Arc

Again, your treating them as if they are in a bubble - you are forgetting about support options.
Ok, enough squabbling - time for something that might be constructive.

How about, additional chaining like you guys want, with the addition that any chain unused (because there are no valid targets in range) deals its damage to the last target it hit?

How would this play out? Well, with say 6 chains we could then assume that 7 hits worth of damage will be guaranteed (although with Arc's damage range this could still be quite random in damage done).

Relative to other spells (which have aoe), Arc would fare best at a low number of targets rather than at a high number of targets. In particular, the additional change would also make it good for single-targets.

I could see this being useful - have an aoe spell for say 5+ targets (that are grouped) and use Arc for targets fewer than this or if the targets are scattered.

Edit: 7 hits on a single-target might be a little difficult to balance. Therefore, instead of being guaranteed that any remaining chains will deal their damage to the last target hit we could make it a chance. For example, if this chance is 50%, roughly 4 hits worth of damage would be dealt to a single target (first hit + half of the 6 chains).
Last edited by Aimeryan on Feb 15, 2014, 10:11:11 AM
I like the idea of it hitting the same target if there are less than the number of chains, and also reducing the mana cost by a lot.

And maybe chain should be reduced to 150% mana increase.
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I don't really like the idea of a skill relying on a rare to find support in order to be of any real use and ultimately having no reason to not ever use that support on the skill. Even if chain wasn't a rare drop, it's a very lame compromise. Skills should be good even without the perfect support setup.
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Last edited by Wooser69 on Feb 20, 2014, 11:11:15 AM
"
Fun fact: this is the second most viewed thread in the skill feedback board. Ethereal knives is top, and I bet a lot of that came before the skill was any good.

I hope GGG are aware of this fact and what it entails.


Cyclone has 90,000 views.
It's worth noting that +2 maps are a dangerous thing.
They can cause players to get out of their depth -
playing maps that are too hard for the items they currently have. Herp Derp.
F it, I'm just going to make a corrupt Arc build in new league.
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SigmaBlack wrote:
Ok, so here's the thing: I have tried in the past to do an Arc-based build because I believed (and keep believing nowadays too) that Arc is a seriously cool skill, fun to play and even fun to watch in the screen when it's taking place.

However, I met some difficulties in the process of reaching a high enough level: How could I do to make it hit more, if the skill itself is labeled in a manner that doesn't allow it to proc with most of the support gems that allow diversity to Spells? Because Arc IS a spell, and as such, it's possibilities are limited.

Of course, one could think that having Arc in a 6L linked with Added Cold Damage, Added Chaos Damage, Chain, Mana Leech & Elemental Proliferation/Faster Casting (for example) would be a sweet selection that would reward a high enough base damage to keep going with it. But that's it.

Apart from that, Arc can not be linked to anything else to reward it as a "valuable" or competitive "high-end" skill because (it is possible; I just mean it's anywhere convenient), you take a single one of those supports out, and it losses it's complete usefulness. Don't even think of taking out Mana Leech though, or at the 3rd cast you'll be deplete of Mana.

So... What would be the gist in here?

Remember the mechanics of Arc, that it bounces from enemy to enemy inside a determined radius?

And I thought: "Well... If skills like Infernal Blow have the tag 'AoE' even though the explosion effect is secondary to the skill strike, why not add it to Arc as well? After all, the skill does propague inside a radius, so..."

That would do the trick. It would still be Arc, not another Freeze Pulse or Flame Totem (regarding it's propagation), but it would be plausible for it to be affected by supports like Concentrated Effect, Increased Area of Effect and so on. Not only that, but if it would be supported also by Elem. Prolif. (for example), that effect would also benefit from the increased reach of the effect.

I think it would be a nice thing to do, at least getting a review of the behaviour of the skill so you can think other possibilities to it, instead of having it tied to just one build-up of gems.


I know it's not the most clever line of thinking and won't save anyone from having to think a way to work around the idea, but it's the content of a thread I made in Suggestions unknowing of this thread in here.

