So messing around with COE vs SOJ for Starpact TR and it seems like I either match or beat my solo push times with SOJ, which undoubtedly means for speeds SOJ crushes COE.
My thought and actual practice with this is several layers for what’s going on, since TR2 keeps all the benefits of actual casted meteors we’re cycling through a lot of extra meteor casts, even better for added attack speed cycling it faster. So this is where SOJ’s actual legendary power comes into large effect with making all elements cast 100% of the highest elemental damage. Meaning every single meteor is getting full benefit.
This seems to be much more meaningful for total damage than a 4s window of 16s where a single element will do 200% damage because TR2 can actually bring down several meteors in a second when procced by passive effects that can keep triggering off each other like Familiar , Shocking Aspect from Storm Armor and your elemental cast cycling over each other. These extra meteor casts the other 12 seconds being at full elemental damage all the time seems to more than make up for the 4s of 200% as well as the added benefit of 9 AP for Starpact casts (but that’s a really minor part of it).
This might not be true for the other elements because you’re constantly spamming Comet or Thunder Crash thus in the 4s window you’re doing more manual casts than Starpact in the same window, but obviously Starpact packs way more of a punch in that time.
Anyway I encourage y’all to try it for yourselves, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how good it is! Done a 132 with 2.5 minutes to spare with it thus far, this with a 17/30 SOJ vs a 195 COE fyi. This is with only 2 augs, no squirts, no Aughilds, no elemental damage on amulet, 1k paragon…skies the limit!
Yeah, I always said that SoJ would work best in a situation were you actually have a multi-elemental build that can benefit from all elements. Since the strongest source of damage after a class set bonus will be the skill% effects on various items. And that’s the problem, you simply can’t have a variety of those for different skills. And since you also can’t have multiple instances of one skill in your bar, there is simply no normal way to make a multi-element build (i.e. one that actually deals damage with each of the used elements) work… for that you’d have to meet a certain condition:
you need ONE skill that has different elements for its runes
you need a way to attack with different runes of that skill
Since, as mentioned, it’s impossible to have a skill change it’s rune on-the-fly or have the same skill multiple times in your bar, there’s more or less only an automatic cast left to do that. In that regard, way before they reworked Tal Rasha I suggested some mechanic that would trigger Meteor strikes on the enemies you hit. Basically a Meteor by proxy playstyle to replace the legacy Etched Sigil Tal Channel Meteor Shower build.
My idea didn’t have the “can’t repeat a Meteor type” factor, but it had a cooldown of 1s per element, which effectively would have caused more or less the same result.
So yeah, this kind of build is likely the only way to use SoJ. Apart from LoN/LoD where you can stack fire% on tons of items.
Right, actual skills that would do like a two in one or more elements. I guess the conflict came in which you’d think, well when COE goes to that other element you’re getting 200% from that one too not 0% so wouldn’t that be the better multi-elemental choice but in practice it’s not really like that because those skills are automatic and not manually controlled.
When you have manual control you can time your choice element exactly as its coming up, which in itself is really a skill sensitive thing and is certainly not always 100% so when it comes to Starpact you could get in a good 2 casts before the timer is up with full arcane in large packs. But that’s all situational… SOJ is just always that additional % no matter what. Far more consistent.
So in fairness at the best of situations at the highest of skill cap, yeah COE might take you that extra notch higher but in 95% of all other situations it’s going to be SOJ here.