Clarity

I love this aura. Used it since I got it.

I'm a lvl 69 witch, this is my tree:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAuMFQhVQFvMXVBfYHNwdFB8CIoEmPCepKpgsnCy_LR8vnTLRNsU4GzvhQZZEq0VHRtdHBkjnSbJVrlZKVytdxl76X2pmT2vbbRlzU3i6fRh9U35Zf8aBSYIQiEKOPI9Gj6aP-pMnlQSYrZuhnaOeoZ97oqOnCKcrrrOvm7I4tQS2hriTwcXB88Nt0DnQ0Ngk2Qva3dvn3fPfsOL36XPsGPId-oD60vyr

In my opinion Clarity is ok as it is now. The amount of mana it saves is fair, but maybe the "reduced mana" gem could do a little more? Seem to do very little.

I have Clarity+Discipline going(with reduced mana gem linked to both) and I'm building up to add a third aura.
Using Freezing Pulse, Zombies, Skeletons, a curse, spelltotem. My mana can keep up. But I have to take almost every node of mana regen that I'm able to reach.

It would be nice to not have to take so many mana regen nodes, but I'm not sure if it's that big a deal.

I think the reserve cost of Clarity scales too quickly. 20 Per Level is just way too high. 440 at level 20 is just absurd.

I understand it's not supposed to just instantly "solve all your mana issues" but with the way mana is designed right now, everyone tends to go for either a) blood magic and no auras or b) % based auras for virtually the whole mana pool (e.g. Determination + Purity + Wrath w/ some reduced cost) and blood magic gems on attack skills.

Continuing to rely on mana is very iffy for many characters, and while that's generally fine, it would be nice if Clarity was an option to allow characters to continue relying on mana without foregoing their mana pool entirely to auras.

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FamousTrip wrote:

I think the reserve cost of Clarity scales too quickly. 20 Per Level is just way too high. 440 at level 20 is just absurd.

I understand it's not supposed to just instantly "solve all your mana issues" but with the way mana is designed right now, everyone tends to go for either a) blood magic and no auras or b) % based auras for virtually the whole mana pool (e.g. Determination + Purity + Wrath w/ some reduced cost) and blood magic gems on attack skills.

Continuing to rely on mana is very iffy for many characters, and while that's generally fine, it would be nice if Clarity was an option to allow characters to continue relying on mana without foregoing their mana pool entirely to auras.

Very well said.

make it reserve 20% mana and 1% each level up to 30%

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BLACKMACE wrote:

make it reserve 20% mana and 1% each level up to 30%

Everyone already uses Clarity, if only at lvl 1(unless blood magic obviously), that'd just make it so everyone uses it AND levels it.

Clarity is already very strong even though it keeps getting nerfed. You do not have to level it if you don't have the mana to support it. You can get a lot of mana via Eldritch Battery or simply stacking mana % nodes and mana gear and support a fully maxed Clarity this way but if you have low mana, then keep it at lvl 1. The fact it's actually good at lvl 1 even is probably the biggest "issue" with Clarity. Everyone benefits from a lvl 1 clarity.

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Vipermagi wrote:

Or anywhere inbetween 20 and 1, even. I often have at least a couple levels on it to get a bit more Mana per second, which is then multiplied by %Mana Regen. Clarity is just not one of those skills you want to max out. I rather like it that way, personally; it's a trade-off between available Mana and Regen.

Yes obviously you can level it a bit too, I'm just saying even if you take very little to no mana/int, you can run a lvl 1 clarity and get a serious benefit from it so most people do just that. I tend to level it a few times too since the efficiency gets better as you level it up, or I level it all the time if using EB, but making it a % would guarantee everyone would level it. I guess making it a scaling % would set a precedent and also potentially fix the issue, but that would still be a major buff for low mana users since most likely the % would be lower than the current cost, while it'd be a nerf for high mana users since the % would be higher. In essence, making it less balanced than it is now, unless the point of clarity is to help low mana users and not high mana users, which I'm not sure it is since currently it helps everyone "equally".

Clarity is fine.

You can't expect to invest 0 points into mana% and mana regen nodes and go spamming high mana cost spells. Alternatively you could get mana regen and mana on gear. The point is that it requires some form of investment. There is a reason why the high damage spells cost a lot of mana.

As for build diversity. Yes, there is build diversity, people are just too noob right now to figure out all the possible options. You can have a perfectly feasible build without Clarity.

Examples:
-Marauder with high Life Regen, lots of reduced mana cost nodes(easily accessible by Marauder) and blood magic gem supported skills. This allows you to reserve your entire mana pool for beneficial Auras. With the reduced reservation cost nodes (also easily accessible by Marauders) you can run three 40% mana reserve Auras. I have tested this possibility and it works splendidly.

-If you are physical damage based you can rely on Mana leech and get only Mana % increase nodes and not worry about regen. I have not tested this but it should work assuming you get the mana leech node near shadow, some mana leech mods on gear and the mana leech gem.

Clarity is fine in my opinion, I'm a level 54 witch and I've invested very little into max mana%, I only have ~600 mana, but I have no problems supporting both a level 14 clarity and a level 12 discipline with both of them linked to reduced mana. The mana regen it gives at high levels is also insane, I'm at about 120 mana/sec with passives and regen on gear, enough to perma-spam a level 14 spark linked with lightning penetration, LMP, and Fork.

What are the current manacosts for clarity per level? I couldn't find them anywhere...