Daedric Summoning is garbage

hammer_fella

SirAndy wrote: »

Have you actually leveled any of the other classes?

Just the fact that your pet can take the attention of mobs away from you makes leveling a sorc soooooo much easier.
It doesn't even matter if the pet otherwise really helps with the attack.

My Dragon Knight, Night Blade and Templar would all kill for a summoned pet.
Literally ...
;-)

For NB, Dark Shades does the trick.

Veshal

The simple fact that smart healing more often than not heals the pets instead of party members (TANK) makes the pets in desperate need of evasion. The health regen passive is broken as well. I wouldn't say scrap it, but add some mechanics to the pets. They are the weakest abilities we have in general cases. (Excluding leveling pre VR content.)

Robocles

AtriasNaradan wrote: »

"Bound Armor:

An interesting and pretty excellent skill--but wholly outclassed by Storm Armor. Why--WHY--does Bound Armor need to operate as a costume?

I can see magicka-starved builds using it in place of Storm Armor. Overall not a bad skill to have, but the graphics of it absolutely suck."


.......you're joking...you gotta be joking right??

.....no??

Well, i'm guessing you were never a TES series player before ESO, right? cause that's a stupid question for any TES series player to make.

Bound armor is a skill in TES series that basically summoning a daedric armor out of nothing, that's bound to the caster. Bound summons always in the form of daedric, wether it's armor or weapon. Bound armor is of summoning type of magic, which in previous games not just consists of daedric summoning.

You shouldn't questioned why it's in the form of a costume, as it's like that in all TES series. You're right though, Daedric armor of ESO does looks ugly. Daedric armor used to be one of the best looking (and quality) armor, that makes everyone wants to wear it just because it's cool...but that's enthusiasm are gone here at ESO due to whatever happen to the artist head when they draw Daedric armor lol

So you agree with why he dislikes the skill (that it looks like crap... which it does), but still think he's gotta be joking because he doesn't know what bound armor is from TES?

Wow.

AtriasNaradan

Robocles wrote: »

AtriasNaradan wrote: »

"Bound Armor:

An interesting and pretty excellent skill--but wholly outclassed by Storm Armor. Why--WHY--does Bound Armor need to operate as a costume?

I can see magicka-starved builds using it in place of Storm Armor. Overall not a bad skill to have, but the graphics of it absolutely suck."


.......you're joking...you gotta be joking right??

.....no??

Well, i'm guessing you were never a TES series player before ESO, right? cause that's a stupid question for any TES series player to make.

Bound armor is a skill in TES series that basically summoning a daedric armor out of nothing, that's bound to the caster. Bound summons always in the form of daedric, wether it's armor or weapon. Bound armor is of summoning type of magic, which in previous games not just consists of daedric summoning.

You shouldn't questioned why it's in the form of a costume, as it's like that in all TES series. You're right though, Daedric armor of ESO does looks ugly. Daedric armor used to be one of the best looking (and quality) armor, that makes everyone wants to wear it just because it's cool...but that's enthusiasm are gone here at ESO due to whatever happen to the artist head when they draw Daedric armor lol

So you agree with why he dislikes the skill (that it looks like crap... which it does), but still think he's gotta be joking because he doesn't know what bound armor is from TES?

Wow.

Yes. He did ask why it got to operate as costume, so i answer it for him...you have problems with that?

You're?

Wow.

Vizier

Tamanous wrote: »

I am still completely pissed over the nerf to Volatile Familiar. Sure it may be OP due to the bug but the current nerf makes it utter crap in pve when the bug isn't duplicated.

WHERE IS THE FIX ZOS?! How long do we have to live with a gutted power?

Try summon Shade sometime. :-p It's the bomb.

Makkir

Some amazing sorcerer PvP builds taking advantage of the summoning line...that's enough sugar for today though

Cathexis

Volatile Familiar is awesome. Storm Atr is good too. The tree does really well in pve esp for farming but doesn't hold up well in PvP (apart from volatile familiar).

Maverick827

Cathexis wrote: »

Volatile Familiar is awesome. Storm Atr is good too. The tree does really well in pve esp for farming but doesn't hold up well in PvP (apart from volatile familiar).

Storm Atranoch used to be good

ghengis_dhan

I can't agree with most of the poster's points. While I have no problem moving the Daedric Summoning skill line to the World skills and replacing it with something like Frost magic, I loved using the summoned creatures for my tank character. My mage, not so much, because I like my magicka available for damage or healing.

