Chance to hit - To hit bonus

[E-Rose]

Does the To hit bonus from the Purifying blade do anything? I constantly miss higher level enemies.

Is it supposed to help with spells as well? Or just melee.

 

The level based chance to hit from the reworks is quite disappointing - it prevents risk taking by going into upper level areas to get decent loot :(.

 

Is there any way to mod this?

[Randomizer]

The weapon to hit bonus works for that weapon and there is a similar one on missile weapons.

 

It does make it easier to hit enemies and it was way worse in beta testing before it got added. You are simply fighting something that probably has a higher level than you. Right clock on your target to see its level and resistances.

[l33tmaan]

Speaking of the Purifying Blade, is it supposed to outclass literally every other sword in the game once it's fully powered? I considered using some of the weaker swords because they had lifesteal, but I think that's just a chance to do lifesteal. I play on Torment and have to make sure Lifesteal is up all the time anyway, so sacrificing damage wasn't worth it since I was sustaining myself with weapon shaping.

I guess I don't mind since my Guardian really enjoyed it.

Edited April 20 by l33tmaan

[Randomizer]

The damage difference isn't much and some weapons may have more useful bonuses at some parts of the game. It's your choice with how you feel about it especially if you play on torment difficulty and need that extra bit of damage.

[mikeprichard]

The melee alternatives to the fully maxed Purifying Blade are the Puresteel Soulblade (with slightly less damage but 15% Lifedrain, which IMO makes it superior) and the Essence Eater (which with its dual magic/physical damage may at times do more damage in a single attack than the above two blades - though note the melee-upgraded Frosted Annulet will only have a chance to double the physical portion of the attack). But to reinforce the original point - all three have a significant to-hit bonus, with the Purifying Blade having the highest in the game, and if you're missing frequently (check the combat log for the exact to-hit percentages), it is likely a character level issue.

[E-Rose]

I know its a character level issue - this is the bit I hate in terms of game mechanics for G1/G2. Hit chance should be influenced by points added to melee/missile/combat/mind shaping... not on char level.

 

Taking a look at the script files, I noticed it_stats_to_affect 1 = 202; for chance to hit modifiers.

 

I assume if I add something like cr_statistic 202 = 50; on the shaper/agent/guardian templates will provide a flat 50% bonus to hit?

[Mechalibur]

44 minutes ago, mikeprichard said:

The melee alternatives to the fully maxed Purifying Blade are the Puresteel Soulblade (with slightly less damage but 15% Lifedrain, which IMO makes it superior)

 

I think the Purifying Blade is still better - 15% Lifedrain is just a 15% chance to recover 20% of damage dealt with a single-target attack. It doesn't stack with the Lifedrain weapon shaping skill either, which is essentially a buff that gives 100% lifedrain and can be cast prior to starting combat. The 10 melee weapon requirement is also a bit steep (compared to I think 5 for the Purifying Blade)

[E-Rose]

1 hour ago, E-Rose said:

I know its a character level issue - this is the bit I hate in terms of game mechanics for G1/G2. Hit chance should be influenced by points added to melee/missile/combat/mind shaping... not on char level.

 

Taking a look at the script files, I noticed it_stats_to_affect 1 = 202; for chance to hit modifiers.

 

I assume if I add something like cr_statistic 202 = 50; on the shaper/agent/guardian templates will provide a flat 50% bonus to hit?

Adding cr_statistic 202 = 50; in the shaper script doesn't seem to help, tested on a new game trying to battle Shanti.

But adding the below to an item such as a charm seems to work.

it_stats_to_affect 1 = 202;

it_stats_addition 1 = 50;

Edited April 20 by E-Rose

[mikeprichard]

20 minutes ago, Mechalibur said:

15% Lifedrain is just a 15% chance to recover 20% of damage dealt with a single-target attack. It doesn't stack with the Lifedrain weapon shaping skill either, which is essentially a buff that gives 100% lifedrain and can be cast prior to starting combat.

Ah, thanks for clarifying how exactly this works - I seem to be seeing the Lifedrain effect trigger a lot more than 15% (without any other Lifedrain effects active), but maybe I've just been lucky. The 10 melee requirement is a non-issue for my character, but I might consider the Purifying Blade again based on your comment.

[BenS]

A very topical thread, as I'm running a Torment Guardian now w/ the Purifying Blade, and had wondered about some of the other decent swords in the game. I might play around w/ some of the others when I get them just for the experience of it. Fun is fun, after all.

There are also some decent swords for Agents I note, though those will have to wait for my next run.

[Hyperion703]

14 minutes ago, BenS said:

There are also some decent swords for Agents I note, though those will have to wait for my next run.

Imo, there's really only one. And it's not acquired until at least midway through the game, generally later iirc. Every other blade that might be helpful (at best, none blew me away) had martial weapon minimums of like 3 or 4. Agents can't afford to spend points on weapon skills when there are such yummy magic skills to get on the cheap. And I'm not about to blow six or seven skill points for just +10% evasion or +10% armor or whatevs. 

 

If I would be critical of the game, there just aren't enough accessory/item options. At least for agents. Come to think of it, I might make a separate thread about it. 

