Direct damage is any damage that happens instantaneously rather than over time.
Fetcher Infection deals X damage over 10 seconds - DoT
Elemental Blockade deals X damage per second for 8 seconds - DoT
Light attacks deal 1 tick of damage instantly - Direct
Funnel Health deals 1 tick of damage instantly - Direct
Force Pulse deals 3 ticks of damage instantly - 3x Direct
Also for people saying that Acuity is useless now, it really isn't. The set is still significantly stronger than Julianos (at least in PvE), simply because of the fact that it can be single barred and still be just as effective, whereas if you single bar something like Julianos your damage suffers while you aren't on that bar.
15% on direct damage is still a pretty high proc rate if you use the right skills
For example, if you have a perfected asylum staff you can fit 10-11 proc chances into a 2 second window:
1: Light attack + Force Pulse + enchant proc = 5 direct damage hits
2: Light attack + Perfected Force Pulse = 6 direct damage hits
Meaning in that 2 second window, there's an 1 - 0.85^11 = 83.3% chance that Acuity will proc. So simply using the asylum staff means that 2 consecutive force pulses will proc acuity 5 out of 6 times.
Using something like Funnel Health instead obviously lowers the chances that you'll see a proc in the same window, but it'd still be:
1: Light attack + Funnel Health + enchant proc = 3 direct damage hits
2: Light attack + Funnel Health = 2 direct damage hits
In the same 2s window, you have a 56% chance to proc Acuity - still more likely that it will proc than not, simply from 2 LA weaves.
Don't be surprised to see Acuity still BiS next patch.
Direct damage is any damage that has an instant hit. So channelled abilities are not direct damage, wall of elements isn't direct damage.
Any aoe that does damage per second is not direct damage.
With Dots it's different. If the tool tip says: "deals X damage AND X damage every 1 sec over 10 seconds" then that first damage tick is a direct damage, but not the ticks over time.
So all in all, it's basically to stop the proc by using aoes on large groups.
"Item Sets
Mechanical Acuity: This item set now only procs on direct damage instead of all damage."
Meaning single target only, or non-DoTs, or both?
If it excludes dots, that isn't a nerf, its an execution. DKs will no longer be able to even think about touching this set.
Septimus_Magna wrote: »Acuity was an absolute no-brainer on every class, I think this nerf will make it more situational. If you use Force Pulse, Jabs or Rapid Strikes the up-time will probably be enough to make it worth using over Julianos/Hundings.