After a bunch of runs I can say that this is garbage, or rather FEELS garbage which is more relevant. I think it may be not stacking properly. Running with 5 stacks the entire game and I did not feel significantly more powerful than the exact same build but with no martyrdom. I certainly do not feel the 4% melee attack speed per stack but the damage increase feels like barely anything.
With it now being based on wounds this forces you to take more +wounds curios to get the most out of it, meaning you make yourself over-all less healthy despite having more downs.
For having to play on the razor’s edge the entire match (otherwise you are literally wasting those points you put into it) I don’t feel the power boost playing the old 6-stack zealot (pre-talent tree) used to feel. This is further worsened by the fact that max stacks are impossible starting on Malice.
There are a few things I think would solve this:
- Make the stacks also provide some crit chance, that way you crit more often thus increasing the power without actually increasing the damage bonus.
- Make it based on HP or if you insist on it being wounds-based have corrupted wounds count as 2 stacks.
- Make the optional node that gives toughness DR give actual DR since there are far to many things that just remove all toughness or hit through toughness thus rendering that node way at the bottom on the zealot tree essentially worthless. If that is not a valid solution make it give increased toughness replenishment for melee kills per stack (10% increase per stack should suffice).