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I don't have access to Mids/the game atm so I can't check the numbers, but it definitely doesn't break hide. It placates enemies, but does not give you the Hidden status. |
Originally Posted by HyperVelocity
I keep reading bad comments about smoke flash's accuracy animation time and radius. However in Mids' I see a sizeable accuracy bonus of 30% compared to what people say is a penalty of 20%. The radius at 20 is not huge but it's not small either and the activation time is under 2 seconds... so the question is: has this power changed significantly and is it better now or is it still next to useless?
P.S. I've also read it breaks hide... is that true? |
As for whether its useless...it can come in useful as a panic button if you don't have anything else. It's not a terrible power pick, just that there are usually much better options for the same role.
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Smoke Flash has pretty limited use. It's not good on teams... unless you just don't like your teammates. It's not even that good for its stated purpose of "getting out of a bad situation". For that, I find just "getting out" works as well. You might use it while soloing with a single-target focused primary as kind of a ghetto Mass Hypnosis, but that's a pretty specific case too and with the long recharge it's not available that often anyway.
It's got my vote for most-skippable power in Ninjitsu, definitely. In fact, I've never actually taken it. It's never looked good enough on paper for me to bother with it.
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I've actually found a use for it in teams, but that may just be problems with my playstyle. When I had it (and I don't, anymore) it was absolutely "the bomb" (sorry - had to say it) for those times when the team's kinetic speed boosted me as I was getting ready to press "w." When I inevitably sped into the next mob (full of rikti drones) prematurely as the rest of the team was engaging the first one, I could hit smoke bomb and speed safely back without worrying about dragging an entire mob back to the team. |
Originally Posted by Zem
Smoke Flash has pretty limited use. It's not good on teams... unless you just don't like your teammates. It's not even that good for its stated purpose of "getting out of a bad situation". For that, I find just "getting out" works as well. You might use it while soloing with a single-target focused primary as kind of a ghetto Mass Hypnosis, but that's a pretty specific case too and with the long recharge it's not available that often anyway.
It's got my vote for most-skippable power in Ninjitsu, definitely. In fact, I've never actually taken it. It's never looked good enough on paper for me to bother with it. |
Before, I'd have just had to take my lumps and solo the second mob before heading back to clean up the remains of the first one that had just owned my team. Or die at the bottom of the second mob and wait for my team to kill their mob and come rescue me. Odds were about fifty-fifty.
I also have found that the power is good offensively for high-perception enemies like rikti drones. Normally, to assassinate a rikti drone you cue up placate as you run in so it ignores you, but if you have smoke bomb you can pre-emptively hit it when in range of the drone and not waste a placate. Tricky to time, though.
All in all, I wouldn't classify the power as "useless" so much as I would classify it as "not nearly as useful as blinding powder," because whatever you can do with smoke bomb, blinding powder pretty much does better. Thus, blinding powder is in my build and smoke bomb isn't.
EDIT - If I could change one thing about smoke bomb, and wasn't allowed to touch the "doesn't put you back into hide" feature, I'd nix that damned punitive activation time. Really annoying how long it is, an really limits the power's usefulness.
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It does break hide.
It does cause a placate effect, but it does not give a crit on your next attack like Placate would.
I'd say Smoke Flash was a little more useful than Zem stated, but otherwise he was spot on.
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I'm getting mixed signals here does it break hide or not?
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Originally Posted by HyperVelocity
I'm getting mixed signals here does it break hide or not?
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Originally Posted by Eislor
It does break hide.
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It does. |
Originally Posted by HyperVelocity
I'm getting mixed signals here does it break hide or not?
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I'm guessing due to PvP exploitability? It's the only reason I can think of for a pbaoe "IGNORE ME" button to *cause you* to get the attention of a spawn.
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Hehehe I have two Ninjitsu stalkers at 50 and could not answer the question of if it breaks hide off hand. Then again most stalkers that have smoke bomb, don't normally open with it 
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Yeah, I actually went "no friggin' way" and logged on my own L50 ma/nin to check. |
Originally Posted by Gypsy_of_Paradox
Hehehe I have two Ninjitsu stalkers at 50 and could not answer the question of if it breaks hide off hand. Then again most stalkers that have smoke bomb, don't normally open with it
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If I quote #'s, they're from City of Data.
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I keep reading bad comments about smoke flash's accuracy animation time and radius. However in Mids' I see a sizeable accuracy bonus of 30% compared to what people say is a penalty of 20%. The radius at 20 is not huge but it's not small either and the activation time is under 2 seconds... so the question is: has this power changed significantly and is it better now or is it still next to useless?
P.S. I've also read it breaks hide... is that true?