Difference between revisions of "Dancer (Game Mechanics)"

Something

something goes here

Related Tags

Basics

Effects Droid

Effects Module

To use effects modules, you must be either a Novice Musician or Novice Dancer. To program a playback module in a droid, you must have Novice Musician. If you do not have Novice Musician, you can still use a playback droid if you get a Musician to program it. Once it is programmed, you may control it with the /band commands.

These modules provide visual displays for an entertainer. You can place up to 10 different effects in a row, with a timer of 3 - 60 seconds between each effect. The following is a list of all 6 modules and a basic description of what they do.

• Avian - white birds fly away from the droid
• Foam - sort of like a cloud effect around the ground spreading about 4-5m
• Electric Fog - a slow burst of sparkles surrounds the droid
• Confetti - wads of confetti are thrown into the air and sprinkle everywhere
• Mind bloom - a really nice looking slow moving plasma effect in the air around the droid
• Dancing Jawa - Laser show with images of a dancing jawa floating in the air

The Effects module creates a radial menu with the Effects On/Off Toggle for a Novice Dancer of Musician. The Effects On/Off Toggle has a sub menu called Configure that allows you to program 10 slots. Each slot can be filled with one of the Effects Modules installed and allows you to set a delay time for each effect.

Mind Buffing Basics

Mind buffing may seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Any entertainer who has reached at least novice in the Dancer Profession or Musician Profession may administer mind buffs. The strength of the buff depends on advancement in the Technique line of either profession.

There are two different types of mind buffs. One buff is to the mind pool, the second buff is to focus and willpower. Dancers are responsible for the mind pool and musicians are responsible for focus and willpower. Neither buff is really “better” than the other overall, it is really situational which is preferred.

In addition to two different types of mind buffs, there are also two ways of administering mind buffs. They can be applied actively to a single target, or passively to everyone grouped with the entertainer. Aside from being grouped or not and how many can be buffed at once, there is no difference in how the buff is applied.

Steps for the person being buffed

Before starting the buff, it is best to make sure that the recipient is not watching or listening to anyone. This is just a precaution to make sure things work right. The recipient should then start watching or listening to the entertainer as appropriate, and watch or listen to nobody else until the buff is complete. A minimum of two minutes watching or listening is required. That two minutes does not necessarily have to be while the entertainer is buffing, so it is a good idea to start listening first.

Once the buff is finished, it is not applied until the recipient walks away, or stops watching or listening with either the radial menu or the /stopwatch or /stoplisten command.

Steps for the entertainer

When buffing, an entertainer has two options. They can perform for the recipient with the /setperform Entertainer Command, or they can invite them to the group. If the recipient is invited to the group nothing else is required from the entertainer for them to be buffed. An entertainer can be buffing group members and a target at the same time.

Once the recipient is watching or listening to the entertainer, the entertainer performs for anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes. The more active the entertainer performs, the quicker the buff will be applied and the longer it will last.

'How much will the buff be?

Unlike doctor buffs, entertainer buffs are based on a percentage of the recipients base stats. The entertainers musical or dancing mind enhancement determines the percentage. A Master Dancer will have 100 dancing mind enhancement, and a Master Musician will have 100 musical mind enhancement. There are also skill enhancing attachments (Sometimes called SEAs or skill tapes) which can give a boost to mind enhancement. Multiples of these can be put on different pieces of clothing (One per article of clothing) up to a bonus of +25. Higher will show in the skills, but the buff will be unaffected. Bio-engineers, unfortunately, can do nothing to help mind buffs.

Some flourishing is required to get a full strength mind buff, however 4–12 flourishes (Depending on what dance or music is being performed) is enough for even a master with all the enhancements their clothes will fit.

How long will the buff last?

Mind buffs can last anywhere from 1 minute to 2 hours. The duration of the mind buff depends on two things. How long the entertainer performed, and how much they flourished. Every 10 seconds performing is 1 minute extra duration, and every flourish is 1 minute extra duration. Flourishes are counted even if the entertainer never performs them (Stops before they come up for musicians, or flourish during another flourish for dancers). For those doing the math, this means the minimum amount of time needed for a full 2 hour buff is 3 minutes 20 seconds, assuming flourishing as fast as the game allows (5 flourishes every 10 seconds).

How will I know when it's been long enough?

