Last week we answered some of the community's Game Mechanics questions and since we couldn't cover them all we decided to answer some more! Check them out below!

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How do player auras (e.g. Zealotry) interact with skills used by traps/mines? There appears to be a delay after a trap/mine triggers/detonates before the skill is fully 'affected' by the aura. This bug demonstrates the effect but how do trap/mine skills interact with player Auras to create this effect instead of just always being affected by the aura?

Traps and mines being affected by auras is a bug and will be fixed at some point. What's currently happening is that traps and mines are inherently hidden once armed, and effectively cease to exist for most purposes. Once they start to use their skill, they stop being hidden. Currently, this allows auras to start affecting the trap/mine object at that point, which should not happen. Auras take up to 250ms to start affecting a new object, so the aura currently starts affecting the trap or mine some point between one frame or 250ms after it starts using the skill.

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Are things like spell dodge and block rolled separately for each hit of the same spell?

Yes.

And if an enemy spell is critical, will it crit with each hit of the same cast, or will each hit roll critical separately?

This depends on the spell, but most spells will make a single critical strike roll per cast, but will check critical strike chance separately against each target.

The way chances work is you have a percentage chance to do something, which is a number from 0 to 100. The game rolls a random number from 0 to 99, and if the chance value is higher than (not equal to) that random roll, you do the thing. It's pretty easy to see that this gives correct behaviour; the random roll can only go as high as 99, so a chance value of 100 will always happen (for performance reasons, the roll is often skipped for this case), and a chance roll of 0 is never higher than the random roll, so a chance of zero never happens. But a less obvious consequence of this, and one which critical strikes in PoE take advantage of, is that the random roll and the chance are fundamentally two separate values - and you need both to evaluate whether a crit happens.

For critical strike chance, specifically, most skills make the random roll when the skill is used, and stores the value of the roll. Every time the skill calculates a hit against an enemy, it uses that stored roll, and compares it to the critical strike chance of that hit. So if all the hits have the same critical strike chance, then the result will always be the same, because both the roll and the chance have the same values each time - the chance will either always be higher or always be lower or equal. But in some cases, some hits will have different critical strike chance to others - some of the enemies could be affected by Brittle or Assassin's Mark, or might happen later after some critical strike chance buff has been applied, etc. The skill still only made one critical strike roll, but if some hits have a different critical strike chance, then it's possible for some hits to be critical and others not.

For example, a single cast of Ice Nova with Spell Echo will make a single critical strike roll - let's say it rolls 14. There are a bunch of enemies in range, and initially the skill's chance to critically strike each of those enemies is 12% - Ice Nova's base of 6% with 100% increased critical strike chance. The first nova hits each enemy, and each time it compares the chance of 12 to a roll of 14, and thus none of these hits are critical strikes. But the user has some chance to inflict Brittle, and some of these hits inflict Brittle on the hit enemies, applying some value of +X% to critical chance for future hits against that enemy. Now when the spell repeats, the critical strike roll is still 14, but some of the hits from the repeat still have 12% critical strike chance and again fail to crit, while others have higher critical strike chance because of Brittle - and for any of them where the effect of that enemy's Brittle is higher than +2% to critical strike chance, the crit chance for that hit will be higher than the roll of 14 and thus those hits will be critical strikes.

Some skills are exceptions to the above, and instead use a different critical strike roll for each hit, or periodically re-roll the chance for a "set" of hits. This is generally for cases where the number of times the skill tries to hit things when the skill is used once is arbitrary - usually because it's related to something outside the skill itself, such as Tempest Shield, which hits things each time you block, or Orb of Storms, which hits things when you use other lightning skills. Channelling skills that hit while being channelled also fall into this, because a single use of a channelling skill lasts for as long as you hold the button, rather than taking the cast time like regular skills.

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Please clarify my understanding about brand speed:

Actual Brand Activation Frequency = initial BAF * (1 + Increased cast speed + Increased BAF) * (1 + more BAF from Swiftbrand, Hierophant's passive) * (1 + faster BAF from Brandsurge)

That is roughly correct.

And does faster action speed affect brand frequency, if it does would it be additive to Brandsurge or be another multiplier?

Modifiers to Action Speed affect the speed of animations played by the character model. This does not affect brand activation, as that is independent of which animations your character plays.

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How does The Retch interact with instant leech now that leech is capped?

