Flicker Strike
|
The problem with Flicker Strike is:
" If they removed this, then it would require really good targeting to be effective. I just got FS for the first time on my Shadow. What makes it even worse, is the fact that you can hold down shift and the attack button with no target, and then proceed to kill everything, drinking potions along the way for those few hits that do land on you. If this attribute were removed, then you would have to target each target separately, reducing it's spammability drastically. You could still auto-fire it on a single target once you locked on (a good thing, I think), but you wouldn't be able to switch targets automatically the way it does now. | |
|
For me FS is fun, its deadly but at higher difficulty, it's no longer great. Stopped in the middle of mob group then you'll wish you have enough time escaping. Players concern about this skill mostly for the pvp part of it. I dont really care about pvp anyway (if any nerf coming, just add cd for the skill - on pvp mode).
Please, dont nerf it to be useless. I'll just change to range atk if it happen. Why care about how other people play? BTW, what the difference, mob can't hit bow ranger spamming lightning arrow or witch spam ice spear from far, with FS user zapping around them. Add more dex requirement for this skill. |
|
|
Aside from damage on the skill, it's a free teleport on to a player and as is melee tend to 1-2shot range classes once they get close enough, Flicker remove any effort required in that and there is nothing the opposing player can do about it, other than pray you have a bad string of misses which is really anti-intuitive game design.
Winner of the First Ever Cut-Throat Server Test, and Winner of the First Ever Cut-Throat League Event!
|
|
|
As I've said before, Flicker strike needs some sort of cooldown mechanic. Be it costing frenzy charges to use, or just a simple cooldown timer (for a skill that casts x flickers, or has a cooldown every x times used).
This way it wouldn't be strongly abuseable in PvP or even PvE. Requiring it to have a target would be pretty good too. "I don't know what you're asking in the last half, but it sounds like you don't understand how the skill or game works, or you're asking for something unreasonable. Anyway, the reason why the skill doesn't activate is because you're out of range. Right now there's an annoying issue where if you use the skill on a target that's out of range, it will walk up to the target to attack them regularly instead of walking towards them until in-range and then using the ability from there. " Fresh cakes for all occasions. Delivery in 30 eons or less Call 1-800-DOMINUS Remember - 'Dominus Delivers' Last edited by Xapti#6455 on May 20, 2012, 5:18:08 PM
|
|
|
I just realized that Nova's of any type, and possibly some strength based PBAOE skills (Cleave? Ground Slam?) could be good counters to FS.
Also, to balance it, I think all it needs is this removed: " | |
|
EDIT: As I figured, now I've more thoroughly explored this thread, I have repeated several people. Blast Monkey's feedback was amazing and deserves many +1s. That all said, I'm not changing a word of this, because it's still how I feel. I don't care about the balancing of the skill -- that's up to others. I care if the skill matches the description on the box, so to speak.
No skill has ever made me want to skip the slush pile of the forum and just PM the devs more than Flicker Strike. First, a few facts. I've NEVER used it. I can't speak to its overpoweredness but plenty of others can and do. Secondly, Chris has said in-game that the skill is very likely to get a cooldown, but one that can be mitigated (as I suspect most cooldowns will be, one way or another). Lastly, it was the description of Flicker Strike that made me want this game, because it definitely sounds like how I play Charan elsewhere. Let's examine that description. There was a flash, and in the blink of an eye, he suddenly appeared behind the first assailant, plunging his sword to the hilt in the exposed neck. Then he was beheading the second in one quick swipe. Then the third fell with a shriek, his bowels spilling onto the cobblestones. The fourth turned to run, and found himself facing the Duelist, who met his momentum with a stab through the heart. Spent, panting on the ground, the victor wiped his blade clean, and recorded four more kills with Flicker Strike. When I read that, before I could play the game, I am pretty sure I grinned, just a little, at the screen. Goodness yes. I will repeat: I haven't had the fortune of using this skill and I very much fear that I won't ever get the chance, not in its current form. Oh, I could trade for it -- heck, I probably have friends who'd throw one at me. I wanted to find/earn my own, and simply haven't. Working not with game balance then, but with the beautiful description, let me proceed with my suggestion to retain the faithfulness of the skill according to that description. What this skill needs is not a cooldown. I see absolutely no cooldown in that description, and I believe it's the quick, almost spontaneous target switching and