Damage Formulas 101

[Skunk]

Please note:
A discussion has already been started about different things you can do with these formulas so please direct those comments and question to the appropriate thread.
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/rmmv-damage-formula-ideas-and-help.47099/

A link to the list of script equivalents of event commands
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/rpg-maker-mv-script-call-list.46456/


Damage Formulas 101
MV Edition

You probably wondered how to make a skill do more damage against enemies with a state, or heal more if player has a state, or deal exactly half of enemy's HP. And so on.

All of that and more can be done through custom damage formula.

Basics:

Type - sets what does the formula damage or heal.
None - Nothing, no damage will be dealt.
HP Damage - HP will be damaged
MP Damage - MP will be damaged
HP Recover - HP will be restored
MP Recover - MP will be restored
HP Drain - Deals damage to enemy HP and restores that much HP for attacker
MP Drain - Deals damage to enemy MP and restores that much MP for attacker

Element - Sets which element to use. Normal attack - means will use same element as weapon.

Variance - How will damage fluctuate. E.g. If skill formula says it deals 100 damage and variance is 20%, the skill will deal between 80 and 120 damage.

Critical - Can skill critically hit, dealing increased damage by 300%.

And now, the actual fun part - formulas!
It decides how much damage will opponent take or ally will heal.

Let's dissect one of basic formulas that come with RPG Maker MV - Fire
100 + a.mat * 2 - b.mdf * 2

What do things like a and b mean?
a - attacker
b - defender
So if Actor Glasses were to cast Fire on a Slime. a would be Glasses and b would be Slime.

Meaning the takes double of Glasses mat (Magic Attack) parameter and subtracts double of Slime's mdf (Magic Defense) parameter and adds that to the 100 in the beginning ofthe formula.
E.g. Glasses has 100 mat and Slime has 20 mdf. If we were to convert fomula using those numbers, we'd have - 100 + 100*2 - 20*2, after calculation we see with those parameters Fire would deal 260 damage if there were no variance.

But only last number in the formula deals damage. If you had 2 lines of formula. (semicolon ; tells where line ends for the program)
E.g. a.atk; a.atk*2
Only a.atk*2 would be calculated for damage.

Are there more letters other than a and b for the formulas?
Yes. There are variables. Which are used like this: v[ID]. ID - index of the variable.
So you could have a skill that gets stronger the higher variable is.
E.g. v[10] * 2 - b.def * 3

Is there a way to make skill even more complex, e.g. if some variable is over 100, deal extra damage?
Yes, in that case we can use if else statements.
How if else statement looks:

Code:
Code (Text):
if (statement)
{
formula1;
}
else
{
formula2;
}
But how to write it to the damage formula?
It only has 1 line!
Just write everything together~
Code (Text):
if (statement) { formula1; } else { formula2; }
E.g.:
Code (Text):
if (v[10] > 100) { a.atk*4 - b.def*2 } else { a.atk*2 - b.def*2 }

Which can be shortened to this if you're using only 1 line of formula.
Code (Text):
if (statement)
formula1;
else
formula2;
E.g.:
Code (Text):
if (v[10] > 100) a.atk*4 - b.def*2; else a.atk*2 - b.def*2;

And you can shorten it even further using ternary operator (my favorite one):

statement ? formula1 : formula2;
E.g.:
Code (Text):
v[10] > 100 ? a.atk*4 - b.def*2 : a.atk*2 - b.def*2;

Symbols for statements:

> - more than
< - less than
>= more than or equal to
<= less than or equal to
=== equal to
&& and
|| or
!== not equal
! not