I don't know how many times I'd Puncture a boss just to have the clannfear taunt him back. Yeah, it doesn't say anywhere that a clannfear can taunt, but I witnessed it countless times.

They're also great for soloing groups (PvE). I'd tackle one enemy, and when I'm done, I'd turn around and attack the enemy fighting my twilight. Then, the one fighting my clannfear.

The post-1.3 Storm Atronache is still the best ultimate in my opinion. While, I have to be more careful now, it still does decent damage. And, if I can kite the boss long enough, they usually turn their attention to the Storm Atronache anyway.

I think the Summoned Ward works great when you have both summons; otherwise, it's an okay damage shield.

ghengis_dhan

One more thing. When I play my healer character, I have no problem healing summoned creatures. They're taking some heat off of the other players as long as they're up. I just remember to tap Rapid Regeneration a couple of extra times. With my build, it's no problem.

I have to note that Healing Ward does not go to summoned creatures, even if they are low on health, only other players. If you feel that your heals are wasted on summons (they're not), then use Healing Ward.

indigoblades

Even at high levels, i still think Unstable Clannfear is Good. He takes aggro so my damage is reduced by 50% often. I can send him in while in sneak & time my heal/crit surge/heavy attack with his .... I all ways get in one sneak attack ... often 2. If he dies my magicka is returned with 'rebate'. Often if i have just one soul strike & mages fury attack the mob dies with his tail swipes. My Health Regin is improved 20% with 'Deadric Protection'. I have tried removing him before because he takes slots on bars to be effective, but all ways end up adding him back. I wear all light armor & most my attributes are in Magicka so if he takes 1/3 there aggro that helps me tremendously. Me i think i the twilight is too squishy for how little damage he does and twilight does little damage. i might use the twilight is we had more bar slots just for magikca regin mainly. Anyway just the clannfear as a tank cost me 1 slots each bars. I send him in, use a heal just before combat starts & he only dies if i happen too accidently pull extras in, even then he helps because 'rebate' returns magika.

Certainly in PVP he is worthless. Also in group play he is less useful because others are taking aggro. Some fights with Bosses pulling adds, an extra AOE might be more useful ...... i have beaten some group bosses i should not be fighting with resto light attack, crit surge, regin, streak. Dark exchange while clanfar has aggro to get magicka back. hit with ring of fire (impulse morph) if i have excess magika too.

I will agree it is nothin even close to OP but it works better for me at any level especially since ZOS added the ability to command attack.

Kilandros

ghengis_dhan wrote: »

One more thing. When I play my healer character, I have no problem healing summoned creatures. They're taking some heat off of the other players as long as they're up. I just remember to tap Rapid Regeneration a couple of extra times. With my build, it's no problem.

I have to note that Healing Ward does not go to summoned creatures, even if they are low on health, only other players. If you feel that your heals are wasted on summons (they're not), then use Healing Ward.

Veteran groups worth their salt will kick Sorcerers who insist on bringing pets into veteran dungeons. That should tell you something. The fact that you are able to work around pets cannibalizing heals by casting more heals/recommending inferior healing ward doesn't really change the fact that pets still cannibalize heals. That's a big issue for smart groups who rely on those heals.

Magdalina

Eh, I suppose this is a matter of opinion, but I really like the Summonning skilltree. It's the sole reason I'm playing a sorc=) I love my Clannfear and Twilight, they've been plain invalueable in pre-vet content, and they still have use in vet. Twilight's low health does limit her useability, but I have been in fights where she was still a priceless asset, including vet dungeons boss fights.

And I still really, really like my Clannfear at vet 12. Yeah, his damage sucks, so what? I admit my attraction is partly in my own mind - I really like the whole summonning idea, I think he looks cool and I just like having him around. But that doesn't mean he's useless for anything but fun looks. He tanks my enemies for me solo, keeping me safe, and he can take some pressure off the tank/give us time to res tank if he dies in dungeons. I've ran most of vet dungeons with my Clannfear and he's saved the whole team a few times. Yeah, that was mostly when we were uncareful and could've probably been avoided. Maybe I could replace Clannfear with another ability and it'd go even better. But I have speedran and done Undaunted achievement in every vet dungeon(except CoH. I'll admit I don't use Clannfear there, it's a bit too tough for the little guy) with having Clannfear around most of the time.

