Guild Wars 2

How do the ticks of condition damage work when the same condition is applied from 2 different sources with different condition damage values? For example: as a Ranger, if I use my Shortbow’s Poison Volley skill, I do 169 poison dmg per sec; and if I command my Marsh Drake to use his Insect Swarm ability, he does 84 poison dmg per sec. If I use both skills at the same time, since both of these sources are technically from my Ranger, I only see one tick at a time – either 169 or 84 per sec, but never both. Does this mean that one source is being overridden by the other, or is the other source of poison ticking away in the background?

This is what I found about stacking, I don’t know if it answers your question adequately:

’Effects stack in one of two ways: in intensity or in duration. For example, multiple stacks of bleeding, which stacks in intensity, increases the damage dealt over time, and multiple stacks of regeneration, which stacks in duration, increase the duration that the healing over time lasts. All effects can have a maximum of 25 stacks, whether intensity- or duration-stacked, with exceptions noted below.

The game tracks each application of any effect separately in terms of duration and intensity. Those standard values get improved by the applying character’s attributes (Condition Damage and Condition Duration for conditions, Boon Duration for boons).

Removing a condition or boon will remove all stacks at once.’

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Effect_stacking

As poison stacks over time, then you would see the two stacks longer, than if just one stack of poison was applied. If I understand it correctly….

They don’t necessarily override each other. Poison is a duration stacking condition. If you apply your poison for say 10 seconds it will tick 180dps for those 10 seconds. If after 2 seconds your pet then applies his 90dps poison for a duration of say 8 seconds then it will get tacked onto the end of your poison.

What this means is that the poison will tick for 180 for the first 10 seconds, then for 90 the next 8 seconds.

However there is a cap, of 1 minute duration (I think) and then things get more complicated with different sources overriding each other and doing strange things. But as a single player with a pet you probably won’t ever run into that situation.

Thank you for the answers. With the information you provided, I began playing around with it to see it function as you describe. However, I did notice something peculiar. With my Ranger’s Poison Volley, I get 13 ticks of poison damage, and with my pet’s Insect Swarm, I get 15 ticks. When I use both abilities, not at the same time, but just a couple of seconds between the 2 skills, I get a full 28 ticks. But when I use both skills at the same time, I lose 3 ticks, only getting 25. Anybody have an explanation for this please?

Musha.4025:

Thank you for the answers. With the information you provided, I began playing around with it to see it function as you describe. However, I did notice something peculiar. With my Ranger’s Poison Volley, I get 13 ticks of poison damage, and with my pet’s Insect Swarm, I get 15 ticks. When I use both abilities, not at the same time, but just a couple of seconds between the 2 skills, I get a full 28 ticks. But when I use both skills at the same time, I lose 3 ticks, only getting 25. Anybody have an explanation for this please?

I have no way to confirm this and it is pure speculation… but maybe 25s is the cap for poison? so if you wait a few seconds the second skill is still under the cap, but if you apply them both at once the second skill is over the cap and gets dropped for those extra seconds.

You can buy some rare veggie pizza (+40% condition duration) and test this and see if the total ticks is still 25 or not.

Not sure if author would read this, but will link info anyway, because the same issue was bugging me once – how conditions with different “power levels” from different sources take priority upon stacking on a single target.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Effect_stacking

In the examples section there is an explanation roughly discribing the mechanics. Simply put, all the time 3 rules are met:

1. Total cumulative duration is not exceeded. True for all conditions, including intensity-type (confusion, bleeding) with each having it’s own unique maximum value;

2. Last applied condition, regardless of stacking type, applies to the end of the queue. It would make sense that, if this contradicts the rule above, condition is not applied, however I do not have any confirmation of that except my personal notice (during extreme encounters, such as Karka Queen or Claw of Jormag – doesnt matter how much I’d try to put more bleeding on the target, I sometimes would never even see any damage ticks originated from me);

3. A condition with stronger “power level” takes precedence, BUT DOES NOT OVERRIDE condition stacks applied before. Instead, the stack from the source with most “power level” SPLITS THE QUEUE, moving its duration value to the first place. The duration of previously applied stack (with less “power level”) will move up the queue and will resume its own effect (because it was set “on hold” by a stack from a more stronger source) only after more stronger stack’s duration expires. If that stronger source of the condition re-applies its stack, that will cause “weaker” stacks to move up the queue again and so on.

To clarify, it all quite right for duration-stacking conditions, however things get more complicated with intensity stacking type. I personally believe that in latter case, if OVERALL duration of the condition queue is exceeding some mysterious value (ON TOP of having capped at 25 stacks), new stacks will not be put into the queue, and as a result (and a matter of logic) – if “weaker” stacks are being repeatedly preceeded by “stronger” ones, which means their durations are put “on hold”, they are completely erased from the queue, once that mysterious inner condition duration value cannot hold the value of this “weakest” stack. It would, at first, be cut as {condition inner duration max value} – {condition duration of stronger stacks}. When the result reaches 0, “weakest” existing stacks are dropped from the queue, at the same time new cannot be applied.

PS: I do assume there might be some wicked troll pointed my way for writing all that, however I AM sure that many experienced players have been in the situations when they were conciously aware of applying certain condition, but never had a glimpse of damage originated FROM THEM. This is a matter of simple experience and keeping your eyes sharp, not mindless speculation nor day-dreaming.