A Few Questions/Observations From an Old Player

[Oramin]

Ok, just how much damage is a Staff of Holiness supposed to do?

The description doesn't say, so I probed a type of Lich (Master?) and it had 1488 HP. I used the Staff of Holiness once and then immediately probed it again and it had 1290 HP.

That's 198 HP of damage. My Google search brought up values of 1d120 (all integers between 1 and 120 inclusive) and 120 (a set amount of damage).

Now, I don't mind it causing a lot more damage than it is supposed to but I am wondering what's going on.

[myshkin]

Originally Posted by Oramin

Ok, just how much damage is a Staff of Holiness supposed to do?

The description doesn't say, so I probed a type of Lich (Master?) and it had 1488 HP. I used the Staff of Holiness once and then immediately probed it again and it had 1290 HP.

That's 198 HP of damage. My Google search brought up values of 1d120 (all integers between 1 and 120 inclusive) and 120 (a set amount of damage).

Now, I don't mind it causing a lot more damage than it is supposed to but I am wondering what's going on.

The base damage is indeed a flat 120 HP. However, you get an additional percent of damage for each level your device skill exceeds the level of the device. In this case, it looks as if your INT is between 18/210 and 18/219, if you are playing a clvl 50 gnome mage. That combination would amount to a 65 percent bonus, or 198 HP.

[Oramin]

That's kind of cool. Does it apply to all devices? For example, Staffs/Staves of Power, Wands of Drain Life, Wands of Annihilation, or Wands of Dragon's Flame?

[Derakon]

It should, yes. Mages who are not making use of devices, especially Wands of Annihilation, are significantly reducing their combat capabilities.

[Oramin]

Is there a way to determine the level of the device other than by reading the code? In other words, how do we determine the amount of bonus damage we get?

[Derakon]

I don't think that information is exposed anywhere in-game; you'll have to check the edit files. Look at edit/object.txt. For example:

N:396:Annihilation
G:-:d
I:65:27
W:60:0:10:3000
A:20:60 to 100
P:0:1d1:0:0:0
C:1+d2
F:IGNORE_ACID | IGNORE_ELEC | IGNORE_FIRE | IGNORE_COLD | EASY_KNOW
E:DRAIN_LIFE4

The important bit here is the first entry in the line that starts with "W:". That's the difficulty level of using the item; thus, Wands of Annihilation are level-60 wands. If your device skill was 110, say, then you'd get a 50% damage boost when using them.

The first entry on the G: line is the graphic used to display the item; useful when there's multiple items with the same name but different base types (e.g. Identify).

[Oramin]

Also, just to confirm, this bonus works with Artifacts and DSM as well?

[Derakon]

It applies any time you invoke an effect from an item, as near as I can tell.

[Oramin]

If I have both Light and Dark resistance along with a 100% saving throw, do I need Blindness resistance?

[debo]

Originally Posted by Oramin

If I have both Light and Dark resistance along with a 100% saving throw, do I need Blindness resistance?

I'm pretty sure 100% saving throw makes you immune to all status effects / bad things. (Not sure about disenchantment, but things like blindness, stunning, etc.)

But I might be wrong