Enhancements -- probing questions

Author	Topic: Enhancements -- probing questions
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Friday, April 8 2005 22:34 Profile Homepage #0 Some of the effects of enhancements are pretty obvious, particularly the low-level ones. Some aren't. Has anyone investigated any of the following? 1. What, specifically, are the effects of the less obviously named ones? - Which effects does "resist effects" resist, and to what degree does it resist them? - What in the world is the difference between a weapon that you've enhanced to be "stronger" (golden crystal) vs. to "do more damage" (spine)? How much of a bonus do those give compared with the elemental brand enhancements? - What does the "strikes faster" weapon enhancement do? If it affects Quick Action, I haven't been able to tell. - I'm only halfway through the game, so there are probably some other unclear ones I've left off. 2. For armor enchancements, are the effects cumulative if you equip 2 items with the same enhancement? This is true for the basic elemental resists, but what about regeneration, spiked armor, dodging, resist effects, etc? ...if the effects can be cumulative, this could potentially be a reason to hold onto certain enhancements and not use them right away even though you know you'll get more copies later. [ Friday, April 08, 2005 22:35: Message edited by: Slartucker ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Drakefyre Triad Mage Member # 7	written Saturday, April 9 2005 03:46 Profile Homepage #1 1) Resist effects refers to either all mental effects or all effects in general. It's a very powerful thing to have. 2) Spines hit with physical damage in another attack. I think that a golden crystal just strengthens your attacks. 3) Strikes faster is strange and unclear. 4) Having more than one item of spiked armor should attack the enemy more than once, I'd imagine. -------------------- "At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool." - Menander ==== Drakefyre's Demesne - Happy Happy Joy Joy Encyclopedia Ermariana - Trapped in the Closet ==== You can take my Mac when you pry my cold, dead fingers off the mouse! Posts: 9436 | Registered: Wednesday, September 19 2001 07:00
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Saturday, April 9 2005 15:35 Profile Homepage #2 All right, I did some poking around... both in the game and in looking through the GF3 data files. Unfortunately, the script files that provide such clear information on items, creatures, and attack types are almost useless for the enhancements, which must be handled separately. On armor: - As far as I can tell all effects -are- cumulative. - 5 of the enhancements add +5% to one resist stat -- bless adds to armor, "resist magic" adds to electric, and the elemental ones add to fire/ice/acid. - "Resist effects" adds +5% to hostile effect resistance, i.e., all 7 resist stats. - Spiked armor takes effect every time you are hit, and damages the attacker. The damage varies. With one piece of spiked armor it's usually around 50% of attack damage. With two pieces, I *think* the range of damage increases, but I'm not sure, and I don't yet have 3 of the enhancement. - "Bonus to-hit" presumably gives you a +5% bonus, but I haven't tested it. - I can't tell if "avoid blows" does anything at all. - As far as I can tell, "Regeneration" does NOTHING on armor. Is this a bug or have I missed something? On weapons: - "Hits faster" does nothing that I can see. - I think blessing increases chance to hit by 5%. - "Stronger" (golden crystal) increases base weapon damage by some factor. I suspect it adds an extra die to the base damage. This usually increases damage by less than the effects below, but the advantage is that it takes effect on every single hit, plus it also affects Quick Action hits. - The other 7 enhancements all trigger on successful hits, NOT including Quick Action hits. They will not trigger every time - I'm not sure what affects this. - Fire and ice brands and the spike will do extra damage (usually around 5-15) of the appropriate type. Spike is physical damage, so it doesn't get resisted, and is probably better. - "Regeneration" ONLY when on your weapon, not armor, will heal you for a small amount of damage (around 5-20). I haven't tested to see if the life drain doesn't work on undead. - Acid brand, cursing and slowing add the appropriate status effect at a relatively mild level. - These effects are all handled DIFFERENTLY from native weapon (or creature) attack abilities. (Thus the Stunning Blade, if given the slowing enhancement, can actually slow the same enemy three times in one attack (native ability and enhancement off first swing plus native ability off Quick Action).) -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Mav Warrior Member # 1412	written Tuesday, April 12 2005 12:27 Profile #3 Thanks for the research Slartucker! I was wondering exactly why the enhancements were phrases instead of percentages. :P I'll rummage through my modest gem stash and maybe turn my Shaped Blade into the Flaming Sword I loved so much from Avernum. :) Posts: 67 | Registered: Monday, July 1 2002 07:00