Support-type abilities (and their lack of a concentrated skill)
Crowd control. Buffs. Debuffs. The primary elements of "support" classes in MMOs, something that's more or less died out, but also something I've personally always wanted to play. The idea of having a skill setup whose main purpose is to enhance the performance of my party and debilitate the enemy has always strongly appealed, so I've long wished that Project: Gorgon would have a skill that's primarily oriented toward that playstyle. I think that it does have the abilities in place, but they're spread among a large variety of skills, making it effectively impossible to come up with a build that's targeted toward those things, with only *slight* deviations into healing or damage.
In my attempts to find a suitable build - or better yet, encourage the developers to consider a support-focused skill (I still think "illusion magic" has a lot of potential~), I've gone through the wiki and Gorgon Explorer to try to note down every ability - whether it needs a mod to function this way or not - that fits into what I think of as 'support.'
This list does not include specific damage type vulnerability debuffs, or most buffs that only affect specific damage types (other than mitigation), since those would need very targeted parties to work with. I'm also not including mere *chance* to CC unless it's continuous or AoE (see Song of Discord) - a support's CC should be certain, not this "50% chance of stunning" nonsense! I've also put in bold the abilities that I think are worth focusing on in particular as the possible core of a support build... if the skill had enough support abilities to make one.
Archery - Snare Arrow - Mez
Archery - Mangling Shot - Stun
Archery - Hook Shot - Pull
Archery - Modded Poison Arrow - Damage Debuff (extremely minor)
Archery - Modded Snare Arrow - Rage Debuff
Archery - Modded Bow Bash - Knockback
Archery - Modded Mangling Shot - Slow (Minor)
Archery - Modded Mangling Shot - Damage Debuff (extremely minor)
Archery - Modded Restorative Arrow - Specific Mitigation Shield
Bard - Entrancing Lullaby - Mez
Bard - Virtuoso's Ballad - Damage Buff
Bard - Moment of Resolve - Mitigation Buff
Bard - Anthem of Avoidance - Evasion Buff
Bard - Modded Song of Discord - Stun Chance
Bard - Modded Song of Bravery - Damage Buff Chance
Bard - Modded Blast of Fury - Knockback
Bard - Modded Anthem of Avoidance - Evasion Buff, Evasion Buff, Knockback Immunity
Bard - Modded Moment of Resolve - Anti-Stun, Anti-Slow, Anti-Root, Speed Buff
Bard - Modded Disharmony - Damage Debuff (extremely minor)
BC - Mutations - Buffs
BC - Modded Extra Skin - Mitigation Buffs
Druid - Heart Thorn - Damage Debuff (worthwhile)
Druid - Rotskin - Mitigation Debuff
Druid - Cloud Sight - Accuracy Debuff
Druid - Modded Pulse of Life - Mitigation Buff (elemental)
Druid - Modded Rotskin - AoE Mitigation Debuff
Druid - Modded Cloud Sight - Accuracy Debuff
Druid - Modded Fill with Bile - Max Health Buff
Druid - Modded Regrowth - Mitigation Shield
Druid - Modded Energize - Mitigation Shield
Druid - Modded Healing Sanctuary - Accuracy Buff
Fae - Fairy Fire - Evasion Debuff
Fae - Modded Fairy Fire - Situational Stun
Fae - Modded Astral Strike - Stun
Fae - Modded Fae Conduit - Elemental Damage Buff
Fire - Defensive Burst - Knockback
Fire - Modded RT Ball - Damage Debuff (extremely minor)
Fire - Modded Defensive Burst - Damage Debuff (extremely minor)
Hammer - Seismic Impact - Slow (Major)
Hammer - Leaping Smash - Knockdown, Universal Vuln
Hammer - Rib Shatter - Concussion
Hammer - Modded Way of the Hammer - Mitigation Buff
Ice - Tundra Spikes - Root
Ice - Frostbite - Concussion
Ice - Freeze Solid - Mez
Ice - Blizzard - Slow (Minor)
Ice - Modded Frostbite - Damage Debuff (Minor)
Ice - Modded Frostbite - Rage Debuff
Ice - Modded Frostbite - Accuracy Debuff
Ice - Modded Tundra Spikes - Delayed Stun
Ice - Modded Tundra Spikes - Evasion Debuff
Knife - Hamstring Throw - Slow (Major)
Knife - Marking Cut - Evasion Debuff
Knife - Modded Fan of Blades - Knockback
Mentalism - Adrenaline Wave - Damage Buff
Mentalism - Pain Bubble - Damage Amp
Mentalism - Modded Electrify - Stun
Mentalism - Modded Reconstruct - Mitigation Buff
Mentalism - Modded Reconstruct - Speed Boost
Mentalism - Modded Health Wave - Mitigation Buff (Weird Typing)
Mentalism - Modded Panic Charge - Knockback
Necromancy - Deathgaze - Fear
Necromancy - Death's Hold - Root
Priest - Corrupt Hate - Delayed Stun
Priest - Tether Soul - Auto-Rez
Priest - Unfetter - Anti-Stun, Anti-Root, Anti-Slow
Priest - Modded Mend Flesh - Mitigation Buff (minor)
Priest - Modded Triage - Evasion Buff
Priest - Modded Unfetter - Anti-Knockback
Psych - Cause Terror - Fear
Psych - Love You - Damage Debuff (worthwhile)
Psych - Psychoanalyze - Rage Debuff
Psych - Mother - Mez
Psych - Modded Mother - Damage Debuff (minor)
Psych - Modded Confidence - Accuracy Buff, Damage Buff
Psych - Modded Love You - Stun
Psych - Modded Ridicule - Accuracy Debuff (one attack)
Shield - Fight Me - Knockback
Shield - Emergency Bash - Knockback
Shield - Stunning Bash - Stun
Staff - Redirect - Knockback
Staff - Headcracker - Situational Stun
Staff - Pin - Slow (Major)
Sword - Parry - Damage Debuff (one attack)
Sword - Modded Many Cuts - Situational Stun, Situational Knockback
Unarmed - Barrage - Stun
Unarmed - Cobra Strike - Situational Stun
Unarmed - Hip Throw - Knockback
Unarmed - Front Kick - Knockback
Unarmed - Modded Kicks - Slow (Moderate)
WW - Calm Skies - Anti-Knockback
WW - Hailstorm - Slow (???)
