Staff Melee Question.. any skippable attacks ??
By
Airhammer,
Posted on: 2012-06-14 17:04 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
Skipping either of your AoEs is honestly not a good idea. Staff Fighting's major perk is it's high amount of AoE damage in exchange for it's pretty lackluster ST damage.
If you had to skip something, it depends on if you're going to build for Global Recharge. You can probably skip one of the following, depending on taste:
Mercurial Blow (Can take a Heel Proc, but otherwise a Meh Attack)
Serpent's Reach (Can't take the Heel Proc, but hits harder. It's better DPA than Mercurial but it's slower and has a longer recharge time, obviously)
Sky Splitter (A terrible attack, but if you actually want to set off your Perfection stacks, it's this or Eye of the Storm. Either way Sky Splitter is absolute garbage, but it has the same DPA Serpent. But at least it hits pretty hard?)
Pick one, take everything else. As a Brute, you probably want to set off Perfection stacks I imagine, so you may a swell keep and use SS. If you're going for a Low Global Recharge build, I'd probably kick Serpent over Mercurial, as it's easier to use multiple Mercurials in a chain.
Do not drop any of Guarded Spin, Eye of the Storm, or Innocuous Strikes. They are pretty much why you're in Staff Fighting, and giving up anything (Stalkers aside) for them is ruining the point of your STDPS sacrifice for AoE Dominance.
Don't skip sky splitter on a brute. Reppu's crusade against it makes up for its brevity, thus far, with its fanatical intensity. There is one skippable attack in staff fighting and it is mercurial blow.
Um... Taunt?
In all seriousness, what seems to be the issue? Just on a quick cobble-together build, I could fit in all the attacks and staff mastery, all but one power from Dark Armor (There's no real reason to have both Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear, after all.) And I still was able to take three Earth Mastery powers, Boxing/Tough/Weave, a travel power, and one final power free. Unless you are planning on several pool powers, I'm not sure what the issue is.
Still, if you must drop a Staff Attack, then I agree with Reppu. You'l probably want to drop either Serpent's Reach or Mercurial Blow, depending on how fast your other powers are recharging.
At least I am certain you will quite enjoy the Form of Soul, regardless of your build.
-This Space Intentionally Left Blank.-
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Please try to be civil and classy when responding to posts from me. I did stress that Sky Splitter is likely worth keeping if he desires to set off the Form procs, but Sky Splitter itself is a terrible attack. This is an accepted opinion of anyone who crunches the numbers of the set; Sky Splitter is by far the absolute worst attack in the set, and results in a net damage loss for most ATs that utilize Form of the Body, including both Scrappers and Stalkers (Stalkers more than Scrappers).|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Don't skip sky splitter on a brute. Reppu's crusade against it makes up for its brevity, thus far, with its fanatical intensity. There is one skippable attack in staff fighting and it is mercurial blow.
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Brutes likely aren't nearly as bad off since Form of the Body on them has reduced values due to their damage scaling. And he's likely using Form of the Soul anyway, which... arguably doesn't want to be 'popped' either for Sky Splitter, but at least it's WORTH popping in comparison.
That all said, the ability is a horrible. It is lower DPA than Total Focus, and the community largely has agreed slow attacks like Total Focus are bad and are generally skippable in most sets that have them.
But, if you believe an attack worse than Total Focus is good...
Shrug.
PS: The math was done and Mercurial's Blow ability to use the Heel Proc makes it a deceptively good attack. The only power in the entire set that can use one of the best procs in the game, after all.
There are three other attacks in the set that can take a fury of the gladiator, all of which are worth using in their own right as well.
Sky splitter might not be very good if all it did were damage. As you know this is not all that it does so I'm not sure what else needs to be said. Get back to me when total focus grants permable slotted health and stamina, or significant resist all, I guess?
In fairness I will say that stalker staff does not get many of the benefits that other ATs' versions do. This is why I had to raise my eyebrow when all of the pre-release hype was about how it was clearly best for stalkers.
Actually, in even more fairness, let me append a bit more to my addendum there. From what I can gather, Reppu's staff character is a stalker. They get a whole other single target attack instead of innocuous strikes that has better DPA than any other attacks in the game in assassin's strike. Compared to that? Sure, sky splitter is crap, especially since stalkers only get form of the body and thus cannot take advantage of the fantastic buff that sky splitter provides under form of the soul. She may have a little method to her madness. Suggesting that a non-stalker skip sky splitter, however, is silly.
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I'd still suggest it anyway, and it's hardly silly. It's worse than Total Focus, and arguably using Eye of the Storm to set off Form Procs is superior due to the -RES EoTS Generates. Even that isn't the best way to go about it. Sky Splitter is just a terrible attack. It's the same DPA as the much faster Serpent's Reach, and Serpent's Reach itself is fairly lackluster.|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
There are three other attacks in the set that can take a fury of the gladiator, all of which are worth using in their own right as well.
