Title. Would it be bad if TM became slightly more “functional”? I mean, aren’t you tired of spamming the skill hoping it will hit the boss while the boss hams on you? Can’t it become something like “Smoke Bomb” : You throw a smoke bomb somewhere which reduces fire and lightning resist to everything inside it. I don’t know, am I the only one finding TM so unreliable?Maybe I use it wrong but, the fights start, I spam TM and be like “ok, done with TM, let’s hope someone will step on em”.
Thermite Mines are a bit naff. - The spacing between them means that 90% of the time they fail to hurt anything at all unless you are dealing with a full-on mob. They would be far better if your character could throw them to the floor in front of them, making their spread close-spaced and random, plus an increasing number of them for every x levels would not go amiss, either. That said though, they can be quite lethal if you manage to place them right in a doorway…
Once you understand droping mechanic you can deploy them with 100% reliability against bosses.
Hint - drop them 1.5m left/right/above/below boss.
But why does it have to be like that? Why do we have to calculate distances instead of, you know, let them drop where your cursor is? It doesn’t even make sense from a logic POV. Since when are mines supposed to be thrown randomly?
Ultimately I think it comes down to when Crate was conceiving of the idea of a Demolitionist - generically a character that sets explosive traps and makes them go boom when an enemy gets near.
TM mechanics follows that mindset in that they were probably designed to be set somewhere then you lure monsters to it.
The trouble with this mindset is that it doesn’t fit well into a fast-paced ARPG with no CC against bosses, many of whom are very fast.
This is why Demo also has other skills considered too “slow” such as Mortar Trap.
My only issue with mines is the slow deploy animation. You need to wait for them to bounce to a stop then separate to three mines.
Would be a lot better if you just threw out 3 mines instantly.
Totally agree !
By the time the mines are deployed, 85% of monsters are already dead.
They feel very clunky in such a fast pace game !
I wish they would behave like stun jacks
You seem to have missed one of the biggest benefits od thermite mines - they physically block enemies. For some enemies like madqueen it can take a sec or two to find a way past a wall of thermite mines (and you are free to run back through repeating the process.)
This gives thermite mines a huge defensive advantage for ranged builds - and a nice very distinctive feeling. (Even if part of that distinction is bad vs weak trash, but you didn’t really need help with the trash anyways did you?)
turn it into a flamethrower turret and you have my attention 