Destructive Clench (Flame Staff) What is the actual damage over time?

MythicSnake · January 2019

I'm trying to make an informed decision about whether to morph to Destructive Clench or Destructive Reach, but the info box doesn't actually give me enough information.

For Destructive Clench, it says:

Devastate an enemy with an enhanced charge
from your staff, dealing 2763 Magic Damage
and an additional 4575 Magic Damage over
8 seconds.
Also applies an effect based on your staff's attack element.
Flame Clench knocks back the enemy and deals more damage over time.
Frost Clench immobilizes the enemy for longer.
Shock Clench stuns the enemy and deals damage to nearby enemies.

So one thing I notice is that the base amount of DOT goes DOWN from 4590 to 4575 once morphed (for both morphs), which is weird. But then it says under flame staff that it deals "more damage over time" but doesn't give the amount. Can someone confirm what the actual DOT is for a flame staff with Destructive Clench activated?

KhajiitFelix · January 2019

Nvm I think I also like potatoes.

Savos_Saren · January 2019

MythicSnake wrote: »

I'm trying to make an informed decision about whether to morph to Destructive Clench or Destructive Reach, but the info box doesn't actually give me enough information.

For Destructive Clench, it says:
Devastate an enemy with an enhanced charge
from your staff, dealing 2763 Magic Damage
and an additional 4575 Magic Damage over
8 seconds.
Also applies an effect based on your staff's attack element.
Flame Clench knocks back the enemy and deals more damage over time.
Frost Clench immobilizes the enemy for longer.
Shock Clench stuns the enemy and deals damage to nearby enemies.

So one thing I notice is that the base amount of DOT goes DOWN from 4590 to 4575 once morphed (for both morphs), which is weird. But then it says under flame staff that it deals "more damage over time" but doesn't give the amount. Can someone confirm what the actual DOT is for a flame staff with Destructive Clench activated?

Perhaps the dot goes down slightly because it’s now at tier 1. It should get much stronger as it increases to tier 4.

MythicSnake · January 2019

But does anybody know what the "more damage over time" amount is?

antihero727 · January 2019

It depends on a lot of factors such as CP, Spell Damage, max magica and so forth. My avg increase is 600 per tick roughly but seems reach is less buggy and easier to shoot. Especially in PvP where lag can make distance vary greatly

WrathOfInnos · January 2019

It’s not much, looks like about a 6% increase on the DoT damage. I would go with Reach for an Inferno Staff.

Emma_Overload · January 2019

This is a trick question! You know what the answer is?

ZERO.

Yeah, you heard me. The dot only starts 2 seconds after the initial cast, so if you are spamming it like a typical Reach Sorc, you are NEVER going to get the dot! You know why? Because Reach overwrites itself on every cast!

What a dumb design...

MythicSnake · January 2019

Thanks! I wasn't sure how the mechanics worked. It sounds like Reach and Clench both have some faults, but if Reach is less buggy I might go with that one.

Minno · January 2019

Clench also looks like a light attack. Reach looks like a giant fire clam. Unless you are fightinga do with wings, you are going to want the extra dot to punish builds that want to block the cc attempt. Plus they will have a harder time seeing it.

Pdoherty4637_ESO · January 2019

I'm not sure of the exact numbers or percentage for flame clench as I use shock clench for the AoE, but the tooltip does not change value if you look at it in your destruction staff skill window, you have to hover over the ability on your actual character skill bar, and that tooltip will be correct.