Examples:

v[10] > 100 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable 10 is more than 100, it'll deal 1000 damage, else it'll only deal 100)

v[10] < 100 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable 10 is less than 100, it'll deal 1000 damage, else, it'll only deal 100)

v[10] >== 100 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable is 100 or more, it'll deal 1000 damage, else it'll only deal 100)

v[10] <== 100 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable is 100 or less, it'll deal 1000 damage, else it'll only deal 100)

v[10] === 100 ? 1000: 100; (If variable is equal to 100, it'll deal 1000 damage, else it'll only deal 100)

v[10] > 50 && v[11] >== 25 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable 10 is more than 50 and variable 11 is 25 or more, it'll deal 1000 damage, else it'll only deal 100)

v[10] > 50 || v[11] > 50 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable 10 is more than 50 or variable 11 is more than 50 then it'll deal 1000 damage, it'll only deal 100)

v[10] !== 100 ? 1000 : 100; (If variable 10 is not equal to 100, it'll deal 1000 damage else it'll only deal 100)

What about parameters to use for a and b?

Here's a whole list of them:

Current: (All flat numbers, e.g.: 900, 999, 11)

level - current level (Actor only by default)
hp - current hp
mp - current mp
tp - current tp

Params: (All flat numbers, e.g.: 1337, 7331, 156)

mhp - max hp
mmp - max MP
atk - attack
def - defence
mat - magic attack
mdf - magic defence
agi - agility
luk - luck

XParams: (All decimal numbers symbolizing percent, e.g. 1.0, 0.5, 0.75, 2.44 would be 100%, 50%, 75%, 244%)

hit - Hit rate
eva - Evasion rate
cri - Critical rate
cev - Critical evasion rate
mev - Magic evasion rate
mrf - Magic reflection rate
cnt - Counter attack rate
hrg - HP regeneration rate
mrg - MP regeneration rate
trg - TP regeneration rate

SParamsAll decimal numbers symbolizing percent, e.g. 1.0, 0.5, 0.75, 2.44 would be 100%, 50%, 75%, 244%)

tgr - Target Rate
grd - Guard effect rate
rec - Recovery effect rate
pha - Pharmacology
mcr - MP Cost rate
tcr - TP Charge rate
pdr - Physical damage rate
mdr - Magical damage rate
fdr - Floor damage rate
exr - Experience rate

How about changing HP/MP/TP?

gainHp(value) - restores HP by value
gainMp(value) - restores MP by value
gainTp(value) - restores TP by value

setHp(hp) - sets HP to value
setMp(mp) - sets MP to value
setTp(tp) - sets TP to value
E.g. a.setHp(a.mhp)
E.g. a.setHp(a.hp + 100)

clearTp() - sets TP to 0


What about advanced stuff where you can influence formulas with states?

We got all that!
isStateAffected(stateId) - checks if battler has state inflicted to them.
E.g. b.isStateAffected(10) ? 10000 : 1;

isDeathStateAffected() - checks if battler has death state inflicted to them.
E.g. b.isDeathStateAffected() ? 10000 : 1;

resetStateCounts(stateId) - refreshes how long state will last for the battler
if (b.isStateAffected(10)) b.resetStateCounts(10); 100

updateStateTurns() - shortens all states on battler by 1 turn
b.updateStateTurns(); 100

addState(stateId) - adds state to the battler
if (!b.isStateAffected(10)) b.addState(10); 100

isStateAddable(stateId) - checks if state can be added to the battler
c=100; if (b.isStateAddable(10)) b.addState(10); else c=4000; c

removeState(stateId) - removes state from the battler
if (a.isStateAffected(10)) a.removeState(10); 0



What about buffs? Can we buff and debuff battlers?

Yes!
addBuff(paramId, turns) - adds a buff for a parameter
a.addBuff(0, 3); b.def*10

addDebuff(paramId, turns) - adds a debuff for a parameter
b.addDebuff(2, 10); 9999

removeBuff(paramId) - removes a buff or debuff from a battler
removeAllBuffs() - removes all buffs and debuffs from a battler

Parameter IDs

0 - Max HP
1 - Max MP
2 - Attack
3 - Defence
4 - Magic Attack
5 - Magic Defence
6 - Agility
7 - Luck

