Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords/Combat

Attack
Attacks with weapons cannot normally hit and subsequently damage an opponent unless an attack roll is equal to or greater than that opponent's. An attack roll is the sum of the roll of a twenty-sided die (d20) and all attack bonuses and penalties. According to the log, a minimum d20 roll (1) is an automatic miss while a maximum d20 roll (20) is an automatic hit (and ), so chance to hit has a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 95% regardless of whether or not the total attack roll would equal or exceed defense.

Maximum 95% chance to hit is achieved when the sum of 2 (the lowest d20 roll that isn't an automatic miss) and attack bonuses and penalties is equal to or greater than the target's defense.

All characters have a base attack bonus equal to their character or class level(s). Although enemies normally only have class level 1 and thus base 1, they receive a bonus to this based on your main character level:

Dual Wield Penalty
Using two weapons or a double-bladed weapon normally incurs an attack penalty, which depends on whether or not the attacker has any feat and a balanced weapon (which adds Small Offhand Bonus 2 to the attack(s) of the main hand):

All blaster pistols, s and double-handed melee weapons are balanced, as are all s, short swords and vibroblades in the off hand.

Once Two-Weapon Fighting has been mastered, the and  Prestige classes can then select  to reduce this attack penalty even further:

Feats
Some feats add a bonus to, or inflict a penalty on, the attack roll:

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All ../Prestige classes/ are granted Weapon Focus: Lightsaber and can select : Lightsaber, but only a or  can then select : Lightsaber.

Ranged
Bonuses can be added to the attack roll for close proximity ranged attacks, and melee attacks on ranged attackers, depending on whether or not the attacker, or defender, has any feat:

Close Combat is granted to level 4 s, but these feats can be selected by all classes except ../Prestige classes/.

Scouts are also granted feats, which add an attack bonus when using blaster pistols and rifles:

Lightsaber form
Some lightsaber forms add a bonus to the attack roll:

Attribute modifier
mod(ifier) is normally added to the attack roll when using melee weapons and lightsabers.

Dexterity mod(ifier) is added to the attack roll when using ranged weapons. If greater than strength mod, then it can be added to melee attack rolls instead of Strength modifier after selecting the : Melee Weapons feat, and to lightsaber attack rolls after selecting either of the Finesse: Melee Weapons or Lightsaber feats.

Player Modifier is also added to your party's attack rolls, but not your own.

Effect Bonus
Some weapons and items add an effect bonus or penalty to the attack roll, as do the following ../Force powers/ and stimulants:

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Critical Threat
As well as resulting in an automatic hit, an attack roll with a maximum d20 roll (20) results in an automatic Critical Threat. This threat roll is effectively a second attack roll which can result in a, multiplying damage rolls and bonuses when equal to or greater than an opponent's. However, unlike an attack roll, a threat roll cannot automatically miss (roll 1) or hit (roll 20) so conversion of critical threats to critical hits can be 0% (roll 20 + Attack < Defense) and 100% (roll 1 + Attack ≥ Defense).

lightsaber form adds 4 to the threat roll, although the only indication of this in the log's Threat Breakdown is if there's threat success with Attack < Defense (for example, threat success with Attack 40 vs Defense 44; without this form, success would require at least Attack = Defense, or 44).

Unarmed attacks have Critical Threat: 20-20,x2 but some weapons have a higher Critical Threat range, increasing the chance of a roll within that range:

The Keen bonus can increase base Critical Threat range, as can the and  feats. According to the Combat log, any Keen bonus is additive with feat bonuses, resulting in the following:

lightsaber form can then decrease weapon Threat range by 1 (5%) to minimum 20-20 (5%), while lightsaber form increases it by 1 (5%) to maximum 10-20 (55%) using a Keen (Short) Lightsaber with Master Critical Strike.

Defense
Characters can only be hit and subsequently damaged by attacks with weapons when an attack roll is equal to or greater than defense. An attack roll is the sum of the roll of a twenty-sided die (d20) and all attack bonuses and penalties. According to the log, a minimum d20 roll (1) is an automatic miss while a maximum d20 roll (20) is an automatic hit (and ), so chance to hit has a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 95% regardless of whether or not the total attack roll would equal or exceed defense.

Minimum 5% chance to hit is achieved when the sum of 19 (the highest d20 roll that isn't an automatic hit) and the attacker's attack bonuses and penalties is less than defense.

Defense breaks down as follows in the Combat log:

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 * base

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 * armor
 * dex mod

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 * class
 * natural

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 * feats and effects mod
 * feat

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 * debilitated penalty

All characters start with base 10 defense.

Armor
Body armor adds to defense, but it can also restrict how much of a character's dex(terity) mod(ifier) is added as well: for example, an armor displaying Max Dexterity Bonus: +5 restricts defense added by dex mod to +5, even when it's greater than +5.

