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Feedback Thread - Electricity Changes

kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,078 Cryptic Developer
edited August 2017 in PTS - The Archive
Electricity
  • Note: This is a smaller scale powers update than usual, and there isn't much room for any more new powers outside of the ones introduced in this patch (there will however be a new Ultimate in a later patch). While we appreciate any power suggestions, please keep this in mind when posting feedback.
  • Cleaned up many tooltips.
  • All instances of Negative Ions interactions have been changed to require the user to have applied Negative Ions. This is being done to prevent players from consuming other players negative ions.
  • Increased the Arc range on powers from 15 to 25ft.
  • Regarding Arcs: We are aware that players may not always want arcs to hit nearby targets. We've gone through and tagged all arcing abilities. This will allow us to decide what they should do against certain targets. Currently nothing has been decided yet.



Sparkstorm
  • Removed the knockback from this power. It has been moved to an advantage.
  • Doubled the chance for this power to arc if the target is affected by Negative Ions.
  • Adjusted the cost of this power as it was using an outdated formula. Cost has slightly gone up.
  • Fixed a bug where the random arcs this power could apply was not gonig up with ranks.
  • New Advantage: Knocks back targets that are affected by Negative Ions.



Thunderstrike
  • Added a 2 second delay to the Negative Ions application. This power has always had a small delay on the application so that it applies after consuming it, however in practice the power rarely ever applied again after consuming. This time delay will now allow the power to reliably re-apply Negative Ions after consuming it.
  • New Advantage: Knocks down your primary target. Refreshes the Superconductor debuff.
  • New advantage: Deals increased damage verse held targets.



Electrocute
  • Changed this power into an area effect.
  • Cost has been raised for the new target cap.
  • Has a 100% chance to apply negative ions to the main target, and 25% chance to secondary targets.
  • Increased maximum charge time on this power to 2.33 (from 1.83).
  • Updated the Superconductor advantage with the new debuff.




Lightning Storm
  • Lowered the damage on this power as its base damage was more in line with a hard hitting single target attack than a area attack.
  • Adjusted the costing of this power as it was using an outdated formula. Cost has gone up slightly.
  • New Advantage: Chance to apply Stagger to targets.



Chain Lightning
  • Increased range of chain effects to 50 ft (from 30).
  • Corrected tooltip for chance to apply Negative Ions as it was displaying an incorrect value.
  • If you are above 90% energy, this power guarantees the application of Negative ions on tap or charge.
  • Changed the damage formula on this power from a click to damage scaling based on charge time. Previously it wasn't supposed to scale with charge time, but was doing so anyways. Damage on full charge has gone up.
  • Energy will now also increased based on charge time.
  • New Advantage: Applies Superconductor, an electric resistance debuff, to a target affected by negative ions.



Lightning Arc
  • Moved to tier 3.
  • Damage formula changed from escalating damage to maintained damage. Damage will no longer go up the longer you maintain it.
  • Cost has gone up.
  • Removed the Never Strikes Twice Advantage.
  • New Advantage: Snares targets for the duration of the maintain.



Ball Lightning
  • Moved to Tier 2.
  • Slightly increased damage.
  • Power was costed thinking the power did double the damage it currently does. Cost has been adjusted for its new values and is overall lower than before.
  • Increased chance to apply Negative Ions to 25% (from 10).
  • Damage now scales with your crit/severity as it cannot get critival hits on its own.
  • New advantage: partially refreshes the superconductor debuff on the initial and last hit of this power.



Storm Summoner
  • Minor fx improvements.
  • If fully maintained, and if the target is affected by Negative Ions, applies the superconductor debuff.
  • Reduced maximum maintain time to 3 seconds. Cost and damage adjusted for this change.
  • Distributed the cost a bit more evenly across the initial cost and periodic.
  • Renamed Strong Winds advantage to Magnetic. Now draws targets inwards and increases chance to apply Negative Ions if targets are close to you.
  • New Advantage: Snares targets caught in the storm and when fully maintained, consumes Negative Ions on targets and causes a knock up.
  • New Advantage: Chance to apply Plasma burn to targets.



Electric Form
  • When striking a target affected by Negative Ions now grants you a small heal.



Electric Sheath
  • Now has a chance to apply Negative Ions to targets you damage while active.




Electric Shield
  • Resistance bonus changed to match other blocks.




New Power: Electrical Current
  • Maintained damage in a wide cone in front of you.
  • Chance to apply Negative Ions every hit, as well as Arcing to other targets.
  • Advantage: Chance to stun targets.\
  • Advantage: Applies and immediately consumes negative ions on the target. This counts as completing a circuit.



New Power: Lightning Clap
  • Lunge
  • Snares targets, stuns if lunging from more than 20ft away.
  • Advantage: Consumes Negative Ions and applies Charged up, a buff that increases your travel speeds briefly.



New Power: Electrical Siphon
  • Consumes nearby Negative Ions and heals you and nearby allies.
  • Advantage: If at least one Negative Ions is consumed, applies the Charged Up buff to you and nearby allies.



New Power: Thundering Return
  • Self Rez
  • While active you apply Negative Ions to targets you damage, your energy is restored when taking damage and your health is restored for targets defeated.



New Power: Power Source
  • Toggle form that increases ranged damage by an amount and melee slightly less.
  • Scales with your Endurance.
  • Stacks by proccing Arc effects, applying Negative Ions and completing a Circuit (consuming Negative Ions).



