Ancestral Call + Melee Splash + Multistrike

Whats the point in having so many gems that fulfill the same role?

Build diversity?

i really hope that this gem is disabled as soon as your skill aint single target

therefor melee splash linked to it would prevent it from working

Functional difference, more options for what suits your build specifically. or how you prefer the game to feel. The sort of foundation PoE was originally build on.

Melee Splash only spreads the damage of existing swings, not any of the secondary effects however scales well with other sources of additional hits. Does nothing for true single target damage output.

Multistrike increases the number of attacks you make, at the cost of reducing overall control of your character. Has the benefit of scaling off of other things that trigger on your swings such as secondary attack effects, melee splash included.

Ancestral Call like multistrike grants full additional attacks, that also trigger all secondary effects however are limited to only striking additional targets beyond the first, and does not have the cost of hindering the control of your character.

Use one, use two, use three. Whatever fits the build, whatever feels nicest to use. Not just clear multipliers to slap onto a skill.

Pretty sure I'll be switching from MS to AC in most cases. Not getting locked into an attack sequence is a big sell with me.

The reason they're looking for alternatives... Single target melee isn't being used except by people who what to show off that they can use something no one else likes. Making it not quite single target might make it more appealing. It wont, but it might.

Multistrike and melee splash are mostly for skills that have the actual attack hit as their main dps source and/or cooldowns, flicker strike being one of the prime examples.
Ancestral call would be for namelocking skills that are all about their secondary effects, frost blades, wild strike, molten strike and static strike for instance.
So while they seem similar, they have quite different uses. Though to be honest, multistrike will probably still be the most used one of them.

Not sure AC will work with Frost Blades. Depends on how they define "Single Target".

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Shagsbeard wrote:

Not sure AC will work with Frost Blades. Depends on how they define "Single Target".

Well, you do attack only one monster at the time with FB. You attack "one single target". The rest is just secondary effects.

True... but as a mathematician I've come to read new words with skepticism. It's totally up to them to classify what they want as "single target". Can it be supported with MS?

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Vipermagi wrote:

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MBata wrote:

Whats the point in having so many gems that fulfill the same role?

Build diversity?

This right here is exactly what Supports "should" have been, imo, moreso than just another More Damage multiplier - give actual choices and options. The choice between 30% More Damage and 40% More Damage isn't any choice at all; Essence Drain links were always super dumb and boring, simply find the next biggest More multiplier, and none of them had a real downside until Slower Projectiles (which was the 6L slot anyways). The choice between Splash and Ancestral Call actually matters, and the potential option of "why not both" adds another layer on top. They have their own time and place, benefits and detriments, and opinions on these will inevitably vary.

So yes, diversity :) This is a good thing. Offer more real differences, not plain higher numbers.

I have to agree with you

it does increase diversity, as long as you cant link them all together otherwise it would just be

No limitation is as bad for diversity than Heavy limitation