The has armor 1, but no Max Dexterity Bonus.

Any remaining Defense Bonus is added to feats and effects mod. Some armors have higher Max Dexterity Bonus, and underlays can increase it for any heavy armor:

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Otherwise, dex mod is unrestricted when unarmored (unclothed, or wearing clothing or robes with no Max Dexterity Bonus specified).

Class
All classes except the and  are granted a defense bonus which can increase on level up:

Although this bonus is normally attributed to a feat, it's entirely dependent on class: for example,, and  are all granted the same bonus as all are Soldiers, even though only Mandalore has the Mandalorian Courage feat.

Classes are granted this bonus at the following levels:

Although enemies normally only have class level 1, a defense bonus is added to any class bonus based on your main character level:

Some characters, like, are also granted a natural bonus.

Feats and effects
The log sums defense bonuses and penalties from the following under feats and effects mod:

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Armor and other items can also have defense bonuses and penalties added to feats and effects:

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Feats and effects from all of the above are restricted to maximum 10: for example, a Jedi using Master Speed (+4) and Force Armor (+6) with (+1) and two s with Expert Fencing Emitters (+2 each) only receives a defense bonus of 10, not 15.

However, this also means that penalties can be incurred without reducing defense, since they can be offset by any excess: for example, for that same Jedi it makes no difference if Critical Strike (-5) is used since the defense bonus is 10 in either case (15 is restricted to 10, or 15 - 5 = 10).

The following are also added to feats and effects, but they are not restricted to maximum 10:

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Defense and Defense vs Current Target bonuses and penalties are cumulative:

Defense bonuses vs a particular enemy damage type or alignment are added to feats and effects without restriction:

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modifier is also added to feats and effects without restriction for a male character with, as long as he's not wearing anything with an armor value.

So feats and effects can exceed maximum 10 in these cases: for example, a Jedi using Master Speed (+4) and Force Armor (+6) with Ossus Keeper Robe (+1) and two Lightsabers with Expert Fencing Emitters (+2 each) and Resilience (Soresu) lightsaber form (+2 vs current target) receives a defense bonus of 12 (min(15, 10) + 2) vs current target.

However, this also means that any subsequent penalties cannot be offset by any excess: for example, if that same Jedi uses Perseverance (Shien) lightsaber form (-5 vs current target) instead, the defense bonus is 5 (min(15, 10) - 5) vs current target.

Any bonus is listed separately as feat:

Debilitated penalty
Debilitated penalty results in -4 defense whenever a target is debilitated by any of the following:

Being debilitated also means modifier isn't added to defense or Reflex save (although  modifier can still be added to defense by ), and debilitated droids have saves reduced by 2. Characters may avoid being debilitated with a successful save, Immunity:, , or feats.

Damage
A successful attack can inflict damage, reducing. ../Melee weapons/ inflict physical damage of different types:

Creatures armed with claws also inflict slashing damage. However, the log's Damage Breakdown labels any physical damage as slashing, even when it's bludgeoning or piercing.

../Lightsabers/ and most ranged weapons inflict energy damage:

However, some ranged weapons don't:

How much damage is inflicted is normally determined by the roll of a virtual numbered die or dice, which can be expressed with the notation XdY, where X is the number of dice with Y sides rolled:

Minimum total roll is X, while the maximum is X * Y. The more dice are rolled, the more likely the total will approach the average.

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For example, although a Long Sword inflicts slightly less damage (1-12 or 1d12) than a Vibrosword (2-12 or 2d6), it is equally likely to roll 1, 7 or 12 (1/12 chance each), whereas the Vibrosword is far less likely to roll 2 or 12 (1/36 chance each) but far more likely to roll 7 (1/6 chance).

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Enemy base or weapon damage rolls then receive a multiplier based on your main character level:

Subsequent damage bonuses are simply added, not multiplied (although they may still be multiplied by a ).

More advanced weapons of the same type can have additional bonuses, both set or die rolls, of the same or different damage type(s), like cold, fire, dark side and light side. Some damage types may seem to be associated with specific secondary effects:


 * Cold damage and : can both be inflicted by carbonite projectors and s.


 * Fire damage and On Hit: can both be inflicted by flame throwers and s.


 * Ion blasters and rifles have additional ion damage rolls versus droids, and s inflict triple damage on them.


 * Sonic damage and On Hit: Dexterity can both be inflicted by sonic pistols and rifles, s and sonic mines.

However, this is not actually the case. For example:


 * An (Damage Bonus: +2 Cold) does not paralyze.


 * A (Damage Bonus: +1-6 Fire) does not inflict Horror.


 * Droid Ion Strikers and Blasts inflict the same ion damage on organics as droids.


 * A (Damage Bonus: +3 Sonic) inflicts no Attribute Damage Dexterity.

The only difference damage type makes is which, and  take effect.

