Scorching Ray Skill Gem Mechanics

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JohnNamikaze wrote:

Not sure how this works out with self casting, but with totems, it will be a lot of FUN. :)

I read somewhere than channeled skills will not work with totems.

And that makes the skill something I won't run with much, even if at all. You have to self cast channeling skills, and with this beam, you have to remain still to channel it. That's a no-go for me, might as well play melee.

Still, this brings back fond memories for me of D3. Well, fond before D3 imploded on itself. ;-)

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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.

So this stages up like incinerate right?

And since it does fire dot damage multiple beams won't stack with each other?

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cipher_nemo wrote:

I read somewhere than channeled skills will not work with totems.

Where? Incinerate and Flameblast work with totems, FB works a lot better now, not needing the totem to be killed/replaced to let the blast go off.

Totem targeting/optimal sweeping of a beam is a different issue.

Hope the game introduces new channeling mechanics like standing still and such and such happens after channeling for so long ect ect.

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cmilles wrote:

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DarkMantle wrote:

Does it work with spell echo?

Judging from all the other channeled skills, I think it's safe to assume spell echo will not work.

it has cast speed; I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Initial Impression:

Pros:

Non-hit based damage makes reflect/block far less threatening.

Damage is based off DoT that scales with spell damage as well. See the potential numbers of ED for why that's beneficial :P.

Damage grows larger the longer the target is in the beam. Assuming there is a maximum cap to how high the damage can scale up, we all know that currently one of the easiest ways to get through late game content is with stacking degens.

Skill function/damage scaling very similarly to other existing skills such as Searing Bond and RF. Making it a good compliment to either set up.

Built in resistance reduction. Nice addition since fire penetration is not an option due to it's lack of a hit.

Skill deals burning damage NOT associated with ignites. Meaning Elemental Focus is a good option, and chance to ignite is not needed.

Cons:

Damage is caused by non-hit dot. Makes a few things useless, including: On hit effects (leech, curse on hit, charge gaining, etc.), Damage Penetration, Damage conversion, Spell Crit (even with essence crafted gloves).

Triggered effects are a waste. Being channeled, this skill wont be usable with "cast on X", not will it be able to produce any triggered effects. Even attempting to use the BoTW set up for cast on ignite will not work, as this skill does not cause ignites only burning damage.

Since this skill causes burning NOT ignites, taming/emberwake set up will not work for the same reason the BoTW "cast on ignite" set up will not work.

Debatable points:

Damage caused from a DoT cannot be converted. This can be both good and bad. It's nice that the option for another chaos/poison machine gun set up is off the table. At the same time we all know how many monsters resists Fire damage and to the degree in which they resist it vs how many enemies resist Chaos and the degree in which it's resisted.

Skill is very linear (literally and figuratively). Targeting and handling groups seems to be fairly comparable to a single projectile Incinerate with no way to modify distance or width. On the flip side, this allows you space to spend more points in damage and survival rather than needing to ramp up size or projectile speed/damage.

Overall, I'll be interested to see how it pans out in game, but at least with this specific channeled skill, the options for unique uses of this skills seem very limited. Not that it can't be incorporated into some of the stuff I've mention, just not using this skill exclusively. As many have noted, I can see this being used frequently with multi-totem set up and RF builds. Out side that, the unique applications for at least this first channeled skill seem steeply limited.

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Kaz2ndChance wrote:

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cmilles wrote:

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DarkMantle wrote:

Does it work with spell echo?

Judging from all the other channeled skills, I think it's safe to assume spell echo will not work.

it has cast speed; I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Incinerate, wither, and flameblast have cast speeds but can't be used with Spell Echo either :P

Will this be affected by multiple projectiles?

Unless this has a huge mana cost or something associated with it, it's going to be way too easy to throw a ton of multipliers on this and call it a day. Controlled Destruction, Ele Focus and Rapid Decay are only the first ones that pops into my head, and before I had written the end of the sentence I remembered Increased Burning Damage.

This is OP out of the box, not because of numbers but because of mechanics.