Shock Nova

Is this gem just for the witch?

I have used it (well...tried to) for a level 30 meathead (marauder called Tinkerbelll) and it seriously does zip - its a waste of a socket for him. The graphic effect looks pretty cool tho heh.

Played with what range I should use it a bit but can't find a spot where it actually causes anything any damage. It doesn't seem to effect anything that I can see... Its supposed to give 7-135 damage and is a level 6 gem waiting for me to gain some intelligence (told u hes a meathead hehe) to level the gem up another notch.

I am a noob so you are welcome to tell me I am an idiot - but would be nice to know if specific gems are only suited to one type of character, he seems to be ok using the others I have found.
As with most damage spells, if you can't level it up, then it probably won't be useful to you for long. Attack skills will usually retain some usefulness even if they are not leveled because they use your weapon damage, which (hopefully) will get upgrades now and then. Some utility skills aren't even worth leveling up.
Urist McDwarfy has been happy lately. He admired an exceptional ARPG recently. He took joy in slaughter lately. He has been attacked by the dead recently.
Check out the Path of Exile wiki: http://en.pathofexilewiki.com
Last edited by UristMcDwarfy on Mar 6, 2012, 10:25:41 AM
Feedback after this point is for 0.9.7
Balance & Design
just recently thought i could try a Nova Build, but besides the Pro/Cons of Lightning and its huge dmg range from very low to very high, its the dead zone near the character that makes this skill so much weaker for me.

there are just so many better alternatives if i wanna Aim my spells.


take the dead zone out and i could enjoy the skill so much more :)
Agree, dead zone makes this skill pretty useless IMO. 99% of the monsters in the game are going to rush you to be in the dead zone, or will shoot at you from outside the spells radius.

Useless skill IMO
What impact on the dead zone does increases area of effect have?

Does the dead zone increase as well?
In Wraeclast, if someone tries to kill you... you just kill them right back.
With that deadzone its pretty much useless as the above posters mentioned.
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What impact on the dead zone does increases area of effect have?

Does the dead zone increase as well?


And conversely, does Concentrate Effect support reduce the size of the deadzone?

Anyways, just started a lightning witch, and this skill is almost comically difficult to use. I have to have a zombie tank monsters in place to actually hit anything reliably. If I was a new player trying to decide what kind of witch to play, based on available skills I don't think I'd ever pick lightning.

Oh and it costs a ton of mana on top.

Also I think the effect of a monster being hit should be more pronounced. Sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm hitting something or not.
Last edited by aimlessgun on Apr 20, 2012, 8:43:20 AM
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aimlessgun wrote:
Also I think the effect of a monster being hit should be more pronounced. Sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm hitting something or not.
This I agree with. With the unusual hit pattern of this skill, I'm not always certain if I'm too close or too far.

That being said, I find it a very useful skill to try and use as enemies are approaching. The main time it fails me is if I am swarmed by quickly moving opponents, such as snakes. I personally enjoy the 'balance the distance' mechanic, as well as the huge damage potential that goes with it.
A dev at http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/28339/page/2 implied that using the AoE size increase passives with shock nova would affect both the outer size *and* the inner "no damage" size, which means that it gets *harder* to use as you put points in that passive. That seems not cool, so I wanted to point it out here.

-Robin

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