Proc frequency

[cohRock]

I have a general question, but it is driven by a specific proc: Vigilant Assault: Recharge / Chance for PBAoE +Absorb. Its info says it can go off about 4 times per second.  I have it slotted in my defender's storm blast secondary power, Chain Lightning.  I can easily use it multiple times a minute, but when I watch for it to go off, I might only see its effect every 2 minutes or so.  Do I misunderstand the frequency with which it should go off, is Chain Lighting a bad power in which to slot it, or could I be missing many instances of it firing? (I am monitoring Absorption Points as shown in Combat Attributes.)

[srmalloy]

The Procs per Minute Information Guide is a good place to start.

[SeraphimKensai]

Potentially 4 procs per minute, not per second.

 

Chain powers the formula looks at how many targets the chain can hit, the activation of the power, the base recharge of the power, and the recharge of your enhancements.

 

The more links in the chain or more recharge in your slotting will reduce the likelihood of the proc.

 

Chain lightning has a base 20 second recharge and max of 16 targets, that results in a base chance to trigger of approximately 14.21%. if you have say 50 recharge slotted then it becomes 9.77%, or 7.61% at 98% recharge. Chains as a bit tricky to calculate though so I hope my math is accurate.

[Luminara]

Chain Lightning is shit for procs.  Slot it in Cloudburst.

[cohRock]

Thanks for feedback, everyone.  It didn't occur to me that multi-target attacks would have a LOWER chance of proccing than singe-target attacks.  Guess I'll respec soon, drop Gust, replace it with Cloudburst, and put the defender set in there.

Edited November 30, 2023 by cohRock

[Sir Myshkin]

On 11/29/2023 at 5:52 PM, cohRock said:

Thanks for feedback, everyone.  It didn't occur to me that multi-target attacks would have a LOWER chance of proccing than singe-target attacks.  Guess I'll respec soon, drop Gust, replace it with Cloudburst, and put the defender set in there.

Hold up, lets clarify since you don't have that quite right.

 

First, you're talking about a power that is focused on triggering off you as a caster base (PBAoE + Absorb), that proc is designed to initiate and spread off the caster, when you place a power like that into things that have something like a chain effect, the next potential trigger is no longer tied to you, but the following thing in the chain. This works great of continuation of debuff and damage effects, but not for self-promoting buffs as they're no longer tied to you.

 

Throw a few damage procs in Chain Lightning and you'll actually get some pretty solid feedback.

 

The rule of thumb when it comes to AoE/TAoE/Cones is actually pretty simple as there are two thresholds where you'll visibly notice a difference in return on proc effects. The common target cap on the aforementioned abilities is usually between 10-12, with some being up to 16. If you fire off the power and there are less than five enemies in the field of effect you'll see little return. In a field effect closer to 10+ however, you'll almost always see a trigger, if not multiples. A power with three damage procs hitting a spawn of ten targets is likely to see 2/3rds to 7/8ths of the enemies hit with at least one proc, or potentially a scenario of 4-5 the enemies getting hit with two, maybe a case of 2-3 in total, but one or all of that smaller batch will get hit with all three. Keep in mind this is all tied to whether or not the power itself actually even hits the appropriate number of enemies. Just because a spawn has ten targets doesn't mean it's a free pass if a few of them miss, your odds will drop accordingly.

 

Given the above, the other half of the scenario is really going to come down to the consistency of application; basically how often you're using the power. Sometimes a rarely used power may not be worth the extra procs whereas a power getting fired off every 8-10 seconds is going to be far more worth the investment in total returns.

 

Edit: I wanted to add, if you want the practical application of procs, and how to grasp their understanding, check out of a few of the links in my signature. If you want a crash-course "lets break stuff" approach to understanding, click on the "Mad King" link 😉

Edited December 4, 2023 by Sir Myshkin