Some suggestions on Encounter Ranges & Monsters

[Swami]

Feb 7, 2014 14:38:06 GMT -5 algesan said:

Guess: the giant rats are OP defensively in VL, I had run of bad dice vs. them in multiple encounters or there is an artifact of level differences there.

Sorry, OP =??
VL =??

[Karjus]

Overpowered.
Vermin Lair.

[algesan]

Which might explain it. I had a normal game where I used a pure Mastery build successfully. My other NM group, I had Vraes up to 4 SS before kicking over to buffing NM. Easy enough to fix.

Thanks, until we get the numbers & equations, it's good to know that the build was weak.

[Karjus]

Just to note, I've found not using empowered attacks to work fine on Vraes on NM difficulty. He is my main damage dealer. Weirdly enough with 7 natural mastery. I do however tend to use Choking Ash 4 and he does use a 2h spear which might make all the difference if you are using a one handed weapon.

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[algesan]

My Vraes with Karj gets along fine, so does Tamil, only elite mobs get enhanced attacks used on them anymore, but having to either have Choking Ash OR multiple other sources of buffs & debuffs isn't the best balance idea IMO.

Using the Combat Mechanics Post (http://startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/6711/combat-mechanics)

My Selen above has 11(stat)+12(skill) normal dice and 5(weapon) strong dice with both her bow and 2AP light blade.
My Vraes above has 12(stat)+12(skill)+7(talent) normal dice and 3(weapon)+2(Mastery accuracy) with blades.

So 23 normal and 5 strong vs 31 & 5.  Expected values of 23*.3 + 5*.5 = 6.9 + 2.5 = 9.4 successes for Selen.
Vraes is 9.3 + 2.5 or 11.8 successes.  Effectiveness of the small difference depends on the number of defensive dice which in this case probably exceed 12 at least. 

Using fallen's idea, Vraes would switch to 29 normal dice & 9 strong dice, which gives 8.7 + 4.5 = 13.2 successes. 

Choking Ash might be the biggest talent in the game.  Cheap, ranged, debuffs defensive dice and AoE at level 5.  It is all around goodness that only falls short compared to other talents in certain situations, at least in the content released so far.

[Karjus]

From what has been said (and from experiencing) if you want to get anywhere in nightmare you have to look at buff/debuff synergy on tougher mobs and it is intended. If you don't you're just screwed.

Something to keep in mind, buffing accuracy for an attacker only adds standard dice. If you can hit your opponents parry on the other hand you're stripping away strong dice.

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