Weapon Skill Influence Guide

This is pulled directly from the balancing discussion forum here, posted by Thanatos. There may have been some small changes made in patches, although these are undcoumented in the notes as of patch 166.

Calculation of player abilities

In general there is always a base skill value that is used to create a modification factor. Below this base value, the gains from raising the skill will behave fairly linearly. Once the base value is reached, the modification factor lies at around 0.70 (which corresponds to a percentage of 70%) - the runner can only reach 100% or more when the base value has been passed. The increase is designed in a way that skill investments are only really sensible to a certain degree – while the player abilities still increase, the increase itself becomes smaller.

For the calculations of health values, stamina or run speed, this base value is the same for all classes. Therefore these areas are balanced through the number of skill points available to the particular classes.

Special rules for the Hacknet

For the Hacknet, respectively the FullHacker, there are special calculations for skills and subskills – however the are limited to the Hacknet!

Health, Stamina and Hacknet Energy

These values are based on the skills Intelligence, Hacking, as well as Body Health (Healthpool), Endurance (Stamina) and Hightech Combat (Hacknet Energy).

A new addition is the way resistances are evaluated in the Hacknet. As there are only two damage types present here, there are also only two different resistance evaluations: -Damage type Energy: Intelligence, Hacking and Resist Energy -Damage type X-Ray: Intelligence, Hacking and Resist X-Ray

Evaluation of combat relevant skills

For the evaluation of combat relevant skills, the base value is derived from the properties of the respective weapon (usually corresponds to the TechLevel). Therefore a runner’s influence on a weapon always depends on the weapon and is not always the same. The skills are evaluated with the base skill values and multiplied with the condition in the weapon categories damage, frequency, handling and range (which has actually always been that way).

The balancing concept always assumes that a weapon has 100 percent in its conditions (i.e. damage), which means that weapons with better values will also perform better by itself. The weapon behavior in certain areas can also be improved by increasing the corresponding subskills.

The freedom of skill setup choices played an important role regarding these changes – this freedom is now larger than before. However, we could not allow limitless increases in all areas – the two examples are following:

Range

Currently, the increase in range is possible up to around 120-130 percent. As we consider the balancing of ranges a very important factor in the general balance, we have decided to introduce this cap. Reasons for this are for example normal rifles or cannons that already have a very high range.

Frequency

The firing frequency has a fixed and a variable part. A weapon can only be improved up to a fixed frequency – however the variable part is usually fairly large, still making the frequency improvement attractive (after all, a better frequency means a higher damage output over time).

List of the particular influence factors: After presenting the basics, we will move on to present the individual evaluations. In general, the individual areas have been set like this: -Damage: focus on combat skill, small influence from weapon knowledge -Aim speed: combat skill and weapon knowledge are equal -Aim precision: combat skill and weapon knowledge are equal -Frequency: focus on weapon knowledge, medium influence from weapon skill -Range: focus on weapon knowledge, medium influence from weapon skill -Handling: medium influence from combat skill, weapon knowledge and agility (AGL)

Weapon knowledge designates the subskills „Weapon Lore“ (WEP) and „Hightech Combat“ (T-C) – if it is a hightech weapon. The subskill „Agility“ (AGL) influences the handling, as it helps compensate a possible recoil.

We have decided to ignore main skills for weapon behavior, as these are based on experience points (XP) – only subskills allow a real choice.

Even in the past it was possible to use weighting that went above 100 percent – we have used this possibility for hightech weapons. We are using 110% in the areas aim speed, aim precision and handling. Therefore runners that are specialized in hightech weapons have a small advantage in damage (see bonus system) and in the areas mentioned above – this should compensate for the increased skill point requirements.

Special weapon properties

All weapons in Neocron have the following properties, which are naturally used in the calculations – you can see these values in the HUD: -Damage: 0 – 120 % -Frequency: 0 – 120 % -Handling: 0 – 120 % -Range: 0 – 120 %

These condition values are used in the appropriate calculations and are not mentioned specifically.

Category: Melee Combat (M-C)

Lowtech Melee Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, M-C 60 %, WEP 10 %, ATL 20 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, M-C 30 %, WEP 40 %, END 20 % Handling (100): Base 10 %, M-C 20 %, WEP 40 %, AGL 30 %

Hightech Melee Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, M-C 60 %, WEP 10 %, ATL 20 % Frequency (100): Base 20 %, M-C 20 %, WEP 20 %, T-C 20 %, END 20 % Handling (110): Base 20 %, M-C 20 %, WEP 20 %, T-C 20 %, AGL 30 %

Category: Pistol Combat (P-C)

