The Commander...

[SeraphimKensai]

I haven't seen much regarding new AT designs, so excuse me if someone else has already mentioned something like this...

 

I've seen ppl talk about an armored support toon, so I was thinking of an armored controller. The Commander, has a Tanker primary paired with a Controller primary as a secondary set. For an inherent power "Command", which gives the Commander a bonus to control magnitude based on how many mobs are inside it's taunt aura radius, and a bonus to damage based on how many mobs are being controlled by the Commander.

 

It wouldn't have too much for damage, but could be a great teammate.

 

Thoughts?

[Steampunkette]

So... You're suggesting a double-mitigation archetype.

 

Defensive abilities are a form of Passive Partial Mitigation. You toggle on your abilities and they reduce incoming damage by a percentage. Either a strict percentage, Damage Resistance, or an instance percentage, Defense. Alternatively you have sets that allow you to take damage, and then mitigated it by passive or active partial mitigation in the form of healing and regeneration.

 

Control, on the other hand, is an Active Absolute Mitigation. You attack the enemy with holds/stuns/sleeps/etc and they do not even -make- the attack in the first place.

 

Control also only functions as powerset if it's pumping out at least 2 magnitudes of control because Minions have 0 protection (So 1 mag control affects them) and lieutenants have mag 1 protection (So 2 mags affects them). The Hallmark of a Secondary Powerset is to make it weaker than it would be as a primary powerset. This is why Defenders do less damage than Blasters. Only you can't make Control any weaker without making it ineffectual. You could affect the -durations- but Hasten, recharge enhancements, and control duration enhancements renders that largely irrelevant.

 

And THEN we get into the idea of making the controls more powerful based on targets in your AoE Taunt or Damage Aura.... Jeebus. At least Controllers (Control Primary) have to rely on a critical hit or stacking to hold a boss, and Dominators (Control Primary) need to stack holds or reach domination to do so. This would be a character with control as a -secondary- who could permahold bosses out of the box without stacking just by walking over to a group of enemies.

 

I think the idea needs a lot of workshopping. But by and large I don't see this archetype suggestion as something that could reasonably be implemented in the game. It would solo worse than a Controller ('Cause it's control damage would be lower and it would have no damage buffs or enemy debuffs or end-cost offsetting powers) or a Tanker (because it would lack... basically everything that they need to deal damage). And on Teams it would wind up doing half the functionality of a Tank and the work of 2-3 Dominators who forgot they had Assault Sets as a secondary.

[Zepp]

You may want to check my compilation thread (in my signature) to see what other people have done. It may help you sort out your ideal. I'll likely add this suggestion to the thread in a couple of days.