Character Stats

Hitpoints

The life meter. Hitpoints are typically determined by class and level and then modified by core stats such as constitution or stamina. For this simulator we will use a base HP and flat HP gain per level by archetype for simplicity. See reference Stat Scaling for base values by archetype.

Note that this method has less alignment with WoW or FFXIV for very low level characters, which usually start with much lower HP. But this balances out at higher levels and is relatively aligned for character levels at the point at which they are able to join dungeon combat.

Mana

The magic meter. A casting archetype should generally have enough max mana to cast their "big nuke/heal" 10 to 12 times. At a standard 2.5s to 3.0s cast time, 10-12 spells represent roughly 30 to 35 seconds of continuous activity. After which they have to wait 12-15 seconds to regen and go again (see Mana Regen below).

Like HP, Mana will have a set base and fixed gain per level. See reference Stat Scaling.

Mana Regen

Percent of total mana pool to regenerate every tick (2 seconds). This is a static percentage, varied by archetype, that does not scale with level (total mana will increase, this percentage increase rate will not). See Mana Regen Rates.

The 2-Second Tick

MMORPGs typically handle mana and hp regeneration on a 2 second tick system, the heartbeat of resource recovery.

Passive Regeneration

In most MMORPGs, characters have a passive mana regen rate represented in Mana per Tick, or MpT. A level 60 Healer would have a regen rate of about 80 MpT. To simplify, we'll use a regeneration rate that is a flat percentage of the mana pool to represent MpT instead, which will vary by archetype. This will be a fixed stat called Mana Regen that does not need to adjust by level.

Active Regeneration and the 5-Second Rule

The Passive Mana Regen rate applies to the character in a passive regeneration state, meaning not currently casting. While actively casting and for 5 seconds after casting stops, they are in an active regeneration state and take big penalties. Magic users typically can regenerate in an active state, but only up to about 15% of their passive regeneration rate.

See Mana Regen Rates for the complete table of passive and active rates.

Attack Power

Attack Power determines the player's damage bonus added to their weapon's base damage output (see Weapon Stats). It is a flat "Additive Floor" that pushes the damage range of the weapon up.

While games typically obfuscate this number through calculations on Strength and gear buffs, boiling it down to the flat number helps streamline simulation tests and simplify interpretation of results. This stat will have a fixed gain per level determined by archetype. See reference Stat Scaling.

Normalization Constant 14

The AP number is actually inflated to simplify tuning, avoiding calculations with smaller, more tedious numbers and fractions. This is a common industry practice that also serves to make the stat seem bigger and more exciting to players. To normalize the raw AP number we divide it by normalization constant 14. The result gives us the AP Bonus damage per second (DPS).

See Weapon Damage Calculation in Combat to understand how this AP Bonus DPS is applied in a fight.

Spell Power

Spell power is also used to calculate a damage or healing bonus as an additive floor for damage or healing output, but unlike physical attacks, spells use coefficients to balance spell impact based on spell type and factors such as cast time and spell duration.

This stat will have a fixed gain per level determined by archetype. See reference Stat Scaling.

Both damage and healing spells fall into three spell casting profiles each with their own coefficient: Direct Hit, Damage or Healing Over Time (DoT / HoT), and Area of Effect (AoE). See Spell Damage Calculation in Combat to understand how these coefficients are applied in a fight.

Direct Hit Coefficient

Uses a coefficient based on cast time to reduce effect of faster spells, giving players choice between quick but less damage or slow but greater damage strategies.

Area of Effect Coefficient

Uses the same coefficient as Direct Hit spells, but with an additional modifier to greatly reduce the coefficient by 1/3 (33.3%) due to the number of targets that can be affected.

Over Time Coefficient

The coefficient for a DoT/HoT is based on its duration. Shorter duration deals higher damage in the initial burst but lower overall damage, the pressure play requiring more re-casts, favoring damage throughput. Longer duration deals less damage initially but higher overall damage, the value play requiring fewer casts, favoring mana efficiency.

About Healing and Spell Power

I've chosen to scale healing SP exactly the same as damage SP, but this is often not the case. The primary reason is that you can inadvertently make a healer an OP dps or vice versa. Or players want to have higher damage gear while leveling and higher healing gear while playing dungeons, making them maintain 2 sets of gear which is tedious and costly. It's easier to treat them differently to balance things out. Since we control the simulation and are focused on dungeon boss fights, this is a non-issue.

However, healing is different in one key way. If a DPS misses a hit, it's no big deal, but if a Healer misses, the Tank falls. Rather than maintain separate coefficients to give healers a safety net boost, healing spells should have higher base ranges than damage spells to account for this, particularly for higher mana cost spells, in order to justify that cost.

Tempo

A percentage to adjust the attack/cast intervals used by weapons or spells directly. This is a streamlined stat to use rather than relying on gear for this type of buff (and replaces the usual "Haste" stat, which obfuscates the impact of the effect with an abstract formula). Tempo has a default base of 100%, does not scale by level, and is only intended to be adjustable as a stat buff option.

