Clarifying Puncture

The patch notes were not correct, as the increased physical damage per level the skill already had was described accidentally, when there had in fact been no change to that part of the skill.

As for the balance of the skill, we tested the adjusted values on characters using the skill effectively, either through powerful critical hits or specialization, and found it to be performing well, especially in concert with other skills. Obviously, we're only a small team, and as such our personal sample size and ability to assess all possible builds is limited. The skill has an exponential scaling component and a lack of DPS dependence on attack speed that means it can't fit within our normal balance parameters.

The skill could easily see an increase in power at higher levels based on player feedback; Most likely this will come in the form of a multiplicative damage increase (1-2% more physical damage per gem level, for example), or a re-balance to the ratio of stationary to moving bleed. This way, the opportunity cost of socketing the skill could be offset by having its use become more powerful on average, rather than only being worth using on moving targets. The skill has a reduced duration in PvP currently, and it is still performing very well there, so it may be that we try something like halving the duration, but doubling the damage, to bring it closer to other skills where you have an incentive to keep it up on enemies. Puncture could also become a setup skill that you use in addition to your other skills for extra damage, using more effects like the damage boost found on the Bloodletting notable, at which point it starts to compete with auras and curses rather than primary damage skills.

All of these possible adjustments are speculative, based on the ongoing performance of the skill and how well the skill performs if we test these changes. We're keen to hear your thoughts on any of these potential changes, if we need to make them!