Compil d'infos diverses [en anglais, désolée]

Par Alakhnor le 6/6/2002 à 13:44:49 (#1602530)

Des points qui me semblaient intéressants compilés dans les grab bag de Sanya.

Q: Does weapon specialization affect your chance to hit a target?

A: No. Weapon spec affects your damage range (from the smallest amount you can do to the largest amount you can do), and therefore your average damage, when using the type of weapon you specced in.


Q: Which stats affect parry, evade, and block?

A: Parry = dex, evade = dex and quick equally, block = dex.


Q: You posted some information a few weeks back on how Quality and Condition affect the AF and DPS of items. But months ago you posted something on Quality somehow "double dipping" when dealing with AF and it was a different equation. Which is correct?

A: For a quick rule of thumb, to find the effective AF or effective
DPS of an item it is simply AF/DPS*Quality*Condition. Side note: If you are using something that is above your level, any level caps that come into play are applied first, then quality and condition kick in.

The "double dipping" we talked about before was misinterpreted when we were first discussing it. Quality and Condition come into play a 2nd time during combat. When you hit a location on a defender, the magic bonus, quality, condition, and damage modifiers (if that armor is strong/weak versus that armor type), absorption, and AF come into play.

So if you are attacking someone that has armor that is weak to your weapon type, and the quality, magic bonus, and condition of your weapon is higher then their armor, you will do a significant amount more damage then you would if everything was even.

Put another way – if you have a weapon that is 100% quality, and you hit someone wearing 85% quality armor, first the game checks for plus or minuses to that armor type, and armor level (displayed AF). But after that addition or subtraction, you as the wielder of the weapon will get a 15% bonus. The bonus is then modified slightly depending on the state of repair (condition) of the weapon and the armor.

The short version is get yourself that high quality gear.


Q: Which stats affect offensive attacks?

A: Celtic spears use str, all other spears and thrust/pierce weapons use str/dex equally, crossbows use str/dex equally, all other bows use plain dex, swords and hammers use plain str. Staff weapons use str according to my notes, but my friends at The Drunken Friar say (and quite convincingly too) that dex is the modifier for friar staffs. WeÂ’re investigating that here at Mythic; I hope to have some followup comments next Friday.

Q: At what level does a weapon proc?

A: A weapon, or a charged item proc, goes off when it is either your level, within one level of you, or within two levels of you, depending on the item. “Reverse proc” items (ie, gloves that proc) follow the same guidelines.

Please bear in mind that you cannot make reverse proc items go off when you choose – they go off when you are struck in that area. In other words, if you have procing gloves, they go off when you’re hit in the hand.

Q: Inquiring Bards want to know – what does EMP do for us?

A: Nothing. The reason it “lights up” on the character creation screen is because the base class can become a class that DOES use empathy for power. Only CHA affects a bard’s power pool. This is not the most satisfying answer I’ve ever given, nor is anyone here precisely HAPPY about it, but it is the truth. (2002-04-19)


Q: Can you go over the armor factor/absorb/etc stuff again? Previous explanations were confusing, and I want to be able to make good choices when I have two similar pieces of armor and must decide between them.

A: This next part is taken directly from the Vault thread in which I answered someoneÂ’s post, so forgive me if it sounds a little out of context. The playerÂ’s questions are in bold.

"1) How is Total AF calculated (Condition, Quality, location weighting, etc.)?"

The trouble with my answers to these questions, and the answers I have given on the Herald in the past, is that they are all simplified. I do not have the entire formula, and probably won't ever - the WHOLE thing involves tables, probabilities, outside factors, blah blah blah. It's immense. What I have given out are the broad brushstrokes, and the best I can do for you.

"1a.) If a dropped loot armor piece has the exact same AF, the exact same quality and the exact same condition as player crafted piece, is it truly identical to player made or is there some secret calculation for player made armor that makes Total AF register higher?"

Identical.

"2) How do AF caps really work (base armor AF vs AF spells)?"

There is technically a cap as to how much AF you can have. You will hit this cap if every piece of armor you have is your level (armor level = displayed AF/2) and 100% quality. Condition also plays a role - when you get messages saying such and such could use repairs, you're losing effectiveness.

Now, there are some exceptions - spec line AF buffs of healing classes can take you over your cap. Certain items can also be coded with a bypass function to take you over your cap.

