Patch 2.6.8’s fix to Bazooka makes channeling necessary for 1 second to gain the damage. I propose that this can be reduced and still prevent Bazooka from working.
Patch 2.6.7’s fix to Bazooka was to drop channeling buffs once Archon is entered. This fix was bypassed by hitting Archon less than 15ms after channeling was hit. This caused Archon to be entered during the startup time of channeling, then the actually channeling buff was applied after Archon was entered. Since the channeling buffs are only dropped at the beginning of Archon, they remain during Archon.
The longest tick of channeling possible is at 333ms. This means that requiring more than 333ms of channeling would still prevent Bazooka from working. Holding channeling for more than 1 tick and entering Archon should always drop the channeling buffs.
You can lessen the channeling time down from 1 second to 350ms. This would benefit other channeling builds as well. It would also still allow for Regular Star Pact builds to function, as they weren’t intended to be removed in the first place.
Please consider doing this as it removes Bazooka while still not harming other builds as much. Thanks for your time!
[edit] Another solution, although a bit harder to implement, is to not allow the channeling buffs to be gained at any moment during Archon. This solution would not require any delay on channeling damage at all. This would be a much more preferred solution without any negative impact on other builds. I’m not sure if this would be doable with the current limited resources.
[edit2] I’ll record more testing and make a video. It will show exactly what I’m talking about and might be easier to understand.
[edit3] Here is a video that does a better job explaining what I’m talking about:
[edit4] I’ve had to reconsider some things in the video. If the implementation of the channeling requirement is to just move the same activation of the buff to a later time, it might still be possible to use Bazooka. Archon could be entered right before the required time if the activation still occurs due to an ongoing channeling tick. This would cause the channeling bonus to activate during Archon, allowing Bazooka to still work.
If this is the case, even a 1 second requirement might not be enough. I have been able to achieve 1 second of channeling with enough attack speed and resource cost reduction. Although, it might not be reliable to do this constantly, or practical to use.
So the channeling requirement might not work, or will have to be increased to 1.25 seconds. This wouldn’t be ideal so I’m leave some possible fixes that don’t negatively impact non-Archon Star Pact or other channeling builds. I know some things might not be possible to implement.
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The fix in the video was to not allow channeling bonuses to be gained while in Archon.
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Entering Archon cancels the startup of any channeling skills, preventing them from activating.
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Delay the buffs of Archon (30% Archon state damage, and Archon stacks) for half a second. Also prevent Archon stacks from being added from kills during this time. This would make Archon worthless for meteor drops.
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Prevent Archon and Meteor from both being on the skill bar at the same time. This might be easy to implement since the functionality is already there with certain skills (armors/laws). Although, this might seem like a weird restriction.