Advanced Combat Class

The Advanced Combat Class, as run by Catechism on September 18 2009. some unnecessary chat has been edited for ease of future readers, and Cate's instructional comments will be in bold, along with appropriate instructional tidbits from myself(Redshift) and others.

Required Reading
This covers some of the basics of themachanics, but is meant to be an advanced lesson in TACS. Please read the links below to familiarize yourself with the rules and other material.


 * Combat Rules


 * What's new and different in TACS?


 * The Beginner's Guide to TACS

Introduction
< OOC > Redshift is logging, so this can get tossed onto the Wiki for folks who miss the class.

< OOC > Catechism says, "You rock, Redshift."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "I'm mostly going to go over some of the more subtle interactions of various effects, defense levels, and abilities. Feel free to ask questions or stop me at any time, or chip in various insights you may have had. I'm going to start with ATTACK-TYPE, but there isn't much to say there. Sound all right?"

Attack-Type(Area Attacks)
'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "'!combatinfo attack-type' covers the different attack-types and their costs. Most of them are pretty self-explanatory. About the most interesting thing is the area-attack. For energon areas, the cost is the cost to attack one target plus half of the targets beyond one. For example, if it costs 8 for one, it'll cost 8+8/2=12 for two. If you pull an area attack down to level 1, it'll actually give you back energon, because a level one attack costs -1 energon. So, unless the area has overpowered, you can always use a level 1 area, even if you have no energon left. If the area has efficient, you can always use a level 2 area. This is ignoring effects, though, which often cost extra energon. However, the maximum energon you can get back is floored at 4."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "The other side of the coin are ammo areas. For ammo areas, 1 ammo=3 targets, but 2 ammo=5 targets, and I forget what exactly 3 ammo gets, but basically, you get the most bang for your buck with ammo areas if you pick exactly three targets."'''

Sky Lynx says, "So.. no matter how many ppl you involve in a level 1 area.. you'll still only get +1 energon. and +4 if u pull it to level 0..? correct?"

Shockwave says, "That's correct. We identified that as an exploit and closed it pretty early on. :)"

Rodimus Prime says, "With ammo area, it's 3 targets for the first shot, and two targets per shot after that."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Yeah, we didn't want someone to area everyone in the room and get huge amounts of energon as a result."

Shockwave says, "I prefer to think of it as Prime does, by targets. You can't control directly how many ammo you use, but you can control your number of targets and that determines how much ammo gets consumed."

Monstereo rubs his hands and chuckles darkly. "With this knowledge I will rule supreme."

Shockwave says, "In this way, ammo areas are a good way to pour out damage on your enemies, and energon areas are a good way to sustain damage to an area over many rounds. Both of them are a good way to get attacked by lots of people, too. ;)"

Rodimus Prime says, "Or to KILL THE MUSH. :("

Crosscheck says, "That too"

Monstereo says, "That ought to be in Americons achievements. Mush Breaker Attack"

Defense Levels
XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "if there aren't any questions on attack-types, I'll move on to DEFENSE-LEVEL. !combatinfo DEFENSE-LEVEL to see them all."

Bede_BD-5 says, "Thanks Cate!"

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Oh! Demolition bombs are also area attacks, but as they represent demolition bombs, they're generally only used when you're ICly blowing something up. They oave ONESHOT, which means they can hit an arbitrary number of targets."

Rodimus Prime says, "As a reminder, please only use code bombs *as* bombs. That is, they are not precision attacks. If a person has a really good reason for not being included in a bomb attack, exclude them, but they're not a means of only attacking enemies on the field and leaving allies untouched."

Monstereo says, "Bombs are chaos."

Rodimus Prime says, "Yar."

Air Raid has never even heard of bombs until now.

You say, "roleplaying a coded bomb as anything other than a bomb makes baby hazard cry :("

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "I take two different approaches to picking my defense level, depending on whatever I want to be more offensive or more defensive. If I want to be more offensive, I'll take a guess at what my opponent's agility is compared to my accuracy and probably set either aggressive or guarded, as needed. If I've fought the guy and know what works, I'll go with that. Then, I'll even increment up or down as needed, until I find the lowest defense level where I can reliably land a hit. Sometimes, that defense level with be Fearless. Sometimes, it is Protected. Really depends on the opponent. With this strategy, I'm basically saying that I care most about landing hits and don't care if I get hit back. Works well if you either a) do a lot of damage or b) can take a lot of hits."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "!bombs are made by the Demolition ability. The better your Int and Tech, the better your bomb."

You say, "we'll go into detail about bombs soon enough."

Air Raid oohs.

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "You /can/ warn your faction the turn before you use the bomb, and have them pose before you and go Protected, so they are less likely to be hit."

You say, "I like using Fearless/Aggressive to get in more hits(because hitting is more fun than missing) and relying on my superb Agility to avoid hits, even in a risky !defend level"

Fairway says, "How does defense level affect whether or not I get hit?"

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "The other strategy that I'll use with defense levels is more defensive. I'll look for the highest defense level wherein my enemy doesn't hit me often. So, if my enemy has bad aim, that could even be Aggressive or Fearless, but usually, that will mean Guarded or Protected. In that strategy, I'm doing my best to not hit hit, but I won't hit often."

You say, "but sometimes I really, really do not want to be hit, like fighting say, Grimlock. THen it's time to hide in guarded and Protected, adding defense to my innate agility, and making me quite hard to hit."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Fairway: Protected is a +20 bonus to dodge but a +20 penalty to hit. Fearless is the opposite. Guarded and Aggressive are 10s, rather than 20s."

Fairway says, "Thank you. Do people get mad if you hide in guarded or Protected?"

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Something I'll also do is, if I have a big attack I really want to land, I might pop up to Aggressive or Fearless to make it more likely to land the hit."

Fairway doesn't want to be accused of being a turtle.

'''Shockwave says, "No, because it's available to everyone and they can just go aggressive or fearless to counter it." '''

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "People shouldn't get mad, as long as you pose being evasive somehow."

'''Redshift says, "something like this:

Fearless +20 Accuracy -20 Agility

Aggressive +10 Acc -10 Agil

Neutral +0 +0

guarded -10 acc +10 Agil

Protected -20 Acc +20 Agil" '''

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Thank you, Redshift!"

Sky Lynx says, "You are probably getting to it, but just how much does size factor into the equations of the defence levels? Obviousely.. a size 5 char with a 10 agil set protected will dodge more than say.. oh.. a size 10 char with a 10 agil set protected. But just how damaging is it to be larger size with regard to the levels...?"

Sky Lynx says, "or is that more for the advanced class?"

'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "I'm not entirely sure how size factors into dodging. I haven't seen the exact algorithm." '''

Shockwave says, "Please note that damage is not at all affected by the different defense levels."

Sky Lynx missed the first then I guess due to class.. :/

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Right. It just modifieds your chances to dodge or hit - basic is next week, actually."

Shockwave says, "Common misconception is where people go protected hoping to not get hurt as much, but all it does is make you dodge more."

Space-Going B-1R Lancer says, "No, there hasn't been a basic class scheduled yet. ;)"

Sky Lynx says, "I know damage is not affected by the level.."

