RM2K3 Damage Formula and Calculations etc.

[daoman89]

Ok.  So I need help understanding something about damage.  I know the damage formula is Attack/2 - Defense/4.  So when you attack, does the damage that takes place range from 75%-125%? 

Now say we tweak it.  We make Physical element (weapon) 200% as the average instead of 100%.  Does the range of the amount of damage you can do increase for a wider number line?  I ask this because the skill Pierce ignores enemy defense, but when the character reaches a higher level, a normal attack starts to do as much as the defense ignore attack.

I think it all boils down to how the game generates the damage.  Say you do 8 damage according to the formula.  But with however the damage is generated, it can do between 6 - 10.  Now we're doing 140 damage.  Is it now 105 - 175? 

I'm going to do some experimenting on this.  If anybody knows just post.  I'm going to assume the element increase doesn't really matter, rather it's the way the program accumulates the damage.  Correct me if I'm wrong please!  Thanks

[Meiscool]

Well, that is an issue with most games in general. Piercing attacks really are only useful at the beginning of most games (FFX is a great example, where you have to use armor breaker against certain enemies at the beginning of the game, and regular attacks are fine on the same enemies towards the end).

If you want them to see more meaningful, you'll have to make certain enemies with absurdly high defense that requires that piercing move to defeat. Sadly, it is hard to make it obvious that you need to use such a move with the default battle system.

[daoman89]

Now I'm doing an experiment with an enemy with a defense of 100 and character attack (with the inclusion of the weapon) of 102. 200% physical element

So the formula should be 102-25=77.  So the damage should be between 53 and 100, but the average damage is usually 65.  It hasn't hit for 77 in any of the multiple times I've attacked.  I wish the damn Help File would work so I can see what it says for the formula... 

[daoman89]

Yeah, I've decided that pierce is only good for the beginnign and certain uber defensive monsters.  So now I'm on the other issue lol

[daoman89]

Ok.  With no weapon equipped and base attack at 100, the formula works as follows.  100/2 - 100/4 = x

So after crunching in numbers, the damage should be 25.  Now we have variances which I've concluded to be 25 - 38 or 100% - 150%.  It did not go below 25 out of the 20+ hits I did.  Now I'm going to do this with a weapon that gives your base attack +2.  The damage output is much different because physical element is 200%.  But with the formula, the damage is less than it should be so I'm going to try something else and see what happens.

[daoman89]

After doing experiments with multiple weapons, i've come up with a formula that's pretty damn close.  This having a physical element of 200%.  So it's ((Base Attack at current level/2 - enemy def/4) x 200%+weapon attack)) = damage output 100%-150%.  Higher damage has ridiculous wild damage output possibilities.  I'm going to test this with 300% physical element.

[daoman89]

Well then...  It seems like I feel really stupid.  The formula is Attack (including weapon)/2 - Def/4 = damage 100%-150% and if you have physical element you multiply  the damage times 3 and it varies between 100%-150%.  The trial and error allowed me to see the variances, which were most important so now I know the old formula works but gained the knowledge of how the variation works.  Yay

[Felix-0]

look up a tutorial.
I found changing the damage modifier to 400%
as the default (no weakness/resistances modifiers)

Works out well.

Making a skill ignore defense works well at that 400% modifier.

[daoman89]

Yeah, I put it at 275% and magic based attacks at 150% so intelligence actually plays a factor.  But the defense ignoring skill is a beginning skill and for it to be useful during the beginning and for higher defense based monsters through out the game is all right with me. 

I also made it possible for enemy stats to go over a million HP and up to 9999 for each stat except agility which is 255 capped.  Also the damage limit i changed to 99,999 and your stats can be displayed up to 9999. 

[Felix-0]

look up online.
400% is what is the threshold to fix the
str/2 def/4
calculations.
with 400%
a skill with
500 attack power will do 500 damage if ignore defense.
(not including variance or int/str modifiers)

With the default system the most it will do is
250.

[Dr. Ace]

I also made it possible for enemy stats to go over a million HP and up to 9999 for each stat except agility which is 255 capped.  Also the damage limit i changed to 99,999 and your stats can be displayed up to 9999.

This is what's wrong with RPGs. Higher stats and hp =/= better game.

[daoman89]

Imma stick with 275% so I don't have to adjust all of those monster stats haha.

And for the HP thinger, i'm not gonna go up to a million, just need it to got above 99,999.  Having the stats go up to 9999 for monsters makes stat cutting ailments more effective as well along with other perks.

[Prpl_Mage]

I have never seen the point of having over 100k hp and a damage of 80k  for some attacks. I still kinda prefer Paper marios battle system where you deal round 1-8 dmg with stuff throughout the entire game.

[daoman89]

Everyone prefers their own amount of damage lol.  The Paper Mario low damage isn't bad, but you can't really tell if you're getting stronger with extremely low damage range.  The high damage attack in my game will probably be around 2000-5000ish.  Skills are what can deal 9,999+, but not like 20,000. 

Also you always feel pathetic when a boss does maximum damage to you on a story progression fight.  The game's letting you know this guy will destroy you at this point in time. 

I never liked having the capability of maxing EVERYONE's stats.  Gets rid of the characters uniqueness in a way.

[Felix-0]

Disgaea is the only RP I liked that dealt with high numbers.
We're talking billions.