How to Use Magic Bolt

[Crom]

I decided to drill into the game's code to figure out what needs to happen in order to guarantee magic bolt will always kill my opponent, since I am playing a squishy magic user and I am far enough that I do not want to lose my character due to a mis-guess, which has happened to me so many times in p4 that I literally have never had a character that lived beyond level 400.  (To be fair, that was more because Mavis Beacon murdered me in cold blood.)

 

To calculate the mana you need to use, you will need to gather 3 numbers:

1. Monster size
2. Monster base energy (see list)
3. Your magic level

 

First, let me explain the basic formula as in the source code:

1. Monster energy: size * base energy * (.9 thru 1.1)

So, if we're facing a size 12 Smeagol, the most energy he can have is 12 * 373 * 1.1, or 4924.

2. Magic bolt damage: mana * (.7 thru 1.3) * magic level ^ .40 + 1

Since mana is variable depending on how much we need to spend, you can think of it as an algebra statement where we are trying to solve for x where x is the mana we want to spend.

 

Putting this together, we have the following algebraic statement:

size * base energy * (.9 thru 1.1) = mana * (.7 thru 1.3) * magic level ^ .40 + 1

Since size, energy, and magic level are pre-determined when you are going to calculate your mana, all you have to do is plug the numbers in and assume the randomness errs on the side of the worst possible condition, IE. The monster rolls max energy, and you get the weakest possible magic bolt.

I like to use Wolfram Alpha for this.  So for instance, to figure out how to kill Smeagol, I gather the following:

1. Size = 12
2. Base energy = 373
3. Magic level = 100

Then the formula becomes:

12 * 373 * 1.1 = x * .7 * 100 ^ .4 + 1

Plugging this into Wolfram Alpha, we get x = 1114.54.  To guarantee I'm not underestimating esp against very strong monsters, I like to go a bit over, so I would spend 1150 mana in this situation.

 

Have fun, magic users!

-Crom

[Crom]

Note that while thaumaturgists are magic resistant, this does not apply to magic bolt!

 

Ignore me, this is based on old code which was before magic resistance was added to Thaumaturgist.  Good luck with that one

Edited October 16, 2021 by Crom

[Tantalus]

On 10/16/2021 at 2:35 PM, Crom said:

Note that while thaumaturgists are magic resistant, this does not apply to magic bolt!

 

Ignore me, this is based on old code which was before magic resistance was added to Thaumaturgist.  Good luck with that one

If you're on a character that is magic bolting you likely have more than enough brains to luckout a Thaumaturgist every time