Vulnerable Debuff Question

[Kharth 9]

I know the Vulnerable debuff increases damage of Marked Shot and Aimed Shot 150%. I'm using Pantient Sniper? talent. What I am wondering is when I cast Aimed/Marked Shot does the buff have to be active on target when the shot is fired or hits the target to do the increased damage? I can get 2 shots off in time but if I am at a farther range it doesn't always land with the debuff up. I tried to check it during invasions and dungeons but can't reliably tell.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Kharth

[Iridar 80]

I would expect the general rule of thumb to be this: if it's a buff on you, then it has to be active at the time the ability is fired. If it's a debuff on the target, it needs to be active when the ability hits.

However, the question is somewhat moot, because Marked Shot applies the debuff before doing damage, and Aimed Shot has really fast travel time, and it's nearly impossible to time it, even intentionally, to cast the ability before the debuff the expires, but hit the shot after.

[Niix 169]

Yes Marked Shot has travel time and you need it to hit the boss when the buff is still up, so stand closer or cast it earlier. It's imperative that your Marked Shot hits the boss with Vulnerable still up. Just cast it at 1.5s or 2s.

[Iridar 80]

7 hours ago, Niix said:

Yes Marked Shot has travel time and you need it to hit the boss when the buff is still up, so stand closer or cast it earlier. It's imperative that your Marked Shot hits the boss with Vulnerable still up. Just cast it at 1.5s or 2s.

Marked shot applies debuff the instant you cast the ability. I was surprised to learn this yesterday, when I was doing some dummy testing for the OP.

 

EDIT: However, the damage seems to be unaffected. Meaning that Marked Shot will deal less damage if there was no debuff on the target. This is weird :\

Edited August 19, 2016 by Iridar

[Iridar 80]

Did some more testing.

So here's how it works. Marked Shot places / refreshes the Vulnerable debuff the instant you cast it, before the actual projectile hits.

However, if the target didn't have the debuff already, Marked Shot will not deal increased damage. 

In other words, as long as you cast Marked Shot while the target is Vulnerable, it will always deal bonus damage.

In other other words, if Marked Shot places the debuff, it will not deal bonus damage. If Marked Shot refreshes the debuff, it will deal bonus damage.

Aimed Shot does not refresh the debuff, so you always have to make sure that cast finishes before Vulnerable falls off.

And lastly, it's worth nothing that Windburst also places/refreshes the debuff, but does not benefit from it, so in single target scenarios you should use Windburst to place the debuff.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Iridar

[Turre 0]

there is a bug on the tooltip or it got changed? because now it states the "vulnerable" debuff is only for aimed/piercing shot