Thoukydides

The link Randomizer gave above is very useful. However, in Blades of Avernum, Great Renown was removed in favor of Strong Back. Not that it matters, Great Renown is bad anyway. It also appears, unsurprisingly, that between A1, and BoA the trait effects have been altered a little. This link contains very detailed information on the traits in Avernum 1 - http://spiderwebforu...-trait-effects/ Much of it will probably apply to Avernum 2 and possibly 3 as well, minus whatever bugs Jeff fixed between games.

Here is a list of spell effects for Avernum 1. The manual does contain a detailed list, but as we all know, the manual and descriptions are frequently incorrect. If there is interest, I may decide to do the spells of Avernum 2 and 3. Let me know if you want those games tested too. Each spell is listed below with its effect and their Spell levels according to the manual. My equations are given after the manual equations in parentheses. Note: B is the spell bonus, equivalent to (Intelligence/2) + Magery + Mage/Priest Skill. Each spell will have the following format. Spell Name Minimum Skill Level needed to cast Effect · Level 1 according to the manual · Level 2 according to the manual · Level 3 according to the manual Comments Mage Spells Bolt of Fire Min. Skill 1 Fire damage · 3-12 + B/2 damage · 4-18 + B damage · 5-20+3B/2 damage The Bonus is correct; my sample damage was roughly similar. Light Min. Skill 1 Light · 100+10B turns (280+10B turns) · 200+10B turns (380+10B turns) · 300+10B turns (480+10B turns) The actual light effect is about 10*B+180-190+(100*Spell Level) turns. My tests were slightly unclear because of how light runs out; I suspect the manual uses a different cut off point than I did. I counted the turns from the first casting to the turn when the visible distance became 1 (the normal light level in dark areas). The manual equation may refer to the start of the reduction or the third reduction of light. Call Beast Min. Skill 2 Summon monster · weak beast (Group 1) for 3-12+B/2 turns · beast (Group 2) for 3-12+B/2 turns · strong beast (Group 3) for 3-12+B/2 turns The duration and bonus are correct. The monster group list is given at the end of the post. Bind Foe Min. Skill 2 Status effect on enemy · Web 1 target · Sleep 1 target for 2-6+B turns · Paralyze 1 target for 5-10+B/4 turns My tests were unclear because enemies likely have resistance that affects duration. Each level does what it says. Multiple casts appear to stack. In my tests, the Level 2 bonus appeared to be .1 while Level 3 gave a bonus of ~.5 of the listed duration. Haste Min. Skill 3 Haste · 1 Character for 3-5+B/4 turns (3-5+3B/4 turns) · 1 Character for 5-9+B/4 turns (5-9+B turns) · Party for 4-8+B/4 turns (4-8+B/<5 turns) The cap for the haste status is 9 turns. The Bonus appears to be .75B for Level 1, Level 2 caps at the Min. Skill of 3 Mage Spells, so probably B/1. Level 3 appears to have a Bonus of less than B/4, between B/5 and B/8. Additional casts do not add duration. Slow Min. Skill 3 Slow · 1+B/4 targets, 3-12+B/3 turns (1+B/8 targets, 3-12+B/<3 turns) · 1+B/4 targets, 3-12+B/3 turns (2+B/8 targets, 3-12+B/<3 turns) · 1+B/4 targets, 3-12+B/3 turns (3+B/8 targets, 3-12+B/<3 turns) Slow appears to have a cap of 9 turns, like haste. The Level 1 target number starts at 1+B/8, subsequent levels are 2+ and 3+B/8, with duration capping at 9 turns. I counted every turn and not just the turns missed. My average was ~5 turns at base level 1, so the duration is more like 3-9+B/3 due to the cap. The duration bonus is between B/8 and B/3, and Slow caps at the base skill level for Spell Level 3. Ice Lances Min. Skill 5 Cold damage · 2+B/3 targets, 3-12+B/2 damage (3-12+B/4 targets) · 2+B/3 targets, 5-20+B/2 damage (5-20+B/4 targets) · 2+B/3 targets, 7-28+B/2 damage (7-28+B/4 targets) The targets equations are correct. The damage Bonus for all 3 levels is B/4. My sample damage ranges were similar. Unlock Doors Min. Skill 5 Unlock · Unlocks locked doors · Success chance improves · Unlocks all doors, not gates I’m not entirely clear on exactly how this spell works. The chance of success does improve at Level 2. B adds 5% to unlock chance, Level 2 adds 30%. Level 3 adds no additional % chance, but will affect more doors. The chance affects doors of different strength differently. Create Illusions Min. Skill 6 Summon illusions [Disappear when hit] · 2-4+B/6 weak illusions (Group 1) for 3-12+B/4 turns (~3-12+B/2 turns) · 2-4+B/6 illusions (Group 2) for 3-12+B/4 turns (~3-12+B/2 turns) · 2-4+B/6 strong illusions (Group 3) for 3-12+B/4 turns (1+B/12, ~3-12+B/2 turns) Levels 1 and 2 summon 2-4+B/6 illusions for ~6+B/2 turns on average. Level 3 summons 1+B/12 illusions for ~6+B/2 turns on average. Far Sight Min. Skill 6 Far sight · Small area (11x11) · Large area (15x15) · Outdoors (19x19) Level 1 has a range of 11x11. Level 2 has a range of 15x15. Level 3 has a range of 19x19. The range is not affected by B. Lightning Spray Min. Skill 8 Magic damage · 3+B/5 targets, 5-30+B/2 damage (2+B3 targets) · 3+B/5 targets, 7-42+B/2 damage (2+B3 targets) · 3+B/5 targets, 9-54+B/2 damage (2+B3 targets) The target equation is 2+B/3. The damage ranges are close and the bonus is correct. Dispel Barrier Min. Skill 9 Dispel Barriers · Fire barriers · Force Barriers · Always works Appears to work like unlock doors, 5%/B. Level 2 affects both fire and force barriers. Summon Aid Min. Skill 9 Summon monsters · 2-4+B/5 weak creatures (Group 1) for 3-12+B/4 turns (2-4+B/6, ~3-12+B/2 turns) · 2-4+B/5 creatures from (Group 2) for 3-12+B/4 turns (2-4+B/6, ~3-12+B/2 turns) · 2-4+B/5 strong creatures (Group 3) for 3-12+B/4 turns (1+B/12, ~3-12+B/2 turns) Levels 1 and 2 are 2-4+B/6 creatures, for ~6+B/2 turns on average. Level 3 is 1+B/12 creatures for 6+B/2 turns on average. Beast Ceremony Min. Skill 11 Status effects on party · Bless and shield for 3-6+B/5 turns (B/<6 turns) · Adds Haste for 3-6+B/5 turns (B/<6 turns) · Adds Magic Resist for 3-6+B/5 turns (B/<6 turns) The equation appears correct. Each character’s duration is calculated independently. Magic resist caps at 7 turns, and the equation may be 3-6+B/6 or B/8. All statuses have a maximum duration, Bless and shield have a cap of 23 turns, haste 9, magic resist, 7. Fire Blast Min. Skill 13 Fire damage · 2+B/5 targets, 5-50+B damage · 2+B/5 targets, 7-70+B damage · 3+B/5 targets, 9-90+B damage The equations listed above appear correct. Arcane Summon Min. Skill 16 Summon monster · One strong creature (Group 4) for 3-12+B/6 turns (~3-12+B/2 turns) · One stronger creature (Group 5) for 3-12+B/6 turns (~3-12+B/2 turns) · One enormous creature from (Group 6) for 3-12+B/6 turns (~3-12+B/2 turns) The duration is 6+B/2 turns on average. Arcane Shield Min. Skill 17 Status effects on 1 character · Martyr, Shield, Resist for 1 character for 8+B/6 turns (7+B/6 turns) · Adds Invulnerable for 3 turns · Increases Invulnerable for 6 turns The equation for Shield is correct. Martyr and Resist are 7+B/6 turns with a cap of 9 each. Invulnerability is correct at a flat 3 and 6 turns. Arcane Blow Min. Skill 18 Magic damage · 3+B/7 targets, 8-80+B/4 damage (2B/5 damage) · 3+B/7 targets, 10-100+B/4 damage (2B/5 damage) · 3+B/7 targets, 12-120+B/4 damage (2B/5 damage) The target equations are correct. The damage range appears similar, although Bonus appears to be 2B/5. Priest Spells Healing Min. Skill 1 Healing · 3-12+B/4 health (B/2 health) · 4-16+B/2 health (3B/4 health) · 5-20+3B/4 health (B health) The health looks correct, the bonus is B/2, 3B/4, and B. Curing Min. Skill 1 Cure status on party · Poison · Disease · Acid My tests cured the status every time and the effects levels are true. Battle Rage Min. Skill 1 Status effects on 1 character · Bless for 7+B/2 turns · Bless for 10+B turns · Haste for 4 turns Spell Level 1 is +3+B/6 Chance To Hit and Damage Levels, capping at +8. Spell Level 2 is +4+B/3 Bonus Levels. The bless duration is true and bless caps at 23 turns, haste is either 4 or 5 depending on how you count turns. Shielding Min. Skill 1 Status on 1 character · Shield for 7+B/2 · Shield for 10+B · Resist for 4 turns Level 1 is +10/3+B/6 Armor Levels, capping at +8. Level 2 is ~+4+B/3. The shield duration is true and caps at 23 turns, resist is either 3 or 4 depending on how you count turns. Repel Spirit Min. Skill 3 Damage Undead · 1 target, 5-30+B damage · 1+B/4 targets, 5-30+B damage · Damages demons The damage and target equations are