Hi,
Currently I have a Mage build going the direction of lightning damage. So I skilled Elemental Nova down to Lightning Nova and tested the channeling nodes. This skill specialisation feels great. The channeling ability adds massive damage output to the nova. But the increased damage is so far superior to all other skills, that I end up not using any other skill anymore. In comparison to lightning strike I am killing enemies 3-4 times as fast. The mana drain does not compensate for this. Killing time is faster even if I cast until oom, channel mana regeneration (can’t remember the skill name - shame on me) and channel nova again. I don’t complain about the huge damage output of the Lightning Nova. I think other skills like Lighning strike could use a buff in damage or some utility additions that makes it worth to use. Right now I would not use Lighning Strike in a Lightning build because there is absolutely no need for it.
Lightning Nova Visuals:
It would be great to have a different sound for when the overload procs. As soon as I unlock procs for my skills I want to notice when they activate. I find it hard to recognize the overload. The aoe is slightly increased but that’s not very noticeable.
The Lightning Nova’s effect is very bright and flashy. Its glaring effects make me squint. Especially when I am getting tired I have to stop playing or switch characters. Imho the effects needs to be nerfed
Leveling with nova is a lot of fun and yes using focus Is a great tool to regen mana albeit at the cost of movement and damage. What level are you currently ? The reason I ask is that unless the damage output changed with nova in relation to other skills it actually becomes much weaker for single target damage as you get higher level. In all of my arena and late game builds nova has the lowest output compared to the other classes (by a significant margin actually). I still use it as my main skill in arenas for the control but at a very high cost of lower damage output compared to other skills. It is a ton of fun to level with though . As for lightning strike I only messed around with it for a while and yes it’s output is low especially while leveling .
My mage is around lvl 30+ right now, I forgot to mention. So I am still leveling my way through the story. My impressions come from the moment I skilled that one node that makes lighning nova a channeled ability (right side of the skilltree). As I read in the patch history this node was implemented with patch 0.7.2 in August '19. So it’s not new.
Before this the nova was ok and fun. By activating the channeling ability the damage output seemed to explode. It was truly a “wow” effect.
Sad to hear this skill can’t compete with others lategame.
Oh it competes and is an incredible skill . I feel it’s the best skill to use in arena for mage. The damage is just low but the control you have with it is the best in game in my opinion . So I suck it up with the lower damage but understand why they have it where they do. If they increased the damage too much more it would be even more op than it is now.
Thanks for the feedback, specifically on the visuals. I actually adjusted the vfx to be less bright just a couple days ago (right after the patch launched). I’ll take another look and see if there’s anything else I can do to it.
Especially when I am getting tired I have to stop playing or switch characters. Imho the effects needs to be nerfed 
