Oskill Writeup; Flash

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magz_
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Some proposed changes for flash to give it some much needed QOL.
I'll move this to a feedback thread eventually, just posting here for thoughts for now.

I've taken the skill to most end game ubers (pre scosglen) with a paladin and an assasin, with some testing on a sorc.
I've maximized flash rolls on all gear (not using magister as a 1h/shield combo outpaces it), maximized the light res synergy, ran a decently high rolled relic, and used some (but not all) BIS lightning caster pieces.
My pally was a straight up UHC caster and mostly had survivability problems but I reached over 100k (total damage over the 4 hits) per cast. Felt quite strong.
My assassin was hitting far lower at around 80k. This is due to non-optimized gear (crafted claw life), not using pinnacle, and no access to an affix slot in the helm. Was taking virtually no damage in fauzt because I had claw block, max avoid, and high phys res. Felt far better as a farming spec due to very high sustain and I could probably bridge that gap a little better.
My sorc testing was limited due to time in building the gear and skills but I imagine that due to 5fpa casting, high spell dmg mods, pierce, sorc would be quite close to paladin in damage, if not a little behind.

I haven't tested druid or barb. Mort has told me bear druid is quite tanky but lower dps, and I imagine barb is quite good because barb things, especially now with free max res from runemaster. More testing is needed and I can do that if helpful.

Do note that the gear setups I've tried were not aggressively optimized but should represent what an average semi-serious loadout would be.

Utility;

Switch to attack frames, give/retain target ground


+ Better QOL. The only real mechanical problem with flash is that it is extremely short range and can cast no matter how far away you are from the enemy Casting in place when you don't necessarily want to can be very dangerous. Most importantly, attack frames drastically improve most bossing situations because we gain the ability to namelock, making teleport heavy bosses like quov tsin much more manageable.

+ Virtually every character that makes proper use of flash has good attack frame data with 1 handers.

+ Skill already has melee Devo.

+ Allows access to life/mana on attack for classes that sorely need it for a skill that close range (uhc, storm zon, melee sorc). More on this in notes

+ A needed speed buff to some characters without buffing ones that were already fast (sin gains 1 frame, druid and barb improve, pally/sorc stay the same)

- Non morphed druids are harmed a bit by this change but they have access to good attack frames via bear and the helm enchant for damage.

- This is a direct nerf to sorcs and amazons that want to use cains because their attack frames with staves are abysmal. Every other classes attack frames with staves are ok imo.

Notes:
    If this is done, consider removing flash from magister either altogether or moving it to another item with a better attack frame data spread across characters (keep it on Fren, as that amulet is crucial). Flash isn't quite good enough to level with (mana costs are too high for leveling and other skills outpace it at lower slvls), and magister is outpaced by a good 1h/shield combo pretty much immediately when you have access to crafted gear/SUs.

    Gaining life on attack might be too strong on assassins. A flash assassin can take WOTG, claw block, avoid and phys res or pinnacle and are already virtually unkillable in fauzt. They aren't quite as high damage as they don't have access to another source of the skill (like pally/druid/barb, and thus require the relic) though so maybe that's fine?
    If not, could maybe have reduced effectiveness of Loma for sins, similarly to how phoenix wave gives less life to pally/sorc?

    This skill pairs extremely well with Nova charge. My assassin has 2 crafted claws with it and they are drastically improving the clear. I'm not sure how significant it is to note this but since both skills are usable under melee devo and there are virtually no gear conflicts you can comfortably do both.

Cast on attack?
Some builds, specifically barbs, could make great use of ctc on melee attack. I personally prefer hard casting skills and would like to keep it as is but I've seen a few people say they'd like it and I'd certainly try it. We already have
Thunderdome
Thunderdome
Assault Helmet (4)

Defense: (118 - 134) to (174 - 198)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 8
Required Strength: 30
Item Level: 19
2% Chance to cast level 10 Tempest on Kill
Adds 1-(3 to 5) Lightning Damage
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
(7 to 10)% to Strength
+3 Mana after each Kill
Socketed (2)
Defense: (391 - 435) to (542 - 602)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 60
Item Level: 36
2% Chance to cast level 20 Tempest on Kill
Adds 1-(9 to 18) Lightning Damage
-8% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(71 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
(15 to 18)% to Strength
+5 Mana after each Kill
Socketed (2)
Defense: (952 - 1090) to (1294 - 1481)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 210
Item Level: 59
3% Chance to cast level 30 Tempest on Kill
Adds 1-(43 to 50) Lightning Damage
-12% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(101 to 130)% Enhanced Defense
(23 to 26)% to Strength
+10 Mana after each Kill
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1631 - 1755) to (2201 - 2367)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 51
Required Strength: 420
Item Level: 85
3% Chance to cast level 40 Tempest on Kill
Adds 1-(131 to 150) Lightning Damage
-16% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(151 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
(27 to 30)% to Strength
+18 Mana after each Kill
Socketed (4)
so I could totally see it on other classes, but I think the attack frame switchup is more interesting.
It's probably important to note that access to cast on attack in any slot would synergize with attack frames, so level of the skill on any affix should keep this in mind. Otherwise this is kind of an "either-or" solution.


Damage;

You need the relic for flash to truly shine.
Relic (Flash)
Relic
(Random class Only)
Required Level: 75
6% Chance to cast level 50 Flash on Death Blow
+(47 to 63) to Flash
Maximum Lightning Resist +(1 to 2)%
30-40 slvl is a huge and frankly necessary boost, especially if you plan to run the skill on anything that doesn't have access to the affix (paladin, barb, druid helms).
The skill could be made accessible to all classes, (through non class-specific head pieces like circlets) If so, I'd like to see a redistribution of slvl sources via a slight nerf to the relic, and a subsequent buff to the universal affix sources (or Fren as it is already universal). Making the relic less of a requirement for running the skill and more for a maximization tool.
Switching to attack frames keeps the balance between which class is strongest with the skill relatively close to the way it was.

At the moment it's not quite clear whether the intention of this skill is for farming or bossing, or kind of a middle ground at both.
For farming, it's already fine, and no numbers buffs are needed.

If it's intended to be a boss killer, it might need a small damage increase. It's difficult to say by how much because it needs the relic right now and damage variance between the classes that have access to an extra affix and ones that don't is a little bit too high.

Also given that I definitely recommend running Nova charge if you intend to run flash, a damage buff may not be all that necessary. The Nova charge tech revealed where it retains pre-buff level damage as long as you have 1slvl to it from other gear makes it extremely flexible. (I'm not sure if it makes a big impact as a single target skill but it did noticeable chunks of damage in my testing on a sin)