Lightning Monk better now but…
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The change to Electrocute Support Gem is great, and a nice upgrade for a pure-lightning monk, but I think we are missing the point here in the difference between lightning and ice as a monk. Tell me what you think.
First let's point out the basics. Shock is the lightning equivalent of Chill. In both cases, regular elemental hits are able to inflict this status (1% chance per 4% of enemy threshold). Electrocute is the lightning equivalent of Freeze, both fully immobilize and stun the enemy when enough of it has built up. However, while ice-infused attacks cause Freeze build up naturally, lightning attacks require the use of a support gem to build up Electrocute. We're already looking at a slight imbalance for no particular reason, since Electrocute isn't stronger than Freeze it shouldn't have extra requirements. But that's far from all. Let's take a look at the passives… I count 33 nodes that increase Freeze build up or otherwise directly work off the Freeze status. Electrocute has 15 nodes, and that's including those added in the latest patch. On top of that, Cast on Freeze exists, but not Cast on Electrocute (we do have Cast on Shock, but see below). Freeze and Electrocute can trigger Combat Frenzy, but obviously Electrocute is a much harder status to build up, or rather involves a higher cost. Now, I wanted to make a build around Electrocute. By using Electrocute support gem on Charged Staff, and picking up the new Electrocute nodes, it builds up very fast, that's great, but it becomes impossible to Shock enemies. This is fine when you consider that Freeze also supersedes Chill, but ice users get to use Cast on Freeze for extra synergy (although… well monks have pretty much zero spell, and spells have their own separate scaling so perhaps Cast on X is purely decorative for monks?). Furthermore, the passive trees has a ton of nodes around Shock, and many skills/support are built around Shock. We can also take a look at the Harness the Elements passive node, it's obviously built as a culmination of using fire/ice/lightning and benefiting from it. The fire branch leading there gives increased Ignite build up, the lighting branch gives Shock build up… and the ice branch give Freeze build up, once again favoring ice with their stronger status. Playing Electrocute has few synergies, and playing Shock is underwhelming. Of course this is also be due to the fact that Power Charges are such a pain to generate; considering Killing Palm is exceedingly slow, dashes but does not teleport, and sometimes straight off misses. Siphoning Strike isn't much faster, mind you. And as I've said you cannot use Combat Frenzy with Shock. I'm not complaining, I enjoy playing Lightning but the imbalance seems quite large. But perhaps I am missing something here. Last bumped on Dec 18, 2024, 2:08:48 PM
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As a Lightning monk myself, I think the Electrocute effect is a trap that strangely way too many players fall in.
The first mistake is to try to compare Frost ailments and lightning ailments, try to draw parallel between the two, and expect both to be equal. They aren't. Chill isn't the same than Shock. Chill will slow enemies, while Shock will increase the damage you do to them. Both are useful, but they clearly don't bring the same benefit. Electrocute last 5 seconds, Freez last 4. Again, not the same and the fact that Electrocute is stronger is balanced by the fact that its less common. And last but not least, the quarter staff skills are clearly not built to work the same for the frost and lightning, each have a different playstyle. Frost is more CC oriented while lightning is more damage oriented. The Lightning skills HEAVILY rely on the shock effect, so you should focus on that. Ofc the electrocute effect sounds very appealing on paper, "free CC", but that's trying to shove a square peg in a round hole, trying to turn the lighting spec into the frost spec, ignoring the fact that your shocks massively increase your damage output compared to the frost spec. Expecting the lighting spec to deal electrocute is a bit like expecting every physical build to have bleed just because physical is related to the bleeding effect. |
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" You have some good arguments there on the Freeze/Electrocute and Chill/Shock comparison, but Electrocute synergies still feel under developped next to Freeze synergies. I also cannot agree with this particular sentence, Electrocute exists, so it must be a viable option or otherwise be removed altogether don't you think? |
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Yes, you are missing something.
I am making a lightning build for Monk, where I have an electrocute from every lightning damage, regular possibility to shock, combat frenzy, cast on shock, and some bow skills with weapon swap. Remember that making a build is not only about the tree. Last edited by rastaqki#6957 on Dec 18, 2024, 12:50:31 PM
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" I'm sorry but this doesn't sound right. If you have electrocute "from every lightning damage" you must have it built into Charged Staff, which means you cannot Shock enemies (at least since the recent patch), so no Cast on Shock synergy. |
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" the difference is that lightning builds historically tend to do a lot more damage initially (before shock is applied). |
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" Well, yes, and that's by design. The same way Monk frost don't synergize with chill, but instead synergize with Freez, Monk lightning synergize with Shock, not Electrocute, and I'd say this is a great decision as it ensure both specs feel way more different than jut "one do white crystals and one do blue sparks". This is why trying to force monk into electrocute is actually a trap and mostly counter productive. Sure, you can make it work, but you are working against yourself here. |
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" You might want to look at unique items ;) |
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