I would like to see something on the line of improvement of Arc, be it my idea or any other that can do improve it's functioning. As of now, it just doesn't feel all that good it could achieve.

Cheers people :)
Making the seek range modifiable with Radius multipliers doesn't make Conc an attractive option btw. It's still not Area Damage, so you're only screwing your seek radius for no reason. Lightning Arrow already does this.

And really, if an AoE is unaffected by Conc, who gives a shit. Inc. AoE doesn't get you any Damage and would be incredibly situational - something you put in a six-link maybe but nothing else.

It's a nifty idea, but I fear it would accomplish approximately nothing.

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I also chuckled when you proposed using Chain, because it reduces Arc's damage potential; it's a really bad Support for Arc. Crits, on the other hand... *shrug*
Last edited by Vipermagi on Feb 24, 2014, 9:38:13 PM
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Vipermagi wrote:
Making the seek range modifiable with Radius multipliers doesn't make Conc an attractive option btw. It's still not Area Damage, so you're only screwing your seek radius for no reason. Lightning Arrow already does this.

And really, if an AoE is unaffected by Conc, who gives a shit. Inc. AoE doesn't get you any Damage and would be incredibly situational - something you put in a six-link maybe but nothing else.

It's a nifty idea, but I fear it would accomplish approximately nothing.

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I also chuckled when you proposed using Chain, because it reduces Arc's damage potential; it's a really bad Support for Arc. Crits, on the other hand... *shrug*


Agreed.

---

I thought of a possible change they could make to the Chain (Support)|Arc interaction.

First, make the less damage into less projectile damage like others said. Second, double Chain gem's base chaining-distance. Third, make the Chain gem have a modifier that reduces all chaining-distances by 50%.

This would mean no change when Chain supports any other skill, but Chain supporting Arc would, instead of suffering the damage penalty, *suffer* from reduced chaining-distance. It would be similar to Concentrated Effect with other skills, but for Chain with Arc, essentially. It could mean the difference in some situations; enough to perhaps say that it would not necessarily be an obvious support for Arc in all situations.

P.S. Would still like Arc to have a chance for remaining chains to damage the last target hit if the chains have no place to go.
Last edited by Aimeryan on Feb 25, 2014, 5:39:00 AM
Used a full respec in Standard to try an Arc selfcaster:

Upsides:
- You cam aim at the ground, good for kiting
- Shock stacks
- good single target/small group DPS with crit
- fun and unique spell
- Damage range (1-xxx): Arc can do e.g. 100 or 10,000 dps with a crit. A good roll takes off a good chunk of health from high hp uniques/rares, oneshots lesser stuff.


Downsides:
- Damage range (1-xxx): Arc can do e.g. 100 or 10,000 dps with a crit. With a few unlucky dps and crit rolls, you can get swarmed quickly. You either need another spell for large groups or invest a lot into defences. Cast speed is also a must imo to roll more often.
- 4% base crit chance: Crit is what makes Arc really good, it can kill stuff quickly and apply shock stacks.
- Base mana cost: My 5l Arc needs 90 Mana per cast. Without EB, it is very hard to get enough mana regen.

What justifies the downsides? Both crit chance and mana costs are huge downsides on their own, together they are way too much imo for a good, but far from OP, skill.

A friend who tried to make Arc work for a few months told me, that it is not competitive endgame with a non crit build. He gave up and switched to fireball before its buff cause it was better in almost every case in high maps. If this is true, the way to make it competitive is crit. With the low base crit, you need to invest a lot of passive points and some gear slots to crit. You also need mana and mana regen on gear and passives. That only leaves ES, as life would need too many nodes and conflicts with crit gear like Rat's Nest or Maligaro's. Without going Low life Shavs, you can only use Discipline and Clarity and maybe another 40% aura. This leaves you very vulnerable to bad dps and crit streaks.

With a Shavs, a good wand and shield, jewelry with high resists and mana regen, Arc becomes a good skill to use. But with this kind of gear, it should be close to OP imo, not merely good.






Last edited by Sa_Re on Feb 25, 2014, 10:06:38 AM

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