[LLD] Molten Shell Discussion

I'm personally getting a little tired of people complaining about how Molten Shell is overpowered, and so let's have a little discussion about it.

I know I personally depend on Molten Shell to fight against melee. First off, I want some people to realize how much it takes to run a strong molten shell. My molten shell takes 70+ mana to cast, and is on a 5L in a +1 Tabula. That means that I have to give up auras to run clarity, I have to give up stats on my chest in favor of damage, and I have to manually cast it to have its full effect.

Molten shell is not just some skill on the side. It is a primary skill. In the same way you'd be scared of puncture on a bower, or whirling blade on melee, you SHOULD be scared of molten shell on a caster.

Why does it appear to some to be overpowered? Is it the damage? Not really. It's about 1.5x the damage of most other spells, but that's not what's scary from it.

It's the delayed damage.

Delayed damage coupled with non-delayed damage leads to high bursts of damage, which leads to the perception of one-shotting. This is not the case. Vs melee, I'm typically trying to keep shock up, while baiting for them to pop my molten shell, which at the same time, should trigger my CWS, for more burst damage. Some players seem surprised when die (get "one-shotted") when they flicker in to trigger a +3 5L molten shell, while being shocked, along with several CWS skills. I don't see why at all that should be surprising.
You should use the search function to read the numerous threads that have been made regarding molten shell over the years. I bet after you read them you'll understand why people have issues with that ability.
IGN:Dethklok
lllllDanziGGlllll - 100 Ranger ~ HOGM
Mirror Service: View-thread/2479762
Old:870532
"
ZenithStar wrote:
I'm personally getting a little tired of people complaining about how Molten Shell is overpowered, and so let's have a little discussion about it.

I know I personally depend on Molten Shell to fight against melee. First off, I want some people to realize how much it takes to run a strong molten shell. My molten shell takes 70+ mana to cast, and is on a 5L in a +1 Tabula. That means that I have to give up auras to run clarity, I have to give up stats on my chest in favor of damage, and I have to manually cast it to have its full effect.

Molten shell is not just some skill on the side. It is a primary skill. In the same way you'd be scared of puncture on a bower, or whirling blade on melee, you SHOULD be scared of molten shell on a caster.

Why does it appear to some to be overpowered? Is it the damage? Not really. It's about 1.5x the damage of most other spells, but that's not what's scary from it.

It's the delayed damage.

Delayed damage coupled with non-delayed damage leads to high bursts of damage, which leads to the perception of one-shotting. This is not the case. Vs melee, I'm typically trying to keep shock up, while baiting for them to pop my molten shell, which at the same time, should trigger my CWS, for more burst damage. Some players seem surprised when die (get "one-shotted") when they flicker in to trigger a +3 5L molten shell, while being shocked, along with several CWS skills. I don't see why at all that should be surprising.


I agree on everything, for LLD. HLD may be a different beast.

Warning: The following may inflame melee. View at your discretion.

People (melee) want an easy counter to molten. Phys flicker/leap slam, one/two shot heavy strike/cyclone...

God forbid someone have to think, and use ranged (spectral, bow swap, trap, etc...) and/or primarily ele damage against them. Phys conversion to ele builds don't count for the latter.

I'm not trying to start a flame war. I just think the issue has been primarily one sided (melee the most vocal).
Formerly Firebrand
_Thriller_
_Boomshakalaka_
Last edited by Dopamineloveaffair on Mar 11, 2015, 3:49:59 PM
I got oneshotted once. LLD.
76 res 1600+ life.
You can ask questions ;p
How many curses were used (flammability, elemental weakness), and was EE applied? There's no way molten does 6667 (1600x(1/1-0.76)) damage before enemy fire res is applied in LLD.
Formerly Firebrand
_Thriller_
_Boomshakalaka_
"
You should use the search function to read the numerous threads that have been made regarding molten shell over the years. I bet after you read them you'll understand why people have issues with that ability.

I'm not going to dispute about the fact that it is a strong ability, which indeed it is. If it wasn't, it wouldn't have a slot in my chest.

"
kuan999 wrote:
I got oneshotted once. LLD.
76 res 1600+ life.
You can ask questions ;p

Again, popping MS while being shocked and under EE while getting hit by several CWS spells does not consitute being one-shotted. I don't think I've ever killed a tanky melee from full health even under all those conditions.

"
How many curses were used (flammability, elemental weakness), and was EE applied? There's no way molten does 6667 (1600x(1/1-0.76)) damage before enemy fire res is applied in LLD.

Don't forget about PvP damage scaling.

At 76% res,
((D/ 1.2) / 290)^0.58 * 290 * 1.2 * .24 = 1600 solves to
D = 56557.8

At 0% res,
((D/ 1.2) / 290)^0.58 * 290 * 1.2 = 1600 solves to
D = 4829.37

Edit: Totally forgot, Molten Shell has a 15% less damage mod in PvP.

At 76% res,
((D/ 1.2) / 290)^0.58 * 290 * 1.2 * .24 * .85 = 1600 solves to
D = 74848.6

At 0% res,
((D/ 1.2) / 290)^0.58 * 290 * 1.2 = 1600 solves to
D = 6391.2

As a point of reference, my Molten Shell-Empower-Firepen-Stun-IncDuration on a +1 Tabula (5L, 6th link is Firestorm) has a 1370 tooltip.
Last edited by ZenithStar on Mar 11, 2015, 5:44:07 PM
How many of those other main skills can you think of that provide that amount of burst damage and insane defense?
Dublicious
"
ddub3987 wrote:
How many of those other main skills can you think of that provide that amount of burst damage and insane defense?


cold snap comes to mind, especially if target is ee'd or without freeze immune
Its not as bursty but the damage can also be very high and combined with temp chains and chill...
LLD BOTW spark/arc caster guide http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1133731
Chill is an offensive elemental status ailment. I am referring to actual defense. But while we are on that subject:

Nerf Molten Shell(damage)
Nerf Cold Snap(chill duration)
Dublicious
Last edited by ddub3987 on Mar 11, 2015, 5:47:09 PM
Like I've said before I'm not sure molten deserves a nerf in LLD.. It's close but I believe casters would get wrecked too hard if even their shell was taken away. The shell is already rather manageable with the right setup.

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