration, on a scrapper at least, also seems like a lot less damage coming off it as well than before. With most intending to skip sonic thrust or strident echo as well, it also makes this power now pretty much a 2nd "must" skip.

 

4. Sonic Clap: Love the animation, and the cone is nice BUT, the cone is also too large for the power at the same time especially for an 8s recharge power with only a 5 target cap. It seems like a very clear case of "lets think of the most way we can make this power not work for procs." As is, the power should be on a 12 or 14s recharge, with a 10 target cap. It also has atrociously bad knockdown chances, only at 20%, even though it's similar power hand clap is a 100% knock rate. This power SHOULD be a 100% knockdown rate given what the power is similar to hand clap, but at least a 60 or 75% rate is what it should have if not 100%. It's fast recharge spamming also gets kinda annoying sound-wise as well, so having it on a longer recharge would also be another good reason to increase the rech/damage scalar. A cone size reduction is more than fine also, like 120degrees/10ft to still keep large but not, overly large where it borders on pointless for the amount of targets it's hitting.

Bug: It's also still knocking back where it should be knocking down for some reason as well.

 

5. Sandman's Whisper: Power animation/sound is fine, secondary effect is good, but the power is on way too short of a recharge. the set already has 3 ST attacks that are 6 seconds or less, and another attack in earsplitter. This power should have a 12s recharge with increased matching damage to give the set more big hitters. (should be moved up in tier as well to tier 5.

Bug: it's not sleeping enemies even if the attack misses. Sleep is supposed to be autohit even if the damage doesn't hit.

 

6. Confront: Standard power, still the forever skip on the melee set.

 

7. Sound Booster: Standard power, does what it's supposed to

 

8, Deafening Wave: Good stats. Nothing wrong with the power, though it's at too high of a tier IMO, but if proper adjustments on sonic clap are made then it is tolerable.

 

9. Earsplitter: Fine with the animation, though it should have a hand alternate animation. Stats are good.

[Bionic_Flea]

Had some time to play Sonic Melee.  I made a Sonic/Energy Brute and leveled him to 20 solo with mostly SOs (I can't help but slot Panacea proc and a few others ASAP).  I completed both Posi TFs.  My doppelganger was pretty easy and I defeated Dr V without any temp pets.  It got hairy a few times when ambushes came, but I was able to keep attuned on him while I took care of the add ons and earned a few clutch inspirations.  Occasionally hitting him with T1 or T2 meant he wasn't regenerating much, if at all.

 

After that, I auto-leveled to 30 and slotted some IO sets.  So far, I only ran the first mission from Gordon Bower at *4.  He handled the Tuatha really well.  Same as Dr V.: target the boss with attune, slap him once, then take care of his friends.  I was also able to herd a couple of groups together so I will turn up the difficulty.

 

While I think it performs fine, it does feel clunky to reapply attune and use the first two attacks so much.  The icons, animations, and sounds are mainly from blasts and so I find myself with cognitive dissonance -- it feels like I should be blasting and not punching.  Sometimes I wonder why my attack isn't going off and it's because the target is 10 feet away.  Too far!  I agree with some that the animations should either be all punches/arm movement or at least have an option to choose the animations.  Then you could be a hand waver, a screamer, or some combination.  

 

I also think that it would be neat and different if Sonic melee had the longest distance melee attacks of at least 10 feet.  That makes sense as sound travels a lot more than just seven feet.  Perhaps even giving it spill-over AoE damage.  So for example, 7 feet range for main target who takes full damage, but those within 10-15 feet take a smaller amount of spill-over damage.

 

OH!  And I forgot to add, I hate the "pspspsps" whispers sound effect when I use Sandman's Whisper.  It's distracting and creepy.

 

I'll add more as I play a few more levels.

Edited 2 hours ago by Bionic_Flea

[Drakwatch]

29 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

While I think it performs fine, it does feel clunky to reapply attune and use the first two attacks so much.  The icons, animations, and sounds are mainly from blasts and so I find myself with cognitive dissonance -- it feels like I should be blasting and not punching.  Sometimes I wonder why my attack isn't going off and it's because the target is 10 feet away.  Too far!  I agree with some that the animations should either me all punches/arm movement or at least have an option to choose the animations.  Then you could be a hand waver, a screamer, or some combination.  

 

I also think that it would be neat and different if Sonic melee had the longest distance melee attacks of at least 10 feet.  That makes sense as sound travels a lot more than just seven feet.  Perhaps even giving it spill-over AoE damage.  So for example, 7 feet range for main target who takes full damage, but those within 10-15 feet take a smaller amount of spill-over damage.

Totally agree with this, when I played, I also half expected the attacks to have longer range just because I was used to the same animations from blast sets. Right now it doesn't really stand out from Sonic attack as a melee - would love to see more attack animations with punches or physical attacks. I also think it would add a unique twist to this set to increase the range of attacks here and would also play to the theme.

[BrandX]

On 11/16/2025 at 2:16 PM, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

But we are getting off topic again.  What do you like . . . or not like . . . about Sonic Melee?  Have you tried it?  What did you do?  What happened?

 

Animations are fine to me.  ATTUNE however could use a fix in location, as it feels a little less a scream and more mental with it's location, but maybe that's just my character.

 

Sonic Clap needs improved.  It's being beat by Crosspunch.

 

I'd say improve all the ATTUNE attacks from 10% to at least 15% if not 20% so you do more damage with Attune, as I just don't feel Attune is an attack I'd use to often.  It's a single target toggle damage, which I'm okay with, but with it's animation time, I'm only going to want to use this on the hard targets and not so sure I will want to always use it on a boss.

 

Sound Clap is the biggest issue though, give it a little more damage, at least when used on Attune targets.  It needs to be better than Crosspunch in terms of helping with single target damage.   Maybe with using it with Attune is an option?