ki damage question

[willhoff]

How is ki damage calculated?  Lore says the following:

"Notes:

Some players think Ki Damage is of little use, because low attack rolls, high AC and Concealment can cause it to fail. Further, when a hit is made, it will only max out the weapon damage roll, not additional damage on the weapon, thus it's possible to see higher damage without Ki Damage."

Vrebel tested this in the arena against Tralek who had greater stoneskin on and mithril clothing.  I was using my greatsword that does 2-12 +15 points of damage based on my strength modifier at the time. Tralek at the time had 10/- acid resistance which accounts for the 1d8 acid on my sword being resisted.  The following is the log of the experiment in the arena:  

[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:08] Vrebel : Initiative Roll : 6 : (3 + 3 = 6)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:10] Vrebel attacks Tralek Rivarmar : *hit* : (4 + 36 = 40)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Vrebel attacks Tralek Rivarmar : *hit* : (5 + 31 = 36)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 5 damage
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Reduction absorbs 18 damage : 164 points remaining
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 8 damage
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar attacks Vrebel : *miss* : (3 + 19 = 22)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 5 damage
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Reduction absorbs 18 damage : 146 points remaining
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:11] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 1 damage
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:36] Vrebel : Initiative Roll : 4 : (1 + 3 = 4)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:39] Vrebel attempts Ki Damage on Tralek Rivarmar : *hit* : (2 + 36 = 38)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Vrebel attacks Tralek Rivarmar : *hit* : (3 + 31 = 34)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Vrebel damages Tralek Rivarmar: 5 (5 Physical 0 Acid)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 8 damage
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Vrebel damages Tralek Rivarmar: 3 (3 Physical 0 Acid)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 5 damage
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Reduction absorbs 20 damage : 126 points remaining
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Sat Dec 12 05:54:40] Tralek Rivarmar : Damage Resistance absorbs 5 damage

On the ki damage attack Vrebel damaged Tralek 5 physical.  Vrebel seemed to have bypassed Tralek's greater stoneskin (20/+5) and his mithril clothing which gives him -5 resistance to slashing as it does not show up on the log under the attack roll.

Based on lore I would have thought the damage would have been maxed out as follows: 12 (2-12 regular damage on a great sword maxed out) plus 15 (additional damage based on my strength modifier at the time) = 27 total damage.  Not the 5 damage as indicated in the log.

It almost seems like that bioware is deducting the damage from Tralek's stone skin and mithril clothing but not showing it on the logs or reducing the amount of points Tralek has left of stoneskin.

Any assistance in helping me figure this out would be appreciated.

Willhoff

[Makashi]

Some players think Ki Damage is of little use, because low attack rolls, high AC and Concealment can cause it to fail. Further, when a hit is made, it will only max out the weapon damage roll, not additional damage on the weapon, thus it's possible to see higher damage without Ki Damage."

No idea exactly how it's calculated if it's not whats stated - But I do know that KI damage has it's uses, well I always end up using it on undead, can't critical them, but can deal higher average damage per hit with KI damage. Besides that, don't really use it at all.

[willhoff]

okay I forgot one part of the damage calculation:  +3 damage because of Vrebel's mithril greatsword.  So the damage total should have been 30 (12+15+3=30).

Starting from 30 points of damage, if you take off 20 pts for Tralek's greater stone skin and 5 points for his mithril clothing you would bet a net damage of 5 as inicated on the logs.

So I think my hunch was right, although the logs dont show it on a ki damage hit, reductions and resistances are deducted.