Recently we revealed a teaser video of one of the upcoming channeled skills in Patch 2.4.2. We're happy to unveil this new skill: Scorching Ray! Today's news post covers some of the finer details of how this skill works.

When you channel Scorching Ray, you fire a deadly beam in front of you that passes through anyone who blocks its way. Enemies the beam touches catch fire, burning from damage over time. This burning only lasts a short time, but is refreshed while they're in the beam.

The burning damage on enemies grows while they're in the beam. The cast speed of the beam affects how frequently this damage builds up. The more intensely the beam burns, the more it strips away fire resistance, making it great for taking on powerful resistant enemies. The burning only lasts a short time, so the caster will need to pick their timing carefully to maintain the power of the beam.

Scorching Ray follows your cursor, so you can sweep it over a cluster of enemies to set them all alight. The faster the cast speed of the skill, the greater the rate at which it can turn. This results in it being great for taking out a large group of weak foes by spinning the beam over them before swinging back to focus the fire on any survivors.

Modifiers to spell damage also apply to Scorching Ray's damage. The skill can be supported by effects that modify damage over time, elemental damage, burning damage, duration, and cast speed. It can be used with Spell Totem, but not the Trap or Mine supports. It doesn't count as a projectile or an area effect skill.

The skill gem popup reads:
Unleash a beam of fire that burns enemies it touches. Remaining in the beam intensifies the burning, adding a portion of the beam's damage in stages. Enemies who leave the beam continue to burn for a duration. Increasing cast speed also increases the rate at which the beam can turn.