correct. Does not hurt demons until Level 3. Smite Min. Skill 4 Cold damage · 1 target, 3-15+B/4 turns · 1+B/4 targets, 4-20+B/2 turns (B/4 turns) · 1+B/4 targets, 5-25+3B/4 turns (B/4 turns) The target number is correct. Bonus remains constant at B/4 and does not increase. Summon Shade Min. Skill 5 Summon 1 ghost · Summon shade (Group 7) for 3-12+B/2 turns · Summon greater shade (Group 8) for 3-12+B/2 turns · Summon vengeful shade (Group 9) for 3-12+B/2 turns The duration is probably correct, possibly 3-10+B/2 turns. Safe Travel Min. Skill 5 Status effect on party · Safe travel for 50+B turns · Safe travel for 100+B turns · Hovering for 100+B turns The equations are correct; the duration is both in town and in overworld. Unshackle Mind Min. Skill 6 Cure status on 1 character · Cure sleep, dumbfounding, terrify, enfeeble · Cure paralysis · Cure charm Level 1 also cures confusion. The spell appears to always work if the level is correct. Mass Healing Min. Skill 6 Heals · 3-12+B/4 (3-12+B/2) · 4-16+B/2 (4-16+3B/4) · 5-20+3B/4 (5-20+B ) The bonus is B/2, 3B/4, and B, like Healing but for all characters. Mass Curing Min. Skill 6 Cure status on party · Poison · Disease · Acid My tests cured the status every time and the effects levels are true, like Curing but for all characters. Sanctuary Min. Skill 8 Status effects on party · Sanctuary for 4+B/5 turns (3+B/5 turns) · Sanctuary for 8+B/5 turns (11+B/5 turns) · Adds Martyr for 8+B/5 turns Level 1 is 3+B/5 turns, Level 2 is 11+B/5 turns, and Level 3 adds Martyr Shield at its max duration, 3 turns. Divine Fire Min. Skill 10 Fire damage · 1+B/12 targets, 4-48+B/2 damage (2+B/5 targets) · 1+B/12 targets, 6-72+B/2 damage (2+B/5 targets) · 1+B/12 targets, 8-96+B/2 damage (2+B/5 targets) The targets are 2+B/5. The damage Bonus is correct and damage is roughly similar. Control Foes Min. Skill 10 Status effects on enemies · Enfeeble and terrify 1 foe (1+B/12 targets) · Confuse 1 foe (1+B/12 targets) · Charm 1 foe (1+B/12 targets) Duration and success of effects not tested due to resistance. The targets are 1+B/12 enemies. Return Life Min. Skill 12 Ressurect · Restore stoning · Revive dead · Revive dusted character Uses Balm of life, returns 1 character to 1 life. Divine Warrior Min. Skill 16 Status effects on 1 character · Divinely Touched for 5-7+B/5 turns · Regenerate for 5-7+B/5 turns · Invulnerable for B/5 turns Duration is ~5+B/5 for Levels 1 and 2. Divinely Touched and Regenerate have caps at 23 turns. Regeneration is 1hp/turn, only in town. Divinely Touched adds +3-5+B/5 Levels of damage, it does stack and caps at +22 Levels, degrades at +1/turn. DT doubles Action Points. The Invulnerable durations appears correct, max of 7 turns. Divine Restoration Min. Skill 17 Heals · Heal all damage and cure all bad status effects · Also gives 20 bonus health · Also gives 40 bonus health The manual is correct. The spell is not affected by B, and there is no max hit points healed. I believe the max Hp is 2273 at level 40, Spell Level 3 heals to 2313. Divine Host Min. Skill 18 Summon shades · 3 powerful shades (Group 8) for 4-24 turns (8-10+B/2 turns) · 5 powerful shades (Group 8) for 4-24 turns (8-10+B/2 turns) · 7 powerful shades (Group 8) for 4-24 turns (8-10+B/2 turns) All levels of the spell use group 8, for 8-10+B/2 turns on average. All durations were counted from start of spell to turn when it disappears, so casting is turn 1, the end is considered to be the last turn the effect is visible. - Your count may vary. Summons only work in a 5x5 area, outside of that it can't summon more . Summoning groups As mentioned above, Groups 1-3 are used for Call Beast Levels 1-3, Create Illusions Levels 1-3, Summon Aid Levels 1-3, and the Call Beast Skill of the Beastmaster trait. Groups 4-6 are used for Arcane Summon Levels 1-3. Groups 7-9 are used for Summon Shade. Divine Host uses Group 8. Group 1: Bat, Cave rat, Goblin, Nephil, Serpent, Skeleton, Zombie Group 2: Asp, Ghoul, Giant lizard, Giant Spider, Lava bat, Nephar, Nephil warrior, Rabid bat, Slith, Vapor rat Group 3: Fire lizard, Ghast, Gremlin, Nephar warrior, Ogre, Slith warrior Group 4: Vampire Group 5: Demon Group 6: Eyebeast Group 7: Shade Group 8: Greater Shade Group 9: Vengeful Shade