Sky splitter might not be very good if all it did were damage. As you know this is not all that it does so I'm not sure what else needs to be said. Get back to me when total focus grants permable slotted health and stamina, or significant resist all, I guess? In fairness I will say that stalker staff does not get many of the benefits that other ATs' versions do. This is why I had to raise my eyebrow when all of the pre-release hype was about how it was clearly best for stalkers. Actually, in even more fairness, let me append a bit more to my addendum there. From what I can gather, Reppu's staff character is a stalker. They get a whole other single target attack instead of innocuous strikes that has better DPA than any other attacks in the game in assassin's strike. Compared to that? Sure, sky splitter is crap, especially since stalkers only get form of the body and thus cannot take advantage of the fantastic buff that sky splitter provides under form of the soul. She may have a little method to her madness. Suggesting that a non-stalker skip sky splitter, however, is silly. |
There is a reason why people state Staff Fighting is one of the lowest ST primaries in the game; because it has no High DPA "Power Hits".
WOULD I skip Sky Splitter on a non-Scrapper? Probably. Not a Tanker at least, but on a Brute or Scrapper, I'd consider it. Sky SPlitter will never be a DPS gain in any capacity. Maximizing your uses of Precise Strike will always be the superior option. And arguably using both Mercurial and Innocuous with Heel/Gladiator procs (which do stack with each other!), would probably be a net game over Sky Splitter.
Since Innocuous and Mercurial share the same DPA and proc capacity, hmm... that's an idea. -40% Res... yeah, that'd definitely whip Sky Splitter.
The attack is bad. There's no debating that. But some ATs have no choice in taking it, or don't mind taking it (IE: Tankers).
But I can admit 75% Regen and 50% Recovery from Form of the Soul is pretty nice, but is it worth the damage loss all the time?
Eh.
Maybe.
But it's still skippable, which is the point. And Eye of the Storm can do it with a -RES component if you want. But that's not really that much of an alternative, either, aside from a possible Gladiator proc as well.
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There is no power more like Total Focus than Total Focus, and I've never yet seen anyone claim it's skippable for Energy Melee. Moreover, TF's DPA isn't actually bad; it's widely hated mostly for its extremely long animation that delivers the damage at the very end, while being in a set where the only other heavy hitter has the same problem, not for its DPA. Sky Splitter is slow, but significantly faster than TF, and Staff has other decent attacks that activate pretty quickly. And Sky Splitter has some nice secondary effects, as well.|
Originally Posted by Reppu
That all said, the ability is a horrible. It is lower DPA than Total Focus, and the community largely has agreed slow attacks like Total Focus are bad and are generally skippable in most sets that have them.
But, if you believe an attack worse than Total Focus is good... |
Is Sky Splitter skippable? Sure, I guess. Is it kinda disappointing as a t9 power? Sure, I guess. Is it "a terrible attack"? Not in any useful sense; only one other power in Staff has better DPA, and if you count (non-Body) form damage that number becomes zero.
I can agree with that. All together, I can just flatly say Staff Fighting was a bit of a let down, mostly due to the lack of weapon models. Partially the performance.
On a Brute, the only truly skippable powers, IMO, are Mercurial Blow and Taunt. I have them both, though, and they are both quote useful, depending on playstyle.
I would NOT ever skip Serpent's Reach, if only because it is a ranged attack that doesn't require weapon redraw (plus, as stated, it is the highest - or close to it - DPA attack in the set).
- Xyzor, Lightning.Rod, Kagyx - Rubber Mulch / Wholesale Candy - Freedom Server
Haven't quite made 20 on my Fire/Staff Tanker yet, so not sure if there are 'endgame issues' with the AT but I'm enjoying it a lot right now.
With Staff as a secondary instead of a primary, the concept of 'skippable attacks' is a bit tougher to implement -- haven't skipped any yet. On the other hand, this is the first character I've run that's been able to complete the final battle in the Shining Stars arc without losing any allies (and that includes my Ill/Emp controller who played it in flashback). I'm not doing as much damage as a Stalker or Brute, certainly, but I feel more survivable when soloing and more effective when teaming.
--
Pauper
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My Staff Brute's only skipped power is Precise Strike. I have Mercurial because it can take Achilles Heal. The extra accuracy of PS might cause me to switch next respec though.
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Originally Posted by Xyzor
On a Brute, the only truly skippable powers, IMO, are Mercurial Blow and Taunt. I have them both, though, and they are both quote useful, depending on playstyle.
I would NOT ever skip Serpent's Reach, if only because it is a ranged attack that doesn't require weapon redraw (plus, as stated, it is the highest - or close to it - DPA attack in the set). |
I really should do something about this signature.
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Also reasonable. Like most melee sets the first two ST attacks can be treated as 'one or the other' in a build tight on power choices.|
Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU
My Staff Brute's only skipped power is Precise Strike. I have Mercurial because it can take Achilles Heal. The extra accuracy of PS might cause me to switch next respec though.
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Personally, I tend to always build for +Rech, so taking the slightly slower, harder-hitting attack is my normal course of action. MB, however, does have some advantages (like taking the Heel proc) that it is worth considering as the keeper. I do have both, and plan to keep them, because MB is an attack that builds a fast perfection point without needing redraw, and it can sort-of-mule a Kinetic Combat set, and PS is a better ST-dmg attack for that attack chain.
- Xyzor, Lightning.Rod, Kagyx - Rubber Mulch / Wholesale Candy - Freedom Server
I am making a Staff/Dark/Earth Mastery brute ( coloring the Dark Powers brown for a Sand/Earth Theme ) and I have never played Staff before. what are the core powers for the set and what if anything is skippabe for a Brute ?? I am leaning to skipping either the silly looking breakdance power or the attack that strikes at the foes feet ( sorry I dont know the names )
Any Advice would be appreciated..
Thanks...
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-