DLC 7: Quantum Powers

SPORD: Did you guys change the base calculations? Instead of seeing integral base damage being selected from a range, it's as if the base damage values are including decimal precision. My resulting numbers in game are full range, e.g. 331, 332, 333 and 334. I'm used to seeing sequenced results, e.g. 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, and 330.

I'm seeing this behavior while testing Alcubierre Wave.

More jump clip powers would be nice.
Looks awesome.
Sounds awesome.

This is a mistake. The ability is essentially creating a sphere around you from two cones and the enemy next to you happens to be in both at the same time. I will put in more checks to prevent this as it causes double damage.

We did not make any changes that would knowingly cause this behavior. If you have any more info (weapon type, enemy type) let us know.

I just cast Savage Growth and I normally would have seen base damage of 7 or 8 which would result in each tick only being one of two values, e.g. 78 or 90 @ 1963 might and 35% modifier. Casting it on a sparring target yielded ticks of 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 92, 96, 97, etc.

I thought the change might be in response to this bug report of mine...
http://forums.station.sony.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/nature-poison-dots-damage-range.5319/

I wasn't trying to test that specific bug report. I was just trying a first stab at gathering base values for Alcubierre Wave and noticed the new variety. By the way, I think it's a good thing. For savage growth the Current Effects range is 7-9 but you never see 9. Now, even if you still don't get a base value of 9, you can get base values up to 8.9999 which effectively raises your potential damage range. That's nice for things like low damage DoTs and low healing HoTs that don't have a very expressive range at higher might or resto.

BOOOOO. HISSSSSSS.

ok fine. Hate when I get stuff nerfed pre-release.

^ like I said I think quantum needs more clippable powers. I see 2-3 atm. Minimal testing, but still.
By clippable I mean jump clippable or increased cast time.

I noticed it for heals too with HoT ranges.

I can confirm what Sore is seeing. It looks like damage and healing is using the entire range through base values instead of simply integers.

Again, for note, I don't think it's a bad thing!

Finally got my hands on quantum, gotta say it's pretty narly, visuals/sounds are nuts, and feel like a mix between mental and electric and I'm curious what little kinks will be making it to live.

Though, in all honestly, I feel as though it's incorporated with a lot of what the mental community was asking for post-revamp, I feel like all those ideas got poured into the development of quantum, as opposed to the betterment of mental, but that may just be my delusions, and that's a whole other thread.

I've already figured out Quantum!

My guide is at the following link:

Guide to Quantum

Notes I have now for TIME Tree in DPS stance Include:

Tachyon Burst- Can hit TWO baddies if they are close to each other, bith get PI and they appear to NOT split damage so far as i can tell.
Time Shift- can hit multiples BUT sometimes hit only 2 of three targets (proximity or LoS issue?)
Temp. Extortion- Clips most attacks and bubble in time tree EXCEPT Tachyon Blast (the charge attack; cancels it for NO damage) and messes up timing on Quantum Tunneling (sort of). Does NOT cause faster explosion on Time Bomb, just clips out of it.
Quantum Tunneling- NO idea what buffs ir actually provide as it doesn't last very long (can't see it on F1 screen because I can't scroll down fast enough?).
Anomaly- REAL short PBAoE range (actually not sure it is 360 degrees, anyone check?)
Time Bomb- SLOW AS HELL to detonate UNLESS target is point blank range AND has the PI on it (only one target needs PI to make it blow early, but ONLY PI'd enemies get the extra damage, others take normal damage). Suggest NOT using it at range and then addin the PI as only one target seems to get caught in the BOMB; instead do it at Point Blank range and follow with PI to get multiples in the explosion.
Time Bubble- its a bubble oh and it can clip like Temp. Extortion does. Can stay up for abotu 3/4ths its cooldown.
Tachyon Blast- will leave it for others to test. very annoying power to test IMO.
Warp Barrage- does 3 ticks of low damage to each target hit. This one is kinda delayed after the cast BUT all three ticks practically FLY off the targets when it fires off. Recharges so fast, i could get 2-3 castings off of targets that were PI'd and I think ALL casting benefitted from the PI damage (i.e. it didn't remove the PI after first cast; seems to be the same for ALL PI benefitting moves, at least in the TIME tree).
Distortion Wave- the HUGE PI adding PBAoE move, costly but nice group CC effect.

Just FYI, the PI Destabilize seems to last as long as the blue animation is on them (from Tach Burst, Anom or Dist. Wave), not only if they are IMMOBILIZED, but don't quote me on that if it doesn't work.

