Impale mechanics

Can someone please explain impale? I don't understand how it works. And how good is it for adding dps? Wondering if its worth investing in the passive tree.

I am going to say that it's complex enough to be worth watching one of the many videos created a couple of leagues ago. That should cause a bunch of people to jump in with explanations for you. :-)

And, Yes, it's awesome for a pure physical build if you get up around 100% chance to impale. If you were just planning to grab a node as you pass by, it's probably not worth it.

PoB doesn't really calculate impale dps but there are spreadsheets floating around that do.

The wiki has an article on Impale, but here's the short version:

* A hit that Impales will deal 50% More damage over the course of the fight. This is scaled by chance to Impale (e.g. 40% chance means you'll deal 20% More damage on average), Impale effect (20% Increased effect means each hit that Impales deals 60% More damage on average), and Impales lasting additional Hits (each extra hit means 20% More Impale damage).
* Impale is based on the outgoing Physical damage of the hit. Builds that convert Physical to Elemental or Chaos can't properly use Impale.
* Impale damage is Reflected damage, so it doesn't contribute to on-hit effects such as Leech, Stun, and Ailments. So e.g. a Bleeding-based build doesn't get much from Impale.
* Enemy Armour reduces Impale damage by a lot, since it's a bunch of little hits. Since Impale damage is Reflected, those passive tree nodes that apply -% to enemy Physical Damage Reduction don't work with Impale. Impale Support applies a -30% PDR against Impale debuff to enemies, so it's pretty much mandatory for an Impale build.

Hello.

It is possible to use a physical attack to apply impale and then use a skill that convert all physical damage in elemental. The impale damage will be converted with the second attack skill ?

Yes i understand that an attack that convert phy to ele cant store impale damage but i was thinking about this kind of combo:

- attack with ensnaring arrow and the passive the empaler to apply 5 impale stacks on a pack monsters. 100% increase effect of impale is a nice boost.

- Then use for exemple ice shot with full physical conversion.

If i understand you, ice shot will not be boosted with the impale damage (converted or not) right ? If i use another skill After the one that inflict impale, it has to be only a physical damage one ?

it lasts 20-25 second and is replaced by new stacks and stacks maximum is 5 by default and if you have less than 100% chance your looking at <5 stacks.

I dont know the maths exactly but high impale chance = dps is more probably 102% is impale cap

Ok but for exemple, if we have 100% chance to impale and 100% increased effect of impale, with "The Impaler" passive. The first attack we perform stack 5 impales (and spread them to nearby ennemies), each storing 20% of the attack damage, so the impale damage will be equal to 100% of the initial attack damage if i'm right.

If my first attack, one that dealing big damage, inflict 1000 damages, the next 5 attacks the ennemy will receive 1000 damage (from the attack) + 1000 damage (from the 5 stack impale with increased effect) >> 2000 dmg

My question is, what if i use another skill after apply the impale stack with my first attack. Did the 1000 dmg from impale is added to the "base attack damage" of the second skill ? (or after the damage calculation of this second skill i don't know how it works exactly)

I mean, if first i use "Ensnaring" with "The impaler to apply 5 impale stack, and then i use for exemple Barrage or other skill with low base attack damage modifier, did it benefits the impale damage stored ? And if that second attack skill fully convert physical to elemental damage, did that same stored impale damage are converted to ? (or is added as physical and not elemental if it's added after the damage calculation)

Sorry for my english. I try to explain the better i can ^^

Yes the base damage is added, if you use a dirty great 2h to do a huge impale, then switch and poke them with a knife you still get the impale value from the 2h until those impales are used up.

Its not really that complicated of a mechanic just think of it as a chance to do 50% more physical damage at 100% chance and scale appropriately (so 100% effect would give 100% more physical damage, 6 impales would give 60% more phys total, 40% chance would give 20% more physical damage etc)

they last 8s by default

Thank you Draegnarrr for your answer !!!

So if i understand well, impale damage stored (with "the impalor") are added to the "base attack damage" of the following next 5 attacks ? So if the other skill convert physical to elemental, stored impale damages are convert too its correct ?