Redshift says, "Unfortunatly, I don't have any hard data on how much SIZE affects hitting and missing, or damage.," 

'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Hidden only comes up with Sneakers or Cloakers. Off-Guard only comes up then, too."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Hidden makes Sneakers or Cloaks unhittable, until they decloak or get spotted by an e_senses or radar dude."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "If they are spotted, they are set off-guard, which makes them easier to hit." '''

Sky Lynx says, "From my short experiences so far.. I've seen that even set fearless I have trouble hitting a size 8 with a lower agil than my acc. And another time.. when i was set protected.. i was still hit by a size 15 with a poor acc.."

''' XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "The system is pretty random, though." ' (Editor's note: This is the most important part of the whole thing! :P)''

Space-Going B-1R Lancer says, "Hazard loves randomization. Don't take it personally."

You say, "there is a fair chunk of pure RANDOM in any hit/miss situation, Sky Lynx"

Sky Lynx says, "It seem more than random to me. Or I'm just completely unlucky."

Shockwave says, "As I recall size is actually quite a small modifier."

Sky Lynx quiets down now.

Shockwave says, "I remember because I wanted it to be a larger one."

Shockwave says, "It's something like 5 (005, not 50) per difference in size."

Protection and Types
Monstereo says, "With types... can we pretend we're pokemon?"

''' XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "PROTECTION. Basically, 1 point of protection versus something is equal to 5 extra points of armour versus that thing. 1 point of weakness is like you 5 armour less against that thing. - if you want, Monstereo!" '''

James Bailey says, "Do damage types count towards the 'CP cost' of an attack if you're trying to calculate upgrades or acceptable costs or the like?"

'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "The first damage type is free."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Every extra damage type after cost 1 CP." '''

You say, "Extra damage types cost 1 cp, and are part of the total of the attack."

'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "So, a level 4 melee impact energy attack would cost 4+1=5 CP." '''

Shockwave says, "Damage types are only as useful as the number and severity of armor weaknesses to that type, and as FCs only rarely have specialized armor, and most of the OCs were afraid to take a strong weakness, types are pretty unimportant I'm afraid."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "it's mainly so people don't buy an impact air water fire attack."

You say, "Types are a fairly minimal part of TACS"

Sky Lynx says, "So.. say IF there was an attack that was both energy and explosive.. I'd have a 110 armor vs the attack?"

Rodimus Prime says, "Damage types are mostly a flavor thing."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Sky Lynx: I think it stacks that way."

Shockwave says, "If you have a +2 vs. Explosive, yes."

Sky Lynx nods and thanks Cate

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "+2 would be 2*5=10." (+2 protection to a type wold be equal to +10 more Armor)

Shockwave says, "Oh, I see what you're saying. You have +1 vs. both energy and explosive? I actually don't know if it stacks, I don't think we ever tested that."

Monstereo says, "I've noticed type weakness in a fight, it can hurt :p"

Fairway says, "I'm a little confused about the conversion going on. How do we get to 110 there?"

Redshift will make a note to test whether 2 types and 2 protections stack

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "I'm not going to quote Sky Lynx's exact stats. I'll make up an example."

Fairway nods.

''' XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "If you have +3 versus fire, and 50 armour, you'd have 50+15=65 armour versus fire attacks." '''

Fairway says, "Why +15?"

You say, "3 times 5"

 XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "3*5=15" 

Sky Lynx says, "for each 1 pt of protection, it equals +5 armor"

Fairway says, "Aaahhhh O.K."

Shockwave says, "It's because all of Sky Lynx's stats are ridiculously high, Fairway, it's not that the bonus is that large. ;)"

Sky Lynx says, "Not so high! :P"

Shockwave says, "Most of the time damage typing is a rather small modifier."

Colossus says, "With.. the more damage types, or even effect, that an attack might have, does each damage / effect type become less of a chance to affect the target?"

'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Ah, if you had a water fire attack (hot steam), and attacked someone weak to fire, it would do damage as if it was only a fire attack." '''

Colossus says, "and if they werent weak to fire? would one damage type supersede the other?"

'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "If they were weak to water, it would deal damage as if it was only a water attack." '''

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "If they were neither weak nor strong to water or fire, it would just be a normal attack."

Shockwave says, "And if they were equally weak to fire and strong vs. water it would also be a normal attack."

Colossus nods.. "So then not too much of a reason for having a string of damage types on an attack, less you come up againt someone who happens to have a weakness towards one of the types.. i mean. K's

You say, "having lots of types is kinda pointless and wasteful."

Fairway says, "Seems that way, Red."

Windshear scrolls up and reads.. "Steam considered a fire attack?

'''Shockwave says, "You define an attack by the kind of protection that people would expect to stop it." '''

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Steam could be typed as Fire and Water. Or probably as just Water."

Shockwave says, "If someone is fireproof, would they reasonably expect to also be proof against the heat in steam?"

Fairway says, "Good question."

Shockwave says, "Probably. Whereas we use water for ice. So because an ice-themed person laughing off your steam attack would be confusing and frustrating, you'd better make your steam fire."

Effects
 XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "!combatinfo EFFECT is where it gets FUN."

Accurate, Efficient, Overpowered
'''XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Accurate is one of my favourite effects, but there's not much to say about it. It's about a +10 bonus, in my testing. It doesn't cost any extra energon. It's cheap! But a better Accuracy is usually more important than the Accurate effect."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Inaccurate is the opposite side of the coin. It's really... not fun, as far as attack defects go." '''

You say, "Accurate is neat as marking one of your attacks as a 'signature weapon' or 'favorite weapon'"

Monstereo says, "Penumbras 'signature' is his rapier, a sad little melee, but I gave it accurate for his fencing skill"

Shockwave says, "I usually recommend that an OC get at least one energon weapon which is Accurate and/or Efficient."

''' XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Efficient is another one of my favourite effects. It makes your attack cost 3 less. So, a level 1 costs -4. A level 2 costs -1. Efficient is especially good on areas. A level 0 Efficient attack, however, will only ever give back 4 energon, so there is no point to ever pull it to 0, unless you really want to do no damage." '''

Fairway plans on doing so.

You say, "right, accurate or efficient are both neat as a main weapon, and give you good reason to use it often(but not overpowered so you have to refain from using it much)"

Shockwave says, "The procs are the same no matter how many effects you have, Colossus."

''' XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Overpowered is the other side of the coin to Efficient. As such, it is terrible to put on areas. It's okay on weapons you don't use much." '''

Shockwave says, "But which you still want to be able to pull."

Drain, Feed
''' XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Drain is interesting. It makes the target lose 10 energon, if it hits. Ammo people will laugh if you hit them with it, but it can cramp an energon-hungry build's style." '''

Redshift notes that Drain always drains 10, regardless of damage dealt.

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Feed gives you 10 energon, if it hits, but only if it hits. Feed and Efficient are good effects if you have an energon-hungry build, like you have a lot of attacks that cost a lot of energon, or if you have a forcefield, or if you a medic who !patches everyone."

Fairway says, "That never occured to me, Cate."

Fortress Maximus says, "But aside from snacking on somebody what else would be feed based?"

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Feed does not have to mean "rar, I am eating your arm". You could shoot someone with a taser that drains their electricity or something."

