The original implementation of Ascended equipment as teased in Grim Misadventure 183 featured damage conversion:
However, this system had a myriad of problems that didn’t result in it being “fun” or something that players (praetorians) engaged with.
- It only occurred on dropped Common-tier equipment, and was insufficient at making such equipment competitive with MIs/Woke Epics/Legendaries.
- Players did not have much agency or control over these drops, resulting in compounded RNG.
- Common items do not feature any affix biasing, meaning even if you got two synergistic rare affixes on it, the Ascended affix could still entirely brick the item.
With the new system, Zantai has ruled out damage conversion on Ascended affixes because there is a hefty cost associated with obtaining them. It would suck for a player to pay the cost on an item they were actively using and wind up with a conversion that effectively killed their entire build.
To this you could argue “Well, players should only Ascend equipment in preparation of using it later, rather than immediately.” But that’s not the intent of the system nor is it how players are using it today. Ascension is supposed to be a minor but immediate upgrade to the performance of your character. Even 10% conversion to an off-type would be a substantial neutering for a build.