Splash

[Robzor]

Splash

Splash revisited.

Table of Contents

• Introduction (I thought I had stopped doing these)
• Basics
• Area of Effect
• Damage Information
• Missing with Missile (Splash)
• Credits

Introduction

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This is an attempt to salvage some lost knowledge mainly due to the fact that I find the current information on PD lacking and since I had my old "Multi-targeted Physical Attacks" guide backed up.

Note that splash is not to be mistaken for Cleaving Attack, which you may find information on HERE.

As always, if you see anything out of place or which you think is missing then do say so.

Basics

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As you already should have read the introduction you already know that splash is not Cleave, no matter how hard you wish for it to be.

The attribute renowned as splash comes from a weapon type which is defined in DotA as Missile (Splash), while there are others the differences as so sublime as to not count (mainly homing ability and such) that I will not focus on the differences nor on any other weapon types providing splash, but only the one used in DotA.

Due to the fact that the weapon type is what gives a unit the ability to splash damage, and the fact that all weapon types allowing a unit to splash are ranged (never melee), means that a melee unit won't ever be able to splash damage following the rules of splash through any hardcoded means, nor can it exist as an ability for any item to provide.

Illusions can splash, as they may possess the required weapon type, and will apply the attribute as any other regular unit, the only difference being that the illusion damage factor will be applied to the output damage.

Area of Effect

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The area of effect for splash consists of at least one, up to three, circles with their centers located at the center of the attacked unit at the location where the missile connects with the target unless the attack misses (this case is described here).

All splash damage in Warcraft 3 may have have three levels of damage relative to the distance from the center of the AoE, with a decreasing amount of damage splashed the further from the center the affected target is located, in other words, within the big splash circle two smaller ones may exist.

Inside the spoiler is a picture explaining how this looks.

It is not necessary for damage to be splashed within a trinity of circles, but in DotA this is always the case.

The closer to the centre of the target unit you come, the greater the damage within the splash AoE perimeter.

Damage Information

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The damage type is that of the hero and is mitigated just as a normal attack for every target within the AoE of the splash, this means that all units armor values, armor types and damage blocking skills are applied per usual and will reduce this damage. Evasion does however not work against the splashed damage, only the main target may evade the attack, refer to this part when this occurs.

The amount of reduction is dependant on each unit within the splash area, this means that the amount of damage dealt to the main target is of no importance for the damage dealt to the side targets. The output damage does however matter, additional damage granted by Critical Strike or Bash abilities will enhance the amount of damage dealt to all targets within the splash AoE.

This means that cases where the side targets take less damage are as plausible as cases where the side targets takes more damage than the main target.

Missing with Missile (Splash)

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An attack made by a unit with the weapon type Missile (Splash) never misses in the literal sense, nor does it function as with a common attack. When a unit with aforementioned weapon type misses an attack the output damage is multiplied by a gamplay constant named the MissDamageConstant, and upon impact the damage will be dealt to all units which are present at the location where the target was standing when the attack was completed.

The MissDamageConstant is set to 0.5 which means that the amount of damage splashed will be reduced by 50% of the original damage. In layman terms this means that the damage within each separate splash circle will be reduced by 50%, where you earlier splashed 75% damage now only 37.5% damage will be splashed, or if you splashed 25% you will now splash 12.5%.

Apart from this all damage calculations follow the common rules for splash, and common attacks for that matter, be sure to note that after being subjected to the MissDamageConstant the damage may be applied to the original target under the condition that this target still is present at the moment when the missile connects with the target locationth. Evasion does not affect this damage in any way.

Credits

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Going by the old credits I have 1239, DonTomaso, protomanx1, Shorttail, Clogon, Virot2 and ICallSoloBot to thank for the help, though I will admit I remember scarce of those days. A big bunch of thanks anyways.

[Doovad]

Interesting read as always.

Area of Effect
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The area of effect for aplash

Yea.

[SoletLuna]

Will the rest of the Multi-Attack guide be ported soon, too?

[getfUkd]

What other multi attacks are there?

[SoletLuna]

Originally Posted by getfUkd

What other multi attacks are there?

Cleave and Bouncing Attack (I know that Cleave is already on the Mech-page, but the D-A guide was depicting them all).

If going for non-hardcoded, you could say Psi Blades as well.

[getfUkd]

Hmm ok, what about split shot (barrage) was there a guide on that as well?

