So when can Fire (AM) be "OP"?

Personally I think Mental's AM is far worse, not to mention Celestial are in bad shape.

Fire will never be as good as it was 3 years ago. It's a shame.

The truth with fire DPS, in my opinion is that it is subpar. I was a long time fire user and I have switched through various powersets to suit my play style. I would have loved to have stuck with fire, but it is lackluster. The fire DoTs are not that strong. If the DoTs on a few more powers were stronger on the DPS side it could do a lot better in raids. I am not fond of the channeling system in content that requires constant movement, like absorb heat. Fire powers like Mass Detonation do not need cast bars. Other powersets in the game give great burst damage without the waiting period. I know people that excel with fire, but even they are feeling the dread reality that as a DPS at 111 cr. are getting smoked by quantum and hard light users who are 104 cr. Fire will always be a more melee oriented powerset. enflame, immolation and a few others target the caster. As for the AM, it still slow. great crits, but at the cost of speed? Fire Tanking in PvP, I hear is fantastic. But at the end of the day it is not just PvP that needs to be looked at, but the PvE content with both roles in mind. With Quantum, Rage, and even the new Ballistic powerset coming I will not hold my breath for change to Fire, because each of these powersets have qualities fire could use to make it better.

The real issue is balancing the powerset so that anyone can pick it up and use it. I am an average player at best, but I know why the powerset failed to me and why it lost its fun factor. If most of the healing abilities in DPS role were voided to make room for bigger burning DoTs then there might be something there. No real reason to start from scratch on a great powerset, just tweaking some of the fundamentals. In DPS role, I want to kill you, not heal me. I want to see the flames burn everything to a crisp and see the enemy as a char grilled snack for a certain three headed puppy. Fire is bursty blow it up or fizzle it out.

um no it wasnt. other powers could use two handed also. gadgets was the best with that. it was a fast enough clip to put in between each power. electric might have done more dps, but trolls would have had a hard time powering them. Fire? it didnt come close.

I'm not going to read this but I'm surprised this hasn't been locked for not being constructive. The idea that imbalance should be introduced intentionally is laughable at best.

one thing, its a little off topic tho. Dont you think fire and electric should have had their am switched? Fire seems like it should be a DOT class, think burning. And increased dot is burning hotter. While electric should be instant, think getting a jolt. you build up a charge and then electrocute your enemy with one massive lightning bolt (in place of mass det)

i dont get what a dot is coming from with electricity. I also always thought electric should have been a troll set. when you get electrocuted you get stunned (cc) and electricity is power. makes more sense to recharge someones battery then health. but now im wayy off topic. fire should have been dot electric should have been burst

You need to work on it then, fire am is very good bro
Try to go pair with someone who was same gear and sp, and you will see its very good

THIS!!!!

I just switched off from fire after being fire for a long and was very successful at it.

The recent fix to the tank side is fine, however my largest grievance was that there was no long range pull which i found to be absurd. Countless times ive seen users on the forums defend not having a long range pull but it doesnt change the fact that its still asinine to not have a tank who can pull from the other side of the room when the other power sets can.

Now to the real reason i switched off the dps side. The burst loadout is still viable but power hungry. The AM is a joke, when compared to the other AMs for yhe simple reason of how long it takes to get your PIs up, and then have to rely on mass dets inconsistent nature.

Ive critted for as high as 32k just 3 days ago on a single target and followed it up with a so called crit bubble of 1.2 k.

Obviously you cant have all powers to be equal, and with every new update and added am they will learn from past mistakes with powers, but fires AM cant be compared in terms of reliability as the other power sets which have been fixed.

Ice was always a heavy hitter if people knew how to use it, it got its am and is insane now, i was getting waxed by my leaguemates who are electric, ice and now quantum.

Just my 2 cents but its the truth.

LMFAO!!!!!

Please don't take me too literally..but since you're on the topic of being 'realistic', look at the recent history of the introduction of new AM's. Gadgets, HL, and now Quantum for example. They were in the top tier of DPS powers when introduced, hands down. Exceptional damage potential and the burst hits hit nearly, if not just as fast as WM. Now, compare that to Fire's AM= it's inception & "rework" if you wana call it that. Compare these things. I will end it at that...constrcutiveness can ensue with the understanding this phenomenon.

