In the compendium i read that mindblast is intelligence based. But on another place i read, that the dmg mindblast deals is dependent on this formula: (highest stat-lowest stat)/2 Which formula is running on this server?
I also remember it being high/low stat that caused the damage. I remember this specifically because I would use Feeblemind on pure dexxers, because they were always certain to have 100/100/25. I can not however remember what era this was from... someone research I'm lazy =]
The formula in affect for the mind-blast spell is (highestStat - lowestStat) / 2 (-50% if resisted) The Compendium is brand new & a very large database, some information is subject to be incorrect. I'll get that information regarding the damage formula fixed. Thanks
It's highest to lowest stat but during the transition from beta to live MB didn't do anywhere near the damage it should to a dexxer, Yet during the test center phase Explo Ebolt pretty much dropped someone. Alot of work to do with spell damage and I'm sure MB is right up there.
That is correct. We are currently in the middle of a complete review of spell functionality in order to bring it in line with the proper era mechanics. When I created the compendium I used the default RunUO information. Once we apply an update to the server, you can expect the compendium to be updated to match.
Mindblast to me has always been slightly deceptive and intriguing in how the spell works. I understand the damage formula which is era accurate or close to it but the name of the spell and the description of how the spell works has never and doesn't match the damage formula. Mindblast Spell Description in UOR Compendium: "Mind Blast deals damage based on the INT value of the caster and target. The amount of damage dealt is dependent on the difference between the INT values of the two parties. Should the caster have less INT than the target, the caster will receive the damage. Mind Blast is not affected by Magic Reflection, as the person with the lowest INT value takes the damage regardless of who the caster/target is." It just seems odd that if I have really high intelligence, implying not balanced stats, that I am crushed by a spell that at least according to the definition of how it works is based off of intelligence values. Rather the damage received is based off of a general formula involving any stat and magic resist (which makes sense for resist to be involved), but still seems incorrect that intelligence is not a stat that is always factored into the formula. If this is the wrong thread to post this I am sorry and I would welcome direction to the correct thread as well. Also in the spell books the description that pops up is an AOS type description as describing mindblast dealing cold damage to the target.
Any pre-Renaissance version of Stratics I dig up on Archive.org explains the spell like this : I can not remember this single spell being so influential. Especially for fighters, it's an art to balance your stats right just because of this spell. There's gotta be a better solution. I mean there's more GM Mages on this Shard than GM Tactics ! GM Tactics come for free (couple of bandies ...) and GM Mages costs you 50k+ ... The way I get it, Mindblast is supposed to be a Mage vs. Mage spell. Why not say anyone below 35 INT is too stupid to be affected by Mindblast ?
The compendium is wrong in this case. In fact, there are many inaccuracies in the compendium (I speak especially with regards to the Bestiary). Chris/Ezekiel, what is the best way for us to help crowdsource the updating of the Compendium?
I don't agree with someone being of too low intelligence not to be affected by the spell. The mindblast spell seems like a misnomer because it should be more like "unbalancedstatblast" or something because if your strength and dexterity are your highest and lowest stats then obviously it has nothing to intelligence. I am not making the case for warriors because intelligence for them is always or at least the majority of the time the lowest stat, which makes them a warrior since they rely on strength and dexterity to swing their weapon the fastest and hit the hardest. While obviously a mage relies on intelligence to have the largest amount of mana available to cast spells and the potency of those spells because magery is their weapon. I am just thinking that maybe mindblast is one of the things that went wrong in the UOR era and may need to be adjusted.
Well fighters are more dependent on maxing out two stats than mages because they need both DEX and STR for maximum damage over time. Plus, their heals take quite long so they must be able to take some beating before they drop. With the current way mindblast works, your forced to waste stat points on useless INT. If you look at other discussions here and on IRC, you will find mindblast is talked about alot. One single spell shouldn't impact the game so much. Let's try to take this spell through the UO:R check : 1) Is it 100% era accurate ? - Yet to be proven. I didn't find any description of that spell that indicated such an effect on stratics 2) Is it "history perfected" ? - Not if you ask me. Mages were already dominant in UO and this spell has given them another mighty and cheap spell. I would like to see that spell moved into a Mage vs. Mage direction. That's contemporary Stratics descriptions hint. Make it a comparison of the % of mana a char has left. Fights will usually have 100% mana left but in the battle if one mage casts expensive spells, he becomes a target for mindblast!
It is indeed era accurate (though what era, I'm not sure... I think it was mid-late UOR), at least in principle. I don't remember the exact formula on OSI shards, but it was indeed related to (maxstat - minstat)/2. Your idea is extremely interesting and would add a very new dimension to battles. My .02, I think the number of things "perfected" here should stay as small as possible, and be extremely cautious related things that make people die. For that reason, I don't really like the idea for any shard that purports in any way to cater to a specific era.
I remember the overnight change when renaissance went live on OSI; before the spell was useless, as although described as "the one with the highest int wins", barely did any damage. After golive, this replaced ebolt/explo as the most used spell as it did more damage faster for less mana... I am not a big fan of the mechanics of this spell as I think it's unbalanced and just forces anyone interested in pvping into building their char around that spell. but what we do have is era accurate as far as I can remember.
