Rapid Assault Too low damage, too high mana cost - Its bad imo.

I dont get why its so under-tuned. Am I suppose to wait for support gems to see it shine?

whether statistically or in actual play, i find it less reliable than the basic spear thrust - and thats with the whole combo, pop and all.

The most frustrating thing about, isn't even the lack of payoff. Its the spear head duration. It feels balanced for the previous patch durations. I get if im suppose to focus a single target, but i just dont feel rewarded for it.

And the enemy hovering. Too often do I end up poking the wrong guy. Why not spear everyone within its aoe? Its like its missing SOMETHING.

It cant Use crescendo, so i cant double up on a single target. I cant use it against well grouped enemies because it only hits one guy, and picking the RIGHT one in that group is... bad. (coming from a guy who orb walks as a ADC - a mouse movement tech that req precision and speed) AND I cant use it to burst or Pop a single target OR a group. Worse still its SLOW to attack and im IMMOBILE. pick one please.

even if I were a tank, it wouldn't make a difference. I have plenty of evasion to stand there, but no damage payoff for STANDING there.

If your trying to keep it in check because of the 40% standing still support gem, Id rather see THAT nerfed in dmg and the a buff to the dmg uptick from .05 to .01 - at least then it would actually have real synergy with a single cast, instead of having to stand there and cast it 3-4 times in a row.

Is it a Channel? is it a Combo? why either? why not both? im troubled trying to find anything in or from this skill, so it can distinguish itself.

Feels like it was panic nerfed before it even came into being... How much attack speed do I need, because 34% isnt enough for the skill.
(passive, support gem, weapon bonus).

All im saying is, shouldn't the skill have some use, without needing me to give it the PERFECT support gem? because every elemental skill I tried works well enough, and im a bleed build. How is my explosive spear, more powerful and useful than Rapid Strikes, and im only built for rapid strikes??

Im done venting. I tried to keep it factual and real. These are the questions I asked my self, and attempted to solve before drumming this complaint up.

BTW. Best case use. ACT1 boss, after heavy stun -
couldnt keep more than 3 consistent in this scenario. Couldn't tell if it was better or worst than basic thrust (both with same supports/without any). but the rapid thrust took more work. This is including Explosive spear on top. If there was a difference, it did not stand out. (statistically at the time, Spear thrust won in dps in a equal setup)

its suppose to be a combo skill, but there is no payoff for commitment into the skill or the finisher.

The biggest problem with this skill is the high mana cost.

Also the need to detonate it felt clunky. It should explode on its own after x second AND can be triggered early by detonator skills.

I think that would feel more natural as well!

I did NOT think about a timer for the stakes... and I agree with the mana cost issue.