02-08-2005, 08:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-09-2005, 04:24 AM by Skandranon.)
All right. I just completed a small test of damage equipment. I only ran 16 shots with each spell, so it's obviously too small a sample size to draw firm conclusions from, but it provides a good preliminary look.
Rylea happened to have a couple of pieces of equipment to check this with. The first was a High Councillor's Sash of Fiery Wrath (+22 fire spell damage). The other was a pair of Fire Striders (Fire spells get up to 22 more damage). This allowed me to check for a difference between the +damage and up to damage effects.
I used Fireblast (rank 1) and Fireblast (rank 7), to check if the bonus applied consistently across instant-cast spells. Then I used Fireball (rank 1) with a 1.5s casting time, and Fireball (rank 11) with a 3.5s casting time, to see how casting time affected the bonus. I had Improved Fireball, but Blizzard claims that it doesn't affect the bonus. Someone without that talent testing could help compare results.
Testing methodology:
All tests were conducted on the small trogg island in Loch Modan, because it has a buggy and extremely quick spawn rate that let me finish quickly.
I put on the High Councillor's Sash (+22) and proceeded to test Fireblast (rank 1) and Fireblast (rank 7), 16 casts each. Then I switched to the Fire Striders and did the same, and then I did another 16 casts with each spell with no +damage equipment at all. The whole thing was repeated for Fireball (rank 1) and Fireball (rank 11).
Results:
Average damage for Fireblast (rank 1):
With High Councillor's Sash: 36.12
With Fire Striders: 37.80
With no damage enhancers: 31.75
Expected average from a listed damage of 28-36: 32
I can attribute the difference between the Sash and the Striders to a small sample size. If the Striders varied their amount, one would expect the bonus to be less, not slightly more. Both results correspond roughly to 20-25% of the bonus being applied.
Average damage for Fireblast (rank 7):
With Sash: 509.3
With Striders: 509.6
Without either: 482.6
Expected average from 459-540: 499.5
This is more interesting. A run of low numbers in the control trials is probably to blame for what almost looks like a 27 point bonus. Comparing the two results to the expected average is probably better, but still accounts for almost double the bonus applied to the lower-rank spell. Casting time doesn't seem like the only factor here.
Average damage for Fireball (rank 1):
With Sash: 24.0
With Striders: 23.9
Without either: 20.7
Expected (16-26): 21
A little under four points of added damage. Less than Fireblast, even though Fireblast is instant and this is 1.5s. This possibly might be being considered as 1.0s due to my Improved Fireball - but maybe not.
Average damage for Fireball (rank 11):
With Sash: 689.1
With Striders: 683.5
Without either: 670.8
Expected (578-736): 657
I'm really not sure how to explain these results. Furthermore, I got a strange result out of my Striders tests: a listed result of 759, which is +23 over the theoretical maximum damage of the spell base. It might be that the bonus is being adjusted to a base of 3.0s, and that Fireball's 3.5s casting time is in fact increasing the listed bonus.
Anyway, I will conduct more tests in the future, with Scorch as well as with both enhancers together to study their interaction. But for now, this is what I've got.
Rylea happened to have a couple of pieces of equipment to check this with. The first was a High Councillor's Sash of Fiery Wrath (+22 fire spell damage). The other was a pair of Fire Striders (Fire spells get up to 22 more damage). This allowed me to check for a difference between the +damage and up to damage effects.
I used Fireblast (rank 1) and Fireblast (rank 7), to check if the bonus applied consistently across instant-cast spells. Then I used Fireball (rank 1) with a 1.5s casting time, and Fireball (rank 11) with a 3.5s casting time, to see how casting time affected the bonus. I had Improved Fireball, but Blizzard claims that it doesn't affect the bonus. Someone without that talent testing could help compare results.
Testing methodology:
All tests were conducted on the small trogg island in Loch Modan, because it has a buggy and extremely quick spawn rate that let me finish quickly.
I put on the High Councillor's Sash (+22) and proceeded to test Fireblast (rank 1) and Fireblast (rank 7), 16 casts each. Then I switched to the Fire Striders and did the same, and then I did another 16 casts with each spell with no +damage equipment at all. The whole thing was repeated for Fireball (rank 1) and Fireball (rank 11).
Results:
Average damage for Fireblast (rank 1):
With High Councillor's Sash: 36.12
With Fire Striders: 37.80
With no damage enhancers: 31.75
Expected average from a listed damage of 28-36: 32
I can attribute the difference between the Sash and the Striders to a small sample size. If the Striders varied their amount, one would expect the bonus to be less, not slightly more. Both results correspond roughly to 20-25% of the bonus being applied.
Average damage for Fireblast (rank 7):
With Sash: 509.3
With Striders: 509.6
Without either: 482.6
Expected average from 459-540: 499.5
This is more interesting. A run of low numbers in the control trials is probably to blame for what almost looks like a 27 point bonus. Comparing the two results to the expected average is probably better, but still accounts for almost double the bonus applied to the lower-rank spell. Casting time doesn't seem like the only factor here.
Average damage for Fireball (rank 1):
With Sash: 24.0
With Striders: 23.9
Without either: 20.7
Expected (16-26): 21
A little under four points of added damage. Less than Fireblast, even though Fireblast is instant and this is 1.5s. This possibly might be being considered as 1.0s due to my Improved Fireball - but maybe not.
Average damage for Fireball (rank 11):
With Sash: 689.1
With Striders: 683.5
Without either: 670.8
Expected (578-736): 657
I'm really not sure how to explain these results. Furthermore, I got a strange result out of my Striders tests: a listed result of 759, which is +23 over the theoretical maximum damage of the spell base. It might be that the bonus is being adjusted to a base of 3.0s, and that Fireball's 3.5s casting time is in fact increasing the listed bonus.
Anyway, I will conduct more tests in the future, with Scorch as well as with both enhancers together to study their interaction. But for now, this is what I've got.