This evening's question : Str and Physical attacks

[renegadeandy]

Hello and good evening engagers!🦁

I would like to learn a little more about Strength and Physical Attacks.

What I know:

Str - Strength affects the damage the unit deals with physical attacks. Question : what does affect mean?

Physical attack - The unit's attack power using a physical weapon. Question: What defines a physical weapon? Is a Bow a physical weapon? Is it any weapon other than a spell book?

THANK YOU!!

[Armchair General]

1 hour ago, renegadeandy said:

Str - Strength affects the damage the unit deals with physical attacks. Question : what does affect mean?

As it is, it's probably this formula Strength + (Weapon's Might x Effective damage bonus) + any applicable skills and buffs - your opponents defense= the amount damage that you're dealing.

 

1 hour ago, renegadeandy said:

Physical attack - The unit's attack power using a physical weapon. Question: What defines a physical weapon? Is a Bow a physical weapon? Is it any weapon other than a spell book?

I'm not exactly sure if there are any magical weapons in this game. I won't be surprised if they are any; but an rule of thumb is that it's basically anything that isn't an spellbook causes physical damage

[renegadeandy]

Thank you @Armchair General-- if anyone can weigh in here and confirm your understanding lines up with this - that would be awesome!

[Scaramuccia]

I have an odd feeling that combat arts use combined mag+str formula - I got attack increased from getting magic buff. Have anyone else checked it?

[Hiroki]

Armchair General did answer well

2 hours ago, renegadeandy said:

Str - Strength affects the damage the unit deals with physical attacks. Question : what does affect mean?

It means that you have to add your strength to the weapon might (kind of a hidden value) to calculate your attack (physical in this case). The more your unit have strength, the more its attack rises. Then, you have to subtract your attack by the enemy defense, and then you have your damage. If it's a critical, you multiply your damage by 3. If it's effective, I'm not very sure about the calculations, because i did not really check here. It might enhance either the might of your weapon, your general attack, or the damages.

Here goes:

Strength/Magic + Weapon's might = Physical/magical attack

Physical/Magical Attack - Ennemy Defense/Resistance = Damages

2 hours ago, renegadeandy said:

Physical attack - The unit's attack power using a physical weapon. Question: What defines a physical weapon? Is a Bow a physical weapon? Is it any weapon other than a spell book?

Yes, exactly. Magic are just spellbooks, and like, four weapons that are actually magical, but the game tell you if you read the description (I think it's the Levin Sword, Hurricane Axe, Flame Lance and Radiant Bow). Nearly all the rest is physical. 

 

1 hour ago, Scaramuccia said:

I have an odd feeling that combat arts use combined mag+str formula - I got attack increased from getting magic buff. Have anyone else checked it?

I may have the same. The game gave me a hint, one time, that I didn't note. I vaguely remembered it saying Body Arts took Strength and Magic into account. From my viewpoint, by seeing the Attack value, I think it could be (Strength + Magic) / 2. Then I guess it's considered a Physical attack and you have to check the enemy defense.

[Tediz64]

Another part of the formula left out is terrain bonus/debuffs. 

 

In almost every instance of a fire emblem game terrain has an impact on the formula. Locations like woods/thicket and bases/forts would also reduce damage by 1 to 3 regardless if it was magical or physical. Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn separated this and made it so certain spaces/tiles reduce one or the other once you got to part 4 and in Fire Emblem Three Houses, avoid and defense granted by the terrain had no bearing on magic attacks. 

 

So keep this in mine too when positioning yourself.  In this FE, (which I'm not playing just yet) I'd imagine they either went back to old days or followed what Three Houses started. So ask the other members how the terrain works. 

[Armchair General]

12 minutes ago, Tediz64 said:

So ask the other members how the terrain works. 

Yeah, terrain is more or less the same, with the added bonus of being immune to getting disarmed if you're on an fort or an certain type of heal tile. And I didn't catch the restorative bonus those types of terrain provides.

[Xylaugheon Daily]

21 minutes ago, Armchair General said:

Yeah, terrain is more or less the same, with the added bonus of being immune to getting disarmed if you're on an fort or an certain type of heal tile. And I didn't catch the restorative bonus those types of terrain provides.

Are we certain things like forts give the extra defense? I ask because when you highlight the tile it says you recover 10 HP a turn and are unbreakable, but does not list a defensive bonus. I'm at work or is try myself, I just remember seeing that at some point.

[Armchair General]

3 hours ago, Xylaugheon Daily said:

Are we certain things like forts give the extra defense? I ask because when you highlight the tile it says you recover 10 HP a turn and are unbreakable, but does not list a defensive bonus. I'm at work or is try myself, I just remember seeing that at some point.

Forts give you 30 Avo, provides Unbreakable, and restores 10 health per turn. 

In fact, most of the terrain that I seen, so far,.gives either 30 Avoid or heals you 10 points

[Taho]

11 hours ago, Hiroki said:

I may have the same. The game gave me a hint, one time, that I didn't note. I vaguely remembered it saying Body Arts took Strength and Magic into account. From my viewpoint, by seeing the Attack value, I think it could be (Strength + Magic) / 2. Then I guess it's considered a Physical attack and you have to check the enemy defense.

Seconded. The game showed me this on a loading screen, I think, but I didn't compute it to see what portion of Str and Mag goes into the total attack number.

[renegadeandy]

Wonderful insightful detail in this thread. Thank you legends!