Racial strategies

[bassball]

Giants have higher strength then other races, so they also have naturally higher damroll. Is it better then to wear alot of hitroll eq so they have alot of hitroll/balanced hit and dam? Or would it be better to play of their strength and wear a ton of damroll eq so they just have massive amounts of dam?

Same for something like a halfling warrior. Better to have a huge amount of hitroll? Or better to balance it out with damroll eq?

[Ergorion]

Taken from the website for halflings (http://abandonedrealms.com/realms/races/halfling.php):

Tips:
# Because of high dexterity (dexterity adds hitroll) but low strength (strength adds damroll), consider wearing more than average +damroll armor.

Taken from the website for fire giants (http://abandonedrealms.com/realms/races/firegiant.php):

Compensate for low dexterity by wearing extra +hitroll equipment (Dexterity directly affects hitroll).

[bassball]

Well look at that. Thanks Ergorion

[Slade]

For all but the most extreme hit/dam needy scenarios (rend necro, dream illusionist) which you can throw out of the equation, basically:

Go with the higher number, simple as that. If your choice is two damroll or three hitroll, go with the hitroll. When they are equal then you get to decide what would be best to have more of. There aren't too many wrong answers, though generally I'd try to have at least 20 in each minimum with bad gear, at least 25+ or so in each with better gear. This is somewhat arbitrary on my part.

Overall hit is probably a little better with enhanced damage and other multipliers (including a good weapon), and overcoming parry and dodge, with dam better for skills use (thief backstab, com types), for mage/cler who don't get all the multiplers, and against shield blockers.

[Erlwith]

I'd say mid 20s hit/damroll your hitroll should be substantially higher than your damroll. However once you hit 30s, mid 30s hit/dam, I'd say keep them roughly even of course favoring hitroll.

[MrCarb]

Well, these numbers, hitroll and damroll, deal with the amount you hit and the damage inflicted with each hit respectively, so it's a basic multiplication mechanic. This being the case the ideal scenario (all other considerations being equal) is for them to be the same. 30 x 30 is significantly higher than 10 x 50. Once you're decently equipped it may well be worth switching 3 hit for 2 dam (or vice versa) to achieve a better balance. The value any increase in hitroll is directly proportional to your current damroll, and the value of any increase in damroll is directly proportional to your current hitroll. Cosider a character who has 60 damroll and 20 hitroll. He has one eq slot left and has the choice between two pieces of eq, one at +4 dam and one at +2 hit. The hitroll piece is actually more valuable to him, weighing in at 2 x 60 = 120 as opposed to the damroll piece's 4 x 20 = 80.

This is before we consider the defences of your oponent, but in the general course of things one should aim to balance the two, hence the tips about halflings wearing more + dam and all that.

[bassball]

Ok. Thanks guys. I normally tend to keep them balanced with hitroll about 2-5 higher, much like Erlwith suggested. Thanks for the math though MrCarb that helped paint a picture in my mind.

[Davairus]

You need to take enhanced damage into account, not every class needs or even benefits from balanced hit dams. Mathematically the hitroll is a better stat, but the potential for several large quick bursts at once from damroll earns its rightful reputation as a dangerous stat to have stacked against you. That is all just luck though.

[RebornShadows]

well from my point of view hitroll means how often you connect with what your fighting and damroll is how hard you hit. some race/classes can hit or do damage better. it is always good to have a high hitroll for the simple reason you can hit them more often. i have seen someone with alot of damrol hit once or twice in a fight against those with a high hitroll. so i belive balance it out have a decent hit and damroll makes things alot easier.

of course different people have different play styles so have fun.

[Davairus]

It doesnt always balance out. The effect of enhanced damage on a high avg weapon inflates the usefulness of hitroll. Hitroll is a bit ahead of damroll when you take into account enhanced damage and against PARRY ONLY. Otherwise hitroll lags behind, as shown by the "damroll invokers" like Grimp and Grunky. They had giant damrolls. If your opponent has dodge and/or dual parry then hitroll helps you with beating the next defense as well, so its good to have more of it in that situation, even if you are a mage. Consequently it should be clear a warrior benefits enough from hitroll to not have to try to balance damroll with the stat - he can stack as much as he likes. You may find a big damroll is better for killing mages, though, since your problem isn't scoring hits on them, its having the ability to end the fight fast when a mage leaves an opening - and they always do leave one, I've observed the best and seen that. So sure hitroll might be the best way to maximise your overall damage there, but a set of damroll gives you bigger teeth. If I was playing a warrior I'd have my hit/dam set ready and I'd swap hitroll for saves before I started sacrificing damage vs mages. Bursts of high damage are still potentially lethal even if your hitroll is at 12. You are attempting to beat a low probability of scoring your hit, but you're rewarded extremely well for doing so, and a streak of successes (which is how the RNG often behaves) kills the target before he'll even realise what happened. It may not be likely in the long run but the logboard shows it does happen more often to mage classes that have trouble defending themselves, and hobbled thieves, etc. Its kind of like using wild weapons instead of rares with a 2 point higher avg .... the damage is the less in the long run, but you might get the double damage hit at the right time, which wins a fight for you. Just decide whether your opponent is going to be more vulnerable to THAT or to sustained damage over a longer time, and you will know which is the right choice.

[Vertas]

I agree with dav, different situations require different tactics.