Combat Overhaul Overview

= Notes = Below is the initial overview. Individual update notes are contained here, noted for posterity:

Combat Overhaul Update 3

Combat Overhaul Update 4

Combat Overhaul Update 5

Combat Overhaul Update 6

Combat Overhaul Update 7

Combat Overhaul Update 8

Combat Overhaul Update 9

Combat Overhaul Update 10

= Combat =
 * Base stamina regeneration has been increased to 1 every 2 seconds.
 * Several core combat sequence changes have been made to more accurately reflect that of pre AoS UO.
 * Mounted run speed has been increased by 10%
 * Mounts will now freeze in place momentarily upon the rider's death.

Armor
Armor has been reworked to no longer have dexterity penalties. Instead heavier armors and shields will accumulate an armor penalty when worn. This armor penalty will have a few consequences for your character.

Higher armor penalties will have the following effects:
 * You will incur more stamina damage from the damage you take.
 * You will regenerate mana at a slower rate.
 * You will take more damage from the MindBlast spell.
 * You will receive a greater bonuses from the Bastion passive.

Meditation

 * Mana regeneration is now driven by your total armor penalty and the player's meditation skill.
 * Max mana regeneration rate is 2 mana per second.
 * Min mana regeneration rate is 1 mana every 8 seconds.
 * Mana regeneration for players is penalized by the cumulative armor penalties according to their slot location.
 * Mana regeneration is reduced by 2% for every 1% of armor penalty.
 * A player can activate the meditation ability only if they are wearing cloth or leather armor and are not holding a shield.
 * Mana regeneration food buffs have been disabled for drinking.
 * Drinking was originally intended to be primarily for roleplaying purposes, however due to some poor balancing, it has completely overshadowed the Meditation skill in some builds. A secondary skill should never render a primary skill irrelevant in the way that drinking was previously doing.

Example
An example of how this penalty is calculated for a player wearing a full set of platemail with a heater shield would be as follows:

(item penalty * location modifier) = slot armor penalty

(0.28 * 100%) + (0.21 * 100%) + (0.51 * 100%) + (0.35 * 100%) = total armor penalty = 135% armor penalty

Or an example of full chainmail with a metal kite shield:

(0.28 * 80%) + (0.21 * 80%) + (0.51 * 80%) + (0.35 * 80%) = total armor penalty = 108% armor penalty

Stamina Damage
When taking damage the player will incur stamina damage that is scaled by the amount of dexterity they have and their current armor penalty from the armor and shield they have equipped.

Stamina Damage = (Damage / 5) * (Dexterity / 100) * (1.0 * (Armor Penalty / 2))


 * Stamina damage is calculated using pre armor mitigation damage.
 * Max per hit stamina damage is limited to 12.
 * Maces increase stamina damage further by 20%.

Weapon Re-balancing
All weapons have been re-balanced and normalized into categories of weapons by weapon skill. Within these groups weapons are defined with the same dice roll, speeds, and durability. Each melee weapon skill has an interrupt, light, medium, and heavy category of weapon(s). Archery also follows with a light, medium, and heavy.


 * Minimum damages have been raised across the all weapons to provide slightly more consistent damage.
 * Durability debuff is now applied gradually from max weapon hits to one. A weapon's effectiveness at 1 hit will be roughly 50% of its potential.
 * The chance to hit calculation has been reset to be in line with UO.
 * With equal weapon skills the attacker will have a 50% chance of successfully hitting the victim.
 * The mining bonus for fencing weapons has been removed.
 * Combat swing timers have been overhauled for improved performance and accuracy.
 * Active Weapon Abilities will no longer appear.
 * Lumberjacking bonus reworked, now applies in PvP.
 * Fletching bonus reworked, now applies in PvP.

Interrupt

Light

Medium

Heavy

Two handed Passive Weapon Specials

 * Crushing Blow (Maces), increases the base damage of a hit by 50% in PvP and 100% in PvE.
 * Paralyzing Blow (Fencing).
 * provides a 4 second stun in PvP and a 8 second stun in PvE
 * Shares immunity timers with paralyze spell and stun punch.
 * Concussion Blow (Swordsmanship), reduces intelligence for the duration. Does not stack.
 * Sundering Blow (Staves), reduces armor for the duration. Does not stack.