Summoned Ward(mine's morphed to Hardened Ward)...I don't know what abilities DKs have but I'd never call this ability underpowered. It shields me for about 1k damage right now, that's roughly half of my health. That's purely invalueable in some boss fights and PvP, it means I can miss a 1k attack and not even get hurt. Then I can recast it and do it again. It's not exactly immortality, but it's totally awesome. Plus, it also shields my pets, which means Clannfear can tank even more effectively and Twilight doesn't have to die within first 3 second of a fight. Granted, shielding allies might be more useful in group content, but seeing like 80+% of the game is SOLO content, this is actually argueably a better option:)

I am a bit sad to see Storm Atronach's taunting gone, but he still seems to taunt well enough with not too many people around.

What else is there...Bound Armor sounds good for tanks, I rarely use it myself but that doesn't mean it's ultimately useless. Besides, I think it looks kinda cool^^

I never got into Daedric Curse much, myself. Notice I'm not saying it's useless, just that I don't use it, personally.

Passives are mostly pets-centered which makes perfect sense because, you know, it's the Summoning skilltree. Since I usually have Clannfear around I benefit from them most of the time and am completely happy there:)

Stannum

Kilandros wrote: »

Daedric Curse:

IMO the best single ability in this line, though it is very situational. I see this skill as being built for PvP where Sorcerers use it in tandem with Mage's Fury (4 second delay) to stack and time burst damage on an opponent. But it's lackluster in PvE because there is a delay and because only 1 can be applied at a time.

That's great that it feels like a PvP-oriented skill. But the fact that the best ability in the line (best IMO, of course) is not particularly suited for PvE strikes me as problematic.

Daedric Curse is great for PvE. It has AoE effect and is good in combination with liquid lightning and any weapon AoE spam skill (carve,impulse,steel tornado). The idea is delayed AoE dmg + DoT AoE + spam AoE = great AoE DPS

Kcttocs

Great discussion guys! Having just rolled a breton sorc, only at level 9, I am picking up a lot of good info. Although I like having my clan fear around while leveling. I have noticed on my Main VR12 templar, that I rarely see any Sorcs with summoned pets, and now I know why. Kind of funny now that I think about it. I almost told one of the members of my instanced dungeon party to put the damn thing away, cuz their winged twighlight was getting in the way so damn much I couldn't see the field well and kept trying to get away.

Stannum

ArRashid wrote: »

SirAndy wrote: »

Have you actually leveled any of the other classes?

Just the fact that your pet can take the attention of mobs away from you makes leveling a sorc soooooo much easier.
It doesn't even matter if the pet otherwise really helps with the attack.

My Dragon Knight, Night Blade and Templar would all kill for a summoned pet.
Literally ...
;-)

unless they have a good enough taunt, they are just battlefield clutter, trust me. The first attack you use will draw all attention to you.

If first attack is daedric curse and you have summoned pet all attention will be drawn to pet

zazamalek

Kilandros wrote: »

ESO should not have attempted to implement pets. As a veteran MMO player, I am familiar with pet-balancing issues. Unfortunately, without extremely sophisticated player controls, pets are always OP or UP.

Not to mention that PUG sneaking with your group who has, wait for it, pets. The collision on them always seems to regress. It don't know how many times it's been fixed but last night I was obstructed by someone's Sorc pet.

The only time you ever see pets in this game is when you are leveling an alt, or when you see a level 10 sorc in Cyrodiil. After that nearly everyone has learnt their lesson and avoids pets.

One way to possibly fix them (I still don't like the concept of pets) is to improve their HP and damage; and have them not follow the sorc. With that at least they would be marginally useful for area denial or something: even then I doubt anyone would use them.

Magdalina

Eh, I suppose this is a matter of opinion, but I really like the Summonning skilltree. It's the sole reason I'm playing a sorc=) I love my Clannfear and Twilight, they've been plain invalueable in pre-vet content, and they still have use in vet. Twilight's low health does limit her useability, but I have been in fights where she was still a priceless asset, including vet dungeons boss fights.

And I still really, really like my Clannfear at vet 12. Yeah, his damage sucks, so what? I admit my attraction is partly in my own mind - I really like the whole summonning idea, I think he looks cool and I just like having him around. But that doesn't mean he's useless for anything but fun looks. He tanks my enemies for me solo, keeping me safe, and he can take some pressure off the tank/give us time to res tank if he dies in dungeons. I've ran most of vet dungeons with my Clannfear and he's saved the whole team a few times. Yeah, that was mostly when we were uncareful and could've probably been avoided. Maybe I could replace Clannfear with another ability and it'd go even better. But I have speedran and done Undaunted achievement in every vet dungeon(except CoH. I'll admit I don't use Clannfear there, it's a bit too tough for the little guy) with having Clannfear around most of the time.