New Power: Blinding Light
  • Threat wipe power.



New Power: Storm Strike
  • Ultimate
  • Knocks down all targets.
  • Deals damage in a area effect around you.
  • Deals bonus damage on targets affected by negative ions.
  • Consumes negative ions.
  • After a couple seconds, reapplies negative ions.
​​
Post edited by kaiserin#0958 on
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Comments

  • shadowolf505shadowolf505 Posts: 697 Arc User
    Well. This is nice to see. I'm all for these changes. =)
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  • orangeitisorangeitis Posts: 227 Arc User
    Totally not because of a certain upcomming Marvel movie. Nope. Not at all. ;)

    Impressive new powers. No new archetype though? I'd expect "The Shocker" or "The Conductor" or something. But cool update.
  • notyuunotyuu Posts: 1,121 Arc User
    Feedback: Superconductor debuff... having the -18% per stack but can stack 3 times setup sillimar to stress is neat, but considering the only powers that can apply it are charge up.. one of which having a CD, I think it would be better if you consoldiated the debuff together into a single stack effect of -30% [or something] and add the apply ability to a few more powers.

    Sigils of the storm [tehcinalyl an eleterical power due to being in the tree] can we get a 1pt advntage on these which summons them around your target instead of around you (and getting that adv on living fire, sigils of radiatn sanctuary, sigils of ebon weakness, sigils of arcane runes and sigils of descrution would be neato too)
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  • kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,078 Cryptic Developer
    notyuu wrote: »
    Feedback: Superconductor debuff... having the -18% per stack but can stack 3 times setup sillimar to stress is neat...

    That would be a bug. It should not stack more than 1 per user with a total cap of 3.​​
  • criswolf09criswolf09 Posts: 748 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    Suggestion for Lightning Arc
    Could it be possible to make hit it a cylinder and refresh the Superconductor debuff if fully mantained or at least add a similar advantage like the one added to Assault Riffle?


    Suggestion for Superconductor
    I don't know if its a good idea but could it be changed to reduce the target's Electric dmg resist by 12% and an additional -6% against Energy dmg?


    Suggestion for the Tempest AT
    I know Kaizerin said that it is still reviewed but I was thinking if will it have the new Electricity heal power?
    Post edited by criswolf09 on
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  • pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User

    Suggestion for Lightning Arc
    Could it be possible to make hit it a cylinder and refresh the Superconductor debuff if fully mantained or at least add a similar advantage like the one added to Assault Riffle?

    Bear in mind that doing either of those things would imply either changing damage or energy cost. If added, they should be advantages, not base power effects.
  • aesicaaesica Posts: 2,537 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    ASDFASGKJ the forum enhancement thing isn't workin for some reason, so forgive the lousy formatting.

    - - -

    That said, Yay! Electric finally gets some much-needed love. Here's my first impressions, for whatever they're worth.

    Electrical Current
    I've literally been waiting for a cone-based electrical power since day one of having freeform. YES! A few things though:
    • It self-roots while most other, similar-strength breath/cone style powers do not. It should either be more powerful than similar attacks, like Fire Breath, or allow for mobility just like they do. Electricity is a constantly-moving thing, so self-rooty stuff in general doesn't make too much sense for this particular framework.
    • The tooltip for the Bad Wiring advantage references Venomous Breath
    Lightning Arc
    The Blindside advantage says it only snares for 15%. That's really, really not worth 2 advantage points. It's not even worth 1 advantage point. The snare value really needs to either go up, or better yet, replace it with an up-to-50-feet repel, or some cross-framework-friendly thing, like "full charge applies plasma burn, illuminated/illumination, knocks the target back, etc.

    --- Storm Summoner ---
    Emphasizing this one because this power (and its Magic twin, Invocation of Storm Calling) really, REALLY, R E A L L Y needs your help. It's really bad. It's so bad that I've never seen either of them used in the wild. It's so bad that it almost looks like the values were meant to be 0.5 second ticks instead of 1 second ticks. It also has no interaction with Negative Ions, so Ionic Reverb can't properly support it. Send help, I beg of you, because it's borderline unusable in its current state and this is a perfect opportunity to fix it. Here's steps to a possible solution:
    • Some sort of baseline interaction with Negative Ions is sorely needed, even if it's just the standard-issue arcing effect. SS just needs some way to make its own EU work. The Squall advantage sort of allows NI interaction, but it's not at all ideal for someone who wants to build this power for the raw damage output rather than utility.
    • Move the burst of damage at the end into an advantage. Squall (along with its knock-up) would actually be the perfect place for this, as it'd add a lot of value to what's currently an underwhelming advantage.
    • Update the damage values to be more on par with abilities like Crushing Wave if it's meant to be 1 second ticks. In terms of dps, Storm Summoner should ideally be somewhere in between Sparkstorm and Lightning Storm, roughly on par with Hurricane. Maybe a bit stronger due to its self-rooting.
    • Visually, this power is very underwhelming until the final strike. It'd be nice to see smaller, quick lightning strikes happen every tick, or at least rain down in the general area.
    • Finally, I just want to say that I LOVE the Particle Storm advantage. It's good to see Plasma Burn finally starting to show up in other places.
    Lightning Clap
    Yes! Finally a teleport-style lunge that doesn't make me look dark and edgy! This is something else I've wanted since forever. :D
    Any chance at an aoe-apply Negative Ions advantage, similar to how Void Shift has an aoe-apply Fear advantage? If so, a short delay (1-2 sec, similar to the one added for Thunderstrike) would be best so people couldn't just use it to cheese the second advantage.
    The name is a bit...weird, and doesn't make its role immediately apparent. Maybe something like Electrical/Lightning/Energy Surge?

