Crackling Lance

Lvl 93 Elementalist Crackling lance here.
was first in xp for a few days at this league start.
it's not my first attempt at the spell so i already had experience with it but decided to share feedback if it can help dev to make new skill or reworking skills to come in a better shape.

Here is my Pob for those interested since i got some Pm from poe ninja about the build too lately : https://pastebin.com/8RSpXjPx

Overall the spell looks really good but is way to clunky to be recommanded.

First problem come from the innate Aoe of the spell (that can't be scaled in anyway outside helmet enchant btw).
It's a cone in front of you of great range but quite narrow.
the clear is extremly bad on it's own and make open field map a nightmare to play. only toxic sewer feels good with the base spell so my solution was stormgift + inpulsa it's a bit sad for the skill to be decent in clear to have 2 unique like these mandatory.

Second problem : 3+ intensify stack laser beam is so thin that it can almost not hit more than 2 little ennemy side by side and since ennemies move really quickly in this game aiming is almost impossible but the skill have some sort of auto aim that lock onto a target and follow him even when your cursor is not anymore on the target.

It make the skill playable at 3+ intensify stack but can be quite annoying sometimes because the auto targeting can screw you up and you have to stop casting for a while to unlock the target and decide to go on another this situation happen when there is for exemple ennemy that render allies immune to damage and having to do this trick to be able to swap focus is not that pleasing.

Then last problem come from self casting in general : you are locked in place in a game where movement is one of the best defence because just moving allow you to avoid 80% of the incoming attack.
This spell have really high mana cost and faster casting is so much inferior to spell echo that it is not really a decent option but spell echo is clunky to play too because you can't cancel the second animation with a dash or anything which doesnt feel good when you want to dodge things.


Damage wise the spell is good but all the other aspect are not that pleasing outside of it's look.
And some of those problems especially the ones with self casting + spell echo are quite generic and should really be improved for the game to feel better. animations are too old and should be changed + animation cancel should be a thing in general.

I agree a 100% with everything Arcanist_ said just above. I have a similar build https://pastebin.com/jyKLLX9R

I can do all content although Ultimatum challenges are very rippy. I would need to find some life on block for extra defenses.

I would add that the beam is so narrow that sometimes it looks like I should be hitting some enemies but it doesn't hit. I think that this could be solved by adding tendrils like the ones Divine Ire has.

I've been playing it as my second build in Scourge. The big issues mentioned above are still applicable. It's a very pretty skill, and the intensify effect is somewhat interesting, but unfortunately, it is pretty bad at both clearing (AoE is too narrow) and single-target (have to stand still much too long). It's good for a handful of single-target cases, but anything in an open area or anything remotely dangerous it is just sub-par.

Still, very pretty :)

With the modified defenses of Scourge, getting something viable built is rough. You need a ton of skill points for defense, also mana, also mana-cost reduction, also damange and probably crit.

Only three players made it to level 97+ by late in the Scourge league.

Because it is both different and beautiful, it would be fun to give this skill a look-see for an update. Otherwise it will just languish.

Crackling Lance is a skill I loved from the very beginning, but executing it felt like a weak version of Arc. It has a great mechanic, but at the same time the most punishing mechanic in a game where when you stand still for too long, you're basically dead. It is a great ability in levelling or in early maps, but the higher you go the more dangerous monsters and bosses become, thus relying even further on the intensity stacks that only derive from standing still and not using movement skills, in order deal more damage, yet get dealt more as well.

My suggestions:

A. Intensity now does only increase the shock effect on the enemy target and zaps attack speed as well as cast speed from the enemy. Meaning you steal a portion of their stats for a short duration while you stand still. This will move the need to make Crackling Lance the most powerful (and unfortunately the most viable) it can be at full intensity stacks while also punishing you for re-position in a boss fight. The shock effect on the boss is snapshotted by the max amount of intensity you have, meaning you can move around freely unpunished. But the core identity of stacking intensity while standing still should still be important, so the AS/CS steal will allow to add to your lightning fast assaults and help in preventing the enemy from overturning you.

B. Add a new skill that is similar to Mirage Archer = Mirage Mage. Mirage Mage will hover above you and executes the skill that you last used at the nearest target. With this you can double-dip into Crackling Lance (and other abilities) and Mirage Mage should build the intensity stacks for you and use that to increase its damage. A neat interaction could be that if two Crackling Lance hit each other at the same time, it will deal even more damage.

"

Ydoum wrote:

The fact that totems don't benefit from the in-built intensify just makes it even worse.

I just tested this as well, sadly totems cannot currently benefit from Intensity.
Which is actually kind of lame, as the only skill (currently) that gains bonuses from Intensity is Crackling Lance.

The fact that totems never move means they should benefit from gaining Intensity, yet they cannot.

Would have been fun to play a 4-5 totem build using this if it worked.