Any change in damage computation between 4.2.0/4.2.1?

[epatton]

Hi, I am playing a dwarf fighter that is using the Beaked Axe 'Endil', with Str maxxed and Dex at 18/210; I was dealing out 2000+ points of damage a round vs. Undead, and now after upgrading to 4.2.1, all my dealt damage has plummeted by hundreds of points on every weapon. As far as I can tell, I'm not under any curses or other melee impairments, so I'm wondering what happened. Can anyone comment?

[Sky]

were you using the birth option where damage is dependant on dice size?

[epatton]

were you using the birth option where damage is dependant on dice size?

It appears I am, although I wasn't aware of it (forgot I had it turned on). There is no help associated with this birst option in the 4.2.1 in-game documentation, so can you explain the effect of it?

[epatton]

In any case, it doesn't make sense that the melee damage should change between Angband versions, regardless of the birth option settings.

[Sky]

uh, i don't know, but Nick said it was a work-in-progress.

[Nick]

In any case, it doesn't make sense that the melee damage should change between Angband versions, regardless of the birth option settings.

In this case, that option was put in at the last minute to 4.2.0, because I wanted to be able to try and balance it for future 4.2.x versions. Turns out quite a bit of balancing was needed

[epatton]

In this case, that option was put in at the last minute to 4.2.0, because I wanted to be able to try and balance it for future 4.2.x versions. Turns out quite a bit of balancing was needed

So melee fighters were too strong pre-4.2.0? Can you explain the birth option in more detail?

[Nick]

So melee fighters were too strong pre-4.2.0? Can you explain the birth option in more detail?

The basic difference is that instead of damage being dice roll plus the to-dam value, the to-dam value is treated as a percentage of the dice roll and added. Because in the standard model slays and brands only act on the dice, this means that they also need rebalancing in the percentage-damage model. So in 4.2.0 with the percentage damage option on, big weapons with slays were doing ridiculous amounts of damage. It's better in 4.2.1, but I'm not confident that it's right yet.