Introduction[]
In the last entry into the AQ Game Mechanics series, we did a deep-dive into elemental compensation. That mechanic was a correction multiplier implemented under the under the hood to compensate players for being forced to attack with an inappropriate element. However, this is far from the only situation such checks and balances are necessary. In fact, there are a lot of situations where the game applies either penalties or compensation to your attacks. In this contribution, I'm going to describe some of the common corrections the player is likely to encounter. I'll also explain the logic behind them (if any!), as well as examples of the penalty being applied.
This post will be particularly useful for players interested in suggesting their own items. For those that don't already known, AQ has a suggestions section where players can propose their own ideas for things they want to see in game. While mathematical checks and balances aren't at all necessary for such ideas (don't worry!), reasonable suggestions are far more likely to be implemented.
With that said, on with the blog...
Visit the Content Hub for other parts of this series
Common Multipliers[]
It's worth noting that the numbers below are multipliers. This means they are relative to the value of the item to which they're applied. For example, if a pet were to receive a *1.2 multiplier, the bonus would be worth 8% Melee. This is because Pets are worth 40% melee [40 * 1.2 = 48]. This matters because these multipliers don't have to apply directly to damage. They can be used for other things, like reduced resources costs or for fuelling status conditions.
Resource Multipliers[]
As I mention in this post, each point of SP;HP;MP is valued at a ratio of 1.125;1;1.5. This means that if your attack targets enemy MP, it would receive a *1.5 multiplier. Equally though, if you're converting between two resources, you may have to pay a penalty. Good examples of this are Pixel Ether, Discount Mogloween Candy bag, and Essence Orb (though don't forget Essence Orb is currently unbalanced!):
HP -> SP = *1.125 HP -> MP = *1.5 SP -> HP = /1.125 SP -> MP = *1.33 MP -> HP = /1.5 MP -> SP = *0.75
Damage Multipliers[]
Magic Weapons: Mages deal 25% less damage on weapon attacks to pay for MP and Spells (see here). This manifests as a *0.75 penalty. Every Magic weapon has this penalty.
Mastercraft: If an item is Mastercrafted (see here), it receives a *1.05 bonus. Mastercrafts are notoriously variable, and can be applied to a number of different things, including cost reductions, increasing the potency of status effects, or preventing the downtrigger on trigger items. A wide variety of items apply this effect, with an example of the most basic (a simple *1.05 to damage) being the Greater Bright Blade of Victory
'No-proc': If a weapon has no special, it will deal *1.08 damage. An example of this is Pyromancer Bloodblade. Some weapons (e,g, bows) have a 100% chance of activating a weapon special (i.e. they're '100-proc') which approximates a regular weapon attack. If said item doesn't have a true special, it will deal *1.1 damage instead. An example of this is Tiger Cannon. Why do they do differing values? Weapon specials aren't affected by Armour lean, making them more beneficial if you combine them with offensive armours. You would expect a 'no-proc' weapon to be used with an FO armour and a '100-proc' to be used with a Defensive armour because it will deal neutral damage regardless. Since FO armours deal *1.25 damage, 1.08*1.25 = 1.35, a 10% bonus equal to that of the bow.
Weapon Specials: If a weapon has a special (see here for details), that special will deal (0.1 + [Proc Rate])/[Proc Rate] damage, with Proc Rate referring to the decimal chance for a weapon special to occur. For example, if I had a weapon with a 10% chance to activate a weapon special, it would deal (0.1 + 0.1)/0.1 = *2 the damage of a standard attack
Triggers: A standard Trigger effect will deal *2 the amount invested in the trigger. This investment comes in the form of a downtrigger. In general, downtriggers are typically worth 5% Melee (nroamlly manifesting as *0.95 damage), making a standard trigger worth *1.1 damage. An example of this is Water Dragon Blade (please note that this has more than one trigger and is a little outdated, so it's not the best example!). Triggers that the players can control (e.g., Macka-Lot Buckler) are instead worth *1.5 of the amount invested. However, it's really important to note that triggers are applied very inconsistently at the moment. For example, Ethereal Amethyst Staff has a trigger only worth 5% melee, but triggers against Ghosts and Incorporeal entities to deal Void damage. Obviously, given void attacks deal 200% damage this is a lot more than the standard trigger value.
Element Multipliers[]
The following are based upon the Elemental Wheel:
Allied Elements: If an attack deals damage with two elements that are allied to each other (i.e. next to each other on the wheel), the attack will deal *1.05 damage, or *1.1 if only applied to the less powerful element. An example of this being applied is the Lunar Spirit Cat Guest
Neutral Elements: If an attack deals damage with two elements that are neutral to each other (i.e. perpendicular to one another on the wheel), the attack will deal *1.1 damage, or *1.2 if only applied to the less powerful element. An example of this being applied is the Jacques Fury Spell
Poor Elements: If an attack deals damage with two elements that are poorly related to each other (i.e. three spaces away from the element on the wheel), the attack will deal *1.155 damage, or *1.31 if only applied to the less powerful element. An example of this being applied is the Solar Spirit Cat Guest
Opposing Elements: If an attack deals damage with two opposing elements (i.e. opposite each other on the wheel), the attack will deal *1.2 damage, or *1.4 if only applied to the less powerful element. An example of this being applied is the Umbral Naginata Weapon
All Elements: If an attack can deal any of the 8 standard elements, it will deal *132/109 damage. An example of this being applied is the Eye of Chaos Spell. If the attack can also randomly deal Harm and Heal damage, it will deal *130/90 damage instead. An example of this being applied is Mana Golem. If the elements are randomly chosen at the start of the battle, and then remain fixed for its duration, it receives a *1.1 bonus. An example of this is the Chaos Armour
Twin Element Seek: If an attack seeks between two elements, it receives a *0.95 penalty. An example of this is the Embrace the Shadows Spell (in this case, the player takes some damage instead!).
