Introduction
Most games now, including Age of Apes, share a common theme when it comes to itemization and on-chance abilities. In Age of Apes, though the common theme is shared, they do implement functionality, or “the mechanics” slightly different than more house-hold names. In this post, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about on-chance abilities so that you can understand why they’re important to understand when considering optimized, “Best in Slot” (BiS) approaches to itemization.
The Basics of Internal and Global Cooldowns
In most video games today, internal and global cooldowns are commonly used to manage the frequency of “on chance” abilities that temporarily enhance a player’s stats. An internal cooldown (ICD) refers to a hidden timer that begins when the effect is triggered, preventing the ability from proccing—meaning activating or triggering an effect—again until the timer expires. For example, if an item has a chance to increase critical hit chance, the ICD ensures that the effect cannot activate again within a certain period, even if multiple opportunities arise for that item. Global cooldowns (GCD), on the other hand, apply more broadly, affecting all abilities or items within a specific timeframe. This prevents spamming of multiple “on chance” effects or other abilities simultaneously. These cooldown mechanisms maintain game balance by preventing overwhelming stat boosts from proccing too frequently, adding a layer of strategy in the timing and use of abilities.
In many games, there might also be an ability, stat, skill, or talent that modifies either the ICD and/or GCD up until a certain point. When a player increases their haste, it typically leads to several performance benefits which ultimately leading to the ability to do something more often like an on-use skill or ability.
Key Differentiator
Age of Ape’s has a key element in their design which differentiates them from the norm, fixed interval attacks and no GCDs or ICDs. Instead of gating fighter abilities behind GCDs and ICDs, they have a fixed interval of attacks which cannot be modified. The game is designed in a way so that player’s will always trade attacks, in a turned-based fashion called “rounds”. With each round being a fixed interval of 1 second, players effectively have a chance to activate one of these on-chance abilities every second. Fortunately, with this design, players can effectively stack on-chance abilities and create an exponentially scaling benefit within a stat when multiple items simultaneously have the same on-chance ability activated.
How It Works
As you can already imagine, with mechanics designed this way, scaling of on-chance abilities on equipment can yield exponential benefits. Unfortunately, the game strategically designed the uptime—the duration that a temporary on-chance benefit exists—to be quite short (2 seconds). This makes the probability of overlapping procs both unlikely and with limited benefits; however, when overlapping procs do occur, the player will receive exponentially scaling benefits in some scenarios.
Developers have confirmed that there are no ICDs on equipment, and each piece of equipment has its own on-chance ability application, which means that it is indeed a plausible scenario within the game. For example, if a player procs equipment piece 1, which increases troop attack by 10% for 2 seconds in round 1, and then in round 2, they proc another increase in troop attack by 10% from a different piece of equipment, the 10% from the 2nd proc will be calculated based on the temporary sum total of proc 1. This means that scaling is based on that temporary value from proc 1, not the base value before the proc.
Unfortunately, the catch is that if two pieces of equipment with the same on-chance ability benefit proc in the same round, the scaling will not be exponential, as the game will calculate both procs based on the player’s base value. Although this still benefits the player, the main value proposition of stacking multiple pieces with the same ability is to achieve exponential benefits. However, having multiple pieces with the same on-chance ability will improve the net uptime of that benefit in general.
Exceptions
As the game continues to evolve, it is inevitable that developers will start to introduce non-stacking ICDs and GCDs on certain on-chance abilities for equipment like other games. For example, one of the first introductions of a non-stacking ICD has been recently announced and released for the new Super Equipment. The first ability that has a non-stacking ICD is the Magnetic Field Disruption ability, which is called out in the description as: “This effect cannot be stacked.”
Conclusion
When considering your “Best in Slot” (BiS) itemization, understanding the fundamentals and mechanics of on-chance abilities is crucial. With a solid grasp of how internal and global cooldowns function alongside the unique mechanics of Age of Apes, you can unlock the potential for powerful, meta-breaking configurations that allow you to dominate your opponents. This knowledge empowers you to make strategic decisions about equipment and abilities, ensuring that you can maximize your character’s effectiveness in the game. Ultimately, mastering these concepts will lead to a more rewarding gameplay experience, allowing you to define the new meta.