Although the following damage bonuses are listed separately in the Damage Breakdown, they're always added to weapon damage and are thus the same type:


 * mod(ifier) (melee weapons and lightsabers only)




 * (including bonuses)





Bonus damage
Bonus damage is normally added by feats:

It can also be added by a Force power and a lightsaber form:

The sum of this bonus damage is multiplied by a, then any bonuses are added.

Electricity damage from 's feats is added to his unarmed attacks separately, after the  log's Damage Breakdown, as is unstoppable damage from 's.

Misc. effect damage
According to the log's Damage Breakdown, the following ../Force powers/ and stimulants add (or subtract) misc. effect damage:

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Misc. effect damage is not multiplied by a, and neither is damage.

Critical Hit
A Critical Hit is triggered when the d20 roll of a successful attack roll is within the weapon's range, and then a second attack or threat roll is also successful. This results in a multiplication of weapon damage rolls, bonuses and penalties. Critical Multiplier is normally x2, but each of the following can increase this by 1, to x3:

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Critical Multiplier x4 is possible when using Power Blast with a bowcaster, ion blaster or rifle, or Power Attack with Perseverance (Shien) lightsaber form.

However, the following are not multiplied by a critical hit:


 * Set item bonuses (like an Ultimate 's Damage Bonus: 5, Energy)




 * damage

Any bonuses are only added to bonus damage on a Critical Hit, and not multiplied by it.

Due to the need for two successful rolls (attack, then threat), and  feats are extremely dependent on chance to hit to maximize their damage. Taking chance to hit (attack roll success), Critical Threat and critical conversion (threat roll success) into account, the chance of any hit becoming a Critical Hit is as follows:

Since an attack roll must succeed before any threat roll can be made, if chance to hit < Critical Threat then Critical Threat is restricted to chance to hit. For example, 10% chance to hit (roll 19-20 + Attack ≥ Defense) means that a Lightsaber inflicts no more damage with Master Critical Strike (Critical Threat: 13-20,x2) than a standard Attack (Critical Threat: 19-20,x2) since roll 13-18 + Attack < Defense, resulting in a miss on an attack roll, and failure to convert on a threat roll. Consequently, the chance of any hit becoming a Critical Hit is only 1% (0.1 * 0.1 * 100) in both cases.

Average damage multiplier per attack = Attack success + (Threat success * (Critical Multiplier - 1) * min(Critical Threat, Attack success))

For example, with maximum 95% chance to hit (roll 2 + Attack ≥ Defense) and 100% critical conversion (roll 1 + Attack ≥ Defense):

Average damage multiplier per attack = 0.95 + ((Critical Multiplier - 1) * Critical Threat)

A Critical Hit is required to trigger knockdown when using or, and 's.

Massive Criticals
Massive Criticals bonuses are only added to s, and not multiplied by them. Some weapons already have a Massive Criticals bonus:

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Massive Criticals bonuses are always the same damage type as the weapon itself, and can be added to some weapons with upgrade items:

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If a lightsaber has any Massive Criticals bonus, then 2-12 is added to the sum of any of the following:

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Any Massive Criticals bonuses are added to bonus damage in the log's Damage Breakdown.

Damage Immunity
Damage Immunity versus a specified damage type is an item bonus that first reduces damage of that type by a percentage, even before. Damage Immunity: 100% is possible in some cases, resulting in no damage whatsoever, although this is hardly ever granted by a single item.

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Bonuses versus the same damage type all sum as expected, although upgraded item descriptions may only display the highest bonus, or equal bonuses separately.

Damage Immunity vs Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing can become increasingly useful against unarmed attacks and melee weapons as you level up and enemy damage multipliers increase.

Significant electrical damage can be inflicted by and  powers, but  or Immunity, or saves and  vs Electrical, can already grant sufficient protection. Overloading computer terminals you're currently using can inflict up to 1000 electrical damage to all in the area of effect, but you can just... not do that.

Damage Immunity vs Energy can become increasingly useful, as energy weapons (most blaster pistols and rifles, and lightsabers) are extremely common and can become much more damaging as you level up and enemy damage multipliers increase. For example, Jedi armor or light, medium or heavy armor upgraded with Energy Shielding Mark IV and an Armorweave Underlay Mark V grants Damage Immunity: 60% vs Energy in total, and this can be increased to maximum 90%, drastically increasing the total damage a can effectively absorb:

Alternatively, Damage Immunity vs Energy can drastically increase the damage an enemy must inflict before the Damage Resistance of Master cannot resist it entirely:

Damage Immunity vs Ion would be more useful for s.

Saves and Damage Resistance should grant sufficient protection, since sonic, cold and fire damage are normally inflicted in relatively small and set amounts by grenades, mines and droid special weapons.

