There are two issues I have with TR flurry rune, which is the main if not only rune that a TR monk uses regardless of set.
First, the mechanic of stacking to 100 in the current mode feels unforgiving due to the fact that stacks are lost with the slightest error in timing immunity, dodging wormholes, etc. Second, the damage is so astronomically higher than any other rune that it makes the choice just a formality. This also restricts the type of elemental damage you can gear for, though this doesnt matter terribly, except that our Won Kim Lau lightning damage does nothing for us without SOJ, which is only used for speed.
The good news for me is that the flurry effect really works - that satisfying pop melting packs and bosses is amazing. There is also a synergistic harmony with using COE on the monk’s 5-element cycle, which coincides with the build of 100 stacks so precisely. This is part of the design of this build and set and it just works perfectly (if we could get shenlongs to proc consistently would be even better).
The feeling I have is that the flurry effect of stacking damage is so essential to the damage of this skill in any build as to make any other rune obsolete or superfluous. My suggestion is basically to make this effect of stacking damage 1) intrinsic to the TR skill itself, and 2) scale the damage or stacking mechanics via a set effect in POJ. The goal here is to improve diversity in the skill and set, and possibly fix the damage scaling as well.
Some ideas which I think could work:
- Change the base effect of TR to stack up to 10x over a period of 10-12 seconds, and the flurry rune stacks these faster - after all, “flurry” seems to relate linguistically to speed as much as cold anyway.
- The POJ set now stacks your flurry with each hit of SW or Cyclone strike up to 100 stacks. I’d still like the buildup of stacks to coincide on COE cycles, but this would make the buildup part of the set instead of the skill itself.
- To RELEASE flurry stacks, i suggest a change to the actual skill mechanic which currently releases the microsecond you stop casting or cast another interrupting skill like a blind, etc. This mechanic works well when executed perfectly, but currently any interruption from wormhole or CC ruins the whole punch of this build. There is obviously skill involved in this, but even the best players get frustrated with this mechanic, causing us to juggle Epiphany and Serenity just to not lose these stacks. The proposed change: flurry stacks endure up to 0.5 seconds after you cease casting, or when you cast a crowd control skill or other attack (primary skill, etc). If you do nothing, the detonation will simply auto cast after 0.5 second delay. This way you can potentially nem a pylon and nuke the pack also.
I am not entirely sure that 0.5 second is the correct interval, but it would be a very fine line between too little and too much, but since we are coming from zero, i’d recommend minimal effective dosage. This is more QOL change, which I suggest work similar to Taeguk stacks (the amount of seconds duration could be more or less the same)
In all, even if we just take the first two changes as decent, the effects would be as follows:
- More rune choice opens up potentials for optimal speed and push runes.
- Manipulation of stack count and speed of stacking is the way to increase damage - the rune itself gives an outrageous damage boost to the skill as it stands, and this is what gives TR its power in whatever build. I suggest that POJ be the set that maximizes its potential to highlight the theme of the set.
- Less competition for TR builds with other sets like SWK - for me, this is no advantage to have two very similar builds on two separate sets, especially when the optimal setup for TR turns out to not be the TR only set. This would make POJ the obvious TR push and speed build.
As far as damage scaling, it is a bit depressing and somewhat disturbing that in push scenarios, ALL your damage comes from these big flurry releases, and hardly from the actual mechanic of the TR skill itself (or sweeping wind for that matter). We see in WW rend builds and God DH the damage comes from a skill other than channelling (also with new Firebirds rework), but in this case TR actually is the damage dealing skill, but the only damage that counts is the pop from flurry release. For me this seems problematic, but it’s part of the build as it is. I’d like to see a possible scenario via rune rework where you generate NO flurry stacks but do double or triple damage on your actual TR itself, would be interesting for speeds. Obviously this wouldnt scale with the suggested rework of POJ giving extra flurry stacks but it could work may be for speeds?
Those are my thoughts, I’d love to hear yours.