[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

There was a post on reddit to this effect regarding channeled skills.

To that, I point to Yoji's FB Elementalist. Perfectly capable of doing the Shaper in HC. FB itself was ranked #7 in skills used by players level 90+ in HC.

I'm not saying your concerns aren't valid, particularly when it comes to elemental status ailments and poison.

However, it's been stated by Chris that poison double-dipping is going to be addressed significantly, they're just trying to get it right so that alternative methods will still scale fairly. See the CoC nerf as something of an example, although a quick glance at a Twinned Core run indicates it probably still isn't where it should be, there's a few points that need to be made here.

a) Freeze will never see the same mechanics as ignite/poison, although shock *should.* For freeze, the answer is simple: you can't completely trivialize a boss fight to the point where they deal literally no damage, ever.

b) GGG has been on record (in some podcast) that not all skills are created equal. There will always be power disparity and some skills will always be more powerful.

That said, I agree, I don't think the balance is anywhere near where it needs to be when literally any poison build and BV are the top two mechanics to do anything, followed shortly by EA and CoC builds. Where does that leave the rest of melee (which is another argument about balance in and of itself)? Or Elemental Hit? How come you have to put in hundreds of exalts worth of work in order to make some abilities even compete with these four setups?

As for melee, it needs a full scale overhaul.

Take a look at the majority of spells and projectile attack builds:

* For any projectile-based skill, attack or spell, you have the GMP/LMP swap. With a few exceptions (Flameblast, Rain of Arrows, Blast Rain, etc), which have a VERY similar swap mechanic: AoE for Conc Effect.
* Now, outside of a few skills (Earthquake, Cyclone, Ice Crash, Reave, Lacerate and the black sheep Lightning / Wild Strike / Molten Strike), you're forced to use Melee Splash if you want to generate AoE coverage, which relegates your swap gems to either Fortify, which you're probably already using as your 6L, or Added Fire / WED (which, build dependent, you're probably already running one OR it doesn't benefit you). Guess what? Your single-target option is relegated to removing Melee Splash and running a 5L, unless you're fortunate enough to be running a 2H build and can afford two 6Ls.

The mechanical design disparity makes no sense to me, how some melee skills have AoE inherently built in while others don't, and any argument about how these skills require splash because they're leveling skills is just BS.

And sure, there's the odd spell/ranged attack you could make that argument for, but you're still running the AoE/Conc swap no matter what.

And how does Increased Area of Effect get away without having a Less Damage modifier on it like LMP/GMP/Melee Splash?

Their design philosophy inherently punishes you as melee for not running one of a small set of skills with AoE built into the skill itself, particularly when the black sheep options that are built weird AoE generation (Lit/Wild/Molten Strike) are simply ineffective in their power by comparison.

Again, just like with poison double-dipping (which is confirmed getting nerfed, just a matter of doing it right), melee has been promised a significant rework.

But unless it's giving all melee skills built-in AoE and removing Splash as a mechanic from the game, it's a failure from the get. You will never see Dual Strike or Double Strike, etc., reach the same level as a small set of melee skills.

Now.

While I'm definitely aggravated that melee's just had the short end of the stick for a long time, for a lot of reasons (I haven't even argued why its generally pointless due to the defensive mechanic issues in this game [I'm looking at you, armour & evasion]), I will say this:

Ranged attacks need a rework, too. Unless you feel like being quirky, you're shooting yourself in the foot by not doing Tornado Shot, Lightning Arrow or Explosive Arrow. And this doesn't even touch on relatively useless spells like Ice/Shock Nova, Artic Breath as a self-cast skill, etc.


I get that not all skills should necessarily be brought up to the exact same potency, but there's a massive problem when Blade Vortex, CoC, Explosive Arrow and poison make you feel punished by trying to play another skill. No, maybe I shouldn't be able to melt the Shaper that quickly with Firestorm, but goddamnit I should at least be competitive with whatever I want to play, regardless of playstyle or defensive mechanic.

There's a reason you don't see me in the game that much anymore after I complete the challenges per league.

Because theorycrafting is basically just a game of trying to catch up to Blade Vortex CI, failing miserably and questioning why not BV CI.

Then I go play Overwatch until the next patch.

When it gets to the point where this sort of commment is the general consensus of the community:

"

Mathil wrote:

Right, but why not CI?

There's a fucking problem.

It's gotten so bad that Niffler just released a video showcasing the Top Three meta builds, which afaik nobody has ever done in the history of PoE. Because at least there was some semblance of diversity until the past year or so.

Surprises?

Nope.

Ancestral Warchief, BV CI, Barrage poison, and CoC Cospri's with the honourable mention. As it's pretty much been since the Awakening (minus Warchief, as its new, but that will probably continue if/until other skills get competitive).

And that's my problem.

Back when Flameblast was the meta, you had a plethora of skills that were competitive with it. Maybe not AT the same level as Flameblast, but at least competitive WITH it.

I ran a CI dual striker with a paltry 6K ES that was able to compete because I could get it up to 200k damage and melt bosses. Sure, it required a hefty investment to get doing, but at least it COULD compete.

Now? That same build struggles to get 150k while powercreep continued on elsewhere. I have to invest the same amount, to get less damage, while other builds got even more powerful than Flameblast was, for cheaper.

It's like in the midst of trying to make the game more accessible, GGG's decided balance could take a backburner.

I really hope there's a drastic rework of skills in general coming by the time Act 5 is released, or quite frankly this game might not retain my interest for much longer. I'm tired of being punished for wanting to do skills that aren't in the top 3 of the metagame.

Nice summary in your post above - pretty much the way I feel.

Flameblast - though channeled - is a special case. It can do really nice damage using prolif and can be used virtually sans channeling for this.

And, it can also generate huge hits while channeling - making it ideal for ignite.

For me, Flameblast is massively OP due to its prolif/ignite compatibility - one of the best skills in the game IMO.

For trash - use it with prolif.

For bosses, wait until you can channel and let loose for a massive crit front load and subsequent huge ignite. Once that ignite is in place you're doing massive damage even if you have to move for the next 4 seconds w/o doing much/any damage from new casts.
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Still, POE is really fun.

I guess it boils down to figuring out what's OP and fun to play and then going that route.

I've changed my mind several times about what my last character will be this league - I think I'll try Assassin/CI/self-cast/DD. Not meta, should (hopefully be really strong) and I've never tried DD or CI so it'll be new.

Also, if this build works out, it maybe won't be nerfed next patch (well, maybe CI will be nerfed, but hopefully the rest of the build will survive unscathed).