A2 Spell Strength, aka Anorak Thread
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Agent
Member # 2759
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written Saturday, February 18 2006 04:01
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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> [ Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:23: Message edited by: Micawber ] -------------------- "I can't read this thread with that image. But then, that's not a complaint." -Scorpius Geneforge 4 stuff. Also, everything I know about Avernum | Avernum 2 | Avernum 3 | Avernum 4 Posts: 1104 | Registered: Monday, March 10 2003 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6489
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written Sunday, February 19 2006 15:55
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quote: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. [ Sunday, February 19, 2006 15:56: Message edited by: Tyranicus ] -------------------- "You're drinking liquor because you're thirsty? How nasty is your freaking water?" —Lazarus Spiderweb Chat Room Avernum RP • Summaries • OoC • Roster Shadow Vale - My site, home of the Spiderweb Chat Database, BoA Scenario Database, & the A1 Quest List, among other things. Posts: 1556 | Registered: Sunday, November 20 2005 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 5814
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written Sunday, February 19 2006 16:58
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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. -------------------- quote: Posts: 1115 | Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00 |
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Agent
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written Monday, February 20 2006 11:29
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quote: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: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. [ Monday, February 20, 2006 11:33: Message edited by: Micawber ] -------------------- "I can't read this thread with that image. But then, that's not a complaint." -Scorpius Geneforge 4 stuff. Also, everything I know about Avernum | Avernum 2 | Avernum 3 | Avernum 4 Posts: 1104 | Registered: Monday, March 10 2003 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 5814
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written Monday, February 20 2006 12:51
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quote: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. [ Monday, February 20, 2006 13:54: Message edited by: Note to Self ] -------------------- quote: Posts: 1115 | Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00 |
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Agent
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written Monday, February 20 2006 12:58
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That would be the Excel viewer, then. -------------------- "I can't read this thread with that image. But then, that's not a complaint." -Scorpius Geneforge 4 stuff. Also, everything I know about Avernum | Avernum 2 | Avernum 3 | Avernum 4 Posts: 1104 | Registered: Monday, March 10 2003 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
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written Monday, February 20 2006 19:29
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quote: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. -------------------- "You're drinking liquor because you're thirsty? How nasty is your freaking water?" —Lazarus Spiderweb Chat Room Avernum RP • Summaries • OoC • Roster Shadow Vale - My site, home of the Spiderweb Chat Database, BoA Scenario Database, & the A1 Quest List, among other things. Posts: 1556 | Registered: Sunday, November 20 2005 08:00 |