I see a number of builds using convention of elements where the build only uses one or at most two elements, one element in primary attack and maybe second element in resource spending attacks. For this ring to be useful, you have to time your attacks to when a particular element is increased which means you have to be paying attention to which element is increased which distracts you from game play which can get your character killed which is really bad when playing hardcore. In most builds this ring only helps you less than 17% of the time. Why use it when other rings give you continuous substantial CD, substantial damage reduction or significant continuous damage increase?
I think some use it because it was the new flavor of the day, and they can see the visuals. They may or may not have given any consideration as to how it works. But it sure does looks nice. It was suggested by fans at the 2014 Blizzcon.
No one is forcing you to use it. It takes a bit of getting used to the rhythm. If you don’t like it, use another ring.
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Again, what is the big advantage to using a ring that on most builds has no effect 83+% of the time?
Your incorrect on this. It only cycles thru elements that each class has. So Most classes have 4 elements it cycles thru, monks have 5 and necros have 3.
Necros get an average of 66.6% damage increase
Most Classes get an average of 50% damage increase
Monks get an average of 40% damage increase
If you wern’t using it to time your rotations it beats a lot of other ring options. But using it during rotations is what seperates good dps vs great dps.
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Even if one doesn’t pay attention to the rotations, the average damage increase is still substansial.
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Thanks. I had not noticed that.
Barring a few build-specific exceptions, you won’t find any other ring that will give you a comparable damage boost.
Yes, paying attention and timing your attacks right helps (more for some builds than for others), but even for builds that channel skills continually, the increase in dmg output during those few seconds that the element is right is substantial.
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Just out of curiosity, which ring would you use in its place?
It depends on the build, but Unity, Justice Lantern and Obsidian come to mind.
Rings are one item that they could give a lot more attention to. 
Ya, so CoE definitely provides more damage than all of those.
Which answers your question hopefully.
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When you are playing HC, sometimes you need to stay alive.
None of those do what CoE does though - Unity and Lantern give you a degree of damage reduction (although I have yet to see a build that actually uses Lantern) and Zodiac is already part of the builds that need it, and is next to useless for those that don’t. CoE is still unique in its ability to increase your DPS. The only other ring that gives you that is Oculus, but that is better placed on your follower.
Ya, but if you want to push for top of the leaderboard, you have to squeeze damage in wherever you can.
CoE is the strongest non class specific ring in the game when it comes to Damage. So that’s why so many players opt to use it.
Zodiac is almost never used as a wearable ring either (its usually cubed) as all of the primary affixes on it are set in stone and can never roll with a socket. Necro’s and DH do both have other ring options in Elusive and Krisbin/CoN. But besides F&N or EW sets, CoE is one of the biggest dps gains for most builds. (excluding zdps)
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I think only Crusader Thorns and Blessed Shield builds use Justice Lantern.
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When you’re pushing this ring is extremely strong because of the way high GRs are typically played. You won’t be constantly doing random damage on stray mobs as that will barely make a difference. Instead you will use the downtime of the ring to hoard mobs together for one big burst window. Watch any high clears on youtube and you’ll get a better understanding of why the downtime of this ring isn’t really that detrimental. If played around correctly I’d say the effective dps increase is definitely more than 50% (for 4 element classes).
did you know that 106% of statistics are made up on the spot?
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Pretty much. More specifically it’s the Invoker which uses Justice Lantern to provide toughness the build needs. Blessed Shield also gains some damage in addition to the toughness.