An argument for acid/electric spec

[LeLoric]

So you all may be thinking what is this idot talking about but with the current high end content I just want to point out the benefits of acid/elec.

Pros:

-acid dot; with many mobs now immune or high resist to fire acid in mod 6 content is generally a better dot spell. Start out a big boss fight with a melfs and you will do more dmg per spell point than almost any other spell in the game, if it crits even better. and thats the weaker of the two spells acid fog is a great spell currently with the slow mobs effect plus increased miss chance that will stack with displacement and a pretty decent dot I always cast this on the pit fiend helping mitigat dmg and without crits about 20-30 dmg a tick not much but when crit i hit up to 100 per tick some decent dmg much better than sitting there flinging ice storm wands, which coincedentally you can still do while getting acid dmg.

-chain/ball lightning; once again with most mobs immune or highly resistant to fire these are now your best aoe dps spells. Chain lightning has a higher possible dmg than dfb due to no sup 7 items in game yet and it goes up to 20d6. Ball lightning is easier to land and does more dmg on most mod 6 mobs than cone of cold especially all the mobs that matter.

Cons:

-lower firewall dmg; not really a con as its still pretty potent when called for I still use em fairly frequently especially in the middle of an acid fog. With my current setup unless the firewall crits ill generally do more dmg with this combo than my fire/cold specced sorc does.

-lack of non save dmg spells; this is probably the biggest issue but with a high enough dc it doesnt seem to matter too much scorching ray is nearly useless anymore due to resists applying to all three rays, wall of fire i can still use fairly effectively, I do use polar ray on fire eles and this is probably the biggest difference but not a gamebreaker.

So just some thoughts on the benefits of acid/elec anyone else switched over yet?

[sirgog]

My Sorc is fully fire/cold specced and has 7APs spent on acid/elec (+10, 20 and 30% damage, and the first crit chance enhancement, which was my very last AP to spend at cap).

I'm quite a fan of Acid Arrow and Acid Fog now, for the reasons you stated. The biggest problem is that a mob in four Firewalls takes 4x the damage - this doesn't apply to acid DoT effects. This makes me sad.

Ball Lightning hasn't impressed me, honestly, due to the awkward area it covers. Cone of Cold is far superior as it hits many more foes when cast on a pack.

[LeLoric]

My Sorc is fully fire/cold specced and has 7APs spent on acid/elec (+10, 20 and 30% damage, and the first crit chance enhancement, which was my very last AP to spend at cap).

I'm quite a fan of Acid Arrow and Acid Fog now, for the reasons you stated. The biggest problem is that a mob in four Firewalls takes 4x the damage - this doesn't apply to acid DoT effects. This makes me sad.

Ball Lightning hasn't impressed me, honestly, due to the awkward area it covers. Cone of Cold is far superior as it hits many more foes when cast on a pack.

I generally find the opposite with coc, and yeah the not being able to stack multiple sucks guess thats another con hehe

[Vhlad]

Many of the enemies in mod 6 have acid resistance.

Run the shroud on elite with acid arrow and tell us if you see any numbers on the pit fiend at all.

I ran with a full acid build a bit during mod 5 when they made some ghosts immune to fire. I quickly found that cone of cold was better. Cycling between cone of cold + otilukes + polar ray is massive DPS that can't be matched by a acid/lightning build. Firewall + scorching ray cycling is another strong combo. And disintegrate or magic missle for anything immune to fire + cold.

It would be nice if acid/lightning was more appealing, but it doesnt beat cold/fire right now IMO.

[LeLoric]

Many of the enemies in mod 6 have acid resistance.

Run the shroud with acid arrow and tell us if you see any numbers on the pit fiend at all.

I do see acid dmg on the pit fiend in fact acid fog when crits does up to 100 per tick as i said in the op

definately more dmg than any firewall will see :P

[Vhlad]

I do see acid dmg on the pit fiend in fact acid fog when crits does up to 100 per tick as i said in the op

definately more dmg than any firewall will see :P

gah. I edited my post to be more clear.

[FluffyCalico]

Many of the enemies in mod 6 have acid resistance.

Run the shroud on elite with acid arrow and tell us if you see any numbers on the pit fiend at all.

