Soul Assault - why is this Ultimate not used in most builds?

Seraphayel · January 2017

The title says it all.

Why aren't people using that skill? It's quite cheap, super strong and has an amazing animation. It's even 28m range. And still literally nobody uses it? Why? Most players tend to use Meteor but the damage shouldn't be better overall. Is it the synergies Meteor has to offer? Or why gets Soul Assault so rarely used?

BohnT · January 2017

You lose a lot of dps while using SA as you can't use other skills during the channel and with meteor you'll have high damage + the utility to go on with your rotation

iseko · January 2017

Pvp perspective: tooltip gets cut in half and it is a channel. So the dps is not THAT great. You can easily block+heal or shield through it. I die from a soul assault maybe 1/20 times. If that... It is just not that good.

Meteor on the other hand does good (aoe) dmg and can be complemented by other skills. To burst someone down meteor is better.

Waffennacht · January 2017

1 players have learned to counter, block, reactive, healing ward, etc all easily counter it
2 players have learned that while you're SAing you're open to combos and procs, even if you start using it you may have to cancel it
3 buffs to other ults make them more desirable, esp in small scale.

For the first week of Soul Assault buff I wrecked players, after that I haven't had it kill anyone.

kylewwefan · January 2017

Because you have to do the yuck main quest to unlock it. It looks like it does a lot of damage, but over time it's not that great for an ultimate.

Mr_Nobody · January 2017

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

Seraphayel · January 2017

Mhm I somehow planned to use it in my build...

Waffennacht · January 2017

Mr_Nobody wrote: »

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

Lmfao! Wut?!

Have you missed... (im tempted to not even list em)
Eots
Bats (post u13 esp)
Negate (for group play)
DboS
Incap
Warhorn (you didn't say dps only)

Heck Light's Champion straight up pwnz it

cheemers · January 2017

Mr_Nobody wrote: »

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

I hope I run into you in cyrodiil and can show you how easy your favourite ultimate is to counter

It is only truly effective in experienced hands in 1v1, but it's good in Xv1 when your target has othee damage sources incoming. Otherwise as soon as I get lit by this ulti I know the person has 0 defences while chanelling and can be burst down quicker than their ult will kill me. Protip - only use on magplar, and only if you're running soulshine and/or cyrodiil's light.

aLi3nZ · January 2017

It is a really good ultimate for the reasons you have said. I used to use it as my preferred ultimate.

However people would criticize me and say that it is OP and broken and cheese. I even had one person tell me that soul assault is banned in dueling tournaments.

My fav move is to get the opponent to half health or so then chuck on a curse, crystal frag and then start the soul assault while they are laying on the ground from Crystal Frag.

I switched to mainly using Meteor after I finally unlocked level 10 mages guild and I have never been criticized for using that.

Rohamad_Ali · January 2017

I know not of the great benefits of this ultimate . This one is not guilty of ever ganking with the would assault . It was a different Khajiit .

Fingers crossed

ku5h · January 2017

aLi3nZ wrote: »

It is a really good ultimate for the reasons you have said. I used to use it as my preferred ultimate.

However people would criticize me and say that it is OP and broken and cheese. I even had one person tell me that soul assault is banned in dueling tournaments.

My fav move is to get the opponent to half health or so then chuck on a curse, crystal frag and then start the soul assault while they are laying on the ground from Crystal Frag.

I switched to mainly using Meteor after I finally unlocked level 10 mages guild and I have never been criticized for using that.

Same here. I like it to on my sorc! First apply shields, then V. Curse-Endless Fury-C.Frag-Soul Assault. If the frag lands its 99% kill.

Seraphayel · January 2017

I am just thinking about stunning or knocking down the enemy and then Soul Assault him. Isn't this working?

Ashamray · January 2017

Mr_Nobody wrote: »

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

Wrong AF

SA is niche. It's ok against medium armor only.

