I’ve tested Reap Spirit in the following setup. While the whole build is more of a meme and it’s pretty slow by today’s standards it still has ~2550% to Aether after set’s proc (which is permanent pretty much) + 1272 in Spirit which is another 590% to magical damage.
So here is how Reap Spirit’s damage breakdown looks with ~3100% to Aether and bonuses from dedicated set:
Cooldown is 1,8 seconds with top CDR rolls on gear (30% total CDR).
So what’s the problem some will ask? Let me break it down for you:
1) It’s single target damage spell. In a game where AOE is king, especially on casters.
2) Bulk of its damage comes from useless for Aether casters Vitality Decay (which can’t be converted).
3) Wraiths summoned by Reap Spirit are useless on non-pet builds
It’s damage is comparable to stuff like auto-attacks and chanelling spells, except those hit multiple times per second, most of them have aoe and auto-attacks get their damage multiplied.
Obviously this creates a huge power gap between Reap Spirit and everything else. Who would wanna dedicate a whole build to a spell that is outshined even by component skills.
Suggestions
1) Make it an AOE nuke. Add ~3 metres radius at soft cap that scales to 10 metres at hard cap (values can be adjusted of course), something like an explosion from Abomination’s devotion proc Tainted Erruption
2) Change Vitality Decay into Vitality so it can be converted. Or just change it into Aether.
Anyone who has experience with Reap Spirit or has any suggestions is welcome. Let’s make Reap Spirit into something viable.
This please. I don’t even care about the decay part. Making it AoE will at least make it more attractive. Clairvoyant itself is okay. Reap spirit just sucks balls.
I agree that Reap Spirit can use some buffs, but posting a 7:00 Crucible video using a combination that doesn’t even fully benefit from Clairvoyant (where Shaman needs a lot of different items just to make Aether work) is not likely to change anyone’s mind.
I’ve been trying to make Reap Spirit work as a Spell + Pet ability to make the most of its design in Maya’s pet thread and even with all the sacrifices made to fully optimize the ability, it doesn’t clear nearly fast enough to justify using it this way. Clearly the pet portion of it is fine, so I am fine making it a small AoE (not 10m worth, more like 5m) or simply making it a bigger nuke like Doom Bolt. How does Aether Doom Bolt do in comparison?
I don’t want all the spells to be AoE machines where the only difference is how they look, but I am definitely up for ideas on buffing it so that using it as a nuker with supporting AoE like your above build can have it shine a little more.
Please read the thread carefully. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ritualist or Spellbinder. Build in the example has ~3100% to Aether and fully dedicated set. The damage breakdown and single-target nature of Reap Spirit will be the same whether it’s Apostate or Spellbinder (Spellbinder will have a bit more due to more Spirit and %damage from Fabric of Reality).
I agree with the no.1 proposal and oppose the no.2 proposal. I want you to make vit decay a little stronger instead of deleting it. There are fewer items and skill options than other DoT types, and it is weaker.
EDIT:
I missed the thread title. sry.
And I agree with 1 nd 2. Clairvoyant’s vit decay is completely useless. Even if vit decay itself focuses, it is weak.
I did read the thread. It doesn’t answer the basic question, “So what? Why should it be changed?” Your thread on Warborn Cadence was a lot more convincing because it showed that a random Warborn Dervish where Nightblade had nothing to do with the set performed just as well as Warlord where Cadence was the central focus. I know there’s a thread somewhere that has Clairvoyant Aether Doom Boot, but without linking to it, how can I compare Reap Spirit to Doom Bolt, or even component skills which you say are better?
I’m not arguing against your proposals - I even said in my reply that I think a small AoE to the skill would be good. I am just saying that one video in isolation is not going to form a convincing argument.
Video is not the argument. The skill’s damage breakdown (with a dedicated set and 3150% to Aether) while it’s just a single target cooldown spell is the argument. I am sorry if it wasn’t clear from the op.
Reap Spirit for non pet builds is the worst single target skill and doesn’t have reliable AoE too. I think one of the ideas is doing burst damage when it dies or when you activate it against target. But buff should be done carefully, not making Reap Spirit OP compared to other pets.
Also mind that there are few other items that buff Reap Spirit but still isn’t convincing to use. The best Diviners non pet build is AAR Spellbinder, which shows the whole picture.
Fun fact: When you hybridize AAR with Reap Spirit, casting RS is always dps loss even against single target. Tested on dummy. But frankly, I think casting RS is dps loss no matter what you main spam skill is.
@mad_lee If you want Zantai’s attention, you gotta be clever! Instead, you could’ve made a poll like “What are the three worst skills in the game?” I’m sure RS for casters hits top 3 on anyone’s list. In fact, it’s so far ahead on that list I’m not sure what the other two would be…
On the margin, the coolest solution - which probably cant be done due to engine limitations - is to mod the Wraiths to scale with player.
My only concern is that a change to aoe range will make it just another doom bolt, which personally I don’t like.
I agree with @mad_lee that as a skill it needs some changes to make it useful outside of a pet build.
If you consider the fact that it clears SR in 7 min, the only argument in that case is the amount of %dmg you needed to push to get that time…that says something about the skill.
Is the dot damage a thematic thing for this skill? If so I get it, however it doesn’t make it easy to convert the damage into something useful.
If possible I would like to see a transmuter that turns the pet into a player scaling pet or a transmuter that causes the pet to explode dealing damage per player stats.
In other words I would like to see a transmuter that makes the pet from RS act like the proc from the Seer constellation.
I give credit to anyone above or in other threads who made that suggestion before me.
I’ve been requesting an idea for converting pet scale skills to a player base for a long time, but unfortunately it won’t happen unless Zantai changes his mind.
Hold up, I am going to have to put up a lot of angry pet memes if you guys end up touching Reap Spirit in a way that affects Pets.
Personally, I would say that leave the Pet itself alone and buff the Spell component if needed. For eg: Pet builds won’t change either way due to Reap Spirit Spell(direct dmg) being AoE now, but if the Pet itself did extra AoE(they have AoE by default) or something, that will affect Pet builds.
non-pet builds are only interested in making spell’s damage viable. There is no way to make wraiths viable on non pet-builds. So I think you are safe here.
Instead, you could’ve made a poll like “What are the three worst skills in the game?” I’m sure RS for casters hits top 3 on anyone’s list. In fact, it’s so far ahead on that list I’m not sure what the other two would be…