Rapid Assault - Why I think it Struggles and How it could be Improved

Rapid Assault just got buffed - Now the Impale pop does the same Dmg as the Final Stab, but - the I still find the skill lack luster. Why?

Well, From a usability standpoint, I think the +6 range on the 1st 6 attacks is great. I think the +12 Range on the final strike is great. I do NOT think the difference between the two is. It creates a inconsistency in the expectations of the skill. Dont get me wrong, it has its uses, but I also think it feels bad.

TL;DR at the bottom
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Explanation: The skill not just weak... its bad.

Here is why:
- The 1st 6 strikes do not count individually toward gain modifiers like Rage. You effectively Hit twice with the skill
- The range diff makes the 1st 6 strikes a lot less unimportant.
- Even though the skill maims, you are encouraged to get closer.

The next issue I have with this skill; Detonation Requirement.
Is it cool? yeah. does it work or feel good? not really.
Heres why:
- I have to jump through multiple hoops to get the skill to payoff, comparatively to Rake taking none.
- I have to put myself at greater risk
- Additional issues with the impale, not working with Crescendo, and not impaling multiple enemies when ancestrally boosted. This means you get one impale.
- It doesn't use frenzy charges to skip, like the other huntress skills.

I also have an issue with the skills modifiers and Effects: The lack of a standout modifier like combo or sustained, and The Maim.
Here is why:
- For a skill that is about making use of distance, monsters are too fast. Maim does not help this case because, during skill use you only hit a few enemies. Only the explosion will truly see maim in use - and ideally the enemy will die.
- Without a good modifier, the skill can't distinguish itself from Rake - as well as, again, not being able to modify the # of stakes you apply at once.

Possible Fixes For this skill:
- Change Maim to Pin. The class lacks Pin, and the skill is limited enough that application on many enemies will be Risky enough. Add it to all parts of the skill, or just primarily on the 1st 6 strikes.
- Adjust the range between the 1st 6 strikes, and the final strike to make them equal. you could give it A small cone of attack to make up the difference.
- Giving a cone of attack to The final strike will allow it to multi stake, and fix the targeting issues the skill has. The limit being 5 IS the balance to keep the skill in check.
- Give the skill additional Modifiers Like combo, or duration, so it can use more support Gems.
- Change Ancestral boost, so the skill can impale with the additional strikes. If the strikes get AOE, boost that too.
- My favorite option, Make the stakes explode on duration, and after enemy death. Every other skill that requires detonation has a second or even third route to detonate usually ( or you have a lot of options to use). Thunderous leap (which feels weak to ME) and Explosive spear are lack synergy. You also said you do NOT expect players to be a bleed/fire build in your interview, yet a bleed skill requires a thunder or fire skill to be at its best?
- give blood related detonator, or give Blood Hunt the Detonator tag, this would fix the issue for blood builds. Though A leap like thunderous would be way cooler.
- Allow the player to Move, at a penalized pace, while activating the skill
- Let it use frenzy charges, and give it a boost for the use.

Summary:

Rapid Assault is a skill with a lot of potential, in theory. However, in the execution itself is unintuitive, risky, Redundant, and unrewarding at best.
I have no real reason to take it over Rake, nor next to it, since rake has mobility and a strong bleed modifier. Bloodhounds Mark has its own AOE pop which is stronger, and blood hunt has a damage Amp. on bled enemies on its AOE so as a payoff its better. And it maims - while you stand there, and by the time your done, Main is done - Spear field does it way better. Each of these skills have overlap, which is great! but they all distinguish themselves without having excessive steps for a worth while payout. With Rapid Strikes, I have to Sit there, Cast it, then Jump on my enemy (so put myself at greater risk, OR hope i have a frenzy charge to pop my hard earned 5 stakes, that should be dropping off, because they last 10s, and it took me 6s to do all five stakes. Why cant they detonate on death? on their own after the timer? with more damage and automatically with a Frenzy charge? this is on theme with Huntress too!

Negatives mostly:

Rapid Assault, on the other hand, Takes the longest to cast, Doesn't count the multi-hit on certain support gems (like rage). Lacks immediate AOE, has targeting issues, Overlaps in support gem amongst competition, low payoff damage, weird range, Highly Risky, Slow attack speed, Immobile, double bleed? (good for crimson Assault), Knockback only hits 1 target, lacks unique tags amongst competition, weaker scaling than all fields of competition. And finally Limited Detonation routes - that require higher risk, a longer combo, or a longer wait, with not skill synergy beyond Detonations. It does not use Frenzy charges to circumvent Detonation requirements either.





TL;DR;
This skill Not only, does not Stand out, It is bad at being a jack of all trades option, as every other skill in competition with it is flexible enough while doing more of everything comparable - and this skill requires too long a combo, time dedication, poor skill synergy, and effort for its weak payoff. AND the skills needed for Detonation do not synergize with the other bleed skills either. Effectively throwing a Wrench in the Bleed skill set.


My build and and why it cant work with Rapid Assault:

My whole build is Combo and Payoff, if I dont move between range, Melee and parry, I lose about 3/5ths Damage.
I use Mark -> Rake -> Parry -> Disengage -> Spear Throw -> Rake/Blood Hunt + Spear Field at any opportunity you cant melee; I will struggle to kill some tougher bosses. If you are unsure, Please fight the Boss in the Molten Vault with my lv 43 character. You will Barely make it With 2nd Ascendancy, maybe after a few tries. other bosses are easier, others are harder, but he was a great test. To beat Molten boss, you must activate blood hunt every time after its pops on the boss, throw at least 1 stake after every parry - ideally using all your frenzy throws when he stands still to far away, use Blood Hound when blood loss is on the enemy hp bar, parry very often into disengage, and use Spear field whenever he decides to stand still and attack instead of chase. Also eat some Aoes to keep spamming Rake. It was a very close fight - as I killed him with cull the weak As i was burning in the molten gold.

Rapid Assault does not let me leave, it poorly combos, eats up my time in rotation and demands 2 Skill slots to ever see its full potential - and still manages to lack in damage. Time spend Popping bleed with Blood Hunt, is time lost on Stakes to detonate. even with all that, it cannot out damage any combo I already have, single or multi target. This skill is not in theme with Huntress, who uses Frenzy charges to skip this detonation either. I have yet to find anywhere it stands on its own, or in combo or conjunction with the other bleed skills.

Thank you for Reading so far along.

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You effectively Hit twice with the skill

Shit. Here's hoping i could stack leech with it.

I edited the post a few times by now. I had to do a error check, so it should be good now.

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onetruelai#7327 wrote:

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You effectively Hit twice with the skill

Shit. Here's hoping i could stack leech with it.

Good luck lol, some skill gems like hobble work though. But Hobble (blood in the eye) is worse on Rapid Assault compared to Rake, because of Stomping grounds. Its still very good on RA for single target, but its out done by a mile on Rake with Stomping grounds. Like by a crap ton.

effectively, if you want life or leech on hit, consider Rake with stomping grounds first.

bumpy