Minion build, Storm brand better choice for lightning proc EEE?

Hi Exiles, for minion build using lightning spell to proc EEE, why is storm brand better choice than any other lightning spell gem? Because of Deals (80-130)% more Damage to Branded Enemy ?

I'm not sure how the extra damage to branded enemy would matter...

Usually, you want your proc element to hit a lot more frequently than your damage element, because that makes sure resist is low when the damage element hits. Storm Brand is nice because it is constantly hitting.

BUT ... in the case of minions, they can't proc EE with their elemental damage, so they don't change the resist flavor, so this rationale wouldn't seem to matter in a minion build.

Minions do tend to be all over the place when you're clearing, hitting different mobs right and left. Storm Brand is nice in that case because it can be on a bunch of mobs at once, hit mobs that are adjacent to the ones the brands are attached too, and then auto detach and re-attach when the carrying mob dies.

Should be a very efficient way to spread EE to most of the mobs your minions are on and move as your minions move without you having to think much about targeting.

Someone else may have another reason, but this should at least get some discussion going for you.

Cheers

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D3rr_2 wrote:

why is storm brand better choice than any other lightning spell gem?

Says who?

Storm Brand has no advantages over other lightning skills with regard to Elemental Equilibrium, none whatsoever. Storm Brand does have a higher base crit chance which is entirely irrelevant for the purpose of EE, this only matters for builds using Elemental Overload as well (such as Righteous Fire) or applying Shock (making Storm Brand a decent choice for Elementalist-based minion builds with Beacon of Ruin Ascendancy, though I prefer Arc).

Storm Brand doesn't hit all that many monsters at the same time so if you need to proc EE on big packs, SB will fail you. Using skills like SB or Orb of Storms is more a matter of convenience ("fire and forget") rather than effectiveness.

There is a lot to consider. Whether the center of damage is the caster or not. Whether it's a single center or distributed. Whether it's static or moving. Range. Duration. Whether it can spread on its own. What the spatial configuration of the mobs is.

The only way to know what you like best is to try the skills in different situations and see how they feel. A large open map is going to be a lot different than a bunch of cramped rooms or tunnels.

And, yes, ease of play is different from efficiency, and which is "better" is personal preference.

I'm not sure any of it matters in the end, since we're talking about clearing where we should be one-shotting most stuff anyway.

The good news is, you don't need leveled gems to get a feel, so OP can test to his heart's content, and even swap out skills by map if he prefers Arc in an open map and SB indoors.