Here I am again really trying to like the Shaman class. Have two separate builds going one more typical using primal strike and eventually Ultos set the other where the shaman is a pain.
Yet again I post make devouring swarm break objects. In the past get the response “it’s a de buff, won’t happen”. Add .05 damage to it or something so it will break objects. Please!
With the Netflix show Cursed I felt inspired to make a build around entangling vines. Currently this is t skill I have to use to break objects, really annoying.
Another skill that I think could use adjustment is wind devil. Would be great on button management to make them permanents like you did with Nightblades Swirling Blades. What’s the reasoning behind having swirling blades permanents but not wind devil?
Not sure how this build will do as it is also going to be handicapped by being pure shaman.
It already does damage. It functionally cannot break objects, it’s like asking for Curse of Frailty to break objects as well.
If I remember right, they wanted Blade Spirits and Guardians of Empyrion to serve more of a secondary role while Wind Devil was to remain more of a primary spell that one would more likely dedicate a character around.
The right gear can obviously make Blade Spirits/Guardians primary damage dealers despite them being “secondary” but that argument goes for a lot of things that are naturally weak without gear.
shaman archetype in gd are generally divided into lightning/physical/bleed/vitality/pet routes.
if you want to go pure shaman, you need to focus one of those damage as primary damage, and ignoring the rest.
as for devouring swarm, vines and wind devil:
-swarm is very good for levelling, since its both a vitality caster spam spell and vitality rr. if you want to build around vitality swarm, you need to focus on wendigo totem and vitality storm totem too to support the damage.
-vines are always relegated as support spell to debuff enemy speed/ minor dps support. if you want to build around vines, you need to find MI/Legendaries/Sets that greatly increase vine damage into one specific damage type.
-wind devil are both elemental rr and minor dps support for caster. its a fire and forget type of spell rather than a pet in the way it works. if you want to build around them, like vines, find MI/Legs/Sets that will greatly buff wind devil. that being said, wind devil need to synergize with other elemental/lightning/physical masteries. items alone won’t buff wind devil’s power to the point it can become primary caster spell.
i don’t know much about numbers, if you want to master pure shaman build and choosing one of its skills as primary damage dealer, try reading other users’ build that relates with the skill you choose.
last note: maybe the swarm cannot damage objects, because the way it works is similar to debuff like curse of frailty. perhaps its an engine problem that crate can’t get around unless they completely revamp the engine.
its no big deal. just use other spells to clean objects.
yeah, wind devil is the perfect definition of a fire and forget spell that is flexible for many builds. however it really shines when used as part of piano caster’s rotation of spells.
If they just remove the casting animation for summoning Wind Devil then it isn’t a problem anymore. You don’t have to stop moving to summon a Primal Spirit, why do you have to stop moving to summon a Wind Devil that you have to cast on cooldown every 5 seconds?
I still vote permanent, I have attempted to run them with a macro but it always seems to cancel out when I cast another skill.
Olexra Flash Freeze and Wind Devils are some of my favorite ideas of skills in the game would really like wind devils permanents or more like a Diablo 2 Druid tornado skill/ spamable.
By all means use some of the items that extend the lifetime on Wind Devil like Spark of Ultos, Codex of Eternal Storms or the full Cyclone set or mod Wind Devil to be permanent if it is really a bother to you.
If you want passive RR then elemental Paladin exists. Wind Devil is Shaman flavor and that’s cool. But the animation, however brief, is disruptive if you’re moving. Meanwhile the most powerful cooldown for the pet build is Primal Spirit and he just smoothly joins you without making you stop in your tracks.
Having no casting animation on WD would be nice but are there any other player offensive spells like that? Maybe it’s not even technically possible despite it behaving like a pet? We know skills have various limitations depending on their types.
Let me introduce you to the world of Necromancer Pets.
Try summoning skeletons, reap spirits and blightfiends.
{Do note that I wish Necromancer Pets didn’t pause movement or require you to target ground (reap spirit is a spell with pet component so excusable) to summon them, but asking for consistency or some QoL in GD will just get you bombarded with how it will make everything “Homogeneous” which is the fav buzzword around these parts}
Right now wind devil are seriously lack of movement speed, so buff would be highly welcomed for every shaman build.
Seriously, wind devil nowadays are looks like a guest who every time too late came at party.
I realize nothing in GD is consistent and that’s part of its old school charm. That doesn’t mean it always must remain that way, but we can only give our feedback and the devs can take or leave it. There’s a lot of complaints about Wind Devil because it’s an integral part of the rotation, whether you’re a caster or melee, and the button isn’t very responsive. Animation-canceling while auto attacking is syrupy but not that bad. Stutter-stepping to get one going before you engage just feels wrong.