Spell Balance Suggestions

[OneBrainCell]

Why does Shadow Claw deal 14 damage with an 18 second cooldown when spells that are harder to hit do less damage with longer cooldowns? It doesn't help that it's in a really good tree, so it's easy to stack with just about everything else.

i would agree with u abt most spells, but not with shadow claw.

Can you explain why? 

Shadow Claw is a very powerful ability, especially given that it's an opener (considering many openers are mediocre by design). It knocks your opponent back, so they can't re-engage you unless they either use a speed boost or use up a dash. At the same time, it deals huge amounts of damage and can be spammed out at incredible rates if you have decent agility.

When combined with certain homing skills like Mind Fray or Bang, Shadow Claw becomes an insane kite tool for deterring those who have to get close such as melees while also doing eyewatering amounts of damage.

Compare it to skills such as Ice Flurry, Steam Blast, Blades of Light (sort of), and Fire Stream, which all require substantially more investment and effort to hit for what feels like way less reward.

I think the big reason is that the only way you can really vitalize it consistently is by either A. using it defensively to counter incoming attacks or B. getting a hidden with a space tp. If you try and use it offensively you're going to be missing it a lot more than not so while yes, it is very good against melee builds, against other builds that don't require that closeness it's difficult unless you have a specific hidden to tp you in and close the distance. Playing it offensively is definitely something you have to work on otherwise unless the build is melee or another tree that consistently gets close, it's a lot harder to land.

Granted, this is based on my personal experiences with the tree so take it with a grain of salt.