Why is the implementation of lifesteal so "dirty" in this game?

[The Boz.2038]

Lifesteal effects are very funky in this game. Here are some of the puzzling bits:

• is both sustain (sometimes significant, sometimes not) and damage boost (sometimes significant, sometimes not)
• the damage can, but not always, scale off power and weapon strength, and the siphon heal can, but not always, scale off healing power
• the siphon heal in no way depends on the damage dealt, so long as the attack connects
• both values are flat, incentivizing attack frequency (unless an ICD exists) instead of strength

Why is it like this? Why couldn't it have been just % of damage as heal, with Healing Power increasing the percentage? My first idea is that flat damage and healing fits better with the high-frequency low-strength attacks of the condition-based Necromancer, which is the profession loaded up to the gills with lifesteal effects, but there is a far more elegant solution here as well, one that already exists: Parasitic Contagion. I think lifesteal could be easier to balance if it were simplified and standardized, made more consistent as a percentage of damage dealt as healing.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

For the same reason Retaliation is based upon the player's Power, regardless of the severity of the incoming damage. The engine has some limitations in the order at which damage boosts and reductions are applied, and as a result if they used a percentage of the damage dealt as healing, you'd get barely any healing on heavily armored targets that use Protection, etc.

If you mean it should be multiplied by player damage buffs, you have the same problem in reverse. Players would be able to steal massive amounts of health by boosting their damage and there'd be no defense against it.

[The Boz.2038]

@Hannelore.8153 said:you'd get barely any healing on heavily armored targets that use Protection, etc.

Barely any healing against builds built to outsustain the enemy? I'd say that's acceptable. Especially as they are now countered by this implementation, which deals armor- and protection-ignoring damage while healing the attacker regardless of performance.

[Cyninja.2954]

@The Boz.2038 said:

• both values are flat, incentivizing attack frequency (unless an ICD exists) instead of strength

Pretty much all effects which could occur multiple times within a short duration are on a ICD. Those linked to skills are already balanced via the skill cooldown. The only effects which are not affected by this are combo effects from using finisher into a respective field, which again are balanced via both the field skill cooldown as well as the finisher skill cooldown.

@The Boz.2038 said:

@Hannelore.8153 said:you'd get barely any healing on heavily armored targets that use Protection, etc.

Barely any healing against builds built to outsustain the enemy? I'd say that's acceptable. Especially as they are now countered by this implementation, which deals armor- and protection-ignoring damage while healing the attacker regardless of performance.

No, the way the mechanic is implemented now is balanced against all armor types. Heavier armor is not synonymous in this game with running a tanky build. Some classes strait up just have more base armor base on armor type available to them.

At the same time it should not come to anyone's surprise why healing is not based off of damage done, nor that damage modifiers do not affect the damage done. Hint: when the possible average damage per second is 2-3 times higher than the possible maximum health, and the first 5 second burst windows are up to 5 times and more higher than the absolute maximum health possible, it should be obvious how this would be insane if this type of damage multiplication was applied to an effect which bypasses armor.

The current implementation might be more complex than a simple %healing done off of damage, but it certainly is balanced to how this games damage system works.

[Teratus.2859]

It's likely because just balancing it on a flat % or damage done would make it much harder to balance.Some lifesteal abilities are stronger than others so if they ended up too strong the whole mechanic would get nerfed down rather than the skills that were too good.And vice versa too creating similar problems with some skills getting too strong when buffing the weaker lifesteal sources.

I think the way it works now is fine, least as far as the Necromaner goes which is pretty much king when it comes to lifesteal accessibility in this game.I can't speak for other classes though, I've not use it much on them.

[Trise.2865]

Could it be because you aren't supposed to become an unkillable godling through lifesteal (or any other sustain ability)?Could it be because different skills work differently to make player choice more important rather than just mashing buttons?

[Nephalem.8921]

@Trise.2865 said:Could it be because you aren't supposed to become an unkillable godling through lifesteal (or any other sustain ability)?Could it be because different skills work differently to make player choice more important rather than just mashing buttons?

But renegade is? Just necro is useless in that area.

[sokeenoppa.5384]

Thief has a trait that makes 15% of your critical damage heal you.

[Astralporing.1957]

Some of the reasons are due to Lifesteal inheriting some of the features it had in GW1. Unfortunately, a lot of those mechanics do not translate all that well (partially because lifesteal got changed from skill type to an effect)