 You say, "Feed's 10 energon return is also regardless of damage dealt"

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Or you could have a weapon that can convert the kinetic energy of its recoil into energon."

You say, "could someone !attack/0 THEMSELF with a feed attack?"

Fortress Maximus says, "hmm never thought of that. Good answer."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Or a flashlight attack that you shake you power it. > _ > "

Shockwave says, "You could."

You say, "well, i know you can. but would it be allowed?"

Shockwave says, "In fact, you could get an inaccurate feed and set yourself protected, use !allow, and then hit yourself with the feed to bypass the normal limits on passing."

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "If it was well-justified and you convinced Charstaff, sure."

Shockwave says, "The feed hit would cancel the !allow so when your opponent attacked you you would still be protected."

You say, "right."

Shockwave says, "(but this would probably get a finger-wag from the charstaff)"

You say, "which feels a little... Exploity"

Shockwave says, "It is. ;) That's why I didn't app for it already when I thought of it for a droptank ability."

Sky Lynx says, "a little? is there anything that limits how much people can exploit the system? doesn't seem so"

Shockwave says, "The only limit on exploits is that if you do it we close the exploit."

You say, "well, IDEALY when we find exploits we STOP them"

XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > shall bother Hazard,

Shockwave says, "In other words, the reason it's possible to exploit Feed that way is because *no one has ever done it*."

Fortress Maximus, "that's what staff is for. You can app it but fighting with Reds foot in yer aft makes it hard to dodge."

Wild
XF-35B Astral Lightning < Catechism > says, "Wild is the negative effect people like best. It is a 1/5 chance of hitting a random person in the room."

You say, "yay Wild"

Catechism says, "If you are outnumbered by enemies, your Wild attack will propbably still hit an enemy. (or Scorponok.) But if there are more allies around, you might want to avoid using Wild attacks."

 You say, "Wild is neat. in a one-on-one, it makes it 10% chance of hitting yourself(literally half of backfire)" 

Fairway has had that happen.

Windshear says, "Wild is fun I gotta admit... though I dont think Dreadwind thougth so the other night.."

Shockwave says, "Confuse is in a way even more fun because it lets you make your opponent wild. :)"

You say, "and SOMETIMES it will do crazy things like... trigger Wild multiple times, and have the wilds go off all on one guy, dealing massive damage"

Vulnerable, Backfire
Catechism says, "Vulnerable stuns you whenever you use the attack, as such, it isn't popular. However, if you have terrible agility, it is not a terrible drawback."

Sky Lynx says, "how long has the vulnerablity last? dependant on level of attack? or a set period of time?"

Catechism says, "Stuns last until you get hit or until you !shake."

Shockwave says, "And you're allowed to !shake it off the following round if no one attacks you."

You say, "Vulnerable lasts Until you are HIT, or after one full round if you are not it you can !shake(just like a stun)"

Catechism says, "You have to let enemies have one round to take advantage of the Stun before you can !shake."

Shockwave says, "The next time your turn comes up you can !shake, which doesn't consume your turn, so you act normally that round."

Sky Lynx says, "K.."

Space-Going B-1R Lancer says, "Ah, thanks, Shockwave. I was about to ask that."

Catechism says, "Backfire has a 1/5 chance of hitting you with your own attack, rather than the enemy."

Catechism says, "So it is like Wild but worse." '''

Recoil, Ouch
'''Catechism says, "Recoil: attack does partial damage to you whenever it is fired. Not terrible, if you have tons of Endurance." '''

Shockwave says, "The damage that Recoil does is based on ranks, too, not on damage done."

Shockwave says, "So hitting a fragile person doesn't make the recoil any worse than hitting a brick house."

Fairway says, "Nor should it."

Crosscheck says, "Actually from experience, Recoil is a pain on a high level attack."

You say, "well yes, Recoil on a large attack is going to hurt"

Catechism says, "Ouch: partial damage whenever it hits. Again, not terrible if you have lots of Endurance."

Shockwave says, "(same is true of Ouch)"

Rodimus Prime says, "Ouch is the one automatically included on the global Ram."

Stun
'''Catechism says, "Stun. Enemy is immobilised. Interesting, insofar as it is best in a team setting."

Catechism says, "See, if you can hit the opponent with a Stun, you can probably hit the enemy with your awesome missile."

Catechism says, "So why use the Stun at all?"'''

You say, "Stun is great for helping a teammate with lower Acc than you!"

'''Catechism says, "Whereas, if you stun a dude, and then Joe McAwesome Missile with bad accuracy uses his missile during your stun to hit, that makes more sense."

Catechism says, "Though, because a Stun is a guaranteed hit, you could hit someone with an Inaccurate attack from Protected after Stun, while Blinded."

Rodimus Prime says, "Stun *does* let you hedge your bets on a more expensive attack. Also, can be good for RP-dramatic reasons, but that's neither here nor there."

Shockwave says, "Most of the time stunning isn't worthwhile unless you don't usually do much damage yourself and you have someone around who has a powerful attack, or unless you have a powerful attack that you're holding in reserve which is for whatever reason less usable than the stun."'''

You say, "Being on the recieving end of a Stun is kinda blah, so they should be used sparingly, but they can be quite useful"

Fairway steers a wide course around Joe McAwesome Missile with bad accuracy. ..

Shockwave says, "For instance, if your stun is energon and your damage dealing attack is ammo, or vice versa."

Shockwave says, "Or if there's a combiner standing right there trying to hit someone that only you can hit."

Rodimus Prime says, "Also, if stun is put on a damaging attack (very expensive that, BTW), you are causing damage and guarenteeing damage a second time, but this is a very energon-hungry use."

Shockwave says, "Yeah, Soundwave for instance is able to 'juggle' an opponent that way, but he can only keep it up for a few rounds before he runs out of fuel."

Repeat
'''Catechism says, "Repeat! The enemy takes damage for a few turns after you hit. However, it's only about a level 1, then about a level 1/2. The damage level of the initial attack doesn't matter. So a level 5 and a level 1 repeat for the same damage, within randomisation."

Catechism says, "Repeats do not stack."

Catechism says, "So, you want to wait until your first repeat wears off before using it again."

Catechism says, "it'll give you a message when it does."'''

Shockwave says, "Since you can !cancel repeat you can keep using that attack without the effect on it until then."

Sky Lynx says, "does repeat last for a set period?"

Shockwave says, "Yes, and it does a set damage."

Fortress Maximus says, "Does high armor still stop it after the inital hit?"

Shockwave says, "No, Repeat ignores armor."

Sky Lynx says, "Hrm. i wasnt sure if i noticed it lasting a shorter or longer time in some instances.."

Fortress Maximus nods.

Cripple, Blind
Catechism says, "Cripple temporarily impairs your opponent's agility when it lands, so it is like Stun's baby brother. When the person is attacked again, Cripple goes away."

Catechism says, "Cripple is another good team effect to let your inaccurate comrades have a better shot."

Fairway says, "I didn't know Cripple went away."

Catechism says, "It does."

You say, "Cripple lasts only until they are hit next, then it poofs"

Shockwave says, "Or to keep hitting. Galvatron, for instance, has Cripple on his Bare Hands to indicate that when he gets them around your throat he tends to keep hitting you."