[BenS]

1 hour ago, Hyperion703 said:

Imo, there's really only one. And it's not acquired until at least midway through the game, generally later iirc. Every other blade that might be helpful (at best, none blew me away) had martial weapon minimums of like 3 or 4. Agents can't afford to spend points on weapon skills when there are such yummy magic skills to get on the cheap. And I'm not about to blow six or seven skill points for just +10% evasion or +10% armor or whatevs. 

 

If I would be critical of the game, there just aren't enough accessory/item options. At least for agents. Come to think of it, I might make a separate thread about it. 

Hmm. I don't have access to the scripts but according to my notes from my Shaper run...let's see what we find when looking for Agent-friendly weapons...

 

Charmed Falchion--that +2 Battle Magic is sweet...but 7 Melee Training is probably unrealistic for an Agent, I agree

Empathy Blade--only Melee Tr. 1, but you give up -1 Str/Agility for +10% to creation haste chance & riposte; might be decent I suppose, if only for creations

Essence Eater--for Melee Tr. 4, you get +1 Agility & Evasion, and do physical & energy dmg; maybe this is the weapon you're referring to?

Living Knife--no Melee Tr. requirement? You get +2 to creation Str & Agility; this seems decent to have in hand, right?

Shielding Knife--Melee Tr. 3 gets you +7% physical armor but more importantly, +15% chance to evade attacks; not bad?

Singing Rapier--Melee Tr. 5 gets you +2 Q. Action & Evasion; maybe worthwhile if it's become expensive to raise further levels of those?

Spectral Cleaver--Melee Tr. 2 gets you a very nice +2 Mental Magic, +20% to blessings/curses you cause

 

IDK; there's a few decent choices there it seems.

[Randomizer]

Tek's Spectral Dagger - Melee Tr 4 gets you +20% physical armor, +25% magical damage resistance, +20% stun resistance

 

Agent starts at melee training 1, canister in Phariton's Hall +1, so you only need two more levels.

 

You probably hate the Takers anyway.  

[Hyperion703]

@BenS I was referring to the Spectral Cleaver. I never used it to attack. It just hung in it's scabbard so I could soak up those magic bonuses. It's good. But I was hoping for more by endgame.

 

@Randomizer Tek's Spectral Dagger is nice, too. But I finished the game with a Melee Weapon score of 3, and those were from the Phariton cannister you mentioned + a certain charm. I guess I could have spared one point from somewhere else, because those defensive bonuses are tasty. I generally went for a "good offense is the best defense" approach. So up until the Gaza-Uss bosses or maybe some infernals, I didn't really need much defense as the fights rarely lasted more than a few turns.

 

For the bigger nasties, I found that, if I put great emphasis on my blessing magic, my Essence Shield was a consistent 380-400 points. That generally stopped at least one round of attacks (sometimes more) before I used one of my 2-3 actions the following turn to cast another and re-up my shield. It was tedious, but no more tedious than hit-and-runs or attacking more indirectly.

Edited April 21 by Hyperion703

[BenS]

@Randomizer ooh, I clearly missed that as a Shaper, though it sounds like a good goal conceivably for my future Agent.

 

@Hyperion703 Yes, I'd agree the Spectral Cleaver gets you a lot for minimal investment (potentially none) in Melee W-s. Did you use the Living Knife for your Battle creations? Seems like a nice boost. Also, are you playing Agent + Battle creations? Solo Agent? Which difficulty? I'm tempted to play a Normal Agent just to avoid friendly fire, which I've seen enough of as a Veteran Shaper and Torment Guardian. I will hope to pump Essence Shield as well as an Agent. I think those rare Armor pods only give you 20 pts of Protection, which is nothing, but maybe I've misunderstood them.

 

Apologies to the OP for the thread jack.

Edited April 21 by BenS

[Aoslare]

On 4/20/2024 at 2:36 PM, E-Rose said:

Hit chance should be influenced by points added to melee/missile/combat/mind shaping... not on char level.

It's an interesting game design dilemma.  On the one hand, what you say makes sense, and it feels "dumbed down" for hit rate to just automatically rise, and be out of the player's control.

 

On the other hand, in old SW games with stat or skill based hit rates, that just resulted in incredibly inflexible and predictable stat/skill point usage.  It was really punishing if you wanted to diversify at all, and it didn't actually result in deeper or more varied or more interesting build options.

[alhoon]

2 hours ago, Slawbug said:

On the other hand, in old SW games with stat or skill based hit rates, that just resulted in incredibly inflexible and predictable stat/skill point usage.  It was really punishing if you wanted to diversify at all, and it didn't actually result in deeper or more varied or more interesting build options.

 

That. 

You would be very suboptinal to put say 30% / 70% of your points on missile /melee  if you were melee as you wouldn't hit with missile except in weak enemies and you would be gimping your melee hit chance. 

 

Edited April 22 by alhoon

[Displayed Name]

On 4/21/2024 at 8:11 AM, Hyperion703 said:

 

Tek's Spectral Dagger is nice, too. But I finished the game with a Melee Weapon score of 3, and those were from the Phariton cannister you mentioned + a certain charm. I guess I could have spared one point from somewhere else, because those defensive bonuses are tasty.

Item sources, including charms, do not account for requirement for equipping weapons. Randomizer was right about needing to buy 2 lvs.