Why Power Treads switch?

When you change your attributes, the current amount of mana (for Int) or health (for Str) as a percent of your maximum stays the same. Power Treads switching for extra mana is most notable on low-Int heroes, like many Str or Agi heroes.



Let's use a level 7 Dragon Knight as an example. His Int at this point is 25, and he has a mana pool of 325. If he uses all of his skills in quick succession ( Elder Dragon Form,  Dragon Tail, Level 4 Breathe Fire), he spends 280 mana and will have 45 mana left (13.8% of max). If he switches his  Power Treads to Int first, his mana pool will grow to 429 (33 Int), so he'll have 149 mana left (34.7% of max). It's enough for another Dragon Tail or Breathe Fire. Or, if he wishes to go back to Strength or Agility  Treads, he'll still have about 34.7% of his mana, at 112 (enough for a   Dragon Tail). By switching to Int Treads before burning off his mana, he saved 67 mana.

Also, switching off of Int is recommended when you're trying to regain mana. Using our Dragon Knight again, he switches back to Strength after burning his mana and getting the kill. Wanting to refresh his mana, he uses his Bottle. He gets back 70 mana (and 3 more from passive mana regen over 3 seconds), putting his total at 185 (56.9%). If he stayed on Int Treads, he'd have 223 (52%) now, but by regenerating his mana while on Strength or Agility, when he switches back to Int, he'll still have 56.9% of his mana, or 244.

It's also important to note that as your Intelligence increases, your mana pool grows faster than your mana regen does. At level 1, Dragon Knight's 15 Int means he has 195 mana and regenerates .69 mana per second, recovering his entire mana pool in about 282.6 seconds, but at level 7 he has 25 Int, recovering his entire mana pool in about 321.8 seconds. So, when you're trying to recover your mana pool quickly, you drop your max mana as low as you can, then return to your higher max mana once you've regenerated.

• If you're going to regen health, be on AGI/INT.
• If you're going to actively regen mana, be on STR/AGI. For passive mana regen, it depends on whether you have +mana items, or +mana/sec items, and in what proportion, etc.
• If you're going to use mana, be on INT.
• If you're going to get hit with magic damage, be on STR.
• If you're going to get hit with physical damage, be on STR/AGI (depends because AGI gives armor, which may ounteract the health benefit of being on STR)