Spell Totem and Skeletons damage?

^my point exactly!

if you're playing a summoner i'd recommend you DON'T use spell totem on them. +life/+damage and +1 minion skills is much better. something like this bad boy. :)

Well, I certainly can compare them.

You could say that I would not be able to compare Ice Spear in totem vs Fireball in totem. Fire vs Ice = apples vs oranges ?

There is very objective value on which I can compare them: total effect (damage) that I will get when I cast totem vs casting single spell.

So we can compare which spell is more efficient in totem, where 'efficient' is how much more damage spell in totem does compared to single, non totem same spell(ie we compare oranges and oranges, same spell in totem and outside totem). Then we compare that efficiency between nuke spell and skeleton spell.

Lets compare Ice Spear in totem vs single Ice Spear [theoretical values]:
- regular Ice Spear: cast time 0.85sec, casted once
- totem IS : cast time 1.105sec, casted 18 times in 20sec totem, damage -40%
= one Ice Spear totem results in equivalent of 18*0.6= 11 regular Ice Spears damage

Now lets compare Summon Skeleton in totem vs single Summon Skeleton [theoretical values]:
- regular Summon Skeleton: cast time 1sec, get 2 skeletons from one cast
- totem SS: cast time 1.3sec, casted 15 times, resulted in 6-8 skeletons (limited), at -40%dmg
= one Summon Skeleton totem results in equivalent of 7/2*0.6= 2 regular Summon Skeleton damage

Theoretical recap for damage (exact values):
- 1 totem Ice Spear = 11 regular Ice Spears damage
- 1 totem Summon Skeleton = 2 regular Summon Skeletons damage
= Ice Spear totem is FIVE times (5x = 11/2) more effective for damage in totem

Practical considerations (guesstimates):
- duration of totem life may vary. Lets say IceSpear totem lasts 40%(!) less than Skeleton totem. That drops IceSpear totem value from 11x to 7x
- skeletons that are killed increase value of Skeleton totem. Lets say that 6 skeletons will be killed in those 20sec time. That increase Skeleton totem from 2x to 4x
= Still, Ice Spear totem is 75% (=7/4) more effective than Skeleton totem


So, IceSpear in totem is at least 75% more efficient for damage than SummonSkeleton, while in ideal case it can get up to 500% more efficient.

Notice that totem does "automate process and maximize uptime" for any spell, just as it "saves mana and let you do/cast something else" for any spell - for IceSpear just as it does for Skeletons. So above comparison for DAMAGE EFFICIENCY between skeleton+totem and IceSpear+totem should be valid.

I get you man and I'm not saying you're full of shit or anything.

You do have a point, but Summon Skeleton is more of a utility/dmg hybrid kinda thing. That's where my problem comes from. If you care about maximizing DPS, Summon Skeletons is a bad option in the first place. It provides utility and damage at the same time.

Again, from a theoretical dps standpoint you are right. When actually playing, this doesn't matter however.

@gmnenad
Wow, you're so right! Ice spears on a spell totem are WAY more efficient at DPS than summon skeletons on a spell totem! I never thought an attack spell would do more DPS than a support spell!

Shame on me :(