Arc - making it the most effective
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So i was wondering what you guys opinion is on the Arc spell, and how to best use it.
It has a 50% damage effectiveness, which im told is in place to reduce the effectiveness of lightning damage modifiers, and the base damage is scaled up to compensate; this is strictly % modifiers, like the ones you might find on a wand or in the passive skill tree, right? (flat modifiers dont seem to apply to spells) If thats the case, then that would make +cast speed and +chance to shock the most effective sources of additional damage for arc. with that in mind, how effective is crit and crit multiplier for arc? the damage effectiveness is 50%, meaning any critical strike you do, will have less potential damage to multiply, as opposed to using a low base dmg spell with 100% effectiveness, and stacking additional damage on gear. so with weaker critical strikes, the crit chance itself looses value aswell. i guess in summation: what is the most effective way to build arc? a little of everything, or focus on a few specific aspects. bonus question, does, for instance, "45% increased critical strike chance" (bloodthirst notable passive) also work for spells? i noticed that there are spell-specific nodes for crit chance, which made me wonder edit: i was thinking a build along these lines, focused on making arc the most effective, 75 points:
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBAW8EBwdjDkgRUBGWFecW8x8CIxgmPCj6KrotHy-dMtE0CjbFO-E8jkVHRtdMs1BCVcZXK1fJWBtdxl3yYG1nvW0Zc1Nzs34zf8aESIVtiEKLeow2jRmNHI9GlSCboZ2joi6io6SRpwinK7J1tQS4k7vWwcXB88Ntz2XQ0NWB2CTdjN3z4BLi9-aB6-7sGO5v8GvyHfyr
it has 43% increased cast speed 25% chance to shock on hit with lightning damage 150% crit chance 40% crit multiplier the rest is a sprinkle of hp nodes, ES nodes, and lightning/elemental dmg nodes its just a quick draft, but it should give you an idea of what im thinking Last edited by Oaken#2581 on Feb 4, 2013, 8:52:02 AM
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Bonus answer:
Crit chance and multiplier passives do work with spells if it's not specified otherwise. Anything that is not specified counts as global. „Never underestimate one's greediness.”
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Arc is definitely disappointing.
I was thrilled when I first saw it. But after using it, meh. Its part of my builds, but under pretty specific conditions. The 50% damage effectiveness. Rank 10 is 15-292, or 154 average. 77 average after the 50%. FP rank 10 is, 67 average. Arc is not a projectile. so doesn't work with lmp, fork, or anything. Chain is the only thing it works with. and thats another 50% damage reduction for 2 more hits. and +200% mana. Arc already costs absurd mana. 32 mana for that rank 10. 77 damage x 3hits. or 231 average. 64 with chaining. 36 damage x 5 hits. 193 average FP+lmp just trounces it of course. 16 mana for rank 10, 67 x unlimited. 5 targets, then it was 335 24 mana with lmp, 47x3 xunlmited. 141 per target, 703 on 5 targets. So theres the problem. Arc is really bad single target. And arc is really bad vs lots of targets. FP does more single and will hit 10-20 targets if there are 20 targets to hit. Arc? will hit 3 and only 3. And costs a ton of mana to do it. And arc is .8s cast vs FP's .65 innate. so its slower too, for less damage, and making you stand there casting it. Spell totem. It is pretty good in spell totem. mostly just to apply shock for you main ice or fire damage. at 250% mana, the cost is still high. It will mean you will need 100 mana free for rank 20. also faster cast is ideal, so 120? mana. But it will spam it for you, at just that single mana cost. |
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Funny how people really compare FP and Arc.
Hard to believe people really are THIS stupid. Last edited by nynyny#3398 on Feb 4, 2013, 1:13:00 PM
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" Another forum troll, awesome. Need mods to come around and slap these guys up every once in a while. As for the OP: Arc is pretty bad. I really wanted to make it work, but even with +219% spell damage and curses and such... It just doesn't hold up to almost anything else. The shock effect is suppose to stack (difficult to tell when it's stacking for me) and give a big damage boost, however I don't really see that happening all that often. I'm going to stick to it and hope for the best... IGN: SoulCinder
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" At least it wouldn't be that hard to respec into FP if it's just totally worthless. I'm using it still at 61 and it works, though I think FP would probably be better for me. |
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" what would you like me to compare it to? |
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" I wouldn't call it useless. I run with Arc. in a spell totem with faster cast. (elem prolif, and/or other mods if you wish) It is quite effective at applying shock. But Arc itself is just not very effective as being a primary damage skill. again, weak single target, weak versus large packs. Arc basically is only good vs 2 targets. no more, no less. |
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" Hes comparing a skill that has its biggest potential in close range fights where you normally shouldnt be as a Witch to a spell that can lock onto targets OFF SCREEN and even jump to other target that are OFF SCREEN. You pretty much completely ignore the deficits of FP. If thats not being completely fucking stupid I dont know what is. Thats like saying playing with a Spellshield in an Elemental Melee build is better than a Normal shield because it provides you more Spelldamage but ignoring the fact that the normal Shield would provide you more armor. Both spells are situational and in NO WAY comparable. |
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" And why is it exactly that you need to be a complete ass hat about it instead of just making your point like every other normal person? As soon as games get big, people like you come around, shitting all over the community. Hats off to you, sir. |
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