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Jim · 10-14-2002, 06:55 AM

I've set out with the task of determining what the highest possible amount of damage that can be dished out in a single hit is.

The contenders:

Level 40 Kensai, level 23 kensai/level 29 thief (dual classed), level 21 assassin/level 30 fighter.

The bits that matter:

All had Grandmastery in Quarter Staves, ** in 2-Handed weapon style

25 STR (possible)

The level 40 kensai was obviously going to get owned since the thief characters can use the backstab ability, but it was interesting to see what the higheset amount of damage possible was using a single melee strike.
The level 40 kensai had a total of +13 to his damage rolls through the kensai kit abilities.
The level 23 kensai had +8 to damage from the kensai kit, and the dual classed assassin was relying on raw x7 backstabbing power.
The thieves did however have a further bonus since they could use the gauntlets of extra. spec. (through use any item) to get a +2 damage bonus.
As for the weapon, I used one that could dish out the most damage on a single hit so I worked that out to be the Staff of the Ram +6.

The results? Well here's the kensai's ultimate raw power (BTW I've got nothing against Amkethrans' good barkeep Zakee Rafeha, he just looked so tempting standing there and was unarmed to maximise damage

):

110 damage!! That's 55 on a regular hit

.

And here's what happens when you give a level 23 kensai some damage increasing gauntlets and a x 5 backstab ability. Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to see a grandmastery KAI critical quintuple backstab with 25STR and the staff of the Ram +6:

That's a lot, but heres where it gets interesting:

Despite lacking all the kensais powerful combat bonuses, nothing can touch a x7 backstab! 462 damage is insane

.

After doing some other investigations, it became apparent that a backstab doesn't deal out as much damage as it could. The kensai/thief could hit for a maximum of 52 damage (using his KAI ability on an unarmed opponent), so common sense dictates that a x5 backstab would give a maximum of 262 damage on a backstab which is a 520 critical, so where has this potential 112 points of damage gone?

After ages of messing around it became apparent that the weapon proficiencies were definately taken into consideration, as were the kensai abilities. What's causing the problem here is the STR damage. I set the strength for this kensai/Thief to 10 (i.e. no bonuses, no penalties) and did my grandmastery kai backstab. 380 damage. That's;
22 for the staff
2 from the gauntlets
6 from the weapon proficiencies
8 from the kensai bonuses

=38 damage. Multiplying this by 5 is 190, doubled for the critical is 380 which is spot on correct, so the error must lie within the STR value.

After many more ages of testing, it is now clear that the strength bonus is received on a backstab, but in a different way to the rest of the damage. The damage for the attack is rolled without considering STR. This value is then multiplied by 5 and then the STR bonus is added on (so 14 damage is added to the total damage roll for the backstab). For example, my kensai/thief has 25 STR. The damage roll for a single hit without considering STR is as above which is 38. Multiple this by 5 gives 190, Add the 14 damage to make 204 and finally double it to make the 408 recieved in the second image.

But hang on a minute.....our good old barkeeper is UNARMED, so where's our +4 damage bonus!!?? Wait, no, it can't be true..NOOOOOOOOOOO, the staff of the ram+6 does NOT do 1D4 piercing like its description. Quickly, I must load IEEP, ok lets see, enchantment to hit 6, damage 1D6+12, special abilities; colour effects and wing buffet.....noooo there is absolutely no 1D4 piercing with this weapon. This is an outrage! I thought it was a bit odd to display piercing and crushing damage in the same value. I even tested this by importing the staff into a very early game and gave it to Imoen, and her damage range was 13-18, not 14-22 like it should have been!

I've now changed it to match its description. The 1D4 piercing is now seperate damage that is displayed immediately below the crushing damage (like the Flail of Ages). You can get the improved staff of the ram +6 from here. Simply download it to your override folder.

