Cantrip Onetrick analysis

[lean quarry]

When creating a build, I always feel like cantrip is either bad or holding me back; I will explain what I don't like about it here.
To start,
I believe it is supposed to improve low cooldown spells by reducing their cooldown even further, this make spamming weak spells a good strategy. 20% cooldown on 35s or less BASE cooldown spells.

The problem with this approach is that it only affects 9 out of 25 spells and gives on average a 4.22s reduction.
These are the nine affected spells and effects :

• Corruption : 7 seconds
• Thrower : 6 seconds
• Swap : 5 seconds
• Drain : 5 seconds
• Fireball : 4 seconds
• Strikes : 4 seconds
• Boing : 3 seconds
• Portal : 2 seconds
• Mino : 2 seconds

Because most of these spells are utilities they don't have many combos ; on top of that if you want the maximum effect, you must pick Corruption, Thrower and Swap or Drain, this totals to 18s saved.
Compare this to the West Wizard joker which can easily save 42 seconds on a Ritual + Wallo combo (which creates a regeneration field so strong it makes you immortal on difficulties <= Hard)
The pool of affected spells greatly limits your ability to create combos and doesn't give a third of what West Wizard can.

Combos are a very important part of spell casting. For example, Ritual is not very good because of high cooldown and low healing, but turns into an immortality field if you duplicate it with Wallo or Pistolero.
Combos draw the full potential of spells, and some are designed to need combos ; Cantrip's restriction either disallow a lot of these combos, or force its effect on only 1 of your chosen spells (not good enough for a 5 slot joker).

Cantrip also needs other means of CDR because 20% is too low to matter on already low CD spells. Taking Mino from 10 to 8s is useful but no useful enough.

In conclusion : while Cantrip Onetrick does fulfil it's intended effect, having less than 1/3rd effect and just as big of a drawback as a purple joker makes it too weak to be a legendary joker.

To improve the joker, the restriction could be extended to higher cooldown spells, but it would lose its 'onetrick' identity.

A way to extend the pool of spells would to effect spells with EFFECTIVE cooldown <= 35s instead of base ; if you can lower a spell's cooldown enough then the legendary joker would push it even further and make it spammable.

Another way would be to increase the cooldown reduction even more, but to match the level of the restriction it would need a ridiculous amount.

I hope someone else can think of more ideas to improve Cantrip Onetrick

[proven abyss]

Maybe it'd be OP. But I was thinking, reduce a fixed FLAT amount of Seconds of spells.

This way, it'd be really good on low CD spells. But still ok on high CD spells.

like shave off 5s of all spells?

Or maybe, 50% CDR on under 35s spells. But spells under 35s base CD, cannot have their cooldown reduced further.

This way, you can do, One trip cantrip & Battlemage. And play low CD spells & high CD spell?

[solemn flume]

YES, I have been thinking exactly the same thing about making it toggle on effective cooldowns and not base ones

Good ideas

[solemn flume]

This is also good

[lean quarry]

I think another way to improve it would be to go all in on the restriction and make the early game/weak spells REALLY good so good you wouldn't need to combo them with stronger spells.

If Cantrip Onetrick made Mino or Thrower to be as good as 60 or 80s cooldown spells then it would work as a legendary joker.

[solemn flume]

While I love that, it would be ignoring the larger issue of late game spells being upgrades instead of usually-better side grades

I think a larger rework to the medium-low cd spells would be more impactful to the experience