Some Notes on Nova Trap Damage

[Attika]

Has anyone previously noted the different damage Nova traps do depending on the tile you open them from?

These are the recorded damages from ten Nova traps in Caves or Hell (level is noted) in Single Player Diablo.

The following methodology was used: create a Single Player Rogue and try to get her to Caves as quickly as possible. In Caves, clear each level in its entirely, opening all chests EXCEPT trapped ones. When all foes are gone, gear up with + life items, drink reds (or heal yourself) to max life, position your figure next to the chest, open the character stats screen (“c” key) and then save the game. Then set off the trap. Record the amount of damage you take. Then reload the game, reposition the character, and open the trapped chest again. Record and repeat until all eight tiles adjacent to the chest have been tested. (The character doing the testing should have no resists and no -dfe items readied.)

For reporting the data I’m using DrDisaster’s (TeleFlash) notation for chest and tile positions:

.......1
....2....3
.4....X....5
....6....7
........8

where chest is in the tile marked “x” and the tiles marked 2, 3, 6, and 7 are directly adjacent a face of the chest (so exactly one tile away from the center of the chest tile) while the tiles marked 1, 4, 5, and 8 are diagonally adjacent to the chest (i.e. are the tiles next to a “corner” of the chest). I believe that these later tiles are considered to be slightly “farther” away from the center of the chest tile, about 1 x (square root of two) = approx. 1.41

Since the damage radiates from the chest -- up to 92 bolts originating from the center of the chest’s tile! -- the further away you stand from that center tile, the less damage you will take as the bolts spread out in different directions and begin to separate.

Anyway, here are ten observed Nova chest damages:

Level Nine:
.......31
....83....83
.31....X....31
....83....83
........31

.........9
....42...42
..17...X....17
....42...42
.........17

Level Ten:
.........57
..104....104
66......X......66
..104....104
.........66


........34
..103...103
43....X......43
..103...103
........43

Level Eleven:
........11
....23.....23
14.....X......14
....23......23
.........14

.........8
....17...17
..8.....X......8
....17....17
.........8

........20
....33.....33
.20....X......20
....33.....33
........20


Level Thirteen:
........20
....42....42
.20....X.....20
....42....42
........20


Level Fourteen:
.........42
..112....112
42......X......42
..112....112
.........42

Level Fifteen:
.........8
....46....46
16.....X.....16
....46.....46
.........16


Interpreting the data:

Right off the bat, you can see that tiles adjacent to the chest take MUCH more damage than tiles that are diagonal (catty-corner?) to the chest.

Also, in a number of the trials -- and for unknown reasons -- opening the chest from the tile to the Northwest of (the tile directly above) the chest gives the LEAST damage of all. No idea why -- very odd.

There doesn’t seem to be any mathematical proportion between the
“diagonal” tile damage and the “adjacent” tile damage. The adjacent tiles took from 1.6 to 2.76 times the damage of diagonal tiles. So there wasn’t a difference of exactly 1.41 damage comparing “adjacents” to “diagonals”.

Finally, Jarulf’s Guide states that the deeper in the dungeon you go, the more potential damage you can take (damage formula = Itt(3, Rnd[3]) + dlvl/2 per bolt). As you see results vary widely and you can take potentially LETHAL damage in VERY early Cave levels (at least, for an IM Warrior). TWO chests in Caves Level Ten did more than 102 points damage! Damage of that magnitude wasn’t seen again until Dlevel Fourteen!

Conclusion: if you’re worried about Nova damage and want to take the least damage possible from a possible Nova trap, open it from the tile Northwest of the chest (directly above the chest).

Attika

[Jarulf]

I don't recall really where within a time spells originate. I think for a player casting it is close to the edge in the direction you face, but that can be a bad memory. From you numbers, it seems it should be in the center though in this case of Nova. Also, most spells or effects that travel, will only ever hit a taile once. So if it is so slow that it stays in the same tile multiple frames, it will still only make one hit (attempt). Traveling non lineary (that is in some way diagonally) through tiles can thus have strange effects. The missile will travell in steps (and each tile is a few thousand sub coordinates, check guide for exact values) and when it first hit a tile, it do a hit. Now, for your example, the Nova Bolts might simply travel at such a speed so that even though its "path" would go through a diagonal tile, it might actually never really end up within it, hence making the real ammounts of hits less in those and more in the others. Sdditionally (or if the above is not true due to travelling slow enough), many bolts may hit both a tile adjacent to a face and a diagonal one. The end effect might be that you actually see how many tiles hit each tile type, and of those, many hit both. Hmm, confusing? Tell me and I can try explain in more detail. Should be easy to write a small program to simulate it all and compare with your damage results.