Test Discussion Episode 36: Strategist Card - Artifact

Hey all,

Please use this thread to post feedback on the Strategist Card Artifact.

Thanks!

Batuba

KNOWN ISSUES

• DoT breaks stealth/invisibility (Fixed in next build)
• Not currently proccing off Nature's DoTs (Fixed in next build)
• Precision DoT damage is scaling differently than might DoT (Fixed in next build)

Is this supposed to happen for tanks when healing ourselves? Doesn't proc when i'm a fire tank and healing myself


Edit; Got it to proc at 200 but not at 99

If I read this correctly, this is the DOT related Artifact I was hoping for.

More DOTS = More Criticals = More free DOTs

*digs out old loadout and starts practicing*

I don't understand the 'addition procs' part. Does that mean as long as we keep getting critical it extends past 4 seconds?

No 4th artifact slot. Def don't need more then 4 but def a 4th would be great.

Have a couple of questions on this artifact.
1) Is it possible to have multiple stacks of HoT/DoT/PoT if there's 2 procs close to each other?
2) If there are 2 procs close to each other, I assume the new DoT overwrites the old DoT?
Went on test server and tried it out. There does not seem to be a way for us to distinguish between multiple DoT stacks (if any) in the combat log or in the UI when dps-ing a target.
There might be quite a good synergy with the transformation card which increases crit.
More crit > means more DoTs

Can someone see how this fits with the claw of aelkhund? Would the Tactical Advantage 30% increase of PoT stack with the 20% increase from the claw? The 5% crit chance and magnitude of that one made me think they might fit, but I'm terrible at math.

The rank 200 buff of 30% is just for the DoT/HoT/PoT of the artifacts, not any other

DoT/HoT/PoT of any other sources

If the additional PoT procs consistent enough tho, it should be a perfect Synergy

to get some possible confusion out of the way, in game it says : "Chance to apply a tactical Advantage on a target based on the type of ability used for 8 seconds." So i assume its intended to only work if you critically hit with a Might power, Right? (meaning that weapon attacks cant proc the effect)

Precision attacks are considered abilities too. This artifact does proc for precision as well.

tried to get it to proc by spamming tap range with Brawling but it never does. Might want to look into this.

the proc chance is very low even at rank 200, i think i got to proc it every 30sec or so and every tick went for 4.5k-5k while i was might based, the dot is based on cr or might/prec stats ?

Anyone know if there is there some sort of internal cooldown on how often this artifact procs? I'm just wondering, as otherwise this artifact would clearly favor dot based powers like Nature, and playstyles that get quick successive hits like prec - these are already meta.

Have you tried running it alongside the Transformation artifact?

There is no internal CD to the proc.

Feedback
I'm finding it really difficult to leave feedback on this artifact. If you're using this artifact in DPS role in actual combat, the Strategist damage ticks just blend in with your normal weapon damage. The individual ticks didn't seem to be particularly large. When I went to try it on the sparring targets, the proc rate for a level 200 artifact didn't seem to be very good without the Transformation Card.

The proc rate for the Controller role perk didn't seem to be very good either. Like the DPS proc, the extra Power over Time ticks aren't very noticeable when you're in real combat. They just blend in with the rest of the numbers you see on screen. I had to put together a group and told them to keep draining their power bars while I spammed Defib. I saw some Strategist Power over Time ticks in combat log when I did that. The Strategist ticks seemed to always be lower than a regular Power over Time tick.

So I'm having a difficult time evaluating its effectiveness in actual combat. The only way I can tell if it is working is to go back later and scan combat log. What I have seen from combat log is that it doesn't seem to proc very often.

Without the transformation artifact it's very lack luster. Combined with the transformation it's solid. The transformation artifact plus strategist were both added with the intent that people would use both of them together. If this artifact proc I would get 15 to 17k ticks [4 of them] if I used the transformation artifact along it. It's not super good alone but you will in general see better parsers using it with the transformation artifact.

After I wrote up my last post, I decided to just spam Fear Gas with various Artifact combinations and see what would happen with the 30 second parser. Fear Gas makes for an ideal testing power since it has no damage variance and generates a lot of DoT ticks with a quick cooldown. Without any artifacts equipped at 40784 Might, I was seeing a very consistent 3250/s while parsing. Equip the Transformation Card and my Might stat jumped to 42744. As is the nature with crits, results were varied. However, the general pattern was to see 3400/s to 4000/s damage. After equipping the Strategist Card, my Might increased to 44135. Parses were all over the place with this combination. I saw 30 second parses ranging from 5454/s to 6553/s. With only the Strategist Card, my Might stat decreased to 42143. My 30 second parses were in the 3800-4000/s range.

So yeah, you definitely need to pair Strategist Card with Transformation Card to get the best results.

I'll have to do more testing to see how these artifacts interact when running a real-world rotation. Being able to generate a lot of DoT ticks maybe helpful for increasing Strategist Card damage.

I agree, it doesn't proc often enough. It may do well will the Transformation card but the real question is whether it is worth leveling it up to replace the existing artifacts that we use. By combining with the transformation card we get a total of 5% at 160 level. Is it worth the might lost?
I tested on Elec, with super-speed using as much DoT powers on my loadout to maximize the procs of the artifact. If I originally replaced my solar and my cloak with the 2 new artifacts I lose 3% might and to be honest my damage was a lot better using the original artifacts than levelling up 2 new ones and getting less damage.
My point is this and it goes for the rest of the new artifacts: why level up new ones and spend all those nth metals, catalysts and seals when there is no advantage given on top of replacing the old artifacts?
The Healer role is probably the one with most to gain as it will now add 2 new potential artifacts.
I suggest that the devs need to look into the 200 level of each artifact. Right now it's lackluster to reach 200, for most artifacts the effects are negligible. They need to consider creating an amplifying effect when certain combinations of artifacts are put together at the 200 level. That may increase the incentive to level up artifacts to 200.