Shadow Brand?

[MaxWilson]

After seeing one battle where the Shadow Brand, in the hand of a minor thug (Tomb Oracle), functioned about half of the time, my tentative conclusion is that the Leeching Darkness ability is under the control of the wielder, and the wielder uses it only when the combat AI determines that friendly fire casualties will be minimal. For instance, he usually didn't use it when surrounded by bodyguards, but when surrounded mostly by enemies on one side he did.

I suppose it's a good thing he's so careful.

-Max

[Sombre]

That's very interesting. I must consider this when modding weapons.

[Saint_Dude]

Where did you get that map Max? It looks interesting.

[MaxWilson]

That's Dawn of Dominions. I think it came with the 3.06 patch.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

Wait, I'm an idiot. Here's a better theory. In order for a Shadow Brand to do Leeching Darkness, it first has to hit. SCs and minor thugs have better attack values, ergo they hit more often. The thing with the bodyguards was probably coincidence.

To test it, I'll try equipping my human commanders with burning pearls as well as shadow brands, and see if Leeching Darkness goes off when they're with their bodyguards.

-Max

[Saulot]

According to Edi's database, shadowbrand has 'secondaryeffectalways' leeching darkness, which means it should be triggered regardless of whether the hit connects/does damage.

[vfb]

Could it be that the attack is being repelled by a longer weapon, and this causes the leech not to trigger?