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hit table (WoW)  

Combat in WoW follows a somewhat unintuitive system known as the Hit Table in order to generate largely intuitive results. As a practical rule, this means that anyone casually using the system will understand perfectly well what occurs, but people who are just starting to understand how it works tend to greatly misunderstand the rules under which it operates.

This article will present both a general overview of the Hit Table as well as the mechanics behind it, and should be suitable for both intermediate and advanced players.

Understanding the Hit Table: The Basics

(Note: All examples used assume the game uses a 100-sided die or equivalent; in actuality, the game rolls a number that is at least as accurate as 0-9999 (for four-digit results), but these examples are easier to read.

Every time you cast an offensive spell, use a special attack or even just autoattack with a melee weapon, WoW uses the hit table to determine the results of the attack. Instead of performing a roll for each possible outcome, the game will roll one die and then see what that number means in terms of results. Newcomers to the system tend to believe that the system works as a variation on the following;

Alice attacks Bob with her +1 Sword of Smiting. Bob has a 10% chance to dodge the attack, a 5% chance to parry the attack, and Alice has a 5% chance to flat-out miss the attack. The game will roll three results; if the game rolls a 10 or lower on the first roll, Bob dodges. If it rolls a 5 or lower on the second roll, Bob parries. If it rolls a 5 or lower on the third roll, Alice misses. If all three rolls succeed, Alice connects with her attack.

Hit Table
Result % Chance Dice Roll
Miss
Dodge
Parry
Glancing Blow
Block
Critical
Crushing Blow
Hit
In fact, what the game does is compile all possible results of the attack into a single list, and then rolls the die once.

Alice attacks Bob with her +1 Sword of Smiting. Bob has a 10% chance to dodge the attack, a 5% chance to parry the attack, and Alice has a 5% chance to flat-out miss the attack. The game creates a list; a result of 1-5 will result in a miss, a result of 6-15 will result in a dodge, a result of 16-20 will result in a parry, and a result of 21-100 will result in a hit.

There are a few key implications from this

This page last modified 2008-06-04 16:55:27.