Stone Giant Cast Time

ArcVelarian

There just aren't very many ways to say it at least from my point of view, but Stonefist just absolutely should not have a cast time on it. A Class spammable ability is completely pointless if not only does it have a cast time, but its' first attack is just an AoE stomp that isn't even the part of the ability that stuns enemies. They either should remove the cast time or increase the damage of Stone Giant by at least 5% and make the opening stomp the part of the ability that stuns enemies.

vesselwiththepestle

I respecced to Mag DK just because of the cast time on Stone Giant.

TheRealPotoroo

Putting a cast time on Stone Giant was [snip] unnecessary and counterproductive.

[Edited to remove Bashing]

Joxer61

Even with increase in damage... cast time sucks butternuts so should go.

ArcVelarian

Joxer61 wrote: »

Even with increase in damage... cast time sucks butternuts so should go.

Agreed. It completely breaks the rhythm of combat/rotations and is just clunky as hell.

Bodycounter

My two cents on this topic: When i played my Dragonknight as a stamina character the cast time of Stone Giant annoyed me. Feels bad as the cast time of Channeled Acceleration. From a balance perspective i also see any reason for a cast time on the first part of the ability. Without the cast time i would actually really like the design of the ability.

Kadoin

TheRealPotoroo wrote: »

Putting a cast time on Stone Giant was [snip] unnecessary and counterproductive.

To be fair, obsidian shard also has a delay even though its not on the tooltip, which is why no one slots it either now that it doesn't stun. A delayed heal like that is complete trash when the server lags and I wonder how many slot either morph in 2020.

HankTwo

I agree that the cast time should be removed. It can be very disruptive to gameplay. Furthermore, there is no real reason why this skill has a cast time to begin with. It is neither an ult (where imo cast times should also be removed, but thats another topic) nor a skill with significantly higher damage than normal spammables (like snipe or dizzying swing), so why does it even have one?

ESO_Nightingale

I don't play DK. And i have to say i don't have any secret outside perspective on this. It's just a stupid idea. I'm all for making this spammable better especially for pvp.

WrathOfInnos

HankTwo wrote: »

I agree that the cast time should be removed. It can be very disruptive to gameplay. Furthermore, there is no real reason why this skill has a cast time to begin with. It iss neither an ult (where imo cast times should also be removed, but thats another topic) nor a skill with significantly higher damage than normal spammables (like snipe or dizzying swing), so why does it even have one?

I believe the cast time was added to discourage tanks from using the Stagger debuff. Anything with a cast time forces tanks to drop block. However this did not work in practice, because stagger is such a vital debuff and many groups (particularly Magicka groups) do not have the alternative of bringing a StamDK. The end result was that skilled tanks learned to time their Stagger recast at a moment that won’t get them killed, while less-experienced tanks are punished with deaths or low debuff uptimes. I agree the cast time should be removed.

Larcomar

I spent half of this morning in front of a dummy trying out different set ups. Partly for PvP, partly for tanking, after an epic 10k DPS group in wayrest yesterday. I can honestly say stone giant is just frigging awful. The DPS is ok, it's just a horrible, unenjoyable, clunky skill to use. Yeah, it really needs to be deleted and rewritten from the bottom up. It's an utter mess of a skill.

MashmalloMan

My 2 cents I've been saying patch to patch:

• Remove cast time.
  • Implemented to prevent tanks from using due to dropping block. There are better ways to make the Stagger damage debuff only useful to damage dealers, for example.. in the exact same class Engulfing Flames extra fire damage was changed in 2019 to require high magicka and spell damage to hit the 10% cap. This isn't rocket science, same rules can apply here but for stamina/weapon damage.
• Change 28m projectile range to instant 5m range (7m with passive).
  • Fixes PVP related issues with performance due to projectile minimum travel distance, making it easy to dodge and not fitting any aspect of the "in your face", brute melee playstyle DK's are suppose to be designed for.
• Rework or remove the stun entirely, attaching a stun to the 4th cast of this skill just makes no sense whatsoever.
  • If I were to change it I'd make it this: 3 subsequent hits on one enemy provides off-balance, to which you can then TIME your stun with a heavy attack. Just like the changes to Surprise Attack, random stuns do not help with lining up burst, well timed stuns do. Frankly, a stun on this spammable is not necessary. The skill has aoe damage for single target spammable cost, debuffs enemies with one of the strongest damage debuffs in the game, provides free ult regen and procs minor brutality for 100% uptime. Why does ZOS want to tack on a stun, when they themselves said stuns should not be attached to high damage abilities.

ChimpyChumpy

vesselwiththepestle wrote: »

I respecced to Mag DK just because of the cast time on Stone Giant.

No idea why I haven't thought of this. Will probably do to this to my main so I can play the character again. I never thought I would be one of these people whining about a skill change but this stomp is just awful.

Hotdog_23

My 2 cents,

Don’t like stone giant. Dropped if off my bar. Cast time is wrong and being to different ranges makes the skill both a close and ranged skill which is both odd and difficult to use in PVP. At least for me. Rarely see it being used at all.

Would rather they make it like templar’s sun fire and its morphs. One morph is a (stamina) [green] poison rock that gives the person poison status effect and the other morph magic is a [red] fire rock that gives the burning status. Keep the 28m range to give the stamDK some more options against ranged opponents who attack from a safe distance away. Remove the stun form the skill as it’s not needed.

Artorias24

I dont know what this skill really is Tbh...

Aoe?
Single target?
Melee?
Ranged?

Atm it has all those things and fails at all. stamDK needs to be melee anyway to apply claw and nox breath so why we have a ranged spammable?

Why we have to "Charge" the skill with a useless aoe stomp when the rest of the skill is ranged....

Get rid of cast times ffs. It just slows combat so much.

Why not make the skill so it fits the name? A slap with your fist supported by stones.... Easy and fits stamdk heavy brawler Style.

ArcVelarian

I would honest to god prefer a Stamina whip morph for DKs, but I guess DKs don't get to have nice things.

Cadbury

It's just so clunky. It's an ok debuff and decent damage, but using it isn't fun or intuitive at all.