Shadow Maul and similar melee cones
By
BayushiZero,
Posted on: 2009-08-11 16:03 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
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On my up and coming Brute(ele/ele), I'm having issues with getting a good lineup for a cone. Seems that after the tank engages, everyone else forgets that they STILL generate threat and can(and usually do) pull aggro, which really borks the cone/line.|
Originally Posted by Ethric
So, do people suck at lining cones or why are these powers given such a bad rep?
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I occasionally have the same problem on my Dual blade Stalker, with people pulling mobs out of the cone area right as the ability finally goes off(when using Thousand Cuts).
Hope this helps?
I don't think I've heard anyone say these are "bad moves", or maybe I just disregarded them. There's a standing suggestion to make Flurry an attack like this, so it will be BETTER. Not worse.
To each his own though, I guess. (And with Brutes, you want to make sure you've got full Fury before you use Shadow Maul, otherwise the animation time will make Fury go down)
Cones are easy to line up when you're fighting melee oriented enemies that pile up on you (Freaks, Cimerorans) and they're excellent powers in this scenario. Against ranged attackers like Council, Nemesis, Malta and many many other enemy groups, not so much.
Even if you only hit a single target with the melee cones, they're not "bad" moves. (Well, Shadow Maul/Sands of Mu against a single target may be...)
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
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They require a little skill (lining them up) and discretion (maybe I shouldn't waste it on one target, maybe I shouldn't lock myself into a long animation if I've got enemies pounding on me and two hit points left and a green inspiration handy). For some people, anything that requires more than rudimentary effort is teh suxxorz (see also knockback, Burn, etc.).
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Originally Posted by Ethric
So, do people suck at lining cones or why are these powers given such a bad rep?
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Arc 55669 - Tales of the PPD: One Hell of a Deal (video trailer)
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Exactly. |
Originally Posted by Xyzyx
They require a little skill (lining them up) and discretion (maybe I shouldn't waste it on one target, maybe I shouldn't lock myself into a long animation if I've got enemies pounding on me and two hit points left and a green inspiration handy). For some people, anything that requires more than rudimentary effort is teh suxxorz (see also knockback, Burn, etc.).
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In regards to like knockback, while it takes some skill to use effectively, and is not inherently bad, the amount of people who don't know how to use it (or deal with it) make problems for others, while messing up a melee cone is only a personal issue.
Ever since the cone warping patch fix SM has lost its sparkle. I would not have traded it back in the day hitting 5 mobs was an everyday thing, but nowadays if I hit three I consider I'm doing well.
Which on a purely DPS manner is still ok, since SM hits like a truck and recharges really fast, so it can be done two or three times in the recharge of another wider cone, but completly loses once we enter a team and can no longer take our time lining, or attempts of lining are dysrupted because the mobs are following someone else, or we try to move and a team member/pet is in the way, etc.
I traded SM for Energy Torrent and though I wailed at its loss in the beggining ET has grown on me. Without math to back me up it roughly feels I take the same time to defeat spawns, but now I can use it in teams and as mitigation.
As a DM/Inv brute that's played since pretty much as far as I can remember brutes being around, I'll say shadow maul is a hit or miss power for most people. When fully purpled out, rocking near 100 global recharge and/or the ability to stack soul drain, SM tends to be the first thing skipped as the ability to cycle your PBAoEs + your targetted far outweigh the two or three seconds mauling.
There's no doubt it does decent damage, but when you can get something like Dark Obliteration or Ball Lightning to less than ten seconds or, if insane enough, stack soul drain, Shadow Maul kinda loses its luster.
Personally, I'm not a fan. Dark Melee isn't exactly a powerhouse aoe set and in the time it'd have taken to get a full shadow maul (assuming all the damage hit and none was wasted), a high enough recharge/damage build could've probably ripped a boss a new one. I'd rather be firing off smite/gloom/SL and moving then pinned for three, as dark melee anyways.
Excellent points guys. Thank you.
Also, I'd like to apologize since I made the thread venting and that might show a bit.
I can reliably hit 3-5 enemies with Shadow Maul and Jacob's Ladder, even more so when they buffed melee range attacks from 5ft to 7ft.
Still, people advise other people to skip these because they're supposedly "bad moves." Yet, these account for a lot of damage when I check my HeroStats, thanks to their relatively fast recharge and high damage with the ability to hit multiple targets.
So, do people suck at lining cones or why are these powers given such a bad rep?