Question about damage in Deus Ex
Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:44 am
Hi everyone,
So, I've started playing Deus Ex again after many, many years, and this time around, I wanted to understand how certain mechanics work. This seems to be one of the most active forums around, and being centered around mods, I was hoping that I'd be able to stumble on someone who could help me about how things actually work.
Specifically, I'm interested in how damage and several related things work. I've looked at other places and I've experimented a bit in the game myself, and I wanted to ask a few questions. I'm playing the original, with Shifter and Biomod, if that's important.
As I get it, there are 6 types of damage:
1) ballistic - hurts the HP of the body part that is hit
2) fire - hurts the HP of the body part that is hit, continues doing damage over time, and whatever is burning can set other things on fire
3) poison - hurts the HP of the body part that is hit, continues doing damage over time
4) radiation - does damage to the entire body as long as you are in a radiation field
5) electric - does HP and BE damage
6) EMP - does BE damage
Various weapons deal different types of damage. There are also various protections from different types of damage - ballistic protection, energy shield, EMP shield, aggressive defense system, environmental resistance, ballistic armor and hazmat suits.
Now, there are a few things that puzzle me. First are the non-lethal weapons. I'll write how I think I figured out they work, and ask questions, so hopefully somebody can answer them and also correct me if I got the mechanics wrong.
Tranquilizer darts. If I get it correctly, they deal poison damage. How do they knock people out, though? Do they have to reduce the HP of the torso or the head to zero? Or do they have to reduce any body part to zero? Or do they just need to deal a certain amount of damage after which an enemy is knocked out? If that is the case, does the amount of damage they need to do vary by enemy?
Will they continue dealing damage until an enemy is knocked out, or will they deal damage for a fixed amount of time irrespective of whether the enemy is knocked out by then (in essence, will they always eventually knock out an opponent or are some opponents too strong to be knocked out by one dart)?
Does the damage the they deal depend on the pistol skill?
Or, do they simply knock out an enemy after a fixed amount of time, with the time needed varying by enemy and with your pistol skill?
Baton. If I get it correctly, it deals ballistic damage. Once you've reduced the enemy's torso or head HP to zero with the baton, they are knocked out. Is this how it works? Or, is there something more to it?
Riot-prod. It deals electric damage. I'm wondering how its stun/knock-out effect works. Is it simply coded that the riot prod stuns or knocks out an opponent or do those effects somehow depend on the electric damage that's done? If they depend on the damage, how exactly do they depend on it? Is it the absolute amount of damage that counts? Or is it about the amount of damage done to a certain body part?
Also, does the length of the stun depend on the damage done? Does the length of the stun depend on which body part you've hit?
Also, how does the low-tech skill affect the riot prod? I take it that it increases the damage done, and if the stun/knock-out effects depend on the damage, then that is how the skill comes into play.
Stealth bonus. Apart from these issues with weapons, I'm also a bit confused about the damage bonus you get when you attack someone from behind. Does it work so that damage is multiplied if you attack an opponent who is not aware of you? Or is it multiplied if you attack an enemy from behind, irrespective of whether he or she is aware of you, and it just so happens that you normally won't be able to attack an enemy from behind if they are aware of you (as they will be turning to face you)? So, basically, is it a stealth bonus to damage, or a bonus for attacking from behind? Or is that two separate bonuses? If they are two separate bonuses, do they stack? If it is a stealth bonus, is it important that the enemy is totally unaware of you, or is it OK if they are alerted (have heard you, for example, but not seen you)?
Also, does the bonus affect all weapons?
Head-shots. I'm a bit confused by head-shots as well. Is there a multiplier to damage when you hit someone in the head? Or do they just die more easily, because their heads (unlike mine) have less HP than their torsos?
If there is a bonus to damage because of a head-shot, does it stack with the stealth bonus?
Does the whole head give an equal bonus, or is it important, as some people say, to aim higher up? I've noticed that sometimes, an enemy dies of a head-shot, and sometimes not. Or is that just an effect of hit-boxes overlapping, but not visibly on the model, so I'm actually hitting the torso or an arm or the back, while I'm thinking that I'm hitting the head?
Also, does the head-shot bonus, if it exists, apply to all weapons? Or just some?
Pepper-gun. Finally, the pepper-gun. I don't think I'll be using it, but just to check. It doesn't actually deal any damage, right? It simply has the effect of stunning an enemy for a time?
Thanks a lot for the answers! I really tried figuring out as much as I could by reading elsewhere, and experimenting, but this was as far as I could come, so now I'm counting on someone who knows the code to help. I'll update the Deus Ex Wikia page with this info once I'm clear about things.
(Also, a neat trick I noticed when I was experimenting. I was playing on Realistic. I bumped up my pistol skill to Master level and aimed a tranquilizer dart at the head of an NSF guard on Liberty island, to see whether they would faint more quickly. What happened was that they were knocked-out immediately. So, you get a silent, instant knock-out from a distance. Useful. )
So, I've started playing Deus Ex again after many, many years, and this time around, I wanted to understand how certain mechanics work. This seems to be one of the most active forums around, and being centered around mods, I was hoping that I'd be able to stumble on someone who could help me about how things actually work.