1) Dark Flare should be buffed with Entropy (and Empower) and Minor spd to deal great damage. Still it hits 6-8k when target knows about Eledefender, spell resists and other mitigation things.
You can break-free Javeline even before you fall on the ground and after it block-heal SA easily. Again, SA is BAD for burst.
2) Most gankers are Nightblades. They will cloak it in 2 seconds and come back with full HP.
3) I never got salty whispers after SA kills.
4) Using SA when you are outnumbered is the most stupid thing you actually can do. 100% death during channel time.
5) Blocking and shielding targets receive from small to zero damage.
6) Nah.
7) That's nice idea btw.
8) Yes.

danno8 · January 2017

Ashamray wrote: »

Mr_Nobody wrote: »

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

Wrong AF

SA is niche. It's ok against medium armor only.

1) Dark Flare should be buffed with Entropy (and Empower) and Minor spd to deal great damage. Still it hits 6-8k when target knows about Eledefender, spell resists and other mitigation things.
You can break-free Javeline even before you fall on the ground and after it block-heal SA easily. Again, SA is BAD for burst.
2) Most gankers are Nightblades. They will cloak it in 2 seconds and come back with full HP.
3) I never got salty whispers after SA kills.
4) Using SA when you are outnumbered is the most stupid thing you actually can do. 100% death during channel time.
5) Blocking and shielding targets receive from small to zero damage.
6) Nah.
7) That's nice idea btw.
8) Yes.

SA prevents cloak now. A NB attempting to run away and cloak off SA dies very fast.

I use Shatter Soul instead while in groups, primarily targeting low health opponents and getting the explosion damage (which hits for over 10k AoE). As a Templar main, our ultimates are real limited in potency, and SA/SS are very cheap which is a plus compared to 240 Detro ulti, which everyone has slotted. Also, all Templars have a whole lot of points in Thaumaturge so it works better for them.

For other classes though there is way more selection and SA/SS luster fades pretty fast.

cheemers · January 2017

danno8 wrote: »

Ashamray wrote: »

Mr_Nobody wrote: »

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

Wrong AF

SA is niche. It's ok against medium armor only.

1) Dark Flare should be buffed with Entropy (and Empower) and Minor spd to deal great damage. Still it hits 6-8k when target knows about Eledefender, spell resists and other mitigation things.
You can break-free Javeline even before you fall on the ground and after it block-heal SA easily. Again, SA is BAD for burst.
2) Most gankers are Nightblades. They will cloak it in 2 seconds and come back with full HP.
3) I never got salty whispers after SA kills.
4) Using SA when you are outnumbered is the most stupid thing you actually can do. 100% death during channel time.
5) Blocking and shielding targets receive from small to zero damage.
6) Nah.
7) That's nice idea btw.
8) Yes.

SA prevents cloak now. A NB attempting to run away and cloak off SA dies very fast.

I use Shatter Soul instead while in groups, primarily targeting low health opponents and getting the explosion damage (which hits for over 10k AoE). As a Templar main, our ultimates are real limited in potency, and SA/SS are very cheap which is a plus compared to 240 Detro ulti, which everyone has slotted. Also, all Templars have a whole lot of points in Thaumaturge so it works better for them.

For other classes though there is way more selection and SA/SS luster fades pretty fast.

Soul Assault only prevents stealth for the first 2 seconds of its channel. You can see it if you're being targeted by it - there's a small magelight-like light floating around your character for the first couple of ticks. If, as a stamblade, you're hit with Soul Assault, simply block cast Vigor, count to two, and hit cloak. DO NOT DODGE ROLL, I know it's reflex

Turelus · January 2017

I miss the days of when this was super strong and PvP was a war of Ion Cannon builds.

IlCanis_LupuslI · January 2017

ku5h wrote: »

aLi3nZ wrote: »

It is a really good ultimate for the reasons you have said. I used to use it as my preferred ultimate.

However people would criticize me and say that it is OP and broken and cheese. I even had one person tell me that soul assault is banned in dueling tournaments.

My fav move is to get the opponent to half health or so then chuck on a curse, crystal frag and then start the soul assault while they are laying on the ground from Crystal Frag.

I switched to mainly using Meteor after I finally unlocked level 10 mages guild and I have never been criticized for using that.

Same here. I like it to on my sorc! First apply shields, then V. Curse-Endless Fury-C.Frag-Soul Assault. If the frag lands its 99% kill.

