Open Wounds

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 offset against target's damage regeneration (for monsters, hirelings and pets). Instead, regeneration is immediately cut off once Open Wounds steps in (Replenish Life from items and healing from a skill like Prayer still function). Unlike Prevent Monster Heal the Open Wounds mod will also work when applied by a hireling or Iron Golem.

Common abbreviation for Open Wounds is "OW".

• See all of the Diablo II Special Modifiers.

Formula

The formula is different depending on game version: life drain increased drastically in 1.10+.

1.10+

Life drain per frame in bits (1 bit = 1/256 point):

Clvl	Life Drain
1-15	= 9*clvl + 31
16-30	= 18*clvl - 104
31-45	= 36*clvl - 374
46-60	= 36*clvl - 779
>60	= 45*clvl - 1319

This may then be modified against certain targets or when using certain attacks:

• 0.25 (1/4) with any melee attack on a player
• 0.125 (1/8) with any ranged attack on a player
• 0.5 (1/2) with any melee or ranged attack on any Champion, Unique, Super Unique or boss (excluding normal or minion Putrid Defiler) monster
• 1 with any melee or ranged attack on any other target

Life drain is rounded down to the nearest bit after division.

Life drain per second in points = Life drain * 25/256

Total life drain in points = Life drain * 199/256

Although duration is 8 seconds (200 frames), life does not drain in the first frame and so only does so for 199 frames.

1.09

Duration of OW was only 4 seconds and the same formula was used for all character levels. Also life loss wasn't influenced by a target modifier.

Life loss per frame:

(cLvl * 9 + 40) / 256

Life loss per second:

Life loss per second = Life loss per frame * 25

Total life loss:

Total life loss = Life loss per second * 4 (the duration of OW in V1.09)

Examples

For each version assume character level 85 and a normal monster as target.

1.10+

Life drain per frame in bits

= (45*85 - 1319) * 1

= (3825 - 1319)

= 2506

Life drain per second in points

= 2506*25/256

=244 186/256

Total life drain in points

= 2506 * 199/256

= 1,948 6/256

1.09

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

Sources

Source	OW%
Malice Melee Weapon	100%
Ripsaw Flamberge	80%
Fury Melee Weapon	66%
Goreshovel Broad Axe	60%
Kingslayer Sword/Axe Steel Sword/Axe/Mace Bloodmoon Elegant Blade Fleshripper Fanged Knife Razor's Edge Tomahawk Swordback Hold Spiked Shield The Gnasher Hand Axe The Meat Scraper Lochaber Axe Woestave Halberd	50%
The Impaler War Spear Toothrow Sharktooth Armor	40%
Bloodthief Brandistock Crow Caw Tigulated Mail	35%
Blood Crescent Scimitar Cerebus' Bite Blood Spirit (Ladder Only) Gut Siphon Demon Crossbow Lacerator Winged Axe Langer Briser Arbalest The Scalper Francisca Duress body armor	33%
Riphook Razor Bow Soul Harvest Scythe	30%
Um Rune (in weapon) Beast Axe/Scepter/Hammer Chaos Hand to Hand Crescent Moon Axe/Sword/Polearm Doom Axe/Polearm/Hammer Bloodrise Morning Star Boneflesh Plate Mail Butcher's Pupil Cleaver Dracul's Grasp Vampirebone Gloves Fleshrender Barbed Club	25%
Infernal Tools (Complete)	20%
Skull Splitter Military Pick	15%
Gore Rider War Boots	10%
Crafted Blood Belt	5-10%

FAQ

Which skills/attacks carry OW and which don't?

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

Skills, that carry OW:

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

Skills, that don't carry OW:

• Blade Sentinel
• Blade Shield
• Multiple Shot (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, regardless of level.

How does OW from different item types stack?

The chance to trigger OW is the sum of all items you carry. Only exception are dual-wielding barbarians and assassins: In this case, only the OW from the striking weapon plus OW from non-weapon items counts.

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, physical resistance or absorb?

OW ignores any resistances and absorb and cuts off damage regeneration on the target if triggered. Replenish Life (e.g. from Prayer aura or Snakecord) still works though.

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?

Life drain cannot be reduced by any form of damage reduction, and its duration cannot be reduced by Cleansing or Fade. Replenish Life from items is a direct counter. Against another player, a level 30 player in 1.10+ applies 109 bit life drain per frame with a melee attack, and 54 bit life drain per frame with a ranged attack: this can be countered entirely by Replenish Life +109 and +54 respectively.

Will every target suffer from OW?

Although always applied to another player, it only applies to non-player units (monsters, hirelings and pets) if their life value changes, either due to damage taken or regenerated. If no damage is taken then OW won't be applied if regeneration has already been stopped by Prevent Monster Heal, even if the target is at less than maximum life.

Links

Open Wounds calculator for V1.10+ (German)
Open Wounds calculator for V1.09 (German)
Open Wounds calculator for V1.09 (English)