Smite

Meh, Smite feels great for speed clearing moderately difficult enemies, on up to T16 maps, although it is lackluster versus single target, it still provides better damage in that scenario when compared to the nerfed to oblivion Static Strike...

These days it's harder and harder for me to consider the final push from 99 to 100, because my lightning themed dual wielding RT Jugg simply has no more single target boss disposing skill...

@#%& that!

And yes, I'm too stuborn to use Ice Crash and/or Consecrated Path + Molten Strike...

Both Smite and Static Strike are out of place and deal too little single target damage, and Lightning Strike simply has the Vaal option as a sizeable boost (at least that is better than nothing)...

"1k pretzel eating meme balance team" seems a description more and more accurate these days...

Bring back the namelocking skills to single target damage output sufficient for all content please, TencentGGG...

I had a mid 60's Shadow with a free respec lying around a little while ago, So I decided to try out Smite, and see if I could do something with it that wasn't the normal "I'm going to have minions minions minions all the time!"

While I'm having a blast, and I'm planning to post thorough feedback, I should state that I'm not that far into mapping. I'm going through T5 Maps, and still trying to sort out some better gear. So far, I feel that I can speed clear as well as I could with my Frost Blades Ascendant around the same time with better survivability. Evasion / Dodge / Block seems to be a little more spikey in damage intake, but harder to actually "get dead". I have more time after a spike of damage to get stabalized than I did solely relying on IR + Armor / Flasks / Leech. I've come at the defenses for this character in much the same way that I did in WoW, when thinking about how to get a tank ready.

The only thing that I've yet to understand about how Smite works, is that there have been times that I have kept the AOE Lightning Buff for considerably longer than 4 seconds after a melee hit, while there are other mobs in range. I found this in a Trial this morning, when I had nudged myself into a corner waiting to time up some traps near a fire room. I had just melee'd down some of the spawning skellies, and after nudging myself in the corner, the AoE from Smite kept zapping more skellies as they spawned. Not sure if it was a bug, or if I missed how the aura can perpetuate itself.

Anyway, onto the setup as it is currently. What I'm wearing is what I had lying around the stash, plus a 6L I bought on the cheap.

Gear:


Passive Tree

As you can clearly see, this is not top flight gear, but it's working so far, and my plan is to keep working on it, and see how far it can go.

My "idea" for this build, was that I was going to work on pumping up the lightning damage, looking to get the most bang out of all of the Damage elements of Smite. Not just the melee strike but also the AoE. So far, the AoE is a significant contributor to Clear Speed, even if it doesn't help on Bosses (that don't have adds)

I have a couple of other weapons lying around that I've tried, but this one has been the best so far DPS wise, sporting T1 Speed and Lightning Damage. I'll still keep looking for other swords to upgrade to, but so far, nothing has dropped that is close.

Other weapons that I've tried that I thought would have a chance to compete DPS wise:



How I play.
Whirling Blades into packs, trying to get centered, and then start Stabbing anything close. The AoE will mow down a mob. Rinse and Repeat.

So far, I haven't differentiated for Magic / Rare packs. Except maybe I have to pop flasks to stabilize, or grab more DPS.

I do not use Summon Skel. Only Vaal Skel. I'll use it for Essence Packs, Boxes, Shrines, Bosses, Elder Portals, Beyond, Abyss, and what not. The aura is definitely a noticeable increase during these times. You want to try and stay centered in your Vaal Skels as much as possible (but don't be dumb) to ensure that you are effectively clearing everything down.

What's next in testing.
Higher Tier Maps. So far, the only content that I know I won't be able to down with Smite as a Shadow is Atziri. I don't think that I would be able to position myself during the split phase to ensure that no lightning strikes hit the mirror, and I'm pretty sure that a Lightning Strike on the mirror would end me.

Character Stats (close, I don't have the game open in front of me right now)
HP: 4250
EV: 49%
Dodge: 40%
Block: 24%
Resists: Over Cap
Accuracy: 88% (so far, I haven't noticed that it matters, since the Lightning will strike, even if you stab air)
Crit: 19%
DPS, no charges, buffed in H/O: 30K
DPS, with max Charges: 54K

"

shoju wrote:

Higher Tier Maps. So far, the only content that I know I won't be able to down with Smite as a Shadow is Atziri. I don't think that I would be able to position myself during the split phase to ensure that no lightning strikes hit the mirror, and I'm pretty sure that a Lightning Strike on the mirror would end me.

That's fine as far as I can tell (killed Atziri with Smite a couple times and I am not reflect immune).
Choose the clone on the other side, and the strikes do not hit the mirror clone.

Would it be possible to make so that the lightning bolt from Smite would fall only on enemies that are in the same direction as our character is facing?

I ask this, because it's very annoying when you use Smite on a boss, but the lightning bolt will fall on an enemy that's behind my character...

I'm not sure if it's a bug or design, but I was testing Smite with the recently introduced unique March of the Legion and the blessing support shows that it's correctly linked.

However, behaviorally the Smite Aura buff does not last for 11.4 seconds, instead it only lasts the 4 seconds, is the mention of base duration on the gem supposed to be taking precedence in this case?

"

Jess_GGG wrote:

Post your feedback for this skill here!

Make sure you concisely state your character build, level, and other complimenting abilities you have when you talk about a skill - The more we know about your character, the better we can understand your feedback.

So the lightning strike dost not count as a Melee Hit according to wiki and it does not apply fortify or rage stack from "rage support". I wonder if affixes/passives/supports like "25% increased Melee Critical Strike Chance" / "Melee Physical Damage Support" are affecting lightning strike or not. Dunno how to properly test it.

Should i consider lightning part as "not having melee get tag"?

