The Skarn's Bane change seems kind of lazy. Skarn's Bane previously had a unique, interesting, and situationally useful effect. You need more of those kind of powers, not less. Applying a random debuff with no synergy to anything else in the Magic tree is neither unique, nor interesting, nor particularly useful. The Planar Fracture "Ultimate" already does this, and no one wants that power either. As the premier AE attack in the already lackluster Magic tree, I'm hopeful you can come up with something better for Skarn's Bane.
LTS since 2009. Author of ACT parser module for CO. Founder of Rampagers. Resident curmudgeon.
"Without data, you're just another person with an opinion." -- W. Edwards Deming
The Skarn's Bane change seems kind of lazy. Skarn's Bane previously had a unique, interesting, and situationally useful effect. You need more of those kind of powers, not less. Applying a random debuff with no synergy to anything else in the Magic tree is neither unique, nor interesting, nor particularly useful. The Planar Fracture "Ultimate" already does this, and no one wants that power either. As the premier AE attack in the already lackluster Magic tree, I'm hopeful you can come up with something better for Skarn's Bane.
^ THIS! Those random Debuffs without synergy has no place for Skarn's Bane
What this nerf did, was to ruin what made this power Unique
You are ruining Sorcery's ONLY AoE magic power there! WTF!? Do you hate Sorcery that much?
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergiesPlaying since 1 February 2011 98+ Characters (7 ATs, 91 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
(I've got no opinion on the pre-order devices since I don't use them.)
- Ascelpial Serum now heals for a little more. Adjusted FX to not take up as many resources. Should now properly display buff and debuff icons.
- Ice Grenades now apply a brief stun instead of a hold. The root on the power should now work. Now properly applies control icons. Adjusted FX to be less resource intensive.
Visuals for this power are now stunning. Whereas the actual stun on this power...not so much. In more ways than one this is a downgrade.
The stun on this power does not scale with CC bonuses or Manipulator, which I suspect will become a trend because...well, I know why lol.
Haven't tested Serum yet.
- Farlong devices have had their cooldown reduced to 5 minutes.
These devices are interesting...
- Cloak of Infinite Planes no longer takes up a slot in your power tray. Adjusted fx to not take up as many resources. - Cloak of Infinite Planes is now a pbaoe melee attack. Each swing has a different range. It has a small chance to apply a random debuff.
This is an interesting change...does it still deal particle damage? Or can this be changed to MAGIC DAMAGE?
- Shadow Pact now applies damage and has a chance to apply fear. Cooldown has been reduced to 90 seconds. - Void Possession now properly applies buff and debuff icons. Recharge reduced to 3 minutes. Foe damage reduction reduced to 10% for 12 seconds. Now applies fear.
- Echo's stick now properly applies stagger and knock resistance to targets. Lowered cooldown and damage slightly. - Mutagenic Infection no longer affects allies. Now has a small chance to apply poison. Cooldown lowered to 3 minutes. Updated its fx to no longer consume a large amount of resources.
- Viper Brainscrambler's cooldown has been reduced. Power must now be fully charged to use. Power now has a chance to apply confuse.
This is a very good change. Thank you.
- Elder Worm Humidity Dome now grants resistance to all damage.
This is a very good change. Thank you.
- Psionic Surge, Omicron Induced Strength, and Contained Radiation now properly apply knock resistance. Contained Radiation's cooldown has been reduced.
Good.
- Psionic Accelerator, Ice Grenades, Gunslinger's Legacy, and Alien Crystal have had their target cap reduced to 5.
Unnecessary limitation enforced here IMO. There was nothing bad with them being able to affected more than 5 targets.
- Telekinetic Force Field Inducer now properly applies hold resistance.
It always has. Unless you mean the standardized Hold Resistance stacks? If so you need to stop it applying the secondary stack of resistance or it will render an enemy immune to CC instantly.
- Lowered the cooldown for numerous summon legacy devices. Lowered duration of some legacy summon devices.
- Draysha Gas Pistol Reduced Cooldown to 5 minutes.
- Energy Absorbing Crash Suit Now restores 100% energy. Cooldown slightly reduced.
Nice to see these changes. And damn, I havent seen EACS in a loong time.
- Eruption Immunity duration no longer incorrectly scales with your damage bonuses. Power now applies a root to foes. Power now applies nailed to the ground to foes. Power now properly displays buff and debuff icons. Reduced Cooldown to 3 minutes.
Yes. Good change.
- Experimental Plasma Rifle Now counts as a ranged attack. Has a 30% chance to apply plasma burn. Cooldown reduced to 30 seconds. - Plasmite Reduced cooldown to 60 seconds. Increased damage. Lowered target cap to 5.