Lowtech Pistol Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, P-C 70 %, WEP 20 % Aim Speed (100): Base 20 %, P-C 40 %, WEP 40 % Aim Precision (100): Base 20 %, P-C 40 %, WEP 40 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, P-C 40 %, WEP 50 % Range (100): Base 10 %, P-C 20 %, WEP 70 % Handling (100): Base 10 %, P-C 30 %, WEP 40 %, AGL 20 %

Hightech Pistol Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, P-C 70 %, WEP 20 % Aim Speed (110): Base 30 %, P-C 40 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 % Aim Precision (110): Base 30 %, P-C 40 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 % Frequency (100): Base 20 %, P-C 30 %, T-C 30 %, WEP 20 % Range (100): Base 20 %, P-C 20 %, T-C 30 %, WEP 30 % Handling (110): Base 20 %, P-C 30 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 %, AGL 20 %

Category: Rifle Combat (R-C)

Lowtech Rifle Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, R-C 70 %, WEP 20 % Aim Speed (100): Base 20 %, R-C 40 %, WEP 40 % Aim Precision (100): Base 20 %, R-C 40 %, WEP 40 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, R-C 40 %, WEP 50 % Range (100): Base 10 %, R-C 20 %, WEP 70 % Handling (100): Base 10 %, R-C 30 %, WEP 35 %, AGL 25 %

Hightech Rifle Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, R-C 70 %, WEP 20 % Aim Speed (110): Base 30 %, R-C 40 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 % Aim Precision (110): Base 30 %, R-C 40 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 % Frequency (100): Base 20 %, R-C 30 %, T-C 30 %, WEP 20 % Range (100): Base 20 %, R-C 20 %, T-C 30 %, WEP 30 % Handling (110): Base 20 %, R-C 30 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 %, AGL 20 %

Category: Heavy Combat (H-C)

Lowtech Heavy Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, H-C 70 %, WEP 20 % Aim Speed (100): Base 20 %, H-C 40 %, WEP 40 % Aim Precision (100): Base 20 %, H-C 40 %, WEP 40 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, H-C 40 %, WEP 50 % Range (100): Base 10 %, H-C 20 %, WEP 70 % Handling (100): Base 10 %, H-C 30 %, WEP 30 %, AGL 30 %

Hightech Heavy Combat: Damage (100): Base 10 %, H-C 70 %, WEP 20 % Aim Speed (110): Base 30 %, H-C 40 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 % Aim Precision (110): Base 30 %, H-C 40 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 % Frequency (100): Base 20 %, H-C 30 %, T-C 30 %, WEP 20 % Range (100): Base 20 %, H-C 20 %, T-C 30 %, WEP 30 % Handling (110): Base 20 %, H-C 30 %, T-C 20 %, WEP 20 %, AGL 20 %

Category: PSI Combat (APU)

Damage (100): Base 10 %, APU 70 %, FCS 20 % Aim Speed (100): Base 20 %, APU 40 %, FCS 30 %, PPW 10 Aim Precision (100): Base 20 %, APU 40 %, FCS 30 %, PPW 10 Frequency (100): Base 10 %, APU 30 %, FCS 40 %, PPW 20 Range (100): Base 10 %, APU 20 %, FCS 40 %, PPW 30 Handling (100): Base 10 %, APU 20 %, FCS 40 %, PSU 30 %

Category: PSI Support (PPU)

Damage (100): Base 10 %, PPU 70 %, FCS 20 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, PPU 30 %, FCS 40 %, PPW 20 Range (100): Base 10 %, PPU 20 %, FCS 40 %, PPW 30 Handling (100): Base 10 %, PPU 20 %, FCS 40 %, PSU 30 %

Category: Drone Combat (RCL)

Damage (100): Base 10 %, RCL 70 %, T-C 10 %, WPW 10 % Aim Speed (100): Base 20 %, RCL 40 %, T-C 20 %, WPW 20 % Aim Precision (100): Base 20 %, RCL 40 %, T-C 20 %, WPW 20 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, RCL 30 %, T-C 40 %, WPW 20 % Range (100): Base 10 %, RCL 20 %, T-C 40 %, WPW 30 % Handling (100): Base 10 %, RCL 30 %, T-C 30 %, WPW 30 %

Category: Hacknet Combat and Hacknet Support (HCK)

Damage (100): Base 10 %, HCK 70 %, T-C 20 % Aim Speed (100): Base 20 %, HCK 40 %, T-C 40 % Aim Precision (100): Base 20 %, HCK 40 %, T-C 40 % Frequency (100): Base 10 %, HCK 40 %, T-C 50 % Range (100): Base 10 %, HCK 30 %, T-C 60 % Handling (100): Base 10 %, HCK 40 %, T-C 50 %

As you have probably noticed, these values only differ slightly. We have tried to find a setting for each category that should guarantee a maximum of equality, as we haven’t found any reason to give preferential treatment to any class or to place somebody at a disadvantage.