You're right. I didn't look recent enough. They mention Mindblast in a Patch for Publish 5 on July 14, 2000: http://www.uoguide.com/Publish_5 Yet the earliest version of stratics where I can find the current Mindblast effects is from 2002 but that could be due to lazy Stratics admins. Can't find the thread where Chris mentioned which publishes are supposed to be part of UO:R ...
It's (high stat-low stat) /2 ; not to exceed 40 damage Resist and eval both play a part in this too, but if the defender has the same resist as the caster's eval then the above is the damage you will see. If for instance the caster has lower or no eval vs defenders resist you will see much lower damage than that formula. And of course it can be -resisted- for half damage. For what it's worth the admins have been for some time considering changes to the spell, I think mainly to make it not so crippling for pvm characters to be hit by it. I know one idea that I liked the sound of was lowering the max damage until it fit better (like 35, or 33). It's tough to change this spell because of how much it adds to pvp. It opened the door for templates that weren't all 100/100/25. Nowadays no pvper runs that stat set successfully. You see all sorts of degrees of stats now, and different players choose different highest stats for their playstyle. Now there's a dance that casters do outside just chain-casting energy bolt. For instance you clumsy and weaken another mage, (in this case you are assuming int is his highest stat, which may not be true). If you were correct in your assumption you've lowered his total health and you've prepped him for mindblasts that do 11 damage more than they would have previously. But what if he drinks a blue pot and raises his dex by 20 and you don't catch it/ suspect it? What if he had already done it beforehand? You may end up casting a combo that does a lot less damage than you had planned. There's a lot of scenarios I could come up with here to explain how the mindblast mechanics add depth to pvp. My main point is just that it raises the skill cap which is always a good thing. In pvp it is often a spell that will be your most mana efficient damage if applied correctly. But not always - and that's why it's good. It rewards people for figuring out their opponents stats and using it to their advantage, or for keeping your own stats secret. Now changing the spell so that it isn't so crippling when a murderer is casting it on a bard - that's another matter altogether, and one I don't know the answer to. I know it's on Chris's mind though. I'm sure he's just waiting until he figures out the best way to handle it.
I don't disagree with anything in the above post. But boy is it powerful. Less mana and faster casting than energy bolt. As it stands, how often does it flat-out do more damage than energy bolt? I'd have to guess this is the case in the majority of matchups. So it is pretty much a dominant strategy over energy bolt, in the majority of situations. My .02... if you truly want variety, you'll want the damage lowered to where it becomes an even proposition with energy bolt. That is, where you see it cast equally as often. That by definition would be the point of most variance and novelty. My hunch is that point is somewhere < 40. Maybe 35, maybe 38, heck maybe 31. But worth playing around with.
Most pvpers just cast EB in pvp. It's 'safer' since you know the damage range will be around 30. In a longer fight its probably always better to debuff someone for max mindblast damage. I think the idea behind a 33 max damage mindblast is it's going to atleast be a 4 spell kill on a 100/100/25 person (ie all pvm types.) It sounds great except I'm positive all pvpers would just run 100/100/25 after that since they know that mindblast damage will never be more or less than 33 damage against them. It's right about in line with energy bolt at that point. After that people may still cast mindblast quite a bit but it won't have the same buffing/debuffing dance that came along with it before. It would lessen the variety in pvp templates and make some spells less useful. If this deserves fixing/balancing, and I'm not saying it does (I play pvm guys too and I survive just fine), another possible fix would be to change the formula to something more like (High stat - Low stat) / 2.2 Max 40 That would make the math more complicated which would be annoying for people but it would make the spell a little less forgiving and damaging overall. Current system damage: 100/100/25 stats - 37 damage 80/45/100 stats - 27 damage if it was 2.2 instead of 2: 100/100/25 stats - 34 damage 80/45/100 stats - 25 damage Then if someone debuffed those people they could get more damage (or if you were getting cast on and buffed yourself appropriately you could take less damage) It's just a thought, and I'm sure it would take some consideration. I suppose I'm only in favor of changes that don't encourage pvpers to run 100/100/25 stats. So I'd rather err on the side of caution and change nothing. But if some change was made, it would hopefully be done after research and testing.
My personal thought is that this doesn't need touched at all. If someone chooses to not balance their stats, they may pay for it with mindblast. Personally I'll stand there and laugh away if anybody tries mindblasting myself. Mindblast helps to make sure that everyone isn't rolling the cookie cutter 100/100/25. ALL HAIL MINDBLAST.
Idk man I'm on the fence with this one. Two days ago I jumped on test center to test different stat options for defending against MB and I find it overpowered, honestly. Let me put it this way, I had 90 str / 94 int / 41 dex. Now, as a pure Mage I have absolutely no need for 41 dex, and yet at that setup I was taking 27 dmg mindblasts. However, with a weaken and clumsy mindblast was doing 33 damage and I died in 3 mindblasts. For the cost of 45 mana on a 5 circle spell I died. That's a bit ridiculous if you ask me. Even at 90/90/45 it's hardly any different and those are stats you would run on a tank Mage, but since I don't have a weapon to rely on, and I rely purely on spells to kill, I don't want 90 int. I'm sorry, but coming from a veteran pvper who's been I'm the game for quite a while that's a bit overpowered. Sure you can chug a dex pot, but what if it's in a duel? Or a tournament? And I may be the only one, but I clumsy the shit out of people to get that dex down against mages for mindblast.
