General Gem Discussion

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CommodoX wrote:

Cleave compared to Groundslam / Sweep is so bad ....
GS/Sweep works with maces, so you can perma-stun most enemies with some passive skills and Sweep does 360° damage and Groundslam is a ranged attack with meele weapons.

With cleave, I have only a 120°? degree damage radius and can't stun and I have to meele = less survability.
Where's the reason to take Cleave at all? Mostly everybody in the marauder forum takes 2h-mace with Sweep + Groundslam for that reasons.

cleave is for duel wielders. it adds both weapons together instead of alternating weapons.

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soul4hdwn wrote:

cleave is for duel wielders. it adds both weapons together instead of alternating weapons.

And which AOE-skill do I use with 2Hand-axes and swords????

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Vipermagi wrote:

Cleave can Stun, just like every other attack...

Yes, I described it bad. 2h-maces have "reduced stun threshold", so they're better for stunning then axes.

And Cleave compared to Sweep looses due to only 1/3 of attack angel.
And Cleave compared to Ground Slam looses due to directly melee VS. ranged melee = less survability.

Skill Gems .. and Stat Thresholds.

I'm able to find the stats necessary for level 65+ armor and weapons, but I have not been able to determine what stats are required for high level gems.

For Example:
With my bow based ranger, I need 212 Dex for the a Harbinger bow.
I need 95 Strength for Triumphant Lamellar, or 191 Strength for the Glorious Plate.


But I can't find the baseline for things like the support skill "chain" and I certainly don't have enough data points to know if Stat requirements for gems are linear or exponential.

Playing with numbers on the passive tree, I can get a marauder above 500 strength. I suspect this may be excessive for top level gems.

Anyone have have some range guidelines?

Thanks,
Nodor

EDIT: Found the answer.

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Mark_GGG wrote:

Cleave has it's place

Then please describe this place and the role it plays better than Sweep or Ground Slam.

Role it plays better than Sweep: can be used with one-handed weapons.

Role it plays better than Ground Slam: can be used with swords and axes.

Role it plays better than both: can be used while dual wielding to strike with both weapons.

Tadaaaa.


On a personal level, I can't stand Ground Slam's AoE shape. I have to constantly reposition myself to properly hit mobs with it, while with Cleave I just hack away. So it also offers a nice alternative in that regard.