Skills and force

Skills, force, class skills and potion and ammo effects are five server tables with two schemas (Skill.dat, ClassSkill.dat, BulletItemEffect.dat, PotionItemEffect.dat share one schema, Force.dat has its own). The client SkillForce.edf and NDSkillForce.edf are derived from the server tables: the same order and record count in every block, the code as a hex number; the conversion rules were verified byte for byte. Mastery limits are the four *MasteryLimit.dat tables ↔ block 5 of Character.edf.

How it works

• Mastery is a pair (kind, number): weapon, defence, shield, skill 0–47, force 0–23, crafting 0–2, race special skill. The limit comes from *MasteryLimit.dat by class and level, in points by the level ↔ points formula.
• Level 1–7 of a skill or force is computed from mastery by a common formula; the 7-level arrays of class skills and projectiles matter only in their first element.
• Checks on use: the order and refusal codes are fixed; an attack skill needs m_nAttackable ≠ 0, attack shape 0–7, weapon types in m_strFixWeapon and a projectile for ammo weapons; attack force is used only with a staff.
• Action: instant effect m_nTempEffectType (−1, 0–57, 70–75; anything else crashes the server), continuous effect and whom it affects m_nContAreaType (0, 1, 2, 3, 10; values 2 and 3 work as 0), aura — a kind 4 skill with radius m_nBonusDistance.
• Flag strings: race 5 positions, target 4, rank 12, weapon 13 (12 types + cloak); other positions are not read.
• Required records: BulletItemEffect with codes 15 and 16 (otherwise the server does not start), 17 — for instant effect 46.

What matters when editing

• The key is the row number; auxiliary skills are in the first 256 rows of Skill.dat.
• ForceItem.m_strForce_Codekey points to an existing Force.dat code; a class skill must be in the list of a class of the right type.
• Client-only conditions (passive skill, special type, shield) are not checked by the server.