I note that in the example given, the bolt AS is significantly more than mine. Is that with any outside influences? Pure potions, society powers, enhancives etc.?

It's possible I am misinterpreting the effect of 513. The docs say:

>>This spell will give the caster/target a bonus of +20 to their spell Attack Strength (AS) and a penalty of -40 to their physical AS. The caster/target will receive a +1 bonus to their spell AS for every two Major Elemental spell ranks over 13, capped at the caster's level.<<

I have always assumed that this means the bonus is capped at 100 MjE spell ranks, but it could also be read as meaning that the bonus is capped at +100 AS, which would occur at 173 spell ranks.

"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."

>> 551 is +70 enhanced (20 dex bonus, 50 spell aim).<<

Egads; it would appear then that without those enhancives, you wouldn't be able to hit those fetish masters with bolts at all.


"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."

Well, no. Not the "best", but the Elf has a lot more fancy toys than the Halfling. ;)

Here...

You gesture at a frostborne lich.
Your illthorn runestaff glows intensely with a verdant light!
You hurl a powerful lightning bolt at a frostborne lich!
AS: +609 vs DS: +600 with AvD: +50 + d100 roll: +80 = +139
... and hit for 62 points of damage!
Horrifying jolt to forehead. Brain explodes in a stunning display of light!

T3 ensorcel = +15
6x acuity = +30
Symbol of Supremacy = +13

So, once I get my ensorcel completed at T5 my maximum self-cast bolt when the stars align will be 606 (619 vs. undead).

Fetish masters and liches are an unusual case. They're level 103 and 110, respectively, and they carry runestaves which provide significant parry DS vs. bolt spells. As Doug points out, a fetish master lying down with stance forced into offensive will have bolt DS in the low 400s typically. Liches are quite difficult to force fully into stance offensive due to the level difference, so their DS varies widely but you're lucky if you can put one on the ground and see DS in the mid 400s. 500 DS is more typical of liches after a cast of call wind and if you fail to force their stance fully or if they have wizard shield up (which is much of the time!) low-mid 500s is common.

But I'm pretty sure the mechanics of liches indicate a creature intended to be approached in groups. Not only is their DS insane, at base level they will cause sheer fear if you don't have any additional fear protection, they come standard with temporal reversion (25% chance to basically negate physical attacks including any weapon, CMAN, or bolt), immunity to spells below level 10, and once you kill them you have to break the phylactery they drop by attacking it with your staff/weapon (for me that's usually 3-4 hits at 4-7s RT pre-haste, but varies based on weapon type) or they come back to life.

On the bright side, both masters and liches wear robes, have no padding, and are stunnable. You just have to get past that DS and actually hit them! Call wind is a wizard's friend here. E-wave not so much!

~Taverkin

Now if the Halfling could just get his hands on some self-knowledge heroism and bravery, maybe some dauntless and up that acuity to 10x...

I can dream!

~Taverkin

Like I said, it's +70 from enhancives. The additional AS from acuity and ensorcel are flares. That's why I said "When the stars align..." To reach 619 I'd need to have an acuity flare and an ensorcel flare on the same hit, resulting in +55 additional AS. While each flare is fairly common on its own (1 in 7, or about 14.3%, I believe?) the chances of two flares occurring simultaneously are quite rare (0.143*0.143 = roughly 2%). Further, since ensorcel flares split their effect between mana and acuity (and health, stamina, or spirit if applicable) the stacking flare rate in practice should be slightly less than 1%. A quick and dirty test of 80 kills when I first got this staff indicated this happened on only 1 in 20 kills (kills, not casts!). "When the stars align" certainly applies here!

Take away the flares, the enhancives, and supremacy (which only applies vs. undead) and I would have 481 AS. Or 455 without symbol of courage (although why you wouldn't use that I don't know?). The 10 point difference, I assume, is because your character is a race with a +5 dexterity modifier where halflings have +15.

Now, outside of the Rift, say in an invasion scenario where I can stack heroism (+25), bravery (+15), and dauntless (+10) plus group spells like warcry (+20), Kai's song (+20, up to +33?), and benediction (+15) I think I can reach a theoretical maximum of 682 sustained, 737 with the stacked flares, and a "Yeah, right!" maximum with spirit strike of 812. Of course, achieving this maximum would require me to have spirit strike up when that 1% chance of double-flares just happens to occur! But realistically, if I'm prepared for an invasion or something like Duskruin Arena (bravery, heroism, dauntless), my sustained bolt AS is 601/614(undead), flaring up to 656/669 (but you know what the chances of that are!).

Over in WoW we call this sort of pointless nonsense "TheoryCraft". LoL But it is fun to consider!

~Taverkin