'Lose mana per enemy killed' is triggering when minions kill things via annihilation support

I went and ran another test. I recorded it here for you to review. The mana loss does seem to be less than it was last time I tested, but i unequipped by CoDT support, put the elemental focus into the link, and you can see i still suffer mana losses, generally in sync with large chain explosions. Something that does not happen without that ring equipped. While the support spirit does ignite, her dps is low enough to never rack up kills, and even if a mob did happen to tick down from her ignites it would not cause the mana drop you can see when the explosion chains occur from the dark marionettes.

It is possible the effect is occurring because the annihilation chain occurs off MI explosions, introducing a second layer of separation to the mechanic. Or perhaps simply mobs dying WHILE ignited by the spirit... though that wouldnt explain it either, since a lot more mobs that were ignited died than I suffered the mana loss. Without that ring equipped, I do not lose mana without casting (or the CoDT support). If you have an alternative explanation for the mana loss I am all ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J32sglzaG14

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Stormy_Fairweather#1124 wrote:

While the support spirit does ignite, her dps is low enough to never rack up kills

Seems to me it's not low enough. If you go frame by frame, you can see enemies die from nearly 0 health to something that isn't explosions at around 0:53, and at 0:56 when you mouse over the mana globe one enemy dies while standing directly in one of her DoT areas before a Marionette explodes the rest. I can't see any other enemies die onscreen when the mana goes down, and while there is some suspicious drainage going on, with the mana drain not really being in sync with explosions, it makes DoTs seem like a likely enough explanation to me. Your mana would be completely emptied on several occasions if it was Annihilation's explosions anyhow.

Some considerations if you're going to do further testing: You can make the game always show mana levels and hide reservation in UI settings, so that it's easier to see when mana goes down. Testing in a well lit map like Dunes would make it easier to see when enemy life bars disappear due to better contrast. And linking Devour support to Marionettes should consume all corpses that don't die to a DoT (works on Annihilation's explosions as well).

There is something wonky going on, and I can't rightly figure out what. I ran another test with the support spectre straight up disabled, so it was only the marionettes popping doing damage, while supported with elemental focus, so no ignites from them. The marionettes have a secondary explosion in addition to the MI that deals physical damage, but between them not having a chance to crit (took out the fresh meat support for this) and the fact that they dont have anything giving them a chance to bleed or poison, they really shouldnt be causing any DoTs, but I was still randomly losing mana with the ring equipped. I know it is the 'lose mana on enemy kill' that is causing that, since it only happens when I equip that ring, but it happens so randomly I am at a loss as to what is triggering that. I assumed it was the annihilation, but I am no longer certain. But what I am sure of is that I infrequently lose mana with that ring equipped, when only the dark marionettes are killing things via MI and/or annihilation chain pops. Not nearly as much as I would were it actually the annihilation... unless perhaps those pops chaining can ignite despite the elemental focus?