Barrage - TERRIBLE! Or am I missing something?

I'm not finding Cast on Crit to be very useful with barrage at the moment. Since cast on crit on-hit effects occur per monster hit per attack, such as casting Ethereal Knives on Crit, Split Arrow + Chain works much better -- Ethereal Knives casts 20+ times with 1 attack sometimes for me, depending on the mob size and how many projectiles hit.

With barrage, when you crit you only crit up to 3 times per attack if all 3 projectiles hit + crit, you only get 3 casts of EK instead of 20+.

I think it's definitely geared more towards single-target and high-damage. point blank, increased physical projectile damage, perhaps... i'm not sure! the youtube video for this patch even has chris discussing how Barrage is better close-range. and then we have him introducing the new unique armor which is good for high-evasion and close-range builds.

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ViperThunder wrote:

I'm not finding Cast on Crit to be very useful with barrage at the moment. Since cast on crit on-hit effects occur per monster hit per attack, such as casting Ethereal Knives on Crit, Split Arrow + Chain works much better -- Ethereal Knives casts 20+ times with 1 attack sometimes for me, depending on the mob size and how many projectiles hit.

With barrage, when you crit you only crit up to 3 times per attack if all 3 projectiles hit + crit, you only get 3 casts of EK instead of 20+.

I think it's definitely geared more towards single-target and high-damage. point blank, increased physical projectile damage, perhaps... i'm not sure! the youtube video for this patch even has chris discussing how Barrage is better close-range. and then we have him introducing the new unique armor which is good for high-evasion and close-range builds.

Since when does cast on crit works "per hit"? O_o

I always though it would only work "per cast"?

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Spysong192 wrote:

Since when does cast on crit works "per hit"? O_o

I always though it would only work "per cast"?

Since it appeared. Chance per hit seemed too good to be true for me also, however it's true and not only that but every linked spell has a separate chance to cast... so we got dagger cyclonists with volls protector that cast discharge gazillion times per second.

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ViperThunder wrote:

I'm not finding Cast on Crit to be very useful with barrage at the moment. Since cast on crit on-hit effects occur per monster hit per attack, such as casting Ethereal Knives on Crit, Split Arrow + Chain works much better -- Ethereal Knives casts 20+ times with 1 attack sometimes for me, depending on the mob size and how many projectiles hit.

With barrage, when you crit you only crit up to 3 times per attack if all 3 projectiles hit + crit, you only get 3 casts of EK instead of 20+.

Huh ? If you link Barrage with chain you got possible 12 hits per attack (x0.67 to normalise so 8 hits) in same time split arrow with chain can generate 18. So yes twice more procs but not 3 v 20 . But the thing about barrage is that it can generate 8 hits on single mob (5,37 after less mod) so it's like 3 times more what frenzy can get.

yeah i'm pretty sure it's cast on hit with this. (did some testing) also ViperThunder, i have found the same thing with my split arrow ek build. however barrage works WONDERS for bosses and single targets when compared to how split arrow fared. also this lets me use my op wand which just wrecks single mobs.

current build: main items

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Simony wrote:

yeah i'm pretty sure it's cast on hit with this. (did some testing) also ViperThunder, i have found the same thing with my split arrow ek build. however barrage works WONDERS for bosses and single targets when compared to how split arrow fared. also this lets me use my op wand which just wrecks single mobs.

current build: main items

Spoiler

I see...

& I probably am mistaken about split arrow + chain. but when i fire 1 time, why does it seem like 50000 EK's fly out? lol

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ViperThunder wrote:

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Simony wrote:

yeah i'm pretty sure it's cast on hit with this. (did some testing) also ViperThunder, i have found the same thing with my split arrow ek build. however barrage works WONDERS for bosses and single targets when compared to how split arrow fared. also this lets me use my op wand which just wrecks single mobs.

current build: main items

Spoiler

I see...

& I probably am mistaken about split arrow + chain. but when i fire 1 time, why does it seem like 50000 EK's fly out? lol

You are not mistaken. Cast on crit works as you described, per hit. If u fire one projectil with chain, then it hits target A, then chains to target B, then chains back to target A again, you will cast 3 spells.

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ViperThunder wrote:

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Simony wrote:

yeah i'm pretty sure it's cast on hit with this. (did some testing) also ViperThunder, i have found the same thing with my split arrow ek build. however barrage works WONDERS for bosses and single targets when compared to how split arrow fared. also this lets me use my op wand which just wrecks single mobs.

current build: main items

Spoiler

I see...

& I probably am mistaken about split arrow + chain. but when i fire 1 time, why does it seem like 50000 EK's fly out? lol

ah you aren't mistaken. i'm agreeing with you... i am saying that it works per hit with barrage but per cast with split arrow + chain (hence why it's powerful).

I was really hoping for the skill to be a fun primary use skill for bows, as I currently find bow gameplay overly boring.

There really is such a small window of usefulness with barrage.

Yes you can hold down the button and unleash...but only for one target...its only useful for bosses with a lot of health.

In most cases I still use split arrow and another elemental shot for 99% of the encounters, a boring set up.

I haven't gotten to point blank, and iron grip...and that might make it work better...my concern is how little I even have a need for it.

Forcing myself to use it more than I need didn't work...I mean split arrow even worked better when enemies were up close (lets say I get a pack of 5 armored extra life blue mobs on me) Such a situation would appear to make good use of barrages critting and fast hits...but it just isn't as effective as I thought.

Its definitely not a primary use skill, perhaps on a cast on crit build. I think it would be immensely useful and fun if you were able to move while "channeling" the skill.

The current "rooted in place" leaves the skill only useful for bosses you plan to facetank. Perhaps knockback fixes this but still...a skill only useful for those rare encounters isn't really worth building an alt around...it still leaves bow gameplay the same boring split arrow off screen mechanics as before, just now I have a choice with bosses...and even then...I wonder if puncture with the DOT boosts would be better for bosses...since I doubt endgame bosses are going to be able to be face tanked.


I dunno...disappointed with it...I feel its close to being decent and entertaining but being rooted in place and single target only (has issues tracking moving mobs too) just kinda ruins it.

If I had to reroll and redo my barrage attempt id probably start from the shadow tree, stock up on crit and go that route...but even then I don't think it does enough for bow mechanics to make them as fun as melee is.

Does anyone have a level 12+ barrage to link here yet? I am still wondering whether the projectiles increase. I don't it but you never know