Maerit
08-22-2015, 12:33 PM
I've been struggling to use Sacrifice in the arena, and I'm not sure if it has to do with level disparity or the additional HP that arena creatures possess. So, I went out and did some research to try and better identify just how much different in level there is between myself and the creatures in the arena using the APPRAISE verb.
I was unable to find any document that indicated what the various messages from APPRAISE meant in terms of level, so instead I went out and did some homework on the creatures around the landing. My findings were as follows:
APPRAISE Messaging Level Difference
Should be easy, yet could still give you a bit of a scuffle. 6-9 levels lower
You think you'd have a sight advantage. 1-5 levels lower
Would be a pretty even match for you. Same level
Has a slight advantage over you. 1-5 levels higher
You would probably be able to take on, but with some risk to your health. 6-9 levels higher
Should prove to be a difficult challenge for you. 10-15 levels higher
Could probably wipe the floor with you. 16+ levels higher
(The above is based on pre-cap findings using the APPRAISE verb on targets with various level ranges. It was summarily done, and may not be 100% accurate.
Then I wrote a simple script to determine APPRAISE creatures when I entered the arena, and found that the all of my opponents were no more than 5 levels below my level, or 9 levels above my level based on the APPRAISE messaging.
So, knowing this, I started to wonder at what point does the SACRIFICE skill become unreliable? I've had issues where I knock a target's health down by 35%+23%+29% and then use 706 to stun it, sacrifice, and it fails. I then try to plink it with 1700 or 702 once, then try again - fail. Then another plink with 1700 (because I know 702 will finish it off at this point), and it still fails.
That's about 40+ seconds wasted trying to sacrifice the same target, so I need to eliminate those creatures from being targets. Has anyone done any testing or experimenting (pre-cap I would hope since cap is like a different game) on just how big a difference in levels you can have for Sacrifice to still be reliable? What about testing using the APPRAISE verb to see what messaging is provided to determine if the target is reliable for Sacrifice?
I've since changed tactics in the Arena to trying sacrifice on only the first 4 targets, and just getting the temporary mana boost, but I can still have some unlucky runs where mana becomes a hindrance, so I was hoping to find a reliable way to determine if a target is sacrifice worthy.
I was unable to find any document that indicated what the various messages from APPRAISE meant in terms of level, so instead I went out and did some homework on the creatures around the landing. My findings were as follows:
APPRAISE Messaging Level Difference
Should be easy, yet could still give you a bit of a scuffle. 6-9 levels lower
You think you'd have a sight advantage. 1-5 levels lower
Would be a pretty even match for you. Same level
Has a slight advantage over you. 1-5 levels higher
You would probably be able to take on, but with some risk to your health. 6-9 levels higher
Should prove to be a difficult challenge for you. 10-15 levels higher
Could probably wipe the floor with you. 16+ levels higher
(The above is based on pre-cap findings using the APPRAISE verb on targets with various level ranges. It was summarily done, and may not be 100% accurate.
Then I wrote a simple script to determine APPRAISE creatures when I entered the arena, and found that the all of my opponents were no more than 5 levels below my level, or 9 levels above my level based on the APPRAISE messaging.
So, knowing this, I started to wonder at what point does the SACRIFICE skill become unreliable? I've had issues where I knock a target's health down by 35%+23%+29% and then use 706 to stun it, sacrifice, and it fails. I then try to plink it with 1700 or 702 once, then try again - fail. Then another plink with 1700 (because I know 702 will finish it off at this point), and it still fails.
That's about 40+ seconds wasted trying to sacrifice the same target, so I need to eliminate those creatures from being targets. Has anyone done any testing or experimenting (pre-cap I would hope since cap is like a different game) on just how big a difference in levels you can have for Sacrifice to still be reliable? What about testing using the APPRAISE verb to see what messaging is provided to determine if the target is reliable for Sacrifice?
I've since changed tactics in the Arena to trying sacrifice on only the first 4 targets, and just getting the temporary mana boost, but I can still have some unlucky runs where mana becomes a hindrance, so I was hoping to find a reliable way to determine if a target is sacrifice worthy.