The mechanics thread - beta edition (in depth FAQ)

Very nice malice, that cleared a few things for me :D
Thank you!

Just some notes to add:

With regards to socket quantity. I saw a str-int shield with 5 slots, so it's limit is at least 5 (but probably 6 IMO)


With regards to weapon damage and attack skills, I found out that even the enhanced damage (essentially considered base damage in diablo 2) is ignored by skills which change some physical damage to elemental damage.

This means that CURRENTLY if you're using infernal blow or glacial hammer, have +x% enhanced [physical] damage is useless.

Also since you didn't really mention it, enhanced [physical] damage from weapon mastery or 1h/2h mastery in the passive skill tree is also ignored by elemental damage conversion skills.

In a nutshell it means elemental attack skills are almost useless (CURRENTLY).

Is there an XP penalty for killing monsters above your level?

Awesome post! This is a very nice introduction as I wait for the game to download.

"

Xapti wrote:

Just some notes to add:

With regards to socket quantity. I saw a str-int shield with 5 slots, so it's limit is at least 5 (but probably 6 IMO)


With regards to weapon damage and attack skills, I found out that even the enhanced damage (essentially considered base damage in diablo 2) is ignored by skills which change some physical damage to elemental damage.

This means that CURRENTLY if you're using infernal blow or glacial hammer, have +x% enhanced [physical] damage is useless.

Also since you didn't really mention it, enhanced [physical] damage from weapon mastery or 1h/2h mastery in the passive skill tree is also ignored by elemental damage conversion skills.

In a nutshell it means elemental attack skills are almost useless (CURRENTLY).

I think the enhanced physical damage does work, but not as you would expect.
Glacial Hammer and Infernal Blow do the elemental conversion before any other modifiers (including on-weapon %ED and quality!), which means those mods, and any physical damage passive skills only apply to whatever physical damage is left after the conversion. The exact way the damage is calculated for these skills is unknown, for instance we don't know if the % melee damage passives from the strength tree affect the fire/cold damage portion.
Added notes about these skills.

"

konfeta wrote:

Is there an XP penalty for killing monsters above your level?

I know for sure that there is an XP penalty for monster below your level, but can't say with 100% certainty that teh same is true for monsters above your level.
However, I think it is pretty safe to assume that there is a penalty.
This could be tested by killing a specific monster that is one level above you and recording the amount of XP it gives. Then level up, kill it again, and compare the amount of XP you were awarded.
Would be interested to hear the results if you decide to test this.
Added to unanswered questions.


Thankyou all for your questions & comments

Malice can you write any limits of modifier stats on items? Like someone said (dubby?) that max Rarity on item 50%, quantity 20%, correct me if i am wrong.

Quality is capped at 20%. I should add a section about quality.

As for everything else, I have no idea what the exact limits for each modifier are, and they tend to change a lot from patch to patch.
It would be waste of time at this point to try to pin down the exact min/max values.

Very nice list. I did notice 2 skills missing, though:
* Detonate Dead (an attack spell)
* Phase Run (part weapon skill, part other)

Good to have someone spading out the mechanics like this.

"

Malice wrote:

[
I think the enhanced physical damage does work, but not as you would expect.
Glacial Hammer and Infernal Blow do the elemental conversion before any other modifiers (including on-weapon %ED and quality!), which means those mods, and any physical damage passive skills only apply to whatever physical damage is left after the conversion. The exact way the damage is calculated for these skills is unknown, for instance we don't know if the % melee damage passives from the strength tree affect the fire/cold damage portion.
Added notes about these skills.

I am fully aware how it works, I think you just misinterpreted what I was saying.