For FUN, I was using: Time Bomb followed by Anom (all at Melee range) followed by Time Shift followed by Warp Barrage and was DRY but dam near dead targets (groups of three). It was reasonably fast but again no clipping of weapon attacks were added (I just wanted to see how much damage it would do if I emptied my blue bar). This was with really LOW gear (might was only 949) and crits were realtively low in number (specced the toon for Troller and not DPS at the time). Doesn't appear to be a lot of surprises so far in this tree. Damage seemed meh, so did controlling but it was there. As for the FEW powers in both trees that I saw doing DoT (of any kind, slow or really fast), Gravity Well ROCKS some decent tickage but it takes awhile, followed by Singularity, and lastly Warp barrage which was MEH except for the FAST ticking. Only prob I see is that Grav Well can PI off of Polarize TOO which may be consumed by them or Electric toons.

Really loving Quantum. Have to test it out in some more content. On another note any one notice that Time Shift can be clipped by weapon attacks. If it is working as intended I love it.

The few things I haven't tested are weapon clipping and jump canceling. Nice catch man. Wonder if that's why An was using that in her/his DPS loadout? Makes sense.

Damage role first impressions:
Time
Tachyon burst - Small aoe centered around a target (20-28 damage), applies the Destabilize PI. Hits 2 targets max, does not split, but nearby enemies get Destabilized. Power cost 200. The worst PI applier in this tree, but it's still not bad for a controller as the POT move.

Anomaly - PB aoe with medium range (20-28 damage), applies Destabilize PI. Hits 4 targets max, and splits after 2. Power cost 300. The next best PI applier, but I don't see why you would ever use this over Distortion wave. Distortion wave is better in every way.

Distortion wave - Three PB aoe bursts of short, medium, and long range (20-28 damage each). Each burst hits 4 targets max within its range, and stops splitting after 2. So a max of 12 targets damaged. Applies Destabilize PI to every target within range. Power cost 370. The best Destabilize applier and a great power. High power cost for its damage, but it's worth it. Positioning will be key when using this, as staggering mobs could potentially turn a situation where a single burst is split among 3 mobs to a situation where 2 bursts give full damage to each of 3 mobs.

Time shift - Short range cone aoe (20-28 damage), or for Destabilized enemies (32-40 damage). Hits 4 targets max, splits after 2. Power cost 200. With no animation time like attract and high aoe damage for its power cost, this will pretty much be the bread and butter of Quantum.

Warp barrage - Large aoe around point of impact for 3 ticks of (6-10 damage per tick, 18-30 damage total), or for Destabilized enemies 3 ticks of (10-14 damage per tick, 30-42 damage total). Hits 4 targets max, splits after 2. Power cost 350. Kind of crappy with low damage for its power cost, delay in damage, and possible line of sight issues. But it has a 50% modifier, so it's alright.

Time bomb - Medium aoe around point of impact (20-27 damage), or for Destabilized enemies (33-40 damage). Hits 8 targets max, splits after 2, stops splitting at 4 targets. Power cost 350. Much better than Warp barrage for aoe damage, but you really need to be at point blank range to make this work.

Tachyon blast - Basically Telekinetic bolt.. Hits 4 targets max around the target line aoe style and doesn't split. Damage is virtually the same with minor differences. Power cost 400. Other than that it's much easier to apply the PI here, it has all the pros and cons of TK bolt... so meh.

Space
Gravitonic field - Deals 1 tick (8-10 damage) followed by 3 ticks (5-7 damage) to a single target, for a total (23-31 damage). Applies Graviton-charged PI. Power cost 200. Good for the grounding, I guess, but nothing more.

Alcubierre wave - One large frontal cone aoe and one large rear cone aoe (both 20-28 damage). Each cone hits 4 targets max and splits after 2. Applies Graviton-charged PI. Power cost 375. Interesting move. Again, positioning will be key for minimizing splitting. Not too great since you have to jump in the middle of everything to hit more than 4 mobs. I'm not sure if the PI is applied to mobs it doesn't damage, but it's not going to matter

Warped reality - The usual buff that procs on weapon attacks and superpowers (20-26 damage). Applies Graviton-charged PI. Power cost 250. Here's why the Space tree is fine, even though Gravitonic field and Alcubierre wave suck. Though the description says it "imbues your weapon," Warped reality procs on superpowers as well. And that also means that the Graviton-charged PI is applied on superpower use as well. !!! So... massive aoe powers like Distortion wave can apply the Graviton-charged PI. Problem solved.

Inspiral waves - Short range cone aoe (21-28 damage) or for Graviton-charged enemies (32-40 damage). Hits 4 targets max, splits after 2. Power cost 250. Basically the Time Shift of the Space tree, without the zero animation cost. For the cheap small aoe, it's definitely going to be overshadowed by Time shift.

Gravity well - Large aoe field for 9 ticks (8-10 damage per tick, 72-90 damage total), or for Graviton-charged or polarized enemies (10-13 damage per tick, 90-117 damage total). Hits 8 targets max, splits after 2. Power cost 350. As Quantum's only significant aoe DoT, this should be on every damage loadout.

