The veteran talents “Exploit Weakness” and “Onslaught” both provide 2.5% rending stacking up to 16 times, one from crits and one from continuous hits to a single target. Picking either one individually has the expected effect when tested in the Meat Grinder. However, when you pick both, the rending stacks do not double, but behave as if you only had “Onslaught” enabled.
I tested this on the Steam PC version of the game. I tested on multiple enemies in the Meat Grinder and got the same result on all of them.
According to the patch notes, that’s intended, I think?
Clamp to 16 stacks of 2.5% each, max capping to old 40% on each instance of buff (player/target) for a sum “normal” cap of 80%.
Given that there’s Rending available in a number of flavours (15% at all times for the Vet node, 24% stacking buff for Uncanny Strike), it’s a little confusing.
So to be clear, exploit weakness and onslaught both apply an enemy debuff called brittle, it’s not technically rend (which is a self buff instead, but both effects have the same effect on your damage). Brittle and rending both individually have a cap of 40% (so if you stack both 40% rend AND 40% brittle you can effectively reach 80% armour reduction).
Now note that rending strikes IS actual rend (the self buff version). This means that rending strikes combos nicely with either onslaught OR exploit weakness, but onslaught and exploit weakness do not combo well with each other.
I think this is pretty sensible overall. Rending/brittle effects are very strong this patch so giving them a cap is probably sensible. General rule is any rapid firing weapons benefits a fair bit from one of the two. Onslaught having a more reliable condition, but having a higher point cost to reach.
As somewhat of an aside, FS really needs to start labelling brittle and rend consistently across their tool tips.
That makes sense from a balancing standpoint, but if this is working as intended, then these tooltips are beyond terrible. Brittle and rend need to be correctly labeled, as well as where they cap out.
If you just stick both of these talents in the left tree with insufficent tooltips, any reasonable player is going to assume they’re intended to stack.
Well they do technically build up to the 40% cap faster if combo’d which is kinda useful for slower firing (relatively) crit weapons like last pistol. Still not worth the cost to go for both but that also has a bit to do them pathing down through smokes and both non survivalist auras being at least 3 whole tiers worse than, well, survivalist.
I completely agree tooltips need to be way way better than they are.