224 réponses à ce sujet

[Soja57]

If Impulse had a lower cooldown, it would be as if ME2 Warp had a 4.5 or even 3 second cooldown, making detonations easier and faster to perform even when the player is at a low level/powers with low ranks. Plus I felt that stripping Warp of its innate detonation ability and giving it to a new power deviated a bit far from the ME2 Adept, which was already a unique/great class, with only a few minor issues.

For example, the ME2 Adept was obscenely powerful on lower difficulties, but struggled on higher difficulties due to more defenses, thus relied more heavily on weapons and squadmates which strayed too far from its definition as a power-centric class. The Adept has powers that synergize well together to create biotic combos, the 5th power often felt redundant or lacked a proper niche in the Adept's power arsenal.

Therefore, I wanted a power that would synergize with the Adept's basic combos and make the Adept more viable in comparison to other classes. An Impulse Grenade can strip defenses quite decently for other biotic powers, can cluster up unprotected enemies for Singularity or other radius powers, and can be used to deal massive damage to protected/boss targets to be competitive with other classes against boss enemies.

Also, I am also taking in the ME1 bonus power system into consideration, meaning that all powers should be a viable option as a bonus power. Impulse and Throw (Force 600 N) were primarily changed because of this, as by themselves, they didn't have much utility.

- - - - - - - - - - 

I think dynamic cooldown system with diminishing returns is far superior, as it balances cooldown bonuses easier. With a pure subtractive bonus, cooldown bonuses would be the most overpowered bonus or would have a cap to how much bonuses would obtain (which adds unneeded complexity).

I don't know if armor bonuses should cancel each other out for a 0% net gain, as technically, the bonus doesn't always cancel out that way. For example, Shield Regen Speed and Health/Shields usually need a higher value than power bonuses on higher difficulties due to enemies dealing more damage. But I think a max 25% bonus for cooldowns from armor is a balanced amount.

Also, I think if the player wants to maximize cooldown bonuses as much as possible, I'd say let them. However, diminishing returns would have a dramatic effect, and may severely hinder the player's performance due to not speccing into other things. The thing is, we want to give players choices without overly complex choices or adding seemingly unnecessary limits.

Modifié par Soja57, 06 février 2014 - 03:29 .

[Soja57]

How should Overload interact with organics, synthetics and shields? After reviewing my Engineer class, the only difference between Overload and Incinerate against synthetic health is Overload's ability to stun. Otherwise, both powers deal comparable damage vs synthetics, which reduces the unique niche that the two powers are supposed to fill.

In ME2, according to the ME Wiki, Overload dealt no damage vs organics, normal damage to synthetics, and double damage vs shields.

In ME3, Overload deals half damage to organics, normal damage to synthetics, and 3x damage vs shields and barriers.

However, my Overload deals the same damage to both enemy types, and only a multiplier vs shields. But with a specific evolution, Overload can have its synthetic modifier; same for Incinerate against organics. Should I keep it like this? Or should each power have multipliers vs organic/synthetic at default Rank 1?

- - - - - - - - - - 

Also, I created a new sig because I really enjoy the discussion in this thread.
|
|
V

Modifié par Soja57, 07 février 2014 - 11:36 .

[RedCaesar97]

@Soja57:
Nice new sig!

As for Overload, personally I think it works best as an anti-shield power.
I am working on an Engineer concept at the moment (nearly finished), and I am treating Overload as an anti-shield power.

Now against health, I figure Incinerate and Overload can work like this:
1) Since Overload is an electrical attack, I figure it can shock both organic and synthetic enemies for a short time. You can have it deal little to no damage to organics, but some damage or normal damage to synthetics.

2) Incinerate will deal damage to both organic and synthetic enemies, but it will panic organic enemies. Synthetic enemies will not panic.

[Soja57]

@RedCaesar97
That's a good way to handle both powers. Hope you don't mind if I steal borrow that idea from you.


- - - - - - - - - - -

My test methods have signficantly improved. I can replicate my Adept's powers at base (Rank1) almost perfectly, and it feels like a really great class to play now, comparable to ME2 Adept (or even better).


It feels very awesome returning back to Warp being the sole biotic detonating power. Biotic detonations now feel very rewarding because of its awesome damage but also being difficult to perform like in ME2.

Pull + Throw combo is also a viable physics-based combo (and this is all at Rank 1). Even Throw by itself is fun and great to use, I could see great potential of it as a bonus power.

- - - - - - - - -


Of course, I had to drastically modify enemy health values. I found that even with 750 health, 450 shields (1200 total hit points), basic enemies died too fast with my damage values. Thus I bumped it up to 900 health and 600 shields (1500 total hit points), which was the right balance for the Adept for the hardest difficulty mode.

Though I may have to test more on weapon damage values. One thing that is cool though I can closely test weapon defense multipliers like in ME2 by using Disruptor Ammo. Of course, Disruptor Ammo is the only viable option because it has different values for health and shields, whereas other ammo powers share bonuses against two defenses.

Modifié par Soja57, 08 février 2014 - 03:56 .

[Abraham_uk]

Loving the new signature!

[RedCaesar97]

@Soja57: That is pretty much how Incinerate and Overload were handled in ME2, where Incinerate would panic most organics, and Overload would stun synthetics.

Incidentally, ME2 Overload could also overheat enemy weapons (a feature taken from ME1 Sabotage).

I had hoped to have my Engineer concept ready by now, but I am focusing on some other things at the moment. I will try to get it done and posted by Sunday.

Modifié par RedCaesar97, 08 février 2014 - 09:33 .

[Soja57]

What do you both think of how I handled tech combos? I wanted to make each power fill a unique purpose, and I felt that tech combos would push powers away from their unique role.

Thus, I made tech combos limited. However, powers now have greater synergy with each other, such as Incinerate and Cryo Blast vs Armor, and Overload/Sabotage against synthetics. I'm also continuously balancing the Engineer class along with my Adept class.

Another thing about my Engineer, I would like feedback on the Demolisher Specialization, as I had trouble coming up with the last few evolutions (Machine Mastery, Power Mastery, Caster Mastery).

Engineer class

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Update: I changed my signature so that each icon represents the classes that I have made. The text links to the thread, Combat Drone icon links to my Engineer class, and Singularity links to my Adept class. The other classes are still in the works, so they don't have a link yet.

A pretty neat feature, perhaps you both should test it out?

Modifié par Soja57, 09 février 2014 - 07:57 .

[RedCaesar97]

My first real stab at an Engineer. I am including damage values for comparison purposes. Unlike my Adept, I did not bother to plan out enemy health/protection values.

Using Soja57's evolution concept (5 ranks, ranks 4 and 5 have a choice of two evolutions).

Engineer (no tech explosions):
So basically, the ME2 engineer with some modifications.

I was stretching a bit for evolution ideas for Combat Drone, Mechanic, and Demolisher. Incinerate is always going to be terrible for evolution ideas if Tech Combos are out of the bicture. I will probably do another take with tech combos.

