Namely about the fire infusion/overload. This appears to be a DPS nerf for your build overall. I ran the numbers and you do an average of:
-x1.55 DPS after 10 seconds
-x0.875 after 20s
-x1.1 after 30s
-x0.875 after 40s (every 20s multiple will have this avg)
-x1.01 after 50s
-x0.97 after 1m10s
-etc.
The longer you go, the more it becomes a nerf. This is especially noticeable on arena echoes and bosses, where the whole fight tends to last longer.
Is this a case of the item being good despite this? It does have a ncie cast speed boost, although not as good as an exalted, plus it has int+attunement which you donât get on catalysts. But it still seems like youâd be better off with a cast speed/fire damage exalted catalyst instead.
I missed it initially too; you want to avoid the mechanic not embrace it. If youâre a fire mono type build you get the version with cold and lightning, so neither ever triggers. The cast speed and other stats are the draw not the effect, but as long as youâre mono type and get the correct version itâs a non factor.
I see, I wasnât aware that they had different versions since I only have the 1 Iâm using.
But that means that youâre using it for the other effects then. And other than the chance of stacking cast speed mods as legendary, youâd still be better off with an exalted catalyst, I think. The attunement/intelligence bonus isnât bad, but not crucial, at least in my build.
Anyway, my doubts were cleared. Time to either farm it or some other catalyst.
Thanks.
The idea of the item is to swap between the elements.
When so you cast fire, the fire version starts count up for 10 seconds, and goes on a 20 second cooldown.
Then once the fire overload has triggered you deal almost no fire damage, and 10 seconds has passed, so you swap to cold(or lightning based on which version you are using) now you cast a cold spell, its 10 second counter counts up, when its finished it cold overloads you but 10 seconds have passed, and now the fire one is off cooldown again, and the cold has 10 seconds left on its cooldown, so the cycle repeats.
its very annoying to try and play around, but thats its intended mechanic.
For single element its pointless to use because there is imo, too much cooldown between the procs of the infusions even if you keep a secondary skill to remove the overload.
This unique is designed for a 2 different damage type build, using two different element âmain skillsâ.
IIRC @McFluffin, the designer of the item wanted to make the playstyle similar to one of the playstyle available to Druid in WoW (I forgot which spec it was).
Rotating between different (element) skills is needed to take full advantage of the item.
The intended way to use this seems similar to the ring (something of elements) D3 had that rotated elements every 4s. You were supposed to keep track of which was currently up and do burst damage when your damage type was up.
It was annoying as hell, but at least it wasnât an overall nerf. If you ignored it, you did your basic damage and every once in a while you did more damage.
This, however, if you donât pay attention and use it properly, does result in an overall DPS nerf. Or, if you want to avoid it on a mono-type build, get the version that never triggers.
The idea is nice, but I hate stuff that needs to be this micro-managed. I think Iâll just switch to an exalted catalyst and if I get a cold/lightning one at some point Iâll consider it.
I donât think this unique really requires âmicroâ management. It does require a build planned around utilizing it yes and you need to keep track of your buff bar, but the timings for both of the buffs is very big spaced out and you donât need to change your skill every few seconds.
This is exactly the kind of unique that we need. Because it is not a simple no brainer, put it on and forget about it.
Its builds changing in a good way. If you donât like it, donât use it.
Oh, definitely. I did say I liked the idea, but itâs not really for my playstyle (I tend to prefer a lazy type of gameplay where I donât need to keep track of stuff).
I have nothing against the unique, I just donât think itâs a good fit for me.
The other way to use it if you want to leverage the intended mechanics is to âfire offâ a fire skill, and then say a second later use a cold skill where the damage isnât important to you. The fire damage will rise slower than normal (10% more / 6% less per second for roughly 4% more per second), until fire overloads, its damage is nothing, and then a second later cold overloads, wiping out the fire overload so you have less than a second of nerfed damage, and then a 10 second period where your cold damage is nerfed but presumptively youâre ok with that.
Itâs fun that thereâs really 3 different ways to use it; 10 seconds fire, 10 seconds cold / fire with cold shortly behind and accept the cold damage nerf / use lightning skills (or a different version) and avoid the mechanics entirely. Each is suitable for different builds and playstyles, so overall pretty good item design in my book.
My big problem with items like this is there is no commiserate change in UI to help you track/work with whatâs going on. I hated that item in D3 (mostly because it was always BiS because of the massive boost it provided), and I hate it here. If you are going to build these things, give me a better UX (visual, audio, whatever dudes, figure it the fuck out) to let me know the current state so I can react to that.
Designer: well, the player could have this out of game timer they set, or, you know they could count because humans are so good at counting to ten at exactly ten second intervals, or look at the (tiny little) buff bar ⌠in this game where you have to pay attention to the stuff on the ground. (because that doesnât take you out of the game/break immersion at all).
Yeah, I get it; donât like it, donât use it. I wonât, thanks. I think it was a bad idea in D3, I think itâs a bad idea here. The designer copied a bad idea and no one, in my opinion, should be blowing smoke up the designerâs ass about how great that is.
Sure, in the grand scheme of things, itâs a tiny blip. I just hate these, âstare at the buff barâ, things. I think they suck.
If youâre running a mono-element build, the main benefit I can see in using it (with the mods for the other 2 damage types you donât use) is a minor boost to stats, but especially the possibility of stacking a T7 cast speed affix on top of the 20% you can get on the unique.
Which is pretty good if your build cares about cast speed at all and no other unique off-hand is that useful.
Yes, the right version with 6% crit has pretty solid stats from the get-go, I have one on my Pala. But like you said, an endgame version would have LP to stack cast speed. But try finding and slamming that
Mage has a similar item with Prismatic Gaze that needs to roll max base crit before you even look at LP.
