Ac and damage mitigation

[rikustrength]

So I've had a hard time finding out any concrete numbers on this. Obviously, we all know the more ac you have, the less damage you take, but where are the numbers? How much of a difference am I going to see switching out a shield for a caster offhand? Thoughts?

[Dacien]

Godspeed rikustrength. The answer is apparently so convoluted and shrouded in mystery that the best you'll get is Anglefire-inspired webpages from 1999. I don't have the link.

[rikustrength]

Wow, all these years and it's still unknown? That is both truly to my core terrifying, and at the same time part of why I do love this game

[Troxx]

Bedavir (aka SoE user handle Daegun) here.

Aside from the infamous Brael at evilgamer sk website (who I've worked with closely for the better part of a decade off and on), probably fewer people have investigated, parsed, and and researched the relative power/potency/effect of AC than myself. That's live ac mechanics though. I assume it works similarly here but the base code is probably vastly different.

Mob damage per hit is DB + DI (1-20). Max hit is DB + 20DI. Minimum hit is DB + 1DI. The higher your ac, the lower your chances of getting upper DIs. The lower your ac, the higher your chances of getting upper DIs. On live EQ, classes each had different ac softcap returns past the hard cap (dramatically different).

As for P99, I have no idea what the hard cap is (if there is one) and what the soft cap returns are past that.

But yes, the higher your ac, the lower you get hit for on average when you get hit. If shield ac works the same on p99 as it does on live, you get a LOT more benefit from shield ac than standard ac. Furthermore, in a game like p99 where there is no ooc regeneration mode and it's all about efficiency of healing and damage intake, ac is pretty important if you plan on getting hit very often. But ... in a game like p99 where you don't have max resists with standard gear, depending on where you're hunting resists and hp gear will reign supreme I'd wager.

[fadetree]

Many melee-oriented boards of the past have worked it out in excruciating detail. Steel Warriors in particular, but also Safehouse, Monkly Business, and the Ranger's Glade. Troxx's post seems pretty accurate from memory. I also recall that there were 2 types of AC, mitigation and avoidance, and each one adjusted a different hit parameter. the AC value shown was a composite of the two types.

[Laugher]

Idk how it works here, I once saw it in the Velious beta forum (maybe? lol) (or part of it, as portrayed in words with basic signs in between) and from what I understand this server's handling of AC has been researched and adjusted to classic values but by possibly slightly different use of the variables involved; I seem to remember reading that there are arguable minor differences. EQEmu as a whole from what I understood like years ago was that AC worked a little differently here (not sure if thats still the case).

[webrunner5]

There's a LOT of stuff code wise that I doubt Brad has a clue what it really was. Endless debate on it. Trouble was that most things were written code wise by many people, not just one.

Like even zones, you can tell by the agro alone, if you are a puller, who wrote this zone and who did not. We don't really know their names but you see their signatures written in the code.

It was pretty eye opening when my son turned me on to how zones ARE different pulling them. And they are.

It's like hitting mobs. we all know its a random number generator of sorts but it is VERY random. We all know one time you can knock the snot out of a mob and the next time it knocks the snot out of you. :eek: Hardly predictable, and how in the hell do you write the code for that sort of thing? Flip of the coin thing?? :p

[fastboy21]

There's a LOT of stuff code wise that I doubt Brad has a clue what it really was. Endless debate on it. Trouble was that most things were written code wise by many people, not just one.

Like even zones, you can tell by the agro alone, if you are a puller, who wrote this zone and who did not. We don't really know their names but you see their signatures written in the code.

It was pretty eye opening when my son turned me on to how zones ARE different pulling them. And they are.

It's like hitting mobs. we all know its a random number generator of sorts but it is VERY random. We all know one time you can knock the snot out of a mob and the next time it knocks the snot out of you. :eek: Hardly predictable, and how in the hell do you write the code for that sort of thing? Flip of the coin thing?? :p

Its generally not all the complicated. There are enough variables at play, however, that even long consistent parses still leave doubt to the exact formulas that are being used in many game situations.

By tradition, in RPGs (going back to even table top games---which were the inspiration for many EQ systems) there is enough RNG being used to give a chance for failure in many situations where you "should" win. It adds to the depth of the game.

[falkun]

Raev/Loraen has probably done the most extensive AC testing on this server (for a single player). Also, I believe TMO, IB, and Rampage have all done AC/damage testing for Velious beta.

[Atmas]

I think a lot of work has been done on AC here but I believe it feels less effective than it should because the mobs aren't exactly tuned classically. I won't lie I don't know the equations used but certain mobs seem to hit on the high end of their spectrum way too consistently. I think they have put more tuning work into the mobs for Velious, not sure if they will ever come back and tune the older mobs.

[webrunner5]

Well I can see problem for me remembering not only because I am old lol, but I have never stopped playing live. So it is really Hard to remember how it was in early 2000.

I know AC does not work as well on here as I remember back say 5 years ago on live. Right now on live it seems NOTHING helps you to have because the Mobs hit at insane amounts of damage and have unbelievable amounts of HP's. Really can't even solo any class anymore.

I just know from experience on here that AC does change for the better at 45ish for some reason. You can have a level 10 Monk weigh 100 Stone and it is pretty much the same weighing 10 Stone.

So I have no clue how it is SUPPOSE to work. I am sure Nilbog has a better clue than I do. :D