Overload:
Rank 1: Overload
- 200 damage
- 6s recharge speed
- deals extra damage to shields, less damage to armor
- Disables synthetic enemies on health for 2s

Rank 2: Recharge Speed
- -25% recharge speed

Rank 3: Damage
- +25% damage

Rank 4a: Damage
- +50% damage

Rank 4b: Organic Shock
- Overload will now shock unprotected enemies for 2s

Rank 5a: Energy Drain
- Returns 50% of total enemy shield damage as shields for the player

Rank 5b: Radius
- Overload now hits all enemies in a 3m radius


Incinerate:
Rank 1: Incinerate
- 200 damage
- On health, 25% of damage is dealt over 3 seconds, panicking most organics
- 6s recharge speed
- deals extra damage to armor, less damage to shields and barriers

Rank 2: Recharge Speed
- -25% recharge speed

Rank 3: Damage
- +25% damage

Rank 4a: Damage
- +50% damage

Rank 4b: Burning damage
- on armor or health, deals an extra 25 damage/s for 3 seconds
- on health, can continue to panic organic enemies

Rank 5a: Armor damage
- +100% damage to armor

Rank 5b: Radius
- Overload now hits all enemies in a 3m radius
- -50% damage


Cryo Blast:
Rank 1: Cryo Blast
- freezes unprotected enemies for 4s
- 1.5s to fully freeze an enemy
- 4.5s recharge speed

Rank 2: Recharge Speed
- -25% recharge speed

Rank 3: Frozen vulnerability
- frozen enemies take +100% damage and force from all sources

Rank 5a: Flash freeze
- Cryo Blast now freezes an enemy instantly on contact

Rank 4b: Chilling blast
- Can chill protected enemies
- Chilled enemies move -25% slower, have -25% weapon stability
- Chilled enemies take +25% more damage and force when on health

Rank 5a: Duration and damage
- +25% duration
- deals 50 damage on contact with health
- frozen enemies take an additional +50% damage and force from all sources

Rank 5b: Radius
- Cryo Blast now hits all enemies in a 3m radius
- -25% duration


Combat Drone:
Rank 1: Combat Drone
- spawns a glowing ball of awesome in front of the player that harasses and distracts enemies
- only one drone can be active at a time
- 3s recharge speed
- 12s duration
- shock attack deals 25 damage
- attack rate: once every 3 seconds
- speed: 4m/s
- 200 shields

Rank 2: Recharge Speed
- -25% recharge speed

Rank 3: speed and damage:
- +25% travel speed
- +50% damage

Rank 4a: Explosive Drone
- Drone explodes upon "death", dealing 500 damage in a 5m radius
- -50% shields
- -25% attack rate

Rank 4b: Damage and Shields
- +50% damage
- +50% shields

Rank 5a: Shock Pulse
- Drone's shock attack adds a pulse that hits all enemies in a 3m radius around the drone

Rank 5b: Attack Drone
- +50% Damage
- +50% shields
- +25% attack rate


Sentry Turret:
Rank 1: Sentry Turret
- throw a turret that spawns to shoot at the nearest enemy
- only one turret can be active at a time
- 3s recharge speed
- shoots a 6-bullet burst
- Each bullet deals 15 damage
- 2 second delay between bursts
- 10s duration
- 200 shields

Rank 2: Recharge Speed
- -25% recharge speed

Rank 3: Duration and Damage
- +50% duration
- +50% damage

Rank 4a: Cryo Ammo
- each bullet has a 15% chance to freeze an unprotected enemy
- frozen enemies take +50% more damage and force from all sources

Rank 4b: Shock Attack
- Drone adds a shock attack that can stagger protected enemies, or stun unprotected enemies for 2.5s

Rank 5a: Rocket Launcher
- If the nearest enemy is greater than 5m away, the turret will fire a rocket
- Rocket will deal 300 damage in a 3m radius
- Rockets will fire once every 5 seconds

Rank 5b: Flamethrower
- If the nearest enemy is within 3m, the turret will fire a burst of flame
- 50 damage/s for 3 seconds
- 3 second delay between flame bursts
- flame deals extra damage to armor, shields and barriers
- flame can panic organics on health


Tech Mastery:
Rank 1: Recharge Speed
- -25% recharge speed of all powers

Rank 2: Duration
- +25% Duration on all powers

Rank 3: Weight Capacity
- Increased weight capacity

Rank 4a: Power Damage
- +25% damage to all powers

Rank 4b: Drone and Turret damage
- +50% damage to drone and turret powers

Rank 5a: Demolisher
- Unlocks the Demolisher passive

Rank 5b: Mechanic
- Unlocks the Mechanic passive


Demolisher:
Rank 1: Power Damage
- +25% damage to all powers

Rank 2: Health and shields
- +25% health
- +25% shields

Rank 3: Shield Recharge
- -25% shield recharge delay

Rank 4a: Power Damage
- +25% damage to all powers

Rank 4b: Drone and Turret damage
- +50% damage to drone and turret powers

Rank 5a: Health and Shields
- +25% health and shields

Rank 5b: Drone and turret shields
- +50% shields for all drone and turret powers


Mechanic:
Rank 1: Power duration
- +25% duration to all powers

Rank 2: Health and shields
- +25% health
- +25% shields

Rank 3: Shield Recharge
- -25% shield recharge delay

Rank 4a: Power Duration
- +25% duration to all powers

Rank 4b: Drone and Turret duration
- +50% duration to drone and turret powers

Rank 5a: Health and Shields
- +25% health and shields

Rank 5b: Drone and turret shields
- +50% shields for all drone and turret powers

Modifié par RedCaesar97, 10 février 2014 - 12:04 .

[RedCaesar97]

@Soja57:

I tested out the links. They work.

Now on to your Engineer ideas.

DISCLAIMER: The Engineer was favorite class in ME2. As much as I dislike most of the combat changes in ME3 due to hoe it homogenizes gameplay, the Engineer remains one of my favorite classes. I will try to be as neutral as possible when discussing your Engineer concepts, but be aware that my love for the Engineer class may cloud my judgement.

1) Shield regeneration:
8 seconds (4 second delay, 25% restored per second)

I believe you had this on your Adept concept as well. Just reading it now, I wonder if that if 4 seconds to completely restore shields is too little? The 4 second delay is fine, but waiting another 4 seconds to completely restore shields? 1-2 seconds for complete shield restoration seems better to me. Maybe you have passives or other abilities to increase that?

2) Not sure how I feel about the Omni-combo idea for the Combat Drone.

In some ways, it takes away from what the drone does best, which is distract one or more enemies. In ME2, I typically used it distract one enemy so I could focus on everyone else. This evolution seems to reverse that by making you focus on one enemy. Now obviously you can ignore this evolution if you so choose.

And the Omni-combo is limited to only once per drone cast. Hmmm. So if you take that evolution, you need to cast drone > cast power > cast drone > cast power.... Maybe I will feel differently about this evolution when I see the other powers.

3) Combat Drone base cooldown = 4.5 seconds ??? Why the increase from 3s (ME2, which is what I assume you are basing the cooldowns on)?

4) Combat Drone base shields = 900, and rank 3 adds 20%. Even at base the drone has more shields than the player (600 in your introduction). That seems way too much, particularly if you want Explosive Drone. You want Explosive Drone to explode so fewer base shields would help. Also, maybe a decrease in shields for the Explosive Drone as well?

