I’ve been reading a lot of Sienna threads in the last 2 days, and while there’s plenty of complaints about her sustained firepower, active cooldown and other concerns, there’s also a few related, directly or indirectly, to her talents, especially the level 25 talents, and I figured we could just collect a few suggestions for them, for I am loath to just drop my unsubstantiated ideas into a thread with a broader focus.
And given how many of these threads I’ve seen for the elf… 
Let’s begin with a quick analysis of her level 25s:
- Between the subclasses we have spread the usual types of Actives: A mobility skill, a ranged attack skill, and an aoe knockdown(with utility). The only thing I haven’t seen is a direct temporary buff.
- All subclasses have a level 25 Talent that reduces the active cooldown by 30%
- Battle Wizard and Pyromancer have one that causes her Active to vent all heat. Unchained does that anyways, and so doesn’t need this Talent
- Unchained Talents just modify range or damage of her active, same as all of her level 15s somehow modify heat management.
I believe having instant venting on all of her permutations is a bit bland and not befitting the characters.
So, what changes could make her talents, specifically level 25 and, to a point, level 15, a more challenging pick? Preferably something relatively easy to implement that won’t take too much dev time away from more pressing matters?
I’ll start with a few cheap suggestions:
Battle Wizard
- Burnout: Instead of venting all overcharge, instantly grant her Tranquility and guarantee it for 3 seconds even when casting;
This would allow her to snap off a few quick casts and still have the cooldown bonus, and it feels more flavourful than just dropping heat. It also allows synergy with her level 15s.
Pyromancer
- Change Exhaust to only drop heat by 25%, but have it deal increased damage based on vented heat.
Silly suggestion, right?
Part of the complaints I’ve seen about Pyromancer is that her Active, with the Exhaust talent, allows her too much sustained firepower; indeed, if chosen, it allows her to vent more often than unchained with the cooldown reduction. That should be the Unchaineds shtick, and the pyros focus was supposedly strong single-target - but no one stops her from using that new firepower on waves. It’s uncreative, yes.
Unchained
- Fuse Flame Wave and Blazing Crescendo into a single Talent - f.Ex. deal 150% damage in a 75% radius, then have a minor incinerate + knowdown in a 150% base radius;
This allows her to burn enemies very close to her, and gain considerable utility from using her active against hordes, without inevitably roasting her team every time she uses it in a fight. - Use the freed up slot for a defensive buff. Example: “For 5 seconds after using Living bomb, No hit can take more than 20% of your life”.
This might be a minor effect, but it allows her to use Living Bomb after fatally overheating, surviving the second explosion due to the damage limitation. I’d add something like “incinerate enemies you block”, but there’s only so much room in the talent description.
Any ideas for Unchaineds level 15s? Faster cooldown and cheaper cooldown aren’t really all that distinct.
And has anyone actually ever successfully used Lava Walker? What’s the point?
Other threads about Sienna:
Edit log:
- Added damage based on heat to exhaust suggestion
- Added links to other relevant threads.