NPC Attack Coding
 

I was testing the Emu yesterday and I took a level 1 player, and attacked a Large Rat(level 1) in Qeynos. To my surprise, it hit me for over 7 points of damage.... EVERY time.

I believe in EQlive, they have a damage cap for each level. i've noticed it, and have done testing.

Max Cap Damage:

Level 1: 4dmg
Level2: 6dmg
Level3: 8dmg
Level4: 10dmg
Level5: 12dmg (add bash capability)
Level6: 14dmg
Level7: 16dmg
Level8: 18dmg (add double attack)
Level9: 20dmg
Level10: 22dmg
Level11: 24dmg
Level12: 26dmg
Level13: 28dmg
Level14: 30dmg
Level15: 32dmg
Level16: 34dmg
Level17: 36dmg
Level18: 38dmg
Level19: 40dmg

It goes up by 2 dmg every level all the way to 50. After 50, it becomes complicated, and I think the modifiers are different for each dungeon. Basically all NPCs on the main continent follow the standard +2 dmg per level. They all have the same attack% (that follow in the level category). I have no idea what they are.
I notice that when you have 10ac fighting a level 1, it's more apt to hit you for 4dmg more often. When you have ~30ac, it hits you for 1dmg alot more. You guys probably already know this, but if you don't, this is some info :)

I just wanted to let you guys know because I attacked a ghoul guk knight, and was hit for 180pts of dmg... where as their max should have been 92.

Improved NPC damage calculation would certainly be a nice feature.. it's very tough for low-level characters at the minute!
You can just about take on level-1 bats, rats etc, but anything higher (e.g orc pawns which are often level 2) and you don't stand a chance unless you run away from it casting spells.
Incidentally there's a bug in my NPC data which gave the orc pawns in Greater Faydark 338 hp, rather than 32.. this is now fixed though!

:o
 

Yeah, another thing I noticed is that I set my level at 60, got over 1k in AC, and attacked Fippy. He hit me for 20pts of dmg EVERY time he hit me. hehe that's not supposed to happen :P

Also, The coders have been doing an EXCELLENT job. Basically all that's left is the Forage, jewelcraft, etc etc. Advanced AI, Factions/Agro, Environment Effects, Spell cast delays.. NPC Involvement is a good word for it.

For the other part -- Just need to work on spawns. I know SO many zones by heart on where all of the spawns are... the only problem is, is that Admin Tool doesn't work correctly. I Probably need to do some TSing on it. I could do all of Guktop/Bottom, Cazicthule, Permafrost(some)...

Yeah, the formula for npc damage is in fact (level * 2) + 2, I think thats with base npc str and such, some highlevel npcs have something applied to them that makes them hit more than that formula - wonder why image didn't use (level * 2) + 2 though.

This sounds like it would be really easy to fix (unlike some things), just change a few numbers in the damage calculation.
AC does seem to have an effect on how often monsters hit you, though not as much as it should (low-level things surely shouldn't be able to hit you AT ALL with a really high AC) and it doesn't actually reduce the damage you take.

Another thing I noticed, combat skills don't seem to improve any more - in earlier versions of EQEmu I occasionally got a "Your combat skills have gone up (x)" message during combat.

Suggested Improvements:

NPC pathing would be another nice thing to add to
the EMU. Spawns will spawn and stay in the same place. (at least on the EMU's I've played on and the one I'm playing with on my system)

spell casting: Spells don't appear to be sensitive to range.

Range calculations on attacking npcs seems too close. You need to be right on top of a mob in order to attack them.

I can't think of anything else atm. EMU is impressive for all that has been accomplished.

casting a spell, then ducking, causes problems with the emu also.
the casting never completes, but the casting isn't canceled either.