WW - Please Let Us Target Allies With Wind Ward Instead Of Only Self ;-;
WW - Modded Deluge - Melee Accuracy Debuff
WW - Modded Deluge - Situational Delayed Stun (Ranged Attackers)
Cow - Bash - Stun
Cow - Modded Clobbering Hoof - Situational Damage Debuff (Minor, Elites Only)
Cow - Modded Deadly Emission - Knockback, Damage Debuff (one attack)
Deer - Deer Bash - Stun
Deer - Modded Cuteness Overload - Knockback
Bat - Virulent Bite - Concussion
Bat - Modded Wing Vortex - Damage Debuff (one attack)
Lycanthropy - Pouncing Rend - Situational Stun
Pig - Porcine Alertness - Evasion Buff
Pig - Frenzy - Melee Damage Buff
Pig - Pig Punt - Knockback
Pig - Modded Grunt of Abeyance - Mitigation Shield
Pig - Modded Mudbath - Mitigation Buff
Pig - Modded Frenzy - Mitigation Buff (extremely minor)
Pig - Modded Porcine Alertness - Accuracy Buff, Stun Ignore Chance
Rabbit - Rabbit's Foot - Evasion Buff
Rabbit - Thump - Slow (Minor)
Rabbit - Bun-Fu Strike - Delayed Stun
Rabbit - Love Tap - Rage Debuff
Rabbit - Modded Rabbit's Foot - Evasion Buff
Spider - Grappling Web - Pull
Spider - Gripjaw - Stun
Spider - Web Trap - Root Trap
Fox - Dimensional Snare - Root
Fox - Modded Nip - Damage Debuff (one attack, extremely minor)
Fox - Modded Soul Bite - Damage Debuff (one attack, extremely minor)
Fox - Modded Spirit Pounce - Knockback
Warden - Apprehend - Pull
Warden - Stun Trap - Stun Trap
Warden - Coordinated Assault - Melee Damage Buff (one attack)
Warden - Modded Privacy Field - Situational Delayed Knockback
Warden - Modded Coordinated Assault - Max Health/Armor Buffs, Damage Buff, Miniscule Mitigation Buff
Bard seems promising, but the long cooldowns on the relevant abilities hurt quite a bit.
Druid has some decent debuffs, but not really enough to build around completely. Sadly, Cloud Sight is melee range, which really hurts its usability.
Hammer's Leaping Smash seems amazing - but I hear the knockdown duration is very short, and gets shorter just like stuns.
Ice Magic has some of the best abilities around for a support build in fully modified Tundra Spikes and Frostbite - but nothing really beyond that and the mez, so you'd still only be working with half of a skill oriented toward support.
Priest's Unfetter and modded Triage are great boons, but the skill is overall a lot more healing and fire damage focused, not support outside of that.
Psychology has a pretty good variety of support abilities - but it doesn't really feel good to use, somehow? I've tried.
Weather Witching is new, of course - and Wind Ward would be amazing if we could target others with it instead of only ourselves! But then outside of Deluge, it doesn't offer much.
Pig is full of good abilities, it looks like. I wouldn't be surprised if Pig/Psychology turned out to be one of the better support options, as things stand right now. Downside, it requires being a pig.
Rabbit's Foot is wonderful, and carries Rabbit on its own toward being support-viable - but it's just that, on it's own. Yes there's also a delayed stun and a rage debuff, but that's still only half a skill even with those, and again, melee range can be hard to get into if there's many melee among a party crowding in.
I suppose that sums up my thoughts, but I'd love to have a discussion about how we could make support a useful, viable, but not strictly necessary role in a party, and how a truly support-oriented skill could look.