Another good change.
- Poisoned Shuriken Cooldown reduced to 25 seconds. The stun on this power can no longer be buffed.
Good.
- Primus Spark Shield Adjusted description. Damage dealt back increased slightly.
- Prototype Psi-Bomb no longer incorrectly replaces a targets costume. Made it so its debuff actually works. Reduced cooldown.
On one hand I am sad I can no longer change people's costumes. But on the practical side I am glad this effect now actually works. Thank you.
- Psionic Surge Reduced cooldown to 25 seconds. Adjusted knockback chance and strength to be more in line with Omicron Induced Strength.
Yay!
- Ragged Proletariat's Armband Reduced cooldown to 5 minutes.
- Updated various device icons.
Whoever took the time to change them. THANK YOU!!!
This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
Unlike Ascension, we do not have feedback from you on what you see as the 'problems' with Skarn's Bane. Were they coding problems (ala stripping Genetic Exhaustion) or were they balance problems?
If you can identify what you feel is wrong, it may help players come up with suggestions to fix it.
Will Skarn's Bane applying random debuffs again and again to a boss actually be good? For instance, will these random debuffs stack with each other and those applied by other players, other powers?
I will rig up a toon with Skarn's, Hex, and Dimensional Fracture and see how it works.
Now this power deals damage in a wide cone in front of you, untargeted. In other words, you click the device, and you swipe in a cone directly in front of you, damaging up to five targets. and having a chance of applying a random debuff (that is the new Bane effect). The device now inflicts MAGIC damage.
It also makes this a melee combo power you have to adjust facing to keep using. Imagine if laser sword or defensive combo were done this way.
It's incredibly annoying missing as enemies move around, or if you reposition yourself. I currently have a toon who uses Cloak of the Infinite Planes as a primary attack. In this state, I will simply drop it and remake the toon.
SUGGESTION: Make this device use a targeted cone, like many other melee powers. For players that rely on auto-targeting, this is a must.
The change to skarn's bane makes it a better power in more circumstance in my opinion. The only real (big) problem is that so many people used it as a "Ao'Q-B-Gone" power, and now it totally lost that ability. However, keep in mind that Skarn's Bane shouldn't be relegated to being the anti Ao'Q power, he should be fixed on his own. Getting a 20% chance for debuffs every half second is much more useful than removing energy forms since removing energy forms is a niche ability.
And so is are the debuffs. It's not as if those debuffs are reducing attack speed, or damage. Their just adding a DoT.
Buffing everything to stupid high levels and nerfing everything to piss poor levels yields the same results, but not the same community reactions.
The Skarn's Bane change makes it do something different from what I chose it for. Why not just make another power that will do this random debuff thing and just fix the bugs with Skarn's Bane.
This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
Unlike Ascension, we do not have feedback from you on what you see as the 'problems' with Skarn's Bane. Were they coding problems (ala stripping Genetic Exhaustion) or were they balance problems?
If you can identify what you feel is wrong, it may help players come up with suggestions to fix it.
The problem is that these powers could be used to beat Telios too easily. Celestial Cleansing would remove the progressive debuff he used in the final part of the mission, and no doubt Skarn's would have a similar effect on the bosses (I expect no-one can find the code they used in the Gravitar rampage to prevent SB removing her Passive/Energy Form). Given the way that Onslaught progressed, I think the devs are prepared to change powers to suit the new content, and that's what's happening here. Up to the community to shout loud enough if they disagree with the approach.
The problem is that these powers could be used to beat Telios too easily.
No really, that's not the problem. Skarn's Bane has been breaking stuff for years because it's pretty erratic about what it breaks, and even if it worked as designed would be either overpowered or useless depending on content.
I'd like to request that Rebirth's recharge be looked at again...please. I just feel it might just come in handy with this "Epic" lair and 5 minutes is just a tad too long. Thanks
The new Skarn's is a bit better than before, because you might get a good DoT, or maybe a debuff like Shredded will help someone on your team. Is it a tradeoff for fighting Ao? Maybe.
Skarn's would be better served by more thematic debuffs like Fear or Disorient, in my opinion.
Skarn's Bane has been breaking stuff for years (what stuff?) because it's pretty erratic about what it breaks (is it?), and even if it worked as designed would be either overpowered (unsubstantiated) or useless (needs explanation) depending on content.
I think it's important for changes to be justified, especially when they involve significant variations to major class powers. I haven't seen any "Skarn's Bane is OP" threads around the place, it doesn't seem to be a pressing issue.... these changes seem opportunistic, being made for the sake of launching a lair that'll be unused in three months.
