Stats Revamp 1.3: Gadgets

Has anyone tested the elite affinity bonus yet that increases power dump strength for controllers if I remember right? I can't test it until they give us ancient coins and the content is possible to run OLYE since I don't have a group I regularly run with.

The CR 116 gear box gives Elite pieces in the the Ancient Amazon Noble style.

Have you tried it?

EDIT:
I tried it with the CR 116 gear box, but I don't think it is working.

FeelsBadMan

I think they haven't adjusted the elite stuff yet.

I also tried testing the Soul Link mod. I was wondering what would happen if you try transferring damage to an immortal Suppressor Turret.

Nothing showed up in my combat log though.

I'd still have to get on test on how much the power cost changed on high-cost powers on a heavy weap build. Specially on EMP since I could only make that hit twice, starting with a full power bar to 1 weapon combo for power refund.

Bug Report
Some Self-Destruct Signal bugs:

Suppressor Turret
Contrary to what it says in the power description, Self-Destruct Signal cannot destroy Suppressor Turret now:


Free Damage
You can abuse this to get "free" damage on NPCs by constantly destroying the Suppressor Turret. Here is an example (jump to 16 seconds):


Thermite/Implosion Mines
Can Self-Destruct Signal be updated so it only blows up the player's own mines? Here is an example:

Having it destroy mines from other players has never been very useful. The only case where it is handy is in PvP and you know there is another Gadgets player deploying mines. Needless to say, that scenario doesn't happen very often.

If you are trying to setup an intricate mine trap in conjunction with other Gadgets players, this functionality can be very annoying.

Having said all of this, I do not want to see Self-Destruct Signal removed. It is the only way you can make use of Mines sometimes.

Feedback
One of the problems you run into with encasements is that some of your powers won't do damage because of the encasement. Here is an example with Stasis Field and Photon Blast:

Photon Blast does no damage to the Cockatrice while it is encased.

This is really annoying if you are trying to run a Damage-role Supercharge build in solo/duo content since Gadgets does have any encasement busting powers.

It works "ok" in Controller role in large group content since Stasis Field is also a defense debuff and enemies break out of any encasements very quickly .

There are a few places in the game where encasements are useful, but they are kind of rare.

Feedback
Another problem with Stasis Field is you can't build Supercharge while the enemy is encased:


Note that my melee attacks do not build Supercharge until the NPC breaks out.

Bug Report
Stasis Field's Supercharge building component is bugged in Damage role:

My first cast of Stasis Field did not build any supercharge. Only the second cast built Supercharge.

If you use Stasis Field as your first power to attack a NPC, you aren't going to receive the benefits of it being a Supercharge Builder.

Compare that to the Controller version:


It built 150 Supercharge in Controller role without me being in combat first.


So that means the Damage-Role version is bugged. Stasis Field in Damage Role can only build 18 Supercharge per cast and you have to be in combat to use it.

I spent some time today trying to get a sense of the damage range on Gadgets powers so I can make more effective use of the powerset. I spent a few minutes testing each power and writing down damage ranges. I was focused on getting non-crit information without a power interaction being setup. This was all done at 10618 Might in Damage role against Typhon Monster Invasion Zone NPCs. The powers are listed in order of damage potential:

Bunker Buster:
20 ticks of 2750 to 2900 damage, 56575 total

Asphyxiation Gas:
5 ticks of 4290 to 4468 damage, 22129 total

Cryo-Field:
15 ticks of 669 to 758 damage, ~10500 total

Implosion Mine:
9572 to 10289

Surprise Attack:
9676 to 10248

Sticky Bomb:
9342 to 9560

EMP Pulse:
7943 to 8495

Vortex Cannon:
7737 to 8356

Holographic Decoy (When Destroyed):
3 ticks of 2540 to 2700 damage, ~7500 total

Photon Blast:
4 ticks of 1740 to 1870 damage at regular health. 7233 total. Doubles in damage below 35% health

Thermite Mine:
5 ticks of 1438 to 1598 damage, 7497 to 7707 total

Fear Gas:
7 ticks of 960 to 1041 damage, 7130 total

Cryo-Foam:
6442 to 6954

Cuff'Em:
6178 to 6674

Gauss Grenade:
5807 to 6292

Taser Pull:
5137 to 5511

Suppressor Turret (When Destroyed):
3 ticks of 1790 to 1855 damage, ~5400 total

Paralyzing Dart:
4892 to 5172

Napalm Grenade:
5 ticks of 967 to 1036, 5160 total

Stasis Field
15 ticks of 95 damage, 1425 total

Notes:
For Suppressor Turret, I only included the damage from it being blown up.

