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• [COMPLETE] Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – November 27, 6:00AM EST (11:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EST (14:00 UTC)
• [COMPLETE] PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – November 27, 6:00AM EST (11:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EST (14:00 UTC)
The buff to Skulls was awesome, but there are still major functional problems with the skill.
CameraBeardThePirate
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Necromancers rejoice! Our spammable was finally buffed into the realm of viability. Will it be best in slot? In PvE probably, but probably not in PvP. Although Venom Skull will now have 90% of the damage of Blastbones more often than not, the skill still has some major issues.
Weaving
Disclaimer: This is not going to be a debate about weaving. I don't care if you think it's the coolest thing since sliced bread or think it's the literal anti-Christ; this post isn't about that.
With that out of the way, Skulls has major animation issues. Weaving the ability feels worse than any other instant cast ability in the game - almost as bad as the old Sweeps/Jabs/DW Spammable. The reason behind this (one would assume) is because the ability has distinct animations for each cast. The player character first uses one hand, then the other, then both hands for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stack casts. This often leads to situations where the game will eat your light attack input and go right into casting Skulls a second time.
On a class that already has issues proccing sets (please let pets proc sets), missing light attacks can have a large impact on your rotation, whether you're in PvP or PvE. My proposed solution to this issue would be easy: just make each cast have the same animation. The skillbar already shows your stack count, and if it was really necessary to have a visual on it, instead of changing the cast animation simply add some sort of character effect similar to Crux or Seething Fury stacks.
Projectile Speed
This has always been the main issue with skulls. While it might not matter in PvE (since mobs are silly billies and don't know how to dodge effectively), in PvP the slow-as-molasses projectile speed makes Skulls extremely easy to dodge/block, hindering its viability outside of melee range. On top of the projectile speed, the aforementioned wacky animations make the cast really telegraphed (especially the third hit). Even a small projectile speed buff would instantly make this skill feel more impactful at range against other players.
Weaving
Disclaimer: This is not going to be a debate about weaving. I don't care if you think it's the coolest thing since sliced bread or think it's the literal anti-Christ; this post isn't about that.
With that out of the way, Skulls has major animation issues. Weaving the ability feels worse than any other instant cast ability in the game - almost as bad as the old Sweeps/Jabs/DW Spammable. The reason behind this (one would assume) is because the ability has distinct animations for each cast. The player character first uses one hand, then the other, then both hands for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stack casts. This often leads to situations where the game will eat your light attack input and go right into casting Skulls a second time.
On a class that already has issues proccing sets (please let pets proc sets), missing light attacks can have a large impact on your rotation, whether you're in PvP or PvE. My proposed solution to this issue would be easy: just make each cast have the same animation. The skillbar already shows your stack count, and if it was really necessary to have a visual on it, instead of changing the cast animation simply add some sort of character effect similar to Crux or Seething Fury stacks.
Projectile Speed
This has always been the main issue with skulls. While it might not matter in PvE (since mobs are silly billies and don't know how to dodge effectively), in PvP the slow-as-molasses projectile speed makes Skulls extremely easy to dodge/block, hindering its viability outside of melee range. On top of the projectile speed, the aforementioned wacky animations make the cast really telegraphed (especially the third hit). Even a small projectile speed buff would instantly make this skill feel more impactful at range against other players.
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