Noticed this came up in a build thread regarding the LBX, but it also applies to the Machine Gun. Smurfy has this note next to both the machine gun and the LBX (machine gun's chances are much lower though) My understanding of the mechanics was as follows: The LBX has an greater chance to score a critical, internal, hit to destroy equipment. However, the increased chance is not a measured number in the note. The note does provide the additional damage chances for the weapon seen in the picture above which is separate from the increased crit. chance. This has been my understanding, but it sounds like it may be incorrect? I thought critical hits were specific to hitting equipment, not inflicting additional damage. That Crit =/= Additional Damage If I hit an open internal structure component, I have a chance to hit a piece of equipment in that component, but my damage to that component as a whole remains the same. For instance, I hit an open left torso with an AC10. I deal 10 points of damage internally to that component with a chance to "crit" any equipment in that component. On the other hand, if I hit the same open component with a LBX10, assuming all the pellets hit that one component, I deal 10 points of damage + the additional damage per the weapon specs. In addition, each of those pellets have an increased chance to "crit" equipment in that component. Now we take the same example, but the component is un-touched and has full armor (lets say 40 points) I hit is with an AC10, very simple. 40 points of armor becomes 30 points of armor. But no "crit" chance because the damage has not gone internal yet. If I hit the same component with an LBX10, based on the "additional damage" description it would deal ~15 points of damage. But it would have no chance to "crit" equipment because the damage has not gone internal yet. I'm not saying this is correct, it is my interpretation of the mechanics. I also have no evidence to support my assumption other than the way the description is worded. I come from many tabletop games so I can tell you I'm one hell of a "rules lawyer" when it comes to game mechanics wording. However, in this case we have wording AND coding, and coding over-rules any interpretation of a description. So how does it actually work in MWO?
Page 40 of the beginner's guide to MWO starts the section on critical hits. The following is all from that. When a weapon hits a section of the Mech with exposed internals, there is (with one exception) a 42 % chance of causing critical damage (of varying severity). The breakdown is as follows: 25 % chance of a single critical hit (x1) 14 % chance of a double critical hit (x2) 3 % chance of a triple critical hit (x3) single critical hits = the damage inflicted by the weapon is dealt directly to one of the internal components double critical hits = the damage inflicted by the weapon is doubled and either dealt directly to single internal component, or split between two components triple critical hits = the damage inflicted by the weapon is tripled and either dealt directly to a single internal component, or split evenly between three components, or split 2/3 towards one component and 1/3 towards one other Example 1: A battle weary Atlas has no armor remaining on its LT, exposing the internal structure. This section contains 1 DHS and 1 ton of SRM ammunition. The Atlas now suffers a hit to the exposed LT from an enemy AC 5. The game will randomly determine if the hit was critical, with a 42 % chance of success. For the purposes of this example, we will assume a critical hit was landed, but it was only a single critical (x1) with a 25 % chance of occurring. The game will now work out which of the internal components will be damaged. Of the equipment installed in this location, the DHS uses up 3 critical slots whilst the SRM ammunition only uses 1, for a total of 4 (since no other components are installed). The game works out the distribution based on critical slots, so since the DHS occupies 3/4 slots it has a 75 % chance of receiving the damage, the SRM ammo has a 25 % chance. Bearing in mind that each of these components has 10 HP, they would still both be fully functional after receiving the critical damage of 5 points from the initial AC 5 strike, but the affected component would be reduced to 5 HP. Example 2: Now our Atlas suffers a double critical hit (x2) with a 14 % chance of occurring. The game will again randomly determine which components will suffer damage. The DHS still has the highest chance of being damaged due to the amount of critical slots it uses. Since the double critical strikes twice, the effects of these hits will be determined as: Scenario A: The DHS will be hit both times. The total damage done will be 10 points (2 x 5) - the DHS (10 HP) will be destroyed in the process (high odds). Scenario B: The hits will be split, thus the DHS and the ton of SRM ammunition will suffer damage of 5 points each - no further consequences (average odds). Scenario C: The ton of SRM ammunition will be hit both times. The damage done will be 10 points again (2 x 5) - the ton of SRM ammunition will be destroyed in the process and explode, dealing further damage to the Mech, depending on whether C.A.S.E. is installed or not (low odds). LBX AC 10 = 2.0 (1.0 [base damage per pellet] x 2.0 [multiplier] = 2.0 points of damage per pellet in case of single critical hits; 4.0 points of damage per pellet in case of double critical hits; 6.0 points of damage per pellet in case of triple critical hits) The LBX has increased crit chance (the +14/8/3% smurfy says,) so 39 % chance of a single critical hit (x1) 22 % chance of a double critical hit (x2) 6 % chance of a triple critical hit (x3)
Okay, so what happens if the area that is critted doesn't have any items? Does the extra damage get applied to the internal structure, or does it just not do anything?
how could you test it... you would need every pellet to hit the same component to get an accurate read in the testing grounds. Maybe play a few matches where you ONLY shoot at fully armor mechs point blank, never at internal/opened-up components, then after you know you've got a few shots in, check your profile stats for that weapon (recorded the stats before testing) and then compare the change. I might try this to see what happens. Just make the fastest light build possible, run in, get a few shots in, die, repeat for a few drops.
I'd use an MG instead of an LBX, since the MG allows precise targeting. I'd drop with a friend, and we'd shoot each other. That lets us control builds and such.
Welp, after 35 perfect shots on armor with a single LBX10, I averaged EXACTLY 10 damage... guess that answers that! I guess the crit bonus damage ONLY applies to dealing damage to equipment and not actual structure damage. hmmmmm....
Ok! So now we know the actual crit damage mechanics. Critical hits can only happen to a section of a mech with no armor, and with equipment inside. Internal structure cannot be critted, and weapons with bonus crit damage don't do that extra to structure. Otherwise they work as described in my first post.
I don't remember the answer to this, but does Endo Steel and FF get treated as an exposed component? In which case, having them is actually a good thing since they act as a buffer for the other components like XL engines? And how does crit damage apply to them in general?
