Scorching ray. self cast vs totem

i wanted to make a scorching ray character but i got no idea which one is better.
can i have pro and cons of each thanks

Scorching Ray is effectively a support skill, its fire resistance debuff has a hard cap of 24% so there isn't such a big payoff from using multiple sources (totems).

I would recommend you to use 1 of these 3 options:

1)use a single Scorching Ray totem to debuff bosses while using a normal fire based build

2)using a fire based totem build (life flame totem for example) while self casting Scorching Ray against anything your totems don't melt immediately.

3)using the stupidly broken Cast while Channelling gem before GGG nerfs it to the ground. A Scorching ray - Cast While Channeling - Firestorm - Elemental Focus - Faster Casting - Controlled Focus would be great. If you try to get to the sweet point of CWC (having a cast speed 0.01 slower than CWC trigger CD) you would have a build much more powerful that a normal Firestorm one.

The build I'm actually playing and leveling right now is Scorching Ray on totem with self-casted Flame Surge!

I'm finding it very effective! Still working out various kinks here & there, but I'm also still only level 63 or so, which means those can all work themselves out by the time I'm in the 70's or 80's (which is pretty quick to get to).

I agree that self-casting Scorching probably, undoubtedly, wants Cast While Channeling. Rain of Fire's not a bad call. I think I would just have some problems with it, since 2 gems I'd typically think I want with Rain of Fire (Concentrated and Increased Duration) do nothing for Scorching. (I mean, effectively, Inc Dura does nothing for a self-casted Scorching.)

In fact, it's a bit of a struggle to decide on all 6 gems there, let's see...

Scorch, Cast While, Rain... Fire Penetration... and I think after that, the only gems that would affect both skills are Elemental Focus and Controlled Dest. Not even Faster Casting would affect both. And the final two that would each have a sacrifice. (Though I feel Elem Focus is worth it, and Controlled is A-Ok if you run Elemental Overload (which is another discussion in itself).)

Fire penetration does not affect scorching ray. If you go cwc, you're mainly using the ray as a debuff. You'd still want the fire penetration because it's so good for firestorm and you'd probably want elemental focus. The last link could potentially be increased duration since it improves the resistance debuff, the damage stacks, and the firestorm full duration damage.

"

ShadyC escribió:

I agree that self-casting Scorching probably, undoubtedly, wants Cast While Channeling. Rain of Fire's not a bad call. I think I would just have some problems with it, since 2 gems I'd typically think I want with Rain of Fire (Concentrated and Increased Duration) do nothing for Scorching. (I mean, effectively, Inc Dura does nothing for a self-casted Scorching.)

I disagree with that. CWC SR has higher dps potential than pure SR, but it suffers a massively diminished usability by comparison.

With pure SR, you don't really have to 'channel' after a certain point (against single-targets, i mean). Once you build up to max stages with SR, there's really no further point in maintaining the channel; all you have to do is make sure to refresh the debuff every now and then so that it doesn't fall off. You can break the channel to move around or cast some utility spell while staying at full dps, then flash SR on the target briefly to refresh the debuff, then go back to other activities again.


On the other hand, if you use CWC, you HAVE to keep channeling in order to sustain that triggered spell dps, which means leaving yourself in a compromised defensive state of standing still.


Let's put it this way: on my current pure SR character, i've got rapid decay and an increased duration cluster, giving me a 1.95 second SR debuff duration (and an SR that deals about double the dps that the SR of a CWC build would do, due to the two extra supports i get to use on it). With Temp Chains blasphemy it lasts even longer, about 20% longer against bosses with their curse resistance. Basically, once I reach max stacks, i can break my SR and spend about ~1.5-2 seconds doing something else, then go back to using my SR ever-so-briefly to refresh without losing any of that SR buildup, then go back to doing something else... I could even, if I felt so inclined, self-cast a fully-linked firestorm setup that would deal significantly higher dps than one linked to CWC in that time, giving me both an SR that would deal more dps than that of a CWC character AND a firestorm that would do more than the CWC character's.




On top of that, there's the whole crowd-clearing benefit of pure SR... I can sweep my SR over the screen once to kill everything that isn't rare/unique or a durable magic, a CWC would struggle with that due to the SR damage itself being weaker and only being able to trigger one limited-coverage spell in that time.

"

Shppy escribió:

Spoiler

I disagree with that. CWC SR has higher dps potential than pure SR, but it suffers a massively diminished usability by comparison.

With pure SR, you don't really have to 'channel' after a certain point (against single-targets, i mean). Once you build up to max stages with SR, there's really no further point in maintaining the channel; all you have to do is make sure to refresh the debuff every now and then so that it doesn't fall off. You can break the channel to move around or cast some utility spell while staying at full dps, then flash SR on the target briefly to refresh the debuff, then go back to other activities again.


On the other hand, if you use CWC, you HAVE to keep channeling in order to sustain that triggered spell dps, which means leaving yourself in a compromised defensive state of standing still.


Let's put it this way: on my current pure SR character, i've got rapid decay and an increased duration cluster, giving me a 1.95 second SR debuff duration (and an SR that deals about double the dps that the SR of a CWC build would do, due to the two extra supports i get to use on it). With Temp Chains blasphemy it lasts even longer, about 20% longer against bosses with their curse resistance. Basically, once I reach max stacks, i can break my SR and spend about ~1.5-2 seconds doing something else, then go back to using my SR ever-so-briefly to refresh without losing any of that SR buildup, then go back to doing something else... I could even, if I felt so inclined, self-cast a fully-linked firestorm setup that would deal significantly higher dps than one linked to CWC in that time, giving me both an SR that would deal more dps than that of a CWC character AND a firestorm that would do more than the CWC character's.




On top of that, there's the whole crowd-clearing benefit of pure SR... I can sweep my SR over the screen once to kill everything that isn't rare/unique or a durable magic, a CWC would struggle with that due to the SR damage itself being weaker and only being able to trigger one limited-coverage spell in that time.

Err no, CWC gives you a better burst damage, so using it as a hit and run is even better than vanilla SR.

A single pass should still kill all white mobs, they are extremely weak and a CWC SR build would have massive damage boosts.

And the damage between a 6-link firestorm and a CWC firestorm are comparable. CWC has a 0.35 trigger time at lvl 20, that is less than half of firestorm normal cast speed. Having such a gigantic cast speed advantage from the get go means you can use the investment you usually would drop on cast speed into damage or defenses, allowing you to keep high DPS + extra bonuses.

Scorching Ray is IMO terrible with totems, they lock beams on single enemy instead of proeprly sweeping all mobs on screen. May be worth on bosses.

The beauty of skill comes from pairing it with something else because it has duration and debuffs enemies. It deals good dps but there is little reason to have this as your 'main' or 'only' dps skill.

I figured DoT would mean it's good on bosses and bad/mediocre on trash, so I'm working on self cast Scorching Ray + Infernal Blow (for clear speed) combo on my Inquisitor. Seems viable so far, but I did not reach mapping yet.

"

Adser escribió:

If you try to get to the sweet point of CWC (having a cast speed 0.01 slower than CWC trigger CD)

Source pls? I was under impression cast speed doesn't matter for CWC and supported skill interval is set in stone as in gem description.

"

Turbodevil escribió:

I was under impression cast speed doesn't matter for CWC and supported skill interval is set in stone as in gem description.

Right, your cast speed doesn't matter.

How does Fire Penetration not affect Scorching Ray?