Fairway says, "Well that's good."

Shockwave says, "However, Cripple is a smaller increase in chance to hit than Accurate."

Sky Lynx says, "No.. Galvatron constantly hitting you is bad.. :P"

Catechism says, "Blind is the Accuracy version of Cripple. It reduces Accuracy. After you shoot, it goes away. It can also be a good team effect."

Shockwave says, "Blind/Cripple is half as much as Accurate/Inaccurate."

'''Catechism checks. "Actually, yeah, Cripple is a milder effect than Accurate.'''

Sky Lynx says, "I'm sure ppl have probably playtested it out to an extent.."

Shockwave says, "But Blind/Cripple are halved by comparison to Accurate/Inaccurate because the former can be passed to other people, while Accurate only applies to yourself."

Catechism says, "But you can slap Cripple on an Area."

Shockwave says, "The other advantage to Cripple is that Cripple does not restrict the damage done."

Shockwave says, "(when used in a team)"

Shockwave says, "Let's say that your attack can be at most 8CP (this is generally true unless the wizards clear you for EFC level attacks). That means that with Accurate on, your attack can be no more damaging than 6 ranks."

Shockwave says, "But if someone else cripples them or you cripple them with a different attack first, you can use a rank 8 with an accuracy bonus which you would not have been able to provide to yourself."

Fairway nods.

Corrupt
Catechism says, "Corrupt: Damages a random sub-system of your target. Not hugely useful, as it is random, and it can hit a mostly useless stat, like mode 1 velocity."

Shockwave says, "We're considering upgrading Corrupt and natural stat damage to deal more damage per 'tick' so Corrupt may become better in the future."

Shatter, Pierce
Catechism says, "Shatter deals armour damage equal to 5+ the level of the attack. So a level 5 Shatter attack deals 10 armour damage. Armour damage is per mode, so you can swap modes, and your armour is fresh."

Catechism says, "Stripping away armour does mean all you attacks after do more damage to that person in that mode. It also helps your allies. However, it is not a huge bonus."

Catechism says, "So, Shatter is, theoretically speaking, best up front, early in a fight."

Shockwave says, "And ideally on a target that's being ganged up on."

Catechism says, "But let's say you have 50/40 armour. One or two hits from Shatter, and you may as well go mode 2, if armour is the only difference between modes."

Fairway says, "How does shatter's effect change if you pull an attack?"

Catechism says, "Less armour damage."

Shockwave says, "It does slightly less armor damage."

Crosscheck says, "But it become much more energon efficient"

Catechism says, "Pull it to level 1, and you'd get 1+5=6 armour damage."

Shockwave says, "The most energy efficient shatter is rank 1."

Shockwave says, "Mind you, this still costs you 5 energon per use and you're doing Disruptor damage."

Shockwave says, "So a tactic based on shattering is slow to develop and you may find that your opponent is beating you silly with plain damage in the meantime."

Sky Lynx says, "Or dino's in their stinkin' mode 2 armor.."

Catechism says, "Pierce partially ignores armour. So, if you want to shank combiners? Pierce is your man. Except they still probably won't feel it. ;)" Edit 04/2012 : Pierce does not exist anymore.

Confuse
Catechism says, "Confuse causes you enemy's next attack to go wild. Thus it is best when you have more enemies than allies, to increase the chances your enemy hits an enemy."

Catechism says, "Confuse is also EVIL to hit people who just used Crackshot to !aim."

Fairway says, "EVIL as in unfair or just annoying?"

Shockwave says, "And somewhat less evil when they have just Scouted."

Catechism says, "Just annoying. Not unfair."

Catechism says, "I wouldn't do it too often, but once in a while is fine."

Catechism says, "Confuse is like stun: use sparingly, lest people beat your face in for revenge."

Shockwave says, "You are certainly within your rights to do it every time they aim in order to teach them not to aim around you."

Windshear says, "huh?"

Rodimus Prime says, "Most of the time, it's wisest to pull your attack when you're confused. However, it can be more *fun* to just whip out your best. ;)"

You say, "that would be kinda funny, if somwone is constantly !analyzing. spam them with confuse :)"

Shockwave says, "Confuse is also a good way to defeat yourself, sadly."

Shockwave says, "As it costs a lot of energon and your opponent can just pull their attack down and not suffer any real harm by it."

Sky Lynx says, "Well.. isnt doing that tho exploting the system then? and instead of 'having the right' why not report them for the offense of aim'ing every round or confuse every round.."

Rodimus Prime says, "If they're *constantly* !analyzing, odds are they're feeding the info to someone else."

Shockwave says, "If their attack is efficient, they even get a benefit from pulling that way."

Shockwave says, "No, Sky Lynx, we actually built the system to work that way."

Rodimus Prime says, "You have to give up a round to aim. There's nothing wrong with aiming every other round."

Rodimus Prime says, "You give up the ability to actually do damage in any round where you aim."

Shockwave says, "It is not an offense to, for instance, stun every round, as all that will do is eat up all your energon without accomplishing anything."

Space-Going B-1R Lancer says, "There are a lot of balances built into the new system."

Shockwave says, "People consider it impolite, but Hazard actually built in inherent drawbacks to things like that."

Sky Lynx says, "But 'confusing' them on purpose is rather childish.."

Windshear shakes head and leaves

Shockwave says, "Confusing them is what confuse is for."

Windshear has left.

'''Space-Going B-1R Lancer says, "So the code itself will eventually limit the number of times that someone could do it in a single battle." '''

Shockwave says, "Exactly."

Catechism says, "Confuse takes a LOT of energon. Aiming takes none."

No-Size, No-Armor
Catechism says, "No-Size ignores size when dealing damage. So, it means tiny guys can hit big dudes and not have the penalty of being tiny hurting their melee damage. However, it also means tiny dudes don't get an accuracy bonus to hit big dudes. Meanwhile, ot makes it easier for big dudes to hit tiny dues but is usually not as good as Accurate."

Catechism says, "No-Size is generally not very useful."

Shockwave says, "Since no-size costs the same as Accurate and the size modifiers are very small, as I mentioned earlier, almost everyone is better off not using no-size."

Catechism says, "No-Armour completely ignores armour, Pierce's big brother. It's only useful against people with crazy amounts of armour."

You say, "No-armor is cool flavour-wise as an armor-piercing weapon"

Shockwave says, "No-Armor, as a 4-CP effect, means that your weapon is typically going to be rather weak once it does go through the armor."

Disintegrate
Catechism says, "Disintegrate is like a souped up Shatter. It does about twice what Shatter does."

Rodimus Prime says, "When I'm on as Fleet, who is an energon-hungry build, I sometimes like to !pass fearless right at the beginning until I max out his energon, because that's when I'm full up on endurance, and so I can afford to take the hit better. Random tip that some may find useful."

Control
Catechism says, "Control mainly applies to good guys in mode 2. Like, you have a human pose sitting inside you and using your guns, if you have a control effect on your attack."

You say, "Control is also awesome when a BASE or other object is in the room and has control attacks :)"

Colossus says, "can ppl have control objects?"