Activation Details

 * Must have a two handed weapon.
 * Success is governed by the anatomy skill.
 * At GM anatomy there is a 25% chance of success on successful hit.
 * Two handed weapon specials function in both PvE and PvP.
 * There is a 10 second weapon special cooldown after performing a weapon special attack again.
 * Requires at least 80 Anatomy and 80 of the relevant weapon skill.

Two Handed PvM

 * Two Handed weapons now have a chance to critical hit against creatures.
 * Chance to critical is based on Tactics and Weapon Skill.
 * Must have greater than 60 in both skills.

Wrestling Moves
Wrestling skill abilities have been added to support the following wrestling moves. Toggling these abilities will cause your next attack to attempt a wrestling move.

Stun Punch

 * PvP and PvM.
 * Provides a 4 second stun.
 * Must have Wrestling greater than or equal to 80.
 * Must have Anatomy greater than or equal to 80.
 * Shares immunity timers with paralyzing blow, paralyze spell.
 * At GM skills stun chance is 50%.

Disarm

 * PvP only.
 * Must have Wrestling greater than or equal to 80.
 * Must have Arms Lore greater than or equal to 80.
 * Victim receives a 10 second immunity from disarm after being disarmed.
 * At GM skills disarm chance is 50%.
 * Victim is unable to equip something in their right hand for 2 seconds.

Activation Details

 * Toggle for each of these moves has been added as skill abilities for wrestling.
 * Attempting a wrestling move always incurs a stamina cost of 10.
 * An attempt is considered only when there is at chance for success.
 * Does not incur a weapon special cooldown.
 * Wrestling move checks are performed on swing, not on hit.

Archery

 * Bows now have lower max damage and higher overall speed.
 * There is now a chance that an arrow that has missed will appear on the ground.
 * There is now a chance that an arrow that has hit will appear in the creature's backpack.
 * Archery weapons now have a chance to critical hit against creatures.
 * Chance to critical is based on Tactics and Weapon Skill.
 * Must have greater than 60 in both skills.

Staggering Shot

 * Archery weapons now have a chance to perform a weapon special called Staggering Shot.
 * You must have at least 80 Anatomy and 80 Archery in order to attempt Staggering Shot.
 * Chance to trigger is based off of Anatomy with a 20% chance against creatures and a 10% chance against players.
 * When successfully activated, the victim will be slowed by 30% for 4 to 8 seconds.
 * The duration of staggering shot is scaled off of the weapon speed of the archery weapon and the difficulty of the creature in PvM.
 * Slower archery weapons will inflict a longer staggering shot effect.
 * In PvP timer the duration of the effect is halved.
 * The archer has a 25% increased accuracy bonus during the duration of the effect against a staggered target.
 * If Staggering Shot successfully triggers when the victim already has staggering shot, the shot will do an additional 25% damage.

= Parrying and Tanking = A set of new passives and abilities has been added that will help facilitate the role of Warrior "Tanks". These abilities greatly boost the effectiveness of the player's Armor at the expense of mobility and increased stamina damage.

Bastion
A new passive buff effect has been add that will trigger upon the player meeting the following requirements.


 * A shield is equipped that is not a spell casting shield.
 * A total armor penalty of more than 60%.
 * Activation delay of 5 seconds has elapsed.

Bastion provides the following effects.


 * Up to 40% increased effective Armor Rating.
 * Up to 20% chance to Repel a magical attack type every 20 seconds.
 * If you are unmounted you gain an additional 10% bonus to Armor Rating modifier and Repel chance.

Repel
Repel is a magical spell counter that has a chance to trigger on spells and certain weapon abilities.


 * Once activated it will trigger a cooldown of 20 seconds.
 * Repelled attacks are nullified and do no damage.

Limitations
There are various limitations that will decrease the effectiveness of Bastion.


