“Shock Lance” is an enemy elite affix that creates electric spheres with spinning lightning bolts. Its sparky appearance changes frequently, has a reddish glow, and it blinks rapidly.
This elite affix in particular is very hard to see on lower graphical settings. While that is expected to some extend, in this case the harmful ability becomes almost invisible, which should not happen. The graphical presentation needs a revision.
You can check the problem on my image gallery that is linked above. The screenshots have catched some blinking frames, but the overall effect is only marginaly better. Note that the mockup you find in images 1-3 is just a suggestion, the colors in image 3 are just a study. Personally, I really like how Diablo 3 has done it (last image).
General visual problems of Shock Lance click to expand
- The ability’s blinking is hard on the eyes. It does not make the effect more noticable. Quite the opposite is happening if any other effect joins on the screen. I quickly lose track of the ever-changing lightning.
- The red color is meant to signal a harmful effect, but since many other effects (not just fire) and environments share this color, the thin Shock Lance becomes difficult to identify.
- The “ball” uses too much transparency, which also makes it harder to see. Knowing the origin helps a lot in predicting the range and movement of Shock Lance.
Diablo 3's Arcane Laser figured it out click to expand
Diablo 3’s version of Shock Lance is called Arcane Laser (or Beam?):
https://imgur.com/wiMuNx9
It works exactly the same way, only the visuals are a lot more distinct, as you can see in the linked image.
- The laser is thick, and these additional pixels give dominance among other effects.
- The laser has a different colored border that helps avoid color fading with other bright effects. This border also makes it stand out against the background.
- D3’s arcane element has a characteristic purple/pink color and therefore is easy to identify.
- The laser’s graphics are very consistent and its movement looks smooth, which makes tracking multiple lasers possible. I remember this ability was very fun to handle when 10 lasers hit the floor.