Some ideas to make incision useful

I currently see this new debuff as pointless, as the "chance to cause bleeding" modifier already exists, but it has the option to remain as an alternative to traditional bleeding if some adjustments are made to its mechanics. Here are some ideas I've come up with:

*The numbers are merely indicative to give an idea of ​​the mechanics*

Option 1:

- Each stack of Incision also causes the next bleed applied (whether from Incision or another source) to do 10% more damage per stack of Incision.

A simple modification, but it makes the new mechanic more meaningful. It's something that should come as standard, not after investing in support gems or passives that enhance it.

Option 2:

- Incision causes damaging status effects to do 5% more damage per stack of Incision. Stacks are not consumed when applying the damaging status effect, but if its duration ends, all stacks are lost. Incision can only be applied from its own support gem or from rare sources.

An alternative to the previous point, Incision no longer grants a bleed chance, but instead allows you to boost damaging status effects as long as you maintain its stacks.

Option 3:

- Bleeding caused by Incision is a minor bleed that deals 7.5% of physical damage as bleed every second for 5 seconds, but can stack up to 4 times at base, with separate durations. If an aggravation effect is applied while one or more minor bleeds are present, all of them are aggravated. You cannot apply bleeds if a minor bleed already exists on the target, and vice versa.

This allows multi-hit abilities or fast but low-damage attacks to compete with the bleeds caused by slow but powerful attacks.

Option 4:

- Each stack of Incision stores 30% of the physical damage of the hit. When Bleeding is triggered, its damage is calculated based on the sum of all incisions made. If the bleed is applied by means such as "chance to bleed," Incision stacks will not be consumed, and the bleed from that source will be applied. Incision can trigger a bleed if another source is active as long as it exceeds the total remaining damage from the current bleed.

There will be Incision modifiers that will increase the percentage of stored damage from the hit.

An alternative to the previous option is another way to apply bleed, but it also allows powerful attacks to enter this alternative to bleed if they prefer a slower-to-apply but more powerful bleed.

Option 5:

- Each Incision stack stores the physical damage of the hit that applied it. When Bleeding is triggered, the incision with the most damage will apply its bleed. Bleeding can be triggered by external sources other than you as long as its damage contains physical damage.

- While a bleed is active, each new stack gives a chance to create an open wound, instantly dealing the remaining damage for the duration of the bleed, and applying a debuff that makes the next bleed on the target 50% more powerful.

The "I like to complicate things" option, where Incision is a two-phase mechanic. The first activates a bleed, and the next allows it to be taken to a higher level.

It's clear that Incision needs a twist because it doesn't currently offer anything new and unnecessarily complicates the way bleeds are applied. My preferred options are 3 and 5 because they provide more than just a damage boost.

I like the ideas but first want to see how it may function in CoC endgame builds as it is now. I fear it might get overpowered fast once you give it something extra while I fully agree with you about the minimal to none impact it has on normal builds.

Currently incision works for non-bleed physical builds to get an occasional bleed. In that regard it works fine, however it makes much less sense on a bleed focused build, I will agree there. The main issue is that it removes itself when it works, and yet there is a notable that rewards stacking it to maximum... That antisynergy bothers me.

This game if full of antisynergy...