[Guest]

Used Paul's useful combat compiler system to get this and it does show interesting facts.

You vs Kain in 54 moves

You missed 9 times. He missed 7 times.

You are hit for 1882 points of damage. You resist 401 for a total of 1481 damage.

You hit for 1894 points of damage. Kain resists 275 for a total of 1619 damage.

You got your butt kicked by Kain.

Continue
---------------------------
Your level saved your life!!! Now give me back my 550 exp.

Sorry, had to post it...

[Druchii]

no ones saying that the combat randomness should be eliminated. all I'm saying is that there should be two ways of improving account.

I like that stats mean alot more now, I just wish that levels meant more. Not that much as they did earlier, but still more then they do now.

[Guest]

Again, I ask though, how do any of us know what role levels play in combat?

[Guest]

Well, from Theoden's post and the numbers from their fight, and the fact that they are 1 rank apart on battlestats, i would guess that only his HP played a factor in him winning. I guess thats the role of levels...

[Guest]

that's the thing. Me and Theoden are close to equal on stats. However, my 4 level advantage should give me an advantage against him, and not just because I have some extra HP. There's also the defending bonus to factor in there.

If level does play a part, it's a minor one. It's hard for me to find a decent example now because those with drastically different level have flown miles away in stats. But it's not just me, raf and matt have noticed the difference since the combat code was changed, and none of us have seen any evidence to support level having more than the most minor of roles.

[Guest]

well if you think about it in terms of having more energy to train your stats with, i suppose that makes a difference as well. =P

[Guest]

yea, again- I'm not arguing at all that levels have their benefits, because they do. But if you weigh up the pros and cons of levels against stats, the stats rack up a lot more. I'll list what I think of both, from experience.

Level-pros

-Extra EP
-Extra AP
-Extra EP regen every few levels
-Extra AP regen every few levels
-Extra HP
-Extra HP regen
-Access to higher level districts
-Slight bonus to combat
-Useful to gain levels early on

Level-cons

-Extra EP needed to attack
-Extra AP needed to bust people
-Extremely hard to gain higher levels
-High level with low stats makes you a target
-Endurance bonus diminishes with higher level
-Happiness drain increases in proportion with level
-Rewards for levelling diminish in proportion to effort needed at higher level



Stat pros

-Easy to train
-Consistant- never becomes harder to gain devs
-Can be trained faster by increasing endurance/happiness
-Increases success rate of crimes and busting
-Provides a major bonus in combat
-Can be modified with implants for great effect

Stat cons

-Need to train at full happiness for maximum efficiency
-Doesn't provide any increase to EP, AP or HP



Those are all the pros and cons I can think of for each. Stats have very few cons in comparison, whereas the levelling cons effectively cancel out a lot of their pros. Early on (pre lv 20), the boost from levels is good. Post 30 however, when you need 70k+, and increasing sharply, the rewards are very minimal when registered against how long it takes to level.

[Rafallol]

in Level-cons you forgot to mention that cost of travel between districts increase

[zenith]

You forgot that levels are extremely important for your crime success rate.

[Guest]

oh snap! you go zenith!