There are several game utilities you can use to notify yourself when the buff is done. Generally a buff will take 3 minutes 20 seconds if you are over-flourishing, or closer to 8–10 minutes if you are doing normal performing and flourishing as you need it for your performance.

3 minutes 20 seconds is 200 seconds, 10 minutes is 600 seconds.

Alarms You can create alarms with the /alarmAddIn command. Usage is /alarmAddIn hours minutes message. Once you set an alarm, after it expires it will display the message and play a sound for you. You can use /alarm to list alarms and /alarmRemove to remove alarms, for example if someone gets impatient and leaves early.

Example: /alarmAddIn 0 10 \#ff0000It's been 10 minutes

/pause In addition to alarms, you can also set a /pause command running. This must be used together with another command, with a ; in between. Most commonly used in macros or aliases. The usage is /pause seconds.

Examples: /pause 600;/tell yourname \#FF0000It's been 10 minutes /pause 600;/echo \#FF0000It's been 10 minutes /pause 600;/groupsay It's been 10 minutes, your mind buff is done

What should an entertainer charge for a buff? Some people will do buffs for Tips. Others have a set fee they charge up front. The range seems to be anywhere from 2k to 10k. So if you are tipping for a buff, keep that in mind.

If you want to really make money like this, you can setup a group where you invite people as they pay, then let them know when they are finished. To keep track of everyone, you can do something like this..

/alias buffInvite /invite;/ttell Join my group for a buff. I'll let you know when you are done;/pause 600;/g Your buff is done

Then when Luke comes along for a buff, you target him and type /buffInvite Luke. Half way through the buff, his friend Leia comes along for a buff, you would target her and type /buffInvite Leia.

                                     Analysis of mind buffs

If you are just interested in what is needed for a buff to be applied, you're done. The rest of this is dealing with the details of how the system works.

The basics... It's very simple. There are two things that add to a buff. Every xp “tick”, and a flourish. Each of these events adds to both the time, and size of the buff.

Making a buff last... Buffs are a minimum of 10 seconds. From there it's minutes at a time. Every flourish, and every xp tick adds 1 minute to the buff. So if there were not a 5 flourish limit, 120 flourishes would be 2 hours. Since there is a 5 flourish limit, that means at most you can add 6 minutes every 10 seconds. (5 for a flourish, 1 for the xp tick)

Making a buff bigger... This is where what you are playing/dancing makes a difference. Again, every flourish and xp tick add to the buff.. But what they add is different. The base amount they add is based on the level of what you are performing, or what instrument you are playing. Specifically:

Dance

Music
% per tick
% per flourish

Basic, rhythmic (Novice Entertainer)
Starwars 1, slitherhorn (Novice Entertainer)
2%
10%

Basic 2, Rhythmic 2?, Footloose
Fizzz, Fanfar, Rock, Starwars 2, Folk
3%
15%

Formal
Kloo Horn, Starwars 3
4%
20%

Popular, Poplock, Popular 2, Poplock 2?
Traz, Ballad, Bandfill
5%
25%

Lyrical, Exotic, Exotic 2?
Chidinkalu Horn, Ommni Box, Waltz, Jazz
6%
30%

Lyrical 2?, Exotic 3?, Exotic 4 (Master Dancer)
Nalargon, Virtuoso (Master Musician)
7%
35%

Note: Guide did not offer values for the Master Entertainer lines such as Ceremonial, footlose2, formal2 and the instrument Mandoviol

I will assume they are the same as the other Master Professions until new evidence is uncovered to show otherwise:

7%
35%

Now a little explanation on how that works... That is the base gain. The xp tick always adds that amount to the buff. A flourish, however, adds 5x that to the buff. So a flourish of basic adds 10%, while a flourish of virtuoso or exotic3 adds 35%. So, while the level of the performance DOES effect the gain.. 10 flourishes and even basic is 100%.

Experience from buffing... Buffing gives experience. Entertainer healing experience, in fact. Healing xp shows up as the last of 3 lines of healing xp each tick. But where does it come from? Every % buffed by the xp tick gives 1xp. So, if you look at that chart above and replace % with xp, that is how much xp you get per tick, up until your max. The max, of course, being your mind enhancement skill. Thus, if an unenhanced master is dancing exotic, and flourishes once early on, they will get 35% from the flourish, and 65% from the xp tick, so they will give the group 65 healing xp. If you get to 100% before one tick, you get no xp at all, as the xp tick isn't buffing any percentage.

