They're in two separate categories, and you have plenty of crit starting at around 16 or so once you have access to frames.
Funny how you first started your claims with "midway to late Act 1" when you won't be higher than level 8 at the end of Act 1.
It's pretty clear that you either don't play the game, don't read what is actually being written before spitting out hypotheticals, or you don't even actually believe your own words.
It's been well established by practically everyone other than you for some reason that
non Lone Wolf elemental casters aren't in a good place at all early on, and they don't start to feel anything other than weak compared to the other builds until midway through Act 2.
You then proceed to try to explain that everyone is wrong and should just "git gud" and draw out your flowcharts for early game that don't even work for the early game and then backpedal that you meant later on anyway.
This for example:
Pre-Level 8
2 Geo, 2 in Poly, 1 Scoundrel, X in Pyro.
You need, at minimum, 8 slots. So one point in Memory.
Impalement - ~61-68
Flesh Sacrifice
Fireball - 75-83
-Environmental (double surface proc, once from fireball, once from oil) - 36
Nova - 131-145
Adrenaline
Searing Daggers - 21-23
Medusa Active - 46
So you're saying the above has no chance of CCing anyone? And that it isn't possible at level 8? And that it requires too many points? That's, by the way, a Glass Cannon build. Medusa active could be replaced with a grenade or sleep or whatever you want if you don't want to pre-cast it.
Doesn't happen in a single turn before level 8. It doesn't even happen closely after level 8.
Good luck doing even 75 damage with your Fireball at level 7 with only 2-4 in Pyromancy and 20 INT. Supernova doesn't hit remotely that hard either at that level and neither do Searing Daggers. On top of everything else, that entire sequence costs 11 AP without precasting (which again isn't reliable at all due to spacing) and the max you can get with a non Lone Wolf character is 7 AP without Glass Cannon (which is way more risk than reward at that level). You still can only even get 9 AP
with Glass Cannon.
Does this include you casting Fireball on top of yourself to take advantage of Elemental Affinity? Or does the "real single turn" happen on the second turn once flames are on the ground and you spend AP to move on top of them? Oh wait, that's right. You have The Pawn, to go along with Elemental Affinity and Glass Cannon by level 7. My bad.
Finally, even if this hypothetical and wholly unreliable and unrealistic sequence works, you have zero left in the tank to do anything for many turns after. This is your proof that everything is fine, and that elemental casters are comparable, if not superior?
OK.
Do us all a favor and go play the game to see that this doesn't work in a non Lone Wolf build. Lone Wolf seems to be the panacea logic behind X build being fine around here, while simultaneously dismissing what other builds can do with it as well. Lone Wolf may as well be an easy mode buff.