After more testing, the Divine Fire equation is 2+B/5 targets. I'm still confused about this and this I'm not sure what you mean by it. There are two different equations listed for Divine Fire, one is the target, which is 1+B/12, or 2+B/5. The other is the damage, 8-96+B/2, which is pretty much correct. So your priest gets a damage range of 8 to 96 plus [(2/2)+18+10+~8(the Nat. Mage bonus)+2(Priest Bracelet] for a total range of 8-96+39. When I tested the damage 3 years ago, I got a range of 23-95, Avg. 65, with a Bonus of 50.5.

There is a help file for Avernum. You should be able to get it from the demo version on the Spiderweb Software downloads page. My version is an old Windows help file that required a patch to open. The spell equations I listed were taken from the manual, however your experience with Divine Fire seems to show the manual is incorrect. Oddly enough, most of the stat and trait effects listed in the manual are correct in a way. Spell bonus according to the manual for Avernum 1: "Here are lists of all of the mage and priest spells in Avernum. With many of the spells are descriptions of their effects at each level (1 to 3). In these descriptions, B is the spells bonus. Your bonus for casting mage spells is your mage spells skill plus half of your intelligence. Your bonus for casting priest spells is your priest spells skill plus half of your intelligence." My own testing agrees with this, my equation is B=(Int/2)+Spell Skill+Magery. Did your casters have any Magery or items that might boost spells like the Robe of Magery or the magic bracelets? I don't understand this - Is this the damage you're seeing? Are the two spells both at level 3? I don't recall Fire Blast being so bad.

I've gone through and edited the posts that still contained the old code. I'm glad to see that some people are still using this information.

I've updated my magic items post to show the effects of those two charms. Since Avernum doesn't have a give item command in the editor, I tested them in Avernum 2. I wasn't able to confirm an effect for the War Charm, so it's either bugged in A2 or it's an obscure effect. Thanks for finding those two items though. To answer Fire Blast vs Divine Fire, according to the manual: Fire Blast targets more enemies and gets a higher bonus from stats. In practice though, the damage is not much of a difference. The low number of targets on Divine Fire is pretty bad though. Fire Blast Level 3: 3 + B/5 targets, 9-90 + B fire damage. Divine Fire Level 3: 1 + B/12 targets, 8-96 + B/2 fire damage.

In Avernum 1 Hardiness reduces armor penalty, or encumbrance, by 4% per level and Defense does nothing for encumbrance. Armor penalty will reduce your base chance to hit. Every 5% of armor penalty will reduce chance to hit by 5%. Armor penalty will also decrease 1 action point every 16% armor penalty, so at 32% armor penalty you have -2 AP. I don't know anything about encumbrance in Avernum 2 or 3. In Avernum 3 I think Defense is the skill you need to reduce encumbrance.

Strength and Dexterity do not increase ranged weapon damage on their own. Ranged weapon damage does increase through the bows and thrown weapon skills. Dexterity does of course increase the ranged weapon skills, but it does not add more damage like Strength does for melee skills. In Avernum 1 Divinely touched added some confusion, elemental, and magic resistance. It may have added resistance to other status effects like poison and disease. I haven't tested it in A2 yet though. Sadly Matt P and the in-game text was incorrect about Divinely Touched, it really doesn't do a little of everything. Weapon skills in A2 do add an average of 1 damage after your chance to hit reaches 95%, just like in A1. The chance to hit formula in A2 is kind of odd though, and the +x damage bonus on weapons also affect chance to hit. I'm fairly certain A2 doesn't have multipliers so each additional point after 95% hit rate will add +1 damage for every weapon regardless of the type.

