Culling Strike gem Questions

So, I recently got this gem and I have a fair few questions that I'd like answered.

This instantly kills any enemy that gets brought to 10% or less HP via the supported attack, yes?

Should I level it before adding it to an offensive skill, to lower the negative effect?

Should I use my Gemcutter's on it to get the Quality bonus, or should I save those for other gems?

Is it even worth supporting a main offensive skill with it? (Keeping in mind I'm not even close to having Gems/Gear for a 6L yet)

If I slot it into a skill purely to use for the Culling Effect, which skill would be recommended? If it's on its own skill, I'd probably use it purely for Rares/Bosses.


Character Info:
Level 46 Claw Witch
Main Attacks: Dual Strike (+Crit Chance), Spectral Throw (+L Dmg, Lesser Multiple Prjectiles)
Supporting Attacks: Viper Strike, Whirling Blades

Yes, if the hit brought it to 10% or less it's instantly dead, note that you have to 'hit' it so damage over time doesn't count.

You can but it's not much of a negative effect.

Hell no, never use gemcutters from 0% quality, they're too rare for that, you can buy a 10% quality gem for 1 GCP usually.

It's mostly not worth it, damage bonus is small and it's barely worth it to have culling effect only for stronger rares/bosses. The support has some rather specialized uses, with it a party 'culler' with a lot of MF gear but crap dps can steal kills for better drops.

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Wait... did you already ask this yesterday or was it someone else?

a level 20 gem and a GCP gives a 20% lv1 gem at the vendor

NEVER use GCPs to quality a gem directly

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raics wrote:

Yes, if the hit brought it to 10% or less it's instantly dead, note that you have to 'hit' it so damage over time doesn't count.

You can but it's not much of a negative effect.

Hell no, never use gemcutters from 0% quality, they're too rare for that, you can buy a 10% quality gem for 1 GCP usually.

It's mostly not worth it, damage bonus is small and it's barely worth it to have culling effect only for stronger rares/bosses. The support has some rather specialized uses, with it a party 'culler' with a lot of MF gear but crap dps can steal kills for better drops.

***
Wait... did you already ask this yesterday or was it someone else?

A couple of them, in a separate thread, yeah~ I had a few more, so I figured I might as well make it into the one topic.

I didn't know Gemcutters were that rare, so I'll definitely save or sell those later~

Hrm... can Culling be used with Minions or Totems? I'm considering a Summoner/Totemer and Culling could be good, at least until I get some of the harder to get supports (I'm trying not to buy things off other players if I don't absolutely have to)

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Fhedaykin wrote:

a level 20 gem and a GCP gives a 20% lv1 gem at the vendor

NEVER use GCPs to quality a gem directly

Oh, I didn't know that either~ Thanks for letting me know! I've wasted a few currency items over the days, but thankfully never one of these~

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Zephryl wrote:

Hrm... can Culling be used with Minions or Totems? I'm considering a Summoner/Totemer and Culling could be good, at least until I get some of the harder to get supports (I'm trying not to buy things off other players if I don't absolutely have to)

Of course, totems cast the skill just as you would, all bonuses or penalties, be it on your gear, passives or linked supports apply.

Minions get bonuses on gem combination used to summon them, and any bonuses on gear/passives that explicitly say 'to minions'. So if you put culling strike gem on a minion it will have following mods when summoned:
- 10% less cast and attack speed
- 10% increased damage (note that it's any damage the minion does, attacks, spells if able, even minion instability explosion)
- has culling strike

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raics wrote:

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Zephryl wrote:

Hrm... can Culling be used with Minions or Totems? I'm considering a Summoner/Totemer and Culling could be good, at least until I get some of the harder to get supports (I'm trying not to buy things off other players if I don't absolutely have to)

Of course, totems cast the skill just as you would, all bonuses or penalties, be it on your gear, passives or linked supports apply.

Minions get bonuses on gem combination used to summon them, and any bonuses on gear/passives that explicitly say 'to minions'. So if you put culling strike gem on a minion it will have following mods when summoned:
- 10% less cast and attack speed
- 10% increased damage (note that it's any damage the minion does, attacks, spells if able, even minion instability explosion)
- has culling strike

Wonderful! Sounds like Culling might fit into that build a lot better then~

On my Summoner I have Culling linked to lvl 1 Arc and Increased Rarity gem. I also use Elemental Equilibrium so the lighting damage from arc gives my specters ele damage a big boost and affects minion instability damage if you use that. Arc isnt used for damage. Just buffing minion damage and increased rarity when the boss/mob is low.

Put culling strike with blind and increased rarity on a flame totem. Pop it down next to each boss you fight.

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Zephryl wrote:

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Fhedaykin wrote:

a level 20 gem and a GCP gives a 20% lv1 gem at the vendor

NEVER use GCPs to quality a gem directly

Oh, I didn't know that either~ Thanks for letting me know! I've wasted a few currency items over the days, but thankfully never one of these~

That's pretty stupid advice, tbh. To get level 20 gems, you need to level yourself to like level 85 or so. That's not really achievable unless by that time you already have lots of currency and knowledge about prices etc... Also, it's much easier to achieve if you have quality gems already. And that's not mentioning the fact that you'll need to level your gem all the way from 1 again...

'Don't waste GCPs on non-quality gems' is great advice. 'Don't ever spend GCPs on any gems' is terrible advice. 'Don't spend GCPs on gems until you know a lot more about what you're doing' is good advice though.

Sorry for the necro bump but I was curious about culling + spectres. Does it only affect their physical attack swings, or will culling also affect spectre skills? For example, arc from the mages in barracks or unrighteous fire on burning miscreations. If it is just their arm swinging, doesn't seem like it would be worth slotting it with spectres, but if it affects spells cast, that's something else entirely.