Most skill gems are unusable without specific gear
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Smite is pretty much TOP1 melee leveling skill in the game.
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Oooh I really like Smite~
Ethereal Knives is a pretty comfortable contender too~ Scales pretty well "For we are not now that strength, which in old days moved Earth and Heaven. That which we are, we are; one equal strength of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will: to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Ulysses, Tennyson
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" I can give you one example: Cyclone. You get this gem at around level 30-35'ish in act 3. If you equip it and try to use it, you will fail miserably. This gem simply doesn't function with gear you have at that stage. I remember how i got the cyclone for the first time and expected this gem to be solid upgrade after spectral Helix. Well, I couldn't kill even magic-tier mobs. I am not kidding, or exaggerating. But believe me, there are alot more of such cases. Probably Frost Bolt is another one. You get it as a choice for one of the first gems to use in game. This thing is terrible. | |
" I have leveled from roughly 30 to Kitava 2 on a cyclone build, it works fine, not my fastest build, but it worked fine. Can't speak for Frostbolt though. Some added information, the build in question was a planned cyclone build, so I went in knowing I'd be using cyclone, and not slapping it into a build not designed for it (ending as a Scion cast on crit build favoring dex skills). Last edited by Northern_Ronin on Nov 15, 2023, 2:24:22 PM
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" So you were using a projectile attack skill before and switched to Cyclone expecting it to yield similar results? Am I understanding you correctly? Because I don't want to come off being uncharitable to your argument While it is true that as an attack skill Cyclone is under-represented in the current meta (it is mostly a setup skill for CwC or CoC) it is a perfectly reasonable skill to be used. Without any further context I cannot speak to your experience using it (as in what was your class, passive tree, what gear did you use, what support gems did you pair Cyclone with), but man.. I once lost a bet to a friend and - because I allowed him to pick the build - cleared the entire story from Act 1 till Kitava in Act 10 with Heavy Strike in HCSSF and I had to fully convert to fire + play Scion without being allowed to ascend. Tell you what.. I managed. You could clear campaign with any skill save for supporting skills like Contagion, Void Sphere etc. just fine. In fact, people in Ruthless finish the campaign with a 1 or 2-link on league start. It's that easy The opposite of knowledge is not illiteracy, but the illusion of knowledge.
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The Uniques are usually designed to support Skill Gems not the other way around. So sure you can use Skill Gems without specialized gear, but that gear was designed with those Skill Gems in mind.
A good example is Flicker Strike you can play the build with all Rares, but Oro's Sacrifice/Terminus Est Flicker is definitely easier to start/understand. |
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" When i tried the cyclone i havent invested in any projectile passives, but rather flat attack-increases, maybe with an exception of 1 cluster. We are talking sbout a skill not being able to kill even fodder mobs in act 3 here. Cyclone is under-represented for last couple of leagues (as meta didn;t shift in like a year).. and i doubt it will be changed anytime soon... At least for cyclone. Now another thing is: it's NOT reasonable skill to be used as soon as you get it in acts, because it's too weak to be used. After acts, in maps, once you get build going: yes. But not before that. Regarding "i used X skill to clear all acts". Some folks used basic attacks to kill uber(?) elder. I guess basic attack is now totally balanced and good "skill" rite? Jokes aside, it's all cool that YOU (or your friend) managed to make some great achievement... Most of people don't play as good as YOU though. | |
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If you can't kill fodder mobs in act3 with cyclone it's not the cyclone being a problem...
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" The much overused but very appropriate answer to this paragraph is "skill issue" - and that's okay. You'll get better in time and learn how to build your character appropriately. The opposite of knowledge is not illiteracy, but the illusion of knowledge.
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If we agree (and i doubt anyone wouldn't) that some skills are superior than others, damage usability, scallings, clears, whatever. Then obviously there have to be average skills AND inferior skills.
Inferior skills require alot of multipliers/flat damage from gear that can't be achieved in acts. Being a D about it and making personal jabs is just stupid here, but you do you, Art. |
