IMO, there are 4 main ways things still aren't balanced (there are more - but these are the big ones). 1. Range and radius of powers and weapons vary greatly This matters as powers, like earth, have jackhammer have a HUGE, good-dmg AOE around the player. This huge radius allows it to hit almost all enemies no matter where they are and how you are positioned. While other powers, like sorcery, have most of their good dmg powers come in projectile cones that can miss and have a smaller area in which to hit enemies. So while the powers may perform similarly mid range standing in front of 3 stationary dummies, in real game play the bigger radius and distance powers have a significant advantage. This is also true for weapons as compared to powers and weapons compared to weapons. For example, IMO the best melee weapon is to use bow into martial arts smoke bombs. While the smoke bomb can be done quickly and in an aoe around the player the aoe is much smaller than almost every powersets aoe abilities. Though smoke bombs aoe radius is better than most other weapons, again because it is AOE around the player whereas most other weapons are narrow, short range cones. A possible answer: INCREASE the RADIUS and RANGE of WEAPON COMBOS or INCREASE DMG of WEAPON COMBOS by about 10-20% depending on the weapon and combo. 2. Weapons' range dmg is much weaker than range powers. Add this to the issue above, and weapon focused builds start to significantly underperform in alerts and raids when you need to be at range. Also, the ranged weapon attacks suffer from the same problem as mentioned above, the radius and range are too small compared to power abilities. A possible answer: INCREASE WEAPON RANGE ATTACKS 3. Many weapons have combos that take longer to complete than weapon mastery combos but do much less damage. For example, think of all the shield combos. Some take forever to get off (assuming an enemy isn't dead and you are not blocked) and if you are lucky enough to get one off, it does much less damage than a shorter weapon mastery combo. Some will say just do the WM - I say, then why even bother having the other combos in game. A possible answer: INCREASE WEAPON COMBO DMG TO BE EQUAL TO THAT OF SIMILAR LENGTH WEAPON MASTERY COMBOS 4. As noted in #3, weapon focused builds cant get blocked and when they do you get knocked down - preventing you from doing any damage. You lose a lot of dmg from this down time that those using abilities don't have to worry about (for the most part). Yes, you can get some extra damage from lunging or block breaking them but that damage is not enough to make up for the constant blocks. A possible answer: INCREASE WEAPON DMG or SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE BLOCK BREAK AND INTERRUPT DMG.
With the massive reduction to Legendary level of damage maybe the speed penalty for attacking or being attacked can be removed. Retreat is used very often in the DC Comics.
i haven't had much time to experiment with the weapons expert side of things. very little, maybe two hours. i am forming ideas on how that kind of playstyle might be a little more productive in instances. i have three characters that are more along the lines of weaponers. I think the answers might lie in the currently buffed movement mode abilities combined with some aoe power effects centered on your character or target (for example an ice superspeedster utilizing bitter winds and ice bash before launching into weapon attacks or a nature acrobat utilizing carnage and perfect poise before gong into weapon attacks.).
Completely agree with everything you say about weapons, especially about bringing regular combos more in line with WM combos and increasing bb and interrupt damage. I understand the idea that weapon mastery combos have higher damage than regular combos so that the investment in SP required to unlock WM is worth it but, as mentioned in the original post, this virtually eliminates the need to do most regular combos. As another possible alternative: Perhaps when successfully pulling off a WM combo all regular weapon combo damage is increased for a short time, with longer riskier combos paying off the most. This would provide incentive for both speccing into Weapon Mastery and doing regular combos.
meh, game is rotten now (my current opinion), I don't want to have to work my butt of to cover content 100+ CR below me. worked quite hard to get to where I was with 170ish SP. Really irked that to now be back on par I'd have to play the content I don't find enjoyable PvP or Legends) as getting the styles is a freaking nightmare with how rare the last pieces of a collection are. or grind out tons of crap to sell on broker and hope like heck someone puts up (as some stupid amount of cash). Really too bad, It's an incredible game - just poorly managed with tell on your neighbor moderating. I am not a terrific player, and paying to win doesn't appeal (though I have made several cosmetic purchases). Now I know you P2W nay sayers will point out that the in game items can be obtained without a purchase - though true you'll need a ton of luck or generous friends to give you stuff to make that work. The gear drop mechanism is pretty cool, but it's still a lottery heavily slanted toward junk. Which is where the paying to win comes in - MC's for Badges to replay the content for a slim chance at getting the completing set item. Doesn't matter what you call the loot (Loot Box, Promethium boxes, x-Capsules, etc). Level the field by allowing uncompleted deeds to purchased without previously being completed by another character on an account. Ah well, who am I to say anything. If you enjoy the changes to the game, the constant hate speech in world chat, the spam to buy cash with real money, other player invented scams ... good for you. ............ Guess I've just had enough of being punished for sucking at the game
