Animate Weapon
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Please, make the tooltip show the actual duration when wearing Jorrhast's, let minions pass zones with you and let us animate bows!!!
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My understanding is, there's a technical limitation that prevents any duration-based effect from staying with you from one zone to another.
On animating bows, IIRC you used to be able to when the skill was in beta but it looked really stupid. And finally, on getting "free" summons (on a cooldown or otherwise) I just don't see the point of it: it undermines the veracity of what you're supposed to be doing, and can't you just do this yourself simply by picking up a few weapons as you go along (especially when you know you're coming to the end of a zone?) You can also spend a few pennies on white weapons from the vendor to get the ball rolling, or keep an emergency supply of them in your stash. That said, I wouldn't object to a skill that fills the same sort of role as desecrate: " The weapons summoned would vanish if you picked them up or if you cast this skill more than a few times (just as you can't make millions of corpses with desecrate). |
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Animate weapon is my kind of skill but honestly? It sucks.. it just sucks really really hard. When you get the ball rolling and have 5+ weapons all going to town for you it's FANTASTIC but then you hit those dry spots and it all goes down the crapper.
I do really like the suggestion made earlier about giving the ability charges but I don't so much care for something that works like Desecrate. What I would suggest is one of two things: 1) Using the ability makes spectral copies of both your main hand and off hand weapon, while copies exist you cannot use attacks. 3 charges. Reasoning: This would promote summoners to dual wield, and not only dual wield but dual wield high end weaponry instead of only ever using something with + cast speed and casting utility spells. 2) Using the ability makes a spectral copy of a normal rarity or Identified magic item in your inventory 3 charges. Reasoning: Unlike the first suggestion this one dose not change the casters weapon choices but dose still allow for Animate weapon users to repeatedly use a weapon they created giving more meaning to crafting. However: Doing it this way will force animate weapon users to only use 2-handers for maximum effectiveness taking up a lot of inventory space and being fairly low on the quality of life. |
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I like the current Animate Weapon, but i and everyone has the same problems, such as...
1. Unidentified of weapons 2. Duration I love Item Filters, most of the problems he solved, awesome. For most people troubled, I want to suggest, such as ... 1. Unidentified of weapons If rare or magical weapons on the ground has not been identified, but the players summon it, then give it a normal weapon. Identification of whether to let him pick up after a more powerful Summoner, allowing the player to think about this choice. 2. Duration If rare or magical weapons on the ground has not been identified, but the players summon it, then give it the original duration. Whether pickup identification, let him get more duration, allowing the player to think about this choice, such as ... Unique ::: 20% more duration Rare ::: 10% more duration Magic ::: 5% more duration Just bad advice, hope POE better. English is not my native language, please forgive me. Last edited by BannokGrimaxe#0109 on Sep 9, 2015, 11:11:04 AM
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Great skill for Brutus and 1st form Mrevil kill. Used it in this race season and I can tell its pretty casual-racer-friendly.
Base cast time is too high, it should be around 0.5 sec. Skill shouldn't consume mana and display cast animation if it can't summon a minion. Problem: impostor syndrome Solution: nerf everything Result: depressing mess Last edited by a_z0_9#4860 on Sep 20, 2015, 5:57:46 AM
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I'd love to use this in a Witch build but even in if properly spec'd for, the skill is far too clunky.
Taking a page from previous posts: it would be great to create spectral copies (as many as your mana pool can allow) of equipped weapons, supported by a reserved mana system. Also, I feel it needs to be more independent, as in, player bonuses should be less important for this summon. With mana reservation governing this ability I think all this would make infinitely more sense than the skill's current functionality. |
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I would like to point out that a number of actively used active skill gems in POE get support from the passive tree as well as through unique.
