I'm interested in the idea of being a support character for my group of closed friends but I am in a conundrum as to which offers easier accessibility, playability, and longevity.
The first point, accessibility, being in regards to the gear required in order to achieve their respective lockdown abilities to be applied 100% of the time or as close to as possible. From my understanding, a WD requires a perfect rolled mask as well as SMK in order to provide lockdown and party buffs whereas a Crusader simply needs a shield, some crafted sets and stacking CDR so maybe I answered this part of the question.
My second point and easily most subjective is playability. Does Condemn with Vacuum feel better than Piranhado? Does SWG trump AC? Is the range of Blind easier to apply and maintain than Horrify?
Lastly, is there any area where one pulls ahead of the other or do their own inherent abilities make them equally as strong in their own way throughout greater rifts?
Lots of questions but would appreciate any feedback since I am having an internal battle of comparisons. What I fall back on is that the WD has more build variations than the Crusader in the event that I want an offset since I hate Steed Charge and I'd like to try something other than a Condemn build.
You don't need a perfectly rolled Tiklandian Visage. Thanks to Spirit Vessel, the cooldown is already 2 seconds lower; if you have a 8 second mask, CDR on gloves, shoulders, and a diamond in helmet will already be enough (26%) to maintain Horrify uptime. If you have a badly rolled mask you need CDR on 3 more pieces (~40%) to get enough uptime. That being said, most WDs run with 50% CDR as it's much better (more Spirit Walk and Piranhado).
Nevertheless, the Crusader is easier to build *if* you have plenty of crafting mats and get lucky gambling the shield.
You can't compare Piranhado and Condemn. Piranhado you put down once and it sucks all mobs in for the next few seconds, in a very small area. Condemn, upon activation, takes mobs with you "in waves"; it's actually oftentimes quite unpredictable and thus very annoying, which is why for difficult pulls Crusaders prefer the Steed Charge pull (Draw & Quarter). Most Crusaders use both these days.
I'm blanking out on SWG, not idea what that is. AC is a must though and is trumped by nothing, especially for the cheat death every 20 seconds.
You can't "maintain" the blind like Horrify. Horrify (together with the mask) casts an aura on all mobs and fears them once every second or so, and for some ridiculous reason that no one understands no diminishing returns on the CC effects apply, which is why you can permanently disable all elite affixes with it. Shield Glare works just fine to permanently blind white mobs (more or less, depending on CDR) but not at all on elite packs. It's also quite effective though on interrupting the Rift Guardian's spells sometimes. In terms of applying Blind and Horrify... it's the same, you just press a button and it fears/blinds everything around you.
The WD is there to shut down all elite affixes. The Crusader is there to pull all mobs (Condemn when they're close or more than 5, Steed Charge in all other cases). Both have the ability to spawn health globes (Solanium, Crusader's law Hopeful Cry), both give significant damage buffs (BBV, and especially Critical on the Crusader's law). You really can't compare them. And since health globes have become the new most important thing now, playstyles and builds vary, so there are different ways to go.
Oh, just read your last sentence. You say you hate Steed Charge... then forget about playing Crusader. You need Steed Charge, and you need to learn to use it well and often. Steed Charge is the key for Crusaders, Condemn pulls are just not controllable enough and are basically the first "let's get this stuff together", but then your work begins to neatly organize the mobs with Steed Charge. If you don't like this spell, don't even think about playing zDPS Crusader :-)
Pretty sure he meant to say Stampede rather than Steed Charge on the skill he disliked, but I don't want to speak for him. His context seemed to be switching to discussing non-support roles, in which Stampede and Condemn are the sader choices and he did specify "something other than Condemn".
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Hey fellas!
I'm interested in the idea of being a support character for my group of closed friends but I am in a conundrum as to which offers easier accessibility, playability, and longevity.
The first point, accessibility, being in regards to the gear required in order to achieve their respective lockdown abilities to be applied 100% of the time or as close to as possible. From my understanding, a WD requires a perfect rolled mask as well as SMK in order to provide lockdown and party buffs whereas a Crusader simply needs a shield, some crafted sets and stacking CDR so maybe I answered this part of the question.
My second point and easily most subjective is playability. Does Condemn with Vacuum feel better than Piranhado? Does SWG trump AC? Is the range of Blind easier to apply and maintain than Horrify?
Lastly, is there any area where one pulls ahead of the other or do their own inherent abilities make them equally as strong in their own way throughout greater rifts?
Lots of questions but would appreciate any feedback since I am having an internal battle of comparisons. What I fall back on is that the WD has more build variations than the Crusader in the event that I want an offset since I hate Steed Charge and I'd like to try something other than a Condemn build.
You don't need a perfectly rolled Tiklandian Visage. Thanks to Spirit Vessel, the cooldown is already 2 seconds lower; if you have a 8 second mask, CDR on gloves, shoulders, and a diamond in helmet will already be enough (26%) to maintain Horrify uptime. If you have a badly rolled mask you need CDR on 3 more pieces (~40%) to get enough uptime. That being said, most WDs run with 50% CDR as it's much better (more Spirit Walk and Piranhado).
Also, SMK isn't an absolute requirement anymore - there are people running with Solanium, for example; check out this build: http://www.diablofans.com/builds/35545-clx-support-witch-doctor-guide
Nevertheless, the Crusader is easier to build *if* you have plenty of crafting mats and get lucky gambling the shield.
You can't compare Piranhado and Condemn. Piranhado you put down once and it sucks all mobs in for the next few seconds, in a very small area. Condemn, upon activation, takes mobs with you "in waves"; it's actually oftentimes quite unpredictable and thus very annoying, which is why for difficult pulls Crusaders prefer the Steed Charge pull (Draw & Quarter). Most Crusaders use both these days.
I'm blanking out on SWG, not idea what that is. AC is a must though and is trumped by nothing, especially for the cheat death every 20 seconds.
You can't "maintain" the blind like Horrify. Horrify (together with the mask) casts an aura on all mobs and fears them once every second or so, and for some ridiculous reason that no one understands no diminishing returns on the CC effects apply, which is why you can permanently disable all elite affixes with it. Shield Glare works just fine to permanently blind white mobs (more or less, depending on CDR) but not at all on elite packs. It's also quite effective though on interrupting the Rift Guardian's spells sometimes. In terms of applying Blind and Horrify... it's the same, you just press a button and it fears/blinds everything around you.
The WD is there to shut down all elite affixes. The Crusader is there to pull all mobs (Condemn when they're close or more than 5, Steed Charge in all other cases). Both have the ability to spawn health globes (Solanium, Crusader's law Hopeful Cry), both give significant damage buffs (BBV, and especially Critical on the Crusader's law). You really can't compare them. And since health globes have become the new most important thing now, playstyles and builds vary, so there are different ways to go.
Oh, just read your last sentence. You say you hate Steed Charge... then forget about playing Crusader. You need Steed Charge, and you need to learn to use it well and often. Steed Charge is the key for Crusaders, Condemn pulls are just not controllable enough and are basically the first "let's get this stuff together", but then your work begins to neatly organize the mobs with Steed Charge. If you don't like this spell, don't even think about playing zDPS Crusader :-)
Pretty sure he meant to say Stampede rather than Steed Charge on the skill he disliked, but I don't want to speak for him. His context seemed to be switching to discussing non-support roles, in which Stampede and Condemn are the sader choices and he did specify "something other than Condemn".