Tempest Shield
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I agree with everyone who said this reserves too much mana, and also with everyone who said that this has a great visual effect.
After studying the skill tree to determine who would have the most +block passives to go with this skill, I decided to build a Shadow. I figured the Shadow has a lot of elemental damage and lightning passives, easy access to block passives, and a lot of support for a dagger for the other hand. Heck, the Shadow shield bonus involves dealing damage when you're injured, which seems synergistic-ish. It turns out there are a lot of obstacles to using this skill with a Shadow, the first being that it is never actually given as a quest reward option. Second, dodging seems to take place before blocking, reducing how often this triggers. Third, the damage-on-hit equipment is a terrible combo, since it only triggers when the blocking and dodging both fail (my bad). Of course, that makes you wonder why the Shadow even has "reflect damage" equipment, given that his passives are geared toward dodging/blocking, the two defensive options that make the worst combo of all with it. So maybe the Shadow wasn't a good option after all. His survivability is good, but unexciting, and the Tempest Shield adds only a small percentage to that. His damage isn't great, and his Tempest Shield doesn't help there, either -- he can kill a monster in one no-skill dagger attack that the shield damage would takes dozens of triggers to kill. Also, he doesn't have a huge mana pool, and this skill takes up an unreasonable chunk of it. Maybe there's a single, very specific build where this skill works very well, but at the moment, it feels like the only thing it's actually good at is looking cool. |
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I use this with my Marauder. Now, I'm only level 26, act 2 normal... but with active, I don't even have to fight most mobs. They walk up, hit me, shock themselves to death, and what hits do get through my regen covers. The wee monkeys don't know what to do with me. :)
Kilts for Templars <tm> - Our mission is to replace the ancient Greek toga worn by the Templar with a kilt. It fits the theme of Wraeclast better, and it fits the voice of the Templar.
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This skill's damage was a little bit low even back before the mana reservation system, and that's if you combined it with three increased damage support gems (which have also since been nerfed). As it is, the damage is totally awful and the percentage mana reservation makes it impossible to combine it with any support gems apart from reduced mana cost.
This skill needs an enormous damage boost, hands down. Right now the only good thing about it is the +4% block chance, but that comes at so steep a cost it's frankly not worth it. Of course, I'm talking with respect to Chaos, so maybe that plays into it. Last edited by Strill on May 18, 2012, 11:50:38 PM
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need lowered mana reserved and increase % block chance with lvl up
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"yes I was going to say the same thing, although I don't know if the reservation needs to go down, since you can still use a support gem to reduce it a bit. It should maybe 1% every 3 levels or something, and 20-25% mana reservation. Fresh cakes for all occasions. Delivery in 30 eons or less Call 1-800-DOMINUS Remember - 'Dominus Delivers' Last edited by Xapti on May 20, 2012, 5:51:36 PM
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I'll comment only on the visuals:
I wish the effect was based off the geometry of the equipped shield for several reasons: * Effect is big and bright and hides one's own gear. * Effect looks identical on every build right? It would be more unique if based of the geometry of the shield, while at the same time not "hiding" completely one's own gear since it's based off it. I'm not a "minmaxer" type of gamer so for me these issues mean I don't use these skills. I don't care since I can use something else good enough. The effect is GREAT, don't get me wrong. I just wish it had more variety. I enjoy seeing my character's appearance change over time rather than lugging around the same effect all the time to benefit from the aura's bonuses. | |
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This is one of those skill gems that does not benefit the class that generally gets them as a reward, this case witches. If you have a build that uses mana more actively in combat, the 25% mana reserve will stop you from using this. The drawback outweighs the benefits, and the benefits aren't that hot anymore. However with a marauder or templar, this skill is more appealing even tho' I think it might scales horribly.
" I was thinking of Iron Reflexes on the passive skill tree: evasion converted to armour. I just don't like this on a witch at all in it's current form, but it doesn't stop me from trying because I like the way it looks. |
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Any dev's have input on this gem? Maybe reasons why Mana reserved is so high?
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I am using it as a evasion/armor/block duelist and it seems to work okay. The mana cost for just 4% block is outrageous though. The lightning damage is negligible for almost every scenario that doesn't spec for lightning and elemental damage.
Suggestions: 1. Turn this into a strength gem 2. Make the % block increase slightly through leveling 3. Turn the lightning damage return into increased block recovery or % defense / % evasion of shield 4. Make the quality of the gem modify #3 5. Change this skill to a duration skill and heavily reduce the mana cost. | |
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this needs massive boosting to be useful, the above posters are correct; the mana cost does not justify the pitiful damage and shield block. graphics are awesome though.
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