Colossus says, "not the defense bases or whatnot.. but themselves.. paid for and all, etc"

Colossus says, "and not as a mode.."

You say, "currently, no, Colossus"

You say, "there were faction-owned ones used in the Mexico battles anyone from that faction could use"

'''Catechism says, "So, say you had Scout and a human using your attacks - you could scout on your turn and then the human could get the Scout bonus when they attack with your control attack." '''

You say, "Base-mode TFs like Fort Max and Scorp have a few(control attacks), some gestalt leaders have one, and special combat objects you might encounter may have some"

Catechism says, "I actually want to buy some control attacks for my car alt, so humans can sit shotgun in him and... shotgun."

Crosscheck says, "What stats are used when you use a control attack?"

Crosscheck says, "I mean will it use my accuracy or the accuracy of the object?"

Catechism says, "Uses the energon and damage stat of the person with the attack, the accuracy of the one using the attack."

You say, "if you're gonna use fort Max's base-mode guns, you had better ask him first :)"

You say, "because it uses his energon supply"

Crosscheck says, "I noticed you can use them eve if he's offline"

Fortress Maximus says, "Well you can lock them"

Rodimus Prime says, "So now if Fort Max ever logs on with no energon, we know why..."

Catechism says, "Self-Destruct is only for bombs..."

Abilities
''' Catechism says, "And I think that's about it for effects. Abilities!"

Catechism says, "!combatinfo ability" '''

Pilot, Space-Pilot, LR-Radio, Movement
'''Catechism says, "Pilot isn't hugely useful. It lets you fly atmospheric craft, mostly. No real combat applications, as those objects usually have terrible stats." '''

Monstereo says, "A shame."

Catechism says, "Space-Pilot is a bit more interesting, since it lets you fly space shuttles, if you want to explore the grid. No real combat applications."

Monstereo says, "Shuttle usually have a LR Radio built in too don't they?"

'''Catechism says, "LR_Radio lets you radio people anywhere IC... but they can't radio you back, unless they also have LR_Radio. Good for crank calls???"

Catechism says, "I'm not sure if shuttles have that anymore or not. I'd have to check, honestly."'''

Monstereo has phone tagged Sunder once.

You say, "LR_radio comes in handy for specialist communicator dudes, not much else"

Monstereo says, "Metroplex com tower has lr radio I know."

Catechism says, "Space-Walk is a minor dodge bonus in space rooms."

You say, "yay space-walk :)"

Catechism says, "Swim is a minor dodge bonus in Swim rooms."

Monstereo says, "LR radio is good for sending messages on a frequency not monitored by an interceptor in a different room from user."

Catechism says, "Dive is a minor dodge bonus in Dive rooms."

Redshift say, "NOTE, anyone can fight in space(and on.in water) with no penalty. You just don't get a bonus if you lack the abilities"

Crosscheck says, "Don't you need swim to access an ocean room?"

You say, "you need the abilities to MOVE to the rooms, yes"

Monstereo says, "Yup. Unless you fly... or have a hovercraft to jump out of."

You say, "but if there is a big fight scene innnnnn spaaaaaace, you don't need spacewalk/spaceflight to join in"

Catechism says, "Flight is a small dodge bonus in sky rooms."

Rodimus Prime says, "If you want to hold a scene in a particular place, there's always a way to justify people who don't have the right ability being there, even if it means posing objects. However, when fighting people who *do* have the right ability, they will be at a disadvantage. In my experience, though, it can be quite fun roleplaying out how your character overcomes the environment to actually fight."

Monstereo says, "Waterwings."

Catechism says, "Space-Flight is a slightly larger dodge bonus in space than Space-Walk, but it is for alt modes."

Inspire
Catechism says, "Inspire lets you boost the courage of one ally by burning a turn of yours. Lets them stay longer in a fight. Fun if you like making speeches."

Monstereo says, "Or looking pretty for the hero."

You say, "Inspire can give the target a nice boost of +Courage, that lasts all scene. it ALSO removes the SCARED flag if they are scared"

Fairway says, "What is the correct way to ask for !inspiration?"

Catechism says, "Any way you can justify it."

You say, "to ask for somewone to !inspire you during a fight, FW?"

Catechism says, "In mode 2, I bought Inspire, and I justified it as I can perform inspiring aerobatic tricks, like the Blue Angels."

Monstereo says, "Baby, if I pull through this and win, can I get some sugar?"

Fairway says, "Right."

You say, "I would try asking on o-a"

Catechism says, "Oh! Just ask on +o-a if anyone mins."

Rodimus Prime says, "Fairway, do you mean how you request it for upgrades, or how you request it in battle?"

Monstereo whips out Excalibur. !inspire

Fairway says, "Rods: I mean, how should I ask for a fellow player to !inspire me"

Rodimus Prime says, "You can also try playing up how you're badly shaken or similar, if you need someone to !inspire you, but because battles are so chaotic, they may not get the hint and you might want to consider resorting to page."

Monstereo visits an aquarium and gets an idea for a movie. !inspire

You say, "I'd reccomend askig on o-a, then if someone says 'sure!' pose appropriatly"

Catechism says, "You /can/ inspire cross-faction, though it is rare that you would want to."

Monstereo says, "And the rule about inspire after cou-end is reached?"

Rodimus Prime has !inspire, BTW. "I usually don't think to use it, but man, I'd love for an excuse to, Fairway, so if I'm in a fight with you, feel free to ask me."

'''You say, "!inspire REMOVES te scared flag"

You say, "because it gives the recipient a ew, lowercou-end limit"'''

Rodimus Prime considers. "It occurs to me that that's a good alternative to attacking, too. Hmmm..."

Fortress Maximus says, "I need me a speech writer"

Noah Wolfe hurms, "Might come in handy with me."

Fairway says, "I will, Rod!"

Monstereo says, "So if code says you should run away, fearless leader can draw you back for more."

You say, "I guess possibly you might get inspired and still be cou-ended, but most Inspirers have good Leadership :)"

You say, "so yes, if you are scared/cou-ended, inspire lets you stick it out for a little while longer"

Monstereo says, "Also as note, cou-end can be ignored if parties agree and it is justifyable... like you're rescuing a baby from a burning building and the evil Autobots are shooting you in the back while you're doing it."

Noah Wolfe shakes his fist at the evil autobots.

You say, "cou-end is not as big of a deal as it once was, it has it's own built-in limiter(the SCARED flag)"

You say, "but one should still pay attention to thier courage limit and act appropriatly"

Rodimus Prime nods towards Monstereo. "I've gotten permission to stick around while Scared before."

Noah Wolfe has done it a few times in the past.

Crackshot
'''Catechism says, "Crackshot lets you take a turn doing !aim to get an accuracy bonus against one specific target. You lose it if you transform or change defense levels."

Catechism says, "it is about a +20 bonus to hit, so you can hide in protected, !aim, and still have normal accuracy."

Catechism says, "So, if you only want to spend every other turn attacking, you can sit in Protected and !aim every other turn."

Scout
Catechism says, "Scout lets you !analyze target to get a small damage bonus. You can !analyze for your enemies, too. The bonus stays until you land a hit versus that person, then goes away."

'''Rodimus Prime says, "As a note, the Scout bonus does *not* go away if you transform or change defense levels."

