Backlash tactic after the new patch.

[Zxul]

Reading this change from the patch notes:

-Abilities can now trigger off of DoT ticks, such as Quick Escape. This is consistent with the original game's behavior.

Did anybody tried speccing about Backlash tactic?

[Luuca]

Reading this change from the patch notes:

-Abilities can now trigger off of DoT ticks, such as Quick Escape. This is consistent with the original game's behavior.

Did anybody tried speccing about Backlash tactic?

Good question, but if you consider the entirety of the situation, it's still lackluster at best. Here's why:

Backlash tactic is Elemental Damage.


It also only has a 25% chance, per attack to trigger.

This means it is mitigated by resists. Most players with decent gear and party buffs will have roughly 800 elemental resists. Even with a debuff from the Chosen's Discordant Instability of roughly 300, for attackers within 30 feet, it's still 500 Elemental resists.


For Ranged DPS attacking the Chosen, it's still 800 resists. 800 resist is roughly 40% mitigation and 500 resist is roughly 28% mitigation. So Backlash does either 135 total damage (27 per tick) or 162 total damage (32 per tick). Less than stellar numbers. AND it will only proc once every 4 or 5 hits on the Chosen.

When you consider the rest of the patch notes you referenced

[Combat Mechanics]

Secrets
-Precalculated DoTs no longer exist. They are calculated on tick time and recalculated on subsequent ticks for damage values.

-Abilities can now trigger off of DoT ticks, such as Quick Escape. This is consistent with the original game's behavior.

-DoT abilities now can be dodged, disrupted, parried or blocked on a per tick basis. If the first attack is disrupted/dodged/parried/blocked, no subsequent DoT ticks will happen. This includes parry's positional requirement. Each tick will take into consideration an avoidance check, and facing the target is no exception to this rule.

You will note that DoTs that are defended from on their first "tick" nullify the remaining "ticks" of that DoT. So if you are looking at, for example a Healing AM with High Willpower, the chances he Disrupts the first "tick" of Elemental damage from backlash are high - resulting in zero damage at all. Same goes for any Tank Blocking (also high resists) and Mdps who can Parry.. etc.

In summation, the changes to the defensibility of DoTs and the nullification of subsequent damage from an initial avoidance makes Backlash less desireable than before. It may well be in a pure tanking situation wherein you will be focused by a warband at a keep door funnel (and focus healed by the team with you) Backlash may add to the AoE bombing and Morale bombing effort and put a very small amount of stress on the opposition's healers, but in the grand scheme of the Chosen Class, there are still better tactics to use. DFV for one, Impenetrable Armor for another.

I honestly feel this tactic is best used in PvE tanking of large groups of mobs. For example, Ruin Farming, or solo farming on your Chosen for crafting mats -Scavenging or Butchering. It will help kill lower defense mobs faster and they don't hit as hard as most players.

My 2¢

[cimator]

Reading this change from the patch notes:

-Abilities can now trigger off of DoT ticks, such as Quick Escape. This is consistent with the original game's behavior.

Did anybody tried speccing about Backlash tactic?

Yes, it can trigger off of dot ticks and when dot is first applied on you. Its not so useful still tho, used to apply crippling strikes if it crits, but it doesnt crit anymore for some reason.

[Luuca]

Reading this change from the patch notes:

-Abilities can now trigger off of DoT ticks, such as Quick Escape. This is consistent with the original game's behavior.

Did anybody tried speccing about Backlash tactic?

Yes, it can trigger off of dot ticks and when dot is first applied on you. Its not so useful still tho, used to apply crippling strikes if it crits, but it doesnt crit anymore for some reason.

As a chosen, your avoidance, at least on mine from .getstats means at most times in combat I have roughly 62% parry, 20% dodge and disrupt, as well as 14% block. Do DoTs land on me, yes they do. Do I avoid a lot of them? Hell yes. Even if they hit me, you still have to get past the nullification effect now in place and is 27 damage per second over 5 seconds worth a tactic slot in RVR?

[cimator]

As a chosen, your avoidance, at least on mine from .getstats means at most times in combat I have roughly 62% parry, 20% dodge and disrupt, as well as 14% block. Do DoTs land on me, yes they do. Do I avoid a lot of them? Hell yes. Even if they hit me, you still have to get past the nullification effect now in place and is 27 damage per second over 5 seconds worth a tactic slot in RVR?

Definitely not worth it, as I said it was only used for utility(applying CS), not damage since its very low, now it doesnt even apply cs, so a useless tactic Imo.

[Luuca]

Reading this change from the patch notes:

-Abilities can now trigger off of DoT ticks, such as Quick Escape. This is consistent with the original game's behavior.

Did anybody tried speccing about Backlash tactic?

Yes, it can trigger off of dot ticks and when dot is first applied on you. Its not so useful still tho, used to apply crippling strikes if it crits, but it doesnt crit anymore for some reason.

I'm not 100% convinced it doesn't crit. Can you provide SS of testing? or a link to anything that specifically calls out BL or similar as no longer critting?

I think what you are seeing is a SnB chosen with lower than 6% crit rate not getting the crits. Is there a higher than 15% crit rate chosen who can test this on mobs in IC and provide proof of BL crit?

[GodlessCrom]

I believe Wargrim and/or Torq said it no longer crits, as they thought it spreading CS passively was dumb.

[Luuca]

I believe Wargrim and/or Torq said it no longer crits, as they thought it spreading CS passively was dumb.

I thought it was the reason, or part of it at least, for the move to single target only and that it could still crit, but not apply CS.

Now that CS is back, albeit at 10% reduction only, it's probably not a huge deal that it could crit and apply on attack. there's lots of debuffs that do this.

[Darosh]

Regardless the consensus, whenever these kind of theorycrafts are concerned: I'd suggest potential ICDs are taken into account and tested for aswell, just in case.

[Panzerkasper]

I believe Wargrim and/or Torq said it no longer crits, as they thought it spreading CS passively was dumb.

and thus making the Chosen even more garbage....

Now he really is just an aura totem with legs