What EXACTLY do the various combat techniques do?

[Waladil]

As I try to decide what I want my end-game melee weapon to be, I’m faced with a set of skill names that aren’t entirely clear. And fiddling around in the code doesn’t make it any more clear. So if someone can tell me PRECISELY what the following abilities mean, I’d appreciate it:

1.) Block
2.) Parry
3.) Rapid Strike
4.) Precision Strike
5.) Brutal Strike
6.) Wide Strike

And again, let me re-emphasize that I’m looking for detailed information. I can figure out on my own that “rapid strike” is a faster attack than a not-rapid strike and it’s about twice as fast. What I don’t know is exactly how much faster it is, and I don’t know if there’s an associated damage penalty.

Also, for weapons that have multiple offensive special attacks, how does the game decide which to use? Is it random or situational? Can I control it in any way?

[Senrain]

1: I’m pretty sure this reduces damage, but results in whatever you block with possibly being damaged. Whether it’s a weapon or a body part.
2: No idea, but sounds similar to blocking.
3: Your attacks are faster.
4: Sounds like it gives you a bonus to your to-hit chance, test it on a hard to hit creature like krecks and manhacks.
5: Makes you send enemies reeling a lot, weapons with this tag seem to gib enemies more too from what I’ve seen.
6: You hit every enemy surrounding you sometimes.

[Datanazush]

[quote=“Waladil, post:1, topic:6204”]1.) Block
2.) Parry
3.) Rapid Strike
4.) Precision Strike
5.) Brutal Strike
6.) Wide Strike[/quote]

From the page on Techniques on the wiki:
Block: Blocks using your healthiest arm, instead of allowing the hit to go through to your chest. Check of (DEX + melee skill + unarmed skill) 16 sided dice against the attacker’s (6 + melee skill) 10 sided dice
Parry: Reduces all incoming damage to zero. Check of (DEX + melee skill) 6 sided dice vs the attacker’s (melee skill) 10 sided dice
Rapid Strike: Makes current attack cost half the movement points exactly
Precision Strike: A careful strike, stunning the opponent for several turns.
Brutal Strike: (I don’t know what this one does, sadly, but I think it’s extra damage)
Wide Strike: A sweeping attack, hitting your target and any enemies on either side of your target.

[Waladil]

So I started piecing together my own research, looking back into the code.

These only refer to weapon effects, not martial arts effects (like a martial arts block).

Defensive weapon techniques:
1.) Parry (wblock_1): When used to block an attack, reduces incoming damage to 40%.
2.) Block (wblock_2): When used to block an attack, reduces incoming damage to 15%.
3.) Shield (wblock_3, unused by anything I’m aware of): When used to block an attack, reduces incoming damage to 5%.
If the weapon has none of these, it can still block and reduce incoming damage to 50%, which is the same amount blocked by a martial arts block.

Offensive weapon techniques:
1.) Rapid Strike: Half speed, no damage change.
2.) Precision Strike: Only applies on critical, stuns for two turns. No damage or speed changes.
3.) Brutal Strike: Only applies on critical, stuns for one turn, knocks back one tile. No damage or speed changes.
4.) Wide Strike: Only applies on critical, has AoE “wide” (target tile + two adjacent, presumably). No damage or speed changes.

Most of the other techniques are very rare or based in a martial art instead of being weapon tags.

[KA101]

[quote=“Waladil, post:4, topic:6204”]So I started piecing together my own research, looking back into the code.

These only refer to weapon effects, not martial arts effects (like a martial arts block).

Defensive weapon techniques:
1.) Parry (wblock_1): When used to block an attack, reduces incoming damage to 40%.
2.) Block (wblock_2): When used to block an attack, reduces incoming damage to 15%.
3.) Shield (wblock_3, unused by anything I’m aware of): When used to block an attack, reduces incoming damage to 5%.
If the weapon has none of these, it can still block and reduce incoming damage to 50%, which is the same amount blocked by a martial arts block.

Offensive weapon techniques:
1.) Rapid Strike: Half speed, no damage change.
2.) Precision Strike: Only applies on critical, stuns for two turns. No damage or speed changes.
3.) Brutal Strike: Only applies on critical, stuns for one turn, knocks back one tile. No damage or speed changes.
4.) Wide Strike: Only applies on critical, has AoE “wide” (target tile + two adjacent, presumably). No damage or speed changes.

Most of the other techniques are very rare or based in a martial art instead of being weapon tags.[/quote]

Variable damage-reduction is news to me. Differing weapon-blocks should differ in their success rates, not the amount of damage. Your descriptions of the offensive techs are accurate.

[Waladil]

if (blocks_left < 1 || this->has_disease(“sleep”))
…{
if (can_weapon_block()) {
if (weapon.has_technique(“WBLOCK_1”)) {
phys_mult = 0.4;
} else if (weapon.has_technique(“WBLOCK_2”)) {
phys_mult = 0.15;
} else if (weapon.has_technique(“WBLOCK_3”)) {
phys_mult = 0.05;
} else {
phys_mult = 0.5; // always at least as good as unarmed
}
}
…
blocks_left–;
}

(A lot of truncated code replaced by those ellipses, but nothing directly pertinent to the question at hand)
Unless I’m misreading this, it multiplies physical damage by .4 for wblock_1, .15 for wblock_2, .05 for wblock_3, and .5 for any other weapon so long as you have a block remaining. And blocks are something you have X of per turn, much like a character has X dodges per turn.

[KA101]

I might take a look around then (helps to cite the file, too); weapon blocks shouldn’t be letting any damage through to you. Might have been a unilateral change, might be misread code.

shrug

[Waladil]

src/Melee.cpp

It’s been like that for a while. Most blocks read:
“You block with your
The hits your location, but your armor protects you.”

Maybe your knowledge of that part of the code is just outdated. In fact, I checked who did the bit of code I copy&pasted above. It was swwu. Six months ago. Along with rewrites to a ton of other combat code.

[KA101]

[quote=“Waladil, post:8, topic:6204”]src/Melee.cpp

It’s been like that for a while. Most blocks read:
“You block with your
The hits your location, but your armor protects you.”

Maybe your knowledge of that part of the code is just outdated. In fact, I checked who did the bit of code I copy&pasted above. It was swwu. Six months ago. Along with rewrites to a ton of other combat code.[/quote]

Meh. Good you looked it up, since you’re so worried about it.

[i2amroy]

I might take a look around then (helps to cite the file, too); weapon blocks shouldn’t be letting any damage through to you.

AFAIK blocks have always been intended to reduce but not totally cancel out damage. That ensures that even if I succeed with blocking a giant spiked warhammer with my arm some of the force is still going to get through to hurt my arm.

[KA101]

[quote=“KA101, post:7, topic:6204”]I might take a look around then (helps to cite the file, too); weapon blocks shouldn’t be letting any damage through to you.

AFAIK blocks have always been intended to reduce but not totally cancel out damage. That ensures that even if I succeed with blocking a giant spiked warhammer with my arm some of the force is still going to get through to hurt my arm.[/quote]

Arm & leg blocks, sure, they take it to 50%. No objection: you got hit, just not how the attacker wanted. Weapon blocks (where the attack doesn’t actually make contact with you at all), apply damage to the weapon if you like but probably not to the PC.

[RAM]

But then maybe there should be partial blocks, where an attack is slowed and deflected, but still hits…

[acehawk]

Perhaps a partial block could simply reduce the attack to a glancing blow. I agree that weapon block level should increase chance, not damage reduction.