NPC Attack Dmg fix

[TheOne]

Greets Fellow EQ addicts ! Lots of players on my server told me that the mobs really didn't hit hard enough hence why they kill everything at will ( even high level Dragons ) So I thought it would be good to have some challenge around :P so I fixed the code for NPC dammage. In attack.cpp Line 843-844 copy and paste this :


if(mylevel >= 60) // Darogar : NPCs Over lvl. 60 hit for very high damages
basedamage = mylevel*18.0f*clmod;
else if (mylevel >= 51 && mylevel <= 60) // Darogar : NPCs between lvl. 51 and 59 hit for high damage.
basedamage = mylevel*9.50f*clmod;
else
basedamage = mylevel*6.5f*clmod; // Darogar : Original modifier was 4.0f, raised to 6.5f to match the EQlive normal damage.


The damage varries according to the level of course so a level. 60 NPC would hit a Level 60 player ( with good Defense ) for around 400s while it would hit a level.1 player in the 1200s.

I'm not a C++ expert but there is no bug... Tell me what you think guys. Here's the fixed attack.cpp ( Note : the file was taken from version 0.4.3-DR2 )

http://www.darogar.net/attack.rar

- Darogar


P.S : I have a request, think you
could change the "Newbie" title I got
for Eqemu user or something like that ? :P
I've been around for a while but I'm just starting
to post.

[Trumpcard]

If everyone agrees this works better, no problem..

Did you test at low levels also? lvl 1-20 or so?

We'd like to keep it as balanced as possible.

Thanks, and let me know !

[TheOne]

Yep, level.1 mobs hit for 1-2-3 damage, Level. 8 mobs hit for 10-14
Level.35 mobs hit for 60s low 70s.

[fnemo]

nice :)

[TheOne]

IF you add it as a DB entry then you'd have to specify the min damage and the max damage for every mob in your database, unless you keep the Attack code and make it so it uses it as default.

[Trumpcard]

I put it in last night to the code, but Im considering making it an #ifdef for an optional compile.

Heres why.

Should a server thats not going to have more than 30 people really make it so that mobs are just as tough as eqLive ?

The question here is balance. I know it seems like everything should look just like eqLive, but considering the scope of the servers, I just dont think thats a possibility. In my mind, no mob in eqEMU should require more than 4, 8 at a MAX to drop. We just cant throw the sheer numbers at an NPC like they can in live.

What I think might be a better idea would be a database defined 'level modifier' , basiclly, use the floats for a 10 level damage modifier than allows you to tweak by hand. Say , 1-10 6.5, 11-20, 6.5, ... , 60-65 18

It would be a simple 2 column table, call it say damagelevel_modifier, columns would be level and modifier.
I think this would be a better approach than a hardcoded algorithem or if/else. Good thing about that it is wouldnt take much memory being a very small table.

That way its at the server admin's discretion on how hard to make the server. He can balance it for solo play.

[killspree]

Don't forget atk column in npc_types. That would probably work too, as I've noticed atk buffs increase a mobs damage. Atk seems to be set at default of 0 in the code and no way to modify it atm.

[pms]

Couldn't this just be a single entry like AttackAsLevel in the database and keep the formula hardcoded in the code as the standard ? So, you could have a levle 30mob that attacks as a level 8 mob. LIke that stupid Nitlit's Contraption in steamfont. It has to cover more then just damage. It should cover hit percentage as well. Some mobs also hit more or less often then another at thier level.

[Drawde]

The damage formula for players could also use some tweaking - it seems that when your weapon skill is below 20, you always hit for 2 damage (always 2, never more or less) whatever your weapon's damage value is. Once the skill hits 20 (sometimes 25) you are able to hit for the right amount of damage.

[Trumpcard]

That definitely can use a fixing...

[enigma0073]

Trumpcard-

I completely agree with you, that with the amount of people on any given server it would be too hard to have the mobs exactly as they are in eq live, however I don't think my lvl 65 enchanter should be able to melee Vox to death =) Though it is funny to watch for a time or two, it becomes boring.

[pms]

having been hit by many a dragon (and died) on eqlive I can tell you the damage is way off for the high level mobs. By a factor of 2-3. I've been hit 1k plus on eqlive by mobs that hit 200 in the emu.

