A big list of potentially viable Cast On Crit attacks-spell combos (with rationale).

Here's a big bunch of my thoughts on potentially viable (in terms of endgame DPS) attack-spell combos that could be used with the new cast On Crit trigger support gem.

I've done it because CoC seems a very interesting combo gem on paper, but so far I haven't seen a single decent showcase of its use in endgame situation.

ANY comments on any of the combo would be highly appreciated. I'm especially interested in firsthand experience of those who have already tried something similar.

Prerequisites for Cast On Crit:
-you have to use attack skill linked to triggered spell
-need high crit chance to proc the spell consistently -> you need high base crit chance on weapon -> weapon options: melee - dagger, claw, sceptre; ranged - high crit bow (?new harbinger), wand
-you need compatible weapon+spell supports+passives, because BOTH attack and spell should do a reasonable amount of damage (at least not much less than said attack + 2x +dmg supports, ideally - more:)).

Based on these principles, I've checked ll the existing skills and spells, and that's what I've come up with.

Combo types:
1. use already multi-projectile skills together (no need for lmp/gmp = room for extra +dmg support):
->lightning strike + spark = lightning + projectile + fork/pierce + decent LMP compatibility
LS(no q in fork) + CoC + Spark(q?) + fork/faster atks/faster proj + WED/increased crit strikes = GGRU(R/U) - 6th link for life leech
use daggers/claws - ele with light dmg or phys with light dmg
stack - crit %, projectile dmg, ele+light dmg, WED if ele weapon, phys dmg if phys weapon (easier to leech), atk spd
Very easy combo. Both skills benefit from extra lightning and projectile damage, fork(!), LS is a very strong attack on its own, requiring little in way of supports to make it strong, and sparks will help finish off the mobs that have slipped between LA projectiles.

->split arrow + ethereal knives = phys + projectile + pierce compatibility
SA + CoC + EK + added fire dmg + increased crit strikes = GGGRU - 6th link for faster atks/faster proj/pierce (leech from gear)
use high crit bow (new harbinger?) + rustic sash
stack crit %, projectile dmg, phys dmg
Also very straightforward combo, and strong one due to a) not having to use extra projectile support, and b) having both bow AND EK benefit from similar passives. EK range maybe a bit of a problem when it comes to dealing with ranged mobs, but against melee mobs or with small gear adjustments it won't be a problem at all.
I'll try this one on my phys crit ranger as soon as I get a spare CoC gem and the armor with the right socket colours from an alt.

2.use aoe melee attacks with aoe spells (no need for melee splash, aoe deals dmg to close by targets = faster kills)
cleave/reave/cyclone/ground slam/?rain of arrows
+
ice nova/shock nova/arc/?spark/?cold snap/?discharge/?firestorm

I will work on this section later. This sort of combo may be better than using elemental melee attack + melee splash (see below) due to already having aoe and freeing up an extra +dmg support.

It seems that using elemental weapons and stacking +41% to ele dmg and the +aoe notable from the templar start is the way to go, and one might as well pick up static blows and multiple weapon crit % nodes available near templar and mara parts of the tree.

Possible interesting combos include ele cleave + both novas/arc, ele reave with spark/arc, ele cyclone with virtually any of the abovementioned spells, ground slam with arc/spark.

3. use similar ele attack+spell with lmp/gmp or melee splash:
->elemental hit (ranged) + ??? + lmp/gmp
->elemental hit (melee) + ??? + melee splash
I haven't explored these yet, maybe there's something to them, but I don't see it yet - maybe with Discharge?
Q EH gives very good crit chance, but the gem has a high mana cost.
Good option for ele wanders?

->infernal blow + firestorm + melee splash = extra aoe from q melee splash affects firestorm
IB + CoC + firestorm + splash + multistrike = RRRGU
use sceptres with high phys+fire dmg
stack crit %, fire+ele dmg, atk spd
This combo seems weak to me, since IB is already a strong aoe skill in itself, and boost from firestorm is really small dps-wise.

->glacial hammer + ice nova/?cold snap + melee splash = extra aoe from q melee splash affects both Csnap and IN, extra chance to chill/freeze from q Csnap
Ghammer + CoC + nova/snap + splash + multistrike = RRRGU
use sceptres with high phys+cold dmg
stack crit %, cold+ele dmg, atk spd
Cold be interesting due to all that extra cold damage from spells, but maybe simple melee phys + WED combo works better here.

->burning arrow + fireball + lmp/gmp = extra ignite chance and duration from q arrow and fireball
BA + CoC + FB + lmp/gmp + increased crit strikes/fire penetration/WED = GGGU(R/U)
use high crit phys+fire bow (new harbinger?) + ?blackgleam quiver
stack crit %, projectile dmg, phys dmg, fire/ele dmg
With a high phys bow and q gems one could really set things on fire, but bow crit and projectile dmg nodes are on the opposite side of the tree from fire dmg nodes.

