Can anyone help me make sense of this please?

[Trisscar]

This is not an invitation to a debate! This is a request for assistance!

So we were having an argument about whether swapping gear sets was worth it when someone supplied this equation with no explanation or clarification:

At 99, WSC = floor(floor((a x a%) + (b x b%)) x 0.85)

I have to admit I haven't seen anything like it before, so I have no idea what it is I'm looking at. Naturally I ask for such things like "What does floor supposed to mean" and "What variable does 'a' and 'b' stand for?" No explanation or clarification seems to be forth coming.

Also where would I find such information such as Akvan's (and other LGNM information) VIT/DEF which is used to calculate WS damage?

[Dragonlord]

This equation adds points to your base damage while performing a weapon skill. I'll use the new meritable WS as example because at 5/5 they are 100% modded by their respective stats.

So let's look at tachi: shoha. It has WSC of 100% str. When a WS is calculated, it adds WSC, weapon damage, and fSTR together to get your WS base damage.

With shoha, WSC = str*1, or str*100%. So every point of str added increase your WS base damage by 1, due to WSC. or str*.85 due to alpha correction.

Is swapping gear worth it? ALWAYS. Don't bother arguing otherwise.

[Trisscar]

This equation adds points to your base damage while performing a weapon skill. I'll use the new meritable WS as example because at 5/5 they are 100% modded by their respective stats.

So let's look at tachi: shoha. It has WSC of 100% str. When a WS is calculated, it adds WSC, weapon damage, and fSTR together to get your WS base damage.

Yeah, but fSTR is the difference between your STR and your target's VIT, right? Where do I get the information about specific mobs like Akvan, Voidwrought, Necronomicon and the other LWNM?

With shoha, WSC = str*1, or str*100%. So every point of str added increase your WS base damage by 1, due to WSC. or str*.85 due to alpha correction.

I see. But I still don't understand what 'floor' is supposed to mean. What does 'floor' mean in the equation? What do I do with it?

Is swapping gear worth it? ALWAYS. Don't bother arguing otherwise.

Not going to, because it's not the point of this thread.

[Dragonlord]

Floor just means the the integer closest to and less than the number displayed. So, floor(3.98)=3. It's basically just a different way to round a number off.

fSTR is a seperate function from WSC. It is equal to [(your str)-(target's vit +4)]/4.

As for where you can find mob's stats, there's not a comprehensive list that i know of. I do know the community has figured out at least greater colibri and kirin's stats. But you'll have to look around to find it in threads and such.

Edit: corrected formula (thanks Arcon)

[Trisscar]

Floor just means the the integer closest to and less than the number displayed. So, floor(3.98)=3. It's basically just a different way to round a number off.

I see, where is this derived from?

fSTR is a seperate function from WSC. It is equal to [(your str)-(target's vit)]/4.

As for where you can find mob's stats, there's not a comprehensive list that i know of. I do know the community has figured out at least greater colibri and kirin's stats. But you'll have to look around to find it in threads and such.

I figured it was something like that. Thanks for sharing what you did know.

[Arcon]

fSTR is a seperate function from WSC. It is equal to [(your str)-(target's vit)]/4.

It's (STR - VIT + 4)/4, and this is only an approximation for high values of fSTR. No exact fSTR formula has been figured out, but there's an approximation table here.[/QUOTE]

I see, where is this derived from?

Do you mean how people figured that out? Lots and lots of testing over several years. And they still didn't figure it out fully. On many formulas people never managed to reach a consensus and are still arguing over it, but those are mostly minor deviations. The equations work to roughly estimate the damage you'll be doing. If you're interested in actual data you should look around the Mathy Parts forum on BG, they have lots of information there, although WSC and fSTR in particular are very old research topics and they may not have any information about those particular testing phases there, as it's also spread out over other forums (Alla and KI for example).

[Byrth]

I wrote this a while ago:
http://wiki.bluegartr.com/bg/Byrth%27s_WS_Damage_Guide

If something is blue, like floor, it is a link to an explanation of what it is.

[Alhanelem]

I see. But I still don't understand what 'floor' is supposed to mean. What does 'floor' mean in the equation? What do I do with it?

"floor" essentially means "round down to nearest integer".

[RAIST]

I see, where is this derived from?

StudioGobli used to host some mob stats, or formulas/charts to aid in calculating them based on mob family, job, and level. Note, the hyperlinks for stats/charts are just pages I found via google as examples. IDK if there are any updated pages for higher level mobs (ie: post level 75) as it's a JP wiki and I can't read it. But a lot of their data has been cited/used to figure stuff out in the past.

[Trisscar]

Okay I think I understand now, so let me see if I pass this test:

We have a Hume male named Prostar who's a level 99 BLU. He has DEX of 99, +8 DEX from merits, and another +72 from macro gear for a total of 179 DEX and he's using CDC on, say, Necronomicon.

This comes out as "floor(floor((179*60%)*.85))=91" and in the end that would come out as "91*2=182"... Yeah, I took a wrong turn somewhere. Where is final damage calculated from this?

Edit to add: According to one of the wikis on the subject you're supposed to use the formula "Base Damage = floor(( Weapon Base Damage + (Ammo Damage) + fSTR(2) + WSC ) * fTP)" so that would be "Base Damage = floor(( 61 + (Ammo Damage) + (61/9) + 91 ) * 4) " but I have no idea what to do with 'ammo damage' so for now I'll ignore it and the answer comes out to "635+(158*2)=951".