    Electrical Siphon
    While a nice bursty heal, its reliance on Negative Ions makes it...less appealing universally. Any chance that this could instead become a Conviction clone, sharing a cooldown with Conviction? This way, people can have more theme-based alternatives. The Negative Ions consumption effect is still cool and would be a good advantage. I realize this one's probably an unlikely shot in the dark, but I figured I'd offer it up anyway. Currently, most people choose Conviction because it's reliable in all situations rather than just those with more specific setup requirements such as this.

    Power Source
    This is a rather odd form and I really don't know what to think. On one hand, Endurance isn't a very interesting stat to stack due to its complete lack of damage bonuses. On the other, it's the first form that works with Endurance, although its specific requirements for stacking (Negative Ions) means that it won't see any use outside Electrical. Inside Electrical, I suspect most people will favor the other form options.

    I know you guys have been somewhat against this, but this particular form would really benefit from scaling with the higher of either Endurance or one of the more traditional, damage-boosting stats. Dex might make the most sense. The only alternative is to make the stacking criteria more general, such as Concentration, so that the odd, energy-hungry edge case build can have a usable form that scales with Endurance, regardless of framework.

    - - -

    Overall, looks pretty good. :D
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  • aiqaaiqa Posts: 2,620 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    dps on lightning is a bit difficult to test with the bugged debuff, but so far:

    - dps is about 10% lower then a munitions (with TC) or ranged tk (and of course far lower than PA).
    - ball lightning is pointless now, the damage/"time invested" is not worth it for actual dps, and ions is managed by powers that apply the debuffs (this makes takes away from the visuals of the lightning rotations a lot)
    - Thunderstrike is pointless in a dps rotation, having 2 seconds of no ions is quite significant. That would lower overall dps by about 3%.
    - As for Lightning Storm (and all other higher damage AoE attacks) being "in line with single target damage". That is a problem that was created by lowering single target damage and forcing single target debuffs in so many sets to make up for the lower base damage. Now since most sets don't have good AoE debuffs you get a weak AoE power, that only does ok ish damage against 1 target after you apply the debuff, but for the actual AoE use it's weak and often not worth using over single target attacks. And even when available you probably wouldn't add a dedicated AoE resistance debuff to your build, since with the added forced synergies you are often already short on powerslots. Reconsidering the generic synergy setup might be a good idea.

    All in all there is very little to like in this review. It's mostly just a bunch of nerfs and messing up existing rotations and synergies (that were already in line with other sets), and not much to make up for it.
    Post edited by aiqa on
  • zamuelpwezamuelpwe Posts: 668 Arc User
    "Note: This is a smaller scale powers update than usual, and there isn't much room for any more new powers outside of the ones introduced in this patch (there will however be a new Ultimate in a later patch). While we appreciate any power suggestions, please keep this in mind when posting feedback."

    All things considered, this feels about the right size. There's five new powers and a few utilize new mechanics while the base mechanics for older powers have been adjusted to work better. THe rest of this is stream of consciousness so bear with me:

    Will Kinetik and the various melee range electrical Nemesis minions gain Lightning Clap? It seems thematically appropriate and I'll admit to being surprised that PSI didn't gain anything from the Telekinetic update.

    As far as the Tempest AT, is there a specific goal? I ask since there's a couple of different directions you could go ranging from a Ranged AT that feels like it has a splash of support to changing it to a Hybrid so it can more overtly choose between how it is played. Alternately, a change in Role might be more conceptually feasible for the Squall AT since it already pulls from a greater number of powersets and damage types to suit its theme.

    It was mentioned that a new Electric themed Ultimate would need to come later. Will that also be accompanied by an update to Energy Storm? It seems like some of the similar mindset of only proccing off your own stacks and simplifying the setup would make sense. That said, it's probably requires being rebuilt from scratch and as above, would probably be better for the Squall (or not added to an AT).
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  • nacito#6758 nacito Posts: 970 Arc User
    Bug: Thunderstrike w/ adv doesn't refresh Superconductor​​
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  • omnilord#8416 omnilord Posts: 348 Arc User
    Will people be getting a free retcon token? Because I pretty much just retconned my electric toon to replace their Ego Surge after that was changed.
  • sergeantmahoff1sergeantmahoff1 Posts: 137 Arc User
    I'm pretty okay with these changes frankly. Glad to see Electricity isn't going to just be use one power then spam another. A little more intuitive gameplay is never a bad thing I feel and I can't wait to see what that ultimate is going to be. (PBAoE toggle w/ a challenge adv pretty please?)
  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,425 Arc User
    Will there be any chance of lightning arcing to something unfortunate, like Ape hearts?
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  • pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User
    BUG: the untapped power buff scales with int (though the energy gain from power source does not).
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    I like the overall look of the changes. Looks like some critical qol issues with electric are being addressed, and the set is being moved away from the rather drab meta that it's been sitting in.
  • friezalivesonfriezaliveson Posts: 219 Arc User
    aiqa said:

    dps on lightning is a bit difficult to test with the bugged debuff, but so far:

