state of slams - is Earthbreaker the only saving grace?

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sidtherat wrote:

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kompaniet wrote:

I'm playing tectonic slam chieftain in expedition league. It's actually quite good for clear and fun. Not the highest dps vs single target though.

I think i am dealing about 2 mil dps or so if most realistic buffs and stuff are active.

I used to have abyssus as helm which boosted dps greatly but i just can't level up with that thing. I was level 90 for a week without making any progress to level 91 so i replaced that helm and look i am level 91 now :)

Pob here: https://pastebin.com/FnsDBUc0

Not sure if you guys would classify tectonic slam as a real slam skill. I am guessing you mean these slam once, kill all type of builds but i thought i would post my progress anyway in case anyone is interested.

Maybe this still works for the one shot playstyle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSfN5DZeKD8

thanks for the link and build. It kinda isnt what I'm looking for - your Tectonic Slam is precisely what i call 'non-slam' - aka attack speed based build. you use precisely ZERO 'slam related' mechanics. but it is a very nice build in its own right, thank you.


Tectonic Slam actually is pretty good slam skill and my char (Juggernaut + Tidebreaker + 9 endurance charges) actually plays 'ok' as slammer - i think the factor is the AOE. you REALLY feel the impact of Fist of War if your starting AOE is substantial.

maybe the problem is with Consecrated Path. its default AOE is pitiful and 50% increased of 'small' is still small. I couldnt find any old builds on YT with CPath played as 'slammer'. maybe ive simply found a one-trick-pony skill AGAIN?

i use close combat support for now until i can get another red socket. almost impossible to get all red on this damn weapon.

there must be a way to make real slam skills good. i have been wanting to play such a build for some time.

Not sure that ggg understands how much of a drawback attacking slow is, you really have to make it worth the risk, so dunno if slams would do all that well in this patch even if we still had seismic. Saw mathil playing ground slam and it's a 200aps dw raider, as expected.

There are other factors, but I think that's pretty much what it boils down to, they have to bribe us to do it. I'd agree that 30% more damage and 20% more per attack was a bit much, but whoever decided to strip it completely doesn't know what he's doing.

It seems that GGG has taken this path on purpose. I don't understand why? Perhaps they're afraid of a powerful slam on the "X" weapon making boss killing too easy?? I don't know. Any other thoughts on this?

Slams are still a relatively powerful branch of the melee archetype. Wish other branches got the same attention Slams got.

i kinda wanted to avoid blanket (and imo irrelevant to discussion) statements like:

- my zdps build is doing 'fine' in yellow maps so it is all fine
- just stack attack speed and it is all good

What I need is a simple answer 'is the SLAM playstyle still alive and if so - how to do it, esp on Cons Path DW Nebuloh?'
preferably from someone with ACTUAL experience. Im kinda tired hearing 'XYZ is fine' from people who never played it because are too busy playing FOTM meta jazz.

my take on it is:
- Seismic Cry might have been a massive bandaid but.. it made the entire archetype worthwhile. current Seismic Cry is 100% useless. I gave it a solid few hours of chance - it is worthless.

- remaining 'slam centric' mechanics (Intimidating Cry, exerted attack damage bonuses, Fist of War) are underwhelming not only because they imply 'slow' gameplay but the numbers themselves simply suck.

- slam skills without being actual slams are just 'skills'. remove the slam tag and be done with this entire fiasco. Ground Slam is great because it has bonkers %effectiveness AND 45% MORE damage to close targets. it is literally THE strongest melee skill in the game right now (and reliable unlike Hydrosphere tricks that are finicky as hell). its only - serious - drawback: you cannot use it with Paradoxica/Saviour.


Solutions?

- +exerts. 2 for Intimidating Cry is a sad joke. 4 might be good baseline.
- revert Fist of War nerf completely. current numbers make ZERO sense
- exerted attack damage bonus has to be substantial, maybe even including %more rather than increased.
- cut the wind-up time on ALL slams. make that part of animation double the speed, add the time AFTER the attack.

- the ailment scaling is harder to fix as it got gutted in so many ways at once. start with the above 4. otherwise 'slam' playstyle is dead (not skills, the playstyle) just because someone released EShatter with ABSURD numbers and people had alternative for spells for 2 leagues.

Where was it explicitly states that the "only" valid way to play a slam was "one big hit?"

People provide examples of a a slam working all the way to the end game content and you move the goal posts to exclude it.