In the interest of preserving this information, which is also included in Death Knight's FAQ on Gamefaqs, here is a message I wrote to Death Knight on the old forums. Sadly my messages did not transfer over to the new forum. Death Knight asked me what I knew about the Beast Master trait and if it got better with level, so I used the High Level Party Maker to run a few tests. Here is what I found: I have to say that I was very surprised at some of the creatures I got using the summon beast ability. The lack of a level cap certainly helps it because in the first trilogy Summon Beast is outclassed by the mage spell Call Beast. In Blades of Avernum though, at around level 70 I was able to summon ogre mages, shamblers, centaurs, vampires, and flame hydras. This is equal to a mid- or high level summon aid spell, except the spell summons 4 monsters. Also, my level 118 character can summon a fetid zombie, a skeletal warrior, an efreet, or a rakshasa with the ability, so it does in fact increase with level. I don't know if it will go higher than that, but I assume it can depending on the types of monsters available. I suspect that a 120+ character may be able to summon a drake lord or a dark wyrm. So, yes the summon beast ability does increase with level. Every ~15 levels will give a new tier of creatures. So at 1-14 you summon monsters from group 1, and at 15-29 you summon monsters from group 2 and so on. At 60-74, or group 5, you get the same creatures I listed above, and at 105-120, or group 8, you would get the efreeti, rakshasa, and high level undead. The monsters you get do appear to be affected by the monster level, but I'm not completely sure how it works. I don't know if anyone has created a list of the monsters you get when summoning, so if you decide to do this, you might want to try recording what you get at different levels. I also noticed while testing that the monster groups are also used by the summon spells, but I don't know how they are related. For example, spell level 2 of Summon Aid may or may not use the same monsters as group 2 from the Summon Beast ability. After seeing that it does in fact increase with level, now the only problem I have with Beastmaster is that you can only use the ability to summon one creature once per day. Summon spells on the other hand can give you four monsters as long as you have spell points. Good luck on your faq and I hope you found this useful. Also, if you would like to do more testing on your own, you could try downloading the High Level Party Maker scenario. That way you can increase your party's level and skills at will and play around with the different abilities. If anyone would be willing to identify the monsters in each summon group, or has already done so, please feel free to post your findings here.

Not to shamelessly self-promote, but I do have some threads on A1 mechanics around that might interest you. Stats - http://www.spiderwebforums.com/forum/ubb...ects#Post246397 Traits - http://www.spiderwebforums.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/248052/Avernum_1_Trait_Effects#Post248052 But to directly answer your third question since it's the easiest, the highest arcane lore necessary is around 30. 19 potion making will allow you to make all potions at 100% success rate. Sadly item lore is even worse - you need 277 to identify steel plate mail. Randomizer hit the nail on the head in his first sentence. The reason we can't really answer you is that it's really difficult to completely mess up a character's skills and the game allows players to win with any character build. This is what I found out for Divinely Touched through extensive testing, so I'll let you be the judge of its worth. Divinely Touched Does not affect damage or to-hit, does not give armor, does not increase Spell Bonus, and does not increase AP. Gives 20-30% confusion resistance, gives 20-30% magic and elemental resistance. May affect other status effects (stoning, curse, paralyze) or non-combat stats. Gives Call Spirit, Lay on Hands, and Natural Curing abilities.

There's a maximum sellback of 59.99% of item value for all items and shops in the game, regardless of your barter level. I believe once you get 20 barter a slith spear might sell for 42 gold. Also, as Randomizer said, the skill is based on your total party level, so 5 barter on all 4 members is enough to max out sellback for almost every shop.

Actually I think that particular area matches up rather well. Using the Annotated Maps, if you compare the area between Cotra and Fort Draco for Avernum 1, 2, 4, and 6 you can find the fortress in every game. It lies just to the east of where the Formello/Draco river turns to the north. Earth Empires, are you talking about the area west of the Horned Gate? In A1 that area was an unfinished Nephil fort called the Goblin Caves, not to be confused with the Nephil Fortress or the Nephar Fort. I just realized how confusing the dungeon names are in Avernum, there are two Slith Forts, and a Slith Island Fort. Not to mention the Spider Cave, an Aranea Cave, an Aranea City, a Ruined Fort, a Ruined Bandit Lair, a Bandit Lair, a Bandit Fort, a Gremlin Cave and Gremlin's Gold. Sadly, Avernum 6 isn't any better with its 9 Occupied Land areas, 7 Abyss areas, and 20 Eastern Gallery areas. So it's really not surprising that we mix up locations like this.

