Why use Vaal gems?

Vaal summon skellies gets the nod from me also for my poor (ie crap ES gear) CI witch summoner.

Same as some of the others.
Vaal skellies + my skelly totem + zombies + spectres? I have OVER 40 MINIONS ON SCREEN. gl hf monsters.
And it recharges super fast.

"

jebroni wrote:

you dont exchange lol

you can have your normal gem, and somewhere else in your gear have the vaal version

If you're already using every single socket with fully socketed gear, you have to exchange something for it.

"

"

kasub wrote:

"

Besides that, I can't find a reason to ever exchange any regular skill gem for a Vaal gem. Not once.

Vaal skellies immobilizes endgame bosses such as academy/precinct and makes them ridiculously easy.

Cyclone will double clearing speed pretty much. Cyclone also makes some exiles/bosses extremely easy.They can't escape you and in some cases can't hit you while immobilized in the cyclone

It of course depends on the build.

I haven't played higher level maps much so I'm not sure how I'd fare without Vaal gems. I may or may not rethink about using Vaal gems depending on how each of my builds do.

As to exiles, I've never had trouble with any of them. This is due to prior experience and planning.

"

Agashi wrote:

Vaal Molten shell + Life Leech is really good for killing bosses/rares and clearing strong boxes(on ambush) it also works with just about any build as the base damage is so high it doesn't need any passive damage increases.

Vaal Storm Call is awesome if you're a caster and pairs well with Vaal Caress gloves as it only requires 16 charges(on merc) to trigger.

Vaal Skeletons is well it's Vaal Skeletons it speaks for itself.

Vaal Frost Nova/Cold snap are great for leveling they do a lot of damage and provide some CC without a lot of spell damage investment.

Vaal Glacial Hammer + Inc Duration would be useful against runners as a melee focused char.

Not every Vaal Gem is OMGWTFBBQ amazing, but most of them fit in with some build type or another. Most of the ppl I've seen complaining that the Vaal skills "aren't any good" have just grabbed a level 1 Vaal Gem for the first time, and thrown it on whatever character and been confused because the whole world didn't explode when they triggered it for the first time.

I'll give you an example why Vaal Cold Snap isn't any better than regular Cold Snap.

Vaal Cold Snap always freezes and does damage to all targets in the area. It can be totally prevented by stun if used as self-cast. Cold Snap with Elemental Proliferation can permafreeze entire screens every four seconds.

I wonder which is more useful? One every four seconds, or one only when you have killed enough trash mobs to get the required souls. This is also considering you have other Vaal gems that may or may not require additional souls.

I don't see any use for Vaal Cold Snap over the regular version. The regular version is still better.

Some of you should note:

I almost always play in parties, so this drastically lowers the usefulness of all Vaal gems in party play. Not only are you playing with builds capable of up to 25k dps-if not more-, but you get fewer souls. It is also possible to get zero souls if you play with a MF culler. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Furthermore, even if souls are given to you when other party members score kills, they are clearing enemies faster than you can cast most of your skills. Not much incentive to use a Vaal Gem, or even their regular counterparts that I'm in favor of.

Maybe I just don't see their use because I almost always run with three or more builds with 25+k dps.

"

Natharias wrote:

Maybe I just don't see their use because I almost always run with three or more builds with 25+k dps.

When I read this, a certain quote from the church lady came to mind immediately.

vaal rain of arrows + increased aoe + increased duration

lock down entire mobs of things for 7/8 seconds.

that's more than long enough for me to kill them.

very nice when you have lots of fast moving things like those stupid snakes.

lock them down, back up and kill them.

and if by some miracel you don't, you'll have an opportunity to get out.

and vaal skeletons is so useful i'm thinking it's going to get nerfed here pretty soon.

"

I almost always play in parties, so this drastically lowers the usefulness of all Vaal gems in party play. Not only are you playing with builds capable of up to 25k dps-if not more-, but you get fewer souls. It is also possible to get zero souls if you play with a MF culler. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Souls are shared so groupplay won't hinder you from getting them.

Grouppplay definitely decreases the use of many of the DPS and control orientated vaal skills.

Cyclone is actually even better with groups though since people can stop you from dying if you pull 60+ enemies(yes that's possible). It will increase clearspeed even more in a group since everyone can focus fire.

"

kasub wrote:

"

I almost always play in parties, so this drastically lowers the usefulness of all Vaal gems in party play. Not only are you playing with builds capable of up to 25k dps-if not more-, but you get fewer souls. It is also possible to get zero souls if you play with a MF culler. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Souls are shared so groupplay won't hinder you from getting them.

Grouppplay definitely decreases the use of many of the DPS and control orientated vaal skills.

Cyclone is actually even better with groups though since people can stop you from dying if you pull 60+ enemies(yes that's possible). It will increase clearspeed even more in a group since everyone can focus fire.

Yes, but for some projectile builds it will prevent any but one projectile from hitting. EK is a prime example.

We just got trolled.

so.hard.

jesus christ op is brilliant

"

jebroni wrote:

We just got trolled.

so.hard.

jesus christ op is brilliant

Perhaps you should get on topic and not try to derail this?

0/10 troll.

Party play is pretty overrated in this game, in general. It loses a lot of the fun in the game when all you see is constant explosions and the only way you can die is a random oneshot. The exception to this is playing with friends, but that applies to pretty much any game that has multiplayer capabilities.

As for a gem to use in groups... Vaal Cyclone CoC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tg0Anzz2e0