Arc

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bilun wrote:

or maybe

"each time Arc hits a shocked enemy it has a 35% chance of chaining an extra time(possibly occuring multiple times)"

This sounds nice.

Good idea.

It's been a while since I played, but last time I did I had 3k+ dps on Arc with just crit and faster casting linked to it. I could cast about 15 times, depending on the mana-regen I had at the time and it took only a few seconds to regen my entire mana-pool. The damage I did was not bad at all imo, since I could easily destroy groups withing a few seconds.

Though, linking it with more supports was certainly not an ideal option. Has the manacost been reduced since march this year?

Made this screenshot back in march:

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Sumroach wrote:

I totally agree with VanguardUa. Really love lightning element, now playing lightning caster shadow (not spork totem). And at level 60 I have nearly 1.5k dps shown on Arc, and I think it even if it crits. It surely needs to be buffed, cause spell itself has great idea, and awesome animation.
For example, these are some good ideas imo.

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bilun wrote:

This skill definitely needs something more to be really viable. What if GGG focused on it's shock mechanic, something along the lines of:
"Arc deals an extra 60% damage per shock charge rather then the normal 40% bonus"
or maybe
"each time Arc hits a shocked enemy it has a 35% chance of chaining an extra time(possibly occuring multiple times)"

Arc's way much better and more interesting then boring dual-spork-totems, but now it's not really viable as the main lightning spell.

I was gonna post my idea here, but this one's better! The main points I love are:

- Chance to arc to more than 3 targets.
- Utilizing shock more, thus giving it something Spark will never have with the same passives/supports.

This way, Spark will have its uses (spreading shock), and Arc will have complimentary uses (doing the big damage to less targets). Sounds perfect to me. I love chain lightning, doing a lightning caster in Anarchy.

Arc in Hellbringer with faster cast, lightning pen and manaleech got me to >3,8k, after i built up 7 p-charges with spark. Something like twinned bosses will melt away. But then, i cant use hellbringers in half-reg or stasis maps, and even in normal maps i cant use arc on single target with hellbringer - no chain no leech.

Without HB, i get it on ~3,1 or so. With better gear, you might get 5k out of arc. But that doesnt change the fact, that it is underwhelming in any other situation than 2 mobs with likewise hp. In this game, you need either aoe mass-killers or single target destruction. Arc is neither, it has no role.

Little tip, as you cant support it properly anyway, i use it to last hit bosses with iq/ir gems. But without fc or lightning pen, the last 2% take sometimes longer than the sporked 98% - thanks to the extreme damage range of arc.

I hope for a statement how and when they want to deal with arc. So many great ideas in this thread...

another idea would be to have arc lash out at an additional nearby target when striking a shocked enemy not chaining more of a forked off secondary hit at a certain chance ie 30% level or quality increasing said number just something to make up for the fact that arc cannot recieve benefits from fork or lmp/gmp etc which really limits its potential

"Arc Forks once for each shock stack on the primary target" would be awesome.

Arc at a shock stacked target which will fork three times and each fork will chain twice. would put it on par with Spark.

I've been looking for a build/spell that revolves around the unique Thunder Fists. Naturally, I look at the various lightning spells out there and I gravitate towards Arc. I don't want to Spark and I don't want to Lightning Strike. But the gem in itself makes no sense. It can deal upwards of 700+ Lightning DPS, but it doesn't scale well.

With the high mana cost, there's really no way for me to make a build using arc because it simply is not worth my while. No DPS, bad sustain, mana pot chugging is not fun whatsoever...

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Autocthon wrote:

"Arc Forks once for each shock stack on the primary target" would be awesome.

Arc at a shock stacked target which will fork three times and each fork will chain twice. would put it on par with Spark.

THAT IS AWESOME! I think it would need to have a chance to fork though instead of definite. If you're fighting a huge group and you use spork with arc, chances are you're gonna have most of them shocked when you open up with Arc. Would probably be OP if your first cast hits 20 things. ;)

As long as there are different skills and different mechanics that work different ways, people will always figure out boring no-brainer builds. In order to get rid of those cookie-cutter builds, the game would have to be so bland and non-varied in style that it would be the most boring game ever.