- Chest Beam and Mini-Gun now debuffs Particle and Crushing resistance. This change was made to focus power debuffs on the type of damage they deal. Mini-Gun now does crushing damage. Shoulder Launcher's Fire damage portion has been changed to Particle.
LAME. The fact that you have to change Mini-Gun's damage type nonsensically to make this work should be your first clue that this is a bad idea. This actively discourages mixing powers within the set, let alone nixing interesting combinations with other sets. I would go as far as to suggest that the mix of damage types in PA is the reason those powers' debuffs were untyped.
Thinking on it, it's the same deal with Sorcery, it's not really the Magic Damage set, and a debuff designed to work with it should reflect that it does a wide variety of damage types.
- Skarn's Bane Buff and Energy Form removal have been replaced with a 20% chance every .5 seconds to apply a random debuff to affected targets. This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
This...is a really really bad idea. Seeing as there has been no adjustment to it's energy cost per tick and aside from Ebon Ruin, it was the go-to power for fighting enemies who were incredibly annoying...this entire change needs to be thought through a lot better or well, this power will become useless.
There's no need to Telepathize this power. Consider doing something MORE with it. For example:
Skarn's Bane - Deals continuous magical damage to enemies in a cone in front of you, weakening their connection to this plane of existence, reducing their ability to defend (Skarn's Bane applies the debuffs in this change) and heal themselves (Skarn's Bane now becomes a reliable applicator of Trauma for the healing part). At the end of this powerful spell you have a 50% chance to apply "Banishment" to affected targets. (Banishment is a DISABLE! effect which works on Henchmen, Villain, Enforcer & Master Villain targets ONLY. Banishment will apply a magic resistance debuff to higher level targets such as Players, Super Villains, Legendary & Cosmic Rank foes.)
Rank 2 - Increases as per usual
Rank 3 - Increases as per usual.
"New" Advantage - Arcane Master - Your chance to apply Banishment to targets is increased by 100% (2 pt advantage)
This is what I would have done with Skarn's Bane. It's current iteration is so p*ss poor it might as well not exist.
Could the Judgment advantage on Ascension have a range of 50 feet, or even 100 feet, to make up for some of the lost function of this power?
A 25 foot range is very close for a healer, and means generally the whole team will not benefit from this power.
25 foot range? WHAT THE HELL!? that is not a proper range for a healer and its a big downgrade in comparison of the range of the original Area of Healing
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergiesPlaying since 1 February 2011 98+ Characters (7 ATs, 91 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
Bug: Ascension is called Ascension on PTS. Current iteration of this power requires a rename to "Descension".
Yeah, I'm not going to pretend this change has not upset me, it's a disappointing and unnecessary change. I'm especially put out by the burst healing removal.
Perhaps create a new power which grants a burst PBAoE heal instead.
- Skarn's Bane Buff and Energy Form removal have been replaced with a 20% chance every .5 seconds to apply a random debuff to affected targets. This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
This...is a really really bad idea. Seeing as there has been no adjustment to it's energy cost per tick and aside from Ebon Ruin, it was the go-to power for fighting enemies who were incredibly annoying...this entire change needs to be thought through a lot better or well, this power will become useless.
There's no need to Telepathize this power. Consider doing something MORE with it. For example:
Skarn's Bane - Deals continuous magical damage to enemies in a cone in front of you, weakening their connection to this plane of existence, reducing their ability to defend (Skarn's Bane applies the debuffs in this change) and heal themselves (Skarn's Bane now becomes a reliable applicator of Trauma for the healing part). At the end of this powerful spell you have a 50% chance to apply "Banishment" to affected targets. (Banishment is a DISABLE! effect which works on Henchmen, Villain, Enforcer & Master Villain targets ONLY. Banishment will apply a magic resistance debuff to higher level targets such as Players, Super Villains, Legendary & Cosmic Rank foes.)
Rank 2 - Increases as per usual
Rank 3 - Increases as per usual.
"New" Advantage - Arcane Master - Your chance to apply Banishment to targets is increased by 100% (2 pt advantage)
This is what I would have done with Skarn's Bane. It's current iteration is so p*ss poor it might as well not exist.
^ This. Seriously. Oh well, good thing i'll be able to retcon it out. A shame, though, a true shame..
Buffing everything to stupid high levels and nerfing everything to piss poor levels yields the same results, but not the same community reactions.
