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What is Direct Damage?

FlopsyPrince
FlopsyPrince
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Several buffs specify "direct damage". What exactly is that? What other kinds of damage exist (DOTs I assume are one.)

What about applying the sorc buff to your weapon, does that count as direct damage when used?
PC
PS4/PS5
  • Lintashi
    Lintashi
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    As far as I understand it, direct damage is all damage, that is not dot. So if damage ability hits once, including light attacks, it is direct damage. For me (necro main) direct damage is flying skull spammable.
  • virtus753
    virtus753
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    Direct damage is the opposite of damage over time.
    Area of effect is the opposite of single-target.
    Magical is the opposite of martial.
    Melee is the opposite of ranged.

    A skill or proc set’s damage component will be one or the other within each category above. That means you can have AoE direct, single-target direct, AoE DoT, and single-target DoT damage (plus each combination of magical/martial and melee/ranged on top of that). For example, Relequen’s Harmful Winds effect is a single-target DoT, while Templar’s Biting Jabs is AoE direct damage.

    Most light and heavy attacks are direct, but some staff heavies include DoTs.

    Many skills have been variously designated as direct vs DoT throughout the game’s history. For example, Templar’s jabs were formerly a DoT but have been direct now for several years; same with Flurry. Some skills, like Poison Injection and Dawnbreaker, have an upfront direct damage component followed by a DoT. These will be distinguished in the tooltip, as each component has a separate damage number.

    The best way to know for sure whether a given skill (or component) is direct or DoT is to see which CP stars affect its damage. If its damage increases with Master at Arms, the game considers it direct; if it is buffed by Thaumaturge, it is a DoT. For skills that have a direct damage component followed by a DoT component, each CP star will buff its respective part of the ability. When doing this testing, be sure to use the abilities and make note of the actual damage done in scrolling combat text or an add-on like Combat Metrics. Unfortunately some tooltips are (or at least have been) bugged so they do not reflect the extra damage provided by the CP stars (especially Master at Arms) and so may not be reliable indicators.

    Magical vs martial is easier to tell because magical covers elemental damage like shock, lightning, fire/flame, and ice; martial covers the “stam”-oriented categories: physical, disease, poison, and bleed.
    Edited by virtus753 on November 7, 2021 6:07AM
  • Vevvev
    Vevvev
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    Lintashi wrote: »
    As far as I understand it, direct damage is all damage, that is not dot. So if damage ability hits once, including light attacks, it is direct damage. For me (necro main) direct damage is flying skull spammable.

    ^ This

    The dichotomy is Direct vs Damage over Time, and Single Target vs Area of Effect. There are also channeled vs instant cast, and ranged vs melee channeled but these don't come up as often.
    PC NA - Ceyanna Ashton - Breton Vampire MagDK
  • virtus753
    virtus753
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    Vevvev wrote: »
    Lintashi wrote: »
    As far as I understand it, direct damage is all damage, that is not dot. So if damage ability hits once, including light attacks, it is direct damage. For me (necro main) direct damage is flying skull spammable.

    ^ This

    The dichotomy is Direct vs Damage over Time, and Single Target vs Area of Effect. There are also channeled vs instant cast, and ranged vs melee channeled but these don't come up as often.

    There’s more than just channeled vs. instant cast, though: jabs is channeled (just a hair under 1 second channel time), Dawnbreaker is non-instant cast (0.4 second cast time, but not channeled), and many non-ultimates are instant cast without channel (trap, power of the light, etc.).

    ETA: Channel and cast also aren’t damage types exactly. There are very few things that can affect the damage of skills differently on the basis of channeled vs. non-channeled. The only example that comes immediately to mind is Deadly Strike, and the channel qualification there was carved out specifically to cover jabs when it stopped being a DoT. (It also applies to Radiant Destruction now that the set has been hybridized, but that’s much more recent.)
    Edited by virtus753 on November 7, 2021 6:16AM
  • Umbro100
    Umbro100
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    virtus753 wrote: »
    Vevvev wrote: »
    Lintashi wrote: »
    As far as I understand it, direct damage is all damage, that is not dot. So if damage ability hits once, including light attacks, it is direct damage. For me (necro main) direct damage is flying skull spammable.