Yeh fire and mentals am need serious work. And pet advance mechanics are pretty weak as well to be honest luckily sorcery is still very good without the use of the fury and earth is average.

hehehe... I am a Fire tank in PvP... I know but I'm talking about Fire AM... you know, the AM that has been discussed and discussed in many threads? Yeah... that one...

People say the crits aren't consistent. While that may be true, I believe that is how the power is intended to work= it's a gamble, hit high, hit low, you run the risk and roll the dice. That's how Mass Detonation always was, and I, personally, have no major gripe with that bare-bones facet. What I believe needs to change is the cast time. With WM and other AM's bursting huge crits or laying down school-of-piranhas-like DoT's, something needs to be done with Fire and it's AM's ability to be able to land it's big hit at the same time the other powers do. That's where I think Fireburst should come in...

Fireburst has long been forgotten in loadouts, and presently, it is justified. The power is utterly worthless. The instant Volatility (Fire AM PI that maximizes damage potentiaal) facet is overrided by Flame Cascade and Burning Determination= both instant cast powers that do not have a long 4 second cast time. It's burst hit, while a little more consistent that Mass Detonation (the other big-hitter-cast-power ), is within a smaller range, meaning, users won't see that pretty 25-30+K hit (with approx 7200 might) using Fireburst. Before WM was introduced, I used BOTH Fireburst AND Mass Detonation in my loadout. I used Fireburst when I wanted a clean, predictable hit at close-mid range and Mass Detonation when I had to stay ranged or felt my intuition tell me to roll the dice. The Depth of gameplay within using both casting powers is what I say mad Fire unique, and highly gratifying to play...I miss that, and wish the devs would bring that back into play.

My suggestions are as follows: Reduce Mass Detonation's cast time to 1.5-2 seconds, but keep the crit chance. Increase the range of damage with Fireburst, but not as much as Mass Detonation's range, but keep it a close-mid range power...whether or not reducing the cast time would make it OP is beyond me. But figuring out how to make powers work isn't my job...my job is to pay. To play. And to have fun. If I'm doing my job, but others aren't doing theirs, I may have to seek greener pastures. It's just a shame. This pasture is a pleasure to be on (mostly) and all my friends are here, so I'm torn. My pride comes first though, so yep...in the name of balance... MAKE FIRE OP

Edit: HAPPY NAY-SAYERS? Here's your constructive tid bit! Now, I shall get back to my inwardly constructive posts with its outwardly trollish appearance. TYVM. Have a good day.

Ahh DoT's..set it and forget it, eh? You may enjoy Nature. Lot's of DoT's there. Before WM and it's "drop dots, start PI's, burst, burst, burst" nature came in, Fire was very unique (all the powers back then were, really). It's 4 second casts set it apart in terms of gameplay, and made the power beautiful, and is what made me fall in love with the power. Now, with WM, casting powers are not usable in reality. It's a simple rotation of instant casts. If one wants to cast, they have to succumb to using a broken mechanic...which is where I currently find myself. Urg WM...----comment withheld---

I agree with Apollo here.

Max, work on it then???? Excuse me???? First of all, you've never seen me play. Second of all, if you do "very good" with Fire AM, go against my leaguemates. You'll eat that statement faster than you can chew.

I'd remove cast time from Detonation entire, were it my call, because with no power return mechanic, having a channeled ability that's still a dice roll is almost a little 'newpaper to the nose'-y. I see potential in the Fire AM, but right now reality says it's lacking, mostly in the 'getting to the payout' area of the AM.

Fire AM could be easily fixed by simply making Mass Detonation hit for consistent damage. I really can't understand why that hasn't happened yet. I love fire AM from a gameplay standpoint. Flying around spamming flaming cascade and juggling mobs is a blast. However you don't get nearly enough consistent burst out of mass detonation considering how long and slow it is to cast. Who really cares that you're mobile. Any mob can lunge you and interrupt you so mobility doesn't make up for lackluster damage.

Another potential fix for this AM would be to make Fireburst the hard hitting close range power just like many other powers now have. With the uber long cast times that fire suffers with the damage really should be better.

Oh well.

This post captures the heart and soul of Fire's AM. Very fun to play, but the flaws are glaring-- and incredibly frustrating because they could so easily be fixed. I can only assume that none of the development team actually plays as a fire DPS.

Fire doesn't need a rework because it does not have a lack of players; Fire is the #1 power in DCUO. Look it up.

EDIT: nevermind.