The move set changes to the Ironhelm thunder hammer are awesome.
Especially the consistency between powered and unpowered state are game changing. It is utterly addicting to play the weapon now. I tried it in the new mission and had a blast.
I still want using the special to not break your combo chain on the Ironhelm. Currently you cannot H1->H2->Special->H3 or Special->H1->Special->H2, doing so will reset the chain. I would like it to be possible because 1)consistency as you can L1->L2->Special->H3 and 2)versatility because H1/2 originates from different sides and sometimes you need that (for instance if you’re stage left of a Bulwark you’ll never be able to land a special from neutral [unless you do the agonizingly LONG skip to H3] because both the light and heavy will hit the shield).
I totally understand to want it and to not want it. I will focus on the why not:
A special charged strike is the game’s most devastating attack after which you even have a (very small) self stun. So being able to flow to the next attack in your combo feels wrong. To copy @Index 's style: “wenn ich komme macht es Bamm!”.
I could however argue for being able to combo if, especially on Ironhelm, your special charged attack does not meet its cleave limit and thus does not explode, then you could flow into the next combo.
This works with light attacks and push attacks. So just go H1->L2->Special->H3 or PA->L2->Special->H3 or L1->L2->Special->H3.
It is weird if it does not work with heavy attacks especially, but I think I registered it as well while playing. Makes horde clearing easier though so I would not want it changed.
I haven’t tried Ironhelm in game yet, but I had a lot of fun with Crucis over the last few days. I used to play with 2 handed hammer back in VT1 a lot, but I never warmed up to TH in DT…until now. Crucis feels better than at the launch, the mini stagger you feel when you land the blow isn’t a massive problem, and light attacks actually feel useful. A very solid pick for maps where you expect trouble with bosses / monsters / Rituals.
Yep, I saw this video already. I tried a game over the weekend with Headtaker + Trauma, but spent the whole game wishing that I was just doing more damage. Maybe Trauma is better for Crucis specifically (as it is used in this video) because Crucis has inherently higher damage and stagger and may not need another damage blessing as much as Ironhelm. I played a few with Headtaker + Slaughterer, which felt pretty good. Maybe Trauma shines more on Havok, which I mostly avoid.
Are people still using Thrust on Ironhelm? I find myself playing a bit faster and not holding all my heavy attacks for full Thrust stacks with Ironhelm, so I thought it may not be as worth it now. On the other hand, Ironhelm does less big bonk damage than Crucis, so maybe Thrust is still necessary for breakpoints on Ironhelm but not on Crucis?
Is anyone using Skullcrusher? If so, what are you pairing it with?
I’ve been running Headtaker+Shock and Awe. The extra cleave feels really nice, do note this is for H40 though so the extra cleave might not be needed elsewhere.
I think the question is: what do you want to use skullcrusher for? Bosses? Zealot isn’t going to be staggering monsters to apply it. Not like ogryn, arbitrator, or even veteran can do. Makes it kinda eh outside of captains unless you’re explicitly working with a teammate to set it up. And any of those teammates could easily bring their own skullcrusher for that.
Do you want it for elites? Ok, it seems to me you’re just replacing headtaker with skullcrusher. Because you don’t need two damage blessings to kill anything smaller than a h40 crusher. And you aren’t going to be staggering an h40 crusher without an impact blessing. But are you actually gaining anything from the swap? With just holy tools and innate thrust you’re already two tapping h40 crushers with the crucis. Or doing 90% of their health with the ironhelm. Is the time difference in killing elites possibly a bit faster worth the trade off in boss dps? Maybe, but it seems to be of unclear value without a lot of testing .
I find myself using the special less on the Ironhelm so it’s nice to be able to swing through Mauler bodies (and more enemies in general). It’s likely not optimal as I haven’t played much (and most of the games I did play were Rotten Armor, so mileage may vary) and done actual comparisons, it’s very much just a “feels good” thing. I do remember doing some testing a long time ago and Shock and Awe allowed you to swing through and kill substantially more chaff. Personally I’ve always liked Shock and Awe, but the cleave damage on TH was always lacking and Headtaker+Thrust felt pretty mandatory on it.
And yes, I realize I should probably be playing the new Crusher if I’m playing like this, but Ironhelm is finally not a meme weapon again and the Crusher isn’t the iconic Thunderhammer.