Here is how to adress spark in pvp

I will expain spark in the current meta with a simple picture at first.

Simple 1v1 compacted arena, match starts and this happens.



( I know some spells will reach further due to them being projectiles but i based myself in general hit distance )

Spells in pvp all deal around the same amount of x-y damage and relies on modifiers to do damage some do more via crit etc, however while min maxing is important spells also rely a lot on utility.

The more you can manoeuver your skill, the further you can cast, the most coverage you can get out of a skill. Spark is currently imbalanced in pvp and it is quite obvious, it allows users to get '' X '' amount of damage literally everywhere on the screen and off screen without aiming anywhere.

The problem relies in the ability to stack projectile speed and duration, the more you have of those two the longer spark is going to last and paired with projectile speed you get the most screen coverage possible. The longer it lasts the more it bounces on walls and procs multiple times on the enemy.

Another huge factor is that arenas are not optimized for all builds at all, there needs to be elevated surfaces for players to have a safe spot when running away. The fact that you literally have nowhere to hide really doesnt help, frostwalls are good in most situations but they can also use pierce. Standing in corners has shown to help but it doesnt remove the fact that the whole screen is still covered and you just cannot make a move without taking all the dmg.

For someone with ES that doesnt have access to potions that is unacceptable, i need to have a place to go in order to regen to keep up fighting, this is how es builds work. Elevated surfaces and different map layouts with seperations would help a lot. 3v3 map layouts are 10 times better than compacted 1v1 arenas with a meter of space.

Now on the ''bugged'' part of spark is when you stack enough projectile speed and duration if the map is wide enough the sparks end up being invisible as they travel very far. I often see myself running away and clearly not even being in sight of the enemy and still getting hit by an invisible spark, how can i avoid something i dont even see ? This is a huge issue in my opinion and it needs to be fixed.

Without destroying spark in term of damage, i really think a duration/projectile speed cap is more than needed for pvp, or atleast a reduced duration of sparks in arenas. you cant just let a skill give the ability to stay at spawn and hit the enemy at the other spawn like its okay, there needs to be a minimum of movement.

I hope this sums up clearly what wrong and what needs to change.

Apart from the obvious problem of invisible sparks, the gem just got really overbuffed with 2.1.

Spark is a spell that can ...
... do damage 3+ screens away.
... can hit enemies ouf of line of sight.
... shotgun because of wall bouncing mechanic.
... aoe clear without having to target mobs.
Only downside (in pve always, in pvp it can sometimes be beneficial) is that spark damage is not instant.

It used to be that the superior utility of spark was offset by having significantly lower damage per hit and by needing specific support gems (mandatory gmp) reducing potential damage per hit further.

But then 2.1 came along and GGG buffed underplayed (aka understreamed) skills by a lot and now we have:
Level 20 spark now does 44-832 base damage (average 438).
Level 20 storm call does 341-633 base damage (average 487).
Level 20 shock nova does 185-555 base damage (average 370 or at 150% an average off 555).
Level 20 arc now does 47-886 base damage (average 466).

So basically spark still has far greater utility than the other lightning spells, while no longer having significantly less damage. That's the recipe for a skill becoming a fotm.

Couldn't they also just change it so each projectile "chains" once before it disappears? Like, it can only hit one or two things before each spark dies or something. I dunno. Thinking more like Charged Bolt from D2

Great write-up, Haunt!

Speed/proj caps universally would hurt PvP. Having spark just get one, I don't know. Still think the issue is the damage output and not so much the mechanics.

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MullaXul wrote:

Speed/proj caps universally would hurt PvP. Having spark just get one, I don't know. Still think the issue is the damage output and not so much the mechanics.

Mechanics flaws emphasize why you think the damage is too strong. Too many sparks stacked ontop of eachother will result in a lot of damage...

On my part i dont think the damage should be targeted first, the ability to stack it so much you will get hit many many times per second.

Invisible sparks, nowhere to hide at all, no safe spots for es builds, cant run away from it, being able to hit the other opponent from a spawn to another.

You need to fix mechanics before fixing the T algorithm.

Reducing the damage would just destroy the skill and put it in the abyss, we need to work around it first.

Fixing mechanics would probably be enough to keep the skill competitive without being broken.

Kudo to someone who developed an interesting tech with spark, I was playing with my melee discharger in 1vs1 (Yes i'm a masochist but i like trying different stuff) and one of them created a little concentrated spark box with frost walls at his start point. Needless to say it was suicide to step in with hundreds of them concentrated in such a close space.

The question is if it is really that big of a problem if you have proper defense. While watching the hld tournaments i noticed that quite a few of the guys seemed to be pretty tanky vs the spark dmg. I can understand that you complain about it haunt, but thats due to the fact that spark is pretty strong vs your build since its quite hard to recharge es vs that. It probably needs some adjustment but reading the comments gives me the feeling that it is way over the top which simply just is not the case.

You can't balance (or ignore) builds based on how they interact with top geared players, that's why pvp is so unpopular. Sur some people can tank spark pretty well using conversion talismans but for everyone else those are still locked in league and may never join STD as a craftable thing.

Skills should be balanced around their mechanics first than their damages value. Here we have clearly a mechanism problem : the ability to entirely fill an 1vs1 arena with unavoidable strong lasting projectiles in a matter of seconds without even moving from your starting point.

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hauntworld1 wrote:

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MullaXul wrote:

Speed/proj caps universally would hurt PvP. Having spark just get one, I don't know. Still think the issue is the damage output and not so much the mechanics.

Mechanics flaws emphasize why you think the damage is too strong. Too many sparks stacked ontop of eachother will result in a lot of damage...

On my part i dont think the damage should be targeted first, the ability to stack it so much you will get hit many many times per second.

Invisible sparks, nowhere to hide at all, no safe spots for es builds, cant run away from it, being able to hit the other opponent from a spawn to another.

You need to fix mechanics before fixing the T algorithm.

Reducing the damage would just destroy the skill and put it in the abyss, we need to work around it first.

Fixing mechanics would probably be enough to keep the skill competitive without being broken.

Think you're looking at it from an ES players perspective. I know multiple attacks harassing you is a bitch. I as hp with over 800regen a second, can tell you right now even with a Topaz flask with anti shock and heavily capped resists...I fall to literally 2-3 crit sparks at melee range and watch my life get cut nearly in half repeatedly on my way in. Though you could be right, maybe if there wasn't so many at once it wouldn't happen but then again it may. Gotta start somewhere with balance and I'd take either option because at least its something.