5) Still on Combat Drone, 2s attack rate? Does it just attack or does it stagger? If it also staggers, then how quickly does an enemy recover from a stagger? Remember, you want Explosive Drone to be destroyed.

6) Sabotage: Full disclosure, I think Sabotage/AI Hacking should no longer be in the Mass Effect games, but that is a whole other discussion. Anyway...

Rank 5b Sabotage Link. Seems a little like a tech Dark Channel (or more like a hacking Chain Overload). Not sure how that would work in-universe. Controlled by Omni Tool?

Never mind, I am letting my preconceived notions get the better of me on this one.

7) Not sure how I feel about Overload rank 5s Synthetic stun:

Deals 1.5x damage vs synthetics, regardless of protections (stacks with base shield multiplier for 3x shield damage vs synthetics

Not sure what that means? Does that mean that it deals more damage to synethetic shields somehow? Seems dumb considering shields are shields and should be generated the same way regardless of whether the enemy is synthetic or organic.

8) Incinerate seems fine to me. Tough to come up with evolutions on it if you are trying to avoid tech combos.

9) Cryo Blast base cooldown lowered to 3s? Interesting. Why was it lowered from 4.5s (ME2 base cooldown)? Just thought it needed a shorter cooldown?

Also, Rank 5b. Piercing Freeze:
Can freeze through shields and barriers while also allowing Direct Damage to deal full damage, but freeze duration is 0.5x as effective. Movement Speed Debuff Duration remains the same.

If you freezes through shields and barriers, why is there a movement speed debuff? Does that mean that applies only to armor?

10) Tech Mastery rank 4 Power cooldown vs Power Damage. This is a more thoughtful choice on the Engineer than the Adept I think, but I wonder how useful that extra power damage is? I would need that extra 20% to get each power to 50%, which is what I need to get my 6-second powers down to 4s.

I almost think that Power Cooldown should be at your rank 2, and then at rank 4 have Power Damage versus Power Duration. Power Damage for Overload-Incinerate builds (or other power damage bonus power), and Duration for Cryo Blast-Sabotage builds. Although 25% usually is not much on its own admittedly (1s for every 4s base duration).

11) Demolisher rank 4b (squad bonus). I am not a fan of squad bonuses. I prefer player-only bonuses myself.

Demolisher rank 5b: I do not like this reduction bonus. In universe, how does instantly killing an enemy with a power grant that power a cooldown bonus? I understand "gameplay mechanics versus lore" but I have limits.

12) Not sure I like any of the Mechanic Mastery rank 5 bonuses:
- rank 5a. Again, I am not a fan of squad bonuses.
- rank 5b. Not sure I like increasing weapon damage modifiers through an evolution. Especially if it is just a shield multiplier. And especially since you (may) already have Overload. Seems like a stretch. Personally I prefer a fixed protection multipler bonus for weapons.



Hope that did not come across as too harsh. I am trying to be as neutral and objective as possible given my biases.
Overall, I think you Engineer concept looks very good.

[Abraham_uk]

I have quite a few reviews to make that I have procrastinated on.

In short I really love what has been done with the new engineers and adepts.
Kudos to both Soja and Red Ceasar.

First I'll do reviews.
Are either of you posting concept number 3 within the next few days.
I don't want my Sentinel (which is ready to post) to interfere with someone elses.

The reason I haven't been as active in the past few days is purely down to procrastination.

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 10 février 2014 - 01:07 .

[RedCaesar97]

Abraham_uk wrote...
Are either of you posting concept number 3 within the next few days.
I don't want my Sentinel (which is ready to post) to interfere with someone elses.

Post away. I have to formulate ideas first. I want to take a stab at an Engineer with tech combos, but I need a few days to perculate ideas.

[Soja57]

 Engineer is also my favorite class and one of the most well-designed (though ME1 is questionable).

1. Shields
-8 second restore (4 second delay, 25%) is how it has always been in ME3 Insanity.

2. Combat Drone
-Omni-combo depends on your playstyle. I use the Drone to distract an enemy, allowing me to attack them unharmed. This was how I played Shotgun Engineer in ME2.
-On Insanity, the Drone dies way too fast to make any drone shield bonuses particularly useful. Thus I bumped it up a bit to make shield bonuses more valuable. I'm just beginning my tests on the Engineer, thus is subject to change.
-My logic for 4.5 seconds was that it could distract enemies particularly well and also deal a decent amount of damage. I may change depending on how the tests go.
-If you read the description, Drone does not stagger targets. We all know that the Drone is a very powerful tool, but I wanted to reflect its awesome utility by reflecting it visually. Sometimes it is hard to see the Drone doing much in ME3 because it attacks slow. By giving it an increased attack rate, Drone becomes more consistent in damage and also looks menacing on the battlefield.

3. Sabotage
-I don't use Sabotage much, but I know that people love the power because of the hilarity it ensues against synthetics. For Sabotage Link, don't the Geth upload their programs to other platforms on death or something along the lines? I know Legion tried to do it if he dies on the ME2 Suicide Mission.

4. Overload
-Synthetic Overload: 1.5x damage vs synthetics. At base, Overload deals the same damage to shields regardless of synthetic and organics. Think of this evolution as piercing through the shield to also damage the actual synthetic. But the damage would apply only to shields, because I think if the damage applies to both shields and health, that may be confusing gameplay wise.

5. Cryo Blast
-Since there is only a 0.5x duration for piercing, the movement speed reduction would still be useful even after the enemy is thawed. Of course, you are forgetting that if under the shield is armor, the enemy would not freeze but would only have their movement speed slowed. Piercing evolutions only work if under the shield/barrier is health. This is so that YMIR mechs and Atlases can't be crowd controlled easily.

6. Tech Mastery
-Hmm, that is also a viable alternative for Power Cooldown. Though I think it works fine as is.

7. Demolisher Specialization
-If you read a post earlier, I did mention that I had trouble creating this specialization. I needed feedback on it, thus decided to post it along with the whole Engineer. I might change it when I get better ideas.

8. Mechanic Specialization
-Do note that the Squad Mastery applies to the player as well, so the player would gain shield and health bonuses. Unless you really hate giving your squad a buff.
-I'll admit that the Shield Modifier was another evolution that I had trouble with, and kind of redundant with Disruptor Ammo. Though it could work well; Overload does deal massive damage to shields, but against higher tier enemies, you would need more than an Overload to strip shields. For instance, in between cooldowns or against boss enemies the multiplier would be useful, as that is when weapons come in handy to help strip shields.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Again, thank you for the feedback, even though I felt that some of the feedback was a bit biased towards the current ME2/3 Engineer class. Also, while this is specifically your review, you do tend to limit the builds to what you would build, which may blind you to alternative builds that people may spec into.

I think the best example of this was the Omni-combo, which you disregarded as limited and against the Drone's role in combat.

Nevertheless, I think this shows that the Engineer is already a well-designed class to begin with, and perhaps our changes are "fixing' something that isn't broken.

Modifié par Soja57, 10 février 2014 - 02:05 .

[RedCaesar97]

Soja57 wrote...