Gravity bomb - Medium range aoe around the point of impact (25-31 damage), or for Graviton-charged enemies (32-42 damage, but I think this is off). Hits 4 targets max, splits after 2. Power cost 360. Also polarizes Graviton-charged enemies. The Warp barrage of the Space tree. But I would probably use this over Warp barrage since the damage comes a lot faster.

Singularity - Small aoe centered around a target (17-26 damage, 32-40 damage to Graviton-charged enemies), with affected targets and nearby targets taking 2 ticks (1-3 damage per tick), followed by one tick of (6-10 damage) to each target directly affected by the singularity when it explodes. The small initial aoe hits 4 targets max, splits after 2. Also polarizes Graviton-charged enemies. Power cost 300.

One of the most interesting powers and hard to explain. The Singularity appears around the target and is stationary. Up to 4 immediate targets within range can be directly affected by the singularity at a time. By directly affected, I mean that they receive the first initial tick of damage and cause themselves + nearby enemies to receive the additional 2 ticks of low damage. With >4 targets in range: if one of the 4 targets directly affected by the singularity die, another target may take its place and receive the first initial tick of damage, spreading the 2 low ticks as well, chain-reaction style. So potentially every mob within range of the singularity can get the first initial tick, as long as mobs die fast enough so that each of those mobs can be directly affected by the singularity before it explodes. When the singularity explodes, only the up to 4 targets directly affected will receive the last tick of damage. It's not a cone aoe, but this will be the go-to damage aoe for the Space tree. The single target damage isn't bad as well (25-42 total damage, 40-56 total damage for Graviton-charged enemies).

Energy expulsion - Typical <35% hp finisher that does 2 ticks of low damage followed by a giant tick of damage. Power cost 350. I have some questions about this power... Sometimes there's an extra low tick of damage after the giant tick. Also, when the target is <35% health, the low ticks deal less damage (from 7-10 damage to 3-8 damage) ??? I don't have the exact numbers for the total damage but I can say that Quantum's finisher is below average compared to other powers' finishers. It's not as bad as Light Blast, but nowhere near Terrorize, Final ruin, Photon blast, etc.


Damage strengths: Easily works with both of its PIs because of Distortion wave and Warped reality. Massive CCs which I haven't fully looked into yet, but Quantum really looks like the best controller power for crowd control. Need to play smart with positioning and targeting to get the most out of the power. Time shift.

Damage weaknesses: Looks and sounds very unique, but works too much like Mental, even down to hitting 4 targets on aoes, having a weapon/power buff, and nearly identical TK bolt/Tachyon burst. Lack of DoTs - Gravity well is pretty much the only DoT.. even Gadgets has more DoT powers. WD is really needed here to maintain power efficiency. At least Light has constructs to conserve energy.

Nice loadout. It would be nice if you could fit in Warped reality before Distortion wave to set up Gravity well, though. Maybe pre-cast it? I dunno how else to get it in before Distortion wave when you start a rotation. Spin chop and Time shift won't necessarily hit everything. But using Distortion wave after Warped reality may end up hurting damage.

has anyone ran with more than one quantum in a raid yet and if so do the powers over write each other.

like your post up above man, but you forgot Lift (probably because its particularly lame). One odd feature of Grav field followed by lift is I saw extra damage to two enemies I did not target. So, group of 3 (maybe more, haven't tried yet), I target middle guy with both powers. He takes damage from Grav field (big tick, 3 lil ticks), then damage from Lift and becomes a magnet for one of the other baddies. That guy gets pulled and takes damage (on the scale of the first tick from Grav field or the Lift damage, not sure yet) when he hits my main target. THEN, after a SHORT period of time, my main target explodes(?) but does no damage to himself or the PULLED enemy; instead the THIRD bad guy that has taken NO damage so far gets his own burst of damage (again, same level of dmg as First tick in Grav Field or the burst from Lift, not sure). I haven't tried this out on groups of 4 to see if the "explosion" can hit more than one guy, but at least it will make leveling a lowbie toon a lot more easy. Haven't tried this with other powers that set up Grav Charge either so it may be limited to Gravitonic Field + Lift combo (a way to add a lil damage to trollers who PoT?).

Someone in another thread said that the Weapon buff did not add PI with powers, so I am going to have to test this myself. BUT, if it does, like you said using Distortion Wave to set up the Grav Charge would be nice. Any idea if the targets are DOUBLE PI'd (as Distortion Wave is supposed to set up the Destabilized PI)? If so, Warped Reality>>Distortion Wave>>Time Bomb or Warp Barrage>>Gravity Well or Singularity might be a nice combo for adds.

I wonder what would that be :3