Open Wounds

Overview

Open Wounds is a weapon mod which leads to a constant loss of life on the target hit over 8 seconds (200 frames). It's not actual damage the target receives, but a negative life regeneration, which is not set off against target's life regeneration (for monsters) or replenish life (for players). Instead, these boni are immediately cut off once Open Wounds steps in. Unlike Prevent Monster Heal the Open Wounds mod will also work on mercenaries.

Common abbreviation for Open Wounds is "OW".

Formula

Life loss per frame:

Clvl=1-15: ((9 * Clvl+31) / 256)) * Modifier
Clvl=16-30: ((18 * Clvl-104) / 256) * Modifier
Clvl=31-45: ((27 * Clvl-374) / 256) * Modifier
Clvl=46-60: ((36 * Clvl-779) / 256) * Modifier
Clvl=61-99: ((45 * Clvl-1319) / 256) * Modifier

where Modifier differs for attack type and target:

0.25 for attacker using a Melee Attack on a Player.
0.125 for attacker using Ranged Attack on a Player.
0.5 for attacker using Ranged or Melee on a Boss Monster or minion.
1 for attacker using Ranged or Melee on any other target.

Example

A level 85 character attacking a normal monster:

life loss per frame
= ((45 * 85 - 1319) / 256) * 1
= (3825 - 1319) / 256
= 9.7890625

For life loss per second, multiply life loss per frame by 25:

9.7890625 * 25
=244.7265625

For total life loss, multiply life loss per second by 8 (the total duration of OW):

244.7265625 * 8 = 1957.8125

FAQ

Which skills carry OW and which don't?

In General, every weapon attack carries OW - i.e. skills like Whirlwind, Zeal, Assassin's charge-up attacks and so on will deliver OW.

Skills, that carry OW:

• Blade Fury
• Kicks in general
• Multishot (only the two middle arrows)
• Smite

Skills, that don't carry OW:

• Blade Sentinel
• Blade Shield
• Multishot (all arrows except for the two middle ones)

Is there a cap on OW?

No, there is no cap for OW. Thus the maximum is 100%. Rumours about OW (and other mods like Crushing Blow and Deadly Strike) being capped at 95% derive from the fact that the highest achievable Chance to Hit is 95%, meaning that you only can deliver OW on 95% of your strikes. Every time you hit though OW will trigger.

Does OW work on my mercenary?

Yes. Unlike Prevent Monster Heal, your mercenary can trigger OW on a target.

Can a target be subject to different OW causes at once?

No, it can't. If OW is triggered on a target already under the influence of OW, the timer will simply be reset to 8 seconds.

Does OW from another player/hireling override the 1st OW?

No. If another player or hireling hits a target that is under the influence of OW, the timer is reset to 8 seconds, but the life loss will still be that one calculated for the first player/hireling that hit it. That means, when your mercenary triggers OW on a monster which you already hit and triggered OW before, the timer will be reset to 8 seconds, but the monster will still receive the same damage it received from you triggering OW.

Is there a penalty for ranged attacks?

Yes, but only versus players. It's already mentioned in the formula above. The modifier is 1/2.

Can OW be countered by replenish life or absorb?

No, it can't. Actually, OW cuts off regeneration and replenish life on the target if triggered.

Is there a PvP penalty for OW?

As noted in the above formula, life loss in PvP is 1/4.

So what can I do against OW in PvP?

The duration of the state "openwounded" is subject to curse length reduction. So an Assassin's Fade can reduce the duration of OW. Note that Cleansing uses a different approach and won't reduce OW duration.

Will every target suffer from OW?

Kind of. The only time OW doesn't work is when a non-player target is in full health - meaning it'll only work on non-player targets if it is already in regeneration. So if you only deal physical damage on a monster that is Physical Immune, you won't trigger OW. In PvP however, hostile players will always suffer OW damage, regardless of their actual Hit Points.

Does OW work the same in ever version of DII?

The basics, yes. The formula, no. In 1.09 OW's life loss used the same formula for every character level and lasted only 4 seconds:

life loss per frame = (cLvl * 9 + 40) / 256

Taking the above example of a level 85 character hitting a normal monster:

life loss per frame = (85 * 9 + 40) / 256 = (765 + 40) / 256 = 805 / 256 = 3.14453125

life loss per second = life loss per frame * 25 = 3.14453125 * 25 = 78.61328125

total life loss = life loss per second * 4 = 78.61328125 * 4 = 314.453125