8. Mechanic Specialization
-Do note that the Squad Mastery applies to the player as well, so the player would gain shield and health bonuses. Unless you really hate giving your squad a buff.

It is not that I hate giving the squad a buff. It is just my line of thinking that player passives should only benefit the player, and squadmate passives only benefit the squadmate.

That is just my thought, but I could be narrow-minded in my thinking.

Again, thank you for the feedback, even though I felt that some of the feedback was a bit biased towards the current ME2/3 Engineer class. Also, while this is specifically your review, you do tend to limit the builds to what you would build, which may blind you to alternative builds that people may spec into.

I think the best example of this was the Omni-combo, which you disregarded as limited and against the Drone's role in combat.

No denying that. Hence my disclaimer at the beginning of my comments. My love for the ME2 Engineer -- and the unfulfilled potential of the ME3 Engineer -- has no doubt closed my mind to several possibilities of your build suggestions.

[Soja57]

 @Abraham_uk, I think we are ready and waiting for your Sentinel. Feel free to post, as in order to finish my other classes, I need to do some extensive in-game testing for my Engineer and other classes.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

@RedCaesar97
Now, onto your Engineer.
1. Overload looks solid, and interesting how Energy Drain is an evolution.
-Interesting how Radius has been moved to Rank 5, but I think that is a good way to balance the evolution. I would personally pick Energy Drain, though I think the rank is overall well designed.

2. Incinerate
-Rank4b: Burning Damage
What exactly do you mean by "continues to panic organic enemies"? Does this evolution increase Incinerate's panic duration? Also, I think the damage is a bit weak in comparison to Rank4a.
-Rank5a: Seems like a good evolution, but it would be hepful to now what the base multiplier vs armor is.
-I assume on Rank 5b, you mean Incinerate. I don't really get the purpose in reducing damage for a 3m radius; I think it would be better off without the penalty. As a Rank 5 evolution, 50% reduction in damage feels a bit much.

3. Cryo Blast
-Rank 4b: Flash Freeze. I'm assuming that enemies can still attack with the 1.5 second delay, which may be dangerous such as a charging Krogan. In that cases, this is a good evolution, as at first I thought the evolution was somewhat useless until further analysis.
-Rank 4b: Chilling Blast: Unsure about the full utility of weapon stability penalty.
-I think Rank 4 evolutions may need a bit more utility, as I think Rank 3 is way more powerful of an evolution in comparison. Nevertheless, the two are balanced well against each other.
-Rank 5 evolutions are good, again, I don't think the penalty is necessary, but nonetheless the penalty isn't too heavy so these evolutions are handled pretty well.

4. Combat Drone
-Assuming that the player has 600 shields, 600 health, the Drone's shields may be a bit low, which may discourage players from speccing into Rank 4 Damage and Shields
-Explosive Drone, why does Drone lose Attack Rate? I could see the reduction in Shields (to make exploding easier), but I think losing attack rate seems like an unnecessary penalty in order to push the drone into the "Suicide Drone" role.
-Rank5 is pretty well designed

5. Sentry Turret
-Rank 4b: I'm assuming that Shock attack does not damage enemies, but what is its radius?
-Rank 5a: Rocket Launcher. Every 5 seconds? That's only 2 rockets per cast (2 because even with duration, the turret has to lock onto on enemy target). The damage is very powerful, but judging from drone's rockets, rockets do occasionally hit walls or can be dodged by enemies, limiting its utility.
-Flamethrower looks good, though it already is good in ME3

6. Passive + Specializations
Passive looks solid. The Specializations feel too similar to each other, which somewhat trivializes the idea of specializations. That said, Demolisher seems like a more powerful specialization, because I don't know if the Turret or Drone can last long enough for the entire duration with their current shields. Nevertheless, I like how you retained the emphasis on drone powers vs other powers (caster powers).

- - - - - - - - - - - -

A good class overall, though the Engineer was already good to begin with. I don't mind Sabotage being switched out with Sentry Turret, both powers are great. The only complaint I have is that the specializations are too similar to each other.

Modifié par Soja57, 10 février 2014 - 03:00 .

[Abraham_uk]

Sentinel
 
Role: Whereas Engineers and Adepts were more geared towards damage per second, crowd control and some element of debuffing, the sentinel is more of a defensive support class.

The powers of this class were modified by the salarians during the Reaper Invasion to survive onslaughts of Reaper and Collector infantry. The new improved sentinels would draw lots of enemy attention whilst boosting ally damage output.

This is exciting for me since unlike my adept and engineer concepts this Sentinel is a departure from ME 2 and 3.
However it is still very familar at the same time.



________________________________________________________________________________

Stats
 
Base Health: 800
Base Shields: 800

Light Melee: Punch
Heavy Melee: Cryo Omniblade Slash.
Deals a base damage of 100 damage, and makes target take 20% more damage from all sources.

Running Melee: Running Cryo Omniblade Thrust
Deals a base damage of 150 damage and makes the target take 10% more damage from all sources

________________________________________________________________________________


Tech Armour (I'm being conservative with the amount of damage protection given, since this class will have a lot of health and shields to compensate for a lack of DPS)

A layer of protection that bolsters shields, reducing damage taken from all sources.
When purged this armour gives out a bright orange blast that knocks enemies down.


Rank 1a: Unlock Auto Purging Armour

This version of tech armour will automatically purge when your shields are depleted sending out a circular blast dealing damage to all foes within it's radius. Will stagger protected foes and knock down unprotected foes.


Damage Protection: 20%
Blast Damage: 80
Blast Radius: 5 metres
Cooldown triggered when purged: 6 seconds



Rank 1b: Unlock Manual Purging Armour 
A sustained piece of protection that will only purge if the Sentinel manually purges it. 
Even when shields are down, the armour will remain active.

Damage Protection: 20%
Blast Damage: 60
Blast Radius: 3 metres
Cooldown triggered when purged: 6 seconds


Rank 2a:  Blast Damage
Increase damage output of the blast by 50%

Rank 2b: Enhanced Melee:
When tech armour is active, the sentinel will use two omniblades for it's cryo omniblade attacks rather than one.
+30% extra melee damage when Tech Armour is active.


Rank 3a: Enhanced Protection 
Increase damage protection to 40%

Rank 3b: Radius Boost:
Increase blast radius by 50%


Rank 4a: Shield Boost 
50% of shields restored when Tech Armour is automatically purged (when Rank 1a is picked)
25% of shields restored when Tech Armour is manually purged (when Rank 1b is picked)

Rank 4b: Blade Armour 
When foes hit you with melee attacks they take 100 points of damage.


________________________________________________________________________________


Supply Pylon 

The Sentinel carries one supply pylon on its back. This pylon can restore shields, deploy some ammo, reset cooldowns etc. The ammo supplies will be dropped near the turret. But be warned, enemies can also pick up ammo and benefit from the shield boost.

This is a permanently sustained ability. The pylon cannot be destroyed either.
When deployed it has a cooldown of 12 seconds
When redeployed elsewhere, it will also have a cooldown of 12 seconds


Rank 1a: Unlock Shield Pylon
Anyone within 2 m of the pylon, friend or foe will have their rate of shield regeneration increased by 30% .