    - dps is about 10% lower then a munitions (with TC) or ranged tk (and of course far lower than PA).
    - ball lightning is pointless now, the damage/"time invested" is not worth it for actual dps, and ions is managed by powers that apply the debuffs (this makes takes away from the visuals of the lightning rotations a lot)
    - Thunderstrike is pointless in a dps rotation, having 2 seconds of no ions is quite significant. That would lower overall dps by about 3%.
    - As for Lightning Storm (and all other higher damage AoE attacks) being "in line with single target damage". That is a problem that was created by lowering single target damage and forcing single target debuffs in so many sets to make up for the lower base damage. Now since most sets don't have good AoE debuffs you get a weak AoE power, that only does ok ish damage against 1 target after you apply the debuff, but for the actual AoE use it's weak and often not worth using over single target attacks. And even when available you probably wouldn't add a dedicated AoE resistance debuff to your build, since with the added forced synergies you are often already short on powerslots. Reconsidering the generic synergy setup might be a good idea.

    All in all there is very little to like in this review. It's mostly just a bunch of nerfs and messing up existing rotations and synergies (that were already in line with other sets), and not much to make up for it.

    Well couldn't it have been simpler to just drop the 20% extra dps when negative ions from LA is in use? Dropping it from 20 to 10 or 5%? That's assuming most have Justice, OSV/Distinguished secondaries with rank 5s/all rank 9 mods + spec trees EGO/DEX/REC or EGO/CON/DEX, etc, at least a DUC/Lightning Mod at rank 9 and at least an AO w/ x8 stacks from toggle form.

    Tiers seem a pointless time of shenanigans when the game comes down to 4-5 builds in the game with only 1/3 of the powers being useful and after i found out that ball of lightning is no good I'm not happy about this. (assuming that the useless powers with their increased timers are even used? lol) I mean do we really need more AoE attacks for Cosmics? Plus look at 'Power Source', this is the reason nobody wants to use END as a stat unless you are a tank.

    Yeah maybe the game should go "class specific" but why use END for anything else but the tanks (talking about Tank builds here)? Honestly I'm kind of fed up with energy unlocks that scale with END first and REC second or INT first or END second after bring told it was a useless super stat, no really reason to use this toggle power when you can just us chilled form, concentration and so on.
  • friezalivesonfriezaliveson Posts: 219 Arc User
    Also additionally, if this is getting rushed to live; (wouldn't surprise me knowing CO's track record) don't because whatever is done here is likely to break. Can you PLEASE do not do this.

    Not asking for perfection here but it's one thing to rush out our usual content with nerfs and something along the way breaks.
  • aesicaaesica Posts: 2,537 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    gradii said:

    Electrical Siphon effects enemies in a 15 foot sphere? is this intended to be useful on ranged builds becuase I don't see how.​​

    Oops, I meant to mention that in my previous post but forgot. Absorb Heat's range is somewhat justifiable because Heavy Weapons can make use of it, but Electrical has no such parallel. This in particular is why I think Electrical Siphon is better off being converted into a Conviction alternative.

    If I were to build an electric-themed character right now, I'd still take Conviction (or Bountiful Chi Resurgence) over Electrical Siphon because Conviction (and BCR) is far more reliable since it has no weird stipulations. The heal from ES can be pretty good if you're surrounded by foes with Negative Ions, but against any sort of boss, where you're probably going to be at range or where there's only one target, it's less than ideal. Or if you use it and nothing around you is affected by your NI, it does nothing and the cooldown (even if short) is wasted. With Conviction, I can press a button and know I'm going to get healed, no BS attached.

    Also, I almost feel like "Recharge" or "Energize" would be better names--the scientist in me also wants something more nerdy, like "Induction."

    Edit: Thinking about it a bit more, I also wouldn't be opposed to Energy Siphon getting changed into a Lifedrain clone. That's a reliable form of healing, too. Really, anything other than what it is right now would be nice.

    - - -

    One other power I COMPLETELY forgot to bring up, but meant to:

    Electric Shield
    Currently, this block enhancer is weaker (200% base vs physical rather than 250%) than any of the others, and the special effects it offers really aren't good enough to justify the reduced effectiveness. Here's my thoughts on how to help this power power out:
    • Increase the damage resistance bonus to the standard 250% for all damage types. Pretty please? ^^
    • Reevaluate the advantage point cost of Electric Vengeance. Visually, it looks really cool, but it's not at all worth 3 points.
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  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    Electric tanks would be able to make use of it, since nearly all the time when tanking whatever you're tanking has its junk in your face.
  • lanternjacklanternjack Posts: 20 Arc User
    Really liking it so far, a couple of cosmetic things I'd like to bring up though:
    The color for Electrical Current doesn't *quite* match the rest of the powers, I think it's because some of the bolts are one shade and some are another. It's a lot more noticeable with colors other than blue. Maybe just narrow the variation of shade between bolts? Secondly, could we get the standard "Head, Chest, Fist, Palm" emission point options for Electrical Current?
  • flyingfinnflyingfinn Posts: 8,408 Arc User
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  • deadman20deadman20 Posts: 1,529 Arc User
    Okay, I've got a few first impressions on these changes now. I'll share. As far as rebalancing and number adjustments go, that's best left to the people with the access to the dials. I'm just going to do my thing here.

