Chain of Lightning

[Nugglan]

I might be missing something since I'm quite new to the game but... here goes:

Chain of Lightning
For me as a midlevel player without buffs/expensive gear this skill is totally useless. I just can't find myself in a situation where I'd want to use it (unless I want to kill large groups of monsters 20 levels below myself that is...)

Chain of Lightning:
7% of base damage, up to 37,5% if you stack it, at the cost of (level 29) 33 mana/cast. There is no reason not to use Fireball instead. (Even meteor is better as for now, sure it has a cooldown but the high damage output makes up for it if you use it right. Mana cost/Damage is still better than CoL)

Fireball:
85% of base damage (yes, more than twice the damage of max stacked CoL) on target plus nearby enemies at the cost of (level 29) 41 mana/cast.

I think you should scrap the stacking part, it doesn't add anything to the gameplay since when/if you use this skill you WILL be spaming it anyway. Damage has to be increased slightly on top of that (up from 37,5%, which is way too low)


Besides that this sure is a great game. It has its flaws and moments of frustration sure but as a whole I'm having a blast.

[daytora]

I might be missing something since I'm quite new to the game but... here goes:

Chain of Lightning
For me as a midlevel player without buffs/expensive gear this skill is totally useless. I just can't find myself in a situation where I'd want to use it (unless I want to kill large groups of monsters 20 levels below myself that is...)

Chain of Lightning:
7% of base damage, up to 37,5% if you stack it, at the cost of (level 29) 33 mana/cast. There is no reason not to use Fireball instead. (Even meteor is better as for now, sure it has a cooldown but the high damage output makes up for it if you use it right. Mana cost/Damage is still better than CoL)

Fireball:
85% of base damage (yes, more than twice the damage of max stacked CoL) on target plus nearby enemies at the cost of (level 29) 41 mana/cast.

I think you should scrap the stacking part, it doesn't add anything to the gameplay since when/if you use this skill you WILL be spaming it anyway. Damage has to be increased slightly on top of that (up from 37,5%, which is way too low)


Besides that this sure is a great game. It has its flaws and moments of frustration sure but as a whole I'm having a blast.


i think the skill needs to be totally changed to be effective..like you said currently it deals low damage and you endd to sue it a lot to buildup the damage effect.this is low dps and ends up being high mana cost.


this is how it hink it should work and is ee it as being more effective like this.

chain llightning

it should ahve set damage like other skills, but a dwindling effect as it branches out.

the first ahndful of targes hitt should take a big damage the brute of it..as it chains to others the damage should slowly dwindle down.this way it helps keep the front clear of npcs and pick away the health of npcs hiding in the back.

this is jsut how i feel cause i wont say any game names but another game has a class that uses chain lightning, and its pretty much simiar to my idea and it is a good spell.not a top dps spell but very effective vs groups of npcs.

[Jherek59]

Hi,

Yes, Chain Lightning is used in other games (HofMM, for example) and a similar effect is what I was expecting - and animation!!!. Maybe it should be made the highest level skill with a lot more damage - as Daytora described.

As an aside. Why, if you use lightning strike does meteor also go into a cool down period?

[_Xanatos_]

How to improve "Chain of Lightning"? Simple. Increase the amount of damage it does! I mean, common 7%?! First I thought it's a typo, until I tried it.

[Nugglan]

chain llightning

it should ahve set damage like other skills, but a dwindling effect as it branches out.

the first ahndful of targes hitt should take a big damage the brute of it..as it chains to others the damage should slowly dwindle down.

Yeah that's how your standard RPG/MMO "Chain Lightning" usually works; First target(s) takes 100% damage then it scales down from there as it jumps to additional targets. I'm sure they're very aware of this and wanted to try something new (which they should have creds for) but unfortunately it backfired, resulting in a spell you have no use for at all. It could work tho if they get the numbers right, else me too would suggest the "standard" formula for "Chain Lightning" as it (in most cases) works, and is fun to use.

[Dward]

You guys are great. The entire purpose of the beta period is to test things out. As you recall, the developers are planning on releasing more skills until they have 12 for each class. Rather than releasing them all at the same time, they provide them gradually so that each can be extensively play-tested and feedback obtained. You will see changes in all the skills before the game goes live.

[smage]

I've been flaming "Chain of Lightning" a lot and I think it was a knee jerk reaction to how upset I was with the whole Spellweaver nerf.

As one person mentioned here, there is one thing I do like about CoL. I like the strategy behind using it. The process of trying to get the mobs grouped tight and seeing how many chains I can link. That is strategically and visually fun. However the damage output of the skill just takes all the fun out of it.

Also looking for your opinions about the time duration for the link. Seems like if you're not spamming the skill, you won't get the link bonus.

You think it would be a good idea to extend the chain bonus duration?

[lamafao]

I've been flaming "Chain of Lightning" a lot and I think it was a knee jerk reaction to how upset I was with the whole Spellweaver nerf.

As one person mentioned here, there is one thing I do like about CoL. I like the strategy behind using it. The process of trying to get the mobs grouped tight and seeing how many chains I can link. That is strategically and visually fun. However the damage output of the skill just takes all the fun out of it.

Also looking for your opinions about the time duration for the link. Seems like if you're not spamming the skill, you won't get the link bonus.

You think it would be a good idea to extend the chain bonus duration?
I think they should increase dmg by A LOT, or decrease mana cost to like 10mana/shot and leave the same dmg. If they wont do this, it's just gonna be a useless skill.

Everyone thinks that SW is really strong, but hes not, AOE skills are good but has low dmg compared to Knight/Ranger.

[Nugglan]

Also looking for your opinions about the time duration for the link. Seems like if you're not spamming the skill, you won't get the link bonus.

You think it would be a good idea to extend the chain bonus duration?

I was thinking the same thing myself at first but then I realized that it really doesn't matter if the debuff duration is 2 seconds or 2 hours, as your goal to begin with before casting the spell, is to group them up and then spam the skill endlessly, hence my suggestion to simply remove that feature since it doesn't add to the gameplay. Sure you might have to dodge a projectile here and there but still.

You guys are great. The entire purpose of the beta period is to test things out.
Thanks for your input! Your activity and feedback on the forum encourage players to post more.

[Drakensang-Guard]

Chain lightning here doesnt work like chain lightning, its more like lightning bolt which jumps from monster to monster.
Am i right or wrong here ?

[Jherek59]

Possibly but as SW don't have lightning bolt anymore can't be sure. As I stand "naked" (no buffs or essences, just a wand) Magic Missile does over 7 times the damage (to an individual) that Chain Lightning does to each of it's targets. Suspect it's likely that I'll not be using CL too often until that ratio changes - let's be honest I don't use MM, it's Ice Blast to slow an individual down and then Lightning Strike or Meteor to kill. If it's a mob then wait and take a hit then use Frost Nova and Meteor/Lightning Strike to take them out. That's my strategy but at the moment CL isn't included in my plans.

Still waiting for someone to give me a positive on the Ranger's "Adrenaline" skill!!!!!

[CoolDoob]

Chain lightning here doesnt work like chain lightning, its more like lightning bolt which jumps from monster to monster.
Am i right or wrong here ?

I think you may be wrong. Someone somewhere on some thread said chain lightning was like wet noodle. That was more right.

[Drakensang-Guard]

I think you may be wrong. Someone somewhere on some thread said chain lightning was like wet noodle. That was more right.
OKAYYYYY LOL.