- Skarn's Bane Buff and Energy Form removal have been replaced with a 20% chance every .5 seconds to apply a random debuff to affected targets. This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
This...is a really really bad idea. Seeing as there has been no adjustment to it's energy cost per tick and aside from Ebon Ruin, it was the go-to power for fighting enemies who were incredibly annoying...this entire change needs to be thought through a lot better or well, this power will become useless.
There's no need to Telepathize this power. Consider doing something MORE with it. For example:
Skarn's Bane - Deals continuous magical damage to enemies in a cone in front of you, weakening their connection to this plane of existence, reducing their ability to defend (Skarn's Bane applies the debuffs in this change) and heal themselves (Skarn's Bane now becomes a reliable applicator of Trauma for the healing part). At the end of this powerful spell you have a 50% chance to apply "Banishment" to affected targets. (Banishment is a DISABLE! effect which works on Henchmen, Villain, Enforcer & Master Villain targets ONLY. Banishment will apply a magic resistance debuff to higher level targets such as Players, Super Villains, Legendary & Cosmic Rank foes.)
Rank 2 - Increases as per usual
Rank 3 - Increases as per usual.
"New" Advantage - Arcane Master - Your chance to apply Banishment to targets is increased by 100% (2 pt advantage)
This is what I would have done with Skarn's Bane. It's current iteration is so p*ss poor it might as well not exist.
^ This. Seriously. Oh well, good thing i'll be able to retcon it out. A shame, though, a true shame..
Mhmm.
With these changes occurring, even if the severity of some are re-thought (as they SHOULD in some cases), I hope Cryptic are planning to grant everyone:
[FREE CHARACTER SPECIFIC RETCONS]
Not the kind that was given out when INT's CDR effectiveness was reduced by 75% but the kind that each character on a players account gains.
Anything less than that and this may well blow up and cause flaming and rage which could have easily been avoided.
- Skarn's Bane Buff and Energy Form removal have been replaced with a 20% chance every .5 seconds to apply a random debuff to affected targets. This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
This...is a really really bad idea. Seeing as there has been no adjustment to it's energy cost per tick and aside from Ebon Ruin, it was the go-to power for fighting enemies who were incredibly annoying...this entire change needs to be thought through a lot better or well, this power will become useless.
There's no need to Telepathize this power. Consider doing something MORE with it. For example:
Skarn's Bane - Deals continuous magical damage to enemies in a cone in front of you, weakening their connection to this plane of existence, reducing their ability to defend (Skarn's Bane applies the debuffs in this change) and heal themselves (Skarn's Bane now becomes a reliable applicator of Trauma for the healing part). At the end of this powerful spell you have a 50% chance to apply "Banishment" to affected targets. (Banishment is a DISABLE! effect which works on Henchmen, Villain, Enforcer & Master Villain targets ONLY. Banishment will apply a magic resistance debuff to higher level targets such as Players, Super Villains, Legendary & Cosmic Rank foes.)
Rank 2 - Increases as per usual
Rank 3 - Increases as per usual.
"New" Advantage - Arcane Master - Your chance to apply Banishment to targets is increased by 100% (2 pt advantage)
This is what I would have done with Skarn's Bane. It's current iteration is so p*ss poor it might as well not exist.
^ This. Seriously. Oh well, good thing i'll be able to retcon it out. A shame, though, a true shame..
Mhmm.
With these changes occurring, even if the severity of some are re-thought (as they SHOULD in some cases), I hope Cryptic are planning to grant everyone:
[FREE CHARACTER SPECIFIC RETCONS]
Not the kind that was given out when INT's CDR effectiveness was reduced by 75% but the kind that each character on a players account gains.
Anything less than that and this may well blow up and cause flaming and rage which could have easily been avoided.
Or better yet: Don't make these changes(not to disagree with you raven, I 110% agree, and DAMN 75%?!?! ) Seriously. You can stop this before it even becomes an issue. Maybe fix what it was acting wonky with and leave the original power as is.
Buffing everything to stupid high levels and nerfing everything to piss poor levels yields the same results, but not the same community reactions.
Skarn's would be better served by more thematic debuffs like Fear or Disorient, in my opinion.
I think this is key. At the moment it sounds a bit too random for what is supposed to be a major power and thus it makes using it or planning a build around it fairly problematic.
"Interesting builds are born from limitations not by letting players put everything into one build."
Skarn's would be better served by more thematic debuffs like Fear or Disorient, in my opinion.
I think this is key. At the moment it sounds a bit too random for what is supposed to be a major power and thus it makes using it or planning a build around it fairly problematic.
It's sooo funny, all the talk about build diversity and wanting to keep it, and if they can broaden it. This right here?. Exact opposite. You just took a major player from sorcery off the field, and turned ascension into a Joke.