Fear Gas gains an extra tick of 3846 to 3913 damage if the PI is setup. You lose this tick and most of the normal damage ticks if you jump cancel it.

All the other PI consumers should gain a 10% bonus if you have the PI setup. I won't make any guarantees about that though since Gadgets is still very buggy and several of the PI applicators are applying the wrong PIs.

That looks strange to me. Why is Sticky > EMP > Vortex? It should be the other way around. Sticky has max range and should do the least damage, EMP is midrange and delayed so it should do the most.

One more thing:
ELECTRO
MAGNETIC
PULSE
PULSE

Come on guys

I think that if I spent more time collecting samples, you'd find that Vortex Cannon and EMP have the same damage ranges.

There are two ways you can try to explain Sticky Bomb:
1) Not intended.
2) It has delayed damage and the Area of Effect isn't very large.

Feedback
After doing some play-testing in various levels of content, here are some comments on various things:

Powers
Cryo-Field
Give this a little bit of a range boost and I think it would be a good general-purpose power.

Cryo-Foam
Cryo-Foam is not inflicting the Frostbite power interaction. Also, I found the 3 second cooldown to be awkward. For most of the weapon combos I use, three seconds is just a little bit too long if I want to use Cryo-Foam on two different mob groups.

Cryo-Foam makes an excellent Controller-role crowd control power.

Cuff'Em
The power description should note that using this power retains Stealth. Also, it is inflicting the Terror PI and not the Dazed PI.

Defibrillator
See my post here:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dc...stats-revamp-1-3-gadgets.283808/#post-3892144

Defibrillator isn't returning enough power in my opinion to be useful in large-group content.

EMP Pulse
Why does this have a vulnerability window? Vortex Cannon and Sticky Bomb do similar damage without being vulnerable to interrupt.

Fear Gas
Compared to the current Live version, Fear Gas just feels very unwieldly now with its long cast time. You lose a lot of damage if you jump cancel it. Also, it is inflicting the Terror PI and not the Dazed PI.

Holographic Decoy
Add a couple of seconds to the duration time and I think this power be ok. Also, it is inflicting the Terror PI and not the Dazed PI.

Implosion Mine
Implosion Mine does a lot of damage if you can get it setup without being interrupted. The main issue is that you have to get very close to the enemy if you want to detonate it without using Self-Destruct Signal or trying to lead the enemy back into the mine. It is very easy to get interrupted while deploying it.

Neural Neutralizer
This is Gadgets best shielding power now with its damage cap being roughly twice that of Distract. Still, I find it to be a hard power to use in Damage role. Its short range makes it an unreliable PI applicator in group fights and it has a long cooldown.

Paralyzing Dart
I'm guessing this is intended to be used in the "Play from the Tray" style of gameplay. I wasn't able to find much of a use for it in a Damage-role Hybrid build. The damage output was mediocre compared to the other powers I could be using.

It was mildly useful in Controller role as a very cheap damage debuff.

Photon Blast
The game needs to provide some type of UI notice when an enemy is below 35% health. Trying to eyeball the enemy's health bar isn't very accurate at times.

I wasn't fond of the 4.4 second cooldown either.

Stasis Field
This is a horrible Supercharge Generator. Several powers and melee attacks don't work while the enemy is encased. Since Gadgets does not have an encasement breaker, combat becomes awkward if the enemy doesn't break out. Of course, the enemy will likely become immune to control effects after breaking out. Also, The Supercharge Generator component isn't working in Damage role.

Stealth
I spent a lot of time trying to find a good way to use Stealth in Damage role. I eventually came to the conclusion that it wasn't very useful without the crit hit bonus. You still get access to a secondary loadout bar, but most of the powers you'd cast from Stealth are only decent with the crit hit bonus. The patch notes indicate Cuff'Em and Surprise Attack are now supposed to have the crit hit bonus backed into them, but I wasn't seeing that at all.

There is a lot of setup involved in trying to make Surprise Attack/Cuff'Em work. You have to close to point-blank range and you lose time transforming/moving into range. If you aren't using the Improved Stealth mod, there is a good chance you'll get knocked out of Stealth by an AoE attack. The damage payoff just isn't worth it.

