Flame Surge

[Magoosh]

Does this spell have any good use beyond normal? Or is it only sometimes used between other spells as a "fill in" type ability?

[Koz]

I've been trying to use it as my main kill skill, but I've only just finished normal, so I have no idea how it will fair in later difficulties. You can spam them pretty damn fast, so I think it will do fine when fully maxed and upgraded.

[Magoosh]

hows the spread? I really like volc orb, but I wouldn't mind something I can spam much more, I know once I get -100% recharge, flame surge will pretty much become pointless..But I kind of classed this around the same type as Ice shards, and from what I've read, Ice Shards doesn't cut it so well in legendary.

[Koz]

Well, the spread is great when you get the upgrades. Its the range that hurts. How I play, is to let the CD draw aggro then I step up and lay down the Flame Surges in rapid succession (usually accompanyed by an Eruption for the tough mobs). Works good so far, but I just started Epic, so time will tell.

Koz

[Luhkee]

I'm trying this spell in egypt epic right now and it is pretty powerful. I have 6 projectiles so the spread is very good, and it can do tremendous dmg, but the range is atrocious and the mana cost is going to make me spec out of it. The burn dmg even maxed is almost not even noticeable, and it seems two different skills provide 80% pass through( I think this is a glitch and it was supposed to reduce mana cost - according to description of spell).

I wanted to give this spell a shot to see how it compared to volcanic orb because I'm not that thrilled with the spell, all the little shards seem to miss and don't do that much dmg compared to what I expected. If I get some -mana and -recharge VO will probably worka lot better. Flame Surge ends up performing almost the same as ice shards but with 1/3 the range.

[Cernunnos]

Why they limit the range of that spell I have no earthly idea.

*shrug*

It makes no sense whatsoever.

[Luhkee]

I specced out of that spell and back to volcanic orb. I found the extremely short range and very high mana cost far too great for the dmg flame surge deals. With 6 projectiles it can cover a nice angle, but the range is just so short that you have to always be point blank to mobs if you ever want to hope to hit them with multiple projectiles and benefit from the pass through.

The very nature of the spell is also at odds with its added burn dmg. I see barely any drop in life with it maxxed out at 66 dmg over 3 sec. In fact, my staff does more if I recall correctly.

I think also the way aggro and some of these tough monsters work, I prefer spells allowing me to retain my mobility. I came across a huge manticore that I definately did not want to stand toe to toe with and spam flame surge. I was quite thrilled I had respecced back to orb, eruption and squall. Maybe a patch will ungimp this spell.

[Flying Fox]

Im not too thrilled with volcanic orb, it just looks extremely lame. Is that grenade throwing??? By the way, is there anyway to increase the projectile speed of volcanic orb? maybe it'll be slightly more fun if it can be done. I might try out eruption later, once I get tired of my ice shards(the whole fun is just the speed and spamming graphics).

[Ryn]

IIRC volcanic orb speed increases along with your attack speed

Or is that casting speed?

For the record I like VO - watching mobs go flying all over the place still amuses me

[hostage67]

Originally Posted by Ryn

IIRC volcanic orb speed increases along with your attack speed

Or is that casting speed?

For the record I like VO - watching mobs go flying all over the place still amuses me

VO has a cool down timer on it so the only way to really increase the speed is by using -% recharge items. The archmage clasps are a great way to do this and it also increases your cast and attack speeds as well.