Buffing everything to stupid high levels and nerfing everything to piss poor levels yields the same results, but not the same community reactions.
- Skarn's Bane Buff and Energy Form removal have been replaced with a 20% chance every .5 seconds to apply a random debuff to affected targets. This was done as the buff removal was causing problems.
This...is a really really bad idea. Seeing as there has been no adjustment to it's energy cost per tick and aside from Ebon Ruin, it was the go-to power for fighting enemies who were incredibly annoying...this entire change needs to be thought through a lot better or well, this power will become useless.
If Skarn's goes to live in its current form, I hope these two things are taken into consideration. Energy cost is on the steep side for its effects, now that it only grants random minor debuffs, and Ao'qephoth and Darkness nems should get a balance pass if the main way of dealing with them is being removed.
Bug: Ao'Q is still in the burst alert rotation. Suggestion: Delete.
Skarn's isn't bad for a dps power outside of being expensive as hell. If the only thing that changed was the passive stripping, then it's still not a bad power, just overshadowed by a lot of other options.
Are the pre-order devices only tintable for subs? I'm going to assume 'yes'. Can the pre-order devices just magically become auras? That'd be super.
Makes me sad that ascension doesn't have the fabulous aoe heal anymore. I actually used it on a healer.
Are the pre-order devices only tintable for subs? I'm going to assume 'yes'. Can the pre-order devices just magically become auras? That'd be super.
If I'm not mistaken, I think that there are separate auras that have been added. For example, I could have sworn that I saw an "Inborn Tenacity" aura that was separate from the device. I will report back if I can confirm it.
Also, I agree with the Skarn's Bane observation. It is still a decent power, and passive stripping was a niche use anyways. Ao'Q is the problem, not Skarn's Bane inability to deal with him now.
because it's pretty erratic about what it breaks (is it?)
It's dependent on buffs and debuffs being correctly tagged, which was never a high priority for NPCs and even a lot of PC powers are improperly tagged (it's gradually gotten better).
and even if it worked as designed would be either overpowered (unsubstantiated) or useless (needs explanation) depending on content.
For the rare content that has energy forms, it's a huge damage debuff and may completely break shticks. For the rest, the target has no energy forms and thus energy form stripping does nothing.
However, it would be more accurate to its traditional theme to have skarn's give a debuff to damage.
because it's pretty erratic about what it breaks (is it?)
It's dependent on buffs and debuffs being correctly tagged, which was never a high priority for NPCs and even a lot of PC powers are improperly tagged (it's gradually gotten better).
and even if it worked as designed would be either overpowered (unsubstantiated) or useless (needs explanation) depending on content.
For the rare content that has energy forms, it's a huge damage debuff and may completely break shticks. For the rest, the target has no energy forms and thus energy form stripping does nothing.
However, it would be more accurate to its traditional theme to have skarn's give a debuff to damage.
It doesn't do anything to OV, actually, except make say, "villain defeated".
If they wanted to make it do -damage, getting rid of the current(or hell, adding another) advantage and replacing/adding a -damage component would have sufficed. Why take a power, essentially, out of the game when there are soo many possible fixes?.
Buffing everything to stupid high levels and nerfing everything to piss poor levels yields the same results, but not the same community reactions.
The problem is that these powers could be used to beat Telios too easily. Celestial Cleansing would remove the progressive debuff he used in the final part of the mission, and no doubt Skarn's would have a similar effect on the bosses (I expect no-one can find the code they used in the Gravitar rampage to prevent SB removing her Passive/Energy Form). Given the way that Onslaught progressed, I think the devs are prepared to change powers to suit the new content, and that's what's happening here. Up to the community to shout loud enough if they disagree with the approach.
Jeesh.. I forgot about that. Gravi does have code that prevents Skarn's from disabling her passive. Why isn't that being done for these new bosses? I think everyone would prefer that instead of Skarn's being nerfed so hard into the ground.
The application of random debuffs that aren't particularly useful for any build that would being using the power, isn't a satisfactory solution.
Does the Cupid's Arrow seem a tad unbalanced to anyone else? It provides +5% to health and energy and last 5 minutes. The CD on it is 5 minutes (affected by CDR). So you can basically keep the buff on someone without it ever wearing off.
EDIT: The tooltip has the timer affected by cooldown reduction, but it is not actually affected. Still takes 5 minutes
BUG: Cooldown time displayed on devices' tooltips are affected by cool down reduction even though most devices' actual cooldown time is not.
