#[OUTDATED] Thoughts on Ode Tempest; A good pact at a bad time

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shell thistle
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I have recently gotten my hands onto Ode Tempest and I like it quite a lot. However I know most players see it as the weakest pact (or on equal footing with Sirin) right now and I can't blame them.

This post is long. You have to click into it to see the message below to get the full idea. I am sorry but there was no way to make this short.
I will mostly ommit talking about how virtues affect the abilities right now since we have a virtue rework on the horizon already.

1. Reminder of how Ode Tempest works and its synergies:

  • (1) Seismor launches a "bowling ball" that collects enemies in a small AoE around it and explodes in the end.
  • (2) Astra Sphere drops a field on the ground that damages enemies once but also amplifies voltaic damage they take by 4x.
  • (3) Atmos Sphere redirects a single attack completely. When used inside Astra Sphere, redirected damage is applied to everyone within.
  • Passive: Lightning Strike Extra Voltaic damage on ground finishers.
  • Passive: Gravitate: Pressing E closes the gap to a nearby enemy.

This pact is focused on volatic damage and thus can generate a lot of stagger very quickly. This makes for a great synergy with Gravitate as you will find enemies open to finishers quite often.

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2. Problems I see with Ode Tempest

  1. It is trying to be a melee-focused pact. Just by looking at Astra & Atmos Sphere, I think the best strategy to play Ode Tempest quickly becomes apparent; Bait enemies into your Astra Sphere, pop a Atmos Sphere, forego parries and dodges (see problem 3). Having a pact be melee focused would in itself not be an issue if it wasn't for problem 2 (see below) and how this conflicts with Seismor as Seismor pushes enemies AWAY from you.
  2. Part of why it feels bad right now is because our voltaic options are limited. Our only consistent voltaic damage option currently is Odiac. A single, ranged, magick sidearm. There are runes, yes, but these are inconsistent to trigger and last only a short duration.
  3. The pact requires you to take damage to be played at full efficiency. This is a gripe I have with Mora's Hand too; If you know to time your dodges and parries well, 1/3rd of this pact's kit becomes irrelevant.
  4. People can't get past the nerfs. This is somewhat meta but lets be honest; A good chunk of the hate for Ode Tempest comes from people still being sour about the nerfs.
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3. Ideas

  1. Change Seismor to be "magnetic" to Astra Sphere. This would make it more useful as a grouping tool.
  2. Prevent enemies from leaving the radius of Astra Sphere. If idea 1 stood on its own, there would be nothing to stop the enemy AI to simply run out of the (frankly limited) range of Astra Sphere. And - since most of them are melee units and after using Seismor you are far away from them - that is exactly what they would do.
  3. Change the condition to trigger Astra Sphere's damage redirect from "Take damage" to "Perfect Parry". I think it would also be justified to amplify the damage redirect in this since perfect parries are hard to pull off.
  4. Increase Gravitate range. I am not sure how this will look after the tree arts system is removed but I think Gravitate should just be a default part of the kit with no required extra investment. It should also get an animation that provides more visual clarity on what it actually does.

Congratulations if you made it all the way down here! Your attention span isn't fried yet! Include a watermelon emoji in your reply. Just for the funny
Would love to hear thoughts

worthy cape
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I agree with a lot of this however I think that instead of only one perfect party, it should give immunity again for like 5 hits or something. I also think they need to change one of the passives to imbue voltaic damage to whatever weapon you are using. Something many players love about this game is the ability to use any weapon with any pact. It would be nice if the full kit didn't have to revolve around one singular weapon and it could create a unique feel to ode tempest. They could also change astra sphere to imbue your weapon with voltaic while in it as well as buff voltaic damage. This is a less fun option but still viable imo. I just feel like currently ode tempest doesn't do much when compared to other pacts bc you don't have any options for voltaic weapons and none of the abilities are actually useful.

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I'm a tethrin and oscelda main btw

tame crag
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Your ability descriptions are wrong. It was changed in P12.

Astra Sphere:
Volatic damage now multiplies all Stability damage delivered to enemies
Start-up cast now deals Stability damage

Atmos Sphere:
Drastically increases an Envoy’s armour instead of granting damage immunity
Reflected enemy strikes and Parries now deal significant Stability damage
Non-heavy enemies are prone to being knocked down when struck
Reflected enemy strikes now have a chance to incur Smite
Attacks absorbed or parried during Atmos Sphere reduce its duration
Attacks from the Agari further reduce its duration.

The design of the pact is to fix the "stagger meter" of enemies to open them up to finishers all the while increasing your defenses. In a regular fight against enemies Atmosphere lasts the entire battle and basically can stop you from taking damage.

shell thistle
tame crag
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I dont remember what in game descriptions say, but all enemies in the effect take way more stagger damange from any weapon you hit them with.

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You can fully stagger enemies with 1 to 2 hits and then doa finisher on them. Combine that with the Rat offense totema nd it literally destroys entire camps easily.

shell thistle
tame crag
worthy cape
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Oh right that nerf

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Oopsie daisy

shell thistle
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Well then I need to redraft this entire post

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[OUTDATED] Thoughts on Ode Tempest; A good pact at a bad time