Is anyone actually using Vaal Gems?

Haven't gotten that many yet, the most useful I have is Cold Snap, it's pretty cheap compared to the other ones I have.

I use vaal power siphon all the time it's so great
I think all vaal gems are pretty much ultimate abilities
Only like 32 souls which is what i get after pretty much every room i clear

Vaal Siphon,Chain,Gmp

HUGE amount of projectiles going everywhere and if i'm ever in a bad situation bam i pop it and everything around me dies or just to clear a spot fast

the problem is that there arent enough gem slots in most toons gear to provide enough support to make them a viable option in hard situations. no vaal skill will ever be better than a skelly totem unless they buf their damage by 30-50%.

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Clocksimus wrote:

Vaal gems are underrated.

Vaal Spark + chain = potentially 450 projectiles from a single spell.
Vaal Double Strike just by itself basically effectively doubles (double bro) your dps for it's duration if your single target is Double Strike. Four seconds of double your dps is useless @Pendoza?

Vaal Rain of Arrows effectively is an aoe bear trap... what is to not love about that?
Vaal Fireball +chain... even if only 1/3 of this spell hits a target it does more damage than a GMP fireball + chain.
Vaal Molten Shell.... Damage every hit? Need I really say more?
Vaal Detonate Dead..... Needs to be nerfed. Spawn 15 corpses with desecrate and have a blast.

These gems are really fun if you play around with them but GGG is trying hard not to make them game breaking. Just... "fun" you know... what this "game" ... is supposed to be about?

Four seconds of double your dps is useless @Pendoza?

Thing is that I need a 5-link for double strike to be really good. Its impossible to get the same dmg on the vaal double strike unless sacrificing your whole build.

The only one I used untill now is vaal detonate dead - quite usefull to clear large areas of corpses, when necros are nearby (or any other enemies use them)

I think they should make them fill while in your secondary set - so you could put it in a cheap 4 or 5L and try to set it up that you won't need an additional skill slot as well.

Maybe with some visual feedback when it is filled (a crimson red aura/glow around your character maybe).

So it would mostly fix the problem with wasting sockets, wasting the skill hotkey and weapon swap would become more usefull as well ;)

Just my 2 cents.

EDIT: I just though of an interesting use for them in their current form. Why not putting them on e.g. cast when stunned - when it gets filled it'll unleash hell on the next enemy stunning you. Given that most OKish builds shouldn't get stunned to easily it should mostly only be tiggered by stronger opponennts.

I use Vaal Molten Shell on my summoner for situations where my minions are blasted away by AoE damage in mere seconds. Kinda my failsafe skill. Lightning Warp into the fun, use Vaal Molten Shell and see the magic happen. :D

I think that vaal gems just need a time. For example vaal power siphon already showing up in wand build as usefull.
I hope new vaal gems are just preparation for new item slot aka "PANTS" (not even joking here)

Vaal gems are going to be all the rage once decent players figure out how to use them and post guides for the noobs to follow.


Vaal molten shell = GG
Vaal Cyclone + party member w/flameblast = screen clear GG
Vaal Power Siphon = Screen clear GG.


Some of these skills make really really awesome combos in party gameplay


Vaal lightning warp has a lot of potential but i'm still working it out

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BoltThrower87 wrote:

What would've been cool is if Vaal gems acted normally until they charged up. Then it would be like a new mechanic to the game, and everything would go from there. And you just a balance them from there. That would've been cool.

Completely agree, they should have done this from the start. The current implementation of Vaal Gems is a joke and will have no place in end game builds.

"

demivion wrote:

Vaal gems are going to be all the rage once decent players figure out how to use them and post guides for the noobs to follow.


Vaal molten shell = GG
Vaal Cyclone + party member w/flameblast = screen clear GG
Vaal Power Siphon = Screen clear GG.


Some of these skills make really really awesome combos in party gameplay


Vaal lightning warp has a lot of potential but i'm still working it out

Oh wow! You cleared a screen, potentially killing one rare group!

The other 5-10 rare groups you killed MUCH slower because you wasted your sockets/links on these shitty skills more than make up for it. Congrats!