Arc - making it the most effective

I have been in closed beta for quite a while now, I just didnt bother posting on the forums.

The thing is that a monkey should see why both spells are not comparable. The guy throws around with numbers and calculates every bit of mana spend, so he obviously invested time into the game and most likely played it for quite a bit already.

It honestly shocks me that a person like him still can not see that these 2 spells are in no way comparable. By pointing out how stupid his comparison was I expected him to realize why, which does not seem to be the case after all.

Spells arent always comparable, especially not when they differ so heavily from each other, and a person who calculates mana costs should realize that FP is a close-mid range crowd controll damage ability while Arc is a long range amplification ability.

I am actually kinda amused about your peoples reaction.

I was also intrigued by Arc, and decided to give it a shot with Chance to Flee. It's pretty sweet, although it is mana intensive. That said, there's nothing quite like watching a pack start running at you and then having half of them change their minds and book. It gives the subsequent casts time to pick off the ones who didn't tuck tail.

You can get overwhelmed if the enemy is particularly numerous or has a gap closer, so you can't go strictly glass cannon. If that happens and people get up in my face, I'll switch to FP or Fireball, or attempt to kite and just throw an Arc over my shoulder from time to time.

Guess I should post my current build:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMABUIfAiycLR82xTvhQZZEq1WuVytnvW0ZdhF-r4IQgh6IQo0Zj0aPppuhna6nCKcrrrPBtMHFwfPDbdDQ2CTdjN-w4BLi9-Ts7Bjub_Id

And here's where I'd like to get to in terms of reasonable goals:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEEGWBUKusyycVa5Eq4-mLR-NGeAS3YxtGTvh4venK8Hzgh6IQvIdwcXsGMNtwbTk7HYRfq8fAjbF2CSnCI9G0NCboWe9na4abOQijmT3prb6KU-Cm9V1zLfyzn1Ttobd82BtXcZG19rdf8Z-WS-dFvMmPBGWDkiiLl3yfjOkkeOEiGu29xEvVyvubw==

With of course, magical Christmasland being this (and more of the same if you just want to fill out all of the remaining +dmg:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEEGWBUKusyycVa5Eq4-mLR-NGeAS3YxtGTvh4venK8Hzgh6IQvIdwcXsGMNtwbTk7HYRfq8fAjbF2CSnCI9G0NCboWe9na4abOQijmT3prb6KU-Cm31Ttobd82BtXcZG19rdf8Z-WS-dFvMmPBGWDkiiLl3yfjOkkeOEiGu29xEvVyvubx0U-tLpc_fBLL_mTNlfmZrrY4fbY0O71oV9tQTtIOFzi4xMs1Aw214=

Arc's range isnt that great, and its damage certainly isn't.

Ice spear, firestorm, fireball all do that as well, or better.


Arc just doesn't gain from supports all that well. Except for again, spell totem.
It does apply shock at a longer range and higher frequency then spark.


Everything devolves down to FP because FP does scale so well with a few specific supports.
Hard to say FP is short range when it covers your entire screen with quality and faster proj.

The original statement was, "Its part of my builds, but under pretty specific conditions."
I understand reading is hard.

Arc is not very good as a primary damage skill.

"

Casia wrote:

Arc's range isnt that great, and its damage certainly isn't.

Ice spear, firestorm, fireball all do that as well, or better.

So you suddenly compare Arc to other spells now. Why is that?

"

Casia wrote:

Everything devolves down to FP because FP does scale so well with a few specific supports.
Hard to say FP is short range when it covers your entire screen with quality and faster proj.

Which doesnt matter because the maximum damage still only applies in close range while Arcs damage is consistent.

"

Casia wrote:

The original statement was, "Its part of my builds, but under pretty specific conditions."
I understand reading is hard.

Arc is not very good as a primary damage skill.

It doesnt matter what your point is when you compare two completely uncomparable abilities. The most hilarious thing is your statement concerning Arcs range. If a Chain Lightning that locks onto targets and jumps onto additional ones off screen cant be considered long range I dont know what can.

Firestorms range is shorter, because you have to actually see the target to cast it. Fireballs and Ice Spears range are longer yes, but last time I checked they werent lock on and therefore had a high chance to miss.

I am running ark as my primary. I tried out using spark+fork, bu didnt care for it. I like having control over my attack. I really wish however they would bump up the damage of arc. As is the cost/damage ratio just isnt there. I am currently using with elemental proliferation and it costing me like 35 mana. It jumps to 60 (i think) if i throw on lightning penetration. I REALLY wanna be able to use these combos, but they are making it hard....

Lightning Penetration is a waste because from what I have heard it doesnt do anything after you already applied Conductivity.

Rather got for Faster Casting and throw in a Reduced Mana gem if you really want to spam it yourself. Else go Dual Totem build with summons and you can use is as your Totem Spell, which to be honest is kinda boring though.

But I guess that applies for every summoner build.

"

Casia wrote:

[...]
Arc just doesn't gain from supports all that well. Except for again, spell totem.
It does apply shock at a longer range and higher frequency then spark.
[...]

Are you sure about that? I always have the feeling that Spork does a way better job (still) at applying shocked. ST it's not even a contest and aoe Spork wins still, since Arc has limited hits.

We're talking totems of course.

I play a light sorc with Arc as my main,even considering that i got no quality gems,i have easy time killing stuff,so far have gotten to lvl 50 and can't say that i have met a mob or a crowd of mobs that i cannot destroy.

Also,i don't know what builds people are using,but i don't really have problem with mana,or popping a flask every now and again,as long as i have chains of mobs to kill,i can forget about flasks.

Please, someone, use the full word now and then, read the entire thread and still don't have a clue what FP is lol . . .

Freezing pulse