The only cap relevant to The Retch is Maximum recovery per Life Leech. This establishes an upper bound on how much life recovery a single instance of leech can have - regardless of whether it is instant or not. The Retch causes damage equal to a percentage of the life leeched by each leech instance, so this cap also limits the amount of damage The Retch can do for each life leech instance.

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How do the following items interact?

Inya's Epiphany - 25% chance that if you would gain Power Charges, you instead gain up to your maximum number of Power Charges
Malachai's Loop - Lose all Power Charges on reaching Maximum Power Charges
Romira's Banquet A - Gain a Power Charge on non-crit
Romira's Banquet B - Lose all Power Charges on crit
Using Cyclone + Cast on Crit + Power Charge on Crit + Discharge

Does Discharge always consume max Power Charges or does it never or is it related to whether the Cyclone hit did crit or not?

Discharge will never consume your maximum number of power charges in this scenario, because you will never be at the maximum - the act of gaining one that sets you to the maximum causes them to all be lost.

If you deal a critical strike with Cyclone, you will trigger Discharge, consuming any power charges you had, then lose all power charges (which would be any you gained from Discharge hitting things). Then you will have a chance to gain a power charge because of the support gem, which will have a chance to instead gain up to the maximum number. You will thus always end on either zero, one, or maximum power charges after the crit.

If you deal a non-critical strike, you will gain a power charge, with a chance to instead gain up to your maximum number of power charges. If you do gain up to your maximum number (either by that chance or because you already had one fewer than max), you will lose all power charges and be shocked. You can end on any number of power charges from zero to one fewer than your maximum (depending how many you already had).

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Does damage taken recouped stack?

Yes. Each source of Recouping Life, Mana or Energy Shield is entirely independent.

Are these considered as recoup? (Graven's Secret, Doppelgänger Guise, Juggernaut's Unbreakable)

Players innately Recoup 12% of Elemental Damage taken as Energy Shield per Absorption Charge, so gaining Absorption Charges will cause you to Recoup ES, and Graven's Secret allows you to gain those charges. This modifier can be seen in the character panel if you have nonzero maximum Absorption charges, and in the reminder text of stats that allow you to gain those charges, and is explicitly described as Recouping. The other mentioned things are not Recouping - if they were, they would be described using that word.

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For the belt Graven's Secret, does physical damage taken as fire/cold/lightning work with the Absorption Charge elemental damage recoup mechanic?

Yes.

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When using the unique Maven belts (Graven's Secret, Olesya's Delight, and Arn's Anguish) can you still have their respective normal charges (Power, Frenzy, Endurance respectively) if you steal them via items (The Highwayman, etc.) or they are shared via the Supreme Grandstanding keystone?

No. Any form of gaining the regular charge is replaced by gaining the alternate charge.

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If I have Minion Instability and my Animated Guardian reaches low life, do his exploding item's stats add to the damage of the explosion? For example: if Animated Guardian is wearing "Starkonja's Head" does "50% reduced Damage when on Low Life" apply to the damage of the Minion Instability explosion?

Currently no because this is bugged - the stats are not able to update before the explosion happens. This has been fixed locally for a future patch.

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What is Pride's base radius?

40, the same as most other aura skills.

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Do active flask effects update when stats affecting them change? For example, I use a flask that lasts for 6 seconds, with the "Spiked Concoction" notable allocated on my passive tree. This grants me a buff (Alchemist's Genius) for 4 seconds, that has 20% increased effect of flask effects applied to you. After 4 seconds, the buff expires. Does the still active flask effect become "weaker"?

Yes. Alchemist's Genius grants "increased effect of flasks on you", Modifiers to the effect of something "on you" always update dynamically when the modifier changes. Modifiers just to the "effect of something", or to "something effect" (implicitly these mean- effect of something you create) are set at the time the "something" is created. This one is the former.

Basically there are two categories of effect modifiers - when an effect is created, the object creating it checks its stats that modify the effects it creates. For as long as that effect applies, the object it applies to can change the effect with its own modifiers to effects on it, which are dynamic. This difference is because often those are two different objects, and after being created the effect is independent of its creator, but attached to the thing it's affecting. Thematically, it also makes more sense this way - logically shocking something and then swapping to a weapon that increases the effect of shocks you inflict shouldn't change the shock you already inflicted, but getting shocked and then swapping to armour which reduces the effect of shock on you should work.