    ^ This

    The dichotomy is Direct vs Damage over Time, and Single Target vs Area of Effect. There are also channeled vs instant cast, and ranged vs melee channeled but these don't come up as often.

    There’s more than just channeled vs. instant cast, though: jabs is channeled (just a hair under 1 second channel time), Dawnbreaker is non-instant cast (0.4 second cast time, but not channeled), and many non-ultimates are instant cast without channel (trap, power of the light, etc.).

    ETA: Channel and cast also aren’t damage types exactly. There are very few things that can affect the damage of skills differently on the basis of channeled vs. non-channeled. The only example that comes immediately to mind is Deadly Strike, and the channel qualification there was carved out specifically to cover jabs when it stopped being a DoT. (It also applies to Radiant Destruction now that the set has been hybridized, but that’s much more recent.)

    so, someone made a terrible complicated sistem that needs a nasa computer to calculate each skill/ hit/ damage and then employed the hamsters to do the actual work :)
  • DinoZavr
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    There is a beautiful spreadsheet by @NutellaPancakes specifying which star affects what ability: https://prnt.sc/14iv2v4
    PC EU
  • Hallothiel
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    Why can’t it just say what it is in the info about the skill in the game?!

    (I’ve looked, and unless I am going mad, can’t find anything even resembling anything helpful)
  • Rugby_hook
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    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Why can’t it just say what it is in the info about the skill in the game?!

    (I’ve looked, and unless I am going mad, can’t find anything even resembling anything helpful)

    Agreed. The tool tips should be updated to use their terminology so it doesn't take guess work.
  • Kiralyn2000
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    Rugby_hook wrote: »
    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Why can’t it just say what it is in the info about the skill in the game?!

    (I’ve looked, and unless I am going mad, can’t find anything even resembling anything helpful)

    Agreed. The tool tips should be updated to use their terminology so it doesn't take guess work.

    Or, like skill gems in Path of Exile, each skill could have a small-text line at the top or bottom of it's description, with the keywords that apply to that skill. Like "Direct, single target, channeled, fire"
  • perfiction
    perfiction
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    Rugby_hook wrote: »
    Agreed. The tool tips should be updated to use their terminology so it doesn't take guess work.

    And skills should be updated to match the tooltip information, example: sorc's lightning splash (and its morphs) has 'instant' cast time according to tooltip but in reality it takes ~1.5-2 seconds from key press to actual skill effect and damage.

  • Amottica
    Amottica
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    perfiction wrote: »
    Rugby_hook wrote: »
    Agreed. The tool tips should be updated to use their terminology so it doesn't take guess work.

    And skills should be updated to match the tooltip information, example: sorc's lightning splash (and its morphs) has 'instant' cast time according to tooltip but in reality it takes ~1.5-2 seconds from key press to actual skill effect and damage.

    It is technically instant. It just has a long animation.
  • FlopsyPrince
    FlopsyPrince
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    What set me onto this question was the CP points item(s) that talks about direct damage as well as the passive buff that talks about directly applied direct damage for the Dark Magic sorceror line. Does the "Imbue weapon" count for that?

    The "Blood Magic" passive and the Crystal Weapon morph.
    PC
    PS4/PS5
  • JJOtterBear
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    they should just change the name from Direct Damage to "Instant Damage" vs Damage over Time
  • Hotdog_23
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    If only the skill tool tips would have an expanded section we could look at that would tell what kind of damage each skills was. Power to the players and not hidden guess work.

    Stay safe :)
  • EF321
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    they should just change the name from Direct Damage to "Instant Damage" vs Damage over Time

    How confusing will that be with shalks/curse/etc
  • Xebov
    Xebov
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    Its realtively easy:

    Direct Damage -> I shoot at you and you take damage.
    DOT Damage -> I shoot at you and you take recuring damage for some time.