despatching that defines this skill. So here's what I'd propose. If this makes it TOO weak, so be it. If not, also good. If it's still too strong, we can work from there. Just a proposal -- nothing more. Flicker Strike Retooled According To The Description: -- A restriction to smaller weapons. It's clearly meant to represent the almost superhuman agility and speed a duelist/fighter can achieve when they are wielding a relatively small, quick weapon. I cannot imagine that description working if the writer had said stipulated the Duelist was wielding a claymore or a poleaxe. (Flicker Strike can only be used with claws, daggers, one-handed maces, one-handed axes and one-handed swords. **or just one-handed weapons, for brevity**) -- The requirement of a target. The duelist in the description is clearly picking his targets. (This skill will fail if no target is chosen.) -- Reword the gem description. The term 'teleport' endows the skill with a magical element that much belies the description above. While the Duelist appears to 'teleport', he knows, and we know, that he's just moving very fast. The 'flash' seems to me one of his tricks -- maybe some powder, maybe something else. There is no need to make this skill 'magical'. -- Lastly, note that in the text description it is used only once against each target. This is essential an AoE effect staggered from one target to the next, very quickly, one hit only. Thus I'd propose that Flicker Strike can not be used on the same target more than once. How GGG would implement this is up to them -- maybe some sort of charge limit a la Viper Strike, where any strike above the 4th does nothing. (Flicker Strike cannot be used on the same target for x seconds.) Reduction of the IAS and damage increase is also an option, but there needs to be something reflecting how quickly the Duelist took the four assailants out. Maybe just increased crit chance per flicker strike -- forget charges, forget IAS. I think that a strike after a short-ranged jump like this is fast enough. Once you've closed that distance, it's not about how quickly you attack, but how effectively you make the one attack count before the others realise where you are. This is an accelerated version of a stealth kill, replacing stealth with surprise. There HAS to be risk and there HAS to be reward. The Risk is the jumping around and exposing yourself by getting right in there; the Reward is that moment of utter vulnerability your enemy experiences, a moment precisely long enough for one vital strike... It's a great skill concept and very much encourages play with smaller, quicker weapons in its mobility and facility. It shouldn't be the zip-around-the-battlefield that I've found Whirling Blades to be -- it's the paramount display of a Duelist's talent with his chosen weapon. The other classes can do it too, if they're similarly dedicated and are willing to use a tool outside their usual trade. GGG, PLEASE do not put a cooldown on this skill. Put it into time-out like AoF if you have to, but unless you guys have some sort of trick up your sleeve to retain the essence of the site description, please...no cooldown. (Or just change the site description I guess, but that's...a bit lame.) If I like a game, it'll either be amazing later or awful forever. There's no in-between. I am Path of Exile's biggest whale. Period. Last edited by Foreverhappychan#4626 on May 21, 2012, 9:29:27 PM
|
|
|
Why not give it a minimum range? Simple: You can't use Flicker Strike any closer than X meters.
This would keep it faithful to its flavour text/description, and do away with the spam. Also, it should be castable on a target only. Last edited by Falcord#4858 on May 22, 2012, 3:58:16 AM
|
|
|
My first character is a shadow, now level 28. I get maybe 5-10 FPS, so i just set up buffs and flicker strike through everything till theres that one rare/boss that doesn't die in 1-2 hits, then I dual strike him down quickly. Flicker is way too strong, but please be careful in balancing it, as it's critical to a lot of builds. Don't overdo it.
|
|
|
Spoiler
" I like this thinking/rationale a lot, even though I disagree with the basic premise. Try playing a flicker shadow. We need a cooldown on that. Personall, I feel like adding a small cooldown (literally like 1 sec or so), and slightly lowering it's damage and/or utility would be good. I don't like the idea of needing to click a target, but that's probably based on my lag-induced inability to click targets lolol. |
|
|
I broke my own personal code of conduct with this one and did indeed ask a dev about it. There likely will be a cooldown but the mitigation of it makes sense according to the description. Nothing is set in stone, however.
I still think it should be impossible to use it twice on the same mob immediately, and that targeting an enemy is required for use. I finally dropped an FS gem earlier today and will play with it soon enough. I play fully zoomed-in, though, so we'll see if the jumpiness makes me sick or not. If I like a game, it'll either be amazing later or awful forever. There's no in-between.
I am Path of Exile's biggest whale. Period. |
|
