Swordsman Archive
Thread: Test results: Damage & time factors on Swordsman specials
The goal of this testing was to establish what damage and time factors apply to Swordsman specials.
The first factor to look at is 'standard damage mod', a multiplier that increases the damage of all hits, autoattack and special alike. Is it really 1.86? I used a 98 max-damage heavy axe on autoattack, and found that it landed many hits for a maximum of 182-183 damage. 183 / 98 = 1.867... I took this as confirmation of the oft-reported 1.86 factor.
With the standard damage mod established, it was time to test the specials themselves with an eye to pinning down their damage multipliers. For this testing, I used the same heavy axe with max damage of 98. I used each special many times, recording the five highest hits. The calculated factors "calc xD" were obtained by averaging the test hits, then dividing out the standard damage mod, then dividing out the weapon max damage. The probable factors "probable xD" are what I conclude are actually being used by the combat engine for damage multipliers.
Next, the time factors. For this testing I used a broken 3.8s powerhammer, which let me bash away on an empty nest without doing any real damage. Each attack was spammed 100 times in a row... three times over. A powerup (mind cost + max damage) conveniently marked the 100th attack for each test.
I recorded the elapsed time in seconds for each run. The average of these, multiplied by 5 (because my two handed melee speed of +80 acted as a fivefold reduction on the base delay), divided by the weapon speed of 3.8s, then divided by 100 (100 hits), yielded the calculated factors "calc xT" in the list below. The probable factors "probable xT" are what I conclude are actually being used by the combat engine for time multipliers.
calc probable calc probable
attack D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D-avg xD xD T1 T2 T3 T-avg xT xTD/T
------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ ---------- ---- ---- ------ ------ ------ ----
area1 367 366 362 364 365 364.8 2.0013 2.0175s 175s 174s 174.67 2.2983 2.3 0.87
area2 549 551 548 549 551 549.6 3.0151 3.0183s 182s 183s 182.67 2.4036 2.4 1.25
area3 545 548 547 545 548 546.6 2.9987 3.0197s 198s 198s 197.67 2.6009 2.6 1.15
spin1365 365 364 364 365 364.6 2.0002 2.0137s 137s 137s 137.00 1.8026 1.8 1.11
spin2 549 551 549 551 547 549.4 3.0140 3.0175s 175s 175s 175.00 2.3026 2.3 1.30
sweep1 271 272 270275 273 272.2 1.4933 1.5129s 129s 130s 129.33 1.7017 1.7 0.88
sweep2 364 367 362 366 363 364.4 1.9991 2.0190s 190s 190s 190.00 2.52.5 0.80
hit1 366 367 367 363 365 365.6 2.0057 2.0114s 114s 114s 114.00 1.5 1.5 1.33
hit2 543 550 550 544 545 546.4 2.9976 3.0 171s 171s 171s 171.00 2.252.25 1.33
hit3 727 730 728 725 729 727.8 3.9928 4.0 247s 247s 247s 247.00 3.25 3.25 1.23
mindhit1 182 180 183 180 182 181.4 0.9952 1.0 175s 175s 175s 175.00 2.30262.3 0.43
mindhit2 366 367 361 362 367 364.6 2.0002 2.0 190s 190s 190s 190.00 2.5 2.5 0.80
headhit1 272 271 275 274 274 273.2 1.4988 1.5 122s 122s 122s 122.00 1.60531.6 0.94
headhit2 457 452 455 452 456 454.4 2.4929 2.5 175s 175s 175s 175.00 2.30262.3 1.09
headhit3 635 635 639 643 641 638.6 3.5034 3.5 190s 190s 190s 190.00 2.52.5 1.40
lunge1 180 180 181 180 181 180.4 0.9897 1.0 114s 114s 114s 114.00 1.51.5 0.67
lunge2 183 182 180 183 180 181.6 0.9963 1.0 114s 114s 114s 114.00 1.51.5 0.67
The short version:
attackxDxT D/T
------ ---- ----- -----
area1 2.02.3 0.87
area2 3.02.4 1.25
area3 3.02.6 1.15
spin1 2.01.8 1.11
spin2 3.02.3 1.30
sweep1 1.51.7 0.88
sweep2 2.02.5 0.80
hit1 2.01.5 1.33
hit2 3.02.25 1.33
hit3 4.03.25 1.23
mindhit1 1.02.3 0.43
mindhit2 2.02.5 0.80
headhit11.51.6 0.94
headhit22.52.3 1.09
headhit33.52.5 1.40
lunge11.01.5 0.67
lunge21.01.5 0.67
Seems odd to me that lunge1 and lunge2 have the same damage multiplier. Oh well, I don't have lunge2 anyway 
Hmm, I wonder why area2 is same damage but faster than area3 ?
And maybe spin2 is the one to use, I always thought that area3 was better.
Thx for the info, good testing.