Scourge...

[Ukase]

I know Snarky's already laughing because of how I pronounce Scourge, but that's beside the point. 

There was a time when there was some debate about playing a corruptor vs. defender. In a nutshell, the conclusion varies with how the character is played, how it's built and whether you're teamed or not. 

But wait - the title says "Scourge...", right? Why? Because here's the question: 

How does one make the most of scourge, anyway? 

I present this direct from the HC Wiki: 

 

I ask this out of some ignorance, as when playing, I tend to be obtuse. As an example, fighting Infernal, just killed his portal, but there is still Infernal and a few Demons that got through. So, I use Fireball, and then Rain of Fire. I see scourge numbers...but since some of fireball's effects occur a little bit after the initial burst, it's tough to tell what's doing the Scourge (maybe both?) without looking at the combat log. 

While the question doesn't really prevent the demise of Infernal in this case, it kind of begs the question, was there a way to do it better? 

It certainly seems like the targeted AoEs get more out of Scourge than single target attacks. But that's just my perception. 
What's the reality? Is it only the npc's base health that makes this determination to scourge or not? 

[Psyonico]

1 hour ago, Ukase said:

s it only the npc's base health that makes this determination to scourge or not? 

 

That's my understanding.  The lower the health, the more likely Scourge will occur.  Powers like Rain of Fire are particularly good at scourging because they tick so many times.

[Teklord]

A power like Fireball's dot ticks scourge based on health at time of casting  do not scourge (corrected). Rains, Whirlpool, aka location AOEs have a chance of scourging every single tick. So my ice/cold corruptor has Sleet, Ice Storm, and Blizzard that all have a chance of scourging every tick. They are highly effective on a corruptor that is in one place.

 

Hope this makes sense and helps.

Edited November 2 by Teklord

[Hjarki]

37 minutes ago, Teklord said:

A power like Fireball's dot ticks scourge based on health at time of casting.

A Fireball's dot ticks don't scourge at all. In general, 'value add' bonuses such as Fire's additional DoT on most attacks, Electric's Shocked! or Water Blast's build-and-spend mechanic do not scourge.

 

The reason Rain of Fire and similar attacks Scourge based on current health (rather than health at activation) is that they're pseudo-pets that activate periodically through a duration rather than all at once at the beginning.

[Frozen Burn]

Yes, as the last line in the graph pic you shared says, the chance to Scourge is calculated solely on the enemy's base HPs.  But if that enemy has a Dull Pain or similar type of power that gives them more max HPs, you will have to chew through those extra HPs before you get to the Scourge point. 

 

For instance:  a foe has 20,000 base HPs.  The chance to Scourge is at <10,000 health left (starting at the 50% mark).  If they hit Dull Pain adding another 10,000 HPs making their total 30,000... The Scourge point is still at <10,000 health, but that is now at 33.3% of their total HPs (instead of <50%).  So, you have to chew through 20,000 Health to get to the point of Scourging.

 

And certainly, AOEs are better at "showing" Scourge because you're affecting more foes at once, which means multiple tohit checks and more chances that a foe meets the conditions for Scourge - all in that single activation a power.   

 

However, Fireball and similar powers with extra DoTs only have a chance to Scourge upon initial impact of all the foes in range, but the following DoTs do not Scourge as they are bonus damage and have no extra tohit checks.  Rain of Fire has a tohit check on each tic of the power, so that is why you can potentially see a lot of Scourging with rain type DoT powers.

 

 

[Ukase]

Good stuff. It's hard to tell when one is scourging and one is not, so I appreciate the insights! 

[Glacier Peak]

2 hours ago, Teklord said:

Sleet

Doesn't Scourge.

[Frosticus]

Rain of fire used to do 3x damage when it scourged rather than 2x, so it holds more reverance in the minds of the players based on how it used to perform.  

 

Rains perform better with scourge because they keep checking target hp the whole duration and it's hp should be going down creating higher scourge chance.

 

For blizzard which does very high damage this can be significant, for Rain of fire/icestorm/whirlpool it's more of a visual thing than a big difference maker because they spam the screen with "scourge"

[Uun]

16 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Doesn't Scourge.

Most powers in corruptor secondaries don't scourge, with a few exceptions - Repulsion Bolt, Force Bomb, Fallout and Gale.

[Psyonico]

5 hours ago, Uun said:

Most powers in corruptor secondaries don't scourge, with a few exceptions - Repulsion Bolt, Force Bomb, Fallout and Gale.

Wait...

 

Fallout can Scourge?????!!!!!

 

*runs off to come up with a /Rad corr concept*