Understanding the Numbers

Which is better and why: 1D+2(0/-1) or 1D+2(0/1)?

My math skills are rather horrible, but aren't both of those the same.

0/1=0
0/-1=0
1D+2=3
3(0) = 0

Like I said my math skills are horrible but from a pure math formula there both the same.

Edit: Oh wait this has something to do with Drak. I haven't played it yet(Still hasn't arrived in Taiwan yet), so I don't know what exactly that meant. I just looked at it from a pure math perspective.

I gotta check what forum I'm in when clicking on the latest forum watch

Are these numbers for weapons?

Yes, they are for weapons and I don't really understand them.

Then they are modifiers for attack/parry when using the weapon. In that case, 0/1 is better. It adds nothing to your attack, but 1 to your parry, raising the chances of parrying an attack. 0/-1 would subtract 1 from your parry value.

I would say the latter option.

The only difference is the 0/-1 vs 0/1 and this refers to your PA or defensive ability.
-1 detracts from your ability where 1 adds to it.

Forgive me if I am now going over that which you already know.
The first part of the stats refers to potential damage being a roll of a six sided die plus (giving any result between 3 and 8)
The second part refers to modifier to AT/PA (attack ability/ parry ability). The higher these are the better. These stats are suppose to represent how unwieldly a weapon or shield may be.

Hope this helps.

Don't forget to take a closer look at a weapon (right-click for tooltip), especially for high-strength characters. The hover-mouse-over info just shows the base damage (as well as AT and PA modifier), but every melee weapon also has a strength bonus, which goes like XX/Y (for instance 12/4 or 11/2) and means: For every Y points above XX strength this weapon will do one additional hit point (hit points in TDE are the damage potential of a weapon*).
So, if for instance one weapon does 1D+3 base damage and another 1D+2, the first one may seem better (damage-wise) at first. But when the first one has a strength bonus of 12/3 and the second one a strength bonus of 11/2, the second one is better for a strength 17 character (1D+2 + 3 bonus vs. 1D+3 + 1 bonus).
If you don't like math, don't worry, the description always shows the resulting damage at the current strength level of the character holding the weapon in his/her inventory. It then looks something like "Hit points: 1D+2 (1W+4 at strength 18)". Don't get irritated by the '1W', it is a translation oversight, '1D' (one six-sided dice) is meant there.

* TDE knows two kinds of numbers for damage: HP (hit points) and DP (damage points). The basic difference is: When a weapon inflicts HP, these get reduced by the armour rating of the target, thus the resulting DP are HP - armour. Some spells inflict DP instead of HP, that means they circumvent the target's armour.
Short: HP = damage reduced by armour, DP = direct damage (no reduction due to armour).

The weapons are both crap.
The 2nd is better because you don't get a parry malus.
You need to take the strength bonus into account though. Especially later it can make a huge difference. A mediocre weapon with 11/2 can kick some serious butt.

Another thing to consider… if you use a shield, you can pretty much ignore the second number (please correct me if I'm wrong). That is the 'weapon parry' modifier, which is what you would use if you're not using a shield.
I'm not sure about something though, let's say your weapon parry is better than your shield parry, so I guess it'll use your weapon parry value? What if you are trying to parry 2 attacks, would the first one use the weapon parry and the second one the shield parry? (assuming you're using a shield of course). And where does dodge fit into all this?

Using a shield is always an advantage in defense because you get a 2nd parry. Without a shield you get hit when the 2nd enemy attacks.

Originally Posted by Gorath
Using a shield is always an advantage in defense because you get a 2nd parry. Without a shield you get hit when the 2nd enemy attacks.

Yes I know that but my question is, if your weapon parry value is better than your shield parry, and you receive two attacks, do you use weapon parry for the first and shield parry for the second? or shield parry for both?

As a Battlemage, I use a staff and no shield. The stats I gave are for the 2 staffs I have. The second came from the necro I killed in the marshes.

Originally Posted by wolfing
Yes I know that but my question is, if your weapon parry value is better than your shield parry, and you receive two attacks, do you use weapon parry for the first and shield parry for the second? or shield parry for both?

You have exactly ONE weapon parry and ONE shield parry with a shield. So if you have a good shield parry but a crappy weapon parry, you may parry twice but your second parry (the weapon parry) is less likely to succeed. (My assumption is, that your better parry will always be used first.)

Originally Posted by Corwin
As a Battlemage, I use a staff and no shield. The stats I gave are for the 2 staffs I have. The second came from the necro I killed in the marshes.

If you are using staffs, you don't have to bother about which is the best staff right now. You will probably want to use a certain staff you will soon get for completing Rakorium's quest in Moorbridge anyway.

Originally Posted by Corwin
As a Battlemage, I use a staff and no shield. The stats I gave are for the 2 staffs I have. The second came from the necro I killed in the marshes.

Then you've found a slight upgrade.
Don't forget the dodge talent. Without a shield you want this as high as possible. If you don't get hit you don't need to parry.

Now you tell me to buy the Dodge talent!!

Originally Posted by Curunír
Hit points: 1D+2 (1W+4 at strength 18)". Don't get irritated by the '1W', it is a translation oversight, '1D' (one six-sided dice) is meant there.

LOL I was wondering what was that mysterious "W".

Got a question myself, somewhat related to numbers.

I want to give my battle mage the combat ability that lets you knock over opponents - they get to do a safety throw (agility/2 I think) or are knocked down for two rounds.

Question: Do I need to have a high attack value with my staff in order to actually hit my enemy with the ability? So far I've mostly increased the parry value for staff fighting, should I have spent the points in attack instead?

If you going to rely on Dodge though be aware that your encumberance reduces that ability; quite realistic.

What about Str bonuses from rings?

I have Str 24 on one guy. It still shows 21 on the weapon description.

So str over 21, does it add to the weapon damage?