Weapon Enchantment Procs

The following in-depth guide will teach you all about proc-based weapon enchants, focusing on the most popular and powerful proc-based enchantments available (Crusader, lifesteal, firey). It will tell you how proc per minute (PPM) enchantments work, and how to exploit them to your benefit.

NOTE: For simplicity’s sake, all enchantments are assumed to be on your main-hand weapon, as there is not enough research at this time as to the effects of PPM enchants on off-hand weapons.

What is a ‘proc’?

A proc is special spell that has a chance to go off whenever a certain event happens. In our case, the special spell will be a weapon enchantment activating, and the event will be a sword swing, or instant attack with a mainhand weapon.

What does PPM mean?

An enchantment that is based on Proc per minute (PPM) is one that normalizes the % chance to proc of the enchantment to the weapon speed that the enchantment is on.

What doesn’t PPM mean?

PPM does NOT mean that you cannot get more than a certain number of procs per minute. If done correctly, you should be getting more PPMs than normal, not less.

Doesn’t Spirit affect proc rates?

It hasn’t since beta. Stop asking.

How does PPM work?

Many permenant proc enchants are set to PPM. This means that Blizzard has set a certain number for each weapon enchantment. This number will be the number of times, on average, that your enchantment will proc assuming you hit 100% of your weapon swings and don’t use any instant attacks.

What weapon enchantments are PPM?

Crusader, lifesteal, icy, and firey. For this article, I will not discuss Icy, as it is near-unanimously agreed to have too low a PPM rate to be worthwhile in PVP or PVE.

The Maelstrom card also counts as a PPM “enchant” of sorts. Due to lack of statistical data, I won’t include it in this guide. According to rumor, its PPM rate is about 1.

Crusader – Heal for 100 and +100 STR for 15 seconds.
Lifesteal – Heal for 30 and deal 30 fire damage.
Firey – Deal 40 fire damage.

What are the PPM rates?

Crusader – 1 PPM
Lifesteal – 6 PPM
Firey – 6 PPM

I still don’t get it. What’s the point of all this?

A weapon enchantment that is PPM based basically means that the %chance to proc is different depending on your weapon speed. If you have a faster weapon, the proc rate will be lower. If you have a slower weapon, the proc rate will be higher.

Show me the math!

%CP = %Chance to Proc
AS = Weapon Attack Speed
PPM = Proc Per Minute rate

%CP = ( PPM * AS ) / 60

What are the proc rates for my weapon?

Here’s a few weapons done for you:

Hanzo Sword – Speed 1.5
Firey/Lifesteal rate – 15%
Crusader rate – 2.50%

Barman Shanker – Speed 2.0
Firey/Lifesteal rate – 20%
Crusader rate – 3.33%

Serpent Slicer – Speed 2.5
Firey/Lifesteal rate – 25%
Crusader rate – 4.17%

Corruption – Speed 3.0
Firey/Lifesteal rate – 30%
Crusader rate – 5.0%

Beheading Blade – Speed 3.5
Firey/Lifesteal rate – 35%
Crusader rate – 5.83%

The Nicker – Speed 4.0
Firey/Lifesteal rate – 40%
Crusader rate – 6.67%

How can I abuse PPM to my advantage?

Two words – Instant Attacks. When you use an instant attack (skills that do ‘weapon damage + X’ like sinister strike and mortal strike) it counts as hitting with your mainhand/two-hand weapon. No matter the speed of your weapon, you will always be using instant attacks at the same rate. Because of the fact that the slower a weapon’s speed is, the higher the %chance to proc a PPM enchantment on it, your instant attacks have a higher chance to proc an enchantment if they are slow.

For example: If you are using a fast 1.5 speed weapon, your %chance to proc for firey will be half (15%) of what it would be (30%) if you used a slow 3.0 speed weapon. That means that with the slow weapon, you will proc the firey enchantment twice as often with instant attacks as you would with the slower weapon. When this proc is as powerful as Crusader, twice as many procs is a big deal, and adds up quickly.

I don’t believe you! I want to test this myself.

Go ahead! This mod will help you keep track of your hits, misses, and procs.