 * The effects of Bastion are halved during movement.
 * The effects of Bastion are halved again during a PvP timer.
 * Removing your shield will trigger a 3 second grace period before Bastion will deactivate.
 * Casting a spell or equipping a two handed weapon will immediately cancel the effect and put in place a 10 second reactivation penalty period.
 * You must remain still for 1 second before regaining the full effect of Bastion.

Taunt
Along with AI improvements. There is a new Parry skill ability called Taunt. This ability allows shield users the ability to force a monster to attack them. This ability also triggers the shield passive called Aegis.


 * Requires at least 60 parrying skill.
 * Has a maximum success chance of 90% that scales off of the parrying skill.
 * Attacker generates 500% increased threat from damage dealt during the effect.
 * Immediately generates a large amount of threat.
 * Successful activation has a 20 second cooldown upon the expiration of the Aegis buff.
 * Each failed activation has a 15 second cooldown on attempt.
 * Cannot be used if Call To Arms is active.

Call To Arms
In addition to Taunt, another new Parrying ability has been added called Call To Arms. This ability behaves similarly to Taunt except that it is an area of effect taunt of lesser strength. This ability also triggers the shield passive called Aegis.


 * Requires at least 80 parrying skill.
 * Has a maximum success chance of 75% to trigger that scales off of the parrying skill.
 * In addition each monster in the radius must roll a 90% chance to taunt check to be taunted. (Scaled by parrying skill)
 * Generates threat for all monsters within 10 units.
 * Attacker generates 100% increased threat from damage dealt during the effect.
 * Heals 4 stamina for every monster that was successfully taunted.
 * Successful activation has a 20 second cooldown upon the expiration of the Aegis buff.
 * Each failed activation has a 15 second cooldown on attempt.
 * Cannot be used if Taunt is active.

Aegis
Aegis is a shield passive that is triggered from use of either Taunt or Call To Arms. This is a buff to the player's shield Armor Rating.


 * On blocking success the effective Armor Rating of the shield is increased by 100%.
 * Provides 20% stamina damage reduction for the duration.
 * Lasts a duration of 10 seconds.
 * Can be renewed or reapplied by use of either Taunt or Call To Arms.

Unwavering Stance
An additional ability has been added to Parrying and the tank role which is used for extreme damage mitigation. You may only enter Unwavering Stance if you already have the Bastion effect active. Once active your movement speed and dexterity are severely limited but you gain several defensive bonuses.

Requirements

 * You must have Bastion active.
 * You must have 100 Parrying skill.
 * Unwavering Stance must not be on cooldown (60 seconds upon deactivation).
 * You must not be mounted.

Effects
The following effects are applied for 45 seconds or until the effect is renewed.
 * +150% towards Bastion's Armor Rating bonus.
 * -20% stamina damage.
 * +30% increased effect of healing from spells.
 * +50% threat generation.
 * -50% dexterity.
 * -50% movement speed.
 * You cannot mount.

Stacking
Taunting while in Unwavering Stance will cause the effect modifiers to increase up to 5 stacks.


 * Max stack count is 5
 * Each stack provides an additional 5% to each modifier.

To leave Unwavering stance just use the ability again to toggle it off. You will have to wait to enter the stance again.

= AI, Threat, and Monsters = Base AI has had an overhaul to introduce threat and target management for monsters.


 * Melee, Magic, and true damage have been improved to generate threat more intelligently.
 * Healing now generates threat.
 * Misses generate a small amount of threat.
 * Monsters will change targets if another target in range becomes a greater threat.
 * Monsters are more aware of healers when selecting targets.
 * Monsters will now manage their spell libraries more efficiently.
 * Monsters will now manage their weapon abilities more efficiently.
 * Template fixes have been applied to more accurately reflect the total max health of monsters. (With respect to UO)
 * Monsters will no longer leash as often during chase.
 * Monsters that are too far away from their spawn will return home with a run speed buff and a health regeneration buff.
 * Various AI performance improvements.

Fire Breath
A new dragon ability has been added to replace the existing weapon ability dragons were using. This ability is a close replica of the fire ball ability that dragons in UO use.


