PSA: Impact != Single-Target

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I've seen so many posts today either claiming IMPACT damage is single-target, or referring to some off-hand and/or incorrect comments from other posters and even the devs.

Something that does IMPACT damage does not mean it's a single-target ability. It also does not mean +impact applies to "the damage when a grenade hits the target."

IMPACT is a subtype of PHYSICAL and is the default for that "element" of attack. Grenades will do IMPACT and BLAST-modified attacks.

Ranger components that modify both of those things will prioritize BLAST stats (e.g., grenades will only be affected by the +/-blast modifier on those components).

Posted Mar 5, 2019, 9:46 PM UTC

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corbinlove•

Thanks for this ❤️

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whatwilldoOP•

Most welcome.

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Giraffrey25•

Do guns do impact or are they separate? I assumed guns counted since the devastator exists.

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whatwilldoOP•

All guns do IMPACT damage with the bullets (some have ELEMENTAL procs). Devastator does two attacks - one with the bullet (IMPACT) and one with a BLAST modifier (think of it firing two bullets). It seems to double-dip in modifiers, so +weap damage will affect BOTH hits. It does NOT seem to get increased damage from item-only (cogwheel) +blast damage modifier.

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ColossalChungusPC - :Colossus: Large and in charge •

Can you clarify on your view on what BLAST is? I feel it may be relevant to this as many tote BLAST to be AoE damage. If it is an AoE, regardless of its damage type (like FIRE for fireball) it is modified by Blast. But in my experience (As a disclaimer I have only played one Javelin) comes out to this:

Physical: Impact, Acid, Blast.

Elemental: Ice, Fire, Lightning

As I play Chungus, and have not thoroughly tested what the BLAST modifier does for things like Firewall Mortar and Shock Coil since their initial damage is quite inconsequential, I figured I might as well ask here for clarification on what you (and others who respond to me) have found.

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whatwilldoOP•

In short, it's a modifier for attacks that implies it explodes and does AoE damage. So while IMPACT is not necessarily single-target (i.e., it basically just means PHYSICAL with no other sub-type), BLAST does in fact refer to AoE attacks.

For the Colossus, it seems High Explosive Mortar, Burst Mortar, Siege Artillery, Flamethrower, and the ULT all benefit from +blast modifiers.

The Coil abilities and Firewall mortar do not (and not just because they are ELEMENTAL attacks ... just because they don't seem to be coded that way, and I don't know the attacks well enough to explain why that might be the case).

The point really is that something can be both IMPACT and have the BLAST modifier. Really, any attack could have the modifier ... some are more explicit than others.

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ColossalChungusPC - :Colossus: Large and in charge •

I see, thanks. I was having trouble with trying to figure out on why people seem to think Blast only correlated to just AoE damage and was having difficulty testing it. It seems that some of that was because the abilities I was kind-of-testing since they were the only things that shared similarities with fireball (being both elemental and AoE) ended up bringing me to a different conclusion since the abilities, like you say, just don't seem to be coded that way for their damage for some reason despite having AoE damage components.

This clarifies it up completely. Upvote.

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whatwilldoOP•

Oh, why thank you!

I took a look at the descriptions for those two abilities. I'm guessing it has something to do with the "flavor" or concept of the attack.

Shock Coil's point of origin isn't a hit, it's the character. Firewall Mortar doesn't hit an enemy, it "hits" the ground. In both cases, they seem to be environmental effects or abilities.

Just trying to help keep my head screwed on tight while trying to figure out what inscriptions are worth keeping.

It seems as though if the attack hits AND THEN explodes (at the point of contact), that is the part that is considered BLAST. I'm looking at Flak Cannon that looks like it should benefit from BLAST because it shoots out a volley, but I think because those individual hits don't explode it would not be considered BLAST.

So, to adjust my previous reply, it seems BLAST is specifically related to any point-of-contact explosion.

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ColossalChungusPC - :Colossus: Large and in charge •

Right, so that means it makes sense if its not just "AoE damage", and moreso "projectile that goes boom".

I never thought about attributing BLAST to Flak Cannon, though. I thought it was much more akin to a shotgun so the normal IMPACT and PHYSICAL rules applied. If it doesn't work with BLAST, that means BLAST would best be described as a "Payload", or "it hits then booms" like you said.

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