General Battler Stuff

die() - kills the battler
b.die(); 0

revive() - revives the battler
a.revive(); 1000

paramBase(paramId) - gets base parameter
a.paramBase(3)*10 - b.def*2

paramPlus(paramId) - gets the bonus of parameter
a.paramPlus(3)*2 - b.def*2

paramMax(paramId) - gets max possible value of parameter
b.paramMax(0)

elementRate(elementId) - checks element rate of the battler (rate being decimal numbers representing %)
b.elementRate(10) >== 0.5 ? 10000 : a.mat*4;

isStateResist(stateId) - checks whether the battler resists state
c=0; b.isStateResist(10) ? c+=2000 : b.addState(10); c

isSkillTypeSealed(stypeId) - checks if battler's skill type is sealed
isSkillSealed(skillId) - checks if battler's skill is sealed
isEquipTypeSealed(etypeId) - checks if battler's equip type is sealed
isDualWield() - checks if battler can dual wield
isGuard() - checks if battler is guarding
recoverAll() - removes all states, restores HP and MP to max

hpRate() - checks HP rate of battler
mpRate() - checks MP rate of battler
tpRate() - checks TP rate of battler
b.hpRate() < 0.5 ? b.hp-1 : 100;

isActor() - checks if battler is actor
isEnemy() - checks if battler is enemy
escape() - escapes from battle
b.escape() (makes enemy run away)

consumeItem(item) - eat up an item
a.consumeItem($dataItems[15]); 100



For actor only:

currentExp() - current EXP
currentLevelExp() - EXP needed for current level
nextLevelExp() - EXP needed for next level
nextRequiredExp() - EXP left until next level
maxLevel() - max level of actor
isMaxlevel() - is actor max level (true/false)
hasWeapon() - is actor wielding a weapon (true/false)
hasArmor() - is actor wearing any armor (true/false)
clearEquipments() - unequip everything actor is wearing
isClass(gameClass) - checks if actor is of a class (gameClass - $dataClasses[ID])
hasNoWeapons() - checks if actor doesn't have any weapons
levelUp() - levels actor up
levelDown() - level actor down
gainExp(exp) - gives actor exp
learnSkill(skillId) - makes actor learn a skill
forgetSkill(skillId) - makes actor forget a skill
isLearnedSkill(skillId) - checks if actor has a skill learned
actorId() - returns Actor's ID


For enemy only:
enemyId() - returns Enemy's ID

What about Math? Can we use Math methods inside the formula?

Yup, you totally can.

Math.random() - returns a random number between 0 and 1 (0 <= n < 1)
Math.min(numbers) - returns a minimum number from provided numbers.
E.g. Math.min(10, 50, 40, 200) - would return 10.

Math.max(numbers) - returns a maximum number from provided numbers.
E.g. Math.max(10, 50, 40, 200) - would return 200.

Math.round(number) - rounds a number to nearest integer.
Math.ceil(number) - rounds the number up to nearest integer.
Math.floor(number) - rounds the number down to nearest integer.

Math.rand() returns a number between 0 and 1, but can we get a random number between 1 and 100? Or 5 and 200?

No problem:

Math.floor(Math.random()*100)+1
^ That would return a number between 1 and 100. If we didn't add 1 at the end, it'd only return a number between 0 and 99.

But that's a lot of text? Could we simplify somehow?

Thankfully, there's a method in rpg_core.js that adds Math.randomInt(max);
So we can write the same using:
Math.randomInt(100)+1

 

[Pentacles]

Wow. Don't know what to say. It's ... Very complete ...
How much time did you make to list every formula '-' ? 48 days ?
anyways, it can be helpfull. Like , REALLY.

 

[Tea++]

Yay! Thank you for this!!!!

 

[Kevin Hirst]

Is it possible to use the combined stats of the entire party, or even other characters besides the user (a) and target (b)?
Like a special ability that adds up the attack stat of the entire party. I tried to use party.atk but that does not work.

Would i have to use actor.id somehow to call on one their stats, or maybe use a variable?
Or is this just impossible to do.