 * Fire Breath deals damage based on the creature's current health.
 * When a dragon begins this ability it will let out a roar, after a few seconds if the victim is still in range it will release its fire breath.
 * Fire breath is usable by tamed dragons, although it is subject to the same scaling damage in PvP that melee damage is.
 * A dragon cannot trigger this ability again until the cooldown has elapsed. This cooldown is triggered even if the ability is not successful.

= Barding =
 * Barding difficulty is now dynamically calculated based on traditional UO formula.
 * All barding effects now have a duration based on the relevant barding skills.
 * Using Provocation or Peacemaking on a monster which already has one of those effects will override the current effect.
 * Barding no longer produces threat to provoke monsters, instead it acts as a target priority while maintaining its threat table.
 * Taunts will override an active provoke.
 * Provocation, Discordance, and Peacemaking now factor the monster's barding difficulty into the chance to gain skill.
 * If a skill check results in no challenge for the bard there will be no chance to gain skill.
 * If a skill check results in an impossible challenge for the bard there will be no chance to gain skill.
 * A failed attempt with a barding skill will result in the generation of threat towards the bard.
 * Slayer instruments now provide +20 effective barding skill up from +10.
 * Exceptional instruments now provide +10 effective barding skill up from +5.
 * Max barding difficulty has been slightly reduced.
 * Barding difficulty scaling requirements on high level creatures have been slightly reduced.
 * Barding difficulty no longer receives a bonus from secondary bard skills.
 * For example you no longer receive any benefit during provoke by having the peacemaking skill.
 * Discordance's effects are still increased by secondary barding skills, however its success chance is not.
 * No changes to Musicianship.


 * Instrument Duration is calculated using the relevant bard skill and Musicianship.

Duration in seconds = (75 - (Barding Difficulty / 2)) * (Barding Skill / 100)

With a minimum duration in seconds = (20 + Boss Duration Bonus) * (Musicianship / 100)


 * Minimum duration bonus for boss level creatures is 10 seconds and will scale based on boss level.

= Tamers and PvP =


 * Only UO based pet templates will function as PvP eligible pets.
 * Pets with owners in a PvP timer will have the following effects on their pet
 * Pet damage against players is scaled after a threshold is reached before armor mitigation is performed.
 * Pet combat run speed is slowed.
 * Pet chance to cast spells is slightly reduced.
 * Pet chance to use weapon abilities is slightly reduced.
 * Pet Fire Breath is scaled after a threshold is reached.
 * Pets cannot cast above Regular poison when the target is a player.
 * Pets will return to normal behavior after the PvP timer has elapsed.

In Britannia all of our monsters are nearly identical in stats and behavior to that of their UO counterparts. We are adding the following pets for testing that have been redefined with this in mind.

Current tamables for this update include:
 * Dragon
 * White Wyrm
 * Drake
 * Nightmare

= Tamers and Herding =
 * Pet melee damage is now calculated as if the pets were players and not creatures.
 * This results in a substantial damage boost for pets in PvM.

A new primary skill has been added called Herding. This skill is used to increase movement speed of your pets and to provide a targeted damage buff for them by way of Herding's skill ability Aggression.

Aggression
A herder can direct his follower's aggression at single target providing a melee damage boost for followers.

Requirements:
 * Must have a Shepherd's Crook equipped to use the ability.
 * There are no other skill requirements to use Aggression.
 * Must not be on cooldown. (15 seconds upon use)
 * Must be a valid combat target.

Effects
 * Base damage modifier up to 20%
 * Scaled with your herding skill level.
 * Duration of 45 seconds.
 * Additional 10% movement speed. (Applies in PvP as well)

Stacking Additional uses of Aggression will cause the effect modifier to increase up to 3 stacks and renew its duration.


 * Max stack count is 3
 * Each stack provides an additional 10% up to a maximum of 50% damage bonus.
 * The stack modifier is scaled with your herding skill level.