    Bug: While the Power Souce form's stacks function properly, the tooltip does not give you the proper damage bonuses per stack.

    With the changes to Sparkstorm and, to some degree, Storm Caller I'd say that these two powers are too homogeneous. I don't think that they should be this way at all.

    For Storm Caller, I would recommend to change the power to be innately a reverse repel, dragging enemies closer to its user. Design this power for setups while still being an efficient power on its own. Instead of naturally dealing more damage to close-knit targets, instead make it a 100% chance to knockdown targets affected by Negative Ions at the end of its maintain. In this case, I would advocate for the replacement of its unique advantages such that it would make the power much more utility focused and make space for Sparkstorm. I would then give Storm Caller an advantage to Snare all targets during and Paralyzing at the end of its duration, removing the Knockdown effect as it is replaced by the Paralyze. In addition, add another advantage that returns damage to targets that damage you while in Storm Caller's effect, similar to Snow Storm's Eye of the Storm advantage.

    For Sparkstorm, I would simply add the Particle Storm and Squall advantages originally going to be in Storm Caller here instead, with the removal of the Electric Jolt advantage since Squall would overlap with it. In addition, since the advantage to turn this into a Toggle removes the lockdown effect the power has, maybe it would be prudent to make this power not lock down its user at all?

    With both of these powers changed in this way, Stormcaller can be utilized to group up hostiles, and potentially control their position. Meanwhile, Sparkstorm can used primarly as a PBAoE damage-dealing ability, being made on-par with Infernal's Epidemic ability.

    Chain Lightning, love the changes here. The fixes to its calculations has made a large difference, and with the Superconductor advantage, this ability makes for a great starter ability as well as a potential key power for endgame DPS setup. Not to mention, it has great flow for the powerset. This is what I would like to see from all of the early powers.

    Thunderstrike to me has always been one of those really odd powers that I want to love using, but feels underwhelming anytime I do. However, I do have quite a nice idea for it. Remember the Never Strikes Twice? advantage Lightning Arc used to have? Play around with having it being an innate effect on Thunderstrike as it is on the PTS. If it feels like it is too much as an innate bonus, try to reincorporate the advantage here instead.

    Electrical Siphon feels underwhelming, especially when compared to Absorb Heat and Conviction. The way its tooltip is worded also makes it seem to allude to Negative Ions being stackable, and that the ability would require a single target as opposed to a group of targets. The overall range being small doesn't help with being able to assist allies like the ability seems to be able to do. From here, I would increase the range of the ability to be 50 feet and then cause the healing granted to be reduced the further a target is away from you. In addition, add another advantage to allow the ability to consume the user's Superconductor debuff for an additional unmitigated burst of healing.​​
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  • aiqaaiqa Posts: 2,620 Arc User
    edited August 2017

    I'm pretty okay with these changes frankly. Glad to see Electricity isn't going to just be use one power then spam another. A little more intuitive gameplay is never a bad thing I feel and I can't wait to see what that ultimate is going to be. (PBAoE toggle w/ a challenge adv pretty please?)

    Could you explain this?

    To me it looks like this. Previously, single target dps was build around LA + 1 support power to apply ions (ball lightning or thunderstrike), which is pretty similar to how lots of other sets play. Now single target dps is LA + chain lightning. So in effect the only gameplay change is -balllightning +chainlightning. I don't see how that makes gameplay better or more interesting, and visually it's a big downgrade.
  • aiqaaiqa Posts: 2,620 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    Suggestion:
    - Remove ions from chain lightning.
    - Make superconductor an innate effect on chain lightning.
    - Allow the arc effect from chain lightning to apply superconductor to secondary targets.
  • flowcytoflowcyto Posts: 12,740 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    (just some early impression for now. will comb through more stuff in detail later when I get more time)

    I am glad that the baseline Sparkstorm doesn't KB targets potentially out of its own range anymore :p

    Storm Summoner's activation is still prob a bit too penalizing (not the tick cost, since that's only taken per sec), by costing ~56 energy just to activate.

    Lighting Storm is still considerably higher base dps than most AoEs that are in earlier tiers, while still costing a bit more than them. I think its in an 'okay' place, given that its base dps per target was quite high before.

    I always wondered if the consume/apply mechanic to the old TStrike was working as intended. Since I noticed it more often just consuming NI and not re-applying, I dropped it from Elec builds. Its nice to see the mechanic be made more reliable, though a 2 sec delay is a bit of a bummer (more of an impact on LArc dps since if it doesn't ramp up anymore).

    Also, I'll second the notion about re-tuning Elec Shield (and maybe Elec Vengeance). I hope its base dmgRes can be buffed to that of other blocks, at least. Its a bit demotivating to devote a power slot to a block enhancer, but not have it be better defensively than the standard block vs. Physical dmg at rank 1.

    Bug?: It seems that Chain Lightning is consuming NI if its already up and would either re-apply it or try to proc an extra Arc, even at baseline- which I'm not sure is intended. On Live, it seems like the current Chain Lightning also exhibits this behavior, w/o a consume mechanic being mentioned baseline. On paper, the changes make it seem like Chain Lightning w/ adv can cover both NI and Superconductor on its own, but due to the NI consume that ends up not being the case.
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  • ericrightshow82ericrightshow82 Posts: 582 Arc User

    Totally not because of a certain upcomming Marvel movie. Nope. Not at all. ;)

    Impressive new powers. No new archetype though? I'd expect "The Shocker" or "The Conductor" or something. But cool update.