 

[cjewell77]

Let me ask this question... What do you think of using yanfly's armor scaling instead of - formulas? I have a fairly balanced system but there are instances where armor scaling balances it better... Does anyone have experience with the armor scaling?

 

[bhindi1224]

Are you Glasses?

 

[cjewell77]

ave

Are you Glasses?

am i what?

 

[bhindi1224]

was asking @Skunk . The same post is on another forum with the name glasses.

 

[Garthedes82]

Thanks for this.

 

[ty66kill]

how to set
the results of damage formula
in battle skill help window description?
-> solved
you can let your damage fomula written into skill description by using

https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/formulas-in-skill-descriptions.86488/

 

[Cecelemon]

With this formulas can i change the element resistance?

 

[Eliaquim]

Based on that format - "statement ? formula1 : formula2;"

i made this formula:

b.isEnemy() && b.isDead() ? b.exp() / a.level : b.result().hpDamage * 1;

So, see if i'm right:

b is an enemy and be is dead ?
If yes, so it will be given the base xp / for the user level.
If not, it will give the damage dealt on the enemy * 1.

If i want to give the exp only for the actor who performed the action?

 

[GoldenGemGames]

What about currency? (Gold) can you base the formula around how rich you are?

 

[Trihan]

What about currency? (Gold) can you base the formula around how rich you are?

You sure can! Just put $gameParty.gold() in the formula.

 

[Trihan]

Is it possible to use the combined stats of the entire party, or even other characters besides the user (a) and target (b)?
Like a special ability that adds up the attack stat of the entire party. I tried to use party.atk but that does not work.

Would i have to use actor.id somehow to call on one their stats, or maybe use a variable?
Or is this just impossible to do.

If you've got the space for it, this will do what you're asking for:

$gameParty.members().map(function(member){return member.atk}).reduce(function(total,num){return total+num});

 

[Kupotepo]

Am I correct if the actor 1 is in the party gain buff else nothing ?
if (a.isActor(1)) { a.addBuff(0, 3); b.def*10 } else { }

Thank you @Skunk for creating a damage reference.

 

[Silva]

Am I correct if the actor 1 is in the party gain buff else nothing ?
if (a.isActor(1)) { a.addBuff(0, 3); b.def*10 } else { }

The .isActor() function just checks that a battler is an actor, and doesn't take any arguments. If you're looking to check if the actor is in the party you could do something like this:

a.friendsUnit().members().contains($gameActors.actor(1))

//this will check if actor 1 is in the user's battle party, so will fail if an enemy tries to use it.
//this will also fail if actor 1 is not in the battle.
//if you want it to work even if actor 1 is in the reserve party you could use

a.friendsUnit().allMembers().contains($gameActors.actor(1))

//Again will not work if used by an enemy, if it is to be used by an enemy use one of:

$gameParty.members().contains($gameActors.actor(1))
$gameParty.allMembers().contains($gameActors.actor(1))

 

[Kupotepo]

@Silva, thank you for taking your time to explain for me.

 

[Animebryan]

Just wanted to point out that @Skunk just copied & pasted all this from Glasses/Mr. Trivel's post on RPG Maker Central https://www.rpgmakercentral.com/topic/36290-damage-formulas-101-mv-edition/

(Should've at least gave credit to Glasses/Mr. Trivel, as otherwise it comes off as plagiarized)

 

[Commanderty]

Not sure if I just missed something, but I'm trying to create spells that inflict both damage and a status, after confirming a 'hit' through the formula (I'm trying to emulate something similar to a d20 system), but I'm having an issue where the game just adds the status, instead of adding it on a successful hint. I'll paste the code here, if anybody knows what I did wrong, I'd be grateful.

(For reference, I'm using mdf as a 'Mind' skill, and mat as a 'Proficiency' skill.

if (b.def + b.agi <= (Math.randomInt(20) + 1 + a.mdf + a.mat)) Math.randomInt(8) + 1 + a.mdf + b.addState(43); else 0