Catechism says, "The scout damage bonus ignores armour and is about 7. So, it is good against heavily armoured opponents."

Rodimus Prime says, "So you can !analyze in your hardest to hit mode."

Catechism says, "Scout also lets you see what is happening one room away."

Catechism says, "You can also !analyze from Protected."'''

Crosscheck says, "Is it able see poses with "" in them?"

Crosscheck says, "Cause pre TACS it wasn't"

Rodimus Prime says, "Ah-ha!"

Catechism says, "It can see the poses. It just edits out whatever is inside the quotes."

Rodimus Prime says, "Scout can see poses in adjacent rooms, but you will *not* be able to see what's in quotes."

Crosscheck says, "nice"

Jetfire says, "So, you can +analyze someone and it maintains if you transform into a mode without scout?"

You say, "yep"

Rodimus Prime says, "Or you can !analyze someone protected, then go Fearless before actually firing. But really, !analyze shines in team combat, when a weaker support character can just 'sit out' a battle and feed combat information to everyone else."

You say, "and the weaker character can stay Protected to avoid getting blutched"

Crosscheck says, "sounds like a good way to play a strategist who sits back and gives instructions to everyone else."

Rodimus Prime says, "Crosscheck: indeed!"

Resupply, Refuel
Catechism says, "Resupply lets you reeload people with ammo."

You say, "Resupply is for use OUT of combat, not in combat."

You say, "getting resupplied by a /player/ instead of the gumby is better because it has a shorter 'cool down' time than then gumby. 5 days versus 7"

Catechism says, "But, a player Reloader set a 5 day timer. Whereas, - yeah, Redshift."

You say, "but there are not many dudes with Resupply"

Catechism says, "Love Fulcrum."

Catechism says, "Fulcrum is mighty."

Monstereo says, "That and it gives a resuppliar something to do with their ability."

Jetfire nods. "The Autobots actually have a shortage of refuelers... ironically.

Catechism says, "Refuel, however, /can/ be used in combat."

You say, "there are very few Refuelers and Resupplyers"

Fortress Maximus can do either if ever needed.

Catechism says, "The Refuellee gets slightly more energon than the Refueller donates, unless a Refueller refuels a Refueller."

You say, "ALSO Refuel grants the recipient a bit extra energon MORE than the amount the refueler loses"

Redshift hahas

Monstereo says, "Two refullers refueling eachother until both are topped off?"

Noah Wolfe says, "Kinky..."

You say, "refulers do NOT get the extra refuel bonus, because then they would be abel to generate a theorectically infinit supply of energon."

You say, "but non-refuelers will get a little extra(this was to make OCs with refuel, who have a max energon of 50, still be useful)"

Catechism says, "You can refuel from Protected, as well."

Noah Wolfe says, "Can I put refuel on a combat object?"

You say, "can Exos et refuel? not sure"

Rodimus Prime says, "Refuel uses the refueler's turn, BTW, not the refuelee."

Catechism says, "I think so?"

You say, "I don't see why not, but I'd double-check with Hazard first"

Monstereo says, "Could Soundwave making empties and then filling energon cubes tapping the environment around him justify refuel?"

Fairway says, "Hmm."

Heal, Exo-Suit
Catechism says, "Heal is like Repair for humans, but it isn't very useful. You rarely see a human running around in combat with no exo."

Noah Wolfe says, "But we do get injured, so heal is very helpful for us."

You say, "Exo-suit is fairly self-explanatory. you get to pilot exo suits!"

"exo pilots suffer some damage from being inside an exo when the exo gets hit."'''

Monstereo says, "Exo-suit certification, The Daniel Witwicky way."

You say, "the suit also uses the pilots' Acc and Agl if they are superior"

Fairway says, "Red: You mean if the pilot's acc and agil are superior to the exos?"

Crosscheck says, "He got a drunken exo pilot skill"

You say, "yes, FW"

Construction, Repair
You say, "CONSTRUCTION lets you repair objects(like the base objects in mexico!) outside of combat, and I think they can !patch those combat objects as well."

Catechism says, "Repair lets you !patch in combat."

Catechism says, "!patch cost 4 energon and gives the patchee some health."

Crosscheck says, "What's the energon cost of !patch?"

Fairway says, "Ah."

Catechism says, "You can !patch from protected. You can !patch yourself."

You say, "more health based on your tech(or tech+int?)"

Noah Wolfe says, "All hail Monstereo!"

Fairway says, "!patch can be used during battle, but not !repair."

Rodimus Prime says, "Getting a !patch from, say, First Aid is a much better idea than getting one from me."

You say, "Yes, !patch is the battle-field version. !repair is the major surgery in a lab version."

Catechism says, "So, if there are multiple patchers around, get the best one to patch you, if they will."

Noah Wolfe says, "And !patch cannot be used on exos?"

Catechism says, "Exos aren't living beings. I don't think patch works on them."

Jetfire shakes his head. "No, exos cannot be patched."

Catechism says, "It is generally best to get patched before you start taking stat damage, as it staves stat dmaage off for a turn or so."

Crosscheck says, "I could swear I saw a post on bb34 telling that exo can be patched"

Jamming, Holograms
Catechism says, "Jamming has no real combat use. And is included in Interception."

Catechism says, "Holograms also has no real combat use, aside from 'colour'."

Monstereo says, "Jamming, keep the evil autobots from calling reinforcements."

Monstereo says, "We be jammin"

Fortress Maximus, "Jamming doesn't block faction channel use though, does it?"

Crosscheck says, "Nope"

Monstereo says, "Distraction, fool the heroic Decepticons with that giant holo-combiner for the millionth time..."

Rodimus Prime says, "It used to be that if you created a hologram that has the same name as you, you became unattackable because you confused the code, but that's a bug."

Colossus says, "Can holograms only be used to scan pchars? or can they be used to create any named hologram? a tree, a boulder, a nameless human, etc..?"

You say, "Jamming blocks one-on-one radios, not channels"

Monstereo says, "Or get a hot daye by looking hotter than you really are."

Fortress Maximus, "So it's pretty useless"

You say, "jamming as it currently is is kinda useless, yes :("

Monstereo says, "Hmm... early G1 epsiode, didn't that holo bot disguise himself as tumbleweed or something?"

Noah Wolfe had pondered getting holograms, but a skill in disguise might work better and be more realistic for a human.

Rodimus Prime says, "You can scan any object that exists."

Nosecone says, "Yes, hound did"

Demolition
Catechism says, "Demolition lets you make bombs."

Noah Wolfe flexes his demo might.

Catechism says, "These are mainly meant for blowing up buildings, and if your allies are near, they should hit your allies."

Catechism says, "You can make one bomb a week."

Rodimus Prime says, "Now, if you have holograms, you can usually *pose* creating a hologram of, say, a tree, and folks will play along."

You say, "bombs have ONE-SHOT and SELFDESTRUCT so they are godo for 1 use, then poof"

Fairway shall test that out at some point. "Thanks!"

Catechism says, "The better your int and tech, the better the bomb."

