How high are AoEs?

[Scarlet Shocker]

we know and can see the radii of our various AoEs, but I wonder how high they reach.

 

I noticed I had a mob above me on a landing and they hadn't noticed me so I popped Ice Storm down on me and it failed to touch them.

 

I was vaguely surprised. Hence the question. You'd think that shards of ice falling from the sky would hurt almost all the way down...

 

 

[Glacier Peak]

I'm not familiar enough to say this is accurate, but my understanding is the radius is really a sphere, where at the point of casting either on the player or on the target, it uses that #ft. So for a 10ft radius AoE, it would go up 5ft and down 5ft essentially.

[Techwright]

20 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

I'm not familiar enough to say this is accurate, but my understanding is the radius is really a sphere, where at the point of casting either on the player or on the target, it uses that #ft. So for a 10ft radius AoE, it would go up 5ft and down 5ft essentially.

 

I suspect you actually meant to say "diameter" rather than "radius".    A 10 foot diameter AoE would have a 5 foot radius in all directions.

 

The OP makes a good question though: are all AoEs going to be spherical?  or might some be vertically flatter, like a donut?

Edited July 4 by Techwright

[Skyhawke]

[Glacier Peak]

9 minutes ago, Techwright said:

I suspect you actually meant to say "diameter" rather than "radius".    A 10 foot diameter AoE would have a 5 foot radius in all directions.

 

The OP makes a good question though: are all AoEs going to be spherical?  or might some be vertically flatter, like a donut?

Ah indeed. Math is not my strong suit.

[Amp Up]

5 minutes ago, Skyhawke said:

Hi, how are aoes?

[SeraphimKensai]

Well since my bag of gummies is missing I'm guessing they are pretty high.

[Scarlet Shocker]

If all AoEs are spherical that's just a load of balls!

 

Interesting idea. I presumed they were tubular but if a sphere then somebody hovering at the edge might get missed simply because they are outside of it but look inside

[srmalloy]

3 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

I'm not familiar enough to say this is accurate, but my understanding is the radius is really a sphere, where at the point of casting either on the player or on the target, it uses that #ft. So for a 10ft radius AoE, it would go up 5ft and down 5ft essentially.

Look at the way AoE effects are rendered when used by flying characters, so you can see the full limit of the effect. Some of them are spheres, and some are oblate sphereoids that look to be half as tall top-to-bottom as they are edge-to-edge horizontally. Barrier, for example, is a sphere, but Dispersion Bubble from the Force Field powerset is oblate. One of the perennial annoyances I encounter is in the runup to spanking Adamastor, where I'll often see someone with a flying character fire off their Destiny power, and you can see that it never reaches the ground, so it doesn't benefit anyone there but themselves.

[Captain Fabulous]

All AoEs and PbAoEs are spheres. Cones are, well, cones, as in conical shaped.

[Troo]

I didn't think rains were spherical, but rather cylindrical which is different than say Foot Stomp or Explosive Blast.

 

PBAoE & Targeted AoE

-vs-

Location AoE

[srmalloy]

16 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

All AoEs and PbAoEs are spheres. Cones are, well, cones, as in conical shaped.

They're all spheres? Do tell.

[Psyonico]

1 hour ago, srmalloy said:

They're all spheres? Do tell.

More testing required… it’s possible that the graphics don’t align with the area of effect

[Spaghetti Betty]

I am going to use this thread as a opportunity to once again bring up that I'd love some sort of hitbox display add-on!

[Heliphyn34u]

20 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

If all AoEs are spherical that's just a load of balls!

 

Literally!

 

[Captain Fabulous]

18 hours ago, Troo said:

I didn't think rains were spherical, but rather cylindrical which is different than say Foot Stomp or Explosive Blast.

 

PBAoE & Targeted AoE

-vs-

Location AoE

There are no cylinders in the game, just spheres and cones.

 

2 hours ago, srmalloy said:

They're all spheres? Do tell.

Correct. There is nothing in the game code that alters the shape of the sphere. There would need to be another entry in a power's index for a height radius, but there isn't.

 

44 minutes ago, Psyonico said:

it’s possible that the graphics don’t align with the area of effect

Precisely this.

[srmalloy]

45 minutes ago, Captain Fabulous said:

Correct. There is nothing in the game code that alters the shape of the sphere. There would need to be another entry in a power's index for a height radius, but there isn't.

If there's nothing to 'alter the shape of the sphere', then where do the values come from that cause some PBAoE power displays to show up as oblate sphereoids, like Dispersion Bubble:

...while others appear as true spheres?

Clearly, there is data in the database to define different PBAoE effect shapes, and not all PBAoE effects are spheres.

[Scarlet Shocker]

I need to find a way to create the villain "Oblate Spheroid" in game.

 

A cross between Hamidon and X-Blob maybe?

[Ukase]

23 hours ago, srmalloy said:

Barrier, for example, is a sphere,

I've tried to capture it for a screen shot but I wasn't fast enough. I don't know what the range of a t-4 barrier is, but when you're in mini-mode, it looks super tall, and super narrow, compared to the standard sized characters. My character gets the buff regardless...but I'm wondering if I have to toggle off the mini-mode for the folks on the perimeter to cover them with the buff. 

[Yomo Kimyata]

2 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I need to find a way to create the villain "Oblate Spheroid" in game.

 

This is as good a place as any to declare that my singularity was renamed "Singularity" by the devs after someone apparently complained about "Your Mom." 

[Psyonico]

50 minutes ago, Ukase said:

I'm wondering if I have to toggle off the mini-mode for the folks on the perimeter to cover them with the buff. 

Player model affects visuals but does not affect actual area.

[High_Beam]

On 7/4/2025 at 9:45 PM, Captain Fabulous said:

All AoEs and PbAoEs are spheres. Cones are, well, cones, as in conical shaped.

[Captain Fabulous]

4 hours ago, srmalloy said:

If there's nothing to 'alter the shape of the sphere', then where do the values come from that cause some PBAoE power displays to show up as oblate sphereoids, like Dispersion Bubble:

...while others appear as true spheres?

Clearly, there is data in the database to define different PBAoE effect shapes, and not all PBAoE effects are spheres.

Those are in the VFX files. It has nothing to do with how the power works.

[Captain Fabulous]

4 hours ago, srmalloy said:

If there's nothing to 'alter the shape of the sphere', then where do the values come from that cause some PBAoE power displays to show up as oblate sphereoids, like Dispersion Bubble:

...while others appear as true spheres?

Clearly, there is data in the database to define different PBAoE effect shapes, and not all PBAoE effects are spheres.

OK, here is a screenshot I just made. You can see the character in the air is well above the Dispersion Bubble VFX, BUT I'm within 25' and I am getting the defense buff.

[SeraphimKensai]

11 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

OK, here is a screenshot I just made. You can see the character in the air is well above the Dispersion Bubble VFX, BUT I'm within 25' and I am getting the defense buff.
 

Inquiring minds want to know why you have so many power trays open, considering some of those slotted items appear to be duplicates.