Incinerate

i don't really get the hate for the spell.

i quite like it, i recently switched to it from fireball and the dps differance as well as the aoe is quite a big boost.

sure it has it downsides, mainly mp cost and stand still, but if it dodn't have those it would be ridicusly OP.

mana problem isn't that much for me, a 2%mana leech gem can cover it up till i get enough mana passives (still need like 7 levels and i would have an additional 60%mp regen and 36%max mana and i think it should be enough to remove the mana leech gem then)

as far as the standing still goes, just build more tanky i guess, i don't have problems facetanking most things atm (still merciless act1 though) and for the tougher/untankable things a fire witch can always use firetrap.

I would really love for the skill to have SOME crit.

I am a pure HP caster Marauder. So far, Im loving the skill. While using with the bloodmagic keystone, Im having no issues with its mana cost whatsoever.

will it freeze?
that is the question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4WUhR-CHUs

i dont use mana leech or reduced mana.
i use curse + penetration.
i can freeze.
if i have 2 cures with passive skill nodes or elemental gears, i can do more.
i saw there are very good nodes for shock than freeze. but i like freeze because of survivability.
all you need is penetration + elemental damage.

Well, finally managed to get to the point where my mana regeneration can outpace the consumption on the skill. Build (60% increased mana) with Sidhebreath (+29% mana regen), Deodre's Tenure (-20% cast speed), Iron Will (-19% cast speed), and Lv5 Clarity (5.7 Mana/second). So yeah, now the spell casts so slow that it takes 10 seconds to reach stage 3 and when it does, it does terrible damage to late act 2 normal monsters because the gem is level 2. At gem level 3, I can no longer sustain the skill. Naturally, my survivability is also in the gutter because I devoted so many passives into not having to pop a potion every 3 seconds, which goes well with a skill that requires facetanking.

And to top it off, I've found another problem. Stage 3 has a wide enough cone that the skill can no longer shoot through doors once it reaches stage 3. And if you or an enemy are standing next to an obstacle, I normally have to move and lose my stage in order to reposition myself so my spell will hit the archer standing there shooting me with impunity. The damn spell seems to even hit obstacles behind me sometimes.

And good luck dealing with certain mobs if you're trying to use incinerate. Vaal Constructs shooting chaos spells and Poison Arrow DoT mobs are particularly bad. Other mobs I can deal with through evasion and blocking (Edit: Except Vexing Archers: near-instant death to stand there incinerating while I'm cursed and being shot at by 7 of those). If I have to use a different spell to deal with certain enemies, I may as well ditch incinerate altogether. The only reason I'm using it right now is to test its effectiveness as a main attack from level 10, and I have to say that it is pretty terrible.

I'm going to be leveling a second incinerate gem as high as I can to see if it was the wrong choice to keep it at a low level for mana's sake, and I'm going to support the one I'm using with a Blind gem, which should prove quite effective. Still, I'll be surprised if the build stays viable after entering Act 3, and it'll be a huge pain to kill Vaal with it.

Edit: And then to waste more mana, you see enemies running up to you as you're casting, so you keep casting as they approach. When they get to you, they disappear because they were actually desynced because this game's netcode and movement prediction are the shittiest shit ever.

Edit: As far as I'm concerned, a build is no longer viable once I have to resort to avoiding most of the monsters in an area to prevent from being killed, so this build stopped being viable in the Vaal Ruins with the constructs, and then again in Pools and Streams where the game throws a dozen snakes at you at once. And then again with Vexing Archers. So Incinerate made it to the middle of Act 2 normal. Given the state of the game, this should come as a surprise to nobody.

"

StarlightGamer wrote:

Well, finally managed to get to the point where my mana regeneration can outpace the consumption on the skill. Build (60% increased mana) with Sidhebreath (+29% mana regen), Deodre's Tenure (-20% cast speed), Iron Will (-19% cast speed), and Lv5 Clarity (5.7 Mana/second). So yeah, now the spell casts so slow that it takes 10 seconds to reach stage 3 and when it does, it does terrible damage to late act 2 normal monsters because the gem is level 2. At gem level 3, I can no longer sustain the skill. Naturally, my survivability is also in the gutter because I devoted so many passives into not having to pop a potion every 3 seconds, which goes well with a skill that requires facetanking.

