Dancing Strikes also has Rhythm. Fully speced Rhythm gets you 50% more damage to everything (not just DS) as well as 200% crit multi. With a +5 cost increase you can boost the Rhythm buff to 100% more to everything (not just DS).
DS also has 40% phys pen directly connected to its starting point. Connected to that node is a 1 point assured shadow dagger per hit. Give shadow daggers a try, its really good.
I didn’t wanted to point out specific routes/parts of the tree, because it probably is a bit off-topic, but you did certainly point out one of the directions iwas talking about, even through the Rhythm buff does give Dancing Strike a nice playstyle, where you can weave in other skills.
The physical penetration part you point out is one of the strongest penetrations in any skill tree.
Also Dancing Strikes has one specific node, which boost damage against rares/bosses by 75% (multipicative) for 5 points, which is insane
And you have the graceful arena which can give up to 40% more damage multiplier to your whole damage output as well.
Any of those skill tree paths or a combination of those, will make Dancing Strikes destroy bosses
I’ve been playing with dancing strikes for a while and I think it’s wonderful, but as Heavy and others have mentioned, it’s how you spec it. I have dancing strikes loaded for more AoE, damage, and a little defense as well (the nodes at the bottom are nice) and not just full-out damage. Could I do more damage with it? Probably. But my survivability is good and I can clear a very large area by bouncing around, which to me is worth the price of admission.
This is super OT, so please skip if you’re interested in flurry.
@Shadewe
Just wondering, but do you happen to recall how much +AoE you got before the AoE of dancing strikes started to feel good? I’m liking the skill, but coming from shadow cascade + sync strike clearing half the screen, it feels a bit lacking with only the default +30% in the skill tree.
@Heavy
How does the cooldown speed interaction with dancing strikes work by the way? Does it speed up actual animation speed as you bounce around?
The cooldown reduction speeds up Dancing Strikes (in the same way attack/cast speed affects most other skills). But due to the low cooldown Dancing Strikes has you do need something like a t5 cooldown affix to see any change.
Just wondering, but do you happen to recall how much +AoE you got before the AoE of dancing strikes started to feel good? I’m liking the skill, but coming from shadow cascade + sync strike clearing half the screen, it feels a bit lacking with only the default +30% in the skill tree.
What I use is the 3/3 AoE node, a lot of the Rhythm skills, some of the +AoE Dancing Strike (DS) glyphs (not full and not crazy good, just serviceable for now), and a lot of defense (I’m playing my BD tanky), throw down decoy and smoke screen, and bounce around. I try to embrace DS, not fight it, and in the smoke screen (where I have usually collected half the zone) I ‘flow’ for lack of a better word (going all around the place, not staying still, not focus targeting) with the strikes and things die reasonably quickly.
I haven’t tested it empirically but I think one of the tricks is having the defense to survive larger packs. If you tried to AoE every group individually (6-12 mobs?) it’d take a while (and personally I don’t find fighting like this too appealing because of…), but if you can get in, say, 5+ groups (30-70 mobs) things go much quicker but it also works better with how DS is designed re: moving around, small but constant AoE’s, and Rhythm.
I think a good rolled T3 is already enough. T4 Definitely is enough.
Because the way the game rounds down the cooldown.
@Vidya
The first -0.1 sec cooldown that you can achieve through that feels massively different.
So i can just recommend trying it out, it makes DS feel really smooth.
Yup, a min-roll t3 cooldown affix (9%) will get it down to 0.6s cooldown.
Reducing the cooldown by small amounts does make a big difference, but not because of the rounding, which only affects the tooltip.
The small changes are significant because the cooldown starts as soon as you use Dancing Strikes and there’s around a 0.18 second delay before the movement (reduced by attack speed) and the movement itself lasts about 0.4 seconds, so while a 0.1 sec cooldown reduction may only reduce the overall cooldown by around 14%, it’s reducing the time between the end of the movement and the skill coming off of cooldown by over 80% in many cases.
I slapped on a random CDR helm and it felt really different! Thanks for the tip, but no thanks for making the gear hunt even more painful now. 
That makes sense. I messed around with Rhythm and hated how quickly the stacks would just fall off between groups. I’ll try rounding up mobs! Thanks!
Ah, good to know.
So my T5 cd affix is not wasted.
You learn something everyday!
Ty for clarification.
Flurry is fine. I think cinder strike and dancing strikes are what needs help. I’d like dancing strikes to preferably double down a little harder on the mobility, with perhaps more range per activation or a interlaced buff system of cycling buffs like…first hit +one buff, second hit, another buff, third hit a different buff and so on.
Cinder strikes I havent looked at too much beyond the non-specced version but it never really registered on the radar as I knew flurry would be better for ailments and sync+shadow cascade seemed better for aoe.
Cinder strike is nice for ailments. You can convert global poison chance into ignite chance. You can easiely get ignite chance to 800% that way. It’s pretty funny but I think Flurry is better for every other dot applyment.
Cinder Strike is about oil coating -> you can get 20 stacks of oil coating with normal 200% attack speed gear.
So you get 20 * the buff you specc.
It also extremly strong in a sword and shild attack speed into throwing damage build, +20 fire throwing base damage is very huge bonus. Fire dagger, fire breating and flame alchimist are in build skills for this.
you still can use shuriken with shift or as shuiken shild, which gets +20 fire throwing damage from oil coating.
To get a understanding, shuriken bas damage is +16 physical base, and +15 lightning base(if skilled).
Cinder strike oil coating with 20 stacks are now +20 fire base.
In my opion, cinder strike is extremly strong in a throwing build as main carry, were the other throw attacks are cooldown attacks.
If you put 5 points in Coated Darts, that 20 stacks of Oil Coating will give +100 (5*20) flat throwing fire damage, not +20.
Flurry is just a general high attack speed move, its weakness is that it isn’t capable of cinder strikes giant 3rd hit damage(which can be INSANE), dancing strikes mobility or shadow cascades burst aoe.
Yeah, it’s really good for ailments.
i’d give it a 6/10
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