'Always Useful': An item is considered to be 'Always useful' if it strikes with an element that deals effective (but not optimal) damage against either the player or the monster. Typically this refers to items that deal either Harm or Heal Element damage. An example of an item that takes this penalty is the Void Spear of War. Most healing attacks also take this penalty, with the exception of healing spells that scale based off an enemy resistance like Your Body Heals at the Speed of Light. It's important to note that this depends on the item type. For example, if you have to attack with a weapon of a specific element to use the 'always useful' effect, you're not going to pay this penalty.
Elemental-Seeking: Items that elementally seek among the standard elements deal *0.8 damage. It's rare to see items with this penalty because most are valued within trigger effects to remove the penalty. Please note that this doesn't account for items where you can toggle the element to any of the 8 standards like Ultimate Dragon Scythe of Elements, as these receive a harsher penalty (see Omni-elemental penalty).
Omni-elemental: An attack that deals optimal damage against the monster are considered to be omni-elemental. These attacks receive a *0.6 penalty. Ultimate Dragon Scythe of Elements falls into this category, explaining the substantial penalties it carries. Please note that, in practice, this penalty is inconsistently applied and has been the subject of at least one Game Balance Issue thread. Just like the 'Always Useful' penalty, this varies by item type. For example, you might have a skill embedded into an armour that follows weapon element, which would normally be considered optimal. However, because it's attached to a specific element armour that you have to use, it's not going to receive a penalty. You just won't receive any elemental compensation.
Accuracy Multipliers[]
Auto-Hit: If an item automatically hits your enemy, it should receive a *0.8 penalty. The player is assumed to possess an accuracy of 80%, and so must make up the difference. If your attack targets the player, it will autohit and deal *0.85 damage instead, because the player is assumed to invest in accuracy since they have no choice but to autohit with these effects, and standard assumptions suggest the player should land 85% of the time. All heal spells include this penalty. You may also see some older items like Divine Kusagani Sword with a much lower penalty (*0.625). This is because these items were developed when Dexterity was still a secondary stat vital to player accuracy. Back then, your accuracy was much lower if you didn't invest in accuracy, meaning autohit items also assumed you started from a lower baseline.
Accuracy Lean: If your attack has a bth lean (whether this be because one of your items has an inbuilt lean, you have Berserk etc.), that attack will do *85/[85 + Modifier] damage. For example, if you had a -15 bth Berserk applied, your attacks would deal *85/([85-15]) = *1.21 damage
Miscellaneous Multipliers[]
Monster Turns: Monster turns are worth 140% melee, the same as the Player + Pet + SP. This means if you pay damage in %Melee for an effect, you need to make sure to modify it appropriate based on the value of a monster turn, adding either *1.4 or /1.4, whichever is appropriate for the situation
Quickcast: This is less of a penalty and more just removing the turn damage you receive on attacks for effects that are quickcast (see this thread for more on that). Magic Spells and Skills deal *(1.25/2) damage because they pay 125% Melee in either MP or SP. Melee/Ranged skills deal *0.5 damage because they pay 100%. Please note that Quickcast effects are also usually limited to being used only a certain number of times per turn and they cannot critical hit.
Resistance Scramble: This is worth an arbitrary 5% Melee. An example of this is Rainbow Raygun
Status potency: Single status effects (+20) are typically worth 5% Melee e.g., Veywild Guard. This potency is halved (+10) if the item also inflicts the status it boosts (see Warmaster Dragon Rider as an example). Wider effects like Mental Status Resistance are typically worth more at 10% Melee. Full status resistance is typically considered more expensive at 20% Melee e.g., Status Ward of Energy. Boosting the damage of DOT status effects like Poison and Burn are typically worth 5% Melee e.g. Infinite Darkcaster (grouped in with this is the Doomlight Aura effect, though Doomlight is notoriously lax when it comes to balance...).
Status Clearance: Clearing a status effect varies, but in general clearing a single specific status is worth 12.5% Melee, with a generic "cleanse any 1 status" being worth 50% Melee. The cost will depend on the status cleanser you use based on the variety of statuses it can clear. An exception are "unstoppable" mechanics like those on the Werepyre armours which automatically dispel any inaction status effect e.g., Fear assuming a 100% Melee cost.
Pet/Guest Backlash: There is also a backend multiplier to the potency of backlash applied by Pets and Guests. This penalty is completely unique to Backlash, and the exact number tends to vary (Along with status potency, backlash has some inconsistencies that need to be resolved...).
The Golden Rule to remember with all these multipliers is that they're used to make two pieces of equivalent with the same Power level have similar levels of usefulness. Items with behaviours that make them more versatile are naturally going to be made weaker in other ways. In contrast, items that are harder to use will generally be made more powerful. The overall result should be items that are comparable, even if they're more or less powerful in certain contexts! Penalties and bonuses are typically waived if there's another factor that makes them no longer applicable to an item (see the 'always useful' and 'omni-elemental' penalty sections for particular cases where this happens).
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