Spell damage relationships versus skills and weapons?

[WhoIsThis]

I have been trying to figure for some time the relationship between the 3 skills (strength, dexterity, and intelligence), versus the damage that you do in spells. Further complicating this appears to be that weapons seem to have very variable effects.

1. Int seems to be the best at boosting skill damage. However, all 3 skills will boost. How many levels it takes to increase damage by 1 per attribute is a question I'm not sure of.

2. Weapons in general increase it. However, base damage of the weapon is not enough. In general, one handed weapons (swords, talons, and wands) seem to boost the spell damage significantly more than their damage would imply, although most are still not on par with 2 handed (axes, bow/blaster, staff). So do fast firing weapons.

Thoughts?

[Pharcyde]

1.) Int increases spell damage the most.
2.) Dex increases it a little but not much
3.) Strength does not increase spell damage nor hit percent.

[WhoIsThis]

Lol - thanks for fast reply!

Any idea how much int and dex increase it by though?

[Royce]

Skill damage is affected by the following factors:
- Skill rank
- Your class's primary attribute (Int for elves, Str for bears, and Dex for birds) through stat driven skills
- Base damage (the damage you have without a weapon equipped from attributes and item bonuses)
- Weapon damage (the exact relationship is elusive but higher damage weapons tend to add more damage to skills)

[Physiologic]

Skill damage is affected by the following factors:
- Skill rank
- Your class's primary attribute (Int for elves, Str for bears, and Dex for birds) through stat driven skills
- Base damage (the damage you have without a weapon equipped from attributes and item bonuses)
- Weapon damage (the exact relationship is elusive but higher damage weapons tend to add more damage to skills)

Add the annoying mysterious variable between 1h/2h weapons...I've racked my brains trying to figure that one out lol

[WhoIsThis]

Add the annoying mysterious variable between 1h/2h weapons...I've racked my brains trying to figure that one out lol

I think that a controlled variable environment is the only way to test. I'm gonna try multiple int weapons at various levels one by one and look for a pattern.

[Pharcyde]

Depends on which skill.

For Intelligence: 1 point increases Lightnings damage 0.21.

[Pharcyde]

Correction* 0.192 damage per int point for lightning.

[WhoIsThis]

Update: I think weapon that damage boost on spells is a function of both the level of the weapon utilized and the actual damage. I think that the level of the weapon is more heavily weighed, which would explain why one handed weapons are competitive with two handed ones.

[Royce]

Correction* 0.192 damage per int point for lightning.

Doesn't that change based on skill rank though (as in the contribution of Int changes based on lightning rank)? Also is that stat driven skill increase alone or Int base damage and stat driving combined?

[Royce]

Update: I think weapon that damage boost on spells is a function of both the level of the weapon utilized and the actual damage. I think that the level of the weapon is more heavily weighed, which would explain why one handed weapons are competitive with two handed ones.

No trust me I tested this extensively and there's no easy answer. For instance 2-hand level 35 swords add more skill damage than two handers from the next two campaigns. Also how would level influencing damage contribution explain the different contributions of 1 and 2 handers? There are both at every level.

[Pharcyde]

Update: I think weapon that damage boost on spells is a function of both the level of the weapon utilized and the actual damage. I think that the level of the weapon is more heavily weighed, which would explain why one handed weapons are competitive with two handed ones.

Yes one handed weapons are more heavily weighted. Other gear also boosts stats, the full keeper set bonus w/ring adds
137-142 damage to lightning.



No trust me I tested this extensively and there's no easy answer. For instance 2-hand level 35 swords add more skill damage than two handers from the next two campaigns. Also how would level influencing damage contribution explain the different contributions of 1 and 2 handers? There are both at every level.

I've been doing tests myself, I can find the exact amount of damage that is added to any spell with attributes, but I can't find the exact damage added with gears. Either some complex equation that the devs added to it, or they just predefined the additions themselves, making the math equations all averages.


Doesn't that change based on skill rank though (as in the contribution of Int changes based on lightning rank)? Also is that stat driven skill increase alone or Int base damage and stat driving combined?

Not sure, haven't tested it. But its for sure that each point adds 0.192 damage at level 5 lightning. So 250 points (level 51) adds 48 damage to lightning averaged. If you want to know the min and max, it is 45-93.

[Pharcyde]

Okay hold on, I just got my math all confused because I was working several spells at a time. Heres the correct adjusted statistics.


Lightning Level 5

No Stat Points - No Gear
57-127 damage 92 average

Full Stat Points (250INT) - No Gear
102-220 damage 161 average

So 250 int adds:
45-93 damage 69 average.
69/250=0.276 0.276x250=69 meaning each int point = 0.276 damage added to lightning.

