I can understand priority talents for a build, or even a class. I have more issues understanding why ONE attack should require a grand total of 16 class points to reach acceptable levels. The only thing that makes such an investment even possible is, again, the fact that the Golem can afford to wait a bit to be upgraded, and no other class talent is even worth investing in ever, let alone as soon as you get it, with the possible exception of Firestorm and Body of Fire. Maybe.ibanix wrote:Here's an idea: Not all talents are equal, and for some classes, there is a correct order to take them.
You have correctly determined the order for Alchemist.
Alchemists go beyond shoehorning into a build - they remove almost any build variation until, at the very best, the mid-twenties levels.
By the same token, they can quite easily grease you by casting Fireballs / Ice Breath / Blood Spray / Whichever AoE they have at where they just saw you - and your wet cardboard Alchemist quite literally won't see what nailed him... Nor will your stony protector, since this handy spell blocks EVERYONE's LoS. Yes, that includes your golem's. Forgot about this little detail, have we ?ibanix wrote:Smoke Bomb blocks LoS.
You get force teleported into a room with a half-dozen spellcasters. Or open a door into a vault with the same number. Poof. Now they can't see you. On the other hand, you can drop a huge-radius bomb onto them sight unseen.
Also, assuming you maxed the Talent and have a decent spellpower, you can hope to cast a whooping two, maybe three, bombs over the duration of the smoke... And plenty of actually dangerous stuff past Normal difficulty will take at least that to kill. Assuming of course that they haven't either left, or just happen to be immune to the element you infused your bombs with and managed to smear your magical brains all over the place while your one AoE was on cooldown and Golly was as blind as you.
And finally, assuming you survive all this, the horrendous cooldown still means that Smoke Bomb is a once-a-fight trick... Like it needed even more reasons not to get invested in. Of all the sub-par elemental talents we get, this one sits right at the bottom as far as I'm concerned.
EDIT : Oh, hey, just for giggles, and since the description of the spell is as vague on this as it is on anything else - what happens if you drop a smoke bomb over yourself and someone who just happens to suffer from a burn effect ? I never ran into this case (since I never use Smoke Bomb), but I'm sincerely curious... Do YOU also catch fire ? Even with Bomb protection ? Since it technically isn't your bomb setting you on fire...