Shield Charge

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Lo4f wrote:

Spoiler

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skaterboy80 wrote:

Absolutely love the Shield Charge , you know why guys ? It never ever ever misses + crit gem = yougotknockedtheFoutson :D

In my experience using this skill 'from maximum distance' is very frustrating and what ends up happening:

-Charge target from max range hoping for big effects.
-Cause no damage to anything trampled, but instead laughable knockback.
-Miss the target monster and charge again but receive no bonus due to close proximity.
-Use a more effective skill.

The mobility and graphical effects are nice, but the lack of AoE burst at the destination of the charge is a dealbreaker. Click slightly off the target monster, or it moves a step and Shield Charge misses. Compared to Flicker Strike(damage, mobility), and Phase Run(mobility) this skill is lacking.

Main points that still haven't been addressed in this thread:

Spoiler

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Phoenix9525 wrote:

Fun to use but it feels a little clumsy, often it will miss if the target moves even a few inches from the spot they were at when you initiated the attack.

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DraconicBlessing wrote:

The graphic for this skill makes me think it should have a small AoE effect-
I then got Flicker Strike and found that I had almost no reason to ever use it again.

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Ricebowl wrote:

This skill is, for a lack of a better description, flat out worse than flicker strike in just about every way.
Can't tell you how many times I've used this but was a little off in my clicking and just ran next to them for no reason.

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rainji wrote:

it needs a little AoE-damage, because sometimes it doesn't hit, even if i click on the monster.

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ptt_frmr wrote:

- Sometimes the skill will simply miss for no reason
- There seems to be no real pathing to the enemy, so if there's even a tiny obstacle between you and your target, you'll get stuck on air and drain mana without doing anything.

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SwineFu wrote:

I miss the charge about 30% of the time - basically if my target is moving at all I'll miss since it seems I run in straight line to where they were, not where they are.

Conclusion

Shield Charge needs a linear 'donut Shock Nova treatment'. It makes no sense to be able to Shield Charge a target in close proximity as you have no momentum built up. Determine a minimum distance dead zone where the skill doesn't work (think Lightning Warp minimum distance limitation but farther), concentrated cleave-shaped AoE radius at the end of the charge, trample damage in addition to the minor knockback on monsters in path of charge, and change the scaling bonuses to greatly reduced constant bonuses.

O|...........| -currently charge any distance and miss target
O....|x|x|x| -suggested minimum charge distance, three potential destinations
O\../ -suggested dead zone

That is a skill I would use.