Recent discussions here had gotten me curious about what DS actually does beyond the obvious replacement of skills and replacement of HP with Life Force. I’ve done some brief testing and, for the record, it appears that this is in fact most of what DS does. (Though there are some useful details you might find below.)
I’m sure others have a lot more experience than I do, so if there are other aspects please post them and I’ll edit this posting.
ENHANCEMENTS. Our other Forms (Plague and Lich) provide Stability and buff Vitality, Power, and other attributes, but untraited DS does none of these. DS can be traited to provide some enhancements upon entering that are not removed if you exit: three seconds of Stability (Foot in the Grave), and three seconds of Retaliation (Spiteful Spirit). Other things that can be traited to trigger on entering DS are: 10 sec AoE weakness/bleeding (Weakening Shroud), and remove a condition (Shrouded Removal). An AoE heal can be traited to trigger on exit from DS (Deathly Invigorate). You can trait to gain Might for 15 seconds on using the Life Blast DS Skill (Reapers Might), which is retained on exit, and there are several traits (mainly in the Soul Reaping line) to enhance DS skills.
ENTERING AND EXITING. You can enter DS at any time, given that you have Life Force and DS is not on cooldown. This includes while incapacitated, while falling, or while performing other tasks. You can voluntarily exit DS at any time. You are involuntarily removed from DS if you are Moa Morphed or if your Life Force is reduced to zero. DS cooldown begins upon exiting DS and is 10 seconds (5 with the Close to Death trait).
UI. While in DS, you see a UI that is similar to your downed state interface, with the addition of a Life Force gauge. Even though you cannot see Condition, Boon, CC, or skill indicators, all of these are still ticking as usual and are not “placed on hold” in any way.
CONDITIONS/BOONS/CC. Entering DS does not remove any Conditions (see ENHANCEMENTS) or CC effects, and will not remove Boons with the exception of Spectral Effects (not to be confused with various Boons that might be gained by using a Spectral Skill). While in DS, Boons, Conditions, and CC can be applied and will continue to tick and affect you as normal (see ENHANCEMENTS), with the exception of damage to or healing of your health (see HEALTH).
HEALTH. While in DS, damage that would otherwise affect your HP is subtracted from your Life Force. (Life Force also periodically ticks down even if you are not receiving damage, as if you had an invisible Condition ticking every second.) Healing that would otherwise affect your HP is ignored.
EXCESS DAMAGE. If you receive so much damage that your Life Force cannot absorb it all, Life Force absorbs as much as it can, you are removed from DS, and the excess damage is applied to your HP. The exception is Falling Damage, which will kill you if it reduces your Life Force to zero.
DODGE. You can dodge while in DS (and our other Forms), and if you have traited for Mark of Evasion, a Mark of Blood will trigger (subject to cooldown).
DS INTERACTION, STOMP, REVIVE. You cannot interact with anything while in DS. At various times, Necros have been able to revive or stomp in DS by pressing the two keys near-simultaneously. It has been reported that this was stealth-fixed, and it’s not clear that this behavior is intended by ANet.
Any other DS mechanics that you’re aware of?
(edited by Druitt.7629)