Damage over time heroes (DoT heroes) and evolution of anti defense stat

General Discussion
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Hello fellow E&Pers!

Just wanted to open another discussion about the possible evolution of the offensive raid meta which was partially inspired by the multiple nerf Gravemaker threads.

While playing around with the hero talent calculator (big thanks to Kamikaze!) and looking at some of the topics around the forums related to DoT damage there are a few conclusions that I can draw related to how the offensive meta might evolve:
1.) DoT damage being unmitigated by defense means that the power-creep of high defensive tanks with class talents really does not impact DoT heroes to the same extent as others
2.) DoT scales with attack upgrades in the talent trees and with majority of players opting for defense upgrade talents vs health (where both are not on the same branch) this will make DoTs even more potent
3.) DoT heroes have great representation in Grave, Victor, Natalya who all deal excellent damage and are at least Fast mana speed

If you look at the listed three heroes Grave, Victor and Natalya, they have the advantage of being different classes, so you can level them up without overlap, while adding to the attacking raid rooster a Druid and Cleric. In that respect my own meta would be Grave, Victor , Natalya, Alberich and Ariel (missing Natalya only) which would combine good heals, resurrection, excellent mana regen (Alb and Ariel complement each other well), defense buff, reduced mana generation on heroes, healing reduction and of course insane pressure on single heroes due to fast or very fast mana heroes.

What about cleansers?!! Simple, re-roll. I do agree that the introduction of Ariel, Kunchen, and Zim makes the above hard to pull off, but remember, you choose the fight. Also, everyone except Zim takes time to charge up which with your very fast/fast team would mean you have the upper hand when it comes to speed.

If you use the hero upgrade calculator you will notice that Victor firmly has over 900 base attack, without troops and both Nat and Grave are in the upper side of 800ish meaning the DoT contribution with added troops would be massive and unmitigated by any defense buffs or upgrades.

I would like to get your opinions on the above and I will try to eventually flesh out the above meta as I already am working on Grave and Alb, Ariel is in leveling mode and Victor is at 3.70 patiently waiting for the last tabard required.

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DoT hitters surely benefit more for a usually more defence rather then health inclined talent tree. But you forget a rather important factor on them: they work on turns.

Even it there’s not a cleanser in there remove their damage, they still need time to be effective, and majority of them (Victor aside) override their attack.

If i have to choose, i pick insta-hitters over DoT always if not for some tactic raid exceptions.
On titans, monthly events and situationally in raids even if DoT bypass defence you want to deal damage ASAP.

Gravemaker in that is the best among DoT dealers, as he need only 2 turns to be the most efficient.

Victor take more time, but can overwrite and have a really sweet secondary effect (the shield). So i see him more as a defensive/safe net hero rather then damage dealer unlike GM.

So for concluding, using DoT heroes is a good choice if taked with moderation.
Even if you face more shielded hero from now onwards, having a good bench of insta-dealers always comes in handy.

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I would just like to elaborate a bit on what I meant when I am talking about the offense meta.

I assume the discussion of this will be with high level players who have very wide spectrum of heroes available.

I myself have almost all snipers (missing Alasie) and while I do agree the combination of Kage+Panther or Evelyn+Lianna is potent I would assume that as defenses go north of 900 and even over 1000s with troops the impact of direct snipers would diminish while taking in consideration that you take apart one hero at a time.

I do agree that DoT damage takes time to ramp up and that is why I fully agree with you, its not for players who are new in Diamond and fall out quite often overnight but for players who have the luxury of playing with high level troops and are looking at proper board manipulation to maximize the DoT impact no matter the length.

I compare that to Onatel usage in offensive raids, a player who is not that proficient in board manipulation and would like to have a more direct gung-ho approach would absolutely hate her (nothing wrong with that approach, the game rewards both aspects and you can be successful in both ways of playing) and I would never suggest having her on their offense team. But there are times when you can take down 3 heroes while she is alone up due to her tankiness and her ability to shut down almost any mana generation until she rips apart the opposition and this is why she will not move from my offensive raid setup and is more valued than any sniper.

Same applies to DoT heroes, I do believe with proper setup and play the DoT setup has the potential to top the offensive raids if played properly.

I never mentioned titan hits :slight_smile: like I said this is purely on the offensive raid meta (war requires a different mindset all together anyway)