Rank 1b: Unlock Ammo Pylon
Every 10 seconds the pylon deploys some standard weapon  ammo (for pistols, smg's shotguns, assault rifles and sniper rifles)


Rank 2a: Shield Booster 
Every 10 seconds the pylon restores 30% of the shields of anyone within 2m of the pylon friend or foe.

Rank 2b: Grenade Pylon 
Every 20 seconds the pylon drops 1 grenade.


Rank 3a: Medical Pylon 
Every 10 seconds the pylon restores 10% of the health of anyone within 2m of the pylon friend or foe.

Rank 3b: Heavy Pylon
Every 20 seconds the pylon drops some heavy weapon ammo.

 
[/b]Rank 4a: Friendly Pylon
Enemies cannot pick up ammo from the pylon, nor can they benefit from health and shield recovery effects from the pylon.
Any foe foolish enough to be within 2 metres of the pylon will take 5 points of damage per second (x2 for shields and barriers).


Rank 4b: Reset Pylon
Every 12 seconds, the pylon will do the following to anyone within 2 metres of the pylon.
Reload weapons
Reset cooldowns
Grant a 5 second movement speed and rate of fire bonus of 20%.


________________________________________________________________________________


Biotic Sphere:

Setup a offensive/defensive sphere that surrounds allies and the caster.


Rank 1a: Unlock Defensive Sphere 
20% damage protection to allies within the sphere.
Radius: 2.5 metres.
Duration: 20 seconds
Cooldown: 10 seconds


Rank 1b: Unlock Offensive Sphere 
Foes within the sphere take 20% more damage to all sources
Radius: 2.5 metres
Duration: 20 seconds
Cooldown: 10 seconds

Rank 2a: Melee Sphere: 
Allies within the sphere gain a 20% damage bonus to melee attacks

Rank 2b: Slow Sphere: 
Foes within the sphere suffer a 20% penality to movement speed.

Rank 3a: Explosive Sphere: 
Only applies to allies within sphere
Area of effect of grenades and heavy weapons used within sphere increased by 20%
Damage output of grenades and heavy weapons used within sphere increased by 20%

Rank 3b: Damaging Sphere 
Foes within the sphere will take 10 points of damage per second from the sphere itself.


Rank 4a: Elemental Sphere: 
Tech bursts, steam combos and electric fire combos deal 20% extra damage if performed within sphere.

Rank 4b: Warp Sphere: 
All foes within the sphere will be primed for a biotic explosion.
Cast warp on foes within the sphere and there will be a biotic explosion.


________________________________________________________________________________


Shockwave

Topple a row of enemies with a chain of explosive pulses.


Rank 1a: Unlock Aggressive Shockwave
A short range version of shockwave that deals more damage

Cooldown: 4 seconds
Damage: 100
Force: 600 N
Radius of exploding pulses: 1.5 metres
Range: 8 metres


Rank 1b: Unlock Lancer Shockwave
A longer range version of shockwave that deals less damage

Cooldown: 4 seconds
Damage: 80
Force: 450 N
Radius of exploding pulses: 2 metres
Range: 16 metres


Rank 2a: Ravaging Shockwave
+30% damage output

Rank 2b: Range and Radius
Increases the radius of exploding pulses by 20%
Increases the range of the shockwave by 20%


Rank 3a: Lifting Shockwave
Unprotected foes are lifted in the air, making them take 10% more damage from all sources when airborne and priming them for both physics combos and biotic explosions.


Rank 3b: Melee Synergy
All targets that have been hit with a shockwave will have a feint green glow that will last 5 seconds.
During those 5 seconds, they will take 10% extra damage from melee attacks.

Rank 4a: Electric Shockwave:
Deals 20% extra damage versus shields, barriers and synthetics.

Rank 4b: Inferno Shockwave:
Deals 20% extra damage versus armour and health


________________________________________________________________________________


Stasis:

Stop an enemy in its tracks with this powerful mass effect field.
Armoured targets will not be held in the field but will be coated in icy cryo effects, leading them to take more damage from all sources.

Rank 1a: Unlock Stasis Hold 
For 20 seconds a foe will be trapped in a stasis field.
They will be unable to move, deal damage and unable to take damage from all sources.
When they emerge, they will have their shields/barriers completely removed.

Rank 1b:  Unlock Stasis Sphere 
For 10 seconds a foe will be trapped in a stasis field.
They will be unable to move and unable to deal damage.
However they will take 10% extra damage from headshots.


Rank 2a: Warp Combo:
Primes a target for biotic explosions (even if armoured and unable to be held in a stasis field)
To detonate a biotic explosion, a warp projectile must hit the primed target.

Rank 2b: Armour Weakening 
Armour will take an additional 10% damage from all sources.


Rank 3a:[/u] Elemental Synergy: 
Target within the Stasis field take 20% extra damage from incinerate and overload.

Rank 3b: Headshot Synergy: 
Target within the Stasis field take 10% extra damage from headshots.

Rank 4a: Unstable Stasis:
When Stasis expires, it will explode dealing 100 points of damage to the target.

Rank 4b: Damage over time 
Stasis deals 10 points of damage per second to any foe trapped within the field. (This evolution doesn't work on armoured targets).


________________________________________________________________________________


Defensive Mastery:

Endurance and leadership set the sentinel apart from all other classes.

Passive

Rank 1a: Squad Melee Boost:
+10% to squadmate melee damage
+20% to Sentinel melee damage

Rank 1b: Defensive Squad:
Every time the sentinel kills a foe with powers10% of the entire squad's shields are restored.


Rank 2a: Squad Marksmanship: 
+10% to squadmate headshot damage
+20% to sentinel headshot damage

Rank 2b: Caster Squad:
Reduce all cooldowns by 30% for entire squad.
This is more useful to squadmates as an average cooldown for a squadmate is 6-8 seconds.


Rank 3a: Squad Shields:
+50% shields to the Sentinel
+50% health to the sentinel
+20% shields to squadmates


Rank 3b: Duration Squad:
Increase power durations for entire squad by 30%.
Squadmates will benefit more from this evolution than the sentinel, since some squadmates they have enhancement powers that only last 6 seconds.


Rank 4a: Commando Squad: 
+10% weapon damage to squadmates
+20% weapon damage to Sentinel
Sentinel can carry +1 extra weapon

[b]Rank 4b: Damage Squad:
Damage output of Sentinel's powers increased by 20%[u]
Damage output of squadmate powers increased by 10%

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 10 février 2014 - 10:10 .

[Abraham_uk]

Sentinel is posted.
I'm considering nerfing some of the damage outputs to fit the low DPS high survivibility role of the Sentinel.
In short the adept and engineer must be able to deliver considerabily more damage than the sentinel.

My current to do list:

Edit my Engineer (still not edited)

Review Soja 57's Engineer
Review Red Ceasar 97's Adept
Review Red Ceasar 97's Engineer

__________________________________________________________________________

Next to come:

In a few days time, my Soldier concept will be posted
Powers include

Adrenaline Rush
Survival Ops - restores some ammo, health and shields to soldier
Squad Boost - boosts the squad's effectiveness in combat
Concussive Shot
Incendiary Ammo

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 10 février 2014 - 10:08 .