Sticky Bomb
The main issue I have with this power is the delayed damage. You lose the damage if the enemy is knocked out before the damage tick happens. This is more an issue now that it is a high-cost power. I found myself not using this power if my non-boss target was getting near 20% health because of the damage/power loss.

Suppressor Turret
What is supposed to be the duration on Suppressor Turret? I've only seen it blow up a couple of times on its own in content. Usually it ends up being a permanent pet.

If the duration is going to be low, it should not have a 500 base power cost. The damage output from Suppressor Turret isn't that good.

Surprise Attack
The in-game description says it uses 300 power. I did not observe any power consumption when using it.


Gadgets Bugs
Gadgets is currently very buggy. See this post for more details:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dc...stats-revamp-1-3-gadgets.283808/#post-3891682


Controlling Inconsistencies
With respect to Controller-role crowd control effects, the game feels very inconsistent and sloppy at times right now. See my post here:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/stats-revamp-1-3.283783/page-12#post-3892372


Regenerative Shielding
The Home Turf Regenerative Shielding mod appears to be capped at returning 200 health when using a shielding power. I don't know if this is the proper place to put this feedback, but I found the mod to be useless when trying to use it in conjunction with Gadgets shielding powers. +200 health doesn't help at all when you have 20,000 health.


Pace of Combat
Gadgets went from being a semi fast-paced, close-range powerset under StatsRevamp 1.2 to a slower-paced, midrange powerset under Stats Revamp 1.3. I think a lot of that has to do with the changes to Holographic Decoy and Stealth. With the 1.2 version of Holographic Decoy, I was able to able to have it up full time and get in very close to raid bosses. With a 50%+ reduction in deployment time, it becomes more of a utility power for those "uh oh" moments. Also, the 1.2 version of Stealth encouraged melee-range combat. The crit hit removal has really soured me on that playstyle though. The damage payoff just isn't worth the amount time/effort that is required to get in a non-crit Surprise Attack hit.

Another aspect leading to the slower-pace of combat are the changes to Fear Gas. For the last few years, Gadgets players have been encouraged to jump cancel Fear Gas to obtain optimal damage output. Under StatsRevamp 1.3, you lose most of your damage ticks and the PI tick if you jump cancel. In solo/duo content, I found myself getting interrupted a lot trying to use Fear Gas. I was only able to use it effectively when a tank was around or if Holographic Decoy was deployed. Given importance of Fear Gas as a bridging power between power interaction sets, this lead to the power feeling very sluggish.

Finally, the "heavy hitting" powers have inconsistent cooldowns. EMP Pulse and Vortex Cannon have that awkward 3 second cooldown. With the weapon types I tried, I was only able to use EMP/Vortex Cannon on every second weapon combo. That is in contrast to Sticky Bomb which I was able to use more aggressively with its 0.5 second cooldown.

All of this leads to a slower pace of gameplay at midrange. I haven't yet found a Damage-role loadout that I really enjoy playing. Most loadouts I've tried so far end up feeling like a chore to play.

Feedback
The Controller-role version of Cryo-Foam is very nice. Here is a brief demonstration:


Eight target root and stun.

Compare that to the DPS version that only roots two enemies with no stun:

That's good. Helps to separate Controller role from DPS in solo/duo content. If all CC effects are that different between Troll and DPS stance then there will be a real benefit to running small content as Troll.

Here are some other examples:

• Cryo-Field - Does not stun in Damage role.
• Sticky Bomb - Knocks down nearby enemies in Controller role
• Stasis Field - Encases two enemies in Controller role versus one in Damage role.
• Paralyzing Dart - The control effect lasts for 6 seconds in Controller role. It lasts for 3 seconds in Damage Role.
• Neural Neutralizer - The control effect lasts for 6 seconds in Controller role. It lasts for 3 seconds in Damage Role.

This is generally what I experienced with mental as well while solo trolling an Oly group. Even though my power out looked as if I was putting in work, it felt like my psychic empowerment dumps weren't doing much of anything. I understand they want other roles to help the trolls with power, but when a DPS has half of your power out and you're supposed to be feeding 7 other people, that's not necessarily a good look. I think power from weapon combos need to be cut in half and power given out by trolls need to be at least doubled.