    I was hoping this certain Marvel movie would mean Might would get some attention, but this is nice too.
  • lillysaturnlillysaturn Posts: 109 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    Umh? Why do we need a electrical Lunge? Last time I checked Electricity was a ranged thing?
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    Some thoughts after fiddling with the changes:


    - Ball Lightning still useful as part of a LA build since Chain Lightning will occasionally consume NI when you're refreshing Superconductor and during debuff-heavy scenarios like cosmics you don't want to have to micromanage NI, so LA+CL+BL would be one setup for electric.
    NOTE: Not sure if CL consuming NI is gonna change, but that's how it is now.

    - Thunderstrike ( once the advantage to refresh Superconductor is fixed ) also feels good as part of a LA+CL+TS setup, mirroring similar setups in other trees. The delay on reapplying NI doesn't feel very long, but single target damage of the power could be raised to compensate for whatever dip in damage potential the delay might create.

    - Electrical Current feels great to use, and I love how you can really create this insane mess of electricity flying all over using it and ball lightning.

    - CL doesn't really need a multi-target debuff application, pretty easy to just smear NI all over and then tab through targets, aoeing while applying the debuff all over.

    Suggesto:

    - Make LA only have a chance to arc once it's been maintained at least halfway so if the user doesn't want it arcing they can use halfway maintains to avoid that effect.
  • andondarkmoreandondarkmore Posts: 671 Arc User
    edited August 2017

    Umh? Why do we need a electrical Lunge? Last time I checked Electricity was a ranged thing?

    Making some of the PB AoE attacks Melee instead of Ranged my open up some Electricity Tanks options. Can a 1-2 Point ADV make a ranged attack Melee

    1 Pt Challenge, 2 Point to make Melee (Attack, not the lunge) and 2 Points for rank 2.

    Just a thought.

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  • chimerafreekchimerafreek Posts: 383 Arc User
    I once again must wonder the necessity of another ranged toggle form when concentration still exists and will almost definitely be the go to toggle for ranged.
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  • stergasterga Posts: 2,353 Arc User
    Did I miss something or is there no extra synergy with Laser Swords? Outside of the slotted passive. Storm Summoner is poop, so doesn't count.

    Another inferior toggle form scaling with a stat that will always be considered a pile of poo to most people. Stop it.

    Another heal with the same stupid issues that Absorb Heat has. Maybe, just maybe, make more heals up to the standard of Conviction instead of this plan to eventually crap all over the "best" power heal in the game. It's not like Conviction is that good or can replace an actual healer in big boss fights.

    Lit Storm: An advantage that has a chance to do something is never going to be better than ignoring it for another rank. Stagger isn't that good as an advantage even at 100% chance to apply. Make it an innate feature if you're going to waste time coding it into the game. At least it will be used that way.

    Thundering Return: Why is an interesting effect put on a self-rez? A power that can only be used once every five-ish minutes after you die and is going to be diminished by the need to back-off and re-apply your toggle form? Plus, the HP on defeat is kinda dumb considering the most likely use for this is during boss fights where there often are no adds to be killing. HP on doing damage would be better as well as putting this effect on something like an AD. Or... maybe make this effect a heal competitive with Conviction. Heal on doing damage plus some energy on taking damage? Yeah, I'd replace Conviction for that on my energy hog builds. Certainly better than crap like Electric Siphon.​​
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  • deadman20deadman20 Posts: 1,529 Arc User
    So, after a bit more thought, I've come to hate the Negative Ions usage within Electricity. It always feels like Negative Ions was meant to do so much more than just provide a target to Arc off of. We can give it more unique interactions with each of the powers and keep the arcing mechanics. Perhaps say that all Electricity attacks have a 10% chance to Arc from their Main target for the slight bit of extra damage, while giving Electric Form its own innate 10% chance to Arc from targets you attack regardless of what powers you use. All of the arcs would deal the same damage as opposed to some powers having stronger arcs than others and the arcs would be unaffected by the powers' ranks.

    Sparkstorm
    -Innately Apply (15% Chance while maintaining), Advantage to Utilize (Chance for additional Arcs for each additional target that is affected by NI)

    Sigils of the Storm
    -Advantage to Apply (25% Chance when striking)

    Electrical Current
    -Innately Utilize (Additional Arcs per target affected by NI)

    Storm Summoner
    -Innately Apply (10% Chance while maintaining), Innately Consume (Knockdown at the end of its maintain)

    Chain Lightning
    -Innately Apply (Based on Charge Time), Innately Utilize (Additional secondary Arcs for each target affected by Negative Ions), Advantage to Consume (Replaces Innate Utilize, moving the additonal Arcs here, Additional Damage to targets affected by Negative Ions)

    Lightning Arc
    -Innately Utilize (Start ramping up damage slightly as the power is maintained against a target affected by Negative Ions as opposed to being an absolute boost to damage), Advantage to Consume (At the end of the maintain, perform a burst of damage around the target.)