"3) What does AF actually do? We assume AF determines Hit/Miss only, but is it also used in damage reduction? If its hit/miss only, how does it work? Is your Total AF the *only* number used in the hit/mist calculation or are individual armor locations/pieces used in determining hit/miss?"

AF is factored into many, many things, to varying degrees, so I can't give you a complete answer.

But I can sorta answer the last question. Your total AF plays a role, yes, AND the individual pieces play a role elsewhere in the calculations. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I want to say the BP covers 25% of your body? Anyone remember what I said before? The last time I gave percentages I was working from a design document, so they were accurate.

"4) How does Absorb work? Is it simply a % reduction in damage? (i.e. you are hit for 100, but have 19% absorb at that location, therefore you are hit for 81) or does Absorb use AF to determine how much damage is prevented"

My answer to #1 pretty much applies here too.

Now, for the examples, to make all the above blathering relate to practical terms. I will use your definition of "better" (1) which makes me get totally missed more? 2) which makes me get hit FOR LESS when I get hit?), and assume that you're more or less evenly rigged out in appropriately leveled armor:

"I am a lvl 20 Cleric. I have a choice between the following items. Which is "better"?
1) AF 38 Chain, 27% absorb, 100% qual, 100% cond, 0 bonus
2) AF 40 Studded, 19% absorb, 100% qual, 100% cond, 0 bonus"

The first piece is level 19, the second is 20. The 8% absorb is more significant than the one level difference, and all other factors are equal, so the answer is the first piece.

"or these two:
1) AF 38 Chain, 100% Q/C, 5% bonus, Quest item
2) AF 40 Chain, 100% Q/C, 0% bonus"

Kind of a tossup here. If you're going to be fighting things that have enchanted weapons (ie, have bonuses applied), you'd rather have the piece with the bonus, because it will reduce your damage maybe a hair more than the extra AF. But it's not significant. You'll outlevel the piece before you see enough fights to tell much of a difference. I'd personally go for the quest item, just because they tend to have their durability set higher than regular stuff, and thus last longer and can be repaired more.

"or these two:
1) AF 40 Chain, 100% Q/C, 0% bonus (yellow)
2) AF 44 Chain, 100% Q/C, 0% bonus (orange)"

The orange is two levels higher than you, and will degrade faster. It's not any better for you than the yellow in the slot it occupies, and its contribution to your total AF is wasted if the rest of your gear is decent and you've been buffed. So, the yellow piece is optimal.

(Remember, color is a range that gets bigger the higher you are in levels. You need to determine the actual level of the piece to determine how big a waste it is. The higher level than you, the bigger the waste.)

None of your examples included quality differences - in any situation where it's a close call, go with the higher quality item. Keep your stuff in good repair, as well.

I can't give you an order of value for each factor, as the value of each factor changes depending on the situation. GENERALLY - level, quality, bonus, condition. The bottom two are what change the most in weight depending on circumstances - level and quality ALWAYS matter.

If I've horribly lost anyone, I apologize, and I will try and make it clearer.


Q: What makes armor and weaponry made from the new material types better than monster drops?

A: Well, for one thing, they last longer. The 10th type lasts 50% longer than high level drops, and the 9th type lasts 25% longer. More durability means less cost in the long run. In addition, you should check out the next question.


Q: Did the effective AF display change (mentioned on 1/11/02) ever go into the game?

A: No, it didnÂ’t, turned out to be not possible at this time. So to truly determine the value of the armor or your weapon, you need to do a little multiplication.

For armor – multiply the AF by the quality.
For DPS – multiply the displayed DPS by the quality.

As you can see, quality has a major effect on the value and effectiveness of your gear.


Q: What resists are effective against mez, stun, and root?

A: Right now, none of them. That is on the agenda, obviously. When they do go in, be aware that they will behave as all resists do – they will not have an affect on the spell landing, instead the “damage” you take will be reduced. In the case of mez/stun/root, the damage is the length of time they are on you. So a high resist will reduce the amount of time you’re trapped. More details to come when this enters the game.
Q: What is the overall point of patch 1.48? And when is it going live?

A: We have two goals with 1.48 – one is making RVR last longer, to bring in more tactical elements that are currently not possible with the lightening fast battles. The other goal is evening out the discrepancy between levels. I’ve been saying since we launched that our intent was that a 40th level player should have a shot at a 50th level player. Maybe not a GREAT chance, but a chance. Hence the increase to the to-hit factor for lower level players and pets in RVR, along with some other changes currently on Pendragon.