You say, "but they can hit any number of targets for 1 ammo"

'''You say, "Bombs will get better based on your Int and Tech; the bomb object uses it's OWN firepower stats, not the fpr of the bomb-maker"

You say, "also bombs will get more, better effects if you have increased tech and int"'''

Catechism says, "I've seen bombs with Accurate and Cripple, for very high values of Int and Tech."

You say, "smarter people make better booms :)"

Catechism says, "News demolition: "The power of the bomb depends on the skill of the one creating it and a bit of luck." The skill of the maker. Bombs were /always/ based on Int and Tech."

Noah Wolfe says, "Oh yeah! There's no bomb disarming code anymore, is there?"

E-Senses
Catechism says, "Enhanced Senses lets you find Sneaking or Cloaked dudes

Catechism says, "Enhanced Senses."

Catechism says, "You can !detect from Protected, too."

Catechism says, "But !detect requires you to know the name of the dude you are trying to detect."'''

Forcefield
'''Catechism says, "Forcefield is a very skill-intensive ability."

Catechism says, "When you snap up a forcefield, damage takes away from your energon, insteas of your health."'''

Rodimus Prime says, "Skill intensive? Y'mean energon-intensive?"

'''Catechism says, "So, you want your energon high when you turn it on, and you want to use very low-level attacks."

Catechism says, "Efficient and Feed pair well with Forcefields."

Catechism says, "You probably also want to snap the forcefield up before you take stat damage."'''

Catechism says, "A strong enough attack can break your bubble, though, as does running out of energon."

You say, "also you can project your field around someone else! use it wisely"

Catechism says, "If someone has a forcefield up and is only ever !passing fearless, you should attack them will low level attacks until you save up for a big attack to break their bubble."

Rodimus Prime says, "Which *also* lowers how much energon you can max out at."

Catechism says, "So, say you have a team medic woth bad agility. You might forcefield to keep him alive to !patch everyone."

Fortress Maximus says, "How much breaks it?"

Catechism says, "I'm not sure how much it takes to pop it."

Rodimus Prime says, "I originally built Fleet with forcefield and an ammo attack, and after several test runs, decided the hit that it gives to default and max energon was not worth it, and switched him back to a pure energon build."

Rodimus Prime says, "I think you pretty much just have to drain a person of energon to pop their forcefield."

You say, "forcefield and REPAIR are good"

Fairway says, "Rod: What constitutes a test run?"

Rodimus Prime says, "Forcefield + repair, Forcefield + feed, Forcefield + efficient, Forcefield + Scout" (as potentially good in tandem)

You say, "FW, when we first added TACS, we let people add stuff, test it, and change it"

Rodimus Prime says, "Fairway: when we intially converted, we were allowed to tweak our builds because it was all very new to us."

Rodimus Prime says, "I suppose Forcefield and Aiming are not too bad, either, because if you're only attacking every other turn, you're using less energon, anyway."

Catechism says, "Ah, when I was new, there was no tweaking."

Catechism says, "You could go !protected, too, if you were !aiming every other turn."

Radar, Sneak, Cloak
Catechism says, "Sneak lets you go hidden before combat starts, and you get on Sneak Attack, which has a damage and accuracy boost. After combat starts, you cannot use it."

'''Catechism says, "Sneak stack with !aim and !analyze."

Catechism says, "So you could spend three turns build up the ultimate sniper attack, if you want."

Catechism says, "Also, while Sneaking, you could just !analyze of the rest of your team. You could spend the whole battle and never deSneak."'''

Fairway nods.

Catechism says, "You'd be like a spotter, hidden up in a tree, radioing data to your allies."

 You say, "BUT, if you are sneaking, you can be found, and frced into OFF-GUARD"

Bede_BD-5 says, "Luckily the abilities that give a bonus to detection are expensive."

Rodimus Prime *loves* playing Red Alert in a scene with a Cloaker or a Sneaker. > :)

Catechism says, "Radar lets you find all the Hidden people at once, without knowing names."

You say, "the abilities to sneak and cloak are ALSO very expensive"

Rodimus Prime says, "Yes, and only very rarely useful, because not many people have Sneak or Cloak."

Rodimus Prime says, "But when you *do* get to use it, it's a blast."

Rodimus Prime says, "Also, most hidden exits on Cybertron and all hidden exits on Pz-Zazz can be !detected or !radared."

Rodimus Prime says, "So if you're on Cybertron or Pz-Zazz, it is occasionally handy to randomly type '!detect down'"

Catechism says, "Cloak lets you go Hidden at will, for an energon cost."

You say, "cloak is the suped-up version of Sneak. Very similar."

Catechism says, "You can also stack !aim, !analyze, and Cloak."

Rodimus Prime says, "It is, but you're spending four turns to make one attack, and if someone has e_senses or radar in the room, you're giving them three turns to screw you over."

You say, "but they have to spend multiple turns to add it all together"

Bede_BD-5 says, "I think that build was suggested to me by a few of you when I was thinking of a sneaker."

'''Catechism says, "Both Cloak and Sneak grant a damage bonus, so even a level 1 attack can be wicked, coming off a Sneak Attack."

Catechism says, "Sneak-Attack into an area can be VERY wicked."

Catechism says, "Because if I recall correctly, the bonus applies to all targets."'''

You say, "Neat!"

Crosscheck says, "And next turn : you die :p"

Rodimus Prime says, "To me, sometimes it's more fun to pull off something spectacular and then lose horribly than it is to win in a 'normal' manner."

Bede_BD-5 says, "If you're teaming you may get wrecked afterward, but you also might have just won the battle for your comrades!"

Interception
Catechism says, "Interception has no real combat uses, but man, you can annoy people with it!"

Rodimus Prime says, "I'll tell you Interception's combat use: creating an Operations frequency, which is less likely to be hacked than your Faction frequency."

System Shock
Fortress Maximus says, "Does taking half or better damage in a shot still kill you?"

Fortress Maximus, "Of your total END that is"

Catechism says, "Are there any questions or comments? - ah! Yes."

Fairway understands a lot more now.

Catechism says, "Unless you are a Junkion."

'''Catechism says, "Junkion cannot be KO'd by taking greater than 50% of their End."

Catechism says, "But normal Transformers and humans can."'''

Fortress Maximus says, "sneak-attack just got even more deadly."

'''Catechism says, "If you take greater than 50% of your end in one hit, you get knocked out."

Catechism says, "System shock."'''

Noah Wolfe says, "Now, is that half your current end, or max end?"

You say, "half MAX end"

Vel-Dodging
You say, "cate, explain vel-dodging"

Catechism says, "Okay!"

Bede_BD-5 says, "Vel dodging... Redshift's crack."

Catechism says, "In your alternate mode, you have a tiny dodge bonus versus melee attacks."

Rodimus Prime says, "It does *not* work against ranged attacks."

'''Catechism says, "It does work versus Velocity attacks, though."

Catechism says, "It's meant to make it so punching a jet is hard."'''

Noah Wolfe could never understand how that's possible before.

You say, "so anyone's car mode or jet mode get a boost to dodging melee and ramming attacks. Sop, if someone is melee-heavy, transform!"'

Catechism says, "But the bonus really isn't much, and alternate modes usually have bad armour."

Catechism says, "So it is a gamble."

