Wintertide Brand

Can we just ask questions regarding wintertide here? I just wanted to know, as the wiki says its unconfirmed, whether this statement from the wiki is true;

"

Whatever said next is not confirmed. The stages that the brand can gain is local to the brand itself, meaning if an enemies have 3 brands, they won't use a global stages modifier that an enemies have and deal damage based on the amount of stage but each brand would have their own local "stage" count that dictate how much damage they dealt every second.

-Doesn't look clear AT ALL.
-most of the times i can't tell if something is in it's AoE or if the gem is even working as intended since it feels like a bloated skill gem.
-Doesn't feel satisfying and snappy like storm brand
-Forces you to Heiro since you need as much brand activation frequency as you can get and the damage, range doesn't make up for it.
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Needs to look much clearer, simplified and have some better effect sounds.

It is a very strong build. I like how it is only a debuff so gearing for it is simple. I don't get any of the on-hit effect but the raw damage is good.

My only suggestion is to make it so when it reaches max stack of 20, can you make a graphic change so we know it has reached the max?

The way I understand is if I resummon brand after it reaches max, it starts over again. If we have a Visual Cue when we reach max stack, then I may try to keep duration longer. This way I know if my fast casting truly reaches the final stage faster.

Please consider it.

The skill sounds too loud when you use it alongside the "Brand Attach to a new enemy each time they activate" mastery. I think that the sound effects shouldn't layer as much as they do