Channeling is misleading (dead horse?)

[Natesky9]

Channeling is probably one of the least used combat mechanics next to finishers, wall attacks, and parrying.

It has some merit, and a couple of ok-ish mods, but many of these are misleading, especially with the channeling damage, and most of them are extremely underwhelming, while seeming OK on paper.

First off, let's lay down the basis as to why channeling mods are misleading

[Killing Blow] = +120% Channeling Damage
Says so on the mod, when channeling, you can expect 120% more channeling damage

On paper, this seems ok, since most multiplicative mods are within this range.
HOWEVER, this number isn't 120% of the 1.5x that most weapons have

This mod gives +120% of .5

which is a measly +.6 to your channeling damage....

Let's compare this with the benefits of a similar mod with the same cost, shall we?

with a standard weapon, you can expect about 100 base damage
Add in any +damage mod, and you will get about +90% of base damage, multiplied by any multiplier mods (pressure point)
with Crit mods, any crit damage multiplies by the BASE, which means (at minimum) 1.5 x the crit multiplier
with Killing Blow, you're adding .6x to this, at the cost of energy, and a mod slot that could have been at least twice as much damage

Channeling is not worth it, it's misleading, the mods are terrible, and you're just better off not wasting your time hoping that it'll be good

[Natesky9]

Another thread about why channeling is bad:

 

[o.0-]

Immediately, sure a tad, but it is a system that has potential and simply needs the devs to look at the system as a whole and then make adjustments to melee weapons along the way.

So it could still be possible to adjust how Channeling uses energy and how energy to channeling is regained, such as melting enough enemies grants an energy orb, or more detailed possibilities, that the game engine allows.

[taiiat]

technically, Channeling exhibits the mathematical results that make the most logical sense. because multiplying 150% of your Damage means also implying you're increasing your Damage before Channeling, which is untrue and also impossible.
basically because that would mean by default Channeling mathematically HAS to be 2.5x Damage, which it is not.

granted, Crit Damage is much easier to read and understand, since it's just Multiplying the number you see. even though Crit Damage would technically be incorrect, since it's way easier to read everything probably should be that way, yes. with adjusting the values Mods give accordingly.

 

Channeling could technically be made into a sort of Heavy Attack system - but as it is now it isn't and is just a Damage Multiplier. instead though Channeling would be better off as a different type of Attack to get more variety in Melee (ala becoming a Modifier), which could retain the style of Channeling, with adjusting the Mods somewhat and adding some more of them.

Quote

Finishers are almost never used

you're joking, right? Finishers are how you Kill really high Level Enemies quickly, if we're assuming every Player isn't Macro Sliding through the entire game.
Finishers are used plenty.

Edited December 25, 2017 by taiiat

[RawGritz]

If you know your stances well and the effect and damage of each combo/strike channeling can be devastating when used on specific moves, especially once you get your combo multiplier up 2.0x+ 

You can't just hold the button down from start to finish. You have to be strategic and precise. It's a metagame in many ways.

[Biddion]

I do wish channeling was a revisited feature as I would like to use it more. Many of the mods just aren't good enough to take up one of the mod slots.

I sometimes wonder if channeling could be incorporated into combos. I do dislike any of the backstepping, and now sidestepping combos.

Also, few weapons differ in channeling. An idea is if heavier weapons had more channeling damage, but lighter weapons had less energy consumption.

[ShiraHagane]

Another thing to note, channeling damage is additive with combo multiplier, in case you didn't know

[Andele3025]

All channeling needs is a bit more variety in numbers e.g. heavy blades having 1.9x~2x modifier but drain 15 energy a hit while nunchakus 1.5 comes at only 1 energy a hit with certain outliers that have alt effects; so scythes not getting bonus damage, but instead 7~10m base range (become the massive scythes most people ask for without having to implement a new weapon class), gunblades shooting with every melee attack & dedicated shot attacks getting 100% multishot/twice the bullet count, daggers/dual daggers/rapier maybe getting the excal blade "automatic front parry" while channeling or have their channeling block cost reduced to 1~2 (since it are weapons whos most popular/useful styles were ones in which ease of parrying with a buckler/offhand or grappling was a major factor in most swings and jabs).

[Vtrap]

Am 25.12.2017 um 06:42 schrieb Natesky9:

Channeling is probably one of the least used combat mechanics next to finishers, wall attacks, and parrying.
 

yes, but i dont think its too weak at all. 

for example:

basic non-channeling damage formula be 

ips dmg x elemental dmg x attackspeed

and you got a build with e.g. primed pressure point + berserker & primed fury + 2 90%elementals + crit chance/dmg mods and one free slot

youll get the following stats:

+165% ips dmg

+180% elemental dmg

+96,25% aspd

 

if you go for base damage max youll get is 100% - stacking with your ips damage bonus additively. what that means is youll not get an overall damage increase by another 100%, but youll get an increase from 165 to 265 -> 265/100= 2,65 -> 100/2,65=37,7% overall increase, and thats not counting the -aspd on spoiled strike

if you go for primed fever strike youll get 165% elemental damage -> total bonus 345% -> gained overall damage 47%

if you go for aspd youd get 30% for gladiator vice, stacking multipilcatively with berserker and additively with fury for overall (30%+55%)*175%= 126,25% aspd -> gain  30%

 

if you put in killing blow, you will get 120% on channeling dmg:

ips dmg x elemental dmg x attackspeed x channeling bonus

base channeling multiplier is 150%, modded is 210% -> you effectively get 110% total damage bonus by using killing blow + channeling.

the mod killing blow giving you 60% of your non channeling damage 

the real damage increase given to you by the mod compared to unmodded channeling is only 28%

BUT:

your unmodded overall damage gain of 50% while channeling is more damage than equipping a primed fever strike in your open slot  

so channeling is really good, as long as you have enough energy to sustain it. its just channeling mods that suck.

 

 

TL;DR : channeling is good, channeling mods are meh, pls rework soon

 

[(PSN)MrNishi]

I thought DE was going to leverage Channeling as means to force Melee weapon wielding:

•Along the lines of Blood Rush, Maiming Strike, Gladiator Might etc...be channeling mods

This would have curbed spin-to-win, although it would probably create a large uproar.

 

(Wouldn't be the 1st time they repurposed a melee attribute to bolster non-Quill melee:

Quick Block basically got relegated to a Mod (Melee not required with Mod) and Melee Blocking requires wielding the weapon.

Would have been nice if Naramon combo decay was baked into Melee Channeling, as that would be a nice boost for non-quick-melee/dual-wield users.