ZantarV
Sergeant at Arms

Hey all, I've been playing Mount & Blade for a long time now, and I figured I might actually try to change some of the things that bothered me about the game, but first I need to learn some things. I figured I'd start by fiddling with the armour/damage values, both locally and globally, but I haven't been able to find the answers to a few questions:
1. How does the head hitbox work? How much is damage increased? When does armour come into it? I'm thinking greatly increased helmet ratings might make the head less of a catch-all target, particularly for archery.
2. Reduced_damage =base_damage - (armor * 0.25) = 10
Final damage = Reduced_damage * (1 - (armor/100 * 0.65)) = 7.4
Dmg = [ D - (A*soak) ] * (1 - A/100 * reduction)
Are these formulae correct for soak and reduction? For tweaking these, I was thinking
-slash: highest damage; highest soak, middling reduction (unarmoured = dead, one-handers ineffectual against heavy armour, two-handers cause 'trauma')
-pierce: middling damage; middling soak, little/no reduction (not necessarily lethal against unarmoured dudes, but once you're through armour, you're through)
-blunt: lowest damage; lowest soak, low reduction (keep wailing on unarmoureds, best choice for tin cans, and don't forget knockdown)
3. Ranged weapons; is the ammo's damage type completely irrelevant? Would there be any difference between a 30 damage bow with 3 damage arrows and a 3 damage bow with 30 damage arrows? What is the speed measured in, if anything? Can you significantly impact damage by changing the speed? How do you change the accuracy?
4. Melee weapons; what effect does weight have? Can you turn any weapon into a bastard weapon (eg. almost all hafted weapons should be so)? What effect does wielding a bastard weapon 1-handed have? Is damage a max (1/2 damage - 1 damage) or an average? How much preference does the AI for thrusting attacks when using spears?
5. What sizes correlate to actual (as in in-game model) shield size?
To work these I may find myself taking a lot of skills out of the equation. Whatever answers you have would be greatly appreciated.
1. How does the head hitbox work? How much is damage increased? When does armour come into it? I'm thinking greatly increased helmet ratings might make the head less of a catch-all target, particularly for archery.
2. Reduced_damage =base_damage - (armor * 0.25) = 10
Final damage = Reduced_damage * (1 - (armor/100 * 0.65)) = 7.4
Dmg = [ D - (A*soak) ] * (1 - A/100 * reduction)
Are these formulae correct for soak and reduction? For tweaking these, I was thinking
-slash: highest damage; highest soak, middling reduction (unarmoured = dead, one-handers ineffectual against heavy armour, two-handers cause 'trauma')
-pierce: middling damage; middling soak, little/no reduction (not necessarily lethal against unarmoured dudes, but once you're through armour, you're through)
-blunt: lowest damage; lowest soak, low reduction (keep wailing on unarmoureds, best choice for tin cans, and don't forget knockdown)
3. Ranged weapons; is the ammo's damage type completely irrelevant? Would there be any difference between a 30 damage bow with 3 damage arrows and a 3 damage bow with 30 damage arrows? What is the speed measured in, if anything? Can you significantly impact damage by changing the speed? How do you change the accuracy?
4. Melee weapons; what effect does weight have? Can you turn any weapon into a bastard weapon (eg. almost all hafted weapons should be so)? What effect does wielding a bastard weapon 1-handed have? Is damage a max (1/2 damage - 1 damage) or an average? How much preference does the AI for thrusting attacks when using spears?
5. What sizes correlate to actual (as in in-game model) shield size?
To work these I may find myself taking a lot of skills out of the equation. Whatever answers you have would be greatly appreciated.