GGG devs, please give us some info on Ball Lightning mechanics - questions inside

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raics wrote:

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since each totem is considered as its own damage source, having three totems basically means u are doing 50+50+50=150% base damage of LB if the all three separate projectiles from each totem comes close to an enemy, as compared to selfcast LMP which only has 70% base damage.

Actually, with 50% less daamge and 30% less cast speed each totem does only 35% of selfcast damage.

So, three totems can do at most 105% of regular skill damage (by 'regular' I mean a basic setup), and if you put in echo instead of totem in the same setup you do around 150% damage selfcasting. If you also got a totem next to selfcasting it that's probably 175% of regular damage (25% instead of 35% because that totem will probably be less well supported compared to original skill unless you use a staff).

Tactical advantages of using a spell totem are still there but the damage is pretty underwhelming these days. I'm personally for redoing the penalties to 20% less damage / 50% less cast speed or something.

tritotem is still superior due to area coverage from 3 separate damage sources. when the 3 projectile from each totem comes near a enemy it does more damage than a lmp LB, as lmp doesn't shotgun.

echo does not reduce the 200ms cooldown so imo echo is (though still good) not exactly the killer gem for LB, ggg should know this very well considering they release those 2 gems together, they don't want it to be too OP so they make significant tests with them and the 200ms cooldown and nonshotgun is a good way to stop that.

plus immunity to reflect and CB is very welcome due to how fast LB proc.

curses from soul mantle is a nonissue with proper warding flasks usage

actually now thinking about it best is
selfcast (not using lmp/gmp) + dual totem (soulmantle without taking ). using granite/quicksilver for curse immunity.

better than lmp selfcast with more coverage yet has MUCH better damage output than tritotem or pure selfcast as damage output coming from 3 sources, one of which is the strongest selfcast.

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raics wrote:

It needs testing, I suppose, but I don't think you can easily break 5 casts per second where echo would become a dps loss.

The point is dedicated totemists started to lag in damage department behind self-cast just enough to offset tactical and resource advantage. I consider it to be a good thing personally, totems are supposed to be an extra hand for casters, to assist, distract or provide some extra damage output. Gone are the days of totemists outmaneuvering and outgunning selfcasters from total safety, and good riddance to them.

with the totem nerf plus intro of echo, spell totem is already near (or at, if u ask someone else) the death knell, i dont think anyone even use it for supplementary damage (without significant investment) since echo spam alone just destroys everything now. Personally the nerf was required but was overdone imo, since they are now utterly outclass by general selfcast build since echo cannot be used by totem.

the mechanics of LB seem to make LB tritotem work better than usual spells at least in terms of coverage but on single target selfcast echo still absolutely triumps. meh and i thought i could try to make LB totem work...