power charge on crit vs increase critical damage

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666lol666 wrote:

Any reason why you both don't use empower which should be the number one support gem for arc?

Say what? For a level 21 arc in a regular (ie not +1) armor, a level 4 empower adds no chains and about the same DPS as a level 21 added lightning damage (edit: and by that I mean, minus the extra shock chance and duration if it was 21/20). What's the point of that? Maybe if we were talking a +3 lightning staff, but I think a build running one of those would be slightly insane, because there's always dual Doryani's if you want full-on DPS with no survivability besides leech.

I really hope you are kidding. I talk about an usual Arc setup with a +1 gemlevel 4L. These 4L are very common and almost everyone uses them because a 4L +1 gemlevel with an Empower, Arc, Spell Echo and Lightning Penetration setup deals more dmg than any 5l plus you need less mana. Therefore it does not make any sense to run a 5L setup without Empower like these two guys do.

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AgnosiousD wrote:

quick question to assi, or anyone else:

with freeze pulse or any ice attack, crit is good because
is it not only doing more damage but it generally
has a "stunning" effect when the mobs that get hit
and either freeze or chill. its not "stun" but it prevents
monsters from completing actions much the same way.

a chilled monsters attack is delayed.

does lit have a similar effect? when a mob is shocked are
they prevented from acting immediately, or completing their
attacks? this would be a nice bonuses for using crit on arc.

Any kind of damage can stun if it hits hard enough relative to the monster's maximum life, based on a percentage of said life. The only exceptions are noted in the wiki.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stun

As for lightning damage's status ailment...

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Shock

thanks for the reply audio,

interesting... there's been several changes over the leagues that I have
noticed very late.

I was still operating on the assumption that stun was caused by phys
specifically, where the wiki makes no distinction... refering only to
damage taken compared to max life. Damage of any kind is the implication.

so crit shock is pretty damn bad news... lotta damage,
shock stacks, and great potential for long duration stuns.

I guess the corollary is that reduced stun duration works vs powerful
elemental attacks... and threshold factors in.

I love that the game is evolving and changing faster than I can track
it... all sorts of lore.

Shock stacks have been removed so now it's just "Shocked" for 50% more damage, and seeing as Arc innately has chance to shock built in with a relatively weak base crit chance, though doable, generally lends itself to a cast-speed-and-resistance-bypass-is-king playstyle, making Lightning Penetration, Faster Casting, and Spell Echo all you ever really need to make Arc successful.

My Witch is 86 in Torment and she stuns pretty regularly even without Lightning Pen in - she's currently using Increased Rarity in place of penetration since she's already killing at a rapid pace, though I've been getting pretty unlucky with the 70+ map drops of late, else I might consider swapping again, but until then... If you roll a map with Unwavering, then you'll notice just how much you've been stunning this whole time, if you pay attention.

In essence, all you ever need is a five link to viably make Arc a monster killing skill. Like others have said, that sixth link is just a bonus. Life Leech is usually a must so until you can get that fifth link, Spell Echo/Lightning Penetration is the way to go.

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666lol666 wrote:

I really hope you are kidding. I talk about an usual Arc setup with a +1 gemlevel 4L. These 4L are very common and almost everyone uses them because a 4L +1 gemlevel with an Empower, Arc, Spell Echo and Lightning Penetration setup deals more dmg than any 5l plus you need less mana. Therefore it does not make any sense to run a 5L setup without Empower like these two guys do.

Oh right, you're that guy that doesn't know how resists work in this game.

So first off, a 5L does give more than a +1 4L optimally, though both admittedly use Empower for optimal DPS.

Second off, OP relies on Arc for Leech, and Arc-Leech-Spell Echo-Empower is pretty pathetic (even on a +1) compared to Arc-Leech-Spell Echo-Faster Casting-Light Pen, which is the direct comparison you're making if you're not too stupid to read the fucking topic. Not to mention it's much cheaper than a level fucking 4 empower. If you can afford one of those, you can afford the mana regen on gear to handle a 5-link.