This week’s powerset is shocking!
It’s Electrifying
Many of the electrical powers impact endurance. Endurance is used to measure when a hero gets tired, with more potent abilities having higher endurance costs. Of course, Metahumans Rising traded endurance and how often one can use a power for Willpower and how often you can push yourself. Let’s look at the other electrical focuses and we’ll come back to how to address this more philosophical change in how powers should work. In addition to lowering endurance, electricity likes to chain effects, inflict damage over time, and lock down foes.
The nine Electric Power Sets
Electric Control
Electrical Affinity
Electric Armor
Electrical Blast
Electrical Mastery
Electrical Melee
Electricity Assault
Electricity Manipulation
Electricity Mastery
To bring the set together, our electrical build will focus on the Stagger combat maneuver. Staggered characters lose actions unless they spend Willpower to counteract this, while Background Characters who lack Willpower are locked down. This does encroach on Energy’s numerous disorient attacks, but we’ll tackle that when we get to that power set theme. For electric’s damage over time, we’re going to take a different route from Dark that fits better with electric’s other notable ability chain attacks. To accomplish this, Electrical will invest in Automatic, which allows heroes to to strike the target multiple times with secondary damage, or hit adjacent foes.
Electrical Manipulator
- Parent Attribute: Dexterity or Intelligence
- Primary Role: Offense
Cone MA
Selective MA
Automatic (Increased Rate of Fire 2) MA3
Devastating (Boost Devastation) MA2
Secondary Role: Defense (Full Role) MA2
Absorption: Electrical TY
Armor MA
Passive Defense TY
Unique Drawback: Activation Required
Resist: Electrical MA
Secondary Role: Support: Fitness MA
(S) Stagger 10
Cost: 1 Power + 30 Selections / AP
The Electrical Manipulator strikes hard, but doesn’t necessarily leave a lot of damage. Their Selective Cone allows them to create a single bolt of lightning that arcs around allies, striking only those the hero wishes to target. These bolts can hit the target up to four times, or bounce to up to three adjunct targets through the Automatic Boon and Increased Rate of Fire Advancements. (Remember: Secondary attacks only do half Damage.) As Stagger Specialists, Damage can be traded to prevent foes from acting. This can lead to attacks that don’t do a lot of Damage, but put Background Characters out of the battle, and keep Villains burning Willpower to act as other heroes inflict more serious harm.
Damage
Increase Automatic (Increased Rate of Fire 2) MA3 to Automatic (Increased Rate of Fire 5) MA6 (+ MA3)
(S) Heavy Blow 10
Cost: +10 Selections / AP
Boons
Amazing MA
Fitness Supports Melee Attacks MA
Ranged Option: Reduce Increased Rate of Fire 5 to Increased Rate of Fire 3 and add Ranged MA and Radius MA
Cost: 4 Selections / AP
Minions
Backup: Voltaic Gremlins (More Backup, Fast Friends, Powerful Backup 4: Striker + Maneuver Specialist: Stagger) MA6
Cost: +14 Selections / AP
Control
Increase Secondary Role: Support to Secondary Role: Support (Full Role) MA2 (+MA)
Radius MA
Control: Electric Override (Broad Control, Expanded Control) MA3
Healing (Others) MA
(S) Defibrillate 4
Locked: Healing Only with Defibrillate, must have at least one foe targeted.
Cost: +13 Selections / AP
Boon
Combo: Defibrillate: Selective Radius Staggering Attack – Healing TY
Cost: 1 Selection / AP
Tanking
Increase Absorption: Electrical to Absorption: Energy (Healing Absorption, Regenerative Absorption) MA3 (+ MA2TY)
Increase Armor to Armor (Boost Armor) MA2 (+MA)
Increase Secondary Role: Support to Secondary Role: Support (Full Role) MA2 (+MA)
Healing: Self (Boost Healing, Regeneration) MA1TY
Limited: Only after Absorption
Cost: +14 Selections / AP
