Help with the mechanics of KOTOR
Florida, USA

Hello! I've been playing Kotor on and off for a couple years now, and just got into watching people like glasnonck and such.

I recently found the user guide for the xbox version and even though I play on PC, it gave me some great insight into the mechanics of KOTOR.

I'm aware of the 1d20 but I was wondering how all the attributes play into whether or not I hit an enemy.

Strength and Dex have a big role in hitting and dodging, but when I follow the feedback for the fight I was just in, some of the math does not add up. If Trask uses power blast and hits with a 23 (18 + 5 with a -3 to hit) against a sith's defense of 11, how do I hit for a 8?

Any help is appreciated, and I apologize for such a long post.

Happy speedrunning!

kyo likes this
South Carolina, USA

Your chance to hit is determined by your attack roll. To hit the target, your attack roll must be equal or greater than the target's defense.Your attack roll is 1d20 + (STR/DEX) + base attack bonus + extra modifiers.

STR and DEX are your modifiers (+1, +2, etc) for the strength and dexterity attributes. STR is used for all melee weapons, but lightsabers will use DEX if that modifier is higher. DEX is used for all ranged weapons.

Your base attack bonus depends on your class, but for Soldier and Guardian it is equal to your level. Other classes have a slightly lower bonus.

A character under attack will compare your attack roll to their defense, which is calculated as 10 + armor bonus + DEX. The DEX bonus to defense may be capped by your armor.

The damage dealt is determined by your weapon's damage roll. Damage is only calculated if you hit, and it uses the damage range of the weapon to calculate it. Sheepmetal gave the example of a short sword, which uses 1d6 for its base damage to which you add STR because it's a melee weapon. Ranged weapons do not get a bonus to damage from STR or DEX, so they can easily be outpaced by melee weapons.

One final thing to note is if you roll a 20 on your attack, it's an automatic hit. If you roll a 1, however, it will be an automatic miss.

For your example, Trask uses power blast with his Blaster Pistol. He has 14 dexterity for a DEX of +2. If he's only using one blaster, I believe he'll have another +1 to attack from his Dueling feat, and as a level 3 soldier he has a +3 base attack bonus. This gives +6 in total. Attacking with power blast imposes a -3 penalty to attack, so he only has a +3 bonus. Against a sith with defense of 11, he just needs to roll 8 or higher on his d20 to hit.

When he hits, he rolls the 1d6 for the blaster damage and adds the bonus damage from power blast (+5). That means his damage range for this attack is 6-11.

Edited by the author 5 years ago
kyo likes this
Denmark

Juuust gonna delete my previous post, and hope no one saw my caveman explanation.

kyo likes this
South Carolina, USA

lol, you didn't need to do that Sheepmetal. I appreciate that you gave information and examples.

kyo likes this
Denmark

Aww, thanks, mainly removed it since the alternatives would be either to just edit it in after learning it from your post or leaving it with the wrong information that might make someone get a bright idea like taking a stun baton to the sith govenor.

Edited by the author 5 years ago
kyo likes this
Florida, USA

That's so interesting! I've seen a lot of people complain about how Kotor is coded because of how early of a game it is, but thats so fascinating! Thanks everyone who replied and I can't wait to actually play the game properly.

One thing that is confusing to me however is which class to use. I personally like the scoundrel because it fits my persona, but except for scoundrels luck and sneak attack, I can't see how it fares to the other classes. I mean Scout has a built in dodge feat that is either earned automatically or is one you can get early on, and Soldier with a good balance of STR and DEX seems too good. Is there a way to balance the other classes to have a smooth play through?

Thanks Again

kyo likes this