For example, a summoner will typically take passives that will give him, apart from the generic +X% to Minion Life / Damage, also specific benefits to zombies and skeletons (+ X to Max number, etc). Also, there are cheap build enabling uniques for spectres like Bones of Ullr. Animate Weapon has very little support from the passive tree. It benefits only from the generic passives that provide % benefits to minion damage and life. The six skill duration passives are a must for anyone wanting to run this skill. The problem is - most skills are balanced to give benefits to those who specialize in them. By getting uniques like Bones of Ullr, Queen's Decree and Vis Mortis, you can go from 2 Spectres to 5. This increases your damage substantially, but comes at a cost of equipment slots. Consider axes, swords, daggers, bow and 2-handers, wands. There are many bow points on the passive tree near the ranger. There are wand-specific points near the witch. There are many axe, sword, dagger etc specific skills on the tree. Imagine if wands had been added late-game, after the tree was mostly finalised. There would be no space for wands. People wanting to use wands would be left with generic points that improved all weapons, or all casting. Animate Weapon has no passives specific to it. It has no build-enabling unique. This skill needs some love. IT does not need to made OP. It simply needs to have options to become more powerful for those who invest in it (and thus automatically it becomes balanced). It also desperately needs some uniques which are designed around it which enable builds. Some common things that could be buffed would be: (% More damage from Animated Weapons) Mechanics-wise, not transferring weapons when you transfer zones really sucks. It takes away the momentum built from when you have done well. Note: Jorhart's Blacksteel was restricted to a particular league, and does not drop in standard. I find it particularly irritating that the *one* unique that would be useful to a Animate Weapon focused character is gated not by drop rarity but by the fact that no more copies will drop (ignoring Zana mods, etc). |
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" Some additional points: 1. When playing in a party on maps, animating all the weapons becomes busywork. It should allow (as someone said earlier) to animate all weapons in an area. For balance purposes, I am sure people will suggest that the cast time be increased - but I think this is anyway gated by Animate Weapon Duration. 2. Provide passive notables / uniques with abilities like: Version 1: A. Max number of weapons that can be animated is 10. Animated weapons have 100% more damage Animated weapons have 100% more duration Version 2: A. 50 % less max minions (Minions earlier having no limit now have a limit, post-decrease of 10) 100% more minion duration This balances weapons to make a significant difference. It will let people create a six-link around it. And it comes with a cost. (You can always decrease / increase the number of max weapons based around the feedback.) I dont necessarily like to play the latest tier-1 build. I like to play stuff that interests me and is fun. I do enough boring things for work, as it is. So you don't need to all skills so that can kill Atziri. But, please do create something that I can specialise in, and do some mid-tier maps, if I want to. |
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I have a suggestion for a rework of animate weapon. Rather then animating multiple weapons (lag) we make an single animated ball of swords\dagger\etc swirling about. Each time we cast the nearest weapon on the ground is consumed with a few exceptions:
* 5 and 6 linked weapons are ignored * Weapons that are too high per skill gem level are ignored. * Uniques are ignored * Items not valid to loot are ignored Per Level: Duration of summon increased, base damage increase. Quality: Weapons consumed grant an additional 1% bonus to their rarity effect. Upon casting the nearest weapon on the ground is consumed based on the weapon rarity the following occurs: * Any - Initially summons the sphere if one doesn't exist * White - The duration is increased by X seconds. * Blue - Unidentified, Health is increased by Y hitpoints * Blue Identified - Health is increased by (Y * 1.5) hitpoints (50% bonus in short for Identifying the item) * Yellow - Unidentified, Damaged is increased by Z damage * Yellow Identified, Damaged is increased by (Z * 1.5) damage Upon expiration the sphere implodes. (XYZ etc values are left abstract as game balancing values would need to be determined.) This allows minion buffing gems to link properly and predictably, reduces the excessive number of minions on screen, and allows better balancing\tuning since there will always be just one of the weapon spheres. From a balancing perspective it allows a summoner type class to trade out durable minions (zombies, spectres, golems) for an alternative\supplemental temporary minions similar to skeletons without the clutter. Packing in a few id'ed blues and yellows with a "Minions regenerate buff" gives a bit more kit to work with. Vaal Version: Summons and automatically consumed all valid items in range. Last edited by idgarad#3350 on Oct 22, 2015, 5:25:21 PM
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Animate weapon is very fun compared to most summoner builds. Can be a bit clunky and annoying getting weapons at the start , once you have 5 or so easy mode.
Perhaps the gem can be reworked. Keep the current duration and need for duration passives etc, it is a nice unique mechanic, similar to skellies. However implement a spawn cap, in other words similar to how you can't have more than 50 SRS etc, have a cap of about 30 weapons and change the gem so that it allows players to create a "spectral" copy of a weapon they possess, yes that means if u have a 2aps foil u can create multiple copies of it or if you choose to go phys damage can have a 200 dps weapon and create copies of it and so on. nothing like running out of weapons just before atziri is about to die and having to use a 4L srs to try and kill her before you die or having to portal out |
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