Considering the interesting info John Kim was able to put together on
Lullaby not being affected by Cha, I thought you folks would like this
interesting tidbit of Agi info from two members of my guild. I also figured
that since we get Dodge (even though it's capped ridiculously low), this
might prove of some interest to the bardic community.

It seems one guildbro of mine (lvl 35 ranger named Fandrall) decided to
test out the effectiveness of Agility vs. AC. He and another guildbro (also
lvl 35 ranger named Mezzevil) found a nice quiet spot and began the
testing. Mezz (the test subject/sucker... heh!) wore his best AC outfit
with no Agi buff items (AC about 697 and Agi about 110), and let Fandrall
smack him around a good bit. Next test, Mezz stripped down to his BVD's,
and again, Fandrall smacked him around (AC was 480, Agi 110). The third
test had Mezz wear his best Agi buff items with as little AC impact as
possible (AC was 515, Agi 166... 56 point Agi increase). Fourth test was to
keep all Agi items on, and put the rest of his AC items back on (AC 671, Agi
166). A fifth test was done with same items as test #4, but attacker hit
from behind.

The results? A quote from Fandrall's post:
"1) Armor class STRONGLY impacts how much damage is done on a given HIT, but
has nothing to do with whether a hit occurs or not. This is true with both
high or low agility (high and low being defined as 110 and 166 for this
test). Agil was held constant while AC was allowed to change dramatically,
if you compare values between tests 1-2 and 3-4.

2) Agility did not significantly increase the percentage of times that dodge
or parry occurred. There was an increase, but it was within the limits of
what could have occurred based on randomness (limited sample). I could get a
definitive answer if I swung at him 50 thousand times, but I tested his
patience as it is ;p (btw I am also a level 35 ranger, but that is mere
coincidence.... I maintained constant stats for all trials so I could have
been any mob, but identical for all trials).

3) Agility also did NOT significantly affect the number of times I missed
him. Again, there was a slight difference, but not statistically
significant. I was disappointed at this result..... seeing how much time and
money I'd spent acquiring agility items that sacrificed some AC. It's
possible from others who have spoken that my agil difference in the test
wasn't large enough, or didn't cross enough "boundaries", if such things
exist. (shrugs)

4) Of the four trials, the lowest damage per SWING ratio was in trial #1,
max AC, low agil. Even case #4, with just SLIGHTLY less AC, and 56 more
agility, had higher ratio of damage per swing (5.3 to 5.0). This takes into
account misses, so it's the best measure of "how much damage am I taking",
regardless of whether it's a few big ones or many smaller ones.

5) The fifth trial showed that getting hit in the back isn't any more
damaging than getting hit in the front, from a damage-distribution sense.
HOWEVER, I found out that you cannot dodge or parry any blow that comes from
behind you. The miss rate was pretty consistent with trial 4. So you do get
hit with more damage when attacked from behind, but only because you can't
parry or dodge. (Since Riposte only happens at 35, it's a non factor in this
test.)"

Could it be (as I pointed out in a bump to John's post on the EQ boards)
that some of the states are broken? This would certainly explain why the
folks at Verant are extremely hesitant to talk about them. (and don't start
talking that "black helicopter" crap either ya bunch of reprobates ;pppp ).

Using his Short Sword of Morin (6/22) and Dragoon Dagger (6/23... in
off-hand) with Piercing skill at 176 and 1H Slash at 177, Fandrall's Dirk
hit for an average of 2 POINTS lower than the sword even though they have
the same damage rating. Could it be that Piercing weapons do less damage
than Slashing ones?

Interesting...

-=B=-
The Rathe