->ice shot + fpulse/ice spear/arctic breath + lmp/gmp = extra chance to chill/freeze and especially ground ice duration from q of both arctic blast + ice shot
IShot + CoC + FP/ISpear/AB + lmp/gmp + increased crit strikes/cold penetration/WED/pierce (if IShot + AB) = GGGU(R/G/U)
use high crit phys+cold bow (new harbinger?)
stack crit %, projectile dmg, phys dmg, cold/ele dmg
Dare I say MAHSIVE LAG? Also, it can really lockdown the enemies with all that chill/freeze/ground ice. Q bonuses from IS and AB are additive.

->lightning arrow + ?arc/?spark + lmp/gmp = extra shock stacks
LA + CoC + Arc/Spark + lmp/gmp + increased crit strikes/light penetration/WED/pierce
use high crit light dmg bow (new harbinger?)
stack crit %, projectile dmg (only for spark), phys/weapon ele dmg, light/ele dmg
Seems pretty straightforward - LA kills stuff from afar, arc/spark finishes off those that come closer. Spark seems much better here, since it works with more supports than arc.

4. spectral throw + ???
WHY? It seemingly has no obviously good synergies. all the videos with ST + CoC + whatever spell were not impressive at all in terms of damage output.
No thoughts as why to use it yet, excpet that it's a cool skill :P.

Again - any critique whatsoever will be welcome. I really need to weed out the unviable combos here :).

Spectral throw allows you to have the benefit of melee weapon nodes (mostly crit daggers) while keeping the safety of a ranged attack

I don't mean to be offensive but by the look of this list you have no idea how CoC works.

The whole point of CoC is to crit as many times per second as possible, the spell doesn't matter except when it can benefit from the same supports as the attack. But in general the highest damage (slowest casting) spells are best.

Factors that affect crits per second: (not in any particular order)

1. attack speed
2. How many mobs the attack hits
3. how many times the attack hits per attack per mob
4. the crit rate of your weapon

When it comes to spells, you aren't going to have room for any supports, unless that support increases the damage by more than adding another spell would. (which is pretty much none). also "theme" doesn't matter. (elemental attack + same element spell lol)

example:

why no one consider lightning strike + spark

LS only hits 1-3 mobs, only once per attack. Spark does very low base damage per hit, this is made up for the fact that spark has a high cast speed. BUT CoC doesn't care about cast speed! So why don't we use a hard hitting, slow casting spell like EK? It will cast just as many times as spark but do way way way more damage. Now if you used a skill like ST instead of LS you can hit many mobs, up to 3 times per mob so you end up critting many times more often.

typical CoC setup:

attack + CoC + spell + LMP/GMP/Multistrike + life leech + extra

So you only have 1 extra slot for something else, and only if you have a 6L item... If you put a support like Added fire damage in that slot you might get 30% more damage or whatever. But, if you put a 2nd spell like fireball you could end up with double the damage! not many supports double your damage.

So once you factor all this into your list, some of the combinations seem really silly and you can begin to understand why people use spectral throw and cyclone.

also, attacks that hit multiple enemies simultaniously are bad (anything that splashes damage in one hit) because there is a 10ms cooldown between spell casts with CoC. this means that hitting 10 enemies in the same instant will only trigger 1 spell maximum

gravediggers!!
oups - feeding the tro... diggers ;)

I'm not going to bother reading anything and just say how CoC best works.

Cyclone: This is a "low cost" skill, in that it can easily be used without any actual support. With the use of Thief's Torment, you have four damage gems available to you. This is the most you can obtain, which makes Cyclone powerful in that regard. It also prevents you from being stunned, has a good amount of inherent attacks and attack speed, and can easily be augmented by both Life Gain on Hit and Faster Attacks.

Spectral Throw: This is what I consider a "high cost" skill, as it requires LMP or GMP in order to be worthwhile. That leaves three maximum gems for damage, assuming you don't use one for PCoC. It has much greater potential than Cyclone, as it can easily get many more hits on any amount of targets, while Cyclone is limited.

Split Arrow: Low cost skill. Does not require LMP or GMP to work, but can benefit from adding one.

Lightning Arrow: High cost skill due to the requirement of LMP/GMP. Huge advantage of Lightning Arrow is that each arrow will hit up to three targets, so the chances of the crit being evaded is not likely in larger groups.

holy shit, i can't belive i posted in this ancient thread thinking it was recent (since there were only two posts)

dude mintz wtf lol


oh well maybe someone will get some usefull info from it...

"

demivion wrote:

holy shit, i can't belive i posted in this ancient thread thinking it was recent (since there were only two posts)

dude mintz wtf lol


oh well maybe someone will get some usefull info from it...

LOL!

I didn't realize it either XD

I had a Cyclone shadow in Anarchy that was built to crit often. Now that there is CoC Ive wanted to try Cyclone CoC Ice Nova. To me, it seems like a good choice both offensively and defensively. I used Enfeeble as a curse, and with everything chilled/frozen that lowers their hits that much more.

"

Psyborg wrote:

I had a Cyclone shadow in Anarchy that was built to crit often. Now that there is CoC Ive wanted to try Cyclone CoC Ice Nova. To me, it seems like a good choice both offensively and defensively. I used Enfeeble as a curse, and with everything chilled/frozen that lowers their hits that much more.

Whatever you do, make sure you link in Arc before anything else. Those shock stacks drastically increase the damage you deal.