If you are referring to the Nephilim Fortress where you find Anastasia and Mayor Evelyn's necklace in A1, then in A6 those ruins are occupied by the lich Kavarus and his undead minions.

My recollection is that the total party strength needed was around 30. The simple solution would be to use the editor to increase your strength and find out how much you need on your own. I hope that by now you've already done that or gotten enough strength naturally. In case you haven't met the strength requirement, try giving some to your other characters, because I am fairly certain it's a party total, not for just one character.

Fist damage is affected by three stats, Strength, Blademaster, and Anatomy. Edit: For fists, Strength adds .5 damage per level while Blademaster and Anatomy add 1 damage per level. Elite Warrior also affects fist damage, but it only adds ~8 damage at level 40. Base fist damage is 1-8. On a non-humanoid, with Elite Warrior at level 40, to hit 100 damage with fists you need 84 Blademaster, or 100 Strength and 34 Blademaster, or the cheapest option in terms of skill points, 70 Blademaster and 28 Strength (costing over 1700 skill points - a level 40 character naturally gets 377 skill points). Other variations of Strength and Blademaster will of course also work and I'm sure you can do the math yourself.

Yes, I did new tests. Like Earth Empires, I assumed those rings would not affect ranged weapons, when you asked about them I decided I had better check. Since the Archer's Ring and Fletcher's Ring increase ranged weapon skills and do not directly add damage, they will be superior to the Ring of Skill (by 2 damage) if your chance to hit is greater than 95%. If it is lower they will only lose by ~1 damage (less than that if you consider accuracy). The ranged rings appear to be equal to the Warrior's Ring if your chance to hit is 95% and worse if it is lower than 95%. The extra chance to hit given by the Warrior's Ring makes up for only adding one damage to ranged weapons. (For reference, at Bows 10 with a Blessed Bow and Iron Arrows, the Archer's Ring and Fletcher's Ring do 21 average damage and the Warrior's Ring also does 21 damage.) Personally, I would go with the Warrior's Ring since it will also affect your archer's melee weapon damage, unless your archer exclusively uses ranged attacks.

Both the Ring of Skill and the Warrior's Ring do affect ranged weapons. They increase chance to hit by 8% or 16% and appear to increase damage by 1.

You forgot Pythras. Though I'm not sure if she counts. Is Valley of Dying Things considered canon?

After doing some quick tests with shields, and armor, I believe that a negative armor bonus only reduces the damage an armor can block and is not treated like weapon bonuses. Based on my test of leather armor and poor studded armor, they appear to be almost identical (for average damage blocked). Against cave rats an unarmored character takes an average damage of 16.04, 11-21. Wooden Large Shield (1-8-2)- with a wooden large shield an unarmored character with no defensive stats took 13.9 average damage, range 5-22. Ratio of actual blocking to expected blocking - (2.13/2.5)=.85. Iron Large Shield (1-8) - Average 12.92, range 5-21 damage. Ratio of actual blocking to expected - .69. Steel Large Shield (1-8+2) - Average 11.6, range 3-20 damage. Ratio of actual blocking to expected - .68. Blessed Large Shield (1-8+4) - Average 10.9, range 0-20 damage. Ratio of actual blocking to expected - .6. Using the above information, we can conclude that positive and negative armor bonuses do not always take effect since the blessed large shield had a max of 20 damage and the wooden shield had a max of 22. (I did have a max of 23, but after several re-tests I was unable to reproduce it and I suspect it was a typo.) Leather Armor (1-4+1) - Average damage, 13.33, 6-21, protection ratio - .77. Poor Studded Armor (1-8-1) - Average damage, 12.84, range, 4-20, protection ratio - .91 Although these have a slightly different average damage (.5 damage), it is not significantly different at 5%. Also, because of the chance to not block damage, the leather armor is 0-5 while the studded armor is 0-7, so despite having the same average damage, the observed range will be different. But unless the two armors have different chances of blocking damage, the actual damage blocked should be equal (~3 average damage blocked if we include zeroes). Other tests that I included in my initial post suggest that each point of damage may be determined independently since those tests never received 21 damage, though I can't say definitively if this is the case. In addition, I divided the actual damage blocked by the average damage we expect it to block to obtain a rough estimate of how often armor will block damage. Based on my tests I believe shields block damage about 60-80% of the time. Using my other tests armor may block 75-90% of the time, and various other armor pieces will block less than 50% of the time. In conclusion I would say that, unlike weapons, armor with negative bonuses are no worse than normal or good quality armors as long as they block the same amount of average damage. I tend to use other factors like encumbrance to decide whether to wear poor quality armor.