[ 10-14-2002, 07:07 AM: Message edited by: Jim ]

10-14-2002, 06:55 AM	#1
Jim Quintesson Join Date: May 1, 2001 Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England Age: 45 Posts: 1,088	I've set out with the task of determining what the highest possible amount of damage that can be dished out in a single hit is. The contenders: Level 40 Kensai, level 23 kensai/level 29 thief (dual classed), level 21 assassin/level 30 fighter. The bits that matter: All had Grandmastery in Quarter Staves, ** in 2-Handed weapon style 25 STR (possible) The level 40 kensai was obviously going to get owned since the thief characters can use the backstab ability, but it was interesting to see what the higheset amount of damage possible was using a single melee strike. The level 40 kensai had a total of +13 to his damage rolls through the kensai kit abilities. The level 23 kensai had +8 to damage from the kensai kit, and the dual classed assassin was relying on raw x7 backstabbing power. The thieves did however have a further bonus since they could use the gauntlets of extra. spec. (through use any item) to get a +2 damage bonus. As for the weapon, I used one that could dish out the most damage on a single hit so I worked that out to be the Staff of the Ram +6. The results? Well here's the kensai's ultimate raw power (BTW I've got nothing against Amkethrans' good barkeep Zakee Rafeha, he just looked so tempting standing there and was unarmed to maximise damage ): 110 damage!! That's 55 on a regular hit . And here's what happens when you give a level 23 kensai some damage increasing gauntlets and a x 5 backstab ability. Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to see a grandmastery KAI critical quintuple backstab with 25STR and the staff of the Ram +6: That's a lot, but heres where it gets interesting: Despite lacking all the kensais powerful combat bonuses, nothing can touch a x7 backstab! 462 damage is insane . After doing some other investigations, it became apparent that a backstab doesn't deal out as much damage as it could. The kensai/thief could hit for a maximum of 52 damage (using his KAI ability on an unarmed opponent), so common sense dictates that a x5 backstab would give a maximum of 262 damage on a backstab which is a 520 critical, so where has this potential 112 points of damage gone? After ages of messing around it became apparent that the weapon proficiencies were definately taken into consideration, as were the kensai abilities. What's causing the problem here is the STR damage. I set the strength for this kensai/Thief to 10 (i.e. no bonuses, no penalties) and did my grandmastery kai backstab. 380 damage. That's; 22 for the staff 2 from the gauntlets 6 from the weapon proficiencies 8 from the kensai bonuses =38 damage. Multiplying this by 5 is 190, doubled for the critical is 380 which is spot on correct, so the error must lie within the STR value. After many more ages of testing, it is now clear that the strength bonus is received on a backstab, but in a different way to the rest of the damage. The damage for the attack is rolled without considering STR. This value is then multiplied by 5 and then the STR bonus is added on (so 14 damage is added to the total damage roll for the backstab). For example, my kensai/thief has 25 STR. The damage roll for a single hit without considering STR is as above which is 38. Multiple this by 5 gives 190, Add the 14 damage to make 204 and finally double it to make the 408 recieved in the second image. But hang on a minute.....our good old barkeeper is UNARMED, so where's our +4 damage bonus!!?? Wait, no, it can't be true..NOOOOOOOOOOO, the staff of the ram+6 does NOT do 1D4 piercing like its description. Quickly, I must load IEEP, ok lets see, enchantment to hit 6, damage 1D6+12, special abilities; colour effects and wing buffet.....noooo there is absolutely no 1D4 piercing with this weapon. This is an outrage! I thought it was a bit odd to display piercing and crushing damage in the same value. I even tested this by importing the staff into a very early game and gave it to Imoen, and her damage range was 13-18, not 14-22 like it should have been! I've now changed it to match its description. The 1D4 piercing is now seperate damage that is displayed immediately below the crushing damage (like the Flail of Ages). You can get the improved staff of the ram +6 from here. Simply download it to your override folder. [ 10-14-2002, 07:07 AM: Message edited by: Jim ]