  The effect of photon frequency redistribution by line branching on mass-loss
rates for hot luminous stars is investigated. Monte Carlo simulations are
carried out for a range of OB-star models which show that previous mass-loss
calculations which neglect non-resonance line scattering overestimate mass-loss
rates for luminous O stars by ~20 per cent. For luminous B stars the effect is
somewhat larger, typically ~50 per cent. A Wolf-Rayet star model is used to
investigate line branching in the strong wind limit. In this case the effect of
line branching is much greater, giving mass-loss rates that are smaller by a
factor ~3 from computations which neglect branching.
