Ok, it's still my favorite, but my point is that I already loved this skill, even before it was good past Normal. Just like you said, it is the coolest spell in the game to use :)
Anyway, what you don't realize is that 3.3 yards is horrible! It used to be 4.7!! I loved the huge range, it was nearly the range of a targetable Nova (6 yards).
On the one hand, you are *waaaaay* under-estimating slvl 38 Fire Blast, but on the other hand you can't shop for +6 Fire Blast claws. Even at slvl 32 (with just 2*+3 traps claws) it does 335-401 dmg, at slvl 38 it does 509-599! The reason you underestimated the damage is because it ramps up again at slvl 22 and again at slvl 28. The full break down is this:
slvl: dmg per level
1: 3-4
2-8: 2.5-3.5
9-16: 4-5.5
17-22: 10-12
23-28: 19-22
29+: 29-33
Yes, that's +30 a level once you've gotten past slvl 28!
You can't shop for +6 Fire Blast claws because by the time claws can get +skills, and by the time claws can get +3 Traps, you've long since passed the time that low-level skills can show up on claws :(. By imbuing any of the last three elite claws with a clvl 8 character, you could get +5 Fire Blast in theory. Or crafting or cubing (6pskull) one of those elites with a clvl 1 could also get the +5. Of course, 1.10 could have changed some of this.
One thing that every Fire Blaster should be very aware of is that weapon speed determines your Fire Blast speed. With just slvl 1 BoS and a 'Steel' (Tir El) Scimitar you barely reach the fastest framerate at 9 frames per cast.
Personally, I'm going to have Charged Bolt Sentry be my secondary skill to go along with Fire Blast because it is the only Lightning trap that gets a damage bonus from my 20 points in Fire Blast. So it gives a second element for fire immunes, and you can lay down 5 of them in just 2 seconds and go right back to spamming Fire Blast. So you can get good use out of both skills at once.
- Dagni
Anyway, what you don't realize is that 3.3 yards is horrible! It used to be 4.7!! I loved the huge range, it was nearly the range of a targetable Nova (6 yards).
On the one hand, you are *waaaaay* under-estimating slvl 38 Fire Blast, but on the other hand you can't shop for +6 Fire Blast claws. Even at slvl 32 (with just 2*+3 traps claws) it does 335-401 dmg, at slvl 38 it does 509-599! The reason you underestimated the damage is because it ramps up again at slvl 22 and again at slvl 28. The full break down is this:
slvl: dmg per level
1: 3-4
2-8: 2.5-3.5
9-16: 4-5.5
17-22: 10-12
23-28: 19-22
29+: 29-33
Yes, that's +30 a level once you've gotten past slvl 28!
You can't shop for +6 Fire Blast claws because by the time claws can get +skills, and by the time claws can get +3 Traps, you've long since passed the time that low-level skills can show up on claws :(. By imbuing any of the last three elite claws with a clvl 8 character, you could get +5 Fire Blast in theory. Or crafting or cubing (6pskull) one of those elites with a clvl 1 could also get the +5. Of course, 1.10 could have changed some of this.
One thing that every Fire Blaster should be very aware of is that weapon speed determines your Fire Blast speed. With just slvl 1 BoS and a 'Steel' (Tir El) Scimitar you barely reach the fastest framerate at 9 frames per cast.
Personally, I'm going to have Charged Bolt Sentry be my secondary skill to go along with Fire Blast because it is the only Lightning trap that gets a damage bonus from my 20 points in Fire Blast. So it gives a second element for fire immunes, and you can lay down 5 of them in just 2 seconds and go right back to spamming Fire Blast. So you can get good use out of both skills at once.
- Dagni