I ran with a full acid build a bit during mod 5 when they made some ghosts immune to fire. I quickly found that cone of cold was better. Cycling between cone of cold + otilukes + polar ray is massive DPS that can't be matched by a acid/lightning build. Firewall + scorching ray cycling is another strong combo. And disintegrate or magic missle for anything immune to fire + cold.

It would be nice if acid/lightning was more appealing, but it doesnt beat cold/fire right now IMO.

As long as you have anything that will hit him you can kill him. There are mana pools and well it might take 10 hrs but yes one person can kill him.

[Vhlad]

As long as you have anything that will hit him you can kill him. There are mana pools and well it might take 10 hrs but yes one person can kill him.

Of course. But we're talking about acid damage, and I was referring to whether or not you would see any red numbers at all using acid arrow on the pit fiend on elite. The OP is arguing the benefit of acid DOT, but DOT takes a big hit from elemental resistance.

[FluffyCalico]

Pros:

but when crit i hit up to 100 per tick some decent dmg much better than sitting there flinging ice storm wands, which coincedentally you can still do while getting acid dmg.



?

Random mob
Wow you have a 2d6 critting for 100 damage that's pretty good. Just think if you were using a damage spell what you would crit for.

2d6 is 7 damage on avg x2 max x1.5 emp x 1.5 super potence x1.4 enhancements so 44 on non crits

32d6 real spell 112 damage on avg x2 max x1.5 emp x 1.5 super potence x1.4 enhancements so 705 on non crits.

Sorry 44 down right sucks for damage. Its a CC spell for a reason.

Blah I can't remember if the Xs all multiply each other or just the base
But either way its 16x the damage as your tick so you would need 16 ticks just to break even. Assuming all the ticks hit.

[LeLoric]

Random mob
Wow you have a 2d6 critting for 100 damage that's pretty good. Just think if you were using a damage spell what you would crit for.

2d6 is 7 damage on avg x2 max x1.5 emp x 1.5 super potence x1.4 enhancements so 44 on non crits

32d6 real spell 112 damage on avg x2 max x1.5 emp x 1.5 super potence x1.4 enhancements so 705 on non crits.

Sorry 44 down right sucks for damage. Its a CC spell for a reason.

Blah I can't remember if the Xs all multiply each other or just the base
But either way its 16x the damage as your tick so you would need 16 ticks just to break even. Assuming all the ticks hit.

Im generally not saying to use this on the random mob its main use is for the pitfiend and pretty much all ticks hit for about 40 dmg non crit but due to the length of the fights I generally cast several and crit on a good share with full spec when crit this spell hitting for up to 100 dmg per tick is nasty about 20 ticks x100 = 2k dmg.

Any other spells you know that do that kind of dmg? Plus while its ticking off you can cast other spells.

[FluffyCalico]

Im generally not saying to use this on the random mob its main use is for the pitfiend and pretty much all ticks hit for about 40 dmg non crit but due to the length of the fights I generally cast several and crit on a good share with full spec when crit this spell hitting for up to 100 dmg per tick is nasty about 20 ticks x100 = 2k dmg.

Any other spells you know that do that kind of dmg? Plus while its ticking off you can cast other spells.

LMAO now you are getting 20 ticks per cast and 100% of them are crits. *** how can I get a 100% crit rate on my spells please tell me this magic secret of yours.

So you are building around a creature most bugg anyway. 1 creature noone fights straight up? lol

[LeLoric]

LMAO now you are getting 20 ticks per cast and 100% of them are crits. *** how can I get a 100% crit rate on my spells please tell me this magic secret of yours.

So you are building around a creature most bugg anyway. 1 creature noone fights straight up? lol

if the spell crits all ticks are at crit dmg same thing for firewall I dont say i crit all the time.

are you saying you exploit now?

[FluffyCalico]

if the spell crits all ticks are at crit dmg same thing for firewall I dont say i crit all the time.

are you saying you exploit now?

Are you saying your tank can keep aggro to hold him in the cloud and you alive while you hit him with 2000 damage spells?

Cause I promise you even with 40% hate reduction I can pull a boss off any tank in the game if I try.

[rattgang]

pit fiend and devils are both immune to acid. dont see how you could be doing any damage let alone 20-100 dmg

[Tallyn]

pit fiend and devils are both immune to acid. dont see how you could be doing any damage let alone 20-100 dmg

Devils are not immune to acid. If you look at the SRD they are immune to fire. They have Cold and Acid Resist: 10.