Calculating Damage

[Hermoon]

I wonder if anyone can give guidance about the amount of damage we inflict?

For a weapon, e.g. 2D4 +2 +1, I understand the damage for the weapon could range from 2+1 to 8+1.
If weapon damage eq is worn then that figure is added to the rolled weapon damage.

Kick dam, stab dam, circle dam, hand dam - some items of eq have these attributes with figures as high as 5-12. I assume these are modifiers which affect the overall damage rather than add to it. How do these affect the damage inflicted?

[Teron]

1. You can see your average damage of at least 5 attacks by typing: counters

2. The +dam bonuses you see on eq are added to the damage of the skill, unless it's backstab/circlestab, deathgrip/strike.

Kickdam equals to your prime level+kick dam.
Flail damage is about your attack damage + flail dam
backstab dam is x15 of your attack damage, stab dam is added after this, so exchanging 1 raw dam for less, than 15 stab dam, isn't worth it, since dam is also used in circle and melee
circlestab is x3 your weap damage, so +damroll is multiplied, but +circle bonus is added
hand dam is what it is: every 1 hd/dam adds 10dam to grip and 1 dam to melee attack, no idea how strike scales
Stomp damage equals your total levels - no idea whether kick dam scales, I assume it does not - needs to be tested.
Charge damage is total levels + weapon damage (it doesn't scale with WD for some reason)
Spell damage is added to your actual spell damage and then -saves vs spells kick in. If mob fails the save, you do double damage.

So if you get all the kick dam eq and runes for a valker, then your kick might compare to a strike of a well-equipped 20lev monk.

If you want to increase your stab/melee damage you can:
- raise your str (help stre)
- get raw damage
- increase your hitroll to at least 20
- get weapon/stab damage eq

[Gorka]

- increase your hitroll to at least 20

Although your post is about damage Hermoon, don't underestimate hitroll. What good is any form of damage unless it lands. Physical attacks land at 85%, if you have less than 20 hitroll rest assured it's going to be proportionally less than 85%. When sloth 4 came out there was a lot of problems with newbie hitroll. This is when the sloth brooches and some other changes came about.

A valuable thing you can do, is use a good client such as mudlet to log your sessions, then using a program called "agent ransack" you can search your log files and count hits and misses to make sure your attacks are landing 85% of the time. If they aren't you need more hitroll. In my opinion an avatar with less than 25 hitroll will be missing more than 15%. The problem is less pronounced for newbies and 20 is probably enough, I am just saying don't underestimate hitroll it can be the easiest way to actually increase your damage.

[Hermoon]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share this information. I'm sure it will be helpful to new players who are not familiar with mud (or D&D) mechanics. The guidance on the amount of hitroll to aim for is essential when trying to balance out other enhancers of regen, damage, stats, etc.

In addition to wearable equipment, there are numerous clasps that attach to equipment which enhance hitroll - these can be obtained through quests, forging or killing mobs. The eqlist can be used to find available clasps for characters of various levels and classes: http://slothmudeq.tk/

[Teron]

I only mentioned 20 hitroll, because 18-20 was needed to hit stabs on SS for thieves back in the days.

For a 20 lev newbie, 13-15 would be good enough to hit most things.

Clasps are a good idea, as well as getting +str eq or several +2hit items, like the clawed/rusty gauntlets, the prison guard helmet (1x40), a +2hitroll belt, etc.

What helps with hitroll is the swordsmanship skill that raises hitroll for using swords.

Also enchanting weapons that only have dice (3d4 0 0,no proc) to make them +2 +2 (+3 +3 on a masterful, which last a rl hour), which is why a mithril sword from the School of Cholemry is a good weapon, though a bone-hilted longsword is better, albeit unachievable without outside help.

As far as avatar hitrolls, having +33 that I have is enough to hit much more, than 85%, I think it's close to 95-97%. In a chop set I have close to +40, and I miss very rarely.

[Josiah]

Kickdam equals to your prime level+kick dam... So if you get all the kick dam eq and runes for a valker, then your kick might compare to a strike of a well-equipped 20lev monk.

Pretty sure kicks deals half of your warrior or monk level (whichever is higher), plus your kick damage eq. It can be exceptionally good at low levels if you wear a lot of kickdam clasps and runes. A perfectly equipped (+33) level 20 can do 43 damage per kick. A valk monk could strike that hard with a lucky roll, but not every time. Kick is also faster than strike.

no idea how strike scales

Strike and circle stabs have a 2 to 3 times multiplier, depending on how high level you are. A level 40 monk gets 3 strike damage from each 1 handdam. Similarly 1 damage gives 3 circlestab damage. I believe weapondam counts towards circle, but I've not tested it.

Circle damage is added after the multiplier, as is up to 45 damage from the 'master strike' avatar skill.

If you want to increase your stab/melee damage you can:

The most overwhelming way to increase your damage is to get a big sword. Going from Teron's suggested 3d4 +2 +2 weapon is a decent start, but 4d5 +4 +4 is a huge upgrade.

Currently the strongest weapon for a lowbie (min level 10) is an 'ogre claymore.' Enchant and Sharpen it (if you have the money) for the optimal 4d5 +4 +4. Makes those daggers look pretty silly. Even low level monks are better off using this sword (and kicking) if they have access to it. Too expensive for first time newbies.

With good strength, gear, and the lion chorus bard song, you can massacre every hit as a level 20. At that point your biggest problem becomes running out of enemies to fight; they die too fast.

Spell damage is added to your actual spell damage

Not directly. I haven't proven it yet, but my best guess is that spelldam adds to the maximum damage rather than the actual damage. (So with +100 spelldam, a 165-245 firewind, now does 165 to 345 before saves.)

The new counters make it a lot easier to test.

Anyone got a nice set of spelldam eq that can give me a combat log and some numbers to crunch?