Luck is a characteristic present in all battles taking place which affects the damage values. Each CO has a set value of luck, some have higher luck that help increase their damage, while others have bad luck that will decrease the damage dealt. Some CO have Powers that can change their value of luck.
What is Luck?[]
When combat between two units ensues, there might occur a deviation between the actual damage dealt and the damage value display before the unit attacks. This is because of luck - a semi-hidden game mechanic that occurs in every battle.
Luck can determine a battle and in the long-run, an entire match. A unit expecting to deal just 92% damage can luck out and outright destroy the enemy unit, or a unit dealing 99% can roll low on luck and end up just 1HP short off destroy the unit.
Calculating Luck[]
The game calculates luck by taking an input of a random number of 32-bit value, starting from 0, then takes the luck range and calculates the remainder of this value. So for a luck range of 10, the potential remainder value will be a value of 0 to 9. For a luck range of 15, the potential remainder values range from 0 to 14. In terms of calculating more complex values, the order of operations is as follows:
- Base Damage
- Multiply Firepower Bonuses/Penalties
- Add Luck Rolls
- Multiply by HP Scaling
- Multiply Target Defence Bonuses/Penalties (CO Defence + Terrain Defence)
So this means a few things:
- A CO's Firepower does not affect the range of luck on a target.
- A Unit's HP scales the luck range on a target.
- Higher defence means less luck damage taken by a target.
For example, Using AWDS Nell's Infantry Vs AWDS Kanbei's Infantry on a City:
- Base Damage: 55%
- No bonus firepower Day-to-Day: 55%
- Nell has a luck range of 20, which means the added on damage can be between 0% to 19% from the original 55%. Damage: 55% to 74%
- Units are at full HP, so 55% to 74%
- Kanbei's Defence is +20%, City is +30% for a total of +50%. Final Damage is 27% to 37%. So, Nell will inflict 2-3 HP damage to the target.
For COs who have bad luck (Flak, Sonja and Jugger), there is an extra random roll for the damage. The bad luck is rolled separately to the good luck and the results are added together. This has the result of bell curving the results a bit around the centre of their values, making the extremities less likely. e.g. for AW2 Flak to roll maximum damage, who has the luck value of between -9% to +24%, he has to roll a +14 Good Luck and a -0 Bad Luck.
For example: AW2 Flak Vs. AW2 Andy on a Road, Infantry vs. Infantry
- Base Damage: 55%
- No bonus firepower Day-to-Day: 55%
- Flak has 15 Luck and 10 Bad luck, which means the added on damage can be between -9% to +14% from the original 55%. Damage: 46% to 69%
- Units are at full HP, still 46% to 69%
- Andy has no defence, so the luck roll is unchanged. Final Damage is 46% to 69%, Flak can inflict 4-6 HP damage to the target.
Standard Luck Ranges[]
For all COs with standard luck value, their luck is +10, which means their luck range from 0% to +9%. Luck is also multiplied by the unit HP to give up to an additional 10% damage. This means that weaker units cannot unexpectedly deal another 1HP of damage, and weaker units will generally deal less luck damage than undamaged units. For every point of health lost, 1% will be taken off that unit's luck range, down to a minimum of just +1% luck.
Unit HP | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luck Range | ±0~+9% | ±0~+8% | ±0~+7% | ±0~+6% | ±0~+5% | ±0~+5% | ±0~+3% | ±0~+3% | ±0~+1% | ±0~+1% |
Non-Standard Luck Ranges[]
Some COs have altered luck rolls, either as an ability or through CO Powers that rearrange their luck range. The luck value on each individual unit remains the same, for every health point they lose, 1% of total luck will be taken off to a minimum of +1%.
Nell | ±0%~+19% | ±0%~+59% | ±0%~+99% |
Rachel | ±0%~+39% | ||
Sonja (AW1) | -19%~+9% | ||
Sonja (AW2) | -9%~+9% | ||
Sonja (AWDS) | -4%~+9% | ||
Flak (AW2) | -9%~+14% | -19%~+39% | -29%~+79% |
Flak (AWDS) | -9%~+24% | -19%~+49% | -39%~+89% |
Jugger | -14%~+29% | -24%~+54% | -44%~+94% |
Other Luck Factors[]
In Advance Wars: Dual Strike, tag-team affinity can increase the luck range by 5% per star.
Affinity Stars | Luck Bonus |
---|---|
+5 | |
+10 | |
+15 |
Additionally, the Luck Skill adds 10% to the luck value.