So, anyone knows for sure how much that skills stacks? It says in the description that the DoT can stack multiple times on the same enemy but it does not say how many stacks it can have. Does it work like Wizard's Magic Missile rune that stacks a fire dot indefinitely?
Caveat: I have not tested Fists of Fury or Conflagrate recently (but I've been planning to do so).
The conflagrate rune explicitly says that it both stacks and resets the durations of stacks upon hit, so I imagine it works a little differently than Fists of Fury.
Fists of Fury should add the 60% holy damage or whatever each time you hit with the second strike. The stacking mechanic basically just ensures that you don't "waste damage" by DoTing a guy who is already DoTed. You can think of it as just doing +60% weapon damage (or whatever the number is) on every second strike, but it occurs slowly rather than instantly. There should be -no- stack limit other than the number of times you can hit in 3 seconds.
Historically, the main benefit of this was the fact that the second strike has a high proc coefficient compared to other runes of the same skill. This was key in the so-called "Nirvana" builds that used Infused with Light plus Fists of Fury for 3ish seconds of massive spirit generation. I believe this no longer works, though.
I kinda like it more than the other runes tho, it feels like it's more damage and gives me more tornadoes on my Sweeping Winds - Cyclone, could be my imagination but it certainly feels like it.
Cularic, I've seen screenshots of test results, and they suggest FoF works a bit differently than you think.
Every time you punch something, it applies the DoT. So the first part of the combo applies 1 stack. The second part applies seven stacks. The third part applies one stack. The screenshot proved the dot stacks at least 7 times. Yes, it is just as crazy as it sounds.
The conflagrate rune says that "burn damage" refreshes the dot. I read that to mean that other skills that deal burn damage ALSO refresh the dot. The only one of those I've noticed is Blazing Hydra (which replaced Venom Hydra), which also states in the description that burn damage can stack. I would guess that Blazing Hydra can maintain a conflag stack, if they don't just combine into a crazy sustained burn effect.
Gonna go test this, actually, but my advance prediction is that every hit of FoF refreshes all existing stacks, just like conflag apparently works.
Nope, I was wrong. Every application of the dot has a separate duration. The second strike does apply a separate dot for each of the seven punches, though. It was pretty clear because I couldn't stack the dot higher than a certain point no much how much I punched the zombie in a row before pausing to see the DoT tick. The first dot tick would do 32 damage (tested with a Staff of Herding and a bonus min dmg amulet), and I could get the dot tick up to around 600, but it would drop to 500-something and then 300 something and then tick for 150ish as it fell off. The dot was dramatically higher after doing the second part of the combo than doing the first hit twice.
Magic Missile - Conflagrate specifically mentions refreshing stacks, while Way of the Thousand Fists - Fists of Fury does not. Thus, I would not have expected fists to refresh and instead work exactly as described by tadrinth.
I was mistaken about Fists of Fury only applying on the second hit, but on a tangent the second hit is really what makes the rune work because:
1. It applies the DoT 7 times.
2. It has twice the proc rate of other Way of the Thousand Fist runes. This is why Xdmini probably observed a lot more cyclones with this rune (the cyclones are twice as likely to appear off each of the 7 hits in the second strike).
3. It may or may not also cause things like cyclones to trigger off of the DoT ticks, but I wouldn't be surprised if the DoT no longer triggers any procs. I believe this was fixed to prevent the "infinite spirit" gameplay using Faith in the Light.
As far as Conflagrate goes, my interpretation of the skill is that the "burn damage" refers to the Conflagrate burn itself - i.e.: as long as you continue to hit the target with missiles, the DoT will keep stacking higher and higher. This seems to follow the skill description and the common connotation of the word "conflagration" as a fire that continues to burn and get stronger. I really did want to test this one but haven't been able to do so yet.
Edit: Here's a link to the official site where people test Conflagrate:
Basically, it appears to work the way I described above. However, note that no other skill in the game, Fists of Fury included, mentions refreshing DoTs. Only conflagrate functions like this presently.
The conflagrate rune explicitly says that it both stacks and resets the durations of stacks upon hit, so I imagine it works a little differently than Fists of Fury.
Fists of Fury should add the 60% holy damage or whatever each time you hit with the second strike. The stacking mechanic basically just ensures that you don't "waste damage" by DoTing a guy who is already DoTed. You can think of it as just doing +60% weapon damage (or whatever the number is) on every second strike, but it occurs slowly rather than instantly. There should be -no- stack limit other than the number of times you can hit in 3 seconds.
Historically, the main benefit of this was the fact that the second strike has a high proc coefficient compared to other runes of the same skill. This was key in the so-called "Nirvana" builds that used Infused with Light plus Fists of Fury for 3ish seconds of massive spirit generation. I believe this no longer works, though.
I kinda like it more than the other runes tho, it feels like it's more damage and gives me more tornadoes on my Sweeping Winds - Cyclone, could be my imagination but it certainly feels like it.
Every time you punch something, it applies the DoT. So the first part of the combo applies 1 stack. The second part applies seven stacks. The third part applies one stack. The screenshot proved the dot stacks at least 7 times. Yes, it is just as crazy as it sounds.
The conflagrate rune says that "burn damage" refreshes the dot. I read that to mean that other skills that deal burn damage ALSO refresh the dot. The only one of those I've noticed is Blazing Hydra (which replaced Venom Hydra), which also states in the description that burn damage can stack. I would guess that Blazing Hydra can maintain a conflag stack, if they don't just combine into a crazy sustained burn effect.
Gonna go test this, actually, but my advance prediction is that every hit of FoF refreshes all existing stacks, just like conflag apparently works.
I was mistaken about Fists of Fury only applying on the second hit, but on a tangent the second hit is really what makes the rune work because:
1. It applies the DoT 7 times.
2. It has twice the proc rate of other Way of the Thousand Fist runes. This is why Xdmini probably observed a lot more cyclones with this rune (the cyclones are twice as likely to appear off each of the 7 hits in the second strike).
3. It may or may not also cause things like cyclones to trigger off of the DoT ticks, but I wouldn't be surprised if the DoT no longer triggers any procs. I believe this was fixed to prevent the "infinite spirit" gameplay using Faith in the Light.
As far as Conflagrate goes, my interpretation of the skill is that the "burn damage" refers to the Conflagrate burn itself - i.e.: as long as you continue to hit the target with missiles, the DoT will keep stacking higher and higher. This seems to follow the skill description and the common connotation of the word "conflagration" as a fire that continues to burn and get stronger. I really did want to test this one but haven't been able to do so yet.
Edit: Here's a link to the official site where people test Conflagrate:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/11915702287
Basically, it appears to work the way I described above. However, note that no other skill in the game, Fists of Fury included, mentions refreshing DoTs. Only conflagrate functions like this presently.