Summoned Ward(mine's morphed to Hardened Ward)...I don't know what abilities DKs have but I'd never call this ability underpowered. It shields me for about 1k damage right now, that's roughly half of my health. That's purely invalueable in some boss fights and PvP, it means I can miss a 1k attack and not even get hurt. Then I can recast it and do it again. It's not exactly immortality, but it's totally awesome. Plus, it also shields my pets, which means Clannfear can tank even more effectively and Twilight doesn't have to die within first 3 second of a fight. Granted, shielding allies might be more useful in group content, but seeing like 80+% of the game is SOLO content, this is actually argueably a better option:)

I am a bit sad to see Storm Atronach's taunting gone, but he still seems to taunt well enough with not too many people around.

What else is there...Bound Armor sounds good for tanks, I rarely use it myself but that doesn't mean it's ultimately useless. Besides, I think it looks kinda cool^^

I never got into Daedric Curse much, myself. Notice I'm not saying it's useless, just that I don't use it, personally.

Passives are mostly pets-centered which makes perfect sense because, you know, it's the Summoning skilltree. Since I usually have Clannfear around I benefit from them most of the time and am completely happy there:)

Merlin13KAGL

Kilandros wrote: »

Summon Storm Atronach:

Summon Familiar:

ESO should not have attempted to implement pets. As a veteran MMO player, I am familiar with pet-balancing issues. Unfortunately, without extremely sophisticated player controls, pets are always OP or UP.

Now, ESO pets aren't totally UP--but they are totally underwhelming. They really don't promote any kind of interesting play style. That's pets at their best. At their worst they cannibalize important heals in group content. There's a reason why VR players never used pets until Summon Volatile Familiar became bugged.

Summon Storm Atronach still has its place, probably more in PvP than PvE, at this point. It's ranged cast, covers a wide area, temporarily stuns (even a few seconds in PvP can be huge), and has good synergy.

Familiars have more limited use in PvP than PvE. In PvE, the simple fact of providing up to two more targets that are not you can allow more movement, extend lifespan (you're not taking all the damage yourself), and causes your enemy to have to choose between targets more.

BTW, Sorcerers have familiars. Everyone else has pets.

I can understand the stealing heals (a legit concern on actual pets - I recall the first time I saw the construct glowing from regen). On the same note, if they stay alive, they help fight and add to the numbers.

Don't underestimate the helpfulness of this in some PvE situations. They are of less use in PvP, definitely.

The controls definitely need expansion more than attack/don't attack. There could be levels of aggression allowed or behaviors, such as kite, keep-away, protect me, etc.

If these could be learned and earned, the familiar line would have more potential. They should have the option to level up, as well, to an extent.

Kilandros wrote: »

Daedric Curse:

IMO the best single ability in this line, though it is very situational. I see this skill as being built for PvP where Sorcerers use it in tandem with Mage's Fury (4 second delay) to stack and time burst damage on an opponent. But it's lackluster in PvE because there is a delay and because only 1 can be applied at a time.

That's great that it feels like a PvP-oriented skill. But the fact that the best ability in the line (best IMO, of course) is not particularly suited for PvE strikes me as problematic.

It has potential in both. Zero cast time allows you to move on to another skill. Fire and forget plus unavoidable damage can be huge.

There have been times when this spell has been the difference in dropping a boss by chipping away or having the battle last seemingly forever.

Kilandros wrote: »

Summon Twilight:

See above at Summon Familiar.

Bound Armor:

An interesting and pretty excellent skill--but wholly outclassed by Storm Armor. Why--WHY--does Bound Armor need to operate as a costume?

I can see magicka-starved builds using it in place of Storm Armor. Overall not a bad skill to have, but the graphics of it absolutely suck.

Twilight morphs can be the difference between a close call and a sudden death. I think the healing is more useful, because it's come down to a have-to situation at that point. You're likely not in a condition to be able to simply heal yourself.

Many like the Magicka regen as well.

Once again, they need better health/armor (whether buffed by skills or provisioning, whatever). In standalone's, Twilight's were initially a force to be reckoned with. Here they seem to die a bit too easily.