BUG: The Cupid's Arrow is not accurately increasing max health and energy to proper amounts. Targets may be resisting the buff. It appears the buff is applying to the base health/energy of players. At level 40 the increase is a constant 240 HP ( of the base 4,800 HP)
Anti-Gravitron Generator has a ceiling to how high it can take you (About 20ft). This makes it pretty much useless as a device. Removing the ceiling so that it can be a way for non flight characters to reach high up places (however slowly) would make the device worth getting. Right now, anyone who buys it is going to feel very disappointed.
EDIT: Apparently this is a thing people are okay with?
Anti-Gravitron Generator has a ceiling to how high it can take you (About 20ft). This makes it pretty much useless as a device. Removing the ceiling so that it can be a way for non flight characters to reach high up places (however slowly) would make the device worth getting. Right now, anyone who buys it is going to feel very disappointed.
Anti-graviton generator is a preorder device that has been around since launch. It's just being made available.
I think my preference for Skarn's would be as follows:
a) find a way of locking out the buff/EF removal where necessary for game reasons. This is fine - every hero has a moment where their go-to power doesn't work, allowing much monologuing from the villain and general hilarity. Otherwise leave the power as it is.
Otherwise
b) Make the buff/EF removal an effect which can occur around 25-50% of the time. Magic's never the most reliable weapon, and this would remove the "single fix" effect from Ao'Q alerts, and...
c) Add the debuffs as planned, but make them more magic themed - Fear, Disorientate, etc. I don't really like the idea of Wizards applying Bleed - they tend to go out of the way to avoid spilling blood - and applying Negative Ions, Chill, etc, seems more than a little random.
Anti-Gravitron Generator has a ceiling to how high it can take you (About 20ft). This makes it pretty much useless as a device. Removing the ceiling so that it can be a way for non flight characters to reach high up places (however slowly) would make the device worth getting. Right now, anyone who buys it is going to feel very disappointed.
The device works the same as Vesperine Cloak, which is consistently a good seller in the Auction House.
It works wonders for those with Teleportation or non-combat flight as their primary travel power. I use Vesperine Cloak on about ten of my fifty-odd characters.
Silver Recognition Store devices: BUG: [Invocation of the Eclipse] deals no damage at all BUG: [Force Shield Belt] can't be equipped and disappears when is double clicked
SUGGESTION: [Cerebro-Stimulator] make them 5% with 3-5 maximum amount of pets at once SUGGESTION: [Feline Metabolic Serum] get rid of cooldown SUGGESTION: [Blood of Corruption] make it 5%
After having tested Skarn's bane on the test server the ability is no longer worth taking, not only does it cost too much energy, the random debuffs are for the most part useless. Most of the foes died long before any of the random debuffs had a chance of being useful, or the debuff was wasted. (Negative ion does nothing for a character who doesn't have an electric attack that can benefit from it.)
Thinking of "spirit of the law vs letter of the law", I have a suggestion of how to revamp Skarn's Bane instead of the random effects it's being given. If Skarn's Bane is used against an enemy that has a form, forcefield, or is blocking, it should have a chance to apply a stacking debuff (we'll call it "Skarned" for now) that has -healing, -resist, and -damage. This feels more in line with what people take Skarn's Bane for and allows it to retain its unique place in the game with less bugginess. Exact numbers for such a debuff would need testing but it would better justify a high energy cost.
"Interesting builds are born from limitations not by letting players put everything into one build."
So, Kzash Hounds (right from sodium cliffs of Mrentmor) gonna roll in as Command Animals skin. Oh yeah, I like their look too, to bad it isn't going be available for non-subbed players ("/powerentcreatecostume" command is disabled for those), unless l'm missing something.
So, Kzash Hounds (right from sodium cliffs of Mrentmor) gonna roll in as Command Animals skin. Oh yeah, I like their look too, to bad it isn't going be available for non-subbed players ("/powerentcreatecostume" command is disabled for those), unless l'm missing something.
I would comment how happy im that we are having new pet skins... but thats a feature I cannot even use for myself!
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergiesPlaying since 1 February 2011 98+ Characters (7 ATs, 91 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
Comments
"Without data, you're just another person with an opinion." -- W. Edwards Deming
^ THIS! Those random Debuffs without synergy has no place for Skarn's Bane
What this nerf did, was to ruin what made this power Unique
You are ruining Sorcery's ONLY AoE magic power there! WTF!? Do you hate Sorcery that much?
(I've got no opinion on the pre-order devices since I don't use them.) Visuals for this power are now stunning. Whereas the actual stun on this power...not so much. In more ways than one this is a downgrade.