[Trumpcard]

Fine, lets just make it so mobs hit for 1k a hit.

I dont care how *UBER* your equipment is going to be, you and your 2 friends trying to take down the AOW are toast.

Now we have eveyone complaining that all the high end mobs are unkillable....

I can see it now..

WFT?????';
PLLLLZLZZZ!!

All over the boards...

Does it even occur to everyone that if a 65th level mob fought on eqEMU like they do on live, it would take all the characters a server can hold just to kill a single one.

That will be fine for RAID WORLD maybe, but not a server where people actually want to play. If you like the highend EQ game, you really are better off sticking to the live servers.

So , no more , WTF, MY AA's DONT WORK.. WTF, he's only hitting for 400, he should be killing me in like 2 hits! I dont think any of
us developers are working so that highend EQ guilds can use it as a testbed to do raids on, and that's what it sounds like it's going to. I could care less about EQ past 50 in my opinion.. I had more fun in 1-30 than I did anywhere, when playing the game wasnt just a function of your equipment.

Know what my 60+ friends do on live? RAIIIIID... Then grind exp for AA.. Then RAAAAIIIDD... Then grind exp for AA. I just understand the point of plyaing the emulator to do EXACTLY what you would do on live, and lets face it, if you can't churn up 12$ a month for the game, you're in pretty bad shape and might want to consider government assistance. Hell, my 7 year old nephew makes 20 bucks cutting 1 yard. He's can play eq for a whole month, and go to a movie all from 1 grass cutting !

Wow... I dont know where that all came from.. Sorry.. 4 am , sitting at work watching the sun come up really puts me in a foul mood.. LOL..

At any rate, the whole point of this.

- Why bother making mobs hit like they do on live? Realisticly, we should only model eqLive damage up to lvl 30-40 or so, before it becomes impossible to play in groups of less than 4.

[enigma0073]

I was agreeing with ya Trump, it can't be like eqlive.. it would be pointless, but it should be harder then it is set now, if I walk up to Vox with a lvl 65 enchanter and use 1hs I want to get my ass kicked for being an ass... I'd prefer needing the help of 2-3 people over easily soloing with a char who should never be able to solo her melee style. I wasn't going to pester the developers over the issue, I figured editing minhits and maxhits I could make it harder myself, but it doesn't seem to work. Maybe there is a middle ground between the suggested fix here and the formula currently used?

[Trumpcard]

I think there just needs to be a configurable system in place, that way it's not hardcoded. We'll come up with something ;-)

[killspree]

Yeah, some type of configurable system would be nice. I'd really like to make some encounter on my custom server a bit harder than others, but like you said, it would require the entire server to kill them then. That just doesn't seem feasable atm, so I'll stick with figuring out min_dmg and max_dmg for now to make stuff. ;)

[pms]

What I'm saying is that it seems better to me that we try to emulate the combat and skills sections of eqlive as closely as possible. Mainly because they are so well understood and known. Then ya give the server ops the ability to tone down by mob or by zone. At present it is possible to turn down mobs but, not really turn them up to eqlive levels. If they were close to eqlive to begin with then just giving a mob or zone modifier would be easy. I'd like to have a few unkillable mobs around for people to work towards or fear even if they are 65 and have all the gear they can ever #summonitem.

[TheOne]

I agree that a configurable system would be very cool. But in my opinion the mobs damage still needed some tweaking since they were a joke, You could solo like 25 Trakanon + 15 Tolapumj at once There is absolutely no challenge and it gets boring after 1 hour or 2. Now with the damage tweaking Trakanon hits for 400s and some players can still solo him or in a small group they can take him e.z. Why ? Because on EQ live the real challenge with mobs is their special attks, Spells , AoEs , etc... So even with more realistic damages the mobs won't be unsoloable. I agree though that it would be Cool to set it yourself.

can someone please tell me how to do this? it says to past it in attack.cpp i dont know where that is.... any info would be appreciated please help, heh im getting sick and bored of sleepers tomb mobs hitting me for 80 =P

[TheOne]

It's up on version 0.4.3 of the Emu ;)