DAOC
Thief FAQ v1.8
by Remmi of the
Safehouse (aka Rath on Percival)
Last Updated 10/30/2001 12:13PM EST
Links
This FAQ
The Safehouse (Rogue Board)
NOTE: This FAQ started out as a Poison FAQ but will now slowly start evolving into a full-blown Thief FAQ, as I add new bits and pieces when I find the time. Enjoy!
Updates
Index
Stats
Q: Where should I put my initial stat points
at character creation?
Q:
Which stats raise naturally?
Q:
When do stats increase and by how much?
Envenom and Poison
Q: What benefits does specializing in Envenom
yield?
Q:
How does the damage caused by DOT poisons scale up based on
Envenom specialization?
Q:
How do I use poisons?
Q:
Can I envenom both my weapons if I'm dual wielding?
Q:
Do poisons wear off of my weapons?
Q:
Can I give poisoned weapons to other players?
Q:
Where do I buy poisons?
Q:
What poisons are currently available?
Q:
What does the number next to the poison's name indicate?
Q:
Is Envenom worth specializing in? Should I even bother with
poisons?
Q:
What does the future hold for Envenom and poisons?
Q: Where should I put my initial stat points at character creation?
A: It depends on factors like what kind of weapons you'll be using, your racial stats, and what kind of thief "template" you plan on going with and how you intend to play your character, to say the least. For instance, will you be dual-wielding piercing weapons (ie Thrust) or going with a 2-handed greatsword (Slash)?
Consider which elements the stats actually influence before deciding:
Dexterity – Damage output with Thrusting* weapons and Bows; Evade and Stealth skills.
Quickness – Attack speed and Evade skill.
Strength – Encumbrance; damage output with Thrusting*, Crushing, and Slashing weapons.
Constitution – Hit points and Endurance.* Thrust weapon damage is determined by 50% Strength and 50% Dexterity
Now, look at your racial stats and see if there are any "holes" you'd like fill but keep in mind that Dexterity, Quickness, and Strength increase automatically for "thieves" (see below).
Example: As a skinny weakling of an elf I chose to increase Constitution by 10, Strength by 10, and Quickness by 10. Since elves already have a naturally high Dexterity and it raises every level for a thief, I decided to leave it alone. I figured the extra CON would be handy for "style" use and extra STR would allow me to carry more loot and more QUI would help me not get smacked around as much.
Q: Which stats raise naturally?
A: Dexterity (primary), Quickness (secondary), and Strength (tertiary).
Q: When do stats increase and by how much?
A: Like so:
Dexterity: +1 every level (ie 6, 7, 8, 9, etc)
Quickness: +1 every second level (ie 7, 9 ,11, 13, etc)
Strength: +1 every third level (ie 8, 11, 14, 17, etc)
Q: What benefits does specializing in Envenom yield?
A: Specializing in Envenom yields the following benefits:
a) Decreases the chance of failing to apply the poison to a weapon (NOTE: I believe chance to fail application has been removed entirely!)
b) Increases the duration of a poison's effect (ie snare, disease, debuff).
c) Increases the damage caused by the "lethal" variety of poisons (ie damage-over-time)
d) Allows access to higher level poisons (see the poison list below).
A: First you gotta find a poison vendor and buy some level-appropriate* poisons. Then you must apply the poison to a level-appropriate bladed weapon.
To apply a poison:
1) Open your inventory (press "I")
2) Left-click the desired poison and the poison icon will "stick" to your cursor
3) Now click on the desired weapon slot (you must have a weapon in the slot!)
* There are different levels of poisons and you can only apply them if the poison's level is equal to or less than your Envenom spec. Refer the poisons list for actual poison levels.
Q: How does the damage caused by DOT poisons scale up based on Envenom specialization?
A: DOT poisons seem to be bugged at the moment and are doing less damage than they should be and the damage doesn't seem to be scaling properly based on Envenom spec. But here's how it's supposed to work:
Basically, the DOT poisons do about 13% of the damage a character (of the same level as the poison) would deal in a typical 60-second solo battle, compressed down into 20 seconds, or five combat "ticks". The basic formula looks like:
Total Dmg = (Poison's Dmg * 5)
For instance, Greater Lethal Poison (usable at Envenom 20) does 19 points of damage per tick for a grand total of 95 damage: 95 = (19*5)
However, the damage per tick is indeed supposed to scale based on Envenom spec, where zero spec (Envenom 1) would do about 25% less damage (on average) up to a fully spec'ed Envenom doing an additional 25% damage. So using the same example above the Greater Lethal Poison would do approximately 24 damage per tick (ie 19*1.25) for a grand total of 120 over five ticks.
Q: Can I envenom both my weapons if I'm dual wielding?
A: Yes. Here's the scoop from my buddy Infiltrator X:
You can poison both weapons, but you can't stack two of the same effect on the same target. Therefore, you'll normally want to put a different poison on each weapon. For example, a weakening poison on one weapon and a lethal poison on the other.