Bound armor looks that way based on prior games. In the standalone's, it was literally a Daedric summon in the form of armor/weapons. It would be nice if the look could be altered, be it color or style. The standalone's would allow you to unequip all or part, as well.

In the standalones, they were less shiny and looks much more menacing. I think you would less inclined to dislike if they looked now as they did then. You could also summon individual pieces, not the all or nothing it is now.

While leveling, it's an easy +1000 armor for relatively low cost. Not as great with damage, but better on lesser repair cost. IMO, bound armor should come with Spelll resist built in, just like Storm does, plus it lasts until you put it away.

Storm armor is short lived, and can always be stacked (overcharged) along with bound armor for an extra boost.

Kilandros wrote: »

Conjure Ward:

For a first-hand lesson in frustration just compare this to DK's Obsidian Shield. Obsidian Shield creates a better damage shield for the same amount of time and also applies to Allies. There's nothing more to say.

Passives:

The only passive worth mentioning (because all the other passives apply to pets, and as I've posited above, pets are garbage) is Power Stone. It is a beast of a passive. But 1 passive out of 4 is hardly impressive.

Conjured ward, again it's a 20 second shield, which is better than a no second not-shield. If you do use familiars, they benefit as well, making them more viable.

Passives relating to the summons kind of makes sense, since the line is built around it.

Kilandros wrote: »

Recommendation:

1) Scrap this skill tree. Make it a World Skill available to all players so all players can effectively ignore everything but Power Stone. Give Sorcs a newly-designed skill tree.

Or -

2) Remove ALL pet functionality. Rework Summon Storm Atronach into Summon Lightning Rod, a Sorcerer equivalent of Standard of Might. Remove Familiar and Twilight, replace with skills that provide some group utility.

Or 3, expand it.

In standalone games, we were not limited to summoning only two types of creatures. They had limited life (vice -10% magicka) and limited duration.

Give them buffs, training, and expanded control as to their actions in/out of combat and there is still much potential in this line.

Patrol / stand guard would be excellent behavior options in Cyrodiil.

Summoning needs to stay where it is. It is definitely a school of magic,arguably requiring specialized study and years of practice. Unless they are going to revert to open all skill lines to all players like they did in the stand alone games, moving it to World for any and all to have would be a detriment to the Sorcerers that still have much use for it in the right circumstances.

While I know they are not truly linked to the standalones, I'm pretty sure the Devs knew you could not make Elder Scrolls without the ability to summon from the outer planes.

purple-magicb16_ESO

Two things:
1. My familiar (clannfear) is ALWAYS ignored by the enemies I am battling. They go rite thru him and at me.
2. Switching staffs in mid-combat unsummons my familiar. That really sucks!

Stannum

purple-magicb16_ESO wrote: »

Two things:
1. My familiar (clannfear) is ALWAYS ignored by the enemies I am battling. They go rite thru him and at me.

try to start your attack with daedric curse, wait while clannfear attacks ... profit

2. Switching staffs in mid-combat unsummons my familiar. That really sucks!

put this skill on both bars and all will be ok.

purple-magicb16_ESO

dancing.in.the.webeb17_ESO wrote: »

purple-magicb16_ESO wrote: »

Two things:
1. My familiar (clannfear) is ALWAYS ignored by the enemies I am battling. They go rite thru him and at me.

try to start your attack with daedric curse, wait while clannfear attacks ... profit

2. Switching staffs in mid-combat unsummons my familiar. That really sucks!

put this skill on both bars and all will be ok.

These work! Thanks man!
+insightful

Dragsooth

Yup, it is garbage and they better fix it. Only Daedric Curse is useful in that freaking skill line and that's if you morph it to end quicker...

Shagreth

I'm kinda new to the class, but I must admit that this has to be one of the most underwhelming skill lines I've seen so far, and I don't see it getting better as I level my sorc. I find the sorcerer class lacking fun skills, and it could be that Daedric Summoning is responsible for that. Again, I still have a long way to go, and of course -- fun is subjective.

One big problem I have with ESO in general is toggle skills, there's nothing interesting and exciting about them, that is especially true for pets, I just wish there was more to them. Right now it feels silly to 'waste' one slot for a silly pet that just auto-attacks. The level of annoyance increases tenfold when switching bars and said spell isn't there, yeah, gotta use yet another slot for the effects to persist.

@ZOS_GinaBruno Do pardon me for bothering you again, but I think it would be nice if developers chimed in sometimes to share their thoughts about stuff like that. So far I haven't noticed that happening very often, usually it's you CM's relaying the message to them, too much work put on you. I'd really like to know what they think of toggle skills in general and more importantly - pets.

