So this is something that I’ve wanted to address for a very long time. As much as I love this game, there are a few things that irk me and skills that just aren’t good at all.
I know this sort of thing can easily get very subjective and rely on personal experience however I wanted to list a holistic summary of skills that I felt were poor or inferior to the point of absurdity.
Anyone can contribute and comment. This might be a good place to just get all the worst offenders together while getting the conversation moving forward.
So, without further adieu, here are the nominations:
- Ulziun’s Wrath
- Blade Trap (Disputed)
- Summon Familiar (Disputed)
- Ember Claw
- Foul Eruption (suggested by Ptirodaktill)
- Olexa’s Flash Freeze (Not explained in detail as yet)
- Ill Omen (suggested by CaptainObvious + Ptirodaktill) - (disputed as one pointer)
- Veterancy (suggested by Tycho)
- Harbinger of Souls (suggested by Marney)
- Primal Bond (Not explained in detail as yet)
- Upheaval (suggested by Marcus)
- Aura of Censure (suggested by Chthon)
- The Big One (suggested by Flying Potato)
- Overload (Not explained in detail as yet)
- Ice Spike (Not explained in detail as yet)
- Thermite Mine (Not explained in detail as yet)
Ulzuin’s Wrath
Oh boy, where to even start on this one…
Ok, first I’ll give my interpretation of what I believe this modifier for Vindictive Flame is supposed to do.
[i]Foes approach you from all sides, slowly encroaching on you and swarming all around. You’re surrounded but not scared as you feel the Wrath of Ulziun build inside you. Those foolish enough to be close to you get obliterated, dust scattering to the winds as fire and lightning linger over their corpses. Those more cautious get constant streams of Ulziun’s hatred, knocking them back and cause them to stumble. That is if they survive the intense power surging through them.
After flashes of lightning and flame the battle dies down, sweat dripping down your brow. With a sigh, you look around: mangled corpses, static dust, and embers floating around you. Soon Ulziun will have revenge on all those who betrayed him.[/i]
Romanticism aside, here is how I break it down:
- CC Ranged units
- Give reliable damage against ranged attackers
- Be mechanically and visually appealing
So here are some of the downsides…
In most cases, Spectral Wrath trumps Ulzuin’s Wrath. It provides a lot more usual debuffs on enemies that help you survive and damage ranged attackers. It also strips resistances that are important to its damage types. It is also independent of its base skill to perform its function.
So, as it stands, Ulzuin’s Wrath does the following:
- Deals poor damage
- Has unreliable CC
- Unreliable triggering
- Affects a few units
- Scales poorly
- Doesn’t affect melee attackers
How I would suggest improving it is as follows:
- Increase Damage as well as adding dots (Burn/Electrocute)
- Change CC mechanic to something unique in Demo skill tree (such as -total speed%)
- Allow it to affect more enemies in a larger radius, hit melee attackers as well as trigger if Vindicitive Flame doesn’t hit an enemy
- Increase Aesthetics of the skill to resemble arching and tendril lightning rather than a solid line to the enemy
Moving on to my Second Nominee:
Blade Trap
This is another one where the concept is cool however the execution is extremely flawed.
Here is my interpretation of the skill.
Masses of foes approach you but you already know how you want to deal with them. Using your Nightblade training, you summon a trap of blades, stopping them in their tracks and cutting away at those trying to escape. Being so vulnerable, you can easily dispatch of the remaining straggles: whether through throwing knives, fast martial strikes or some form of sorcery.
It sounds amazing so let’s look at the skill:
- Entraps a group of enemies, stopping them completely
- Reduces Defensive Ability significantly, making them easy to pick off
- Deal reliable damage to weaker foes
- Steal back vitality from your foes and affect a large number of units (with modifier Devouring Blades)
The fatal flaw? It has to be affecting the enemy. If the debuff gets removed for any reason, you lose all of the aforementioned perks. If the enemy has a high resistance (boss, etc) or is immune to being entrapped, the skill is useless.
My suggestion is to separate the effects from the entrapment status of the skill while still being balanced against stronger monsters.
Here are my suggestions:
- Change the entrapment mechanic to something similar to the traps of the Inquisitor. Placing down a blade trap that triggers and affects those in the AoE seems to be much better (similar to Grasping Vines)
- Replace entrapment with slow or another form of CC
- Allow the -DA% to affect bosses, however, have it scale appropriately
- Increase the radius it affects
- Get rid of the modifier as it currently is and allow it to shred something while returning health to you (such as offensive ability)
Summon Familiar
[i]An eerie fog settles across Lower Crossing: the shambling and moans of reanimated corpses in the distance. A lost soul wanders the abandoned streets, the sting of the noose still fresh on her neck. Certainly, she expected that such a punishment would be fitting for her dabbling into the occult however she didn’t the expect the debacle that happened at Devil’s Crossing a while ago.
Suddenly a horde of undead rise at her feet: a total of 5 corpses clawing towards her. Clutching onto her rusty shiv and musty tome she musters her meager knowledge of the dark arts to bring forth a Familiar: silky black plumes shimmering in the sickly aetherial glow, murder being cried into the night.
The Raven musters its power, a ball of lightning taking down the first zombie. After a few swings of rusted metal and electrified motes the corpses return to what they once were: dead.
With relief our young hero musters herself, a soothing mist from the Raven readying her for the next assault.[/i]
So what does the Raven do exactly?
- Deal poor lightning/electrocute damage to a single enemy at lower levels. At lvl16 it already has 3 bolts, which can either shotgun a single enemy or hit multiple ones. At lvl26 it casts 5 bolts. Still: the damage is lower than most since it is a spell and doesn’t benefit from flat damage or attack speed.
- Provides a very low health summon that can struggle to survive late game due to AoE
- Heal you for a decent amount when you reach 60%/50%/40% health depending on the pet’s stance (Modifier Mend Flesh)
- Buff you with increased elemental damage, Elemental Resistance and Lightning retaliation (Storm Spirit)
- Deals an unreliable AoE damage/Stun when it feels like using it (Lightning Strike)
Now the biggest issue is that there are skills and abilities that excel at all these points.
- All the other pets deal more damage and are more durable than the Familiar with similar investment
- Blood of Dreeg, Pneumatic Burst, etc, as well as Devotions (such as Gaint’s Blood), provide more healing and are more reliable to use. Keep in mind that all the alternatives provide additional benefits to the healing
- Damage on Lightning Strike is decent however the Familiar casts it when it wants and most pet abilities are more damaging while being less clunky to cast. That and the CC is fairly insignificant.
I’d say to improve the Familiar a lot of effort has to be put into revitalizing this pet and allowing it to fulfill its role: being a superior support pet option while having the capability to be an offensive powerhouse. It needs serious reviewing of its abilities and stats to bring it in line with all other alternatives. Maybe give it chain lightning as its base ability and improve the numbers a bit? That would be amazing.
Please note that the list can contain Mastery Skills, Item Abilities, Component Skills, etc. Anything that isn’t performing as it should.
