Mantle of Channeling - PTR 2.6.8 proposal

General Discussion
1

I would ask that the delay to Mantle of Channeling of 1 second before the legendary buff starts to be re-considered. (Re: PTR 2.6.8 initial patch notes (PTR feedback forum is not yet open.))

I assume (and I don’t like to assume, but there wasn’t Developer comments to address intent) that this nerf was related to trying to break the Star Pact “Bazooka” Wizard - but this change seriously impacts a number of other builds and classes.

For example my Legacy of Dreams Rapid Fire Demon Hunter. I channel Rapid Fire on my right click, whenever I left click channel is interrupted (I place Vengeance here for longest time between clicks). What this Mantle of Channeling change will mean, is that in addition to temporarily losing my Wojahnni Assaulter stacks when I reset my Vengeance, I will also lose my Mantle of Channeling bonus for a second. While the damage change may not be too significant (as I’ve also lost damage via Wojahnni Assaulter), the 25% damage reduction is critical.

I am channeling Rapid Fire, and resetting, in large groups regularly on this build, often with multiple elites around, losing the damage reduction for a second could actually kill my DH.

I know there are also some versions of Whirlwind Barbarian that also use this, and potentially other classes too.

Hence please review this Blizzard. If the intent was primarily to impact the Star Pact “Bazooka” Wizard, could this be re-visited to see if the changes to Deathwish and Etched Sigil are sufficient by themselves, or if no if there is another change which won’t impact other classes and builds as much.

23 Likes
2

Blizzard needs to come up with a solution that fixes only the Bazooka wizard, without adversely affecting other classes or wiz’s other channeling builds. Hope that they can do this.

14 Likes
3

Agreed, but if a shotgun to kill a fly instead of a small pin point laser to do same, is easier, a shotgun it will be from Blizzard.

7 Likes
4

It does indeed seem like a bad way to solve the issue.

2 Likes
5

Does seem a little over the top. Deathwish and Etched Sigel seem like enough to kill bazooka, at very least needs to persist for 1-2 secs after channeling like wastes set.

4 Likes
6

If it patch on live server I’ll definitely stop playing any channel build character I had and play sth else. Couldn’t play my Tal Rasha meteor wiz in that condition.

1 Like
7

if These changes are just to nerf Bazzoka, i feel the debuff to channeling could be added to the Swarmi item, so that the other chanelling builds are not destroyed

2 Likes
8

This comment is underrated LOL

2 Likes
9

Blizzard going overboard as usual… and also not fixing bugs. The Mantle of channelling change is just plain stupid as you have all said it stuffs up other builds as well…

4 Likes
10

If they had a single functioning brain cell among them they would…

11

Yeah, not looking to good for other builds that use Mantle outside of Wiz…

3 Likes
12

While we’re talking about mantle of channeling, how about including necromancer abilities on this item as well, huh…? Feels a bit lame this has been overlooked for YEARS now. :stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes
13

They should increase the Mantle of Channelling, DeathWish and Etched Sigil’s raw power to compensate the 1 second delay.

14

The change to Deathwish and Etched Sigil also impacts many other wizard builds. Not only does it kill the non-archon Starpact, it also cripples any speed GR and Torment farming builds (of which there are many) that rely on these items.

The issue with Archon stacks interacting with these items needs to be tackled directly.

4 Likes
15

So to break Bazooka they break nearly every channeling skill in the game? That’s brilliant!

Babies thrown out with the Bathwater:
LEGIT Starpact- Lon/LoD, Firebird’s.
Tal’s Meteor Shower
Firebirds Meteor Shower- Does Firebird’s have any even semi-viable builds now?
Helltooth Firebats
Arachyr’s Firebats
LoN/LoD Rapidfire- The top GR build for one of the most under-performing classes.

Nicely done, Blizzard!

Seriously, fix the mechanic. Don’t break the items.

11 Likes
16

How about they break the Swami? Apply the Archon duration to Vyr’s 4 Piece Set Bonus, and remove it from the Swami altogether.

I’m no expert on Bazooka, but that would seem to fix the issue.

2 Likes
17

well, you could always add a 1 second delay before loosing the effect of the channeling power for those builds that loose the focus for a second (similar to channeling gem), would that still cause issues to bazooka without breaking all the others? I’ve never played the build myself, but i think what they need to cast takes longer than 1 second, right?

19

I have a feeling this will impact the tempest rush builds for monks also , I thought this might be a problem but I was going to wait for the ptr to test and then comment. Thanks Trep for brining this up :slight_smile:

4 Likes
20

Well actualy Bazooka is not Dead the 1 sec is not enough because you always get a 0.25sec for regen and recast they need to up it to 1.5sec after this yes bazooka will be out and with this channeling skill will scale with taeguk

21

There is one way of fixing it(and channeling in general) without causing too many problems:

Current Deathwish:
While channeling Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, all damage is increased by [250 - 325%]. (Wizard Only)

Current Etched Sigil:
While channeling Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, the damage of your Arcane Power Spenders is increased by [125 - 150]% and you also cast one of your other damaging Arcane Power Spenders every second. (Wizard Only)

Current Channeling items:
The bonus granted by those items now occurs 1 second after channeling has begun.

Proposed Change

New Deathwish:
While channeling Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, all damage

damage of channeling skills and other Fire skills

are increased by [250 - 325%]. (Wizard Only)

New Etched Sigil:
While channeling Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, the damage of your Arcane Power Spenders

channeling skills and other Fire skills is increased by [125 - 150]% and you also cast one of your other damaging Arcane Power Spenders

every second. (Wizard Only).

Current Channeling items:
The bonus granted by those items now occurs 1 second after channeling has begun. Revert this change to those items.

Fire skills are the source of damage for most of the wizard channeling build, eg: explosive blast:chain reaction, meteor shower, energy twister:gale force. although people may like varieties, it is still much more optimal than current fix of adding 1s activation time, plus the fact that removing 4.25x and 2.5x multiplier will help with the starpact issue since it uses arcane damage.

Result:
Pros: All other channeling builds are unchanged, bazooka damage is reduced greatly (10 times less damage)
Cons:
Reduced rune variety for wizard channeling build.

4 Likes