path-of-exile
I'd like to know the exact difference between "burning" and "ignite" and what effect it has on player builds.
How I currently think it works:
"ignite" is a hit (caused by a fire "attack" or "spell").
"burning" is the "damage over time" (DoT) "effect" caused by the "ignite" hit.
Yes I did read the update notes and the wiki page. But every time I talk to someone about it I hear a different explanation.
For context: I currently play with a character using Flame Totem and Scorching Ray.
Levelling up a gem is like levelling up a skill in many other games. It gives you higher damage, more effects, higher requirements, etc.
As you can see, burning arrow gains 3% physical damage, and 1% greater chance to ignite enemies. It also now requires you to be level 2 to use it.
I believe higher levels of Raise Zombie increase zombie health and damage. For other (non-summon) skills, the stats of the new level were shown on the gem at one point during beta, but do not appear to be shown now. The reason minion statistics aren't shown on the skill is because they don't exist on the skill, they exist on the minion.
(Minion statistical information) isn't hidden, it doesn't exist. Ideally we'd like to make it exist and be visible eventually, but this a) requires implementing entirely new systems for skills to be able to show stats that aren't in the skill, and b) requires those stats having actual values we can read somewhere. We've got a temporary solution for Zombie life numbers, which need updating any time any balance changes modify what those values are, but it's simply not viable to make that a large-scale solution.
You get more zombies from the passive tree.
The small blue dot (at position 1 on your screenshot) indicates that location on the map has a waypoint that you have not activated. As per your second question, entering a region that does have a waypoint without activating it will result in a small blue dot.
The large blue dot (at position 2 on your screenshot) indicates that the location has a waypoint that you have activated.
Whether or not an area has a waypoint will not become apparent until you have entered an area (before entering the area, it will show as an empty dot, as per the other areas on your map). As long as you've discovered the area you will be able to simply use the world map to see if there was/is a waypoint there.
Additionally, the name of the are has an icon next to it if there is a waypoint at that location:
Best Answer
Barring the damage over time changes that will be implemented in the upcoming 3.0 update...
Ignite refers to the elemental status ailment, which causes burning. Per the Path of Exile wiki:
Burning is more simple - it is the fire damage taken over time:
So based on these 2 definitions, it seems that Ignite is one method which can cause burning. This is further supported by the Mechanics section on the Burning page of the wiki, which lists Ignite as the first source of burning damage:
So your take on the difference is pretty close: burning is definitely the fire-related damage over time. However I would characterize Ignite as a Status Ailment rather than a hit. So functionally, you would use an attack that has a chance to Ignite - this, if successful, would give the enemy the status ailment of Ignite, causing them to take burning damage.
You can read in greater detail about the mechanics of Ignite, how it relates to burning, and how other factors (like resistance, critical strikes, etc) affect Ignite here.