On the 2 minute minimum... The only effect the two minute minimum has is exactly that, a two minute minimum for the buff to take effect. It doesn't matter if they started watching/listening before being buffed, nor does it matter if you are performing for the entire 2 minutes. They can start watching/listening, then you stop performing, then 2 minutes later start again, and you could grant them a tiny buff nearly right away. Other than that, the minimum has no effect on the buff.

Getting the best buff So basically for the best buff, you need to do 120 flourishes or xp ticks. So every 10 seconds you spend buffing is one less flourish you need to do. Thus, the minimum is 3 minutes, 20 seconds.. That is 20 xp ticks for 20 minutes, and 100 flourishes for the other hour 40 minutes.

If I wanted to do math I wouldn't have a computer. What does this all mean? Well, to get the best buff, how long depends on how often you flourish... Based on the interval between flourishes...
2 seconds or less: 3 minutes 20 seconds
4 seconds: 5 minutes 42 seconds
5 seconds: 6 minutes 40 seconds
6 seconds: 7 minutes 30 seconds
8 seconds: 8 minutes 53 seconds
10 seconds: 10 minutes
15 seconds: 12 minutes
20 seconds: 13 minutes 20 seconds
30 seconds: 15 minutes
never: 20 minutes

If you want to figure it out yourself, the formula based on Pause length and Time for the total buff is:

Time and Pause are in seconds.

10*Time Pause = ----------- 1200 – Time

1200*Pause Time = ---------- Pause + 10

Hard numbers on buffs Options Tiaga Blue Glowie Posts: 5393 Registered: 07-29-2003

Server: Kettemoor

http://web.archive.org/web/20050211202935/forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=entertainer&message.id=9535

With all the confusion surrounding mind buffing, I decided to run some tests and get some hard numbers. What I found may suprise you. It sure did me.

First, the quick summary...

Things that have NO effect on buffs

   * Passive vs active
   * Grouped vs ungrouped
   * Usage of effects
   * Stopping performing and starting again
   * The two minute minimum
   * Stopping before the 2 minutes is up+
   * Level of dance/music*

Things that DO have an effect on buffs

   * Flourishing
   * Time spent performing

• Technically this does have an effect.. But that effect is quickly marginalized to the point where it is not a difference at all. If you want to know why, read on.

+ If they stop watching/listening and get told they need to listen for 2 minutes.. They just need to start watching/listening again for 2 minutes without losing any progress.

So this "best dance" and "best music" thing is *mostly* just a myth. You can give a 2 hour buff just as quickly dancing basic as you can dancing exotic3. Just flourish flourish flourish.

Onto the nitty gritty details. If you're not interested in the details then no need to read on...

The basics... It's very simple. There are two things that add to a buff. Every xp "tick", and a flourish. Each of these events adds to both the time, and size of the buff.

Making a buff last... Buffs are a minimum of 10 seconds. From there it's minutes at a time. Every flourish, and every xp tick adds 1 minute to the buff. So if there were not a 5 flourish limit, 120 flourishes would be 2 hours. Since there is a 5 flourish limit, that means at most you can add 6 minutes every 10 seconds. (5 for a flourish, 1 for the xp tick)

Making a buff bigger... This is where what you are playing/dancing makes a difference. Again, every flourish and xp tick add to the buff.. But what they add is different. The base amount they add is based on the level of what you are performing, or what instrument you are playing. Specifically: Novice entertainer (Basic, rhythmic, starwars1 w/ slitherhorn): 2% Entertainer dance/music I-III: 3$ Entertainer dance/music IV: 4% Novice dancer/musician - Knowledge II: 5% Knowledge III-IV: 6% Master dancer/musician: 7%

Now a little explanation on how that works... That is the base gain. The xp tick always adds that amount to the buff. A flourish, however, adds 5x that to the buff. So a flourish of basic adds 10%, while a flourish of virtuoso or exotic3 adds 35%. So, while the level of the dance DOES effect the gain.. 10 flourishes and even basic is 100%.

Experience from buffing... Buffing gives experience. Entertainer healing experience, in fact. If you've read my earlier reports on experience, you'll know that healing xp shows up as the last of 3 lines of healing xp each tick. But where does it come from? Well, earlier I reported that it is granted 1xp for each % buffed. Well, that's half true. Every % buffed by the xp tick gives 1xp. So, if you look at that chart above and replace % with xp, that is how much xp you get per tick, up until your max. The max, of course, being your mind enhancement skill. Thus, if an unenhanced master is dancing exotic, and flourishes once early on, they will get 35% from the flourish, and 65% from the xp tick, so they will give the group 65 healing xp. If you get to 100% before one tick, you get no xp at all, as the xp tick isn't buffing any.

