Questions about Trick Arrow's Flash Arrow for the MasterMind.

[SmalltalkJava]

I know that TA was buffed a while ago. But the numbers posted were for Defenders.  But I've started to dig around on Trick Arrow for MM's and gaps in knowledge are starting to pop up.   So this might be the first of several question sessions that I come up with regarding Trick Arrow and the MasterMind.

 

Today's questions are about Flash Arrow.

 

 

1. Does Flash Arrow actually need Accuracy slotting?  - Possible answer:   I don't think it does, it appears to be autohit.  Unless there is a portion of the effect that isn't autohit.  Here is the excerpt from the Hit Log.

Testing Scenario:  I hit some mobs with it.

Spoiler

HIT Jaeger! Your Flash Arrow power is autohit.
HIT Warhulk! Your Flash Arrow power is autohit.
HIT Fake Nemesis! Your Flash Arrow power is autohit.

 

2. Are the in game tool tips accurate about the amount of the effects?   - Answer  No freaking clue!  Are there any math people out there? 

Unenhanced the in game tooltip for Flash Arrow says:  -5.63% to Hit.  Whereas Mids tooltip shows -11.25%.

 

Testing Scenario: This is using Unenhanced Trick Arrow.  I'm level 50 and I let a 50 yellow Possessed Scientist (Lieutenant) in Peregrine Island beat on me. 

My Combat Attributes Window shows that I have 30.12%  for Smashing Defense and the same for Lethal Defenses. My melee defense was around 11% so it doesn't matter in this scenario.

• Without Flash Arrow:  He had a 22.88% chance to hit me.
• With Flash Arrow: He had a 10.58% chance to hit me.
• 22.88 - 10.58 = 12.3.     So what does that actually mean? What % use does it actually have?  Any math Guru's here?

 

3. How can we use the answer to question 2, to leverage how much Defense we should have to hit Soft Cap Defense against mobs from 0 to +4?  Will it enable us to reallocate set bonus priorities from defense to another priority.      When I get some time, i will try to repeat question 2 results with enhanced Trick Arrow.  If i get some actual time. 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by SmalltalkJava

[JayboH]

1.  It has always been autohit

2.  I believe (and I could be wrong) that half ignores resistance, so it's -5.625% plus -5.625% that ignores resistance, 11.25 total

3.  I wouldn't, because then you are awfully reliant on Flash and as stated above, only half is unresistable.  Probably better to just softcap yourself to whites at all times and think of Flash as bonus against higher mobs and your character getting debuffed

[Oysterhead]

On #2, JayboH is correct.

 

If you want to see a lot more details in mids, always check out Window->Data View, rather than just the Effects tab which is a summary.

For Flash Arrow the full data is (and this is what should match in game):

A lot going on in here! 
The bottom 3 are for PvP, effect is reduced against players. The top three are in PvE. Perception hit, then a -5.63% ToHit debuff that is resistible, and then a -5.63% debuff that is not resistible! 
 

They both enhance though, against +4s you end up with essentially the unresistible portion and a tiny bit of the other half. Which is actually really good, because tohit debuffs suffer normally in +4 situations, and Flash Arrow is still rather effective.

[Carnifax]

20 hours ago, Oysterhead said:

They both enhance though, against +4s you end up with essentially the unresistible portion and a tiny bit of the other half. Which is actually really good, because tohit debuffs suffer normally in +4 situations, and Flash Arrow is still rather effective.

Is this correct? Far as I knew the Purple Patch modifiers kick in after the total figure is calculated and nothing can affect them. Where the Unresistable bit is useful is vs AVs so they don't strip 85% of the debuff away regardless. 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Carnifax

[Oysterhead]

2 hours ago, Carnifax said:

Is this correct? Far as I knew the Purple Patch modifiers kick in after the total figure is calculated and nothing can affect them. Where the Unresistable bit is useful is vs AVs so they don't strip 85% of the debuff away regardless. 

 

 

Hmm... I think we are saying the same thing? I'm not positive how it works, but I was under the impression that higher level enemies would resist a portion of the resistible effect, and take the entire portion of the unresistible effect. So if unenhanced, against a +4 the 5.63% unresistible hits, and then the (0.48*5.63) = 2.70 hits, for 8.33% total debuff. But that is an assumption, I'm not finding anything on the wiki to contradict that, though I only looked a bit. Are you thinking instead it is (5.63+(5.63*whatever base resists)*0.48, so even the unresistible half gets knocked down by the purple patch? I didn't think it worked that way, but am not positive. I've previously read on here that Flash Arrow is very good for this exact reason.

[Carnifax]

Yup, my understanding is that the Purple Patch kicks in after the "normal" formula produces a final figure and is absolute.

 

Could easily be wrong of course.

[Oysterhead]

The more I think about it, that makes more sense, purple patch after the total. So like you said, good against AVs but won't let you punch too far above your weight/level.