Should Dual Pistols be improved?

[Lockpick]

Should Dual Pistols be improved?

 

I have played 3 Dual Pistols (2 Blasters and 1 Sentinel) to 50 and I really like the look and feel of the set, but I also feel the set is under powered.  I am not really a numbers guy, but when I compare the set to other sets I have played it seems like it takes longer to defeat enemies.  Part of this may be a lack of AIM.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it is balanced, under, or over powered?  I am really curious as to people's opinions on the set.

 

Regardless, I find it fun to play and will likely start working on another DP character soon, but need to finish some other characters first.

[Bopper]

I have only played it as a defender, so my experience is likely different than yours. Nonetheless, DP is sort of a Swiss army knife, as opposed to Crocodile Dundie's knife. It is not going to be tops in DPS, but you can adapt better than most.

 

As a base (no fancy ammo) you get lots of knock back and -def, which can lend itself to -res procs if you want some extra damage that helps the whole team. Piercing Rounds also gives a -res debuff, so if you want to do an extra 20% damage, throw that into your rotation.

 

With Fire ammo you get added damage in the form of ticks. This should help you creep closer to the better damage dealing sets, but it won't overtake them. It's still nice to have if you need to kill faster. Your procs still work here.

 

With toxic ammo you get a damage debuff which is effectively a resistance buff for yourself. Nice for survivability and not many critters have toxic resistance (I assume).

 

With cold ammo you get slow/recharge debuffs, making you into a bit more of a controller with some added survivability.

 

 

So ultimately, I don't think DP needs a buff. It was created when balancing was a point of focus and I don't think this set lacks in its purpose. I love DP (are we not using phrasing?).

[nihilii]

Lacking Aim is pretty rough in a post-PPM/Gaussian Buildup world. DP was designed with a crashless nuke and without a snipe... Then snipes were significantly improved and nukes made crashless. Rough! I think it could definitely get a little something extra now.

[Bopper]

Lacking Aim is pretty rough in a post-PPM/Gaussian Buildup world. DP was designed with a crashless nuke and without a snipe... Then snipes were significantly improved and nukes made crashless. Rough! I think it could definitely get a little something extra now.

 

That is a great point. For those exact reasons, it could perhaps use a little bit more buffing. Make Piercing Rounds more like an insta-snipe, perhaps.

[Lockpick]

Lacking Aim is pretty rough in a post-PPM/Gaussian Buildup world. DP was designed with a crashless nuke and without a snipe... Then snipes were significantly improved and nukes made crashless. Rough! I think it could definitely get a little something extra now.

 

Great point.  How would you adjust?  I wouldn't mind seeing Swap Ammo buffed somehow.  Everything else is a damage power, so the only thing you can do there is buff damage, but on Swap Ammo you could add ammo types that have different functions or maybe add some inherent benefits similar to Reach for the Limit.

 

I tend to keep my ammo on fire for the extra damage.

[Bopper]

Lacking Aim is pretty rough in a post-PPM/Gaussian Buildup world. DP was designed with a crashless nuke and without a snipe... Then snipes were significantly improved and nukes made crashless. Rough! I think it could definitely get a little something extra now.

 

Great point.  How would you adjust?  I wouldn't mind seeing Swap Ammo buffed somehow.  Everything else is a damage power, so the only thing you can do there is buff damage, but on Swap Ammo you could add ammo types that have different functions or maybe add some inherent benefits similar to Reach for the Limit.

 

I tend to keep my ammo on fire for the extra damage.

 

Given that DP comes with more accuracy than most sets and Fire Ammo is effectively a perma damage buff, I don't think Aim is the issue. I prefer having swap ammo over Aim, and the fact DP does things differently than the cookie cutter sets gives it that extra charm.

 

If I were to go back to the drawing board, I think Dual Wield is the only attack I could do without. Pistols has a much better DPA, so I skip DW all together. My ST attack chain just uses ES, Pistol and PR, while my AoE attack chain uses BR, EC, and PR. So DW does nothing for me. I suppose you could replace it with a Snipe or Aim and shift EC into the DW spot (might be too OP having a cone available Lvl 1 for blasters/corruptors/sentinels, though).

[Abraxus]

I started a DP Blaster on Saturday, and by Sunday, he was L27.  He was just so fun to play, I couldn't stop!

[Jaguaratron]

Its underwhelming and could use something, the fancy "gunkata" animations doesnt mesh with the firmly "meh" damage output.

[Bopper]

As I scroll through Pine's Powerset Comparison, I just don't see a glaring damage issue (in terms of DPS/DPA) in comparison to other sets. It's not Fire, obviously. But it's basically on par with Radiation blast. Perhaps everyone's distaste for it is simply the lack of Aim or perhaps because most of DP is DoT as opposed to burst damage. Either way, give me Swap Ammo over Aim any day.

[AkuTenshiiZero]

Personally, I don't find it to be weak at all.  Quite the opposite, I find it incredibly strong.

[Jaguaratron]

Personally, I don't find it to be weak at all.  Quite the opposite, I find it incredibly strong.

 

Compared to what? If you are comparing it to nothing then I agree with you......

[Abraxus]

Statistically speaking, it might not be the strongest, most damaging power.  But, that's not why I pick a powerset when creating a character, and whatever it might lack in the statistics, it more than makes up for in the fun it is to play it.  Which is why I play this game in the first place.  8)

[Lockpick]

Lacking Aim is pretty rough in a post-PPM/Gaussian Buildup world. DP was designed with a crashless nuke and without a snipe... Then snipes were significantly improved and nukes made crashless. Rough! I think it could definitely get a little something extra now.

 

Sorry for quoting this again, but the point of crashless nukes made me think.  I don't really think of HoB as a nuke.  When I compare my DP blasters to other blasters the other blasters can jump into a large crowd and pretty much wipe out the crowd.  I cannot do that with HoB.  I have to hit HoB, back out and use BR and EC.  Maybe these other blasters are hitting AIM, BU, and then their nuke, which is how they can wipe out the group, but DP doesn't have that option.

[Bopper]

Lacking Aim is pretty rough in a post-PPM/Gaussian Buildup world. DP was designed with a crashless nuke and without a snipe... Then snipes were significantly improved and nukes made crashless. Rough! I think it could definitely get a little something extra now.

 

Sorry for quoting this again, but the point of crashless nukes made me think.  I don't really think of HoB as a nuke.  When I compare my DP blasters to other blasters the other blasters can jump into a large crowd and pretty much wipe out the crowd.  I cannot do that with HoB.  I have to hit HoB, back out and use BR and EC.  Maybe these other blasters are hitting AIM, BU, and then their nuke, which is how they can wipe out the group, but DP doesn't have that option.

 

It is certainly one of the weaker nukes, and it is Damage over Time which lends itself to enemies being able to heal while the damage is applied. However, the weaker nuke is reflected in the recharge (at some point they started standardizing nukes damage based on recharge...I think the same time they made them crashless).

 

I'll say this, though, for my DP defender, I can use Soul Drain as my build up and get 2 Hail of Bullets to go off before my buff wears off. I can't do that with all nukes. Also Hail of Bullets is weird in that it has 0 cast time, so despite the long animation the recharge begins right when you click it, so it basically will come up faster than one would expect.

[JnEricsonx]

I'm running DP/Time and having a blast.  With a decent damage boost, I feel like I'm going all John Wick/Cleric Preston on bad guys.