The stun on this power does not scale with CC bonuses or Manipulator, which I suspect will become a trend because...well, I know why lol.
Haven't tested Serum yet. These devices are interesting... This is an interesting change...does it still deal particle damage? Or can this be changed to MAGIC DAMAGE?
This is a very good change. Thank you. This is a very good change. Thank you. Good. Unnecessary limitation enforced here IMO. There was nothing bad with them being able to affected more than 5 targets.
It always has. Unless you mean the standardized Hold Resistance stacks?
If so you need to stop it applying the secondary stack of resistance or it will render an enemy immune to CC instantly. Nice to see these changes. And damn, I havent seen EACS in a loong time. Yes. Good change. Another good change. Good. On one hand I am sad I can no longer change people's costumes. But on the practical side I am glad this effect now actually works. Thank you. Yay!
My Characters on PRIMUS
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If you can identify what you feel is wrong, it may help players come up with suggestions to fix it.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
For instance, will these random debuffs stack with each other and those applied by other players, other powers?
I will rig up a toon with Skarn's, Hex, and Dimensional Fracture and see how it works.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
CLOAK OF THE INFINITE PLANES
Now this power deals damage in a wide cone in front of you, untargeted. In other words, you click the device, and you swipe in a cone directly in front of you, damaging up to five targets. and having a chance of applying a random debuff (that is the new Bane effect). The device now inflicts MAGIC damage.
It also makes this a melee combo power you have to adjust facing to keep using. Imagine if laser sword or defensive combo were done this way.
It's incredibly annoying missing as enemies move around, or if you reposition yourself.
I currently have a toon who uses Cloak of the Infinite Planes as a primary attack. In this state, I will simply drop it and remake the toon.
SUGGESTION:
Make this device use a targeted cone, like many other melee powers. For players that rely on auto-targeting, this is a must.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
42 40s, LTSer.
Ice Grenade's new visuals are amazing and tintable.
(Note: The stun does not scale with CC bonuses or Manipulator.)
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Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
Skarn's would be better served by more thematic debuffs like Fear or Disorient, in my opinion.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
Skarn's Bane has been breaking stuff for years (what stuff?) because it's pretty erratic about what it breaks (is it?), and even if it worked as designed would be either overpowered (unsubstantiated) or useless (needs explanation) depending on content.
I think it's important for changes to be justified, especially when they involve significant variations to major class powers. I haven't seen any "Skarn's Bane is OP" threads around the place, it doesn't seem to be a pressing issue.... these changes seem opportunistic, being made for the sake of launching a lair that'll be unused in three months.
Thinking on it, it's the same deal with Sorcery, it's not really the Magic Damage set, and a debuff designed to work with it should reflect that it does a wide variety of damage types.
-Ogre
There's no need to Telepathize this power. Consider doing something MORE with it. For example:
Skarn's Bane - Deals continuous magical damage to enemies in a cone in front of you, weakening their connection to this plane of existence, reducing their ability to defend (Skarn's Bane applies the debuffs in this change) and heal themselves (Skarn's Bane now becomes a reliable applicator of Trauma for the healing part). At the end of this powerful spell you have a 50% chance to apply "Banishment" to affected targets. (Banishment is a DISABLE! effect which works on Henchmen, Villain, Enforcer & Master Villain targets ONLY. Banishment will apply a magic resistance debuff to higher level targets such as Players, Super Villains, Legendary & Cosmic Rank foes.)
Rank 2 - Increases as per usual
Rank 3 - Increases as per usual.
"New" Advantage - Arcane Master - Your chance to apply Banishment to targets is increased by 100% (2 pt advantage)
This is what I would have done with Skarn's Bane. It's current iteration is so p*ss poor it might as well not exist.
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Could the Judgment advantage on Ascension have a range of 50 feet, or even 100 feet, to make up for some of the lost function of this power?
A 25 foot range is very close for a healer, and means generally the whole team will not benefit from this power.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
25 foot range? WHAT THE HELL!? that is not a proper range for a healer
Yeah, I'm not going to pretend this change has not upset me, it's a disappointing and unnecessary change. I'm especially put out by the burst healing removal.
Perhaps create a new power which grants a burst PBAoE heal instead.
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^
This. Seriously. Oh well, good thing i'll be able to retcon it out. A shame, though, a true shame..
42 40s, LTSer.
This. Seriously. Oh well, good thing i'll be able to retcon it out. A shame, though, a true shame..
Mhmm.
With these changes occurring, even if the severity of some are re-thought (as they SHOULD in some cases), I hope Cryptic are planning to grant everyone:
[FREE CHARACTER SPECIFIC RETCONS]
Not the kind that was given out when INT's CDR effectiveness was reduced by 75% but the kind that each character on a players account gains.
