Forum:Math and modifiers questions

This is my first post here, so pardon if I've missed something about how the site functions and the protocols of starting a forum thread of whatever. (I can see this forum is more like a wiki page than a forum.)

Something I have been wondering about as I've started to play this game is how a lot of the modifiers work. From reading the builds on the site, I get the impression that at least some of the build authors don't know the answers to some of these either since I see contradictions.

Class Mods 1. If I get a class mod that adds +2 to ability X, and I have zero points into that ability, do I have a rating of 0 or 2? If this were Diablo 2, the bonus would be null and void until at least one point was in the skill. Some builds seem to think you need that one point, and others indicate not to.

2. If I get a class mod that adds +2 to ability X, and I have five points in that ability, do I have a rating of 5 or 7? In other words, if the ability adds, say, +3% damage, do I get a total of +15% or +21%?

Elemental Damage 3. I'm pretty sure I understand this one, but I'm just double-checking. If I have a weapon with a damage of 50, and does x3 elemental, then it effectively deals 200 points of damage -- 50 base and three times that in the element? (Sans any other modifiers, of course.)

4. The "frequency" of the elemental attack triggering just refers to the chance of the special property like igniting flesh or electrocuting, right? It doesn't influence the standard damage?

5. Are all elements' damage applied up front? Corrosive, for example, applies a DoT after the fact. Is that part of the original damage, or is that gravy?

Specific Talents 6. I primarily play a siren. One of the siren abilities, Radiance, "deals shock damage to nearby enemies while Phasewalking. Damage is based on your Level and the skill's Level." However, each level just adds +1 shock damage. I know I'm doing more than a single point of shock damage, so can I assume this is +1 to some multiplier? If so, what is it a multiple of? My melee damage? My character level?

7. My friend is playing Brick and looking at the Unbreakable talent. If it adds +15% per second after your shield breaks...wouldn't that effectively mean that your shield never stops regenerating? You take damage, shield breaks, you get back 15%. Therefore, your shield is unbroken. So when you take another 15% in damage, your shield breaks, and you get back 15% again. Or is there some kind of cooldown on its reactivation? (Or other stipulation?)

8. Why isn't there a wiki page on any of the math behind the game? Or is there and I missed it somewhere? I've noticed there is an article on elemental damage, at least, but it didn't answer my questions. I suppose there might just be a place I missed, but there's certainly no indication of that. For a game that is reasonably transparent with numbers, I'm surprised I can't find answers to the remainder of the mathcraft.