BTB Tests
BTB is an unique weapon because it does pure piercing and so the damage data isn't muddled by Normal.
All tests done at D24, against the slimes, trojans, and zombies of FSC. No poison or shock was used, nor was the damage bonus from the 1k CE revive.
Format is:
damage of first and second hits/ damage from third hit [damage increase from first to third] (damage increase from +0 to damage +4) {damage difference from neutral }
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Damage bonus +0, BTB Level 1
33/38 [15%] {26/22%}
126/167 [32%] {100/100%}
194/242 [25%] {153/145%}
third hit does +48, +41, +5
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Damage bonus +4 (very high), BTB Level 1
39/45 (18.1%/18.4%) [15%] {23/21%}
170/215 (35%/28.7%) [26%] {100/100%}
235/280 (21%/16%) [19%] {138/130%}
third hit does +45, +45, +6
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Conclusions:
herpaderp. You can see that the data is all over the place.
- The +4 to damage did anywhere from 18-35% more damage.
- "Neutral" or white number damage seems to be the most "efficient".
So I was going to do this experiemnt alone but I have no idea what this data indicates. The best I can come up with is that there's some formula that biases your damage bonuses to get less and less effective, from bonuses from trinkets to extra damage from combos.
So: input? any trends you can come up with? Can someone do this experiment with a level 10 btb?
Your "format" proclaims that something's going to be in parentheses, but nothing is. And I have trouble understanding what "damage increase from +0 to damage" means. Maybe that's why I don't understand why neutral damage is the most "efficient".
I think that I understand the rest. The 53% and 45% bonus for using piercing against a weak monster is higher than I'm used to, but this might be because you're on Depth 24 instead of Depth 28.
User:Exasperation has done detailed modeling of damage data. I have also done some modeling of sword damage at depth 28. My models are not quite as precise as Exasperation's, but they are dramatically simpler. One of my models is this:
Let N, R, and V be the damages dealt by the weapon against neutral, resistant, and vulnerable monsters, respectively. Then, for swords on Depth 28,
R = 14 + 0.16 N (for pure piercing or pure elemental)
R = 16 + 0.58 N (for mixed normal+special)
V = 75 + 1.02 N (for all)
In other words: A resistant monster resists 84% of your special damage, except that there's a little damage (14 or 16 points) that you get as a baseline. A vulnerable monster incurs 75 extra points of damage. Note that this vulnerable bonus is not a percentage; it's an absolute number of points, and it applies to both pure special damage and mixed normal+special damage equally.