Skullcrusher... why?

vonqball

So, HW got a re-balancing not too long ago... so there must be a point to this power... right?

The AoE is really small. The damage is lackluster and split between types. It does fire damage, but doesn't apply CF. What does it even doooooo?

It looks cool... you actually use two hands.. and you don't spin around like a dizzy dimwit.

Please sell me on this power's reasons for being in the state it is.

lezard21

The HW revamp wasn't recent. It was 3 or so years ago. Not revamped by current dev team.

bluhman

Split type damage isn't as big of a deal as you might think since the Melee DPS passives just boost all melee damage regardless of type, while tank passives don't care about type at all (and if you want to get technical it's an issue that both Cleave and Brimstone have as well, and those both see plenty of use). No-Quarter will debuff the damage types utilized by Skullcrusher. Arc of Ruin with this advantage, combined with its disorient application, makes it probably the best pairing with this attack when you take both ranks and the Put Them Down advantage.

e: I should also mention, the split damage type also means it can gain some extra damage benefit by using Engulfing Flames abilities such as Firesnake.

It's a narrow AoE which can get a grand total of 5 AP spent on it, so it fits into a very similar niche as Skewer does. And actually at a glance it appears that Skullcrusher does in fact do more damage than it, both in terms of the equal damage it does to everyone hit as well as the damage in total (taking the 1 point advantages out of the equation, on a test character with whatever stats a full-charge Skewer at Rank 1 does 1004 damage. Skullcrusher in the same situation does 526x2 damage, or 1052. Both charges have roughly the same length). Both Skewer and Skullcrusher have their issues as AoEs, as generally most players enjoy using Cleave, Brimstone, and Arc of Ruin itself a lot more, and even when those do lower damage they both perform completely fine against big enemy mobs. Skewer just remains marginally more popular since it used to be broken for Enrage stacking and that its advantages are really easy to use, and raise its damage potential a bit above that of Skullcrusher.

So in short, Skullcrusher synergizes better with the core components of HW a lot better than Skewer does. I'd argue that Skewer is in a worse position than Skullcrusher is honestly (unless you're doing a weird bleed build and even then its bleed effect isn't guaranteed). However that's not saying much in a set that's already loaded with wide-area AoEs that are very easy to use, require less setup, use less energy, and still work extremely well on minions despite the even lower damage.

flowcyto

SC is a stylish alternative to Annihilate- esp if you don't like the latter's KB properties but still want something that can proc Enrage. It lags quite a bit behind Annihilate on knock-immune targets for dps, but its not really that weak when optimized either. I def wouldn't be using it as a normal AoE, though if you can snag an extra target then that's a bonus. SC also allows for movement, while Annihilate still roots you. It also guarantees a Disorient on full charge, so it works w/ its special adv automatically.

It won't fit into a min-maxed HW build, but its decent enough for any other type of HW build.

vonqball

I agree that skewer also seems pretty bad. Only 50% chance to apply bleed, on a full-charge, is just too unreliable a mechanic.

lezard21 said:

The HW revamp wasn't recent. It was 3 or so years ago. Not revamped by current dev team.

Guess that is a good reason. I thought they messed with it again since then, for some reason.

bluhman

lezard21 said:

The HW revamp wasn't recent. It was 3 or so years ago. Not revamped by current dev team.

Actually closer to 2 years ago, and that was the current Dev team under Kaiserin. (The update included the Rockstar AT. Also featured Kais' rock-lizard OC in some promo shots.)

chaosdrgnz43

#MakeSkullcrusherGreat

avianos

I want this power to be good, not Below Mediocre, such a cool animated power
but as it currently stands Its a bad power in both AoE and Single Target aspect


I tried it in both HW Tank and DPS and even now while revisiting the power and testing it with 3 Debuffs (Demolish, No Quarter and Engulfing Flames) the damage is just inferior to Annihilator and Skewer​​

jaazaniah1

Tap spamming it is a must for any Harley Quinn clone.