Specialization
Last Update: 24 May
2004
"Armour specialization" -Bob Fri Apr 09 2004 18:39
Starting this boot you
will be able to specialize in armours in a way similar to weapons. Armours are
classed roughly into 4 classes - clothes, light, medium and heavy. See 'help specialization'
for details.
Since this is mostly new code, there may still be some bugs. Use the bug
command to report these. Also, be aware that the interface in the training room
has changed slightly because it's just easier to code this way.
-Bob
"some weapon/specialization changes" -Bob Sun May 23 2004 13:13
Fixed
a few bugs and made some changes with armor/weapon spec increase rates for next
boot. Overall, it should be easier for most people to increase spec, unless you
were benefitting from bugs, in which case it could be more difficult.
Also,
weapon breakage has been changed to take into account more factors than at
present. In particular, certain weapons that spam a lot will tend to break more
in the hands of lower level adventurers. (The breakage threshold itself was
raised though) There is also a 'broken' state for weapons that have broken
once. If it breaks again it will poof like it does now.
-Bob
NB.
new info from the help file re: spec, you can't gain spec by fighting stuff too
much smaller than yourself. You'll have to figure out how much on your own
though.
Specialization allows a player to gain extra
bonuses in combat at the cost of flexibility. Over time, a specialist's skill
with his chosen weapons or armors will increase, while his ability to use other
kinds of equipment will decrease due to disuse.
There are two areas in which a player may specialize: weapons and armour.
While similar, there are a few differences in the way specialization works in
the two cases that are worth noting.
Weapon
Specialization
On DarkWind, weapon types are characterized
by their sizes, damage types, and miscellaneous characteristics. The following
lists give some examples of typical weapons and their characterizations:
Size:
Small weapons:
daggers, saps, small short swords, hand axes
Medium weapons: larger short swords, maces, clubs, longer swords
Large weapons: longswords, battleaxes, long
maces, shorter staves
Huge weapons: awl pikes, two-handed swords,
greatbows, long staves
Damage type:
Slash: most sword
variants, naginata, some polearms
Pierce: daggers, rapiers, spears, bows, wooden stakes
Blunt: staves, maces, clubs, hammers, rocks
Cleave: axes, halberds, cleavers, some polearms
Miscellaneous:
Missile: bows, crossbows, slings,
throwing daggers, darts
Pole: most staves, halberds, spears, tridents
Note that weapons may have multiple damage types if they can be used in muliple
ways. For example, shortswords can generally be used as slashing and also
piercing weapons. In addition, size and miscellaneous characteristics affect a
player's ability to dual wield certain weapons. Normal sized players can dual
wield one large (or smaller) weapons, and one medium (or smaller) weapon.
Players who are smaller or larger due to race may find their choices more
limited. Missile and pole weapons can never be dual wielded.
The first step in weapon specialization is to pick a size. Although you only
pick one size category, you will automatically get the next larger size as well
in your specialization. Every specialist must pick a size. Optionally, a
specialist may pick one or two damage types. Choosing one damage type will give
a bonus with any weapon that has that damage type, even if it's in combination
with another type. If you pick two types the weapon used must have BOTH damage
types to get a bonus. Finally, a specialist may also choose a miscellaneous
type, which further restricts the bonus to those weapons with that
miscellaneous characteristic.
The nature of weapon specialization is that the more precisely one specializes,
the larger the bonus he gets. The corresonding penalty for using a weapon not
in his specialization is also larger. So, while a specialization in large,
cleave, pierce, polearm may give a very large bonus when using some halberds,
there is a tradeoff in flexibility.
In order to specialize, you must find the specialization trainer in Darkwind
city and train in the type desired. Once you've specialized, you will gain
experience using that weapon. Every so often you may notice that your skill is
improving with that weapon as well. When you have accumulated enough experience
with your specialized weapon type, you can return to the training hall and
advance your weapon specialization level.
At some point, you may choose to change your weapon specialization. Depending
on the difference between your current specialization and your desired one, you
may find that your skill level drops somewhat when changing your
specialization. This can be done at the training hall as well.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
weapon level cost (coins)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
10
68,704
9
42,940
8
26,838
7
16,774
6
10,484
5
6,553
4
4,096
3
2,560
2
1,600
1
1,000
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
You feel that you can progress no further
without instruction.
You almost feel ready for more training.
You feel confident in the use of your weapon, but still need more
learning.
You still have some things to learn about your weapon.
You have a good deal to learn about your weapon.
You have much to learn about your weapon.
Armour Specialization
Armour specialization works much like weapon
specialization but the choices are much smaller. You may choose one of four
kinds armor:
clothes: normal clothing, padded armours
light: leather, studded leather
medium: chain mail, scale mail
heavy: plate mail, splint mail, banded mail
Examples from my personal experience. I'll be happy to add more stuff
to this list -- just talk to me on Darkwind or send me an email.
clothes
leather cap (clain helmet)
pair of black boots
pair of leather boots (clan boots)
padded leather helm
light
leather combat boots
leather jerkin
leather gauntlets
leather leggings
pair of elven boots
pair of leggings
pair of tough leather gloves
spelunker's backpack
winged pegasi helm
medium
Ethereal Bracers
heavy
Living Armor
The effect of armour specialization is much more pronounced in the lighter
varieties of armour than the heavier ones due to the constricting nature of
such heavy armours. Experienced specialists in lighter armour varieties have
been known to dodge and deflect blows with such skill that their overall
defense rivalled that of knights wearing the heaviest suits of plate armour.
Armour specialization is trained in the same training hall as weapon
specialization in DarkWind city.
You have the following commands here:
==> train armour
==> train weapon
==> train armour <clothes|light|medium|heavy>
==> train weapon <types> (e.g. large blunt polearm)
==> untrain armour
==> untrain weapon
==> cost
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
armour level cost (coins)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
10 68,719
9 42,949
8 26,843
7 16,777
6 10,485
5 6,553
4
4,095
3 2,559
2 1,599
1 1,000
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
You feel that you can progress no further without instruction.
You almost feel ready for more training.
You feel confident in the use of your armour, but still need more
learning.
You still have some things to learn about your armour.
You have a good deal to learn about your armour.
You have much to learn about your armour.