Attack skill question

Can somebody explain to me why when two of my friends take off their weapon their attack skill goes up and when I take mine off mine goes down?

 

Perhaps the Attack Skill takes into account the type of weapon - vs - what it (the Attack Skill) "thinks" you should be using, based on your "build"....
Other than that, it makes little sense to me (since I'm one of those whose Attack Skill goes UP when I drop my weapon)...

 

Or perhaps it is bugged. Chris mentioned some animations were bugged. I am very interested to see improved animations next release or at least some improved animations

 

Maybe your friends have innates that raise attack skill, while you are being (somehow) hindered by your weapon?

What weapons? What the three skill trees are like? What other equipment you carry?

 

Not sure how "animations" would/could relate to how Attack Skill adds up it's "points". Animations, to my knowledge, have nothing to do with anything other than what you "see" as your char goes about his/her business...
I just don't see the correlation...

 

Chris said combat animations were off, just looking forward to seeing all the new stuff as we go along

 

Yes, Katrina - that's what I was referring to when I commented about the "build"
here:

And that's the part that puzzles Beli (and me).

What I'd really like to know is exactly what goes into the number that Attack Skill shows in the Char Stats (V).

It's certainly more complex than simple - Str/Dex/Int.

For example:
With my current build/template (whatever you want to call it) and wearing the exact same armor (complete with whatever stats that armor provides) - when my weapon is equipped my Attack Skill is 103.
If I drop the weapon, my Attack Skill is 110.

Now here's where it gets really interesting.

My primary attack currently is with Pole Arms and I'm fortunate enough (well, fortunate has come at a price of many hours of grinding xp's) to have completely max'd out the Pole Arm tree, every level.
While I do have points in Earth/Death/Tactics/Focus, etc. - with the Pole Arm tree completely max'd out - one would think that my build/template is most certainly dependent upon and focused upon - Pole Arms.

Get this:
My halberd (Pole Arm weapon) has +20 Base Damage B0nus, +20% Attack Speed, +10% Fire Damage.
And yet - when I equip this weapon (with my Pole Arm tree max'd) my "Attack Skill" drops from 110 to 103.

Yea, makes me scratch my head too.....
Beli and I are mostly wondering "what" goes into that number - and - if we should even care what it is.

However, since it's named ATTACK SKILL we both naturally pay attention to it.
Help me out here.

 

Ok a Video is just easier to get all the pics at once.

Pole arm had +3 Str for and reults in 92 ATK Skill

Unarmed 110

Plain two hander or two one hander results in 89 ATK Skill sooooo the +3 str plays "SOME" role in AtK Skill as it results in the exact 3 points diff 89 - 92

As for why it drops with a Weapon Really doesn't make sense :-(

Also if I pick up a Two handed Sword it also result in 89 - no that I can understand as I do NOT have Sword skill but with a Pole ar no penalty should occur :-(

And yes I have Maxed out Pole arms Also

 

Yea, Wiens.... Str/Dex/Int definitely play a major role in the Attack Skill, but it absolutely goes beyond that -
How, I have no idea....
At this point, I'd just love for a dev that "knows" what goes into the Attack Skill "number" to help us out here...

Ie, we're here to offer both feedback and bug reports - so cut us some slack.
(Most respectfully, of course)...

 

I have heard for a long time they intend to have some form of weapon affinity - where the longer you use a weapon the more familiar and better you are with it. What we are seeing here may be some precursor to this system. That, when we start we are most familiar with our open hands and have the maximum attack bonus (though low damage) and picking up a weapon drops it. Now, since a weapon that you have the skill tree maxed for and and a weapon you have never held before have the same attack rating, we can conclude that IF this is what we are seeing, the system is not implemented in any way yet other than the first precursor. Or it could just be some weird glitch. As a tester I would like to peek behind the curtain and see what mister wizard is up to. I understand why the Devs want to keep this a secret and why the end game should have several factors that are so complex as to make any analysis of it nearly impossible. Nevertheless, as a tester, it is hard to give accurate feedback without at least a hint of what is affecting the numbers.

So, while I love the thread, I really wish I had something helpful to contribute.

 

Hey Jivalax, you just did - when you said this:

It reinforces the desire to have the devs give us some help here...

So thanks...

