Explanation combat system in dreadlords

Caveat Emptor. Not really very brief or clear.

B = sum of beam attack
M = sum of missile attack
D = sum of mass driver attack

S = sum of shield defense
P = sum of point defense
A = sum of armor defense

Attacker rolls from 1 to B for beam attack
Defender rolls from 0 to S + SQRT(P) + SQRT(A) for beam defense
Beam Damage = beam attack roll - beam defense roll or 0 if negative

Attacker rolls from 1 to M for missile attack
Defender rolls from 0 to P + SQRT(S) + SQRT(A) for missile defense
Missile Damage = missile attack roll - missile defense roll or 0 if negative

Attacker rolls from 1 to D for driver attack
Defender rolls from 0 to A + SQRT(S) + SQRT(P) for driver defense
Driver Damage = driver attack roll - driver defense roll or 0 if negative

Total damage is the sum of all (positive) damages. Note that all defenses get to participate multiple times if attacker has multiple weapon types. This is why it's usually not good to use multiple weapon types but it can be useful to use multiple defense types.

Thanks for the reply. But if i understand you correctly, the attacker has the first shot and could therefore win, without any damage if the defending fleet/ship is destroyed in the first shot?

And armor defense is also useful if your enemy only has beam attack, as it reduces the damage of beam attack with sqrt(armor defense)? Is this correct?

Note that all defenses get to participate multiple times if attacker has multiple weapon types. This is why it's usually not good to use multiple weapon types but it can be useful to use multiple defense types.

I didn't know this! I always use at least two weapon types... using two weapon types equally seems to stop the AI from trying to adapt like it does when you use one weapon type.

No problem, i can always build cargo hulls loaded with the weapon types i'm not using... to trick the AI into not adapting to my active ships!

Thanks for the reply. But if i understand you correctly, the attacker has the first shot and could therefore win, without any damage if the defending fleet/ship is destroyed in the first shot?

It was this way pre-1.2. Post-1.2, dead ships are not removed until the end of each combat round (i.e., one volley and counter-volley), so even if you obliterate the defenders utterly, they still have a chance to shoot back once.

And armor defense is also useful if your enemy only has beam attack, as it reduces the damage of beam attack with sqrt(armor defense)?

Potentially, but of course that's just a maximum roll. You can always roll a 0 on defense regardless how much you have.

I didn't know this! I always use at least two weapon types... using two weapon types equally seems to stop the AI from trying to adapt like it does when you use one weapon type.

There are exceptions but consider the case where the defender has all three defense types. In that case it's *never* correct to use more than one weapon type. Even in the case where the defender has only one defense type, it's clearly better to use a weapon that he has no defense against than to use two weapons when he has a defense against one of them.

This has been discussed in other threads although I wouldn't know how to begin searching for them. The bottom line is that it's almost always in your best interest to design a ship with the specific weapons and defense that you need for your current opponent and then re-design them for the next opponent or once your current opponent adapts.

I'm not positive how the new DA combat system will affect this, but I don't think it really changes anything related to multiple weapons types.

As an aside it is probably a good thing to have multiple weapon types within the same fleet, not just on the same ship.

Interesting thanks for your replies.