Personally, I tend to stay away from anything with a negative bonus even if it is superior to what I'm currently wearing. If you're asking whether armor bonuses somehow modify characters' stats to increase damage taken so that in reality a 1-4+1 blocks more than 3.5 damage and a 1-8-1 blocks less, then I don't know. None of my armor tests were done with a poor quality armor. I suspect that it is not the same as weapon bonuses, but I will do a quick damage test to check.

In A1-Blades the "parry bonus" you get while defending is added to your dodge chance and is treated sort of like defense or gymnastics. On a separate note, I don't know how the parry skill works, it could block attacks like in the second trilogy or it might add dodging, although I doubt that. Why add a new skill that works just like Gymnastics? It turns out that the parry bonus is actually more complex, in A1 and probably A2, I believe you get roughly 1% parry for every level 3 levels of Dexterity and every 2 levels of Defense. This is then multiplied by the number of action points you have when you defend. I believe this only works while in combat mode. Also, it looks like the Nephilim parry bonus only comes from their dexterity bonus. Anyway, since you asked about A3, in that game Dexterity gives 1% per 2 levels and Defense gives 1% every 3 or 4 levels. This is also multiplied by the action points remaining when you defend. Although I've only done a cursory check, I'd need to do more tests to be sure. Unfortunately in A3 enemies have a 5% minimum chance to hit in melee so the parry bonus will only be useful up to a certain point, somewhere between 10-40 Dexterity should be enough to max your dodge chance (depending on how many AP you have left over). Ranged attacks do appear to have a minimum of 0%, but I'd be more worried about spells than ranged attacks. Double exception (or triple?): A1 and A2 have a 0% chance to be hit too.

I just checked Avernum 2 and Demonslayer does seem to have the same special damage range and type (or lack of type) as it does in Avernum 1. Although Demonslayer is the best weapon to use against demons, you don't have to use it against Garzahd, I think you can kill him with spells and there's always arrows of light since they actually work in A2.

Thanks Terribly Ernest, I had seen that a few months ago while reading about how armor works in Blades, but I completely forgot about it. It turns out that shops have two different adjustments, one for buying and one for selling items, which A1-A3 appear to have as well. However, since Blades lacks the Barter skill, I'd bet the A3 shops don't use the same sellback levels that Blades does.

