Spark

Spark is a lightning spell that launches unpredictable sparks that move randomly until they hit an enemy.

Skill functions and interactions

• Duration: Spark duration determines how long spark projectiles will persist, and is increased by both skill duration passives and support.

• Ricochets: Spark projectiles will bounce off of terrain obstructions and edges for as long as they persist. If a spark projectile strikes a mob, it will be absorbed unless it can pierce.

• A single cast of Spark can hit an enemy once every 0.66 second (after patch 2.3). Keep in mind this is per cast, not per projectile. So without any increase in duration, a single cast can hit an enemy thrice with the base duration of 2 seconds. That is why projectile speed and increased duration can result in significant increases in real DPS.

• When an enemy is hit with a Spark projectile, projectiles from the same cast will go through that enemy without damaging it, as if it wasn't there (until the enemy can be hit again with the same cast which happens after 0.66 second).

• There is no guaranteed distance or time the projectiles will go straight, but they are guaranteed to go forward if there are no obstacles.

• After patch 2.3 Spark projectiles now destroy themselves after travelling 150 units from the character. It should be noted that it's entirely possible for infinite-duration sparks to bounce/circle around within that radius, and never leave it. In general, sparks will be more likely to stay within the radius in an enclosed space with walls to bounce off, and more likely to leave it in open areas.

Immunity to Spark

Spark projectiles travel on the ground and as such all flying enemies are immune to spark. Currently, flying monsters (which not only appear to be flying, such as Ribbons, are:

• Raging Spirits
• Animate Weapons (Note that this includes The Steel Soul, the boss of the Arsenal Map.)

It is therefore advised you have a secondary skill that can hit these monsters.

Spark Duration and Cast Speed

Given the current cast speed of 0.65 seconds, and the lifetime of the Spark is 2 seconds, you can get about 18 sparks into play before the initial sparks expire. 2 seconds / 0.65 seconds = 3.07 casts or 18 sparks.

To figure out the required cast speed to get more sparks into play, divide 2 by the number of casts.

4 casts ( 24 sparks ): 2 / 4 = 0.5 seconds per cast.

5 casts ( 30 sparks ): 2 / 5 = 0.4 seconds per cast.

Note, you may have to decrease these cast times, as this the minimum time; the initial sparks will expire just as the new ones are leaving your position.

To calculate the new desired increase in casting speed, consider that if you increase your speed by 100%, you'll cut the time in half.

NewCastSpeed = OldCastSpeed / ( 1 + IncreasedSpeed )

IncreasedSpeed = OldCastSpeed / NewCastSpeed - 1

As an example, if we wanted to get to 0.5 seconds, this is an % increase of (0.65/.5 - 1)*100% = 30%