First, the ITD and BAB are much improved. I can't say for certain how they compared to the originals regarding dmg, but the changes in radius, fuse time, and the addition of a chance for stun, make both bombs much more user-friendly. I couldn't test in LD as there was only one other player on the test server, but I would suspect that the BAB will at least find a niche home--the knockback and stun will be fun for guardians and recons, and will make up for the movement penalty in certain situations.
The shards, on the other hand... well... I like the concept, and the relatively short fuse time on the initial blast made using them not unlike the DR for kiting, and against slow-moving enemies, but the dmg... Compared to the current RSS the dmg is quite low, as others have already mentioned, and unlike the DR, the SSS and other new shards don't persist to up their dmg total over time. Also, as others noted with the previous testing session, the new shard bombs are limited in use by the shards disappearing in proximity to obstacles. I could see how the 5* shards MIGHT work for guardians and recons to deter strikers, but really only if you could rely on the the same number of shards appearing when grouped into a smaller space by an obstacle--you could create a nice wall of dmg in tight hallways, corners, etc. if all the shards were tightly grouped. Likewise, you could compensate a bit for the relatively low dmg numbers by increasing the dmg radius on the initial blast to the size of the radius to which the shards were thrown--at least then you're trading the lower dmg for greater AoE.
As they are right now, however, they just don't do enough dmg to make them viable replacements for the current RSS. The effect at close range is limited, the outer range, of course, doesn't compare, and the dmg is less than stellar. Fun to play with, yes, and fine for PvE, but LD? Sorry to say, but no.
thoughts on new bombs
Fri, 07/27/2012 - 11:11
Mon, 07/30/2012 - 06:38
#2
hmm.
It occurred to me: do the status shard bombs have the chance to inflict their status on the initial blast? I didn't see anything get stunned by the first blast from the SSS, for example--only the secondary explosions--but perhaps if the initial explosion could reliably inflict its status, or included one "pulse" of haze-style AoE status, that might help redeem the new mechanics of the shard lines, at least for sun shards, ionized, etc. The status could hopefully delay faster targets long enough for them to be caught by the secondary explosions, and it wouldn't be OP, because the AoE for the status would be smaller and shorter than a haze, and the dmg would still be less than the blast-line bombs. Just a thought.
I agree with what you've said. I would add, that the shards aren't even that great in PvE. i took the energy shards into FSC, and honestly, BAB is faster to kill with than those. They do OK. But Solo, I'm probably better off using Nitro or DBB in most situations than the damage specific shards.