Undead's recourse

[Lladnarr]

Forgive me for being a bit slow here (shaman pun), but is this simply a 150pt heal potion? I dont fully understand the breakdown:

decrease hp by 1 per tick
increase str by 11
increase hp when cast by 150
Max hp unknown calc: 120 range: 150 ->0

Why does it list a max hp calc formula (unknown) if the effect does not increase hp per tick?
With a decrease of 1 hp per tick, normal regen will take care of that, np. Just seems like a lot of work to make something heal you for 150hp.

If I am missing something, please enlighten me,
Thanks

[Tudani]

I believe (although I could be wrong) that when you first click it it gives you 150 hps and adds 150 to your max hps, then, every tick the amount of max hps that it adds is reduced by one, as well as the 1 hps per tick dot. So instantly you get a 150 hps buff but it dies off over time.

[Verdandi]

Keep in mind that the file parsing sites (like Lucy and Magelo) that give this information are extracting information that we were not meant to see. The way it is interpreted and displayed on the sites is dependent on the way the programmers who created those sites interpreted the raw information in the spell data file. Lucy says "unknown calc" when it is finding information in the spell file that the programmer could not interpret. This is why you still need to take what you see on those sites with a grain of salt. Even though the information is straight from the spell files, it may have been interpreted incorrectly or incompletely.

That said, comparing one site's data to another can help. According to Magelo the effect is:

Decrease Hit Points (HP) by 1 per tick over 30 ticks
Increase Strength (STR) by 11
Increase Hit Points (HP) by 150
Increase Total Hit Points by 150 (L1) to 214 (L65)

So it sounds like it gives an instant shot of 150 HP to your total HP as well as your actual HP. Heals only give to your actual HP. If you have 2000 HP total and are currently at 50% life, you have 1000 actual hp. A heal of 150 would give 1150 actual HP but still leave you with 2000 total HP. This potion would give you 1150 actual HP and 2150 total HP. Then over the next 30 ticks, those actual HP (1150 of them) would drain at 1 per tick, leaving you at 1120 when the potion wears off 3 minutes later. At that point your total HP will revert to 2000 and you're left with 1120 actual HP (ignoring the fact that you'll have been regenerating naturally in the meantime).

Now, the levels cited in the "Increase Total Hit Points by 150 (L1) to 214 (L65)" doesn't mean what it appears to mean. With spells this kind of phrase is used to let spells get more powerful as the person casting them gets more powerful, like for Cripple. That's actually a detrimental spell, but works the same way, having a more powerful effect as the level of the caster increases. For potions, however, the strength of the effect is predetermined. With many potions, you can tell what level the potion's effect is applied at in Lucy by looking at the "Effect Level" for the potion in question, like Undead's Recourse. This is how the potions Minor Aura of Cold, Aura of Cold, and Greater Aura of Cold can all have the same effect, Aura of Cold but have different strengths. Lucy shows an Effect Level of 25 for this potion, so it appears that it actually increases your total hp by 174 rather than 150.

All of that aside, you also need to keep in mind this quote from Maddoc, one of the tradeskill devs:

They won't necessarily show their full potential from a parse of the spells file. Sneaky, sneaky, I am.

-- Maddoc

That was in reference to the GoD snare potions, but could very well apply to other spell effects, including potions.

[Lladnarr]

Thanks

Very informative post Verdandi, thank you very much. I think I am clear now.