Thanks to Pen showing us the damage numbers, I started playing around with a couple of loadouts.

There is no synergy going. The best I could come up with was a grenade lob loadout that felt right.
Napalm, Sticky, Gauss, and EMP are a good combo. Trying to throw something else in there just is awkward too. I was thinking about it, and I can say the reason why that is, is cooldowns. All the grenade lobs are 0.5 second cool down. In other words, it was fast paced. Everything else, and I mean everything, has at least 1 second or more. Mostly 3s. This is very awkward gameplay. I'd include P.dart in there, since it's 1.5s, but its single target part makes it very limited on what you would use it for.

Damage wise, I'm seeing some good numbers. Though I don't know what would be amazing for my stats, I can say if you look at some of the PIs you do get the numbers.

Personally, I see the cooldowns as a restriction since we no longer have dot options. Before, you would have a dot setup then use fast attacks while waiting for the dot to finish and/or cooldown to refresh the dot. Now it's... hit power... hit power... hit power... There are some dot options, but the only one that gives a good lasting dot is napalm. Fear Gas is just, I don't know what to say. You have to channel it or it's just a waste of power.

Finally, I don't really care for the mines. Probably wont use them much. They have a cast time that isn't worth the damage and range on them. Maybe if they were fast cast, like a melee grenade lob, it would make melee combat more viable. Otherwise, having to do that while the boss is attacking... Yeah, I would get kicked from the group faster than I can explain why.

Requests: Decrease all the cooldowns. Return some dots (like cryofoam and fear gas). Give Pdart an AOE element again. Increase the range on vortex cannon. Remove the cast bar from the mines.

Regarding "synergy," Gauss Grenade, Napalm Grenade, Fear Gas, and Cryo-Foam are important Gadgets bridging powers under Stats Revamp 1.3. They apply and consume power interactions. Fear Gas/Cryo-Foam make use of the PIs setup by Napalm/Gauss Grenade. Napalm/Gauss Grenade make use of the Pis setup by Fear Gas/Cryo-Foam.

Let's take a look at some possible bridging rotations:

Rotation #1
Napalm Grenade (sets up Burning) -> Sticky Bomb (uses Burning) -> Cryo-Foam (uses Burning, sets up Frostbite) -> Cryo-Field (uses Frostbite) -> Napalm Grenade (uses Frostbite, sets up Burning)

Rotation #2
Napalm Grenade (sets up Burning) -> Sticky Bomb (uses Burning) -> Cryo-Foam (uses Burning, sets up Frostbite) -> Napalm Grenade (uses Frostbite, sets up Burning)

Rotation #3
Napalm Grenade (sets up Burning) -> Sticky Bomb (uses Burning) -> Fear Gas (uses Burning, sets up Dazed) -> Vortex Cannon (uses Dazed) -> Napalm Grenade (uses Dazed, sets up Burning)

Rotation #4
Gauss Grenade (sets up Electricity) -> EMP Pulse (uses Electricity) -> Fear Gas (uses Electricity, sets up Dazed) -> Vortex Cannon (uses Dazed) -> Gauss Grenade (uses Dazed, sets up Elecrtricity)

Rotation #5
Cryo-Foam (sets up Frostbite) -> Cryo-Field (uses Frostbite) -> Gauss Grenade (uses Frostbite, sets up Electricity) -> Implosion Mine (uses Electricity) -> Cryo-Foam (uses Electricity, sets up Frostbite)

Rotation #6
Fear Gas (sets up Dazed) -> Paralyzing Dart (uses Dazed) -> Gauss Grenade (uses Dazed, sets up Electricity) -> Implosion Mine (uses Electricity) -> Fear Gas (uses Electricity, sets up Dazed)

Those are just a few brief examples of rotations. You might opt to use Sticky Bomb twice in a row before going to the next PI applicator/consumer. Photon Blast can make use of a couple of different power interactions.

There are numerous ways those rotations can branch out.

Use these posts for additional reference:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/stats-revamp-1-3-gadgets.283811/
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dc...stats-revamp-1-3-gadgets.283808/#post-3891620

That is the way it is supposed to work in theory. Several of the PI applicators are applying the wrong PIs or no PI at all.

As you mentioned, the differences in cooldowns makes some of the powers awkward to use. I commented on a few of them in my "Pace of Combat" section.