29% mana regen is really small.
i can use incinerate (12 mana cost) timelessly with 47.7 mana regen per sec. i use ish 25% mana regen rings, shield, amulet + clarity.

Here's an alternative build I could have used for the same points: >Click<. That gets +60% mana regeneration instead of +24% mana and +10 mana. I went with the mana instead of mana regeneration because having higher base mana gives some regen on its own and having a higher pool would let me use a higher level of Clarity.

Whether that was the right choice was anybody's guess. Even if I went the other direction and regen ended up being better, I still wouldn't be durable enough to stand around taking damage to kill things. Unless the regen was so much better that I could get rid of all of the +mana nodes and end up with a build like this: >Click< and still manage to use incinerate well. But I somehow doubt 60% mana regen and a lower Clarity level would trump 60% increased mana and a higher Clarity level.

I guess I could try it, but I can't get enough respec points to switch to the other tree. I guess I could twink myself and quickly steamroll act 1, but I figure I'll just be disappointed once I try again. Yeah, disappointment, disappointment, and more disappointment.

"

sirianstar wrote:

the thing about 80% MORE damage each stage is very alluring

1st stage= base damage
2nd stage= 80% MORE (180% base)
3rd stage= 80%x80% MORE (324% base)
4th stage= 80x80x80 MORE (583,2% base)

so with manaleech or lifeleech (for bloodmagic builds) it could bypass the high mana cost.


there is only one 2 problems:

you have to stand still (really, this part is what i hate more9

and it doesnt seem to be so "fun" as a skill.


with then new unique ES chest you could reach some really awkward fking high damage
with Pain attunement and righteous fire.

with PA= 4th stage = 758,16% base

with PA and RF= 4th stage= 1372% base (considering an RF lvl 18 with 81% more spelldamage)

throw inside 30% increase to Buffs for more ridiculous numbers.


that's ridiculously high.

And you forget 20% damage effectiveness.

lvl 20 RF + Inner Force = 1.9*1.3 = 2.47

0.2*1.8*1.8*1.8*1.3*2.47 = 3.75~ = 375%.

FP + GMP + PA + RF = 1*0.5*1.3*2.47 = 1.61 x5 = 805%

While incinerate attacks faster for overall more DPS at stage 4, you're better off just sticking to FP, which you can actually kite with without any silly charge-up.

I'm going to have to try this using a decoy totem

Cast totem
Nuke mobs while they attack it.

Okay, so I erased the character and am back to level 22 with a different build: >Click<. More health, capped resists, and 20.7 regen per second, so pretty much better in every way (except I don't have enough mana to run Tempest Shield now).

20.7 regen is enough to sustain a level 1 incinerate with only Sadida's, coming to (100/16)x4 = 24 - 20% = 20 mana per second.

I can now keep up with incinerate when using 5 mana with Sadida's and Iron Will, coming to 19.06 mana per second. So I can level it up to 5 instead of 2. I'm close to being able to keep up with 6 mana cost incinerate.

You know, it's a real shame they moved the Mana Floes group into the center of the Duelist starting area, because that would have really come in handy in its previous position.

"

i can use incinerate (12 mana cost) timelessly with 47.7 mana regen per sec.

You must be using Sadida's and Iron Will for that, because normally a 12 mana cost incinerate would use 75 mana per second, but it would come out to 45.75 with those.

Seems i forgot in my previous post that ignites cant stack. Whoops! Looks like ignites completely worthless on incinerate after all. Not much else to say about the spell for now.

I do think we need a fire spell similar to freezing pulse and spark, something with a direct attack + low cast time that allows quick kiting and fast paced gameplay but is generally less effective at longer range.