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Light Side damage is only inflicted by your own light or white, while Dark Side damage is only inflicted by your own dark or black Name Crystal, and  or Death Field (against which Force Resistance or Immunity, or saves, should grant sufficient protection).

Shields
A shield can absorb any damage of the specified type(s) remaining after. Organic characters can equip a shield on each arm, although only one shield can be active at a time: using a shield replaces any already active. Each shield charge has a duration of 200 seconds, or until maximum damage has been taken. Any damage absorbed, and points remaining, are recorded in, not the log.

Shields effectively add versus the specified damage type(s). Organic characters can equip a Mandalorian shield to absorb physical damage instead:

s can also equip a shield. All droid shields absorb energy and ion damage, but some also absorb electric damage while others absorb sonic, cold and heat (fire) damage:

Toughness
The and  are granted feats that reduce any damage remaining after shields by a percentage:

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Toughness feats can then further reduce any remaining damage:

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Toughness can be surprisingly effective since it affects each of the following:


 * Sum of weapon damage


 * Sum of bonus damage rolls of each type


 * Sum of set item bonuses of each type

For example, Improved or Master Toughness would have the following effect:

Damage is affected five times in this case, but the log's Damage Breakdown only lists Toughness once. However, these multiple effects can be detected by comparing listed damage to expected damage: this is clearest with rolls and set bonuses of different types (for example, electrical or slashing not being listed on roll 1-2), but can also be seen when the total is less than the expected minimum.

Damage Resistance
Damage Resistance versus a specified damage type reduces any damage of that type remaining after, by a set amount. However, bonuses do not sum: only the highest ever has any effect (although upgraded item descriptions may display equal bonuses separately). Any damage resisted is recorded in, not the log.

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/- simply means that the value is subtracted from that damage type: /+ would mean that the value is added to the damage type, but this is never used.

Damage Resistance: Resist 20/- vs Electrical, Energy, Cold, Fire and Sonic can be granted by Master Energy Resistance to the entire party from level 17, for 120 seconds (2 minutes): while this isn't the maximum against those damage types, it is normally sufficient protection.

Like Toughness, Damage Resistance affects each of the following separately:


 * Sum of weapon damage


 * Sum of bonus damage rolls of specified type


 * Sum of set item bonuses of specified type

This makes Damage Resistance more effective against advanced weapons with these bonuses.

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Maximum Damage Resistance: Resist 15/- vs Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing (physical) can only be granted by Master Force Barrier to the Jedi using it from level 15, for 60 seconds.

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Damage Resistance: Resist 20/- vs Electrical, Energy is granted by Master Energy Resistance to the entire party from level 17, for 120 seconds (2 minutes): this is close to maximum vs Electrical, and the maximum vs Energy.

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Damage Resistance: Resist 20/- vs Cold, Fire, Sonic is granted by Master Energy Resistance to the entire party from level 17, for 120 seconds (2 minutes): this is normally sufficient protection.

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Combat Difficulty
Adjusting Combat Difficulty in Gameplay at any time has the following effect on damage from enemy attacks:

Final enemy damage is reduced by 50% on Easy and increased by 50% on Difficult, rounding down in both cases. This includes 'friendly' fire from grenades, and returned blaster bolts.

Vitality
Your main character and party are granted the following Vitality per class level:

However, enemies normally have their own base Vitality value, with a multiplier based on your main character level:

modifier is also added to Vitality per level for all characters, retroactive for levels previously gained, as are the following:

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Vitality bonuses are also granted by the following:

Regeneration
Your main character and party can regenerate lost once every 6 seconds, depending on  modifier (CON): 0.3 * CON is regenerated in combat, +1 out of combat. For example:

The Vitality Points feat adds 0.5 to these values, which  then doubles while active: for example, a character with 20 Constitution (CON +5), Regenerate Vitality Points and Battle Meditation active regenerates ((0.3 * 5) + 0.5) * 2 = 4 Vitality once every 6 seconds in combat, and ((0.3 * 5) + 1 + 0.5) * 2 = 6 out of combat.

Any Regeneration item bonuses are then simply added to these values:

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Maximum Regeneration: 18 for a dark Jedi with at least 12 Constitution, : Medium and two (Short) Lightsabers (upgraded item descriptions may only display the highest bonus, but all are summed).

Cleave
When any character kills with a ranged or melee attack (or a droid special weapon), then that character can perform an extra action in that combat round: if the action queue is empty or cleared then this is an automatic Attack if a target is in range (which may include taking a step or two in melee range), otherwise it's the next action queued against another target in range, whether that's a combat feat, Force power (including buffs targeting you or your party), grenade or item use. If no action is queued against a target in range, and no target is in range, then there's no extra action.

If you attack and kill from then the extra action doesn't count as a. If the extra action kills the next target as well then this doesn't trigger another extra action, so two is the maximum that can be killed by a character's attacks (or a droid special weapon) in a single combat round.