Should DoT abilities deal damage ticks based on cast bar or current bar?

Avran_Sylt

Say for Volley, or Wall of elements.
Should abilities like these have the damage change if you swap to another bar, or should their damage remain the same as the bar from which they were cast?

Should they calculate the damage from when they were cast, or should they calculate damage from what you currently have?

Slick_007

They should calculate from when they were cast

when they were cast because you are no longer actively casting it therefore whatever magic/poison etc it will use to tick is already on the target.

DocFrost72

Volley and wall of elements already work on whatever bar you're using. The way to tell is if it is an AOE dot, it works on equipped bar. Single target dots (vampire's bane, poison inject) work on your casting bar.

STEVIL

Other

As I understand it now if it is a placed effect it uses current, if it is a targeted effect vs a target that then sticks to them, it uses at cast.

I have no problem with that distinction.

IcyDeadPeople

They should calculate from when they were cast

Yeah the change is a bit counterintuitive because it made sense before that your staff's enchantment or poison was already on the wall of elements attack that you fired. Now, if you switch to sword & shield bar, it's proccing your sword enchantment, even though your sword is not hitting anything.

Not omplaining because it is a lot easier for me to find the trait I want on sword or axe compared to destro staff, but it is counterintuitive.

Merlin13KAGL

Other

The initial spell/weapon damage should be used as the baseline at the moment of cast.

However, if there is a passive on the now active bar that would increase subsequent effects, then it should also register.

Increasing AoE damage or DoT damage should apply, for instance. Increased damage from gaining Major Brutality/Sorcery should not.

MarzAttakz

They should calculate from when they were cast

Would ease up one aspect of the dynamic server calculations if all dots didn't have to recalculate the damage values based on the bar the caster is on at the moment of the tick, would only need to factor in dynamic defensive conditions on the target.

TheShadowScout

They should calculate from when they were cast

Why would it recalculate when switching bars after its been cast? Why would a poison that has already been delivered per arrow into the targets circulatory system for example get stronger when you switch from your bow to your dual wield with posion set bonus?

Set the DoT at cast, then let it tick.
If a new DoT gets applied, calculate anew with whatever bar is active when its cast.

Amdar_Godkiller

I Don't Care

Don't care one way or another because I'll adapt; but whether it applies to the active bar or the initial bar should be indicated on the tooltip. Hidden game mechanics are annoying.

Slick_007

They should calculate from when they were cast

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

The initial spell/weapon damage should be used as the baseline at the moment of cast.

However, if there is a passive on the now active bar that would increase subsequent effects, then it should also register.

Increasing AoE damage or DoT damage should apply, for instance. Increased damage from gaining Major Brutality/Sorcery should not.

this will lead to abuse. players will have a weak combat bar for casting dots, then switch to something that simply ups the damage while likely going afk since the abilities on this bar will be poor for combat in general but up the dot damage

Merlin13KAGL

Other

@Slick_007 , there's always one bar that's going to be weaker than the other, in some fashion, whether due to buffs, stats, or raw damage.

Your Endless Hail shouldn't suddenly get a buff from the fact that you just swapped to higher stat DW, but in the instance of staves swapping to Lightning (which gives buff to AoE damage) should.

I'm not sure what scenarios a player would be going AFK in combat, other than at dolmens. I'm equally not sure why the bar or the abilities would be purposely setup as 'weak' or 'poor?'

Any casted skill would still have its basis in the original stats. There are some scenarios/passives that could still reasonably apply after the fact, such as Engulfing Flames.

RoyJade

They should calculate from when they were cast

I really think all damage should be calculated at the moment you use your skill, even if you gain a buff after casting it. It should apply from bar switching but also for buff, passives (even such as lightning staff's one) and other.

It would lead to some interesting combination with the switch, such as a set who increase a specific type of damage on the offbar while having a different set on front, or using different types of skill strategically (aoe on light offbar with single on main fire, infused damage bow with dots on offbar while keeping pure offensive enchant on main bar…).
The only downside would be that skills used from ow bar would be significantly weaker, which is a problem (at least for non-bow skills). In order to counter the problem, bow damage should be increased to 2H value, even if some bow skills would need a reduced damage tooltip at the same time.