Stats

Base Attributes

Each character posses eight Base Attributes that increase to various degrees with each level up until level 40. The following Table lists the Base Attributes at level 40. It can be seen that Base Attributes are not equally distributed across archetypes or even classes. Each Base Attribute has multiple functions in the combat mechanics of Return of Reckoning, with the exception of Toughness and Wounds.

	Strength	Ballistic Skill	Intelligence	Toughness	Weapon Skill	Initiative	Willpower	Wounds
Bright Wizard	99	74	221	148	123	172	197	391
Shadow Warrior	172	221	74	123	196	147	98	440
Engineer	137	221	74	172	108	196	123	440
Slayer	221	96	72	172	197	148	123	518
Witch Hunter	172	123	74	142	226	196	118	518
White Lion	196	74	98	147	221	172	123	518
Ironbreaker	147	98	74	221	196	123	172	606
Swordmaster	147	74	123	196	237	172	98	606
Knight of the Blazing Sun	197	74	99	221	172	123	148	606
Warrior Priest	172	74	99	148	196	123	221	440
Rune Priest	98	74	226	172	120	147	222	391
Archmage	98	74	196	147	123	172	221	391
Sorceress	98	74	221	147	123	172	196	391
Squig Herder	147	225	74	123	188	196	98	444
Magus	98	74	221	147	123	196	172	391
Marauder	237	99	74	148	188	123	197	518
Choppa	221	98	74	147	172	196	123	518
Witch Elf	172	74	98	137	196	221	147	518
Chosen	197	74	99	221	172	123	148	606
Black Orc	172	98	74	221	196	123	147	606
Black Guard	147	98	74	182	216	162	133	606
Zealot	99	74	196	147	123	172	221	391
Disciple of Khaine	172	74	98	147	196	123	221	440
Shaman	98	74	196	147	123	172	221	391

Base Attribute Caps

There are two caps to the Base Attributes: soft and hard.

The soft cap is calculated by

soft-cap = (level * 25) + 50

and equals 1050 for level 40 characters. Attribute gains beyond the soft cap are reduced by half. Meaning that you need to invest 2 attribute points to effectively gain 1 attribute points. For example if you want to increase an attribute from 1050 to 1100 you need to gain 100 attribute points.

The hard-cap is calculated by

hard cap = (level * 50) + (level * 10 + 50)

and equals 1650 for level 40 characters. Attribute gains beyond the hard cap do not have any effect for player characters.

Offensive Attributes

The Base Attributes contain three Primary Offensive Attributes (Strength, Intelligence, Ballistic Skill). Primary Offensive Attributes have two purposes

• Increase damage of associated abilites and auto attacks
• Decrease chance of the defender to defend (Parry, Disrupt, Dodge) against an attack

The increase in damage can vary dramatically depending on the type of the ability. For direct damage abilities there is a rule of the thumb:

A general rule of thumb for Melee (When below the soft-cap) is: 1 Weapon DPS = 5 Strength = 5 Melee Power.

Damage Increase = Offensive Attribute Increase / 5 * Cast Time

For instant abilities the Cast Time is often 1.5

Defensive Attributes

The Primary Offensive Attributes are opposed by Defensive Attributes (Weapon Skill, Willpower, Initiative) in the calculation of the base defense chance:

Base Defense Chance = Defender Defensive Stat / Attacker Offensive Stat * 7.5 %

The base defense chance is negligible under most circimstances as the Attacker Offensive Stat is much larger than the Defender Defensive Stat. An exception are some pure healer classes that use offensive abilities such as Archmage and Shamans. The Figure shows the Base Defense Chance as a function of the Defenders Defensive Stat for three attackers with 200, 700 and 1050 Offensive Stat. Most dedicated damage classes have offensive stats in the region of 1000. Defensive Stats rarely exceed 600 or 700 in case of Weapon Skill and Willpower. Thus resulting in Base Defensive Chances below 5 %.

Initiative and Chance To Be Critically Hit

Initiative is a defensive stat that opposes physical ranged attacks (Ballistic Skill) and as a secondary effect defines the characters base chance to be critically by enemies. It is calculated by

Base Chance To Be Critically Hit = (7.5 * Attacker Level + 50) /(Defender Initiative + 35) * 10 %

therefore a level 40 character has a 100 % chance to be critically hit at 0 Initiative. This is a theoretical value as the strongest Initiative debuff is currently at 120 and the lowest Initiative Base Value is 123.

Due to the strong non-linearity of the function there are very steep diminishing returns beyond 300 Initiative.

If one considers to reduce their chance to be critically hit by investing renown points into Initiative or Futile Strikes: There are almost no secenarios in which points spent on Initiative is more valueable than points in Futile Strikes.