[RedCaesar97]

Soja57 wrote...
...
@RedCaesar97
Now, onto your Engineer.
...


2. Incinerate
-I assume on Rank 5b, you mean Incinerate. I don't really get the purpose in reducing damage for a 3m radius; I think it would be better off without the penalty. As a Rank 5 evolution, 50% reduction in damage feels a bit much.

It was a copy+paste of overload. I originally had a -50% damage penalty on Overload before I removed it. I guess I forgot to remove the penalty from Incinerate as well.

3. Cryo Blast
-Rank 4b: Chilling Blast: Unsure about the full utility of weapon stability penalty.

Just as a way to reduce enemy weapon accuracy. I just think that weapon accuracy is a pure weapon-based stat, while stability is a combination of weapon and user.

4. Combat Drone
-Assuming that the player has 600 shields, 600 health, the Drone's shields may be a bit low, which may discourage players from speccing into Rank 4 Damage and Shields
-Explosive Drone, why does Drone lose Attack Rate? I could see the reduction in Shields (to make exploding easier), but I think losing attack rate seems like an unnecessary penalty in order to push the drone into the "Suicide Drone" role.

I just wanted to throw a number out there. No idea what the number should be.

As for losing attack rate, in ME2, basic enemies could hardly kill the drone since even with a 3-second attack rate, their stagger animation was too long to get any real good shots in. Now in ME2, the stagger is shorter, so 3 seconds may be fine as an attack rate (Defense Drone with 2-second attack rate can stagger a basic enemy to the point that he cannot fire).


So with ME3 stats, maybe a decrease in attack rate is not needed. I just feel that Explosive Drone is meant to explode, so I wanted to give it a chance to explode.

5. Sentry Turret
-Rank 4b: I'm assuming that Shock attack does not damage enemies, but what is its radius?
-Rank 5a: Rocket Launcher. Every 5 seconds? That's only 2 rockets per cast (2 because even with duration, the turret has to lock onto on enemy target). The damage is very powerful, but judging from drone's rockets, rockets do occasionally hit walls or can be dodged by enemies, limiting its utility.

did I not put a shock radius? Say 3 meters?

As for rocket fire rate, yeah I guess I did not take into account the minimal duration bonuses.

6. Passive + Specializations
Passive looks solid. The Specializations feel too similar to each other, which somewhat trivializes the idea of specializations. That said, Demolisher seems like a more powerful specialization, because I don't know if the Turret or Drone can last long enough for the entire duration with their current shields. Nevertheless, I like how you retained the emphasis on drone powers vs other powers (caster powers).
...

The only complaint I have is that the specializations are too similar to each other.

I was going to originally have specializations similar yours, where Demolisher focused on powers and Mechanic focused on health and shield bonuses. However, on your feedback on my Adept where I did something similar you mentioned that the health and shield specialization was something that could be applied to all classes, so I tried to change it up and have one focus on power damage, and the other focus on power duration.

Not sure I should have done that in hindsight. Oh well. Thank you very much for the feedback.

- - - 

@Abraham_uk: I will try to review your Sentinel by tomorrow at the latest.

Modifié par RedCaesar97, 11 février 2014 - 01:10 .

[Soja57]

After extensive Engineer testing, here are my results:

-My damage values are way too high, thus I am going to reduce the global damage output of both of my classes.

-Because of our differing opinions on the Combat Drone, I have done extensive testing on this particular power.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Drone, 0.5 second zap interval (or 2 attacks per second)
This is probably the biggest change to the Drone. Significantly increased attack speed makes the Drone a bigger presence on the battlefield, metaphorically-speaking. The Drone delivers rapid shocks many times a second, allowing the player to both easily see and hear that the Drone is distracting an enemy.

I've removed the stagger effect of the Drone attacks to compensate for the faster attack speed. While this means that the Drone partially loses its ability to knock enemies out of cover, it gives a more fair chance for both the enemy and the drone to attack each other. This also makes drone shield and bonuses to the drone's shields play a bigger factor in combat, increasing the utility of said evolutions.

900 Drone Shields
For my tests, I've made enemies more aggressive. Their overall damage output remains the same, but enemies fire in longer bursts and have faster rate of fire. This change was to make the AI smarter (enemies should be firing in rapid bursts just like the player), and also severely punish players out of cover (Vanguard also becomes a more difficult class to play like in ME2, though the overall difficulty for all classes is significantly raised).

With this change to enemies, along with removed stagger animation, I decided that the Drone needed 1.5x more shields than the player's shield (player has 600, so Drone has 900 shields). Not only does this make drone shield bonuses more useful, but it also makes the drone last long enough to make Attack Drone spec a viable option (along with more consistent damage output from increased attack speed).

One might argue that 900 drone shields makes Explosive Drone useless, but that isn't the case. Well, on Insanity anyway. Because enemies can retaliate when attacked by the drone, the drone does go down fairly quickly, lasting approximately a second when facing a Centurion's full Mattock burst. In-game testing shows that Explosive Drone dies almost as consistently as it does in ME3. Of course, I can't speak for lower difficulty levels.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Overall, I feel that my drone is balanced pretty well, with only a few value tweaks. Cooldown has been reduced from 4.5 seconds to 3 seconds, which increases the effectiveness of omni-combos, and also because I felt the 4.5 second nerfed Shotgun Engineer. Also, damage output of Explosive Drone vs Attack Drone may need some more testing.

Also, Abrahamn_uk, I will try to review your class as soon as I can.

Modifié par Soja57, 11 février 2014 - 02:18 .

[RedCaesar97]

@Abraham_uk:

Just one major comment I want to get out of the way first:

Like Soja57 commented on one of your previous efforts, I think having an evolution choice at rank 1 is a bad idea. The problem I have with this (and I believe Soja did too), is that you need an identifiable base from which to work from, and then build the power from that base. With your idea, the player has to choose the base first, which may confuse the player.

Starting on a solid, static base allows the player to get a feel for how the power works. Evolutions then improve or add subtle changes to the power.

And depending on how you structure your power evolutions, you could essentially separate them into two separate powers.

With that out of the way, onto my thoughts about your idea:

1) Tech Armor:

Seems to be a mishmash of ME3 Blade Armor, ME2 Tech Armor, and ME3 Tech Armor. Now you obviously geared the power evolutions so one is offensive-oriented and one is defensive-oriented, which allows for some different playstyles. I think you have some very good, balanced evolutions, although I think this is really two separate armor powers converted into one power.

I do like the auto-detonate evolution so I go around like a walking hand grenade again. The only Sentinel playstyle I enjoyed in ME2. (I do not really like the ME2 Sentinel).

2) Supply Pylon:

A slight reimagining of the ME3 Supply Pylon. (Full disclosure: I hate the N7 Demolisher). It looks like you split its shield and ammo/grenade functions so like Tech Armor it can be either offensive or defensive in nature.

The fact that it can restore enemy shields if they are within range is interesting but since it would take four ranks to remove that feature, it seems like most players would skip this until they get to rank 4 when the bonuses get really good.