Anything less than that and this may well blow up and cause flaming and rage which could have easily been avoided.
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I am @RavenForce in game
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With these changes occurring, even if the severity of some are re-thought (as they SHOULD in some cases), I hope Cryptic are planning to grant everyone:
[FREE CHARACTER SPECIFIC RETCONS]
Not the kind that was given out when INT's CDR effectiveness was reduced by 75% but the kind that each character on a players account gains.
Anything less than that and this may well blow up and cause flaming and rage which could have easily been avoided.
Or better yet: Don't make these changes(not to disagree with you raven, I 110% agree, and DAMN 75%?!?!
42 40s, LTSer.
-Sterga
This right here?. Exact opposite. You just took a major player from sorcery off the field, and turned ascension into a Joke.
42 40s, LTSer.
If Skarn's goes to live in its current form, I hope these two things are taken into consideration. Energy cost is on the steep side for its effects, now that it only grants random minor debuffs, and Ao'qephoth and Darkness nems should get a balance pass if the main way of dealing with them is being removed.
Suggestion: Delete.
Skarn's isn't bad for a dps power outside of being expensive as hell. If the only thing that changed was the passive stripping, then it's still not a bad power, just overshadowed by a lot of other options.
Are the pre-order devices only tintable for subs? I'm going to assume 'yes'. Can the pre-order devices just magically become auras? That'd be super.
Makes me sad that ascension doesn't have the fabulous aoe heal anymore. I actually used it on a healer.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
Also, I agree with the Skarn's Bane observation. It is still a decent power, and passive stripping was a niche use anyways. Ao'Q is the problem, not Skarn's Bane inability to deal with him now.
However, it would be more accurate to its traditional theme to have skarn's give a debuff to damage.
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
If they wanted to make it do -damage, getting rid of the current(or hell, adding another) advantage and replacing/adding a -damage component would have sufficed. Why take a power, essentially, out of the game when there are soo many possible fixes?.
42 40s, LTSer.
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
2 groups- one is the bottom ticket and other is I think 4th ticket up.
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Jeesh.. I forgot about that. Gravi does have code that prevents Skarn's from disabling her passive. Why isn't that being done for these new bosses? I think everyone would prefer that instead of Skarn's being nerfed so hard into the ground.
The application of random debuffs that aren't particularly useful for any build that would being using the power, isn't a satisfactory solution.
EDIT: The tooltip has the timer affected by cooldown reduction, but it is not actually affected. Still takes 5 minutes
BUG: Cooldown time displayed on devices' tooltips are affected by cool down reduction even though most devices' actual cooldown time is not.
BUG: The Cupid's Arrow is not accurately increasing max health and energy to proper amounts.
Targets may be resisting the buff.It appears the buff is applying to the base health/energy of players. At level 40 the increase is a constant 240 HP ( of the base 4,800 HP)Anti-Gravitron Generator has a ceiling to how high it can take you (About 20ft). This makes it pretty much useless as a device. Removing the ceiling so that it can be a way for non flight characters to reach high up places (however slowly) would make the device worth getting. Right now, anyone who buys it is going to feel very disappointed.EDIT:
Apparently this is a thing people are okay with?
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
a) find a way of locking out the buff/EF removal where necessary for game reasons. This is fine - every hero has a moment where their go-to power doesn't work, allowing much monologuing from the villain and general hilarity. Otherwise leave the power as it is.
Otherwise
b) Make the buff/EF removal an effect which can occur around 25-50% of the time. Magic's never the most reliable weapon, and this would remove the "single fix" effect from Ao'Q alerts, and...
c) Add the debuffs as planned, but make them more magic themed - Fear, Disorientate, etc. I don't really like the idea of Wizards applying Bleed - they tend to go out of the way to avoid spilling blood - and applying Negative Ions, Chill, etc, seems more than a little random.
It works wonders for those with Teleportation or non-combat flight as their primary travel power. I use Vesperine Cloak on about ten of my fifty-odd characters.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
BUG: [Invocation of the Eclipse] deals no damage at all
BUG: [Force Shield Belt] can't be equipped and disappears when is double clicked
SUGGESTION: [Cerebro-Stimulator] make them 5% with 3-5 maximum amount of pets at once
SUGGESTION: [Feline Metabolic Serum] get rid of cooldown
SUGGESTION: [Blood of Corruption] make it 5%
-Sterga
I would comment how happy im that we are having new pet skins... but thats a feature I cannot even use for myself!