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View Full Version : Nerf to Sonic Weapon Song (1012)?



Sonics
08-15-2015, 12:11 AM
I recently came back to GS and used a fixskill for Song of Tonis and swinging a short sword in 1 second. During my first hunt using a sonic short sword I became disappointed by how little I was seeing the air flares. After reviewing my logs and crunching some numbers it appears to me that the second flare (with a loud snap) can only happen with the first flare (unleashes a blast of sonic energy) instead of independently.

From gswiki

Unlike "normal" elemental flares in more common weapons, the Sonic Weapon can and frequently does flare sequentially, on back-to-back swings. This makes the flares from the song among the most highly regarded flares in GemStone.
In addition, a second chance of flaring is achieved when the Bard has trained even a single rank in Elemental Lore, Air; more ranks provide an increasing likelihood of the flare. This second chance is completely independent of the first, and has distinct messaging when triggered so the Bard will know whether the weapon has flared the "first" time or the "second" time if there is only one flare.

I remember it working like this when my bard was young and I even found many examples like the following here on the PC.

You swing a sonic maul at a cinder wasp!
AS: +305 vs DS: +175 with AvD: +33 + d100 roll: +8 = +121
... and hit for 19 points of damage!
Smash to the kneecap.

** With a loud snap, a blast of energy bursts from your sonic maul! **
... 60 points of damage!
Blow to chest frees a rib to spear a lung and heart!
Roundtime: 5 sec.

I have 95 ranks of air lore, so I should see the second flare a little over 1/3 of the time.

Elemental Lore, Air: The following training thresholds yield 3% additional chance for the secondary flare to activate: 3, 7, 12, 18, 25, 33, 42, 52, 63, 75, 88, 102. Note that the increase is continuous rather than discrete; each rank trained adds to the chance to flare.

222 hits with 21 outright kills with the weapon, so only 201 chances to flare
None of the first flares killed
44 unleashes a blast of sonic energy (first flare)
10 With a loud snap (second flare)

Out of 201 swings I should be seeing approximately 66 of the second flare instead of 10. Also the second flare only occurred with the first flare (double flares), never independently.

Did I miss a nerf to Sonic Weapons while I was gone or am I just unluckiest bard ever?

kcostell
08-20-2015, 02:16 AM
From the officials:


So, apparently since 2013, there was a bug that was preventing the second flare from triggering unless the first flare also triggered. :( It's fixed now though.

GameMaster Estild

I think we all owe you a big thanks for noticing this.

Tgo01
08-20-2015, 02:21 AM
From the officials:



I think we all owe you a big thanks for noticing this.

Ha. Awesome.

Cereal Killer
08-20-2015, 03:11 AM
Damn, does this mean UACing with a sonic weapon might NOT have sucked as hard as I thought it did?

Sonics
08-20-2015, 11:33 AM
Wow 2013…I just can’t believe no one noticed this sooner, sonic weapons are one of the reason I created a bard. I just went for a hunt and I’m seeing a crazy amount of flares again.

audioserf
08-20-2015, 11:49 AM
Sort of want to roll a bard behind this bug fix.

Fallen
08-20-2015, 12:04 PM
Well done!

Androidpk
08-20-2015, 12:30 PM
2013 is the last time I played my bard.

Aluvius
08-21-2015, 03:16 AM
Damn, does this mean UACing with a sonic weapon might NOT have sucked as hard as I thought it did?

Unfortunately it would still suck with the way flaring UAC weapons/gloves work. If I'm not mistaken you get the regular flare chance if using only flaring gloves OR if only using 1 UAC flaring weapon, but if you add in a UAC weapon it reduces the flare chance so that the gloves and weapon both only have 1/2 the usual chance to flare (1/3 with flaring gloves and 2 flaring weapons).

I also don't think it matters what combination of flaring/non flaring gloves or weapons you use either. The full reduction is applied to any flaring weapon/glove. Meaning if you have non flaring gloves and wield 1 flaring UAC weapon with the off hand open, then the weapon will flare at 1/2 the usual rate.


p.s. Great catch on this OP. :)

Tgo01
08-21-2015, 03:22 AM
Wouldn't it be awesome if tomorrow a GM says "oh shit, we just noticed a bug dating back to 2006 preventing people from creating savants. The bug has been fixed."