Tempo and the Global Cooldown (GCD)

For instant cast spells and physical weapons, there is typically a Global Cooldown time of 1.5 seconds that locks the player out from insta-spamming the spell/weapon. The Tempo stat DOES get applied to the GCD, but with a hard floor of 1.0s minimum GCD, effectively capping the Tempo reduction at 66.6% (1.5 × .66 = ~1s).

For spells with non-instant cast times, the player is locked out for whichever is longer, the final adjusted cast time or the final adjusted GCD.

Armor (%DR)

The percentage that received damage is reduced (also % Damage Reduction, or %DR). Armor will have a set base percentage, fixed increase per level and a hard cap by archetype. This cap (75% for a tank) is necessary to maintain game stability. See reference Stat Scaling below.

Dodge %

Percent chance that the player avoids a hit altogether. This is intentionally a relatively low amount, as higher amounts can lead to great unpredictability in a fight. Dodge will have a set base percentage and fixed gain per level for melee only. Ranged and mage archetypes have a fixed percentage. See reference Stat Scaling.

Parry %

Percent chance that the player avoids a hit via weapon parry. This is identical to Dodge, providing additional protection for close combat melee archetypes. Parry will have a set base percentage and fixed gain per level for melee only. Ranged and mage archetypes cannot parry (0.0% chance). See reference Stat Scaling.

Crit

Percent chance that the player performs a critical hit or heal. Crit will have a set base percentage and fixed gain per level by archetype. There is a hard cap of 50% for buffs, at which point the game would become pure RNG, but the base and gains per level are very low. Even at level 90, the max crit for DPS (before buffs) would be 14%.

Effective Health Pool (EHP)

The Effective Health Pool (EHP) is the amount of raw, pre-mitigation damage a tank can take before falling over. It essentially answers: "How big of a hit can I take before the Healer's reaction time doesn't matter?". It is not a stat used actively as part of the battle loop, but one that should be considered in the context of how the AI controls the actions of the Tank and Healer under different circumstances.

Miss %

Percent chance the player misses a physical hit, and applies to both melee and ranged physical attacks. Miss% is not scaled by level, rather is dependent on the delta between the player's level and the level of the targeted opponent. See Level Friction by target level delta.

After a delta of 3 levels (Bosses are typically +3 levels from players) a steep incline "wall" on penalties exists to prevent low level characters from just chipping away at high level enemies for greater loot and experience.

Spell Resistance

Percent chance player misses a magic attack (i.e. opponent "resists" spell damage). Like Miss%, Spell resistance is dependent on level delta with the opponent. The chance is lower with low level difference (under 3) but a much steeper incline for greater deltas. See Level Friction by target level delta.

Glancing Blow

Percent chance a melee player hits a target that is 3 or more levels higher and inflicts only partial damage. Applies to melee only attacks (tank, melee dps). This is a 40% (flat) chance where only 70% (flat) damage is inflicted. This acts as a primary balancing lever against physical DPS scaling by suppressing 30% of the damage on nearly half of all successful hits.

Gear Quality and Buff System

Not technically a stat, but to handle stat enhancements (buffs) typically granted to the player through gear without actually implementing a gear system, the simulator will allow adjustment modifiers to be applied to the stats, either individually or through the use of presets for quickly tuning all stats (e.g. Basic Party, Dungeon Ready).

See the Gear Quality Presets reference table. It also provides constraints on where buffs should cap out in order to maintain game balance.

Additionally, the Level 60 Stat Lookup provides sample stats across all archetypes and gear presets to get a sense of how gear buffs scale.

Reference Tables

Summary of Character Stats

Stat Scaling by Level

* If fixed crits for the healer feels too grindy, consider a 0.05% increase by level.

Gear Quality Tier Presets & Buff Multipliers

The following stats may be buffed at simulation time within the constraints provided. Below are also presets which can be used to simplify the simulation configuration or provide a starting point for additional adjustments.

* BiS: Best in Slot gear, i.e. the best possible gear achievable.

Level 60 Stat Lookup Reference

Applying the level scaling with different gear levels to demonstrate level 60 stats across archetypes. Editor's Note: the simulation may not include all gear presets listed.

Fixed Mana Regen Rates

Passive and Active

Ability Damage Rotation Modifier

Account for physical damage done by the player using an active ability rotation. Modifier is applied to the base weapon damage, aka. white damage, for total damage (yellow+white). We'll give each of these standard yellow attack abilities a name for quick reference.

* We should play with these. Expected damage from abilities is 80%–100% more than white damage, so 2.0 (white damage × 2) may need to dial back to 1.8 or so. Could include as a buff-able stat.

Level Friction by Target Level Delta

Miss% and Spell Resist Penalties