Item-cast aura as a synergy

I know that item-cast auras from Insight and Cure synergize with

Prayer, which is a common merc setup

But what about

Resist Fire and

Holy Fire? People like to run Flickering Flame on dragondin and self-cast

Holy Fire builds, but I'm not aware of a damage synergy between the auras in this situation

Presumably this doesn't this work? I searched, I but haven't been able to find an answer or detailed game mechanic explanation

Unless you're talking about summon druids as the one exception to the rule (well, and shadows, kind of), synergies only grant a bonus via the hard points you have invested. Points from gear (regardless of that being aura lvls or direct +skill) do not add anything.

The

Prayer example works because the merc actually has

Prayer as a hard skill, resulting in said

Prayer granting a synergy bonus to the item-based

Meditation and

Cleansing.

The

Holy Fire example however wouldn't work because flickering would only grant item-based points in

Resist Fire which doesn't add any synergy bonus. Hard points in

Resist Fire will give a pally a synergy bonus to item-based

Holy Fire auras but again that's only for the hard points you actually have invested in

Resist Fire. The reason some folks run flickering on HFdins regardless is the -res on it and the aura countering the res lost due to the fire sunder.

I prefered FF over CoA because all your party members gain the hard skill bonus of +20% maxresist. This and because CoA makes you look like a dxxx.

One Dragondin with maxed

Resist Fire and Flickering Flame will render the whole party almost immune to fire! All summons gain immunity due to the fact they count as monsters and therefore don't have a resistance cap. This is so incredibly useful in the hardest areas compared to a higher damage CoA gives you. You can laugh at the High Council, Diablo, DClone, Ubers,

Chaos Sanctuary, WST and so on.

Crown of Ages

Schnorki wrote: 3 weeks ago

Unless you're talking about summon druids as the one exception to the rule (well, and shadows, kind of)

Do you know, or have any theories, as to why the summon druids are the one exception to the rule? Do you think this was an oversight or an intentional act by the devs?

Schnorki wrote: 3 weeks ago

The

Prayer example works because the merc actually has

Prayer as a hard skill, resulting in said

Prayer granting a synergy bonus to the item-based

Meditation and

Cleansing.

Don't Insight and Cure boost the healing from

Prayer?

Oh, I see--

Cleansing and

Meditation also heal you with hard points into

Prayer. I didn't know that--ok, makes sense now

Knappogue wrote: 3 weeks ago

Schnorki wrote: 3 weeks ago

Unless you're talking about summon druids as the one exception to the rule (well, and shadows, kind of)

Do you know, or have any theories, as to why the summon druids are the one exception to the rule? Do you think this was an oversight or an intentional act by the devs?

Intentional.

Back in the day, when LoD was released, they wanted to add some fancy little quirks/perks to the newly introduced classes, beyond just the itemization. That's why druids get to syn-buff summons beyond hard points and why assassins get to open chests without keys.

marl71 wrote: 3 weeks ago

Schnorki wrote: 3 weeks ago

The

Prayer example works because the merc actually has

Prayer as a hard skill, resulting in said

Prayer granting a synergy bonus to the item-based

Meditation and

Cleansing.

Don't Insight and Cure boost the healing from

Prayer?

Oh, I see--

Cleansing and

Meditation also heal you with hard points into

Prayer. I didn't know that--ok, makes sense now

Aye,

Cleansing and

Meditation each get the

Prayer heal added to their ticks. The merc's

Prayer itself however stays the same and isn't buffed in any way.
As a result, you get 3x the healing (same old 1x from

Prayer and then 1x the same value each from the

Meditation and

Cleansing).

Schnorki wrote: 3 weeks ago

Back in the day, when LoD was released, they wanted to add some fancy little quirks/perks to the newly introduced classes, beyond just the itemization. That's why druids get to syn-buff summons beyond hard points and why assassins get to open chests without keys.

So short answer is 'marketing'...haahaa I like it!

marl71 wrote: 3 weeks ago

I know that item-cast auras from Insight and Cure synergize with

Prayer, which is a common merc setup

But what about

Resist Fire and

Holy Fire? People like to run Flickering Flame on dragondin and self-cast

Holy Fire builds, but I'm not aware of a damage synergy between the auras in this situation

Presumably this doesn't this work? I searched, I but haven't been able to find an answer or detailed game mechanic explanation

As others have stated, the

Resist Fire aura from Flickering Flame will not increase

Holy Fire damage. However, the aura is a powerful layer of protection that can easily compensate for

Flame Rift's penalty. Furthermore, Flickering Flame's -10-15% to Enemy Fire Resistance will increase

Holy Fire's damage output pretty significantly. As another commenter alluded to, a

Crown of Ages with two Rainbow Facets would also be an excellent contender in the helm slot, but Flickering Flame is much cheaper and has the aforementioned benefits re: Fire Resistance.

Thanks everyone. I was confused about

Cleansing and

Meditation mechanics. I understand why people run Flickering Flame on a dragondin, although I personally consider it at best a temp item until you get CoA

... until you get

Crown of Ages AND two good

Rainbow Facet: Fire Death /

Rainbow Facet: Fire Level-up ...

marl71 wrote: 3 weeks ago

Thanks everyone. I was confused about

Cleansing and

Meditation mechanics. I understand why people run Flickering Flame on a dragondin, although I personally consider it at best a temp item until you get CoA

Yes, that’s what I mean