Taint

This is a forum where you can ask Kiri anything. She will answer to the best of her ability. Others may answer as well, but Kiri will try to answer all reasonable questions. Do not feel limited by topic.
Post Reply
Anakin
Mud Addict
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 5:10 am
Contact:

Taint

Post by Anakin »

It doesn't say in 'help taint' or I just didn't read it more if Taint only misses a lot with BS. Or does it miss at the same rate with regular attack?
It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world everday always just exactly fits in the newspaper.
-Jerry Seinfeld
User avatar
Everybody
Needs Help
Posts: 542
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2003 2:14 am
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Post by Everybody »

Taint misses at the same rate as an untainted attack for any normal attack. BS is a special case as follows - backstabs are inherently undodgeable/unparryable (this comes from sneaking up on the opponent in the first place)... for whatever reason, if you backstab with a tainted weapon, the attack becomes parry/dodgeable. Therefore, tainted BS's miss a lot more than untainted ones, while not affecting normal combat in any way.
-EB
Your local know-it-all. ;)
User avatar
Slart
Newbie
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2003 3:07 pm
Location: Neither here nor there

Post by Slart »

"That's not a bug, that's a feature!"

Seriously, though, I went to fix this very issue quite some time ago, but found that it just made kender WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too easy. Allow me to illustrate:

The backstab damage multiplier is 2 + (level / 8). At level 40, your backstab does seven times normal damage. This multiplier kicks in (for some INSANE reason I have never understood well enough to be comfortable changing it) AFTER damroll is added. So if you have a typical level 40 weapon with average damage of, say, 24, and a damroll of, say, 90, your backstab does (24+90) * 7 = 114 * 7 = 798 damage, well into the damp range, and more than half the hit points that an average level 40/41 mob would have.

The taint multiplier is 2.5. A tainted backstab would thus average:
798 * 2.5 = 1995 damage. This would pretty much kill any mob less than level 46 or 47 or so, unless it was affected by sanctuary. It wouldn't take a genius to level very very quickly when the mobs can't fight back.

So, we left it alone. You can try the tainted backstab, but you risk getting NO backstab. It seems to balance out better.
User avatar
Stars
Mud Addict
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 10:10 am
Location: Earth

Post by Stars »

I always made it a habit to flee when my tainted bs didn't go in. Sure, it takes a few swipes sometimes, but one hit kills are worth it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...
Kender are too powerful.
The stars brightly shine upon our world, a constant reminder of our origin. We are stars.
User avatar
disaster
Needs Help
Posts: 572
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2003 12:47 am
Location: the true north strong and free
Contact:

Post by disaster »

hehehe when i was reheroing i always made sure to have a supply of poniards, canes, spikes, etc. with the HUGE hit bonus from avatar eq and tyrael/council spells, tainted bs hit nearly every time (of course, as a rehero, it really doesn't matter, it's the difference between a 1 round kill and a 0.5 round kill, but it sure was fun :)
"Freedom of speech" is not the same thing as "Freedom from consequences".
Post Reply