Although I hate to double post and necro this thread, I decided to move the magic stats down here since the original post is now too long. As mentioned above Intelligence Adds an average of .5 damage per level Mage/Priest Spells Adds an average of 1 damage per level Magery Adds 1 damage per level, equivalent to one level of Mage/Priest Spells – applies to both Spells Bonus damage, henceforth referred to as “B,” is equivalent to Intelligence/2 + Mage/Priest Spells + Magery. I believe rounding occurs after the magic stats are added, something like Rounddown(Int/2 + Mage/Priest + Magery). Spell damage levels and bonuses are listed in the help file. I can list them below if anyone wants me to. All damage spells were tested against the rats in Fort Avernum. While I did attempt to test the spell range at minimum possible levels against unarmored opponents, Eduardo and Andrew in Cotra, I will not present the damage ranges resulting from those tests, partly because they are in the help file (which I couldn’t read at the time. Microsoft has an update for later versions of Windows if any of you have the same problem). Intelligence: The damage added by Intelligence was determined by subtracting the average damage in each column from the base damage. The third row shows the effect per level, found by dividing the second row by the level of Intelligence. The Mage/Priest Spells and Magery skills will be done the same way. As you can see above, Intelligence adds about .25 damage per level for Bolt of Fire level 1, which gets Bonus/2 damage, so Intelligence will add .5 damage per level of B. The increase of damage from the base stats to Int 5 was not a significant change, nor was the increase from 10 to 15, and 15 to 20. However, this is unsurprising since an increase of 1.25 damage every five levels wouldn’t be likely to show a significant difference. Mage/Priest: Magery: For comparison with Mage Spells, my tests of levels 2 and 3 of Bolt of Fire resulted in Lines of Best Fit of .88x+8.3 for level 2, and 1.4x+10.3 for level 3. This roughly compares to the damage formula I have listed below of B and 1.5B. Since I only used two data points, the slopes shown in the third column may be way off, but unless someone wants to offer additional data, we can assume that Magery has the same effect as Mage or Priest Spells and adds 1 damage per level. My testing of the Battle Rage spell supports this, 3 levels of Magery and Priest Spells resulted in the same to-hit chance as 6 levels of Priest Spells. 9 Priest and 3 Magery gave the same to-hit as 12 levels of Priest Spells (for more information on how Battle Rage works, see below). Spells: Mage Spells Bolt of Fire - Level 1: 3-12+B/2 Level 2: 4-18+B Level 3: 5-20+3B/2 Unlock Doors - Level 1: Adds no additional unlock bonus. Every additional B adds 5% to unlock chance and character level adds 2%. Level 2: Adds 30% to unlock chance. Level 3: Adds no additional bonus, unlocks level 3 locks. Priest Spells Since two Priest Spells, Battle Rage and Divine Warrior, affect damage I attempted to test their combat effects as well. I believe both spells have different equations for their combat effects than their duration. Divine Warrior proved to be more complicated, because its bonus to hit was not as stable as Battle Rage’s. I tested the two spells by casting them in one turn of combat, then immediately attacking the next, to prevent the spells from losing chance to hit. However, the to-hit bonus from Divine Warrior often varied from one cast to the next and for this reason, I stopped testing it. Battle Rage – Level 1: Increases Level by 3+B/6 – caps at +8 Levels, each Level increases damage and chance to hit, likely equivalent to Weapon skills or weapon bonuses, at 1 damage and 5% per level – these wear off over time Level 2: Increases Level by 4+B/3 – caps at +8 Levels Level 3: Same as Spell Level 2, only adds Haste Note: I refer to “Levels” here as each time that Battle Rage will increase chance to hit. I am assuming damage will increase at the same time as well. This is not the same as spell levels, or amount of Priest Spells or Intelligence, but should be similar to a weapon receiving a +x. More Important Note: The damage from Battle Rage was tested for the entire duration of the spell. As time passes, the spell will lose Levels and the to-hit bonus will decrease in increments of 5%, this also appears to decrease damage. Because of this, the damage I refer to will be less than the damage you would get during the first few rounds that the spell is in effect. Slightly Less Important Note: This may also be why my damage increased upon increasing my chance to hit, I was able to hit more often while the spell was stronger than at a lower chance to hit. With that in mind, Battle Rage may add slightly more than 1 damage per Level. Divine Warrior: Although I stopped testing Divine Warrior before analyzing damage, I believe it acts like Battle Rage and increases levels of damage and chance to hit, probably equivalent to Weapon skills. The initial level of Divine Warrior, at 16 Priest and 1 Intelligence adds either 35% or 40% to your to-hit, or +7-8 Levels. This will cap at 95%, but I am unsure if it caps at +13 Levels or if it continues to increase. In addition, the randomness of the spell prevented me from determining at which skill levels the +Levels increased. If it does act like Battle Rage, we can expect Divine Warrior to add at least 7-13 damage, depending on your level of Priest Spells, Intelligence, and Magery. Protection – Level 1: Increases Strength Level by 3.33 or 10/3 + B/6 – Like Battle Rage, Protection caps at +8 Levels, each Strength Level adds +1 to armor which wears off one Level at a time Level 2: Increases Strength Level by 4.? + B/3? Level 3: Same as Spell Level 2, but adds magic protection Protection appears to work like Battle Rage, adding armor instead of weapon bonuses. Like Battle Rage, Protection was tested over the entire duration of the spell. Levels of Protection increased for Spell Level 1, at Priest 4, then every six levels after that, and at Int. 6, 18, 30, 42, and 54. Spell Level 2 and 3 increased the strength at Priest 1, 2, 6, 8, and 12, and Int 2, 10, 14, and 22. This test was conducted against cave rats on Real Hard. Credits: Some of the information in this post was inspired by various walkthroughs. The walkthroughs I consulted include Silver's A1, Harehunter's A2, and Rache's A3 Annotated Maps, AverMan's A1 walkthrough, Matt P's A2 FAQ/Walkthrough, and Relle's A3 FAQ/Walkthrough. In addition to these authors, I would like to thank all the forumites who contributed both directly and indirectly.

Barter does not work exactly the same in A3, though it is quite close. After some limited testing I found that item sellback starts at ~25-37% (possibly more or less?) of an item's value and caps at 45%. Unless you have found someone who gives better or worse deals, Barter will cap at the 45% at as little as level 6 or as high as level 20, depending on which store you sell at. Really bad stores may require more than 20 barter to cap the sellback. In A1, this happens when selling to the armor/weapon merchant in Spire. Have you found anyone who will buy items at about 60% of their value? I hope for your sake that you have, a 15% drop in sellback is going to hurt. Good luck reaching your goal. If you do end up taking advantage of infinite unicorn horns I wouldn't think less of you. Sadly I completely neglected different shop modifiers when testing Barter in A1. Apparently different merchants will not give you the same amount of money for the same item; who could have guessed?