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QCF Design Community • View topic - "Spike" definition ?
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"Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:46 pm
by flap
Hello,

I have a question, which might be silly : what do we mean exactly with "spike". I have seen that term being used since long time, but never found a specific definition (there aren't any in the wiki).

In my mind, to spike a monster, it means "Damaging a strong enemy, using various ways to increase your damages".
In "various ways", there could be any use of potions, piety, glyphs, objects... Actually, anything apart from regen-fighting.
Also, spiking is also often linked with "using resources to make you stronger for one fight", these resources being anything apart from exploration and mid-fight levelling.

Does any of you got a better ?

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:08 pm
by Lujo
It's technicaly synonimous with burst. If there were a graph of damage you were doing over the course of a run, a damage-per-click-graph so to speak, during a boss fight, the graph would show a huge "spike".

They're generally characterized by "fuel" - a "piety spike" is when you convert a lot of piety into damage on the enemy/boss, a potion spike when you have a potion-into-damage frenzy, etc. (EDIT: they can be classified in other ways - means (a fireball spike, pissorff spike, DP/Dodge spike (Taurog or TT boons)), focus (phys damage spike, magic spike))

Regen fighting is also a spike - a "blackspace spike" where you use map exploration as fuel for a determiend unloading of damage on a boss. It's just not very "bursty" because the reason a "spike" would appear on the graph when you start dealing damage IS that while you explore your damage-per-click-graph is zero.

Technicaly it indicates a frenzy of converting resources into damage. Can be a small tactical burst, or a big kitchen-sink-throwing mess, doesn't matter.

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:28 pm
by flap
Ok. So would you call a boss fight with nothing more than usual attacks and a mid-fight level up a spike ? (Xp spike ?)

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:53 pm
by Lujo

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:24 pm
by flap

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:41 pm
by Lujo

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:30 pm
by flap

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:16 pm
by dislekcia
Uh, while I'm cool with people evolving their own nomenclature for playing, Lujo's definition of "spike" sounds more like "the whole game" because it's incredibly general. If you have to qualify what kind of "spike" something is, then why bother keeping the "spike" part?

If saying "Yeah, then I spiked the boss" doesn't accurately describe what happened and could actually cover a million different scenarios, what's the point?

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:33 pm
by flap

Re: "Spike" definition ?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:20 pm
by Darvin
When you "spike" you use a large number of resources at one time, requiring significant effort to replenish the lost resources afterwards (if it's possible at all). So, for instance, a human fighter who casts fireball twice would not be thought of to be spiking; that's a normal level of mana which requires a normal amount of effort to recover. An Elf Sorcerer with 24 mana who casts four fireballs would be thought of to be spiking, because his expanded mana pool takes about twice as much effort to refill. By leveraging his racial and class advantage, he's able to produce a bigger "spike" of instantaneous damage than other classes. Similarly, the use of one-time effects like potions or boons, or limited-use effects like the fire heart are spikes. Pre-buffs like CYDSTEPP and ENDISWAL are also spikes.

The opposite of spiking is efficiency; doing things to reduce the amount of effort required to win all future fights. Increased damage, reduced mana costs, heightened resistances, increased regeneration from exploration; all of these are efficiency tools. Regen-fighting is more on the efficiency-side of things, since anything you recover in-combat is matched by the monster you're fighting. All strategies revolve around using both efficiency and spiking to win. No character, however well-built, is strong enough to just plow through a boss effortlessly and will need to "spike" to pull it off. Similarly, higher levels of efficiency make your spikes more potent. Good play is about using a combination of these approaches; the real question is how much you may focus on one side or the other.

To illustrate the difference between efficiency and spiking, consider old BLUDTUPOWA and new BLUDTUPOWA. The old version of the glyph converted health regeneration into mana regeneration. If your character could leverage mana more efficiently than health then this was an overall increase in your resources. The new version of the glyph allows you to sacrifice health and unexplored tiles to regenerate mana. Monsters do not heal when you do this, effectively allowing you to expend resources for a burst of consecutive damage. The new BLUDTUPOWA offers no efficiency gain (since you're still trading 1 tile for 1 MP, in addition to other costs) but instead offers you the ability to spike better with mana-based resources.