 

At least you know that STR is main factor when it comes to damage. I still cannot figure out how my bow calculates the damage.
Devs please clarify how the numbers are calculated - no need for actual alghoritms. Just tell us what actually is important for each weapon type/skill tree/etc.

 

Well let me add to this confusion. Frost and I wear the same armor with the same stats, use the same weapon with the same stats. We both have the same build in polearms and Earth and light armor. We do not have the same str, dex and intel. mine is higher. when he equips the exact same weapon I have his attack skill goes down, Mine goes up. Doesnt make sense to me.

 

Given that all else is the same, (like 2 identical builds) if one does one thing and another does something else, we can only conclude either 1) something is messed up with figuring the numbers [or it is random] or 2) there is some other unknown unadjustable factor, like birthday (time you signed up, created character whatever) acting like a horoscope factor. If that is the case then sometimes it should be switched based on time of day, stars in the sky or who knows what.

It comes down to: for testing it would be nice to see behind the curtain a little bit. As Blaze said, what base skills affect what weapons.

Beli maybe your character is so strong, nimble and smart that his attack skill really does go up with a weapon, while poor Frost is like my character and it takes him both hands to hold out the trembling sword, handle at the far end.

Or maybe it just doesn't make sense yet.

 

Here is the skinny on attack skill.

1) Armor doesn't matter. Plate chest will increase attack skill, but only if you have put points into endurance. That skill raises strength. Since your strength goes up, your attack skill goes up.
2) Strength, dexterity, and intelligence will change your attack skill.
3) Attack skill goes up in different amounts. It depends on what weapon you are holding in your main hand.
4) The off hand doesn't have an effect on attack skill. Only the weapon in your main hand effects attack skill.
5) Attack is rasied based on whether you are holding nothing (ie. bare hands, melee weapons (type doesn't seem to matter nor does one versus two handed weapons), or ranged weapon (it doesn't seem to matter if the weapon is a wand, staff, or bow).

I only tested with a couple of two handed weapons (hammer and mace), one handed weapons (rusty sword and long sword), and ranged (wand, staff, long bow).

How the weapon affects attack skill
If you are 10/10/10 and have bare hands (no weapon equipped) you have a base of 25 attack skill.

A melee weapon adds 5 attack skill.
A ranged weapon adds 11 attack skill.

Depending on the weapon your attack skills is effected differently when you add strength, dexterity, or intelligence.

Bare hands
1 point of strength adds 2 points in attack skill
1 point of dexterity adds 1 point in attack skill
1 point of intelligence adds 0 points in attack skill

Ranged
1 point of strength adds 1.2 points in attack skill
1 point of dexterity adds 1.2 point in attack skill
1 point of intelligence adds 1.2 points in attack skill

Melee
1 point of strength adds 1 point in attack skill
1 point of dexterity adds 1 point in attack skill
1 point of intelligence adds 1 points in attack skill

So removing a weapon definitely changes your attack skill. How much depends on your strength and intelligence values.

All tests were run on the QA server just now. The QA build has't been updated since the first production release, so I can't see why the results would be different on the production server.

 

This would mean that the barehand strength build should have highest attack skill? Seems strange... (although I bet attack skill is only one factor in damage output...)

 

If you went with str and dex, yes. But then you couldn't use any skills in the combat tree. Those skills require a weapon in your hand. (Going to play with this a bit.)

If you were to use magic, instead of using a weapon, you would lose out on the int bonus that magic has.

So in reality, being bare handed really is a disadvantage. But it does explain why you could see your attack skill go down when you remove a weapon.

 

Yea I understand why mine goes down when I remove my weapon, what I dont understand is why Frost's goes up when he removes his, weapon, I was wrong about having higher str then him he is 53 str and I am 47.

 

I do have more intel and dex then him

 

Do the calculations based on bare hand and with weapon. You'll see why.


In general when you remove your weapon:
1) you lose the attack skill attached to the weapon
2) you lose the attack skill attributed to intelligence
3) you gain attack skill based on your strength
4) depending on the weapon type you may lose attack points based on dexterity
5) if you are using heavy armor and you have skill points in endurance, you gain attack points

So if you lose more attack skill points from the weapon type, intelligence, and dexterity than you gain from strength and maybe heavy armor/endurance, your attack skill will go down. And vice versa will see it go up.

Each of you has to put up the weapon type and your str/dex/int values if you want more feedback.