Gaining Skill
To gain skill in Herding, you need only use Aggression on a target and have your creatures attack it. The follower's owner will have a chance to gain skill in Herding when followers attacking this target.

Veterinary Bandage
Bandaging pets now results in larger heals but over a longer bandage timer.


 * Veterinary bandage range extended by 1.5 units.

Heal Amount
Amount = random(65, 95) * (Veterinary/ 100) * (1 + (20% * (Animal Lore / 100))

Bandage Duration
Seconds = 6.5 - (1.5 * (Dexterity / 100))

= Spellcasting =
 * Spells now have a chance to critical against creatures.
 * Chance to critical is based on Magery and Evaluating Intelligence.
 * Must have greater than 60 in both skills.
 * Spell damage now receives a 75% damage bonus in PvM only.
 * Cast times for each spell circle have been adjusted to match UO (+0.25 seconds to each circle)
 * Each spell now respects the circle cast time without exceptions.
 * Spell base damage rolls have been corrected to reflect UO's spell dice rolls.
 * AOE spells have been overhauled to have the proper base damage based on the number of targets affected.
 * Added variances to healing amounts have been removed.
 * Resisting spells chances have been overhauled to behave like UO, each spell circle has its own chance.
 * Direct damage spells have had their resist modifiers corrected to match UO.
 * Mana Drain now refunds the mana drained to the victim after 5 seconds. (PvP only)
 * The amount drained scales with the amount of mana available in the victim's mana pool.
 * Precast expiration timer has been reduced to 30 seconds.
 * Inscription Bonus provides a 10% base spell damage bonus at GM inscription in PvM.
 * 1st circle spells are no longer interruptible.
 * Protection no longer gives an AR bonus, instead only Arch Protection will do this.

Defensive Spells
Several spells have been reworked to provide defensive abilities for mages. These abilities are magnified by the inscription skill.

Only one defensive spell can be active at once. Defensive spells share a 60 second cooldown upon deactivation.

Reactive Armor

 * Reactive Armor absorbs some melee damage and reflects a portion of it back at the attacker.
 * Absorbs more with higher inscription skill.
 * The strength of reactive armor is calculated using Magery, Meditation, and Inscription.
 * Maximum absorb shield is 75 damage.
 * 10% of the damage is reflected back at the melee attacker, 10% of the damage is dealt to the victim, and the remaining 80% is absorbed by the shield.
 * Ranged and magical damage is not absorbed by reactive armor.

Protection

 * Protection now reduces the chance of spell interruption.
 * The strength of protection is calculated using Evaluating Intelligence, Meditation, and Inscription.
 * Duration is governed by Magery.
 * Max duration is 240 seconds with a minimum duration of 15 seconds.
 * Interrupt chances decrease further with higher Inscription skill.

Magic Reflection

 * Magic Reflection now provides a shield which reflects spells based on their circle.
 * Higher circle spells will bring down magic reflection faster than lower circle spells.
 * The strength of magic reflection is calculated using Magery, and GM Inscription.

Mana Drain and Mana Vampire in PvM
Mana Vampire and Mana Drain when cast on creatures now apply a debuff called Spell Vulnerability. While this debuff is active the creature will have reduced magic resistance and a portion of spell damage against this creature will be converted into mana for the caster. This effect can stack up to a modifier of 50% magic resist debuff. The stronger the magic resist debuff, the more mana the caster will receive from damage done to the creature.

Mana Vampire
 * Cost 40 mana
 * -40% Magic Resist
 * Duration in seconds:
 * 15 + (45 * ((Magery + Meditation) / 200))

Mana Drain
 * Cost 14 mana
 * -10% Magic Resist
 * Duration in seconds:
 * 10 + (20 * ((Magery + Meditation) / 200))

Stacking Either use of Mana Vampire or Mana Drain will reset the duration of Spell Vulnerability. Magic Resist debuff modifiers will stack until a max of -50% is reached. After the max is reached further stacking will only prolong the effect.

