Glancing Hit Mechanics

Glancing Hit Basics

Glancing hits are attacks that don't succeed at an attack roll but due to a special weapon rule still manage to do partial damage.

• All firearms have either the Precise Burst trait or the Glancing Hits trait
• For weapons with Glancing Hit trait, any shot with 80%+ accuracy will cause a glancing hit if they "miss"
• For weapons with Precise Burst trait, a Burst Fire shot with 60%+ accuracy will cause a glancing hit if they "miss"; a Full Auto shot with an accuracy of 80%+ will cause a glancing hit if they "miss"
• All melee attacks always cause a glancing hit if they "miss"
• Traits and talents can change the accuracy level which grants the glancing hit
• Point Blank: Almost all firearm attacks less than 6 meters of the target cause a glancing hit if they "miss" - exceptions known so far include sniper rifles with sufficient accuracy penalty and no Glancing Hit trait.

The accuracy calculation takes into account any buffs on the attacker and debuffs on the target. This means that even weapons with low inherent accuracy can get a glancing hit if buffs and debuffs push the final accuracy high enough.

Glancing hits deal between 30% and 70% of their normal amount of damage but cannot ever shred armor, and cannot become a Critical Hit.

Glancing Hit Details

The exact amount of damage dealt depends upon two factors: the predicted probability of the attack landing, and how close to hitting the attack came in the end. The more likely the shot is to hit in the first place, the more likely it is to deal a higher amount of glancing damage. Similarly, an attack that narrowly misses being a full hit will usually deal more damage than one that almost totally whiffed it.

The equation works in three parts:

First, accurate shots deal more damage. The chance to hit is multiplied by 1.5. So an attack with a 74% chance to hit will leave us with 74% * 1.5 = 111%.

Second, bad attack rolls reduce damage. The die roll is divided by 2. So if the player rolls a 96, we're given 96% / 2 = 48%

Third, we take the difference between these two numbers. 111% - 48% = 63% damage dealt. Glancing hits must always deal between 30% and 70% of the attack's damage, so anything lower than 30% is increased to 30% and likewise for 70%

Let's try some other examples to illustrate:

Example: Worst Ranged Glancing Hit Possible

The largest damage penalty a glancing hit could face from a firearm without relying on the "point blank" rule would use the 60% glancing hit minimum and a roll of 100 on the die. This would be (60% * 1.5) - (100% / 2) = 40% damage dealt.

So if only in the most extreme of cases can we hit 40% damage, why is the range defined from 30% to 70%? The answer lies in melee attacks.

Example: Really Bad Melee Attack

Suppose with some combination of buffs, debuffs, and recoil your chance to hit is extremely low. Let's say your chance to hit is 20% and you roll a 68 to hit. Ouch. Well, you'll still be able to deal some damage because melee attacks always at least glance!

Because (20% * 1.5) - (68% / 2) = -4% is way less than 30%, the damage is reduced to 30%, so this really bad melee attack will still get to deal its minimum 30% damage.

Complete Damage Details

Let's say our fictional bad attack was from a sword that lists 200 kinetic damage with 5% pure damage upgrade due to 5 Strength on the user. The damage actually dealt will be rolled 150-200. Let's say a 180 is rolled. Now let's add the pure damage, 180 * 5% = 9 pure. Great, but let's use our horrific glancing blow to this and treat the damage with a 70% reduction. 180 * 0.3 = 54 kinetic and 9 * 0.3 = 3 pure. (See: Rounding)

57 total damage sounds not that great, but we still have to factor in enemy armor.

Let's say the enemy's armor is fairly weak, at 35% damage resistance. 54 * 0.65 = 35 kinetic damage and the unadjusted 3 pure damage makes it through to reduce a whopping 38 hit points.