    Thunderstrike
    -Innately Utilize (Additional Arcs from each target affected), Advantage to Consume (Deal full damage to secondary targets)

    Ball Lightning
    -Innately Apply (25% Chance while striking per ball)

    Gigabolt
    -Innately Consume (Deals additional damage to all affected targets per consumed Negative Ions)

    Lightning Storm
    -Innately Utilize (Snares all affected targets affected by Negative Ions), Advantage to Apply (15% Chance while striking)

    Lightning Clap
    -Innately Utilize (Deals AoE damage instead of Single Target in a small radius), Advantage to Consume (Charged Up)

    Electrocute
    -Innately Apply (100% Chance to apply to main target), Innately Utilize (Paralyze chains to additional targets when the main target is affected by Negative Ions.)​​
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  • magpieuk2014magpieuk2014 Posts: 1,268 Arc User
    Another inferior toggle form scaling with a stat that will always be considered a pile of poo to most people. Stop it.

    Yup. What the toggle form should do is to give you access to a buff which synergises in a unique way with the powerset it's intended to be used with. I would prefer it if "fully charging" Power Source (eight stacks of Concentration and having at least one stack of Negative Ions active) gave you access to a buff (Supercharged, perhaps?) which significantly buffed certain powers within a 30 second window - probably the set heal and a single target blast attack (while also consuming itself and all yr stacks of Concentration and Negative Ions on use). That way you'd get more value from things like Electrical Siphon - ideally they'd be as effective as the heals you get from items or from Resurgence when Supercharge is active, and then just handy background heals on other occasions. Without that spike heal effect it feels a bit useless.
  • magpieuk2014magpieuk2014 Posts: 1,268 Arc User
    It doesn't have to be ignored, if it does something significant which the other (more generic choice) doesn't do. Buffing damage is nice, and that's what Concentration should do, reliably, cross-power set, but the in-set toggles should give significant bonuses both to damage (in specific circumstances related to the set) and especially to healing (where the in-set powers are woefully lacking in efficacy behind more generic choices).
  • aesicaaesica Posts: 2,537 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    spinnytop said:

    Electric tanks would be able to make use of it, since nearly all the time when tanking whatever you're tanking has its junk in your face.

    That's true, however Electric-based tanks aren't something I see very much of and I'd rather the power be more useful in general than aimed at a very small niche. I feel pretty safe in saying that most people will use this framework for ranged dps characters, so without giving it a significantly larger consumption radius (or anything else to make it more useful when used at range) it's not going to be chosen over the standard-issue Conviction or BCR.
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  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User

    I once again must wonder the necessity of another ranged toggle form when concentration still exists and will almost definitely be the go to toggle for ranged.

    I have this whacky theory that at some point, concentration and the ice form will be changed to be less generic, and that for now they're there to serve as filler for sets that haven't received a themed form yet. Just a theory tho.

    On the other hand many of the new forms are great for tanks who can't be far enough to tap up Concentration, and who have to block too often to charge or maintain powers for stacks. The fact that with these forms you can easily tap to maintain stacks at any range makes them better in these situations.
    aesica said:

    That's true, however Electric-based tanks aren't something I see very much of and I'd rather the power be more useful in general than aimed at a very small niche. I feel pretty safe in saying that most people will use this framework for ranged dps characters, so without giving it a significantly larger consumption radius (or anything else to make it more useful when used at range) it's not going to be chosen over the standard-issue Conviction or BCR.

    It is generally useful. There's nothing pushing your ranged toon away from whatever it is you're fighting. Smear some NI all over, run up to the crowd, boom massive aoe healing. You can be close enough for it at cosmics and in TA as well. This power can be used just about everywhere so long as you don't have some self-imposed rule of "I must be at 100 range all the time!".
  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,065 Arc User
    So on the anniversary of me dropping Single Stat END on my electric user...this happens...zomg...!

    In all seriousness...interesting changes...
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    gradii said:




    Unfortunately END primary will still be less ideal for DPS than EGO or DEX or even INT primary becuase it's spec tree does nothing for damage.



    Having a form which scales on END is nice and is something I have been asking for as well, but the fact it scales ONLY on end and the innate derpiness of end primary as a stat keeps it something most people will probably not use.​​

    You know you don't need to be End primary to stack END, right? In fact, many of the most commonly used trees work very well when you're not stacking your PSS.
  • aesicaaesica Posts: 2,537 Arc User
    spinnytop said:

    It is generally useful. There's nothing pushing your ranged toon away from whatever it is you're fighting.

    Except forms like Concentration encourage you to be further away. It's also generally safer to be further away then 15 feet, which is Electrical Siphon's range.
    spinnytop said:

    Smear some NI all over, run up to the crowd, boom massive aoe healing.

    While that may be true, against a boss, there's generally only 1 target. You'll actually get more HPS from Conviction in this case, and as a bonus, Conviction doesn't require setup like ES does. "Press Conviction, get emergency heal" sounds better than "apply NI to boss, run up to boss, press ES, get emergency heal, reapply NI, continue attacking."

    In terms of HPS against a single target (boss) with whatever my test character's current setup is:

    - Conviction: 304.5
    - Electrical Siphon: 214.2

    Conclusion: Conviction pulls ahead in a single target setting and it doesn't require additional nonsense to use.
    spinnytop said:

    You can be close enough for it at cosmics and in TA as well. This power can be used just about everywhere so long as you don't have some self-imposed rule of "I must be at 100 range all the time!".