You say, "the bonus is better with better vel, but is not a big bonus. but it is a free bonus"

Monstereo says, "Stick to car mode with car level armor and you die quick."

Noah Wolfe says, "Does that apply to all mode 2's? For example, the horrorcons or terrorcons and their animal alt modes."

Catechism says, "All modes 2s!"

You say, "ANY mode other than mode1"

Catechism says, "But you vel-dodge better if your velocity is higher."

You say, "terrorcon and predacon beast modes get vel-dodge boost. Sky lynx's mode 2 and 3 get it too"

Bede_BD-5 says, "If you're melee heavy and someone is running circles around you it's probably a good idea to have an anti-speedster attack handy with good accuracy, and maybe some form of stun or cripple."

Catechism says, "So a slow monster is easier to punch than a jet."

Fortress Maximus gets no bonus at all :(

Catechism says, "They only vel dodge in special rooms if they have the correct ability."

You say, "hour mode1 does NOT get a vel-boost, Sky Lynx. because NOBODIES mode1 does"

You say, "vel-dodging is not the same as the boost from abilitis, tho"

Catechism says, "Yeah, for example, I have Space-Walk in mode 1. So, in space rooms, I get a bonus versus dodging melee attacks in mode 1."

You say, "ALSO, I think space-walk is only versus melee, but spaceFLIGHT is versus all attacks?"

You say, "spaceflight is more expensive, and a bit better bonus than space-walk"

Catechism says, "No, Redshift."

Catechism says, "All the movement abilities are only bonuses versus melee."

Jetfire says, "Spaceflight just lets you move from room to room,I'm guessing"

Catechism says, "Space-Flight is a slightly better dodge bonus versus melee than Space-Walk."

Space Shuttle < Sky Lynx > says, "In Space, yes Jets. But need FTL to leave system"

Fortress Maximus says, "FTLint here I come!"

You say, "the wiki says "You will receive a slightly larger dodge bonus to all attacks when:" for dive and space-flight"

You say, "http://transformers2005.wikia.com/wiki/NewCombatSystem#Velocity_Dodge"

Catechism says, "Where does it say that? I'm quite sure it is only to melee."

Catechism says, "Hmm!"

You say, "it seperates the chaper abilities as a dodge versus melee, and the more expensive ones as a dodge versus all attacks"

Rodimus Prime says, "By the by, FTL no longer has a vel prereq. Because FTL is kind of like a 'warp' or whatever."

Bede_BD-5 says, "Engage."

Fortress Maximus says, "Oh sweet I can get that then."

Crosscheck says, "I want it too!"

Rodimus Prime says, "Yes, Fort. And be the slowest faster than light fortress ever."

Rodimus Prime says, "It would be hilariously awesome."

Fortress Maximus says, "I break orbit by hurting it not by reaching escape velocity."

Extras
You say, "any other questions from the class?"

Fortress Maximus says, "There any plans to add player owned combat object/vehicles or even just ones with small abilities?"

Space Shuttle < Sky Lynx > pokes FM..

'''Catechism says, "I think Hazard would like to do that eventually, but I haven't seen anything concrete."

You say, "There has been some talk of it, and the code would support it, but not any time soon."

Catechism says, "I know he'd eventually like to make temporary boosters than can be bought."'''

You say, "oh!"

Rodimus Prime says, "I don't know that, so I'll let someone else answer, but I *will* note that if a person wanted to, they are allowed to spend their AP on a faction-owned object. Say, increasing a shuttle's agility even if it isn't theirs."

You say, "anyone have any questions about Boosters?"

Rodimus Prime says, "Why would someone want to do it? Because I am a weirdo."

Fortress Maximus nods, "Had considered an alt option where a jet pack type thing became a mini-craft for his alt mode."

You say, "no breakout, you can just go explore Charr :P"

Noah Wolfe should try to talk the EDC into upgrading the Atlantis.

Jetfire says, "Rod, it gives you facheads something to spend AP on."

Rodimus Prime says, "Actually, it's Fleet that I want to do it with. > _ > "

Fortress Maximus says, "I wanna know what my booster does, if possible."

Jetfire shrugs. "Regardless."

You say, "I'd love to buy a temporary booster"

Jetfire says, "And I'd love to know how to get a booster."

Rodimus Prime says, "So I can make my favorite Decepticon shuttle Not Suck."

'''You say, "you can't"

You say, "maybe later on boosters will be buyable, but not yet"'''

Catechism says, "Any other questions?"

Catechism says, "Monstereo?"

Fairway is satisfied with a well-run session and some valuable new info.

Fortress Maximus says, "Anyone know if Hazard fixed the boosters Scorp and I have?"

You say, "if you guys think of any other questions later on, feel free to ask us"

Redshift didn't know they were broken, FM!

Fortress Maximus says, "This was great btw, got a lot of new info."

Catechism says, "@mail him, if you aren't sure."

Fortress Maximus says, "They seem to do nothing. They turn off when we attack and yet don't seem to boost our ability to dodge at all."

'''Catechism says, "OH"

Catechism says, "Boosters are counter-intuitive"

Catechism says, "You turn them on after you attack."'''

Catechism says, "Then, you have improved agility until you next attack."

Fortress Maximus says, "Yeah, we started doing that. Still did nothing, unless the boost is so tiny it doesn't matter."

Fortress Maximus has never not been hit with it on. "Maybe I'm just slow."

Shockwave says, "Well, to-hit modifiers are hard to tell if they're working anyhow because it's still random."

Shockwave says, "Like, you would be increasingly likely notice the modifier if you activated the booster and attacked thirty times, or fifty times, or five hundred times."'

Space Shuttle < Sky Lynx > cheers for the one-eye, no-horn, flying purple death ray..

Shockwave says, "But the sample sizes for anecdotal events like 'I used up my whole booster and I still couldn't hit!' is usually something more like three. :)"

Fortress Maximus says, "Haha. Yeah doesn't seem worth it really, guess it's worth trying again sometime though."

Shockwave says, "As Hazard would say if he was here, although the chance of any coin coming up tails is always 50/50, that doesn't mean that the coin will alternate heads and tails, or that you can't still get a heads result twenty times in a row."

'Shockwave says, "It would be really strange to do so but it's by no means impossible, and when it happens it doesn't mean the coin is busted somehow."

Shockwave says, "I think that's why the visible effects are more popular than accurate, inaccurate, blind, and cripple."

Shockwave says, "If you spend extra CP and extra energon to blind someone, they're still going to either hit or miss you with their blinded attack. If they miss, you don't know if they might've missed even without the blind. If they hit, then obviously the blind didn't help."

Fortress Maximus agrees.

Shockwave says, "It's been suggested that a message be produced when someone hits or misses as a direct result of a special modifier, which might make the to-hit modifiers more satisfying to use."

Fortress Maximus says, "I had expected the blind effect to work more like confuse at first. The penalty to hit is nice I guess though."

Shockwave says, "Strictly speaking literal blindness would be more like Stun Confuse."

Shockwave says, "(which is a 10-CP attack)"

Catechism says, "Put wild on it. :v"

Shockwave says, "Or is it 9? I forget."

Fortress Maximus says, "11"

Fortress Maximus says, "Oh wait it is 10, thought confuse was 6 for some reason"