Mana Conversion Ratio
 * Mana = spell damage * 20% * ((Magic Resist Debuff / 50%) * ((1.88 ^ (Spell Circle / 2) -1) / 8)

Creature Death

If Spell Vulnerability is active on a creature at the time of its death, a portion of the cost to apply effect is converted back to mana for all spellcasters who stacked the effect. This mana is divided up between all those who stacked the effect during its lifetime.


 * Mana per stacker = 25 * (Magic Resist Debuff / 50%) / Spellcasters

= Poison =


 * Poison damage has been re-balanced to have heavier slower ticks.
 * There is no longer a healing debuff applied when the victim has lesser or regular poison.
 * Poison field cast by players is Regular poison.
 * Poisoned weapons poison chance is no longer tied to Anatomy, instead it is a flat 25% chance to apply.
 * The poison spell can now be resisted.

Taste Identification

 * Taste Identification now provides a cure chance debuff to the victim up to -25%.
 * Taste Identification provides a bonus to greater poison chance at GM.

Upgrading Poison
When casting poison players can upgrade their poison level using the poisoning skill.


 * The poisoner must have at least 80 poisoning to attempt to upgrade poison to Deadly.
 * The poisoner must have at least 60 poisoning to attempt to upgrade poison to Greater.
 * When upgrading to Deadly poison the poison spell will consume two extra nightshade.
 * When upgrading to Greater poison the poison spell will consume one extra nightshade.

Upgrade chance = chance * (Poisoning Skill / 100)

PvP
 * Chance to upgrade poison to Deadly is 20% at GM poisoning.
 * Chance to upgrade poison to Greater is 60% at GM poisoning. (80% with GM Taste Identification)

PvE
 * Chance to upgrade poison to Deadly is 40% at GM poisoning.
 * Chance to upgrade poison to Greater is 100% at GM poisoning.

Resistances
 * GM Taste Identification provides +1 spell circle to the poison spell when resists are considered.
 * GM Poisoning provides +1 spell circle to the poison spell when resists are considered.
 * If you are within 4 units away from your poison target, you will get an additional +1 spell circle when resists are considered.

Poisoning PvM

 * Creatures cannot resist poison when casted by a player.
 * Taste Identification causes poison frequency to increase by up to 25% against creatures.
 * Poison damage against creatures is increased by 50%.
 * Taste Identification increases poison damage against creatures by 50%.
 * If you poison a creature and stray too far away from it, the poison will downgrade to lesser poison.

Curing

 * Potions, Bandaging, and the Cure spell all operate using progressive curing chances.
 * Cure debuff chances are applied to Potions, Bandaging, and the Cure spell from Poisoning and Taste Identification Skills.

Potions Chance to cure = (Potion Chance - Total Debuff) + (0.5 * Attempts)

Bandage chance to cure = ((1.75 - (Poison Level * 0.25)) * (Healer Skill / 100) - (slips * 0.02) - Total Debuff) + (0.5 * Attempts)

Cure Spell chance = ((1.75 - (Poison Level * 0.25)) * (Magery / 100) - Total Debuff) + (0.5 * Attempts)

Note Arch Cure gains an additional 10% chance.

= Potions =


 * Potion heal values have been adjusted to have less variance and slightly less max heal values.

Potion Toxicity
A new potion consumption system has been put in place which replaces the current cooldown system. Potion toxicity will require players to manage their potion intake strategically or face extended cooldown duration. For example, using a healing potion, once, at 0 toxicity will result in a 10 second cooldown until you can use another heal potion. However if you use another heal potion immediately you will face a roughly 30 second cooldown before your next heal potion, or roughly a 10 second cure cooldown if you choose to cure next.


 * All potion usage is limited by a global cooldown of 1 second.
 * All existing consumable potion cooldowns have been removed.
 * Each consumable potion has a toxicity value associated with it.
 * Upon drinking a potion the player will increase their toxicity level.
 * The max toxicity for all players is 100.
 * Toxicity is cleared from the player at a rate of -2 toxicity per second.
 * Skills and stats do not affect the max toxicity value or the rate at which it clears.
 * Potion toxicity levels are determined by the potion class and not the quality of the potion.
 * Toxicity level is shown on the player status bar.