Specifically, I'm interested in how damage and several related things work. I've looked at other places and I've experimented a bit in the game myself, and I wanted to ask a few questions. I'm playing the original, with Shifter and Biomod, if that's important.
As I get it, there are 6 types of damage:
1) ballistic - hurts the HP of the body part that is hit
2) fire - hurts the HP of the body part that is hit, continues doing damage over time, and whatever is burning can set other things on fire
3) poison - hurts the HP of the body part that is hit, continues doing damage over time
4) radiation - does damage to the entire body as long as you are in a radiation field
5) electric - does HP and BE damage
6) EMP - does BE damage
Various weapons deal different types of damage. There are also various protections from different types of damage - ballistic protection, energy shield, EMP shield, aggressive defense system, environmental resistance, ballistic armor and hazmat suits.
Now, there are a few things that puzzle me. First are the non-lethal weapons. I'll write how I think I figured out they work, and ask questions, so hopefully somebody can answer them and also correct me if I got the mechanics wrong.
Tranquilizer darts. If I get it correctly, they deal poison damage. How do they knock people out, though? Do they have to reduce the HP of the torso or the head to zero? Or do they have to reduce any body part to zero? Or do they just need to deal a certain amount of damage after which an enemy is knocked out? If that is the case, does the amount of damage they need to do vary by enemy?
Will they continue dealing damage until an enemy is knocked out, or will they deal damage for a fixed amount of time irrespective of whether the enemy is knocked out by then (in essence, will they always eventually knock out an opponent or are some opponents too strong to be knocked out by one dart)?
Does the damage the they deal depend on the pistol skill?
Or, do they simply knock out an enemy after a fixed amount of time, with the time needed varying by enemy and with your pistol skill?
Baton. If I get it correctly, it deals ballistic damage. Once you've reduced the enemy's torso or head HP to zero with the baton, they are knocked out. Is this how it works? Or, is there something more to it?
Riot-prod. It deals electric damage. I'm wondering how its stun/knock-out effect works. Is it simply coded that the riot prod stuns or knocks out an opponent or do those effects somehow depend on the electric damage that's done? If they depend on the damage, how exactly do they depend on it? Is it the absolute amount of damage that counts? Or is it about the amount of damage done to a certain body part?
Also, does the length of the stun depend on the damage done? Does the length of the stun depend on which body part you've hit?
Also, how does the low-tech skill affect the riot prod? I take it that it increases the damage done, and if the stun/knock-out effects depend on the damage, then that is how the skill comes into play.
Stealth bonus. Apart from these issues with weapons, I'm also a bit confused about the damage bonus you get when you attack someone from behind. Does it work so that damage is multiplied if you attack an opponent who is not aware of you? Or is it multiplied if you attack an enemy from behind, irrespective of whether he or she is aware of you, and it just so happens that you normally won't be able to attack an enemy from behind if they are aware of you (as they will be turning to face you)? So, basically, is it a stealth bonus to damage, or a bonus for attacking from behind? Or is that two separate bonuses? If they are two separate bonuses, do they stack? If it is a stealth bonus, is it important that the enemy is totally unaware of you, or is it OK if they are alerted (have heard you, for example, but not seen you)?
Also, does the bonus affect all weapons?
Head-shots. I'm a bit confused by head-shots as well. Is there a multiplier to damage when you hit someone in the head? Or do they just die more easily, because their heads (unlike mine) have less HP than their torsos?
If there is a bonus to damage because of a head-shot, does it stack with the stealth bonus?
Does the whole head give an equal bonus, or is it important, as some people say, to aim higher up? I've noticed that sometimes, an enemy dies of a head-shot, and sometimes not. Or is that just an effect of hit-boxes overlapping, but not visibly on the model, so I'm actually hitting the torso or an arm or the back, while I'm thinking that I'm hitting the head?
Also, does the head-shot bonus, if it exists, apply to all weapons? Or just some?
Pepper-gun. Finally, the pepper-gun. I don't think I'll be using it, but just to check. It doesn't actually deal any damage, right? It simply has the effect of stunning an enemy for a time?
Thanks a lot for the answers! I really tried figuring out as much as I could by reading elsewhere, and experimenting, but this was as far as I could come, so now I'm counting on someone who knows the code to help. I'll update the Deus Ex Wikia page with this info once I'm clear about things.
(Also, a neat trick I noticed when I was experimenting. I was playing on Realistic. I bumped up my pistol skill to Master level and aimed a tranquilizer dart at the head of an NSF guard on Liberty island, to see whether they would faint more quickly. What happened was that they were knocked-out immediately. So, you get a silent, instant knock-out from a distance. Useful. )