This post is dedicated purely to the Weapon Pool System. This system governs when your character uses skills like Mutilate, Zolhan’s Technique, or Amarasta’s Quick Cut over their default attacks.
B26 H3
Terms Used:[ul][li]WPS - Weapon Pool System or Weapon Pool Skills, depending on context[/ul][/li]What skills add to the Weapon Pool?
Skills that say “n% Chance to be Used” can be added to the Weapon Pool System.
This includes all these skills or skills on these items:[ul][li]Nightblade:[list][]Belgothian Shears B[/li]
[li]Amarasta’s Quick Cut A[/li]
[li]Whirling Death W[/li]
[li]Execution E[/ul][]Soldier:[ul][]Markovian’s Advantage M[/li]
[li]Zolhan’s Technique Z[/ul][]Items:[ul][*]Brawler’s Gloves (Gloves)[/li]
[li]Notched Bone of a Thousand Deaths (1h Axe) (Above current level cap)[/li]
[li]Bladesworn Talisman (Relic)[/li]
[li]Bladedance’s Talisman (Relic)[/li]
[li]Blademaster’s Talisman (Relic) (Above current level cap)[/li]
[li]Marauder’s Ammo Belt (Belt) (Ranged)[/li]
[li]Gunslinger’s Talisman (Relic) (Ranged)[/li]
[li]Marauder’s Talisman (Relic) (Ranged)[/li]
[li]Plunderer’s’s Talisman (Relic) (Ranged) (Above current level cap)[/ul][/list][/li]This does not include skills that say one of these things:[ul][li]n% Chance on attacking (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on attacking (target enemy).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on a critical attack (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on a critical attack (target enemy).[/li]
[li]n% Chance when hit (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance when hit (target enemy).[/li]
[li]n% Chance when hit by a critical (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance when hit by a critical (target enemy).[/li]
[li]n% Chance when hit by a melee attack (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance when hit by a melee attack (target enemy).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on low health (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on low health (target enemy).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on blocking (target self).[/li]
[li]n% Chance on blocking (target enemy).[/ul][/li]The Weapon Pool System
Recall that there is no such thing as percentage in Grim Dawn, everything is done by weights. So, when you equip an item or use a skill that adds to your WPS, what’s really happening is you’re adding weights to the Weapon Pool System. The game then rolls a die to decide whether you attack with a skill, or your default attack.
Pretty standard.
The system is the exact same whether you use a Ranged weapon or a Melee weapon.
Two Handed or One Handed + Shield/Focus
If we maxed out Markovian’s Advantage (25 weights), for instance, our WPS bar would look something like this (Each letter is 5 weights, let us denote a Default attack as “D”):
MMMMMDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Duel Wielding
The only thing different about Duel Wielding is that you don’t have a default attack, you have three default attacks*:[ul][li]Left Hand Attack L (35)[/li]
[li]Right Hand Attack R (35)[/li]
[li]Both B (30)[/ul][/li]*I don’t know the weights for these, but for the purposes of explaining, I’m going to assume the numbers I put by them.
So a standard attack with nothing in your Weapon Pool would look like:
LLLLLLLRRRRRRRBBBBBB
If you add a Weapon Pool Skill, you take away equivalent amounts of the three different types of attacks. Here it is with a maxed Markovian’s Advantage (25 Weights):
MMMMMLLLLLRRRRRBBBBB
Notice that some default Left attacks, some default Right attacks, and some default Both attacks were removed from the Weapon Pool Skill.
Pretty Simple. Let’s say that we had more than 100 weights in our system:
MMMMMZZZZZBBBBAAAAWWWWEEEE
Then the engine would just roll a die with the range of 1 to the total number of weights in the system, in this case, 130.
Recap:The Weapon Pool System is pretty simple. Just remember that if you go over 100 Weights, then you dilute the pool. So if you prefer to have Execution occur the most, then max that skill out, and lower other skills until your WPS has 100 weights!
Charges (Cadence)
There is reason to believe that B27 changed information in this section. This information may be out of date.
The differing WPS skills add different charges to skills like Cadence. Here are the skills you can get from Nightblade and Soldier.
[ul][li]Melee DW:[list][*]MA hits with both weapons, only gives one charge to Cadence.[/li]
[li]ZT hits with one weapon, only gives one charge to Cadence.[/li]
[li]BS hits with both weapons, gives two charges to Cadence.[/li]
[li]AQC hits with both weapons, gives three charges to Cadence.[/li]
[li]WD hits with both weapons, gives one charge to Cadence. (I could be wrong here).[/ul][/li]
[li]Range DW:[ul][/li]
[li]MA hits with one weapon, only gives one charge to Cadence.[/li]
[li]ZT hits with one weapon, only gives one charge to Cadence.[/ul][/list][/li]
WPS Works with These Skills:
[ul][li]Fire Strike - Demolitionist[/li]
[li]Savagery - Shaman[/li]
[li]Troll Rage - Mistborn Talisman (Relic)[/li]
[li]Beronath’s Fury - Shard of Beronath (Melee Weapon Materia) (Not currently available)[/ul][/li]
Conclusion:
Most of this information comes from a quote from medierra where he describes a little bit of the system. So the credit goes to him.
Feel free to correct misinformation, suggest additions, or ask questions!