as far as I know the damage hits when the ring lights up yellow/orange, then the beam zzzzzaps. if the target dies because of the skill it stops the animation and you see no beam. Its less then .5 seconds of diffrence I think (it could be that lag affects the animations but not the wait before the damage tick). Its not super, but on the other hand watching a capital explode without even being hit by a beam makes it looks asif they ruptured it by sheer will.
