Serious problem using Vaal Discipline, would like GGG response

Hello.

I am playing a CI spellcaster.
Its my first experience with CI.
This characters main defense is the Energy Shield and Ghost Reaver (no armor or evasion);
my main skill is linked with life leech for the Ghost Reaver.

I want to use Vaal Discipline as an emergency safeguard.
I want it to function as a "panic button", similar to what a health potion does for life builds.

In practice, it does not work properly!




IMPORTANT EDITS:

#1 - apparently, if a vaal skill is interrupted before it is activated,
the souls won't be consumed (from GGG support).

#2 - apparently, there is no cache or queue of skill requests waiting to be active;
if a skill request comes in while another skill is being cast, it will just be ignored
(again, based on what GGG support wrote me).

#3 - from the above follows that using 'spell echo' definitely hurts other skill reactions;
from that point, it is better to use 'faster casting' instead.

#4 - i have switched my SE to FC, and so far it does look much better!
It is not 100% perfect, but now it takes 2-3 fast key strokes to activate the VD usually.
I did still have a couple of times were the VD was not activated, and my character died
with all the souls intact.


Thank you for reading and contributing.

Unlike flasks it is a spell, so it has a cast time (the time it takes to activate).
In order to cast it, you have to interrupt whatever else you might be casting at the moment (can't cast two things at the same time).

Works as intended as far as I can tell.

OK,
i can understand that.


But then,
why does it take several key strokes before VD is activated ?
Why a single key press is not enough ?


In the best case, it takes me at least 3-4 strokes to see the skill being activated,
but usually much more than that.
One key press never activates it, even after including the cast time,
even if i stop main skill cast for a brief moment.


The skill has no mana cost, so the only thing that might prevent it from being cast immediately
is the secondary cast of the main skill by the Spell Echo;
but then, the next key press should cast the VD
(of course i am talking when the required souls cost is available and the skill is ready to use).

Instead, it looks like most of the key strokes get "lost" during the main skill casts ...
That's why i am asking about the interaction between the mouse and the keyboard keys.


EDIT:
you do not need to interrupt your main skill cast in order to cast something else:
i have Lightning Wrap bound to the middle mouse button, and i can cast it
without stopping the main skill. The reaction is not immediate but it happens,
and it happens way better (faster) than the VD.
(And it is very inconvenient to press and hold both the middle and the right mouse buttons.)
I would try to switch between those two, but then i guess i will be having the problem
with my LW instead of my VD, and i need them both...

EDIT 2:
the bottom line is,
that on every 10 cases where the skill is needed, it works only in 3 or 4 times at most;
in other cases it does not activate at all, or activates too late.

Also make sure your cast isn't interrupted (stun for example)

Yes,
thinking about it,
stuns can be the answer,
although i do have the '55% stun immunity while casting' from the witch starting area,
and i never feel any interruptions in my main skill casts.

I will put more attention to that.

But maybe VD (or all vaal skills for that matter) is bugged and don't get this immunity ?
Not to accuse anyone, but bugs do exist; something like that could have been overlooked.


I guess i will need to get an Eye of Chayula to check it.

Well, you wrote in your first post that you are trying to activate it while continuing to cast your main skill which is supported by spell echo.

My understanding of spell echo is that it will cast your main skill a second time and until that second cast has finished you won't be able to cast anything else. So if you press 'W' while your main skill is being "echoed" nothing would happen.

However I have a hard time believing that one single key press never activates your Vaal Discipline. For example while you're not using your main skill (or any other skill), pressing 'W' should activate your skill reliably no matter what (except stun edge cases).

I have simmilar problems with Vaal Summon Skellys... I usually use It as PRE-strongbox-lag without aby other casting or monsters hiting/stuning me... Casting animation shows up, but the skill dont go ON, i have to repeat It 2-3 times

Vd will not interupt main skill/echo. If you hold vd it should cast after main skill completes its cycle.

Just to say that i have equipped myself with the Eye of Chayula,
and i am experiencing the same problem.
So the problem is not related to stuns.

I have also linked VD with faster casting.

I understand that no skill can interrupt other skill being cast,
and will only occur after that one is finished,
but still,
my Lightning Wrap has a tooltip cast time of 0.9~,
my Vaal Discipline (with faster casting) has 0.4~,
and the LW responds much better than the VD
(with or without EoC).
Binding VD to the middle mouse button didn't change anything.


From all the above,
and from what thebzyk says,
it seems all vaal skills (or maybe just vaal spell skills) react badly ...

So there must be something in their implementation code.
Maybe they have lower 'priority' than normal skills ?

"

PitzerMike wrote:

However I have a hard time believing that one single key press never activates your Vaal Discipline. For example while you're not using your main skill (or any other skill), pressing 'W' should activate your skill reliably no matter what (except stun edge cases).

I have never specifically tested it, because my original intention was to use VD in emergencies,
but i will check it out.

Tested the above:
if i stand still and use no other skills, then yes,
one key press activates VD as expected.


I really wish Mark would come to shed some light on this.

If the intention of the skill is to be cast in advance of a dangerous situation,
then it should have a bit more duration.
And even then it won't always be possible,
considering the souls cost.

I am somehow positive that the initial design of the skill was to be 'reactive',
not 'proactive'.

Unless i totally misunderstand the intended use of this skill.