Fury damage and Fulmination

Xuthori

Hi all,

With the changes to damage and armor we've seen quite a few changes to all classes and currently Fury still is viable with Flameshape to push HeartRend, but definitely feels slow vs other classes subsystem ramp and damage pressure (which usually scales with static, or some other aff/subsystem scaling). Also, our damage route requires a bit of thinking and set up to do, and I'd like to seek help and opinions about how this can be achieved. 

(copying from my post on disc on Fury channel, so sorry if some of you have alr seen it)

So, trying to figure out a dmg route. 

Currently we have these abilities that scale on subsystems:

Legspike - Scale with Weak Legs + musc

Swiftcut - Scale with Weak Arms + musc

Gutrend - Scale with Hypertension, Bleeds, Winded + int

Sear - Scale with Bleeds + int

Concuss - Scale with Sens Affs + sens

Cleave - Scale with Disorient + mind

Flamebound - Scale with Dmged Arms/Weak Arms + musc

Blitz - Scale with Weak Arms + musc

Aff only scaling:

Bloodsinge - Scale with hypertension

Bloodburn - Scale with hypertension + applies bleeds

Bombard - Scale with Dmg/Weak Legs

Raindown - Scale with Weak Legs

I really don't think our subsys ramp is as fast as Scoundrel Internal/Sens, BEAST Musc, Eng Musc/Int (prolly on par with Static but their dmg feels like it scales so much stronger). We're prolly on par with nano now? But I haven't fought much nano lately.

The point of the last statement is to say - if someone is on aff prio vs us, we cannot capitalize on ezmode overpower + slice + legspike+swiftcut ez win strat anymore. Let me say I think this is a good thing, because Fury was wayyyy too oppressive previously, and the recent dmg/armor changes still give us a way to damage kill BUT only if the fight drags on and some damage is done to subsystems. However, I don't think dmg scaling vs subsys helps us keep up with other ppls offense that much right now as our subsys ramp feels slow, and the scaling on damage doesn't feel very strong (and ppl can just kite unstoppable - sure you can chase and get the battleflow attack in, but they can crash/smash out by the time your overwhelm/twist kicks in => if I need to git gud to counter kiting pls teach me how). So, while subsys scaling for dmg is nice to have for dmg route, I reckon aff-stack is probably the fastest way to go to keep up. 

For this, I can think of a few routes:

1) Musc route for resistant upkeep
Stick to ONE route - legs or arms via Sting/Salvo OR Barrage/Cripple and go HAM with Flamebound/Blitz OR Bombard/Raindown
I think Arms with Sting/Salvo-> Flamebound/Blitz better because there is some damage from subsys scaling as well (which Bombard/Raindown doesn't give)

2) Internal for Gutrend goodness? 

Going internal gives access to Bleeds, Hypertension, Asymmetry, and Berserk. The big question from me now is: How to reliably stack bleeds yourself? Seems hard to me to stick bleeds reliably in 1v1s unless we have some aff that lets bleeds stick longer or get reapplied everytime a stack gets added on? (I've tested this a few times in Arena, just going wound+flyingcut + Rupture doesn't cut it in getting bleeds to stick/stack fast enough, and flyingcut requires there to be props in the room)

For this to stick, we need to go Wound+flyingcut/deepstrike, then Hypertension/Asym ... but for bleeds to build you need Rupture somewhere.. idk how but... we need some anti-coagulent skill or something.

Also for good damage, if you go gutrend then you're searing/Assaulting into symmetry too and you miss out on Bloodburn/Bloodsinge. So some choices here on which stances to stick to.

3) Sensory 

Not sure if worth anything as we have close to zero synergy with this subsystem I think? 

4) Mind

Fever spam into Cleave ftw? Might be worth testing! XD 

So right now it feels like Flameshape+Heartrend push is our only viable route, and even then i feel slow on ramping by the time my first unstoppable ends. Need to quick switch/unwield to go into dmg mode min-max too. So need to make some choices once we see ppl in aff prio instead of health prio and then if that doesn't work, potentially slow down our offence by one bal or so if we move back into flameshape/re-wield to go back into HR push. 

So, what about Fulmination? Is it worth thinking about how to use this as the 'new' damage route/alternative?

In fulmination we have:
Bladeshapes - all useful in their own way except Fireblade

Offence:
Burn - good thermal dmg but haven't tested after armor changes
Ignite - good stuff but haven't played around with scorched
Propburn - not really used ?
Fever - best interrupt in game cos of hallucinations
Bladepush - useless?
heatwave - instant inferno
negate - good stuff
quicksand - yes yes i know, OP
inferno - longer time to cast but seems decent damage

Defence - I like em all please don't take them away
Utility - Flight and Firewalk good, reveal (ever see use????)
Special- all situational but I like it as is

So to me, we have a few ways to go around this to make fulmination a thing
1) Weave into Battleflow/Rage attacks or create synergies somehow
- Cool, but could be game breaking for the class

2) Buff the existing skills to aide in Internal or Mind route?
- Could help stick bleeds more or give Inferno Stance some more practical use

3) Make Burn scale off musc damage or scorched stacks?

4) Increase damage of Heatwave/Inferno/Burn for some thermal dmg route?

5) Give Fulmination its own route... like idk Shatter or something but with FIRE
- Quickest way I can think of is: Burn gives scorched/blazing stacks, heatwave can act like roomdrain, bladepush can be changed to something that synergizes with this idea, Reveal can cause increased thermal damage by... idk revealing inner fire or something, and give this route its own insta after x amount of scorched stax. 

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Very open to hear thoughts, suggestions, or other comments!