Tamanous

Volatile Familiar is being fixed in 1.4. Those who think it is not a good power obviously have no clue how to use it. When finally back at 20% magicka for damage it an finally be out to good use again.

I play a Templar now so perhaps later if leveling a true caster sorc.

Mendoze

I think daedric summoning is a really good skill line. I agree that pets are garbage, but that's just for my spec. I'm sure at least volatile familiar is really useful for some. Also when I was leveling, that tanking pet was really good in boss fights before I learned Rune Cage > any normal boss and some world bosses. I haven't done any raiding, but I see that magicka restoring twilight could also be useful. Not sure about this though, just guessing.

Daedric curse makes it possible for sorcerer to have a really nice burst damage, and it's one of my main damage dealers. Definitely really good skill at least in a small scale PVP.

Bound armor I see pretty good skill for those of us who went full stamina build. They probably not have enough magicka to have shields up constantly, so this creates a nice alternative. I'm sure many classes would want that +1000 more armor for -10% mana in their stamina builds.

Shields are just great in PVP. Alone that shield is just meh, but with Harness Magicka it rocks. Of course I'd like to have as good damage shield as templars and DKs have, but at least we have a shield unlike Nightblades. So probably the worst class shield, but I'm happy we have a shield.

Passives are generally poor, except power stone that any class would probably trade anything they have. Definitely one of the best passives in the game, and I wouldn't want to trade that for anything.

Only thing I don't really like in this skill line is it's ultimate, but I'm sure some still use it a lot even after the nerf.

Dragsooth

Mendoze wrote: »

Daedric curse makes it possible for sorcerer to have a really nice burst damage, and it's one of my main damage dealers. Definitely really good skill at least in a small scale PVP.

That's not how burst damage works... the curse literally has a 6-3 second(depending on the morph) activation timer... that's NOT burst damage.

eliisra

Even my Templars Dawn's Wrath is better than Daedric Summoning. That's how bad the sorc pet skill line is.

You have 3/5 skills being weak-sauce toggles, requiring 2 skill slot. The Ultimate no longer offers survivability and protection, it's just plain dps with initial stun.

Yes, I'm sure there's a few solo PvE'ers out there thinking the pets are nice and cute etc, when questing. They might even believe that the horrible armour toggle makes them stay alive longer. But a skill line should offer more than that.

It should at least have some meaning and utility in endgame PvE and PvP. Daedric Summoning only has 1 good skill, the Ward, giving a substantial absorbing shield. At least the Power Stone passive is to die for.

Dragsooth

eliisra wrote: »

Even my Templars Dawn's Wrath is better than Daedric Summoning. That's how bad the sorc pet skill line is.

You have 3/5 skills being weak-sauce toggles, requiring 2 skill slot. The Ultimate no longer offers survivability and protection, it's just plain dps with initial stun.

Yes, I'm sure there's a few solo PvE'ers out there thinking the pets are nice and cute etc, when questing. They might even believe that the horrible armour toggle makes them stay alive longer. But a skill line should offer more than that.

It should at least have some meaning and utility in endgame PvE and PvP. Daedric Summoning only has 1 good skill, the Ward, giving a substantial absorbing shield. At least the Power Stone passive is to die for.

Exactly! What makes Daedric summoning even worse is that you lose the toggles if you switch weapons. That totally ruins the point of having them on your bar and having a second bar...

Tamanous

Dragsooth wrote: »

Mendoze wrote: »

Daedric curse makes it possible for sorcerer to have a really nice burst damage, and it's one of my main damage dealers. Definitely really good skill at least in a small scale PVP.

That's not how burst damage works... the curse literally has a 6-3 second(depending on the morph) activation timer... that's NOT burst damage.

You are talking about opening burst. Burst is burst no matter when is occurs. It's simplest definition is "large damage in a short period of time". Having a delayed damage attack allows it to stack with other damage. This creates burst. Be it delayed burst or initial burst does not matter.

I have an orc sorc alt and often layer curse, fury then shards and critical critical rush from 2h (they impact target at the same time) and it's OMG damage! That is mother ****ing burst.

I personally find the ability awkward to use simply because their finisher is also delayed but it is a play style some may like and certainly adds options to rotations. It should start out as 3 second delay and change the one morph to something else. 6 seconds is utterly pointless in most fights.