Does Savannah Heat cause scattering?

I get "yelled at" in some PUGs when I use Savannah Heat because they think I am using firestorm. I know that Firestorm causes scattering of foes, but does Savannah Heat?

yes. But it is incredibly powerful if you snare the target.

Basically, yes. any spell with an area of effect (like where it says 'at target's location') will cause enemies to scatter. This includes savannah heat, searign heat, teinai's heat, firestorm. In hard mode, or to avoid having enemies scatter, use spells that target one particular enemy and the ones around it, like searing flames, liquid flame, glowing gaze etc.

if the rate of damage is fast enough, they will still scatter.

Try Ward Against foes before casting it...sure mobs will scatter, but 50% slower....buuuurn, BUUUURNNN!!!

yes, they scatter, but Savannah Heat is still a very powerful elite. I use it all the time on my Ele. I used to use Searing Flames a lot until I capped SH. Now I use SH almost exclusively unless I know it just isn't appropiate for the area. (The Deep doesn't go well with it)

The noobs yelling at you are the same folks that think Searing Flames is the only fire elite in the game. These are most likely folks that have never played an Ele before and just read somewhere that Searing Flames pwnz all enemies and Flare is the bestest skill ever because you can click it non-stop!!!!!!!!

try deep freeze

I thought mobs no longer scatter in normal mode?

It used to be if they got hit twice in 3 seconds or something like that, then they'd scatter.

Fire does wonders against stationary targets and minions. It is however less useful against things that move. SF gets by this limitation with burning, but it still doesn't do all that great damage.

SH and similar are quite useful when combined with minions. Those body block the mobs, then the rain comes down.

All AoE spells except Meteor Shower will cause them to scatter. Try snares like frozen burst it will slow em down or they won't move at all

virtually all AoE fire spells should be combined with a snare and/or Mark of Rodgorts.

Water hexes make for nice snares as do wells or a epidemic/cripple ranger.

umm MS does cause them to scatter, but only in HM

Keep in mind, depending on what you're facing, scattering isn't a big deal. Frozen Elementals, stationary npcs, Dolyaks, other slow creatures, etc. usually won't move fast enough. Especially with a warrior distracting them.

I thought it was that monsters won't scatter until they drop below 50% health. And how do those people think you're using Firestorm? The animations for those skills are totally different! And all AoEDoTs will cause scatter.

All monsters will flee, just that HM AI will flee faster than NM AI while in AoE. Savannah Heat animation is a combination of Fire Storm and Searing/Teinai's Heat IIRC.

To answer your question, yes SH does scatter most foes (not the noobs).
AND to add on to that, savanna heat displays the searing/tenai's heat + the firestorm graphic, so it looks like a firestorm from a distance.

LoL, the facts are all scattered around here as well as a ton of false info...
Lets try to culminate them all for the OP::

NM monster Ai takes a few seconds longer to scatter then in HM.
All DURATION (All means *ALL*, aka MS myth, etc) AoE will cause the monster Ai to scatter in both HM and NM.
This includes all skills that say "For X seconds..." or to that affect.
Monster Ai will also scatter if they take non-duration AoE damage at a fast enough rate.

Also, i believe that...
Monsters will also scatter if more then 3 monsters are focused on a single target and the monsters go under 50% hp. If the Ai doesn't get triggered by any duration/damage rate AoE, then i think they will continue to attack that target but only 3 melee at a time, rotating usually (applicable to casters to perhaps?).

There we go does that help? If anyone has more to add to that list, quotes + copy and post ftw!!

cheers

Huh, maybe I never noticed the firestorm effect before. Can't be right 100% of the time, eh?

Casters don't generally rotate.

You will only have 3 melee on you at a time... but ALL ranged attackers and spellcasters will carry on attacking regardless most of the time. There are occasional oddities where one will stop wanding, but generally they all seem to carry on regardless from my experience.
If you're at all uncertain... try Mo/D 55ing the mob of undead in Gates of Kryta. By the first minute of Shield of Judgement, all you'll have left are hellhounds and grasping ghouls... unless somehow one of the rangers or warlocks got obstructed by a hill. Those hounds and ghouls will continue to attack in groups of three... and run away when they get low enough on health (causing another to run in to take their place) UNLESS you're attacking the one in question.


As for the Savannah Heat thing.... I'd imagine it'd scatter like anything else... but I've never had cause to use it since I don't use Hard Mode for anything but farming yet. I'd certainly say Deep Freeze is the way to go though, despite its short duration. It should keep the enemy pinned down long enough for them to feel the full brunt of the Savannah Heat.
Then again... if you're in Hard Mode.... I'd recommend leaving the Deep Freezing to a dedicated Water Elementalist with Ward Against Harm or the like.

Deep Freeze lasts 10 seconds, regardless of Water Magic attribute. Savannah Heat lasts 5 seconds, regardless of Fire Magic attribute. DF is 'in the area', Savannah Heat is 'nearby'. How is it not enough to pin them down?

excessive aoe causes scatter if more than 3 melees are around 50% hp

No, try Ice Prison. Just jokin, that'd defeat the purpose.

But yes, using it does cause scattering. The AI is set to run after any repeated damage of spells. But in Normal Mode, this doesn't happen until about after the second hit, they take three or four hits. With SH, it's still effective. Using a snare is just as great, as they won't be able to run from the death looming over them.

I usually have enough time to cast meteor to knock down foes before they run away from the Savannah Heat area. If they don't stay there for the full effect, they've already suffered considerable damage from a Savannah Heat + Firestorm Spike ^^