Also, you have an evolution that grants a grenade, but the Sentinel does not have a grenade by default. Kind of a bad evolution until you pick up a grenade power as a bonus power.

3) Biotic Sphere:

Same thing as the previous powers: can be offensive or defensive. Not much else to say. Seems pretty balanced, although it seems better as a defensive power since it cannot move with the player, so its offensive capabilities seem limited unless/until enemies walk into the sphere.

4) Shockwave:

The only pure offensive ability in the Sentinel's power set. I am confused as to rank 4 evolutions though. this is a tech power now? Or is it a combination of biotic and tech? Or a I just reading too much into the evolution names?

5) Stasis

Rank 1 evolutions: Both default durations seem a little too long (20 seconds? really?). I think the 10% bonus to headshots is too small. You need at least 25% in my opinion. Same with rank 3b. Why not just give a general damage bonus instead?

Rank 3a "Elemental synergy" seems much too limited considering your Sentinel does not have either Overload nor Incinerate. I would never take this combo unless I want to marry myself to squadmates with these powers.

6) Defensive Mastery

I have mentioned to Soja that I dislike squadmate bonuses in the player's passives. I will not get into that here.

I do question rank 1b: "Every time the sentinel kills a foe with powers 10% of the entire squad's shields are restored." How would that even work in-universe? What, your Omni-tools just magically restores squadmate shields when a power kills an enemy? Why can't it do that all the time?

[Abraham_uk]

Responses to Red Ceasar 97:

A little note about grenades.
In my concepts grenades are no longer powers, but weapons that you can equip.

They can take any of the four ammo powers (incendiary, cryo, disruptor and warp) and just like guns they can be modded. The damage output of grenades is determined by weapon damage, not power damage.

Any class can can carry grenades.

Grenades come in the following varieties:

Frag
Cluster
Sticky
Concussive

Each type comes with it's own pros and cons that I'll go into later.



________________________________________________________________________________



Primary Evolutions?


Okay. I will be working on a primary evolution for all of the powers to introduce players to the concept of each power before choosing between two different versions of each power.

Change to this format...

Rank 1: Unlock Power

Rank 2a:
Rank 2b:

Rank 3a:
Rank 3b:

Rank 4a:
Rank 4b:

Rank 5a:
Rank 5b:



________________________________________________________________________________


Squad Evolutions in Class Passives:

For the sentinel I had a support role in mind, hence why I put them into the Sentinel class.
Not sure why you don't like them.
Anyway, I can facilitate.


________________________________________________________________________________


Shockwave Final Evolution:

Yeah. At the final evolution the power becomes part tech, part biotic.
An explanation would be, the omnitool launches an electric (or incendiary) projectile which is propelled by the biotic shockwave adding electric (or incendiary) effects to the shockwave.


________________________________________________________________________________

End thoughts...

I have a lot to work on, for my Adept, Engineer and Sentinel concepts.
I'll let you know when I've edited them.
I am glad that you're happy with the overall concepts for these three classes though.
I know what to do to improve them.

Thanks for the feedback! Always appreciated.

Seriously, its the feedback of Soja 57 and Red Ceasar 97 that make this thread so facinating.
Usually it's a case of "ooh this concept is interesting". You two think of concepts from the point of view of "how would this actually work?" rather than "this looks cool".

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 11 février 2014 - 05:46 .

[Soja57]

Just a few quick questions that I would like answered, which would really help with my class creations.

I know that the both of you put Energy Drain as an evolution for Overload. But what do you guys think about giving Energy Drain to the Sentinel? I'm thinking that it may replace Shield Boost, to make the Sentinel more offensive and defensive at the same time. Also, the awesome synergy between Energy Drain and Tech Armor.

I'm thinking of giving Liara back her Stasis as a bonus power, and replacing it with a heavily-modified Slam. Basically, I am reworking the powers for my Sentinel class. I'm still deciding on whether or not I should change Snap Freeze.

- - - - - - - - - -

One last thing, how do you guys feel about the current ME3 Marksman ability?

[Abraham_uk]

I like your idea.
Energy drain is a great idea for a sentinel.
Go for it.
I am looking forward to the sentinel contributions because I know in the end we will have 3 very different sentinels as opposed to 3 similar adepts and 3 similar engineers.


Regarding marksman, I think it's okay as long as it has a "bonus power" evolution. The entire duration of marksman without using cooldown based powers just isn't appetizing for me unless I have a guns only type build.


Snap Freeze on a Sentinel. Go for it. That way you can have a sentinel that is similar to ME 3 Sentinel but different to the ME 3 engineer. My problem with the Sentinel class and all hybrids for that matter is that they share too much in common with their specialist counter parts.


There are so many things you can do with the sentinel. You can stay true to ME 1 style, stay true to ME 2/3 style, take inspiration from multiplayer or do something brand new.

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 11 février 2014 - 11:15 .

[RedCaesar97]

Soja57 wrote...
I know that the both of you put Energy Drain as an evolution for Overload. But what do you guys think about giving Energy Drain to the Sentinel? I'm thinking that it may replace Shield Boost, to make the Sentinel more offensive and defensive at the same time. Also, the awesome synergy between Energy Drain and Tech Armor.

Here are the problems I have with Energy Drain:
1) It fulfills the same primary function as Overload (remove shields) but with one added benefit. To make Overload compete with Energy Drain, Overload needs more utility, or you need to restrict Energy Drain in some way.

2) Without tech explosions, Energy Drain has the same issues as Overload: how many different evolutions can you actually have? Do the evolutions make "sense" ("sense" meaning are they at least somewhat plausible within the game lore/game mechanics).

With Energy Drain you basically have at least two of the same evolutions as Overload: Damage and Radius (although you had Chain Overload in keeping with the ME3 evolutions, because modding). And then what? ME3 had an evolution which added damage reduction which I felt never made sense within the game universe but whatever.


That being said, no one said we had to agree on squadmate redesigns/game mechanics/evolutions, just redesign them. So if you want to go ahead and give Energy Drain to the Sentinel, I say go nuts!

One last thing, how do you guys feel about the current ME3 Marksman ability?

It is okay, but I feel that it should have had an animation similar to the ammo power animation. Make it feel like you are modding the gun to give you a temporary boost.


I do have a concept for a new Overkill ability that incorporates Marksman abilities. I was planning on giving it to the Soldier:

Overkill:
Mods your weapon to increase its effectiveness. To prevent the excess heat from melting the weapon, this mod diffuses the heat into the weapon's spare thermal clip capacity.

Rank 1: Overkill
 - Animation: weapon-fiddling animation, same as ammo power activation animations
 - +50% weapon damage
 - -25% ammo capacity (spare thermal clips)
 - Can be deactivated; already-used

Rank 2: Accuracy
 - +25% weapon accuracy

Rank 3: Stability
 - +25% weapon stability

Rank 4a: Accuracy and Stability
 - +15% accuracy
 - +15% stability

Rank 4b: Rate of fire
 - +50% rate of fire

Rank 5a: Ammo Power effectiveness
 - +25% more ammo power damage
 - +50% longer ammo power duration
 - +5% chance for ammo power proc chance (chance to freeze, panic, stun, and so on)

Rank 5b: Sniper damage
 - +25% more damage with sniper rifles
 - +50% more ammo power damage with sniper rifles

[capn233]

This thread is nearly impossible to digest in one sitting.

