edited to move main suggestion up - above the preamble which nobody cares about:
- A Middle Ground Solution:
-
Charge Duration: Bake-in Charge Duration to the Charge-Up Skill itself.
X Hard Points(or soft points as you will) in a skill grants Y Charge Duration. -
Charge Consumption: Bake-in % Non-Charge-Comsumption into the Finisher Move itself.
X Hard Points(or again, soft points) grants % Chance to Not Consume a Charge. - Mosaic: Unique Item Property - Attacking with a Charge-Up skills has a CTC that skills ability. This DOES NOT Consume a Charge .
I’m not here to weigh in on the MA Assassin. That’s my least played class over the last 2 decades. While I’ve always wanted to play one - I’ve done nothing more than dabble and follow the path of least resistance to more linear melee builds such as Zealot, WW, SS etc.
This is more of a suggestion post and a consolidation of various theories, ideas and issues I have seen presented on the various forums.
The main problem I had with (albeit my limited experience with) Martial Arts -
- The fact I never felt like I was DOING anything if I wasn’t releasing a Charge.
- Clunkiness of Charge Build-up and dissipation between encounters.
- Apparently I was also performing poorly due to NHD which, at the time, I was totally unaware of.
3 Major Issues I have seen Discussed(not including NHD):
- Charge Duration
- Charge Consumption
- Build-up tedious and effectively doing nothing DPS-wise
Basically - While using Mosaic you’ll always have a CTC and deal DPS while Charging the skill itself.
Refine the base Runeword itself - itd, more AR, repairs, indestructible, higher ed% etc as you see fit. I’m not weighing in on the the weapon itself.
This is Just about the Unique Property proposed by Blizzard and the discussion I’ve seen about it with limited personal experience with relevant build(s).
What % should CTC be? 25/33/50/66/100??? That’s for the community & blizz to decide should this idea be viable.
Is it/would it be - overpowered? again see above.
Would it interfere with Finishers and cause NHD if the timing aligned with charge-up/Finish? Maybe. idk. Would the Pros outweigh the isolated Cons of that happening? Very Likely.
Would it increase DPS output during “Charge-Up downtime”? Yes. Especially when dealing with trash, let alone giving an edge during standard fights and encounters.
Would it make MA gameplay more more enjoyable for me personally? Yes.
If this idea is viable - I’ll leave the discussion of the details to those much much more knowledgeable than myself.
Question Like - “Well what level Charge should it “Cast” while Attacking with X Skill? 1? 2? 3?”
That’s for others to examine and debate.
I just think the overall gameplay of the MA spec would feel much more fluid and enjoyable if I could make an item that functioned like this.
(edit: Not taking credit for any ideas or suggestions of “Baking in” charge duration or chance to not consume etc - as I said this is a consolidation of sorts and hopefully streamlining the overall MA spec.
I did have the idea of CTC Charge-up and thought that would be a “Middle Way” if you will. While pondering this possible Unique Power and browsing, I only came across one other person who said as much.)