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Minions cannot currently benefit from Triggered Skills via gear equipped to them by Necromantic Aegis. (E.g. Shattershard's Shield Shatter on block). Is this by design or technical limitation?

This is a technical limitation that we hope to change in future. Monsters cannot gain skills from equipment in the way that players do.

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When using Orb of Fusing and Orb of Transmutation, if I use more orbs, does the chance to get certain options increase (Per Orb)?

Each use of a currency item is entirely independent of other uses of that type of currency.

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How do Glancing Blows interact with the Ritual boots which grant increased Block but let 20% damage through?

By default, you take 0% of the damage from blocked hits. Glancing Blows makes you take 65% of that damage. The Implicit modifier on Basemetal Treads, Darksteel Treads or Brimstone Treads makes you take 20% of the damage of blocked hits. If you have both, you'll take 85% of the damage of blocked hits.

For future reference, if it's ever possible to get more than 100% total of this stat, blocked hits will indeed cause more damage than unblocked hits. I'm excited to see someone make a build around that if and when it's possible.

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Why doesn't Phantasmal Cremation explode Zombies when firing Projectiles with 40% chance, if Zombies are considered Corpses due to Aukuna's Will unique gloves' effect?

This is a bug that has been fixed for a future patch. It was incorrectly limited to only exploding enemy corpses.

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How does Inquisitor's "Pious Path" passive skill work with Keystone "Zealot's Oath" In terms of Life/ES regeneration?

They are incompatible. Zealot's Oath makes Life Regeneration apply as Energy Shield Regeneration instead - since it is no longer Life Regeneration, effects that interact specifically with Life Regeneration, including the one on Pious Path, have no effect.

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If the Mantra of Flames Jewel's Spell Damage increase per Buff is applied to 3 items (Law of the Wilds, Arakaali's Fang and The Black Cane) is it applied as 1 stack per minion?

Each of those items involves you receiving one buff per minion, yes.

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Can you explain "Map Drop Equity"?

Some initial Information:

• Each Tier grants a different value of Equity that accumulates.
• The values are tripled per tier (powers of 3), so the amount of equity granted by a Tier 1 Map is 1, and thus a Tier 2 map is 3, Tier 3 Map is 9 etc.

This is intentionally done to match the 3:1 upgrade recipe.

How does map drop equity work for maps that didn't drop when they are higher tier than the maps you were running?

Example: What does a T13 map that didn't drop due to it not being able to actually do if I'm only running T11-T12 maps? Will it only affect future T13 and higher tier map drops, or will this also increase the amount of lower tier map drops?

If you're running Tier 11 and Tier 12 maps, and you have no Tier 13 or higher maps available to drop on your Atlas due to Watchstones (if this situation is even possible), then when it attempts to drop a Tier 13 Map it will not drop the map, and will accumulate Equity.

At this point, it then checks your current equity and determines if it's high enough to drop maps by first checking if it's high enough to drop a Tier 16, then Tier 15, then Tier 14, so on and so forth, but in this example it's presumed you cannot drop any maps above Tier 13 (due to watchstone state) and thus it doesn't drop a Map and adds Equity. It never tries to drop maps below the original Tier it tried to drop, so for example it won't try to drop a Tier 12, Tier 11 etc. map.

Can I accumulate high equity by running low tier maps (say T5-T12) while my Atlas is fully watchstoned to be T14+?

Example: I have been running T14 maps, and am about to run out due to a bad streak of luck. Can I increase the chances of obtaining T14+ maps by going back and running a bunch of low-mid tier maps to "bank" the equity before going back to T14+, as no maps can generally drop while I run these?

Yes, but it will accumulate low(ish) values of equity, so it will require a large amount of Map Drops (which could just be upgraded using the 3:1 recipe).

A Tier 5 Map grants 81 Equity.
A Tier 16 Map requires 14,348,907 Equity.

But yes, it will technically accumulate and help.

Is there a cap to this equity?

Yes, there is a cap. 143,489,070 Equity is the cap (10x Tier 16 maps).

Does Map Drop Equity affect map drops from 'additional connected map' from map bosses, as it has its own set of mechanics that differ slightly from normal drops?

No it doesn't. Any method of dropping maps that has the fallback to drop Maps with their native Tiers does not use the Equity system.

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