Please Define "Direct Damage"

Tyrobag · May 2018

"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.

red_emu · May 2018

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.

red_emu · May 2018

This set might be great, but every 18 seconds and a 5 second window is really hard to work with in an intense battle situation. This nerf was completely uncalled for.

RoyJade · May 2018

Theoretically, each non-dot skill is a direct damage. Note that most dot has a single damage component at their beginning (embers, engulfing, eruption), and some ground based aoe dot also sometimes count their first hit as a direct hit (but it seem to disappears, it's less and less true, see Laksitus topic for more details).
Aoe who hit the enemy only one time (leap, pulsar...) also are direct damage.

DK has mostly the same number of direct damage input as everyone (two per GCD except when casting standard, wall of fire and buffs), only force pulse users has more (four in one GCD when casting force pulse).

Excaltic · May 2018

Don't bother with Mechanical Acuity anymore, ZOS deleted this set from the game.

Now everyone and their mother is back to Julianos like the last 3 years!! BOOOORRING!!

ESO: 200 item sets - only 10 of them are usefull... :')

Feanor · May 2018

We have been asking for an official clarification of the various damage types for years now. In some cases I suspect not even the devs really know...

LZH · May 2018

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.

Rjizzle09 · May 2018

LZH wrote: »

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.

You said it way better than i have, but ive been telling people this after testing it for myself. I barely see a difference from what it did previously.

Alcast · May 2018

@Tyrobag Most DK DoTs have a direct damage component attached to it at the impact hit.

@LZH I found it to be still really strong on Nightblades. on other classes I am prolly gonna roll Siroria & Spellweave. Main issue with the change now is that sometimes it procs after you weave spammables, thus missing the big damage window when all DoTs are up + spammable.

Well tbh, as long as you have Siroria or Relequen set next patch you good to go with anything else anyway lol, those two sets are so strong.
https://eso-sets.com/set/perfect-mantle-of-siroria
https://eso-sets.com/set/perfect-arms-of-relequen
And for some reason, Siroria even procs on Shock Heavy attacks, despite it saying Direct Damage single target ability.

Anyway, I am still laughing because ZOS is starting to create more and more sets with additional bonus which makes most others obsolete. Look at Chudan, at this point its basically a five piece set, look at perfect version of the new sets, so much more bonus than most other 5 piece sets.

Brrrofski · May 2018

The uptime will only drop by a small amount if you weave properly.

If you're not weaving light attacks in between everything then it probably doesn't matter what gear you use anyway as you are far from maximising your dps as it is.

TheRealPotoroo · May 2018

red_emu wrote: »

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.

I wonder how many years of complaining would it take to get them to rename it to something clear and unambiguous, like Instant Damage or Immediate Damage. Direct does not mean what they think it means.

Septimus_Magna · May 2018

Tyrobag wrote: »

"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.

Are you talking about stam or mag DK?

I read about a guy who tested Acuity on the PTS( with his stamblade I believe) and he got 22% up-time instead of 25%.

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.

RoyJade · May 2018

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.

Jabs and rapids are dots, so we need to test if they actually proc acuity or not (since acuity, as scathing, seem to proc on some dot).

HuawaSepp · May 2018

I ask myself if it's wisely to choose force pulse over strife or elemental weapon as magblade in cloudrest.
Could not test that myself so maybe one here got an answer.

Moushen · May 2018

Is steel tornado dd?

Waffennacht · May 2018

Plus weaving!

RoyJade · May 2018

Moushen wrote: »

Is steel tornado dd?

Yep. Basically, all skill who hit one time per enemy per cast (so no "x damage per second" or "x damage in y second") is direct, with a few exception.