Sprint upgrade?

[Cryptech]

I dont understand why they have an upgradable sprint function up to 7 skill points when you can buy adrenaline pills, does this make sense to anyone? Especially with only 50 points to play around with and no respecs, lol, it doesnt make sense.

[Strangelove]

you can run faster!!!!!

not that its useful or anything....

[Spearthrower]

There are a few sub-classes that really don't need many points.... and then I can see it being useful to a degree....

But generally, aside from a fun-based or specialised build, not much use.

When people start making dedicated characters to run certain bosses, it might become more useful to travel to your destination that much quicker thereby garnering a better reward for your time investment.... like say Beast of Abaddon runs while soloing where you need to run through 2 zones first.

[Sapphidia]

I actually always try to max sprint if I can, I've found it to be a surprisingly useful thing to have.

It's not just the extra speed, but the fact that you massively decrease the power cost. A 7/7 max sprint is very cheap, and can be used in the same way a blademaster might use Charge, or a Cabalist Blink (to a degree). It's not just about running through empty levels or past mobs, I honestly find a maxed sprint to be a truly useful addition to my combat arsenal.

It's about relocation. Find a spot, shoot things, rapid sprint to the next spot, shoot until they get closer, sprint etc. It makes bosses an absolute breeze if you have enough space - you can keep kiting them forever and they'll never hit you.

Sprint rank 1 is pretty useless. The speed boost isnt big enough for it to make a difference, and the mana cost is quite high to use a lot in combat. Don't base the usefulness of a rank 7 sprint off rank 1 - rank 7 is a viable combat "teleportation" skill. It's also fun! I find it makes my characters a lot "easier" to play.

I can understand a lot of classes don't have many points to spend, but even rank 4-5 sprint is a significant difference. I'd urge anyone with some spare points that they were planning on dumping into a naff secondary skill somewhere to consider at least trying a few in sprint. Most people who say "wow, that sucks" simply havent ever tried upgrading it and using it constantly in combat for mobility.

Rank 1 is rubbish. Rank 7 is very useful.

[Spearthrower]

This is one time where shields have some value too, as you wont get knocked out of sprint if your shield bears the brunt of the hit.

[Sapphidia]

Yep, sprint is definitely more useful to ranged shields-based characters, but I've even found it handy on templars as an additional charge. Even if Imp Sniper hits knock you out of sprint, sometimes you just want to get right up next to them, and having a 200% speed boost on a shift key that doesnt drain any significant mana is great.

Regarding combat kiting, and the ability to run from a boss mob, stop, fire, sprint away when it gets close, the difference is in the time. If you try to rank 1 sprint away from a melee boss, you're lucky to be able to turn and get two shots in before the boss is at you. With rank 7 you'll outrange it in a split second and be able to pour a lot more firepower into it before you have to move again.

[Spearthrower]

Sounds good Sapphy - I'll try it when I get round to play a kiting character..... only true ranged I've played so far is a Gun Guardian..... and aside from strafing, he normally stays still (anchored) when something wanders up! :D

[Tsuyu]

Meh. For my Marksman, Escape+Rank 1 Sprint does the trick 99% of the time anyway...

[Cryptech]

Ok, its starting to make more sense. So if you upgrade ur sprint its less power cost, thats good. Now are you able to sprint farther or is distance merely a byproduct of speed? Also, at the higher levels are you able to use Sprint more frequently or is it always the same waiting time for recharge?

[Sapphidia]

Ok, its starting to make more sense. So if you upgrade ur sprint its less power cost, thats good. Now are you able to sprint farther or is distance merely a byproduct of speed? Also, at the higher levels are you able to use Sprint more frequently or is it always the same waiting time for recharge?
You can still only use it once per 5 second interval, or whatever the cooldown is. All that upgrades is the speed boost and the power cost.

Bear in mind that the power cost of rank 7 sprint is -half- that of rank 1, so it doesnt interfere anywhere near as much with your combat power supply. It just makes it a lot easier to weave in between normal combat moves, rather than being something that drains you.

And yes, the duration lasts the same, but the difference between a 100% speed boost and 200% speed boost is sizeable in the amount of distance you can travel in that time. Mostly though, it's about the distance you can put between you and a monster that is chasing you. At 100% speed sprint you're lucky to be more than a few feet away from something nasty chasing, whereas at rank 7 you basically end up about 50 yards away if you sprint from anything at all.

Upgrading sprint makes it a serious viable combat move. You start to see the usefulness at about rank 4 in it. Maybe not fully necessary to get rank 6 or 7 (indeed, rank 7 is so fast it's almost hard to control where you're going and not fire yourself unceremoniously into a wall!) but it's incredibly useful all the same.

[Spearthrower]

It's definitely an important tactic with certain character builds. The ability to out-manouvre, redeploy and choose your killing ground is very important.

It makes me think back to my Barbarian thrower in D2! ;)

I think the safest way to say this is, if you have spare points on your build - this is a solid place to put them. If mobility is an important part of your arsenal, it's worth adding some points here.