On the 2 minute minimum... The only effect the two minute minimum has is exactly that, a two minute minimum for the buff to take effect. It doesn't matter if they started watching/listening before being buffed, nor does it matter if you are performing for the entire 2 minutes. They can start watching/listening, then you stop performing, then 2 minutes later start again, and you could grant them a tiny buff nearly right away. Other than that, the minimum has no effect on the buff.

Getting the best buff So basically for the best buff, you need to do 120 flourishes or xp ticks. So every 10 seconds you spend buffing is one less flourish you need to do. Thus, the minimum is 3 minutes, 20 seconds.. That is 20 xp ticks for 20 minutes, and 100 flourishes for the other hour 40 minutes.

If I wanted to do math I wouldn't have a computer. What does this all mean? Well, to get the best buff, how long depends on how often you flourish... Based on the interval between flourishes... 2 seconds or less: 3 minutes 20 seconds 4 seconds: 5 minutes 42 seconds 5 seconds: 6 minutes 40 seconds 6 seconds: 7 minutes 30 seconds 8 seconds: 8 minutes 53 seconds 10 seconds: 10 minutes 15 seconds: 12 minutes 20 seconds: 13 minutes 20 seconds 30 seconds: 15 minutes never: 20 minutes

Re: Hard numbers on buffs Options Tiaga Blue Glowie Posts: 5393 Registered: 07-29-2003

Server: Kettemoor

Correct, it was on live. Highest entertainer I have on test is master entertainer.

I would love to compare this to pre-patch and see if anything had changed, but there wasn't really anything like this before, and no pre-patch servers around to try it on.

As for what tests I did.. Most of what I did was using dance to test, then I just did some spot tests with music to make sure the numbers worked the same. What I would do is have the performer start, then the victim watch/listen. Before the 3 minutes were up, the performer would do a /setperform victim, some number of flourishes/amount of time, then a /setperform self.

I started with popular; testing a flourish, 10 seconds of non-flourishing, both, and two flourishes, making note of the percentage and duration of the buff for each. Next, I tested basic, again a flourish and a non-flourish. At this point I saw the relation between the % given per tick and per flourish, so the rest of the dances I tested only 1 flourish, made note of the percentage and verified the duration was the same. I only tested one dance per level, assuming all dances at the same skill are identical in buffing as they are in xp. Finally to prove correctness of the numbers, I did a few tests involving large numbers of flourishes and long lengths of time, making sure that the numbers matched up with what I expected.

In doing those tests, I also proved that the 2 minutes is 2 minutes watching, not necessarily 2 minutes being buffed. Early on before I had the bright idea to do just one or two flourishes for a short buff, I did an 8 minut-ish buff.. And after reaching 100%, I noted that even if I stopped watching and started again, I wasn't getting xp still, meaning the buff was partly applied. I tested that again later by watching, doing the flourish to buff, stop watching, then start again not being buffed for 2 minutes, which produced a 1 minute 10 second buff.

To test grouped vs ungrouped, instead of doing /setperform target, the target would invite the performer and start watching. The performer would then join, do a flourish, then disband. The results were identical to a targetted buff.

To test stopping and starting again, the target started watching the performer, who then did a flourish to buff, stopped for 15 seconds, then started and danced another minute. Again, the buff was applied.

For testing effects I did the same thing as for flourishes, except I did distract. The first time there was no buff at all, since all I had done was a distract. So I repeated the test doing a single flourish, then a distract. That resulted in a 1 minute buff.

Finally, to test that the time was buffing because of xp ticks, I setup a macro that would setperform target, wait 8 seconds, then setperform self and wait 2 seconds, and repeat. This was timed so the 2 seconds included the xp tick, meaning no xp ticks were occurring while buffing. That resulted in a buff the size expected from the times when I was trying to get it timed right.

I might have done a few other tests that I've forgotten. They were not the primary focus, however, if I did.

Special Effects

Dancers and Musicians have special abilities to use automatically. These abilities act as flourishes and can be called on via commands and when used they perform some sort of flashy ability or effect. Like some flourishes, some special effects can be executed back to back.

Executing a Special Effect

Back to back Special Effects