Feb 3 Preview Thoughts: Sundering Leap

[Ovark.2514]

This skill is HORRIBLE. Not once since HoT release has this skill been used in any decent, or even half decent sPvP build. Players don't use this skill because it does nothing well. It doesn't leap far enough to help players escape from unfavorable situations. The animation is clunky on-top of that so it doesn't even move you as far as say Savage Leap, yet it has a much longer CD. And afaik because it's ground targeted, you can't swap weapons mid-cast like you can with Savage Leap to get extra distance. There is not even an evade on the skill to help you survive a little bit. I'm aware that the flavor is that you're supposed to use this skill to engage enemies to get adrenaline to enter berserk mode (or maintain it for longer), but it's TOO EASY to Block, Dodge, Invuln, Blind, or otherwise avoid. This is a reoccurring issue with all damaging utility skills on warrior. They take up valuable real estate on the utility bar yet often are incredibly difficult to make useful (with notable exception Bulls Charge). Since the immense blind+block-spam in this game doesn't seem to ever be going away, certain warrior skills must be immune in some way to make 20-40s CD utility skills not feel like a complete waste to use. This could be done through trait interactions but in-order not to pigeon-hole builds, these would best be addressed on their own. Below are a couple directions I could see taking Sundering Leap in-order to actually allow it to see use.

 

1) The Offensive Route: Make the skill unblockable AND give it either Blindness Immunity OR Resistance for 1sec on activation (not when landing). While this is a solid option, I predict this will still not see much play. If you add a 0.5 evade to the skill, then I think it will see play. I'm usually very hesitant to suggest adding more evasion to the game, but this is one instance where I think it's warranted as, unlike spellbreaker, Berserker doesn't have built-in evasion skills.

 

2) The Defensive Route: Give the skill a 0.5sec Evade, a stunbreak, and the aegis on landing. I don't think this is a particularly healthy way to tune the skill but at the same time I think this is the best way to ensure it will see play. But isn't that how it is. . .  the most unhealthy skills/traits for the game are always the ones people abuse in sPvP. . .

[Zuko.7132]

Ya, it’s still junk. If it had 900 range and a fast animation, maybe, but still probably a no.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

I fully agree on the fact that the skill is borderline useless, only propped by it's decent coeff.

For WvW, I find myself constantly blinded while executing the jump, clunky movement barely hits targets.

The cripple is negligible and easily dealt with. We need IMMOBILIZE and a good 3-4 seconds of it.

The vulnerability should be double and the coeff remain the same.

Give this skill the same treatment as Wild Blow (which god knows why the other Rage skills did not get this either) and remove all inhibiting conditions on cast and give it aegis as well, if not aegis and resistance on it's current Cooldown.

Do none of that and give it 15 sec CD to compensate with same coeff.

God forbid the warriors has a damaging skill in the utility bar that's not: Signet of Fury for the starving Burstzzerker, Balanced Stance cause CC mode, Battle Standard locked elite and Blood Reckoning locked heal. Then you choose between a 40 sec CD measly 4 sec of pulsing resistance for your glorious burst, a banner, Shake it Off, or generally anything to make you survive.

Also the Wild Blow change is still dogshit and I don't care if it doesn't push the mobs away from PvE, split the skill, I want to punch people when I can.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

Im gonna use it, but not for hitting people. 

Using it to run while defensives on cd, or specifically to chase someone that's 1hp and running.

[eXruina.4956]

i'm actually looking forward to testing this out with the reduced cooldown.

 

the aegis is a much welcome addition as well.

 

agree with everyone else though, purely for mobility. actually landing the hit is ambitious.

Edited February 5, 2023 by eXruina.4956

[CalmTheStorm.2364]

@Grand Marshal.4098is right; it needs immobilize (or hard CC, but we already have enough of that). Realistically, this skill is competing with bulls charge, which currently does what sundering leap does, just much, much better (evade, longer range, hard CC). If SL immobilized, damaged, and applies vuln in a 240 radius, though, I think it would be at least a contender for a spot on the utility bar, esp on a 15s CD.

 

Currently, the biggest reason to use it is for the adrenaline gain. You can kinda sorta take it in place of bulls charge, and you get a guaranteed 10-20 adrenaline when using it, making it much easier to get into berserk mode. I've had some marginal success running it on my condizerker for this reason; when I do, I can give up signet of fury--which is nice.

 

The other thing that SL is good for is proccing king of fires. If you cast torch 5 and then use SL, you generate a fire aura at the start of your leap and detonate it at the completion of the leap. In contrast, if you cast torch 5 and then use sword 2 to generate the fire aura, you would need to use another berserker skill (eg torch 4) to detonate that fire aura. So I'll definitely try the new-and-improved SL out on my condizerker... But I wouldn't be surprised if I'm back to using bulls charge by the end of the week.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

Between Sundering Leap and Rupturing Smash, the idea of cooking some immob in the Burstzerker build is very important for a melee fighter.

Yes Berserker can still top dps in most large-scale scenarios, big cleave.

But utility? None.

Battle Standard is the onlye reason someone thinks of having 1 or 2 zerkers over Vindicators and the way balance is going DH will get even better as a DPS, so the competition is there.

Sacrifice a slot for SiO/Banner to provide some utility and you lose big time on your bursts for not using SoM, SL or even Zerker Stance for dedicated selfish-kite/burst sequences.

All in all, making Sundering Leap a proper AoE damaging skill with good utility is welcome. Would be nice if Zerker finally had an identity that's not Arc Divider.

[Vancho.8750]

The rework is not actually for PVP or WvW, its for PVE on the Condi build, it directly activates king of fires when you leap in fire fields since you get fire aura and with rage skill you explode it, so Sundering does it with one button.

[Zuko.7132]

14 hours ago, Azure The Heartless.3261 said:

Im gonna use it, but not for hitting people. 

Using it to run while defensives on cd, or specifically to chase someone that's 1hp and running.

But bullscharge does that better.

[mandala.8507]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:03 AM, Vancho.8750 said:

The rework is not actually for PVP or WvW, its for PVE on the Condi build, it directly activates king of fires when you leap in fire fields since you get fire aura and with rage skill you explode it, so Sundering does it with one button.

Yeah, I did some super rough calculations and it looks like it could be a 900-1000 damage/second buff to the condi build considering all its interactions with the kit. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on execution and player skill with upkeeping the modifiers and using skills efficiently.

For a build that's already in a half-decent spot, seems like good stuff to me.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:14 AM, Zuko.7132 said:

But bullscharge does that better.

 

use both, that way bulls charge can be used to set up burst, and leap can be used to run away while waiting for bulls charge (or to bait dodges if a user is expecting bull's charge) 

[Grand Marshal.4098]

For me, the only use SL has, is in a Burstzerker setup in WvW, where I can use it as a pre-emptive spike/gap closer to feed me adrenaline and enter zerk mode.

BUT OFC IT GETS BLINDED OR BLOCKED SO IM OUT OF COMBAT AND IT SUCKS.

So yeah 💁‍♂️