Hello Jess_GGG, GGG Operating Team and Community ,

I have an Idea to Change smite to make it feel better, without actually changing damage values, just better in my opinion.

How About making smite a 2 step skill, a Little bit like "Earthquake" mixed with "Storm Call" but still "Smite".

strike 1 (Initial Hit): Low Damage and area of Effect and applying the Aurabuff (interesting for auraplayers)effect.

strike 2 (aftershock): high Damage and Area of Effect. but the hittime after the marker was set, is based on the base attack Speed and have an attack Speed multiplier of 50% (or just standard Values(less computing power required)).

function:
when attacking, an strike like now strikes and setting markers on the Ground based on the times it Targets enemys (normal 1 with ancestreal call 3) per attack. like "Storm Call", and then an BIG "Aftershock" in the secondphase like from "Earthquake".


Skill Lore:
"You called the Storms, it branded your foes, but now you know let it go."

PVP:
This would be a skill mixed with "Earthquake" and "Storm Call", and It would be also good for pvp because People could escape the markers on the Ground.

Conclusion:
as well as that with an attack multiplier of 100% this skill would feel much smoother.

$Micro Transactions$:
would have better potential for a lot of Micro Transactions with great Animations.
$$Cash Ideas$$
1. aftershock a big first out of thunder errupting into the Ground
2. BIG Lightnings
3. Lightnings in a lot of Colors
4. if this would done you would not Need to Name me or pay me ist a free Idea and I would be happy if you guys would do it. :D

Kind regards
JeckNoTree

So, ive reached lvl87 with dual Ichimoji Champion build (trying to find out if it is possible to make these two into endgame setup without using impale+flat phys)

Because Smite adds 'buff' damage, that seemed to be a nice choice.

Build.. works somewhat, but it is not yet (and wont ever be) end-setup as im sick of this skill already

Gear:



~5k life, quite defensive despite low numbers thanks to +max resist, Rumi's, Fortify+effect, 5800life at lvl 90 planned


Skill:

1) Absolutely mandatory to use +strike source. be it gloves, annointment or Ancestral Call. Without it the skill is 100% garbage, not worth even looking at

2) Leveling 'as Smite' wasnt that bad. Ive picked all travel nodes first so lacked damage at around 40-50 but after damage passives kicked in things straightened up.

3) Early game setup: Smite + AC + whatever. AC is absolutely mandatory. After that you should prioritize hit damage, not area damage. this skill has serious issues scaling single target damage

4) Skill is pre-made to be used with 'explody chest'. Be it Impulsa or Conqueror's. This skill doesnt shotgun despite pretending to do (with visuals) so you are very frequently left with stragglers that slow your clear considerably. The main culprit is 'enemies you hit with your strike wont be hit with area damage' - i do not know why this stuff exists. EQ doesnt have similar restriction neither Molten Strike.

5) Damage effectiveness is low because of that. You deal just half of the damage you 'see' as the visuals are as much flashy as they are deceiving.

6) Scaling this skill is a pain. Ofc ignoring various ultra-expensive corruptions (+2 aura/duration skills DOES benefit Smite, look out for that!) you have 5 links (as +Maim is not really an option becuse you are going to convert everything into lightning anyway and that results in minor +10% more). These 5 links have to include EDWA, Lightning Pen (unless Inquisitor) as mandatory. POB (even with the identiti's fork) seems to be wildly confused by Smite mechanics and presents weird choices.

7) Area hits not being 'melee' is a huge '???'. It might be technical but it makes already sub-par skill even worse due to quirky scaling. This part is 100% unnecessary. It doesnt matter if that is just 'wording'. POE is complex enough without this kind of obfuscation.

8) Range with swords is good. AC/+strike repeats frequently hit enemies at the edge of my screen. It is quite insane (with swords). Short-ranged weapon types might not be that lucky. +range is of importance, same as lvl21 as it gives not only damage (duh) but that +1 range and radius. It makes a difference

9) Skills that mix conversion with 'flat added' (this time via buff) are strictly worse that pure phys equivalents. This game simply cannot handle such mixed scaling and ALWAYS rewards all-in solutions. Prepare to suffer from the Fear of Missing out on Efficiency (FOMOOE).


Final note: dual Ichmonji is NOT viable endgame setup if not exploiting +added phys + impale. 20% buff effect is serious tho, 250 pdps in 3.9 is just not enough (if not exploiting 2aps + flat phys + impale)

Strike skill: 8/10
Generic skill: 2/10
- annoying visuals not matching what is happening on the screen
- lots of stragglers resulting in annoying gameplay or forcing you into explody chest (and that chest is a build on its own so why bother with Smite in the first place)
- weird scaling forcing you into annoying inefficiencies. this applies to all +flat elemental skills
- sound.. is annoying, extremely annoying.
- coverage is 'ok' with AC or +2strikes and amazing with both but the point about stragglers still stands

will get that into 90-91 and never touch again. even with Saviour and 450pdps sword it is still sub-par clear and weird single target scaling. and that noise.. just no.

So, Smite is definitely one of my favorite abilities in the game. I'm always creating a character of some form to see what capabilities it has, and which ascendancies seem to go well with it. However, with the advent of the new cluster jewels, there's one that feels extremely bad to use with this skill - Lone Messenger. Largely, this is because Smite is disabled by this skill, since it has an Aura tag. However, it should be noted that Smite is not (as far as I'm concerned) primarily an Aura skill, unlike, say, Hatred or Wrath. The aura is conditional, but unlike other auras, it's also primarily a damage ability. It might feel better to consider just disabling the aura from Smite while using Lone Messenger, but I don't know, as using the ability kind of relies on the aura itself, too.