The state of throwing skill and weaponry
Posted: Wednesday, 7th June 2017, 20:47
History of throwing skill and weaponry
So back in olden times, throwing weaponry used the old throwing weapon formulas which no one liked to try to understand, but with decent stats, throwing weapons did good damage quickly. And don't forget to enchant your ammo!
Moving up to .15's ranged weapon reform, throwing weapons used melee formulas. Bows/Crossbows/Slings used melee weapon damage formulas, while throwing used unarmed's mechanics: +1 base damage per skill level, starts at 10 aut delay, and gets 1 aut faster for each 5.4 skill. This means that javelins with a base damage of 10, got up to a base damage of 37 at 27 throwing. This is rightfully overpowered, assuming you have enough javelins to keep using them. It also meant that you could pick up large rocks on a troll or ogre, and throw them with 0 skill in only one turn's time. Accuracy sucked, but nothing got double turns against you, so it was safe to try. With 5-10 skill, they were definitely powerful, and could be thrown in less than one turn.
So in .17, throwing aptitudes got considerably nerfed to try to reign in the power level of throwing weapons. They were still as powerful as before, but it'd take a bit longer to get there. I named my .17 clan after this change: A farewell to throwing aptitudes. Due to the amazingness of this name, we won the tournament (I kid, I kid). Aptitudes changed were:
- Centaur, Halfling, and Kobold go from +3 to +1;
- Ogre, Spriggan, Tengu, High Elf, and Deep Elf go from +1 to 0;
- Hill Orc and Gargoyle go from 0 to -1.
Edit: the spoiler below contains the rest of the original post. It is spoilered as it is factually inaccurate - correction below (and in the replies which pointed it out in the first place).
Post spoiler: So it turns out that throwing still uses the unarmed combat formulas for damage (+1 base per skill) only; the delay formulas use actual weapon delay (-1 aut per 2 skill). This makes even lower damage weapons like stones, and especially decent things like javelins, worthwhile at high skill. If you're going to use throwing seriously I'd still say you want fairly high skill, but it can be pretty decent even at low levels of skill.
Apologies for not realizing it used a mix of unarmed/weapon formulas. If anything, it might be a bit too strong currently! *whistles innocently* Nothing to see here, move along.
So back in olden times, throwing weaponry used the old throwing weapon formulas which no one liked to try to understand, but with decent stats, throwing weapons did good damage quickly. And don't forget to enchant your ammo!
Moving up to .15's ranged weapon reform, throwing weapons used melee formulas. Bows/Crossbows/Slings used melee weapon damage formulas, while throwing used unarmed's mechanics: +1 base damage per skill level, starts at 10 aut delay, and gets 1 aut faster for each 5.4 skill. This means that javelins with a base damage of 10, got up to a base damage of 37 at 27 throwing. This is rightfully overpowered, assuming you have enough javelins to keep using them. It also meant that you could pick up large rocks on a troll or ogre, and throw them with 0 skill in only one turn's time. Accuracy sucked, but nothing got double turns against you, so it was safe to try. With 5-10 skill, they were definitely powerful, and could be thrown in less than one turn.
So in .17, throwing aptitudes got considerably nerfed to try to reign in the power level of throwing weapons. They were still as powerful as before, but it'd take a bit longer to get there. I named my .17 clan after this change: A farewell to throwing aptitudes. Due to the amazingness of this name, we won the tournament (I kid, I kid). Aptitudes changed were:
- Centaur, Halfling, and Kobold go from +3 to +1;
- Ogre, Spriggan, Tengu, High Elf, and Deep Elf go from +1 to 0;
- Hill Orc and Gargoyle go from 0 to -1.
Edit: the spoiler below contains the rest of the original post. It is spoilered as it is factually inaccurate - correction below (and in the replies which pointed it out in the first place).
Spoiler: show
Post spoiler: So it turns out that throwing still uses the unarmed combat formulas for damage (+1 base per skill) only; the delay formulas use actual weapon delay (-1 aut per 2 skill). This makes even lower damage weapons like stones, and especially decent things like javelins, worthwhile at high skill. If you're going to use throwing seriously I'd still say you want fairly high skill, but it can be pretty decent even at low levels of skill.
Apologies for not realizing it used a mix of unarmed/weapon formulas. If anything, it might be a bit too strong currently! *whistles innocently* Nothing to see here, move along.