Full Stat Points (250INT) - Full Keeper Set w/ Champion's Fine Crystal Ring
242-367 damage 304.5 average

Keeper set w/ ring adds:
140-147 damage 143.5 average

Full Stat Points (250INT) - Only Wearing Keeper Staff w/o Ring
122-124 damage 123 average

So Staff gives 123 and gear w/ ring only adds 20.5 damage average.

[Royce]

If you just track the change in base damage, then subtract that from the skill damage increase, you could isolate the stat driving effect which might be interesting. I haven't tested it since before the rebalance.

Edit: Also with the keepers set there are a ton of contributing factors, set bonus damage goes straight to skills and you Int is dramatically increased for more base and star driven damage.

[Pharcyde]

If you just track the change in base damage, then subtract that from the skill damage increase, you could isolate the stat driving effect which might be interesting. I haven't tested it since before the rebalance.

heheh if only they paid me to figure these things out... I only had enough patience to do a few spells at level 5.

By base damage you mean the averages right?

[Royce]

Base damage is your damage without weapon damage added. It is based on your attributes and item bonuses (including set bonus damage). This damage is added directly to skill damage unlike weapon damage from which only a portion is added.
So for example as an elf, you add points to Int and it increases skill damage in two ways. Int increases your base damage, adding to skill damage, and Int also directly influences skill damage through stat driven skills.

[FluffNStuff]

As to the 1h/2h issue, this is what I got from a chat with Cinco (This is not a direct quote, and as we know Cinco likes to play games, you can put what faith in this you like):
~A weapon adds a certain amount of its damage to skills, depending on a scaled level. Different weapon types scale differently, which is the reason certain weapons have lower skill damage relative to their base damage.~
Reasons for this is if you look at the actual damage on items like the Gurgox hammer, if all of that when to skills, the power would be off the charts.
A discussion then ensued about the possibility of reducing base weapon damage on two hand weapons and then scaling their skill damage the same as one hand weapons. That is because on ~some~ of the weapons, the scaling has become to apparent, so certain two hand weapons are doing less skill damage then one hand weapons with much less base damage. This idea appears to have been tabled.

[Pharcyde]

Oh so then I already have accounted base with no weapon added.

Yeah I understand there are a lot of variables affecting gear, but it is so small that I just count gear with variables as one, considering people usually go for set bonus and not the small effects on skill damage.



As to the 1h/2h issue, this is what I got from a chat with Cinco (This is not a direct quote, and as we know Cinco likes to play games, you can put what faith in this you like):
~A weapon adds a certain amount of its damage to skills, depending on a scaled level. Different weapon types scale differently, which is the reason certain weapons have lower skill damage relative to their base damage.~
Reasons for this is if you look at the actual damage on items like the Gurgox hammer, if all of that when to skills, the power would be off the charts.
A discussion then ensued about the possibility of reducing base weapon damage on two hand weapons and then scaling their skill damage the same as one hand weapons. That is because on ~some~ of the weapons, the scaling has become to apparent, so certain two hand weapons are doing less skill damage then one hand weapons with much less base damage. This idea appears to have been tabled.

So what I was thinking was correct, the devs have set the attributes themselves for certain weapons, making patterns and trends hard to find.

[Royce]

No I mean base damage is the damage on your avatar screen without weapon damage. To figure out your base damage, look at your (attack) damage, then subtract the weapon damage shown in the stats of the item you have equipped ;)

[Pharcyde]

ohh gotcha...

weapon: 145-195
avatar stats 189-239

Now what do I do with them?

[FluffNStuff]

So what I was thinking was correct, the devs have set the attributes themselves for certain weapons, making patterns and trends hard to find.

The damage is based on the actual damage, just 'scaled' (reduced). It also seems to based on 'minimum' damage. So like a limbchopper has 5 more minimum damage then a harpoon, it adds 5 more damage to skills.
To note some reduced weapons:
1 Hand Axes 30 or higher (have not tested lower axes against swords) * Limbchopper does not behave like an axe, it behaves like a sword.
Two Hand weapons above 35
The Shock Lance (This behaves like a one hand axe, not like a sword)

[FluffNStuff]

No I mean base damage is the damage on your avatar screen without weapon damage. To figure out your base damage, look at your (attack) damage, then subtract the weapon damage shown in the stats of the item you have equipped ;)

Sorry, misread. Base damage is added directly. Coinciding with that, +x damage on an item is also added directly (via your base damage).

[Royce]

ohh gotcha...

weapon: 145-195
avatar stats 189-239

Now what do I do with them?

Well that's 44 base damage, so to isolate the stat driven skill effect (if testing with that gear equipped since your gear increases your base damage), you would subtract whatever the base damage is at default attributes (no points assigned) from 44, then divide that difference by the number of points you added to Int (not your actual int which includes the default starting Int). That would give you the base damage gained per point of Int. If you subtract that from the number you already have for skill damage per point of Int, then you have isolated the stat driven skill effect on that skill ;)