Please explain DoT damage

[Crusader]

I previously started a thread asking about Druid DoT spells being nerfed...evidently the DoT spells apply to all classes/races, so could you please clarify how the DoT works.

According to the patch notes sited on this forum..an 18 sec rule is controlling on the amount of damage done by a DoT. Let me pose some scenarios and hopefully you (the devs) can explain how damage on the monster is assessed:

If you snare, then DoT, till the monster dies and it takes you more than 18 secs, you get reduced damage, unless the monster starts moving away from you after 15 secs(say due to low health, in which case you get normal damage). If you snare, then DoT
for 15 secs, then cast and land a root, you should get additional damage since the monster has not run for at least 18 secs, unless root breaks and the monster starts running again and you cannot reroot within the 3 secs remaining of non-movement, unless the monster is moving away from you when root breaks (due to low health) in which case you should get normal damage (from some undetermined time point).

If you root first and cast a DoT or two, then root breaks and you snare and run/kite for 12 secs, then the monster turns away due to low health and you kill it after 20 secs, it would seem that you get additional damage while the monster is rooted..lesser damage after the root breaks and you run/kite...except that if the monster turns away due to low health before the 18 sec rule, at which time you get normal damage.

All these changes in DoT damage are not reflected in the damage message you receive, or apparently in the health bar of the monster.

I'm sure there are several other scenarios of root vs. run vs fear DoT damage that could be constructed around the 18 second rule...so could you please clarify just how this works in actual combat. This may sound silly, but the implications of how this DoT damage rule applies has an impact on the strategy of gameplay.

Please do not simply requote the patch notes....the effects they imply do not match the damage messages you get when actually in combat.

Thanks for your help...

[Ele]

Please see my post in your other bug report. There is no retroactive reduction or increase depending on whether the mobs moves or is stationary.

Each tick checks for whether the mob is fleeing, stationary, or pursuing. Each tick is independent of the last tick. If the mob is pursuing at the time the tick is calculated then the dot damage is reduced by 33%. If the mob is fleeing or stationary, then it takes full damage.

Dots were buffed in the September 1999 patch to add extra ticks to allow for root breaks and slight movement without reducing the overall mana/damage ratios.

If the mob is moving for more than 18 seconds (4+ ticks), than the dots are less efficient than before.

If the mob is stationary or fleeing for less than or up to 18 seconds (<=3 ticks), than the dots are more efficient than they were pre-September 1999 patch.

[Crusader]

Ele, could you please explain the efficiency effect that is determined by how long the mob moves.
DoT Changes:

If the monster is in melee with you, there is no change to how a DoT spell works.
If the monster is running away from you (fear, wounded, etc.), there is no change to how a DoT spell works.
If the monster is moving when the damage from the DoT is applied (happens every few seconds), it will take 66% of the damage that it would have taken. As you indicated in your post:
DoT spells have all had their duration slightly increased. If the monster moves for 18 seconds during a fight, it will take as much damage from the DoT as it would before the patch. If the monster moves for less then 18 seconds during a fight, your DoT will do more damage then it would have done before the patch. If the monster moves more then 18 seconds during the fight, it will take less damage then it would have before the patch.

In actual play that I tested in N Karana on beetles and lions/griz I found the following:
For my lvl 17 druid you always get 9 ticks of damage no matter if you run kite, fear kite or root rot...as you state above, the only thing that changes the damage is what the mob is doing when that tick hits.
Using my 8 tick root, I would root/DoT a beetle (pincer or borer) and the root would break on the 8th tick..so I would get 8 ticks of 13 dmg and the 9th tick would be 8 dmg, unless I rerooted or feared the mob (in case of lions or griz) the mob before the last tick took place, in which case I would get 9 ticks of 13dmg before the DoT wore off.

If I rooted the mob as above, let the root break, snared and ran the mob around for 25 secs, then rooted again, the damage would be the same as above...8 ticks of 13 and 1 tick of 8 (unless I rerooted). I don't see how the 18 secs figures into it by either mitigating or enhancing the damage or efficiency. The number of ticks of damage is always 9, regardless of what type of fight it is, so no extra tic of damage for holding the mob still for all the fight or less than 3 ticks.... or let it run around snared for 5 minutes and then finish it off.

I also evaluated the fear kiting on lions and griz using Panic Animal and Stinging Swarm...same results, if I kept the mob feared I got 9 ticks of 13 dmg, if I kept it feared until it was low health and ran, I continued to get 13 dmg. I would let my Panic Animal spell (all 3 ticks worth) expire and the damage would decrease to 8 until I refeared it or rooted it, at which time it would revert to 13 dmg even if the mob ran around for more than 18 secs.

I'm sorry, but I can see no change in efficiency related to the 18 secs of mob moving or stationary.

By the way, I heartily disagree that the damage message be nerfed as I believe in transparency and full disclosure when it comes to game rules and effects. Verant was very secretive about mob damage, spell damage and other aspects of the game under the guise of "game confidentially" (sounds like the IRS and/or the NSA testifying before congress).

[Derubael]

You're making this more complicated than it actually is.

Ignore this entire section of the patch note:

If the monster moves for 18 seconds during a fight, it will take as much damage from the DoT as it would before the patch. If the monster moves for less then 18 seconds during a fight, your DoT will do more damage then it would have done before the patch. If the monster moves more then 18 seconds during the fight, it will take less damage then it would have before the patch.

Just forget that it exists.

This is the only part that is relevant:

DoT spells have all had their duration slightly increased.

DoT damage was nerfed to 66% damage when the mob was not stationary or feared.

Overall DoT time was increased by 3 ticks to help balance this nerf.

That's it. There's nothing else to it :D