I imagine that is why you haven't had any other members crash this party, until now that is.

Pretty interesting stuff though. If I interpret most of the thread correctly, I think there was consensus that ME3 allowed too many powers by the time you are level 50, let alone 60. I think you are on the right track reducing the total number of powers, although occasionally I feel nostalgic for the ME1 system. If there is one thing to take from that though, perhaps it would be allowing nearly any power to be a bonus if some condition is met. As I am sure all of you are well aware, the more powers and evolutions you introduce, the exponentially more difficult it becomes to balance everything.

I do think there is a lot of room to roll powers together, or at least move them to evolutions of a base power. I do like some of the combinations that seem more outside the box. For instance, in the above example of Energy Drain, you could even make this an evolution of Sabotage, opposed to AI Hacking, at least in a 4 Rank system with a final evolution. Base Sabotage would "disrupt enemy targeting systems" as an accuracy debuff, rank 2 would give recharge speed and duration bonus, rank 3 adds vulnerability to other tech attacks, and then rank 4 is the choice between a code that disrupts synthetic IFF, or code that causes kinetic barrier emitters to transfer power to your armor suit, or whatever technobabble.

One other thought is regarding protections. You would need to decide if they are really there to "protect" enemies from CC, or if it is there to be just more HP. In ME3 it is nearly the latter. I mention this because it has to do with granting powers ability to affect / CC targets through protections. If practically every power can pierce protections, then you move into the "more hp" camp. ME2 dealt with this issue by only allowing a handful of powers to affect protected targets, although the alternative would be to incur a pretty hefty cooldown penalty for taking such an evolution.

I am also in the camp that is against the proliferation of combos, whether they be biotic or tech. Especially tech though. For biotics, I like the idea of Warp being nearly the only detonator, although evos of Singularity that detonate biotics are compelling. For tech, I think any "combo" should be more akin to increased damage due to chaining a couple together, like "Freeze Combo" from Cryo - > Incinerate, or the more simple sabotage tech vulnerability type. This also differentiates combos a bit in that biotics become more AOE oriented (and depending on damage v force CC), while tech combos are designed to do more to single target defenses.

Another random thought has to do with evolutions that are of the debuff / expose / damage taken variety, especially those that are already ragdolling targets. Whether or not this is a good evolution depends on the base mechanics and whether or not targets already take bonus damage for being ragdolled.

One small thing I noticed that has to do with defense multiplier testing. From what I recall testing Disruptor Ammo, you can't actually change the shield damage multiplier. I realize in coalesced it appears that you can, but all the shield number actually does is put a number in the GUI, the actual shield damage is always 4x the health damage. From testing DA w/ the Javelin vs 100% shieldgate I am nearly certain that this is the case (mem tools would be best for real verification). But since it wasn't one-shotting targets that it should have, I am pretty confident.

[Soja57]

@Abraham_uk, Sentinel Class

One thing to keep in mind: I've never been a fan of the Sentinel class. I personally think that is somewhat of a poorly-designed class throughout the trilogy due to lacking a good power set and a well-defined focus.

Tech Armor
Auto-purge makes Tech Armor limited in terms of usage, and may also anger players. If Auto-Tech Armor undergoes a cooldown when shields deplete, it may override the current cooldown or force players into a cooldown that they didn't want to. This makes the evolution clunky, and thus Manual is more consistent and reliable.

Ranks 2 and 3 are great in that they support a wide variety of playstyles and builds. They are also balanced pretty well. Shield Boost is an awesome evolution. Blade Armor on the other hand seems somewhat situational, but thats because melee in general is situational.

I like the incorporation of multiple powers as evolutions, along with a hybrid between ME2 and 3.

Supply Pylon
While the Supply Pylon works good for MP, I don't think it transfers to SP well. The player is often moving forward through environments and levels, meaning that they would have to keep deploying the pylon in order to make full use of the power. But then that would also mean lengthy cooldowns. It also rewards the player for staying in one spot, also known as camping, which somewhat destroys fluid gameplay.

Rank 3a Medical Pylon is kind of a weak evolution, since shields play a bigger role in survival than health. Also Heavy Weapons for the win.

Biotic Sphere
Looks pretty good, although its cooldown may be a bit long. I like how it supports two playstyles, as RedCaesar97 stated. Evolutions looks pretty well balanced.

Shockwave
Lancer Shockwave seems like the better Rank 1 evolution, as it can be used at long range with minimal penalty, and with either Rank 2 evolution, becomes superior with only a small penalty to damage compared to Aggressive Shockwave.

Melee Synergy is a very weak evolution compared to LIfting Shockwave. Only 10% bonus? Very limited in utility, as basic enemies will most likely be flung away, and higher tier enemies are most likely very risky to melee against. Also, why green?

Like RedCaesar97 stated, odd how Shockwave Rank 4 turns to a techy power.

Stasis
Ridiculous duration that takes an enemy out of combat for way too long. This slows down gameplay way too much, as the enemy will most likely still be in Stasis after all of the other enemies are dead, forcing the player to wait until the Stasis effect wears off. Also, what is its cooldown duration? This is important because of Stasis's long duration.

Rank 2b Armor weakening might be a bit weak, perhaps a 15% or 20% would be good. Rank 3 seems like a deadend for Stasis, as the Sentinel can't make good use out of Elemental Synergy, and Headshot Damage makes the Sentinel seem too much like a Soldier. Rank 4 looks good though.

Defensive Mastery
Seems like too much squad bonuses that could potentially overwhelm the player, because there is then too much to factor in when taking squadmates. I'd say make only 2 or 3 squad evolutions. Also, why the obsession with headshots? For a class that is based around defense and squad, there seems to be a theme of headshots here.

- - - - - - - - - - - 

Some of the powers lack synergy. For example, a playstyle involving Supply Pylon limits the use of Tech Armor's detonation and melee bonuses; and in reverse, aggressive Tech Armor players would most likely ignore Supply Pylon.

Tech Armor auto-purge cuts down on the Sentinel's other abilities due to its cooldown upon purge, as the Sentinel may want to keep Tech Armor up. This was the issue with ME2 Sentinel; players would just spam Tech Armor instead of using the full range of the Sentinel's abilities in order to stay alive and make use of the detonation and stagger.

Also, Biotic Sphere requires a bit more squad micromanaging in order to make full use out of the defensive spec. For some, that may be a good thing for a squad-centered build, but may be too much of a shift towards squad management, rather than actual squad combat.

Keep in mind of the synergy between powers, along with evolutions. Also, try to keep powers focused; your Inferno/Electric Shockwave stretches the power a bit far. This also means establishing a good base power to build off from.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Overall, I have mixed opinions on your Sentinel. I will say though that while some of the evolutions could use some tweaking, many of your evolutions are also great, and I like how you took the Sentinel to a new direction rather than make it a jack-of-all-trades like in ME3. It's just that squad-emphasis isn't really my cup of tea.

Modifié par Soja57, 12 février 2014 - 05:03 .