wjb@burl.UUCP (Neutron Dog) (11/09/84)
You feel more knowledgeable--More-- As many have pointed out, there was an error in the assumptions of my previous article, rendering the overwhelming majority of the article invalid. I was right about interpreting charts like the one below: when it says XdY, it means X throws of a Y-sided die. I was *wrong*, however, when I said that +X,+Y (referring to the enchantment on a weapon) enhanced the number of throws and the number of sides of the die, respectively. I have now been informed that when you swing at a monster, the machine rolls you a random number. It adds the +X (and also some other things) to your random number and compares it to the armor count of the monster to determine whether youy hit. So the +X increases the odds that you hit, not the number of sides on the die. Then, if you hit, it rolls the dice dictated by your weapon and adds +Y (among other things) to that. So +Y directly increases the damage. *BUT* I am not willing to admit that a two-handed sword is always the weapon to enchant! (hard head and soft behind, as my mom always said) Empirically, this ought to be obvious. Who would use a +0 two-handed sword when he had a +5,+19 bastard sword in his pack? Obviously, a +0 two-handed sword is better than a +0 rock, but where do you draw the line? That is the question I shall attempt to answer. This may or may not be relevant to all of you, but in Super-rogue 9.0, you always start the game as a different charcter, with some random kind of weapon, with some random enchantment. Also, there are magic pools which (sometimes) will enchant the weapon when you dip it in the pool. Not only that, but sometimes you just get disgusted with waiting for your luck to turn, and would like to know whether to use those enchant weapon scrolls in your pack. The chart below compares the different weapons and how big the +Y in the +X,+Y enchantment notation has to get before the expected damage from your weapon equals or exceeds the expected damage of a +0 two-handed sword. Personally, I find the 2H's rare indeed, and I think that, once I have accumulated a weapon/scroll combination equal to a 2H, I'd best remember that a weapon in hand is worth two at a lower level. Weapon Damage_dice Expected_Damage +Y_required ------ ----------- --------------- ----------- two-handed sword 3d6 10.5 0 bastard sword 2d7 8.0 3 trident 3d4 7.5 3 halbred 2d6 7.0 4 pike 1d12 6.5 4 spetum 2d5 6.0 5 bardiche 3d3 6.0 5 long sword 1d10 5.5 5 mace 2d4 5.0 6 spear 1d8 4.5 6 dagger 1d6 3.5 7 rock 1d2 1.5 9 crossbow bolt 1d2 1.5 9 short bow 1d1 1.0 10 arrow 1d1 1.0 10 dart 1d1 1.0 10 sling 0d0 0.0 11 Hopes this helps somebody. -- --Neutron Dog (what's worse than wielding a cursed sling?)
douglis@ucbvax.ARPA (Fred Douglis) (11/09/84)
Unfortunately, the chart in the message to which I'm replying (which I
omit for brevity) only considers the expected damage ONCE YOU HIT! If
a character starts with a +2,+2 mace, for example, a +0,+0 two-handed
sword will do more damage on the average but will be less likely to
hit. Anyone care to take some of the more common weapons and do a
chart giving expected damage given certain plusses to hit & for damage,
compared to a +0,+0 THS?
--
Fred Douglis
ucbvax!douglis douglis@ucbrenoir.arpa