[SoletLuna]

Originally Posted by getfUkd

Hmm ok, what about split shot (barrage) was there a guide on that as well?

It was most likely included in Robzor's guide. I can't really remember, but Robzor does his guides properly, always.

[getfUkd]

Ok, I was just wondering. Thanks for the fast reply.

On a unrelated note, whats up with your avatar picture?

[Foede]

Here's the only-text cache of that guide. The full version didn't load

And regarding SoletLuna's avatar, he decided he doesn't want to be loved, so he removed the cutest avatar ever in exchange for some weird pink tapir/pig mutation.

[Robzor]

Originally Posted by SoletLuna

Will the rest of the Multi-Attack guide be ported soon, too?

Maybe, I've been thinking about Barrage, Pulverize and Moon Glaive, but I don't feel urged to port anything more at this very moment.

Originally Posted by getfUkd

Hmm ok, what about split shot (barrage) was there a guide on that as well?

Cleaving Attack, Splash, Moon Glaive, Barrage, Pulverize and Psi Blades were included.

[Glowackos]

enlightening read (though i already new it all coz im imba h4x0r)

you could also mention where the given multi-attack occurs in dota. ie splash is in dk dragons lvl2/3, rhasta wards..etc

[Robzor]

Originally Posted by Glowackos

enlightening read (though i already new it all coz im imba h4x0r)

you could also mention where the given multi-attack occurs in dota. ie splash is in dk dragons lvl2/3, rhasta wards..etc

I had this in the original version, however, to make it more generic I excluded unit lists seeing as they change over time.

I look at it more as reference material when people ask about the properties of splash, for a list about the units having the designated attack type is a lot easier to compile and may be altered on a version to version basis as compared to this information.

[Kenshiro]

Hi all !

@Robzor : You wrote this :

Apart from this all damage calculations follow the common rules for splash, and common attacks for that matter, be sure to note that after being subjected to the MissDamageConstant the damage may be applied to the original target under the condition that this target still is present at the moment when the missile connects with the target locationth.

So if I understand this correctly, let's say hero A has a splash attack and attacks hero B who has some Evasion. If A attacks B as his main target, and B's Evasion procs, B will still feel half the damage A would normally deal on that attack (Of course, damage block and armor reduction still work.), right ?

In an applied case, if B has a Butterfly, the Evasion's effect isn't to multiply the incoming DPS by 0.7, but by 0.85, right ?

See you

[PEW_PEW]

Derp, yes its correct.

[Robzor]

Originally Posted by Kenshiro

So if I understand this correctly, let's say hero A has a splash attack and attacks hero B who has some Evasion. If A attacks B as his main target, and B's Evasion procs, B will still feel half the damage A would normally deal on that attack (Of course, damage block and armor reduction still work.), right ?

Under the presumption that the splash deals 100% damage around the target and that the target has not moved outside of the splash AoE this assumption is correct.

However, remember that the missile launched is not guaranteed to hit as it loses its homing properties if the attack is evaded.

Originally Posted by Kenshiro

In an applied case, if B has a Butterfly, the Evasion's effect isn't to multiply the incoming DPS by 0.7, but by 0.85, right ?

You could put it that way, but it presumes that your target always remain at a certain location when you miss in order for the splash to hit, meaning that it's not exactly a reliable calculation. It does however represent one of the extreme points.

[Der_kleine_Tomy]

If a hero doesn't have homing missles, the enemy could evade his attacks by running around ? The MissDamageConstant will not apply in such a case ?

[PEW_PEW]

It applies but only to units inside the AoE of the splash. So if an attack misses and has a small AoE the target could avoid all damage by simply moving outside of the AoE of the attack by the time the projectile reaches its destination.

[Der_kleine_Tomy]

No no, I mean if the hero hasn't got homing missles like medusa or tinker and the attack misses because of the movement of the target (no evasion, no blind etc.). Or is the attack considered as missed if the primary target is not inside of the AoE ?

[DracoLich]

homing missles

afaik it doesnt affect any way except visual.

[Der_kleine_Tomy]

Yeah for normal attacks it's just a visual bug. For Incinerate on ranged units it behaves strange if the visual doesn't hit, so I think the same could apply for splash attacks.

Edit: Made some tests, you can evade splash attacks if the hero hasn't got homing missles, the attack will splash and deal full damage(no MissDamageConstant).