Combat - Mechanics

[fallen]

1) No. Fire Damage is Fire Damage.
2) Answer #1 is No.

[contributor]

I was just looking at that section in the OP more closely and had the wrong impression that, when dealing with buffs and gear that add elemental damage they also had a base damage that was physical, but apparently that only applies to attack spells, not elemental damage stacked on top of physical attacks. I guess I thought I remember seeing somewhere that elemental damage added by buffs and gear was divided in half and the first half was the base damage and the upper half was rolled damage. That might still be correct, but the base is definitely not physical.

[fallen]

contributor - the first post is correct, and there is no dividing of elemental damage added by gear or buffs. It is 100% rolled as elemental / magical damage.

[contributor]

So does that mean that if we have 20 elemental damage on somebody it's rolled as D20. Or is it divided between base and extra. If so it's interesting because elemental damage can have huge swings to it. You're not guaranteed more than 1 elemental damage even if, you've got 30 or 50 elemental damage stacked on somebody.

[fallen]

contributor - yes, elemental damage is rolled as a damage dice. 8 Fire damage is a D8.

Let me know if you see anything unclear in the first post.

[algesan]

Aug 5, 2014 11:33:34 GMT -5 fallen said:

contributor - yes, elemental damage is rolled as a damage dice. 8 Fire damage is a D8.

Let me know if you see anything unclear in the first post.

With proviso that if you have two of the same damage buffs, they combine, so that +8 Fire & +6 Fire are d14 Fire, not d6 + d8 or 2-14

First post clearly states that.

[John Robinson]

I've always thought of this thread as a great reference in understanding how things work, without realizing what a great
tool it is for planning my next group.  How do the dice pools help the Outlander escape the Red Hill dungeon?
 
Level 1:  12 Attack Dice. (2 Strong + 10 Standard). 
Strong Dice:      2. Basic Strike(0) talent + Training Blade(+2 Accuracy).
Standard Dice: 10. Strength(7) attribute + Blades(3) skill.

To successfully hit his opponent he needs 2 dice to roll values between 6-10, and 10 dice to roll values between 8-10
the sum of successful dice rolls must be equal to or greater than the sum of the defender's.
If he attacks using Savage Sweep(1) +3 Accuracy adds 3 more Strong dice.  
Now he has 15 Attack dice (5 Strong and 10 Standard).
With the lower dice rolls required for success adding those 3 extra strong dice will really help his chances of scoring a hit.

Food for thought:
A Dexterity based Vraes using small blades would need to be at a minimum of Level 6 to have a Dexterity of 7, he starts the game
with a Strength of 7 using a one handed sword.  If he were to swap weapons with Vincent (same damage and accuracy) he would
lose 3 standard attack dice.  He can get them back by level 6 but wouldn't those attribute points be better spent elsewhere?
(hint: he has the lowest SP in the team). 

Now I can study his talent table in a different light when doing some long range planning for his character.
He has some great talents that help him cause massive damage but he has to score a hit first.  
So I am looking for the best combination of gear, talents, skills and attributes that produce the highest number of successful Strong
and Standard dice rolls to overcome his opponents.  I'll be planning his defense in a similar fashion.   

[Cory Trese]

The ladders are really putting a fine point on optimization.

How long until someone drops a spreadsheet that optimizes builds?

[algesan]

Aug 6, 2014 13:46:13 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

The ladders are really putting a fine point on optimization.

How long until someone drops a spreadsheet that optimizes builds?

Ahem.  I seem to recall a discussion on why Natural Mastery was the prime Talent Vraes could get and it was just a matter of when.....

Yep, it was all about the dice.

[algesan]

Regarding being "weak vs. X", does any debuff of resists (like V's new Lightning debuff) make a creature "weak" and thus doubling the damage against the weakness?

Also, given that elemental Talents have a physical & elemental component, does the weakness only apply to the elemental portion of the damage or all of it?

If a character has an elemental damage weapon (from any source) adding Dx to the physical damage, does any of the damage get doubled?

[fallen]

@alegsan - from the OP -

"Being Weak vs (Magical Damage) is a natural occurring effect on many enemies who have an elemental or magical vulnerability, and can be caused by curses like Fyona's Holy Strickening or Vincent's Energy Storm. When a creature is Weak vs. (Magical Damage), any damage of that type is doubled in value, up to the amount by which the enemy has negative resistance."

Only applies to the magical damage.

[John Robinson]

I think Flanking Unity and Thundering Blades add "Standard attack dice" to any character they are cast on. Is this correct?

I am confused about Defense:

Does the bonus from Warders Shield, and Shield of Cortias fall into the "Strong Defense" dice pool or "Standard Defense" pool?

[tenbsmith]

John Robinson, glad you brought up strong versus weak dice (I've been meaning to revisit that). A strong die wins its roll 10/25 times. Two weak dice win one of their rolls 8/25 times and both rolls 1/25. Seems one strong die is worth two weak dice. Strong dice are only available through talents and weapon stats.

The strong dice of weapon accuracy/parry stats make spears more appealing.

Does Natural Mastery strong or weak dice?

If you are trying to get the highest score in the leaderboards, it probably makes sense to build on a hero's strengths--in which case you go with strong Vraes, though that only contributes to weak dice.

Edited to avoid giving misinformation.

[John Robinson]

tenbsmith

Spears have a high appeal just as you stated the more weapon accuracy/parry the better.
Edit: Precisely why I'm considering switching from 1 AP blades to one 2 AP, 1H sword for Selen.

If my foggy memory is right Natural Mastery adds to the Standard Dice pool not (sadly) the Strong dice pool.
The talent description for "Natural Mastery(1) Innate prowess grants ability to use any weapon: +2 Melee Skills"
According to the first section of Combat mechanics all "skills" are added to the Standard Dice pool.

The advantage of Natural Mastery is to increase a skill like Blades beyond the cap of 16 giving you a chance
to have more standard dice than the opponent, improving the chance for a hit.

Thanks for the help, my leaderboard score is more like my loserboard score, hey maybe we should have one of those? 
Bragging rights for dying 90 times before reaching Oskahold lol

[fallen]

John Robinson -

In regards to Flanking Unity and Thundering Blades, they add standard dice, as Standard Dice for Attacker include "All accuracy bonuses from gear/buffs (note that +Accuracy bonuses affect both Ranged & Melee accuracy, where +Melee Accuracy bonuses, for example, only affect melee)"

As for Shield of Cortias and other defensive buffs, it depends on what they add and the attack type. Here are the three places bonuses from Buffs & Gears fall in defense:

Strong Dice for Defender
- (Melee) Any Parry bonuses from gear/buffs
- (Ranged/Magic) Any Dodge bonuses from gear /buffs

Standard Dice for Defender
- (Melee) Dodge including any Dodge bonuses from gear / buffs