Hello everybody! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

It would be useful to have a thread about the maths ruling the mechanic of the game (especially for stats involved in combat situations). This information proves so useful to make strategical choices in improving chars and choosing equipement... I'm a very strategical player so I personally find it invaluable; I know some people probably look <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> at this point but other ones would <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/party.gif" alt="" /> too. (Refer to "Game still buggy, when do the next patch come?", "How does armor work?" and "Next patch??" threads.)

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" /> What I mean by maths is for example the calculation that give the chance to hit or to get hit by an enemy, the damage done and taken, the part of the body that's hit; how offence, defence and armor work (nothing sure came out of the thread about it) and and things like that...

If anyone has any knowledge about that, then... go! shoot! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Some of the secondary stat calculations (including chance to hit / be hit) are described in the topic differences between classes (minor spoilers).

Suprizinglly enought, Raze is the one wo answers...

Übereil (maybe we should start a sallute thread in his honor <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />)

Raze is modest - and a fountain of knowledge.

You want maths, LaFille? Voilá! math on wisdom skill <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

Thank you! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

About "to hit and being hit" stats:
If I understood well, "to hit and being hit" stats work like that: when you attack a monster, first, there is a roll based on your percentage of offense to know if you hit the target; if you hit, then there's a roll based on the percentage of defense of the monster to know if he avoids the blow; afterwards, if he's hit, the (physical) damage taken is determinated by the factors of the armor. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" /> Right?

Now the other things left to discover are about the damage taken (armor and part of the body that takes the blow) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />...

[color:"orange"]Now the other things left to discover are about the damage taken (armor and part of the body that takes the blow)[/color]

The chance to receive a blow is listed in the description for each equipment type, and adds up to 100. Presumable the computer generates a random number to determine where the hit lands. The armour class of that particular piece of equipment is then used in determining the damage done, but the Larians have not described those calculations, AFAIK.

Raze always has all of the right answers.

Regarding game mechanics I also have a question :

My luck value - exactly when is it applied ? When I open a crate, a chest, or when I click on it (only displaing the info "contains 1 item" , nothing lse), or when the char ses it ? Or even when the level is built up ?

I don't know. Does anyone here have a clue ?

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> there is a luck value in DD? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Hey! How can I boost it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

Item generation:
The item is set when the cursor passes on the container and that it displays thigs like "chest, weight 500, contains 1 item" or "locked", or, when the item is not on a container, when you drag your mouse over it or press the alt key.

Oops ... isn't this the <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> board ... ? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" /> Mmm but that brings good questions about item generation...

Is the chance to get good items in containers always the same, or does it change according to the place, area or the level of the character? (In DD that is) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

The stats on equipment is partly related to the character level. The higher the character level, the better chance that the stats will be in the upper range for that particular piece of equipment.

For example, in a game to try for the lowest level finish, Ariana reloaded a large number of times trying to get a holy weapon with Frost around level 5, but failed. Returning at around level 10, she found it much easier to get a better sword. She hit the gong on level 12 (ending up in the wastelands at 17), then quit.

We're talking speedgameing...

Übereil

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" /> That's good to know...

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" /> Now when you get a weapon with special damage (ex: wrote on the weapon's stats "fire (x)") and that you have put points on the same skill (ex: x points in the skill "fire damage"), do both damages apply, or only the highest one?

Passive damage skills and bonuses on weapons are applied separately, so each will have a chance to hit.

There is a possible problem when combining any 2 of the skills Frost on a weapon, Stun on a weapon and the passive Stun skill, which can occasionally cause an opponent's death animation to hang in mid air, so you do not get the experience points and they do not drop loot. An area effect skill that does not need a target, such as hell Spikes, can force the animation to end properly. Some people also found that sleeping or just waiting awhile also helped.

Is it the same for the goods merchants offer for trade?

I don't think merchant inventories are related to character level, at least that I ever noticed. I primarily relied on dropped or found equipment, and usually did not give more than a casual glance at merchandise, except to sometimes check expensive jewelry or equipment when shopping for charms and spell books. Kistandalius was probably the first merchant I traded with that I continued to do so until the blessing ceremony, and I didn't notice any significant changes in his offerings.

As far as I recall, the total value of the trade inventory remains about the same for each merchant. If someone wanted to check that, they could go through Ars Magicana a couple times in a save late in the game, and then do so again in a new game using shadow and stamina potions to bypass opponents. Farmers or soldiers could rarely have spell books, etc for sale, but that seems to be just random. Whenever other merchants started keeping equipment I sold them, the amount randomly generated dropped. In cases where particularly expensive items were available, the number of items dropped, and conversely, if the available items were poor quality, there would tend to be more of them.