Skill Mod Details

Melee Defense improves the player's chance to defend against an attack by lowering the accuracy to hit bonus from the attacker. Melee Defense is considered a primary defense and is capped at 125 (150 with skill tapes). The only way to boost it over this cap are from group buffs, item buffs, or abilities that have an innate bonus to it when they are used.

Formulas

I. Chance to Hit Stage

                                          1. Variables

1. AccMod = Accuracy from skill modifiers. from Attachments.

2. DefMod = Defense Modifiers based on Ranged Defense or Melee Defense Attachments and Skills. This is primary defense. This is the total sum of the ranged or melee defenses coming from all factors.

3. AtkPosMod = Attackers Posture Modifiers based on Standing +0, Crouching +16, Prone +50, and Running -50. The attacker gains or loses accuracy depending on what posture they have assumed.

4. DefPosMod = Defenders Posture Modifiers based on Standing +0, Crouching -16 vs. ranged or +16 vs. melee, Prone -25 vs. Ranged or +25 vs. melee, Running -25 to be hit by ranged or melee

5. AtkStateMod = Attackers modifiers for being blind or intimidated. Example of Attacker modifier would be -50 signifying that the attacker suffers a penalty to accuracy. Intimidate and Blind state penalties are unknown factors but it is estimated to be -50 penalty to the hit chance.

6. DefStateMod = Defenders modifiers for being stunned, or intimidated . Example of Defender Modifier would be +50 signifying the defender being easier to hit. Stunned and intimidate factors are unknown but it is estimated that they lower primary (melee and ranged) defenses by -50

7. WeapAcc = Weapon Accuracy at a specified Range.

8. AimShot = Yhe sum of your General Ranged Aiming, and weapon-specific Aiming mods. Only applies if you use Aim prior to your attack.

9. CovMod = Defense Modifiier for the take cover ability

10. AbilMod = Ability modifier depending on attack special ability chosen to perform. This is the innate accuracy bonus in special abilities

                                     How to Calculate WeapAcc

The complex nature of weapon accuracies in Star Wars Galaxies makes it difficult to calculate your weapon's accuracy at a given range. But we'll try, anyway.

Weapon accuracies have three main components:

• Point-blank range specifies the minimum range of your weapon.
• Ideal range specifies the "sweetspot" range for your weapon; this range is specific to each type of weapon (i.e. all DH17 Carbines have the same ideal range). You will always fire with maximum accuracy at your ideal range.
• Maximum range specifies the furthest you can be from your target and still be able to fire. For ranged weapons, this is usually 64m.

Each range value also has a modifier associated with it. This modifier gives the Accuracy mod we need in the above equation whenever your character is firing from exactly that range. Unfortunately, we are rarely so precise, and so we need a way to determine what our real accuracy value is. This requires two steps.

First, imagine your current range from your target as a slider that moves back and forth on a line, where the line has markers for your point-blank, ideal, and maximum ranges. Here is such a slider for an imaginary weapon:

Intimidate in action

Now, determine where on this slider your current range lies. Let's imagine our target is 33m away; thus, we are between our minimum and ideal ranges. Were our target 58m away, we would be between ideal and maximum ranges. In both cases, we refer to the lower range value (minimum range in the first example) as the "small range", and the higher range value (ideal range in the first example) as "big range." To determine our final accuracy, we must interpolate between the small range and big range based on where our current range lies on the above slider. To do so, use the following equation, where "Current" is your current range from the target, and "BigRange," "SmallRange," "BigMod," and "SmallMod" all refer to the distance and modifier values at your small and big ranges.

Intimidate in action

As a quick example, let's go back to the above imaginary weapon, with our target at 35m. Our calcualation comes out thus:

Intimidate in action

So our weapon accuracy at 35m is +40.

                                        Analysis

As is evident from the accuracy equation, your chance to hit a target is a direct competition between your weapon accuracy and your opponent's defenses. With every point increase in your accuracy skill (or the accuracy of your weapon), you gain a 0.5% increase in your chance to hit any given target. However, every point your target has in Ranged or Melee Defense decreases your chance to hit by 0.5%. Thus, it is important to maximize your accuracy mods while taking on opponents with a defense lower than your accuracy. Attacking such an opponent will guarantee at least a 66% chance to hit with your attacks, provided you are both standing.

How big an effect does your range have upon your final accuracy? It depends greatly on your weapon's ideal range modifier. A high ideal mod can be an enormous boost to your chance to hit; similarly, a negative (or low positive) mod can seriously hurt your chances. In general, you always want to be exactly at your ideal range from your target.

Unfortunately, few combat situations allow us to always maintain our ideal range. Is it better to be closer or further than your ideal range from your target? That also depends on your specific ideal range. If your ideal range is lower than 32m, it's better to be further away; if your range is greater than 32m, it's best to be closer to your target. Why is that?

Following is an image demonstrating our imaginary weapon's relative chance to hit at various ranges. Darker areas represent higher chances to hit; thus, the black area is the ideal range for the weapon:

Intimidate in action

What on earth does this image mean? Look at the difference between the gradient from Min to Ideal and from Ideal to Max. The latter gradient transitions from black (high chance) to white (low chance) much more quickly than the first. Thus, the same change in distance results in a much greater loss in accuracy when you're past this ideal range than if you're in front of it. Put another way, if at 45m your accuracy is +60, your accuracy at 35m might be +50 and your accuracy at 55m might be +30. This is all assuming your point-blank and maximum range modifiers are close to equal, which is the case for nearly all weapons in Galaxies.

II. To-Hit Chance

This is the final chance to hit a target.

Original Equation:

ToHit = ( 66 + ( AccMod - DefMod + WeapAcc - DefPosMod + AimShot ) / ( 2 + ( AtkPosMod + AbilMod ) )

Modified Equation to include Cover and State modifiers:

ToHit = ( 66 + ( AccMod - DefMod + WeapAcc - DefPosMod + AimShot - CovMod ) / (2 + ( AtkPosMod + AbilMod + AtkStateMod + DefStateMod ) )

Sources