I just don't get it

[Exarsere]

I'm seeing everywhere people absolutely loving Squall and spellbreaker, but I use them in ways people seem to be suggesting, and they're just a waste of time?

What exactly makes them so good?
What strategies do you guys use?

[Creslyn]

Squall/Obscured Visibility is one of the best skills in the game, period. It covers a massive area when maxed, giving:

1. all ranged attackers (spells/skills as well as bows) 100% miss chance.

2. drops all resistances and physical damage by 45% (max +4).

3. decent damage for a caster build, able to kill trash mobs well into epic on its own. Forget this side of things for a melee build.

As for Spellbreaker/Spellshock, it's one of the quickest way to kill mage-type bosses. Best used on caster types after a squall to lower their energy burn resistance, but also good to use on melee types who rely on onslaught (dispels it, and disrupts skill usage for a goodly amount of time).

[Exarsere]

It says the 100% miss chance is for one second though?

[Poinas]

2. drops all resistances and physical damage by 45% (max +4).

I remember reading that even if the skill description says -45%, it actually reduces it by -45. The same goes for Study Prey.

[Whisk33]

I'm seeing everywhere people absolutely loving Squall and spellbreaker, but I use them in ways people seem to be suggesting, and they're just a waste of time?

What exactly makes them so good?
What strategies do you guys use?

@ Exar...Get to legendary. It will be visably effective.

Ponias It has been a while, but I thought squall was a percentage... maybe one of us should look that up...

EDIT
Found it

[Uzael]

Squalls debuff is a percent debuff. It takes a percent of the mobs existing resistance off. Study prey and plagues debuff are the ones that subtracts the resistance out right.

As for spellbreaker. It's pretty unpredictable on the high damage to boss aspect. Sometimes it can do near 100k damage, most the time it won't. I've used it on bosses 10-20 times in a row to only drop the bosses health to 70%, then all of a sudden the mob dies the next cast.

I wouldn't make it a priority early on, in order to get the big damage it has to be maxed out with + skills, but I'd definately get it eventually.

[DakedDerb]

I don't think that squall really causes 100% miss chances with projectiles because I cast it all the time and it seems like I still get hit with arrows.

[Uzael]

It says the 100% miss chance is for one second though?

As far as it's duration goes, it's a pulse effect that pulses once a second. So it continues to be reapplied every second, making it in effect a 6 second duration of impairment.

And as far as being hit by it. The effect of squall doesn't take effect immediately. If you cast squall on a crowd of archers, you'll get hit once before it takes effect, unless they had to move into range to hit you. From that point on, their ability to hit is severly impaired, but I don't think it's 100% miss rate, but rather a 100% random direction imparement. Even if its a random direction, there is a chance it'll be fired into your direction.