[dev1144] Effect of Core Stats on Skills Explained. Devs, We Need Answers Please

[Deus]

We are getting closer to the answer. But this tells us simply that STR does NOT convert into the menu's Attack rating directly, it is ITS OWN VARIABLE in the damage equation. STR may potentially have MORE influence than Attack against certain Rank mobs as I explained in prior reply. No surprise there. Why even have a STR rating if all it did was convert into Attack. So we still have no breakthrough as far as understanding STR vs MenuAttackRating vs InnateWeaponDamage vs AttackMateria parameters just that "its not that simple".

And by the way, it was not simple in FFXI. STR did not convert into Attack. Don't mean to be picking at your words, Bayohne, just that noone is going to be happy until they know how these parameters stack against one another.

From this information alone and from what we have been given at this point, damage in FFXIV could potentially work the exact same way as in FFXI.

I would also be interested to know HOW the damage equation in FFXIV differs. Also note that we don't even have an official definition of how damage worked in FFXI, so it's not exactly useful to know that it IS different if we don't even know for 100% certainty how it really worked in FFXI. Everyone may have their own preconceptions with how it worked. My own is explained in my previous reply.

[Lakefingers]

Liked this. Answers please, that makes INT and STR sound useless.

[Sephrick]

My guess, which is completely untested, is that str provides the range of potential damage, and attack dictates where in that a player falls.

[Frein]

From this information alone and from what we have been given at this point, damage in FFXIV could potentially work the exact same way as in FFXI.

This is second hand information, so don't quote me on it, but a guy on BG tested the effects of STR and ATK when fighting very low level mobs and the results were that ATK did not increase his maximum damage by a noticeable amount while STR did. This would lead me to believe the stats work differently from FFXI.

[Deus]

Thanks for the info. Do you have a link?

[Nayt]

I am not a number cruncher (they make backflips in my head) but is it thinkable that on a low level monster where all various stats are very low compared to yours, increasing attack power doesn't make much difference, but on a higher monster who's more on par to you, or higher even, it would matter.

It just seems to me like there is a damage curve where strength is sort of like the base curve, like people have been discussing lately.

[Frein]

Thanks for the info. Do you have a link?

Here you go.

[Deus]

Yeah the test needs a larger data set, and better precision and reporting. It basically says nothing at all. They need to use terms like average damage and average critical damage and give us all the variables and constants. The max and min may or may not be more important than the average. Also they are probably ignoring the fact they are fighting against a mob type that has a range of 4 or 5 levels.

I would be testing first on mobs around R50. You never know what scaling they might be doing still based on rank...after all these people complaining about difficulty of fighting low rank player vs low rank mob. After we establish what happens against equal rank mobs should we look at the difference on lower rank mobs.

[Shorty]

Apart from very extensive testing, knowing the enemies' stats, and the devs telling us outright the formulae, I don't think we'll find out how these stats work. I do have a few theories though:

1. Raw stats like int and str converts to derived stats like m.potency and att.power on some ratio or formula. This formula may or may not include your lvl as a multiplier.
2. Raw physical stats affects the effectiveness of your weapon in question (axe affected by str and bow by dex etc) in which case then, will end up affecting your damage but not your att.power because it simply adds a multiplier to your weapon's damage. If this is true, then it may also work for armors too where vit affects how much you gain from the item piece you're wearing.
3. Stats on gear affects your character differently than stats via levels or conversion traits. I doubt this is very likely though.

That the devs will be releasing the exact formulas for us to see seems unlikely to me. Maybe when parsers become a lot more common, and that enemy stats are more known then we'd be able to do some real testing.

[Llewelyn]

Yeah, not knowing what "attack power" does in relation to "damage" is really frustrating to me. It probably effects where on the damage curve you're likely to hit, while damage effects the max/min... but this is all conjecture.