    AOE Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you and your friend next to you.
    Single Target Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you, but not your friend next to you.

    All skills in the game are a combination of 2 of these entries. Its always 1 from the first 2 and 1 from the second 2.
  • Hallothiel
    Hallothiel
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    Xebov wrote: »
    Its realtively easy:

    Direct Damage -> I shoot at you and you take damage.
    DOT Damage -> I shoot at you and you take recuring damage for some time.

    AOE Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you and your friend next to you.
    Single Target Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you, but not your friend next to you.

    All skills in the game are a combination of 2 of these entries. Its always 1 from the first 2 and 1 from the second 2.

    Yes, but it would be nice if the game actually told us which skills were which.

    (And channelled? What is that?!)
  • Naftal
    Naftal
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    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Xebov wrote: »
    Its realtively easy:

    Direct Damage -> I shoot at you and you take damage.
    DOT Damage -> I shoot at you and you take recuring damage for some time.

    AOE Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you and your friend next to you.
    Single Target Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you, but not your friend next to you.

    All skills in the game are a combination of 2 of these entries. Its always 1 from the first 2 and 1 from the second 2.

    (And channelled? What is that?!)

    Skills that have channel time.
  • Hallothiel
    Hallothiel
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    Naftal wrote: »
    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Xebov wrote: »
    Its realtively easy:

    Direct Damage -> I shoot at you and you take damage.
    DOT Damage -> I shoot at you and you take recuring damage for some time.

    AOE Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you and your friend next to you.
    Single Target Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you, but not your friend next to you.

    All skills in the game are a combination of 2 of these entries. Its always 1 from the first 2 and 1 from the second 2.

    (And channelled? What is that?!)

    Skills that have channel time.

    And what is channel time?
  • Ippokrates
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    Naftal wrote: »
    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Xebov wrote: »
    Its realtively easy:

    Direct Damage -> I shoot at you and you take damage.
    DOT Damage -> I shoot at you and you take recuring damage for some time.

    AOE Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you and your friend next to you.
    Single Target Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you, but not your friend next to you.

    All skills in the game are a combination of 2 of these entries. Its always 1 from the first 2 and 1 from the second 2.

    (And channelled? What is that?!)

    Skills that have channel time.

    Not to mess with "cast time".

    Instant - pressing button and skill hit, you do other stuff.

    Cast time - pressing button and after 0.4-0.8 sec. skill hit enemy, unless you are being interrupted or roll, then you are losing this skill.

    Channeling - pressing button, you are starting damaging or healing target with "ticks" every fraction of second, but if you will do anything else, your ticks will immediately stop working.
  • Naftal
    Naftal
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    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Naftal wrote: »
    Hallothiel wrote: »
    Xebov wrote: »
    Its realtively easy:

    Direct Damage -> I shoot at you and you take damage.
    DOT Damage -> I shoot at you and you take recuring damage for some time.

    AOE Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you and your friend next to you.
    Single Target Damage -> I shoot at you and hit you, but not your friend next to you.

    All skills in the game are a combination of 2 of these entries. Its always 1 from the first 2 and 1 from the second 2.

    (And channelled? What is that?!)

    Skills that have channel time.

    And what is channel time?

    The time it takes to channel the ability. The game tells you these things if you look at ability tooltips. They have either "cast time" or "channel time".
  • daim
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    They could add colormarking/icons on the skill descriptions about what damage the skill does to make it more clear and easily seen (to support the CP system). It's kinda annoying that I have to go swapping CP points back and forth to see if my skill is affected. I still have trouble with this sometimes even that I have played for a quite long while.

    I dont think there's even addon that does this ?
    ""I am that which grips the heart in fright, hearkens night and silences the light." It was written on my sword, long…long ago." ―Ajunta Pall
    PC|EU
  • FlopsyPrince
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    Direct damage ones kill the "wildlife" around, while others do not?

    What does "directly applied mean" in the case of Crystal Weapons?
    PC
    PS4/PS5
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