    What about "I'd rather be more than 15 feet away from stuff?" I think that's a legit issue for someone who is supposedly trying to play a ranged character.
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  • flowcytoflowcyto Posts: 12,740 Arc User
    I wouldn't mind an End-scaling toggle for certain energy-hog builds, but then the issue comes down to Power Source's trigger condition being too strict for other powersets, and a huge energy cap not really being needed in Electricity for most things. Regardless, shoe-horning in powers just to trigger a toggle isn't ideal, and esp if they're far out-of-theme for the hero you have in mind.
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  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,065 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    Electric Form

    I think you've made this passive a bit more attractive now...


    Electric Current

    I like the look of this power, but the storm like sound effects seem a bit...out of place...would much prefer an energy whooshing sound or something like LArc has.

    Also VFX seem like they are missing the "volume" that Rank 3 LArc has on LIVE.

    Also...as someone mentioned earlier, the shading of it doesn't quite match your selections from the hue box for powers.

    Another thing...we need a vid of someone using Laser Deflection and Force Lightin Electrical Current. :wink:

    Bug:

    Electric Current's tool tip remains the same for Rank 2 & Rank 3 in terms of damage per 0.5 sec.


    Suggestion: Increase the chance to apply negative ions per rank for this power. 10% / 15% / 20%

    Suggestion: If this power must absolutely remain a 50ft ability and not join the 100ft club, allow for movement when maintaining this ability.

    Suggestion: If possible, allow this power to have emanation point choices.

    Gigabolt

    Suggestion: Reduce Gigabolt's Electric Surge debuff from 8 seconds to 4 or better yet, remove it entirely.

    Electrical Siphon

    Not exactly what I was expecting with a name like that. Anyway…I think this is going to be a bit weird to use? Especially with the active range it has…I don’t think it is right or fair for in set heals for sets which are clearly geared towards dealing damage at a certain range to have melee style healing. It would be like giving Might a heal, which only works at 100ft from your target, that relies on the player knocking an enemy with Haymaker or something. Whilst yes, I get that players don’t have to use in set everythings “yet”, it’s a pain to see in set abilities not work well or be a bit on the risky side to pull off.

    Bug:

    When trying to remove Charged Up, hovering over it says “Deals extra damage when enraged”.


    Suggestion: I would like to see this power be a direct clone of Absorb Heat but with a few choice modifications; range is 50ft for absorbing Negative Ions. Initial damage is lower than Absorb Heat’s. Applies the heal it does now + a minor HoT and EoT for 8 seconds for those within range with a cap of 5 players.

    Suggestion: If this heal has to remain mostly as is, consider making a new heal which actually acknowledges ranged Electric Damage builds. I would suggest making use of Energy Storm’s maintained VFX and have this new power “Energy Drain / Power Siphon etc” do single target healing for self, but apply an EoT buff to self and others which scales with the caster’s END. An advantage like: “Shared Energy” could change the single target healing to be AoE at an increased cost.
    Post edited by theravenforce on
  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,065 Arc User
    Block Enhancers - Nice to see that these have been updated...I'm probably late to the party realizing this but it's nice to have some additional information as to what they provide! Thanks! :+1:
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    aesica said:


    Except forms like Concentration encourage you to be further away. It's also generally safer to be further away then 15 feet, which is Electrical Siphon's range.

    Solved by things like the new electric form, which doesn't require range. See? Those new forms are great, and more versatile.
    aesica said:


    While that may be true, against a boss, there's generally only 1 target. You'll actually get more HPS from Conviction in this case, and as a bonus, Conviction doesn't require setup like ES does. "Press Conviction, get emergency heal" sounds better than "apply NI to boss, run up to boss, press ES, get emergency heal, reapply NI, continue attacking."

    In terms of HPS against a single target (boss) with whatever my test character's current setup is:

    - Conviction: 304.5
    - Electrical Siphon: 214.2

    Conclusion: Conviction pulls ahead in a single target setting and it doesn't require additional nonsense to use.

    Electrical Siphon would be overpowered if it had the same amount of single target HPS as Conviction, since Conviction can't increase the amount of healing it provides against multiple targets. When it comes to fighting a group, Electrical Siphon springs into the lead by a huge margin. Different powers are better in different situations. Variety. Also you could take them both.

    PS - that "additional nonsense" is called game mechanics. A lot of games have those.
    aesica said:

    What about "I'd rather be more than 15 feet away from stuff?" I think that's a legit issue for someone who is supposedly trying to play a ranged character.

    Then that's your choice. Being beyond a certain range will mean that certain powers will not be effective - that's a reality the game has been living with since day one. "Oh but healing powers don't..." stand at 100 range and use Life Drain... It's not very effective.
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited August 2017
    Question: since LA was already one of the highest performing single target dps powers in the game, and now it's had a debuff added that can be applied at long range, is there any plans to lower the damage of LA? Seems like one of the top performers just got a buff - wouldn't want to have a "clear best" sitting among the bunch.

    I'm asking because I've never made a character that was literally just made to do the highest single target dps possible... but if LA is just being outright buffed I might just try it!
  • pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User
    spinnytop said:

    Question: since LA was already one of the highest performing single target dps powers in the game, and now it's had a debuff added that can be applied at long range, is there any plans to lower the damage of LA?

    The new LA is non-ramping, and is lower damage when you perform a full maintain (on short maintains it probably comes out ahead).
This discussion has been closed.