Arc

How do we fix arc so that it's not simply a spell used soley for the chance of shock-stacking?

Increase base crit somewhat?
Increase min damage with 5 per gem level (50 extra base dps at gem lvl 20)?
Make it so that if Arc cannot arc to another target after it's primary target, it hits the primary target another two times with a 50% damage penalty)

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manaa3 wrote:

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Catchafire2000 wrote:

I've a level 72 dual arc totem with all the bells and whistles. I've a quality lvl 19 gem, chance to shock out the fucking ass, lightning damage, and all. Two curses and lightning penetration. All it does is tickles the boss when your in groups and you can't control where the electricity is going...

At best it is an average to below average skill, whether being a dual totem set up or not. The shock stacks simply don't matter if you can't deal damage.

Totem deals 50% less Damage
Arc : Damage effectiveness --> 50%

Use another spell.

Spark would like to have a word with you..

I think a problem of lightning spells is that looks like they are balanced around 3 shock stacks.. So they end up being more a supportive tool than everything else. It's very rare to see ppl using them as a main spell (outside totems).
Maybe they should nerf shock again to something like 25 or 20% and make lightning spells better by themselves (increasing the base crit for example).

As for arc it's a bad option even for totems. But arc can be good for 2-3 targets, why design a skill that's good for 2-3 target only? =(
how to fix arc? ppl already gave tons of good ideas. I loved the chain idea (9 targets), but it would be nice to have a way to build arc for single target too.

I hope the devs take another look at this skill. Right now, it just looks pretty.

I took some skills people say sucked and made a decent build out of them. It's a dual-weild Scion I call it 'The Fists of Lightning'. I use Reave with Cast on Melee Kill (just switched it out for Cast on Critical Strike in Merci) and two Arc gems. It's super effective. I use 2 Ungil's Gauches for block chance and shock stacks. I'm lvl 54 and my average item level is around 28 or so and I only have one death on the character from carelessness (and the Bear Trap/Ethereal Knives Exile). It's a very strong build, Reaving into a pack of white mobs results in a spectacular explosion of ice and lightning. Good stuff. I might submit it for build of the week but only if I can level her up in time.

^ we already know that melees/archers are able use ARC much better like spellcasters with good crit setup and CoCs...

well maybe they'll introduce a support gem that lets spells proc melee skills...

I am currently lvl 70 with my triple arc totem build. Soloing is fine most of the time. Bosses like Kole, Vaal and Merveil, the General are no problem at all, but Merciless Piety was impossible for me. I won't dare trying Merciless Dominus solo. In everything Cruel went fine though.

What really bothers me is that you can't decide which target a totem shall attack. It's sometimes impossible to kill a rare with that "allies cannot die" aura. Same goes for Necromancers or "summon skeleton" nemesis with life regen. There should be some kind of priorization for that special combinations.

In addition, totems should get even more survivability. Add new mods with +% totem life to amulets, rings and belts or so. And a new support gem with +% life/phys dmg reduction.

I use all the passives from the left side of the skill tree, own for +25 % life and they often die so fast that it is (almost) impossible to kill mob packs like mentioned above... with life leech and/or life regen they are even worse.

And this is still merciless... I don't want to know how hard it will be in maps.

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jna wrote:

I think a problem of lightning spells is that looks like they are balanced around 3 shock stacks.. So they end up being more a supportive tool than everything else. It's very rare to see ppl using them as a main spell (outside totems).
Maybe they should nerf shock again to something like 25 or 20% and make lightning spells better by themselves (increasing the base crit for example).

As for arc it's a bad option even for totems. But arc can be good for 2-3 targets, why design a skill that's good for 2-3 target only? =(
how to fix arc? ppl already gave tons of good ideas. I loved the chain idea (9 targets), but it would be nice to have a way to build arc for single target too.

I hope the devs take another look at this skill. Right now, it just looks pretty.

The effect of the Shock Status Ailment is super strong and you don't have to spend point in the tree to get it.


Arc is easy to use.
Arc got 10% chance to Shock enemies and you can increase that with Q.
Arc hit 3 targets and it's almost instant.

If you want a good burning effect, you must go for it.
I mean you must have some decent crit dmge, you must use a support gem and put some point in the tree for it. It has a huge price and Shock may still be better because any dmge got an instant bonus.

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manaa3 wrote:

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jna wrote:

I think a problem of lightning spells is that looks like they are balanced around 3 shock stacks.. So they end up being more a supportive tool than everything else. It's very rare to see ppl using them as a main spell (outside totems).
Maybe they should nerf shock again to something like 25 or 20% and make lightning spells better by themselves (increasing the base crit for example).

As for arc it's a bad option even for totems. But arc can be good for 2-3 targets, why design a skill that's good for 2-3 target only? =(
how to fix arc? ppl already gave tons of good ideas. I loved the chain idea (9 targets), but it would be nice to have a way to build arc for single target too.

I hope the devs take another look at this skill. Right now, it just looks pretty.

The effect of the Shock Status Ailment is super strong and you don't have to spend point in the tree to get it.


Arc is easy to use.
Arc got 10% chance to Shock enemies and you can increase that with Q.
Arc hit 3 targets and it's almost instant.

If you want a good burning effect, you must go for it.
I mean you must have some decent crit dmge, you must use a support gem and put some point in the tree for it. It has a huge price and Shock may still be better because any dmge got an instant bonus.

actualy if you want a shock debuff that lasts more than a split second you have to dump a few nodes into shock duration.

This needs a buff. Not a damage buff, not a crit/cast speed buff. What it really needs is for it to hit targets in between chains. (Think of Searing bond for example.)
This would alleviate its poor low end damage and low crit chance without needed it to be rebalanced.

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CNKalmah wrote:

This needs a buff. Not a damage buff, not a crit/cast speed buff. What it really needs is for it to hit targets in between chains. (Think of Searing bond for example.)
This would alleviate its poor low end damage and low crit chance without needed it to be rebalanced.

Arc chains to the closest target, you realize that right? There are no targets in between.