New Ice Storm... wow!

[sirgog]

Any chance of getting this thread renamed to 'New Ice Storm... meh.'?

[Attropos]

Any chance of getting this thread renamed to 'New Ice Storm... meh.'?

Meh implies that it's not going to make anything better, which is too much credit because it makes some already annoying fights, even harder: how about 'New Ice Storm....ew"

[shadowsaun]

we all got suckered and excited for nothing. The only update 8 change Im looking forward to is the SR buff for drows.

So just forget about it, move on.

[Camarde]

Just tested the new IS nerf spell today.......*sigh*
Nothing else to say. *sigh*

[Cartheron]

Well, I'm not fan of this massive nerf to Ice Storm, but please, don't be so pesymistic - this spell kills every devil in normal Amrath quest solo in 1 cast. On hard difficulty it will probably take 2 casts, but its still more sp efficient than nuking with insta aoe spells (especially since they were nerfed too ) - it's still a progress comparing to what we had before. Small one, but every little bit matters

Sure thing, doing elite content using this single spell is rather impossible now, but to be honest I think noone really wants new firewall and Amrath being casters playfield in the same way as every single undead heavy quest is already.

[shadowsaun]

Well, I'm not fan of this massive nerf to Ice Storm, but please, don't be so pesymistic - this spell kills every devil in normal Amrath quest solo in 1 cast. On hard difficulty it will probably take 2 casts, but its still more sp efficient than nuking with insta aoe spells (especially since they were nerfed too ) - it's still a progress comparing to what we had before. Small one, but every little bit matters

Sure thing, doing elite content using this single spell is rather impossible now, but to be honest I think noone really wants new firewall and Amrath being casters playfield in the same way as every single undead heavy quest is already.

do you mean in the state that is going live, or the state the teased us with

[Cartheron]

I mean in the state I tested in Bastion of Power (which has more powerful devils than Sins of Attrition for example) 5 minutes before writing my previous post. I don't know how will work Ice Storm when it will go live

[shadowsaun]

well maybe there is still hope...but its gonna need to shine like a star for me to go swapping spells

[Furyans]

I just tested it and got hyped all up for nothing....didn't even get to see it usefulness...well back into the "i never use this spell unless i am bored" list.

Failstorm

[shadowsaun]

I will try it in epic wiz king today. ONCE

If I cant kill 4 golums in a few casts...then it will never by on my bar again..

Remember all the IT KILLS GOLUMS hype... I have a feeling it wont be so loud anymore....

[Khellendros13]

I will try it in epic wiz king today. ONCE

If I cant kill 4 golums in a few casts...then it will never by on my bar again..

Remember all the IT KILLS GOLUMS hype... I have a feeling it wont be so loud anymore....

1 cast is just enough to take out trash in the Devil Battlefield. I doubt it will be much use on Epic Golems.

The first adjustment to Ice Storm was nice, 1-2 casts to kill Elite Amrath trash. Then the nerf to 1/4 dmg.

[ArloOne]

It is annoying. It should not have been toned down until we had a chance to exploit it a bit ")

[articwarrior]

yea.... they nerfed it; what a surprise

less damage than before and it isnt affected by enhancements/items for me, completely useless and waste of the hype that turbine was to bring

[shadowsaun]

result: worthless

[moorewr]

I am amused to see people dismiss the spell as worthless. Compared to what? Wall of Fire v. a Devil?

Having tried the previous spin of it on Lamannia I was curious to see how it "felt" on live. I ran the new content on elite:

• Noticeable slow effect
• You can mix it with webs
• You can put out enemy Walls of Fire
• I saw up to to 100 dmg per tick max/emp, and on mobs with high elemental resistance, the bludgeoning damage was pretty nice

All in all, a spell I will keep ready on one of my hotbars.

[knockcocker]

...Compared to what? Wall of Fire v. a Devil?

I think that's the _only_ example where IS vs. WoF is favourable. I think most of your other 'pros' have very
little tangible benefit (e.g. WoF works just fine with web, break enchantment works on hostile AOEs etc.)

[moorewr]

I think that's the _only_ example where IS vs. WoF is favourable. I think most of your other 'pros' have very
little tangible benefit (e.g. WoF works just fine with web, break enchantment works on hostile AOEs etc.)

The previous poster said it was "worthless," and evidently you agree with me that's too high a bar.

[knockcocker]

The previous poster said it was "worthless," and evidently you agree with me that's too high a bar.

I think you are conflating worthless and useless. Your example of WoF vs. Fire Immune is the only example
I could think of, in practice, where Ice Storm is not useless. My experiences of using Ice Storm are that the AOE
is smaller than expected and hits in a very erratic manner. Given that, and the situational aspect of the spell anyway,
I agree with the previous poster. The spell is, indeed, worthless. I'd like to say use CoC or CL instead but the
other change to crits. makes that dubious as well. Update 8 is not good for casters IMO.

[moorewr]

I think you are conflating worthless and useless. Your example of WoF vs. Fire Immune is the only example
I could think of, in practice, where Ice Storm is not useless. My experiences of using Ice Storm are that the AOE
is smaller than expected and hits in a very erratic manner. Given that, and the situational aspect of the spell anyway,
I agree with the previous poster. The spell is, indeed, worthless. I'd like to say use CoC or CL instead but the
other change to crits. makes that dubious as well. Update 8 is not good for casters IMO.

I am perfectly clear on the meaning of both words. Are you?

The AoE is small, I agree. The area is probably about the same as WoF, but the shape is more square, and thus tactically less useful. However, given a group of mobs that will stay in your area of effect it can yield better damage per SP than cone of cold, especially if the target has cold resistance along with fire resistance or immunity. Of course, being a DoT, you are free to spam CoC while Ice Storm is procing.

I should add that I am not saying the spell is uber. I will almost certainly cast Wall of Fire in preference where it will have full effect.

[Krag]

I am amused to see people dismiss the spell as worthless. Compared to what? Wall of Fire v. a Devil?

Compared to the best available alternative. It does not have to be Wall of Fire. Symbol of Persuation, Wail of Banshie, FtS, Mass Hold, Polar Ray, etc.

I can think of a thousand situations where WoF easily beats all alternatives. I can hardly imagine a situation where Ice Storm could turn the tides.