There may be some rare situations where it could be useful to use two of the same poison:
- You really want a specific poison type to land on a mob. If the first hit is resisted, you still have a shot with your second weapon swing.
- You may be able to switch targets before your second weapon swings, especially if your dual wield skill is very low. You can then potentially poison two different targets with the same poison.
My Notes: I've been using two DOT poisons (Lethal variety) regularly now while dual wielding. The way it works is the second poison will replace the first poison if and when I the off-hand swings, hits, and the poison "sticks". The second DOT will imediately replace the first and the timer is reset! So if you're lucky your off-hand won't swing too early and you just might get a nice 10 round DOT.
Q: Do poisons wear off of my weapons?
A: Poison "disappears" from the weapon upon any of the following events:
a) When you hit a target with the envenomed weapon
b) When you die
c) When you log off
d) When you zone
NOTE: You can store envenomed weapons in your backpack! I always keep a dagger envenomed with a "crippling" poison (snare effect) in the event a battle goes poorly and I can just ready the weapon, hit the target, and RUN my skinny lil' elf fanny off!
Q: Can I give poisoned weapons to other players?
A: Yes. Once you apply a poison to a weapon you are free to trade it, sell it, drop it, etc. and then anyone can use it.
Update: There are now conflicting reports about being able to do this. Some say yes, some say no. *shrugs* Try it yourself...
A: Special poison vendors. Note that they only have the standard [Merchant] tag. I've found them in every city and even some towns. You can also recognize them in a crowd by their blood-red hooded cloaks and black armor.
There are two types of poison vendors:
1) those that carry low-to-mid-level poisons
2) those that carry mid-to-high-level poisons and venoms.
Poisons are sold in lots of 10 and may be stacked in your intentory up to 40.
Q: What poisons are currently available?
A: Following is a list of poisons as of DAOC v1.32.
Damage Over Time (lasts 5
"ticks")
1 Minor Lethal Poison
5 Lesser Lethal Poison
10 Lethal Poison
15 Major Lethal Poison
20 Greater Lethal Poison
25 Minor Lethal Venom
30 Lesser Lethal Venom
35 Major Lethal Venom
40 Greater Lethal Venom
45 Insidious Lethal Venom
50 Lifebane
Strength debuff
2 Minor Weakening Poison
6 Lesser Weakening Poison
11 Major Weakening Poison
17 Greater Weakening Poison
22 Minor Enervating Poison
29 Lesser Enervating Poison
37 Major Enervating Poison
47 Greater Enervating Poison
Snare (reduces target's movement rate until the target is
struck again)
3 Minor Imbalance Poison
8 Lesser Imbalance Poison
13 Major Imbalance Poison
18 Greater Imbalance Poison
23 Minor Crippling Poison
27 Lesser Crippling Poison
31 Major Crippling Poison
42 Greater Crippling Poison
Disease (prevents natural healing and halves healing spells)
4 Minor Infectious Serum
16 Lesser Infectious Serum
26 Infectious Serum
38 Major Infectious Serum
48 Greater Infectious Serum
Q: What does the number next to the poison's name indicate?
A: The number preceding the poison's name is the level of the poison and the level at which you can apply it, based on your Envenom specializtion. For instance, a L15 Nightshade with Envenom 6 would only be able to use level 6 and under poisons (see poison tables below for poison levels).
Q: Is Envenom worth specializing in? Should I even bother with poisons?
A: Poison use seems very "situationally sensitive" at the moment.
For instance, in a solid PvE group I've found that using poisons is a complete waste of money. What seems to happen is the MOB simply dies too fast for my poisons to be of any real value (assuming it doesn't get resisted).
Solo PvE is another story. You may find that you must use poisons to be able to solo target blue MOBS. This seems especially true if you have zero-to-low weapon specialization and thus poisons can somewhat make up the difference in the resulting lower damage output.
Update: When soloing I use two DOT poisons with dual-wielding and if my off-hand doesn't "fire" right away, I can get up to 5 more rounds of DOT from my second poison. Very helpful for soloing, especially to make up for low weapon spec'ed thieves.
And then there's PvP. Poison testing in upper level PvP was virtually non-existent during beta because the upper level poisons didn't proc because of a bug (in fact, I'm hearing it's still bugged) so I can't really say how effective poisons will be in PvP in their current incarnation. But I have reason to believe they're going to be quite effective...or else somebody's gonna get thwapped for all these wasted spec points! *Remmi scowls*
Q: What does the future hold for Envenom and poisons?
A: Good stuff is still coming. More poisons, scaled damage for DOT poisons based on Envenom spec, and possibly the ability to poison your ranged weapons (Infs and Shadowblades only, but Shades may get a different benefit as an offset...), etc..
Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be fleshing this FAQ out to cover all aspects of the "thief" classes in the near future. If you have any questions in the meantime (thief related!) then head on over to The Safehouse and ask away! We've got a very active DAOC forum and lots of great advice being slung around so come on by.
Remmi (aka Rath on Percival)