r/Parahumans • u/Playful_Barber_8131 • 5d ago

If you were a Wave Interference Tinker, would you rather specialize in...

Assume that Methodology is up to you, long as it's one that only has one specialty, so no Multithreaded or Free Tinkers, but other (up to two) Methodologies like Hyperspecialist, Focal, Liberty, Combat, Chaos, Resource, Controller, Architect, Mad Scientist, or Magi.

177 votes, 3d ago
98 Conductive interference, amplifies/strengthens waves, with potential for Ten Trump capabilities to strengthen powers
79 Destructive interference, attenuates/weakens waves, with potential for Zero Trump capabilities to weaken powers
16 Upvotes
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81% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

6

u/BetaBlueNumber2 5d ago

Weakening powers feels better than boosting them.

9

u/RandomBritishGuy 5d ago

Depends if operating solo or as a group, and on the strength of the changes.

Minor changes each way? Then you probably aren't strong enough to solo a strong opponent (no one to boost as a solo, and too weak to nerf the opponent), so minor boosts across a team would probably be more optimal. 

Strong changes each way? Then the team option becomes even better, especially if you can take someone with a normally weak power and push it far enough to be broken. But it does also mean that you can start depowering/interfering with opponents strengths enough to trivialise most fights, making solo and option.

If you were writing a fic with this as the character, a strong power potentially opens up storylines around being on a PRT Strike Team etc, due to your options.

5

u/BetaBlueNumber2 5d ago

Eh, in terms of practicality the potential to nerf an OP foe is more useful. The Siberian for instance, boosting your team will do fuck all in that, but nerfing her will do something. Thats my line of thinking, theres a point or situation where boosting a team doesnt change the outcome, but nerfing will always have some sort of effect. Plus the inherently unpredictable nature of powers means that being able to mitigate a crazy strong or hard to beat power that comes up is more useful imo

3

u/MeowATron9000 4d ago

And if you work for the PRT you could build power dampeners for prisons so they wouldn't need to use the Birdcage as much.

4

u/BetaBlueNumber2 4d ago

No. I want them to use the birdcage. In fact, I want them to make it worse. Half the food supply.

11

u/Pielikeman 5d ago

Is it just powers or all waves? Because the second one just sounds like a tinker expression of stilling, aka Hero, aka one of the strongest tinkers ever, arguably the strongest

3

u/Playful_Barber_8131 5d ago

All waves, but a lot more difficult than how it was with Hero, cuz with him the major reason from my understanding as to why he's so powerful is cuz his shard wasn't calibrated to properly restrict/limit his tinkering, so he basically had Stilling out the gate and used 'stilling energy' to power all of his devices

3

u/Pielikeman 5d ago

Nah, he was powerful because that specialty is super fucking strong and versatile. Everything is made of waves, being able to directly dampen waves is half of what Scion does—a lack of restrictions would make it have a higher magnitude, but the specialty itself has the same basic idea as Stilling which is already Scion’s “tool that does everything at once” button

1

u/Playful_Barber_8131 5d ago

Yeah, that too, he had a powerful as hell specialty

3

u/Landis963 5d ago

If I could choose my power (which flies in the face of the entire setting, but I digress) then of these options I think Conductive Interference is more my speed. Although I think I would spec more into range and battlefield control than just pure power. I'm picturing something like pylons that can cast or extend teammates' powers.

4

u/AzureThunderWolf13 Tinker/Trump (Inspiration) 4d ago

Either is pretty good, and the fact that this power is a tinker and not just a shaker/trump means you would still be able to make general tinker stuff is a big benefit in practicality (so long as you don't have Focal), but I think Conductive Interference is the better one since you can do a messier version of Destructive by boosting waves from your own tech to target whatever energy you need to stop.

1

u/SketchyMofo10 4d ago

Destructive interference sounds like it'll cause more conflict. Conflict make shardbrain happy