Me at half Health, 32k hp=> endless FurY(28k hp)=> frag=>22k hp=>break free= Soul assault=>block + 38k Spell resistance= no damage done, 2 Dragon blood and im good as new XD
Moral of the Story=> Save your ultis for someone who doesnt have 60+k hp......
That Soul assault only kills squishy nb nothing Else

aLi3nZ · January 2017

Check the duels. And pretty sure soul assault kills a dragon knight at the end who is trying to mitigate the damage. It can be a powerful ulti but against some opponents who are very tanky I would just want eye of storm.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=N90zwrQUAn0

Dracane · January 2017

cheemers wrote: »

danno8 wrote: »

Ashamray wrote: »

Mr_Nobody wrote: »

It is still super strong. It forces people go into defensive mode no matter what, or else they die.

1) Dark Flare -> Javelin -> SA = Free AP in 95% of cases.
2) 95% of Ganking Proc***ds have no idea how to counter it and get sent to a blue screen.
3) Ganking Proc***ds get angry on you for using (as they call it) a cheezy ultimate.
4) You laugh a lot and enjoy easy kills during 1vX - in a scenario where you know you are going to die, click ultimate on a squishiest target and take some AP before death.
5) Stuff melts insanely fast.
6) Best ultimate currently in the game
7) Do /shovel by their bodies to bury the ASHES.
8) And last but not least, you are killing people with style.

/drink

Wrong AF

SA is niche. It's ok against medium armor only.

1) Dark Flare should be buffed with Entropy (and Empower) and Minor spd to deal great damage. Still it hits 6-8k when target knows about Eledefender, spell resists and other mitigation things.
You can break-free Javeline even before you fall on the ground and after it block-heal SA easily. Again, SA is BAD for burst.
2) Most gankers are Nightblades. They will cloak it in 2 seconds and come back with full HP.
3) I never got salty whispers after SA kills.
4) Using SA when you are outnumbered is the most stupid thing you actually can do. 100% death during channel time.
5) Blocking and shielding targets receive from small to zero damage.
6) Nah.
7) That's nice idea btw.
8) Yes.

SA prevents cloak now. A NB attempting to run away and cloak off SA dies very fast.

I use Shatter Soul instead while in groups, primarily targeting low health opponents and getting the explosion damage (which hits for over 10k AoE). As a Templar main, our ultimates are real limited in potency, and SA/SS are very cheap which is a plus compared to 240 Detro ulti, which everyone has slotted. Also, all Templars have a whole lot of points in Thaumaturge so it works better for them.

For other classes though there is way more selection and SA/SS luster fades pretty fast.

Soul Assault only prevents stealth for the first 2 seconds of its channel. You can see it if you're being targeted by it - there's a small magelight-like light floating around your character for the first couple of ticks. If, as a stamblade, you're hit with Soul Assault, simply block cast Vigor, count to two, and hit cloak. DO NOT DODGE ROLL, I know it's reflex

Soul Assault adds a 2 seconds invisibility debuff when it first hits.
But after these 2 seconds, it can be cloaked again even if it still ticks on the target.

Autolycus · January 2017

So are you asking why people don't use it in pve rotations, or in pvp?

In pve, Meteor does more damage. The single-target damage is almost the same, but Meteor does the same amount as an AoE as well, so everything around it gets the full brunt of the damage. Furthermore, it serves as a CC (for some trash that gathers around the target that are not immune), and if using the Shooting Star morph (which is the more popular choice), you will get your ultimate back faster, thereby increasing the uptime of Metoer, and therefore a higher overall damage parse than Soul Assault.

As for pvp, people use this all the time. Being a channeled ability, it leaves you vulnerable for whatever it is I decided to do to you when you use it on me. If I counterplay your Soul Assault, you have two options: 1. Cancel your channel, thereby wasting your ultimate, or 2. complete the channel in the hopes that I don't have an answer for it. Realistically, Soul Assault doesn't do enough damage to live up to its face value. For it to be truly effective, one must combo this together with at least one other burst ability and a hard CC, else it almost never results in a kill. Consider that Meteor comes with the CC component and at least some initial burst damage that Soul Assault doesn't have, and it doesn't take as much to wombo together a Meteor for a kill as it does Soul Assault.

Father_X_Zombie · January 2017

I use it on my sorc to face stomp stamblades

Xvorg · January 2017

I used it a lot in my mageblade when it was unblockable. Then ZoS came and ruined it.