Barrage - TERRIBLE! Or am I missing something?

So the math:

(3+1) * 0.4 * 0.67 = 1.072x

I have ignored +phys scaling as other skills have the same, if not better. This is also looking at the best case scenario where all projectiles hit (either single target or many). Against single target enemies and spread packs it is highly unlikely you will hit with all projectiles. I am also ignoring the fact that this will be terrible for physical damage because of the 40% effectiveness (unless you have insane gear to negate armour).

Compared to the other skills available to both wands and bows:

Power syphon is a solid 1.25x AND the ability to cull AND grant power charges.
Frenzy has 1.15x physical AND gives insane attack speed AND physical damage scaling with enough charges.
Elemental hit scales with increased base elemental damage.

Supports:

LMP provides a tiny increase (3+1+2) * 0.4 * 0.67 * 0.7 = 1.1256x (CRAP)
GMP provides no increase (3+1+4) * 0.4 * 0.67 * 0.5 = 1.072x

So it can be used on both single and multiple targets with terrible efficiency, even if all attacks hit. Basically, for AoE you save 1 slot by not having to use LMP/GMP on an otherwise much superior skill. A 5/6L of any of the other available choices would be better for AoE and a 4L of the same skill without GMP/LMP for single target.

The only way to save the gem is if the number of added projectiles increases (so far at level 12 it's still +3):

(4+1) * 0.4 * 0.67 = 1.34x
(5+1) * 0.4 * 0.67 = 1.608x
(6+1) * 0.4 * 0.67 = 1.876x

TDLR The gem must increase to +4 projectiles and probably +5 (maybe +6 with +n to gem levels) at some point. If not, it is the worst bow/wand skill for both single target and multi target.

I beg to differ, math is actually pretty decent with the increase in projectiles.

Most wand builds are shockers and a crit with this will give you max shock stacks instantly. Power siphon is all well and good but frenzy boosts only physical damage which wanders typically have less than elemental.
True, LMP doesn't really work with it but I'm actually happy about that, too many skills need MP gems to work. Instead, people will probably use pierce for no damage penalty, or maybe chain if they use slower, high damage weapons.

Pierce would work nicely but only on closely gathered packs. By using chain you negate it's only advantage of being usable on single and multiple targets :(. Frenzy gives INSANE attack speed with only a few charges, way way way better for elemental attackers since this gives 67% LESS attack speed.

I still think the skill has serious potential, all for the better if it's not obvious.
I'll save my final judgement for after I try building for it from level 1, after all, Reave was also 'terrible' at first glance.

I haven't seen the skill gem yet to see its interaction with attack speed (but from what I read it seems to be as inherently important as with any other skill). I'm thinking this will be best used with piercing builds with high attack speed and mobility, for some rapid repositioning and retargetting. I can see pierce being inherently better for this than chain, whereas the opposite is often true for skills like split arrow.

I haven't given much thought on wanders for a while, but (with pierce) I could also see the crit chance rolled per projectile, rather than per attack, being massively beneficial (especially when you consider the use of a 20/20 crit weakness + empower + enhance in a +1 skill level item). From my previous theory crafting it seems wanders suffer from attack speed most of all, and by appearances alone it would seem barrage would inflict more crits per second than a chained power siphon or frenzy.

Time will tell :)

Reave was and IS terrible imo. ^^

not tested barrage yet but i would try it with a power crit wander.

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HeroOfExile wrote:

Reave was and IS terrible imo. ^^

See? Some still have no idea how good it is :)

nvm

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raics wrote:

I still think the skill has serious potential, all for the better if it's not obvious.
I'll save my final judgement for after I try building for it from level 1, after all, Reave was also 'terrible' at first glance.

Reave was never terrible at first glance. 20% more area at each stage combined with stacked attack speed is obviously strong.

I am struggling to think of anything that would make barrage better than other options unless the number of projectiles increases. The spread is far to small to use it effectively with pierce as your only AoE and the damage is too low to use as your only single target.

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CanHasPants wrote:

I haven't seen the skill gem yet to see its interaction with attack speed (but from what I read it seems to be as inherently important as with any other skill). I'm thinking this will be best used with piercing builds with high attack speed and mobility, for some rapid repositioning and retargetting. I can see pierce being inherently better for this than chain, whereas the opposite is often true for skills like split arrow.

I haven't given much thought on wanders for a while, but (with pierce) I could also see the crit chance rolled per projectile, rather than per attack, being massively beneficial (especially when you consider the use of a 20/20 crit weakness + empower + enhance in a +1 skill level item). From my previous theory crafting it seems wanders suffer from attack speed most of all, and by appearances alone it would seem barrage would inflict more crits per second than a chained power siphon or frenzy.

Time will tell :)

It has a set 37% LESS attack speed modifier

Note it adds quite a bit of physical damage per level.

This is purely Cast on Critical trigger gem. It's clear it was designed with that in mind.