Phrennzy wrote on Apr 21
st, 2015 at 8:23pm:
Are you using it with the 8 to hit or the 14?
I went through the combat table and averaged the % chance to hit of each attack type vs each defense type. For Light Control, that's an average of 36% chance to hit (the highest was Disintegration Ray at 66%). Then I looked at the damage of the attack. For light Control that is 2d8, which has an average damage of 8 per successful attack. So, 36% of the time a character attacking with Light Control will do 8 points of damage, and 36% of 8 is
2.88 2.86 points of damage per attack (not just successful attacks, but all attacks attempted). Light control also has a pretty basic range, which is Basic Characteristic x 2. Attacks with shorter range line Disintegration Ray had that damage per attack value reduced (by 50% for Disint. Ray, because it's range is half that of Light Control using a completely Average Character). Lastly, Light Control has a low power cost of only 1 per attack.
All this means that on average, a character with Light Control will expend 1 power point for every
2.88 2.86points of damage inflicted.
Why would I do any of this? I was curious. I had no idea what kind of results I would get, I had no thoughts or theories on the matter of which attack or defense power was the best, so I looked at ways to compare all of the various powers against one another.
I found out a couple of interesting points. First is that powers that make for a good offence don't seem to make for a good defense. Second was that powers that have bonus abilities (like Lightning Control or Flame Power) seem to give up some offence/defense capacity in favor of the added ability.
Power Blast is even better as it inflicts 2.94 damage per power point expended, but it wasn't on the list. Power Blast also has a better defense than Light Control, but Light Control has other abilities (blinding flash attack, and light for mundane uses).
None of this takes into account awesome powers like "Paralysis Ray" that hit's about 52% of the time and knocks the target unconscious, thus taking him out of the fight. This only measures damage inflicted per power point expended on attacks.
Power Blast 2.942
Light Control 2.862
Sonic Abilities 2.319
Disintegration Ray 1.649
Lightning Control 1.135
Flame Power 1.077
Vibratory Powers 0.554
Chemical Powers 0.402
Transmutaion 0.366
Ice Powers 0.093
Edited: Typo. Light Control does 2.86 dmg per power point, not 2.88