A2 Spell Strength, aka Anorak Thread

[Micawber]

I've noticed that people around here are keen on statistics. Well, I've been trying to devise a formula to measure the relative merits of spells in Avernum 2.

 

My current working model is as follows:

 

A spreadsheet which enables you to calculate the results of the formula is here -- this uses the damage and target info from the Avernum 2 help file (except that the number of targets for divine fire, as per the help file, is obviously wrong - given as 1+B/12 but more like 4+ or 5+). You need a programme like Excel or Openoffice, in order to be able to open this spreadsheet.

 

EDIT: The spreadsheet can also be opened using Openoffice. Thanks Tyranicus.

 

<Disclaimer>Don't take this too seriously. It is in no way intended to be definitive -- just a bit of fun.</Disclaimer>

[Tyranicus]

Quote:

Originally written by Micawber:
You need at least an Excel viewer, in order to be able to open this spreadsheet.

Aw... Isn't reliance on Microsoft so adorable? I'm just kidding, but there are a few other programs out there that can view Excel spreadsheets. OpenOffice is a good example. I do congratulate you on this formula, Micawbar. It seems to be well-researched and accurate. Good show.

[John S]

Couldn't you have just used the Character Editor to give yourslef three ranks in each spell, thereby bringing the spells closer to the same level? Also, Cloud of Blades really cannot be compared to any other spell. Cloud of Blades does weapon damage, while the other spells do magic/ice/fire damage.

[Micawber]

Quote:

Originally written by Note to Self:
Couldn't you have just used the Character Editor to give yourslef three ranks in each spell, thereby bringing the spells closer to the same level?

As for using the character editor, I don't play that way. But anyway the spreadsheet is meant to be interactive - so you configure it for your actual party at the current moment to decide which spell is currently most efficient to use. In the excel version (sorry) the white cells are editable, so you can select which level you wish to compare. I think the version I uploaded had been configured for a party that was just starting chapter 4.

Quote:

Also, Cloud of Blades really cannot be compared to any other spell. Cloud of Blades does weapon damage, while the other spells do magic/ice/fire damage.

True - it only gives damage level comparison, without taking into account damage type. E.g. if fighting rakshasas go for cloud of blades, if fighting haakai go for repel spirit. However in Avernum 2 most of the time you're fighting empire soldiers, so the damage type doesn't matter so much.

EDIT: In response to Tyranicus, I have used openoffice/staroffice in the past (on Linux) and I found its word & excel filters were far from infallible, and weren't able to import every file. I didn't want to assume that the thing would be openable using openoffice. If it is, that would be useful to know.

[John S]

Quote:

Originally written by Micawber:

Quote:

Originally written by Note to Self:
Couldn't you have just used the Character Editor to give yourslef three ranks in each spell, thereby bringing the spells closer to the same level?

As for using the character editor, I don't play that way. But anyway the spreadsheet is meant to be interactive - so you configure it for your actual party at the current moment to decide which spell is currently most efficient to use. In the excel version (sorry) the white cells are editable, so you can select which level you wish to compare. I think the version I uploaded had been configured for a party that was just starting chapter 4.

Yeah... Um, I didn't notice that anything at all in the spreadsheet was changeable...

\/ To Micawber: No, what I meant was that I did not think to check if I could modify any values in the spreadsheet.

[Micawber]

That would be the Excel viewer, then.

[Tyranicus]

Quote:

Originally written by Micawber:
In response to Tyranicus, I have used openoffice/staroffice in the past (on Linux) and I found its word & excel filters were far from infallible, and weren't able to import every file. I didn't want to assume that the thing would be openable using openoffice. If it is, that would be useful to know.

Far from infallible to be sure, but most documents and spreadsheets do work, unless they have lots of special Office-specific features in them. A basic Excel spreadsheet and Word document are filtered quite well. I have Office 2003 on my Windows partition, but only use it if I have to. Otherwise, I use OpenOffice in both Windows and Linux. By the way, your spreadsheet converts to OpenOffice Calc format with no visible issues.