Special Attack

From Anarchy Online Wiki [AOWiki]

Special Attacks are an important part of the AO experience, so much so that some professions rely heavily or exclusively on them. This guide will cover the major elements of special attacks and what players need to know about them.

General Information[edit]

What is a Special Attack?[edit]

A special attack is an attack action that is made available through the weapon the character is using. Special attacks deal damage based on a varying scale, depending on the attack, and then are 'locked' for a period of time that depends on the skill of the user before they can be used again.

Special attacks are not items, though some items function like special attacks. Items such as Kizzermole Gumboils, Cluster Bullets, Frozen Cherry Blossom - Special Arrows, are found or made in stacks of uses. They similarly lock specific skills, but when the item runs out of uses the attack cannot be used, which is not true for many of the standard special attacks.

General Characteristics[edit]

  • Special attacks do not move characters or interfere with item use and casting. Because of this, special attacks can be used while a character is casting nanos, or using items.
  • Special attacks expend ammunition if the weapon uses it. If your gun is empty and you attempt to use a special attack it will prompt a reload sequence. If there is no ammo, then the special attack cannot be used.
  • Melee special attacks are often required to be executed at very close range to the target.

Formulas[edit]

Included are rough guess formulas for determining the rate a special attack recharges. Some terms might be confusing so they will be listed here.

  • 'Skill' generally means the rating of the skill as the same name as the special attack.
  • 'Attack' means the attack time of the weapon you are using.
  • 'Recharge' means the recharge time of the weapon you are using.
  • 'Delay' means the special attack has a modifier that is determined by the weapon that factors into the recharge calculation. These numbers can be found at www.AOmainframe.com

Standard Special Attacks[edit]

Ranged Specials[edit]

Fling Shot Fling Shot[edit]

Fling Shot is a ranged special attack that is executed by whipping the pistol barrel as though you are 'flinging' the bullet. This special attack works the same as any normal attack, only the recharge for this attack is based on the Fling Shot skill. Fling Shot is found most commonly on pistol type weapons. Fling Shot uses up one unit of ammunition.

Recharge Time: (Attack x 16) - Fling skill/100
Minimum Recharge Time: 6 Seconds + Attack

Burst Burst[edit]

Burst fire uses a semi-automatic mechanism to fire three shots at the target. Each shot is rolled "to hit" separately, but the damage from all shots that hit is applied at once. Most MG/SMG weapons, many assault rifles, and a few pistols and rifles use Burst. It uses up to three units of ammunition. It is impossible for burst attacks to achieve a critical hit.

Recharge Time: (Recharge x 20) + Burst Delay - Burst Skill/25
Minimum Recharge Time: 8 Seconds + Attack

Full Auto Full Auto[edit]

A Fully Automatic attack causes the weapon to fire all of its remaining ammunition at the target. This isn't always as efficient as some would like though, as the Full Auto Skill determines how many bullets actually hit the intended target up to a maximum of 15 bullets. This damage is also effected by how many shots are remaining in the weapon, so if there are only five bullets in the gun then a maximum of 5 bullets have a chance to hit even if a character normal could hit with as many as 15. Full auto has a chance score a critical hit. Full Auto is found most commonly on Assault Rifle type weapons. Full Auto completely empties the ammunition on a weapon when used.

Recharge Time: (Recharge x 40) + Full Auto Delay - FA skill/25
Minimum Recharge Time: 10 seconds + Attack

Aimed Shot Aimed Shot[edit]

Also called 'Snipe' this attack is a shot that is carefully aimed to automatically hit. Aimed Shot is a truly special attack because it ignores most normal rules for combat, because of this it has slightly different rules for use in Player vs Enemy combat and Player vs Player combat. In PvE, the target you are trying to fire on needs to be unaware of your presence, which usually requires the sniper to be far off from the target and/or use the concealment skill. In PvP, Aimed Shot automatically hits. The damage on Aimed Shot ignores Armor, ignores dodge chance, and deals the maximum damage of the weapon, augmented by a multiplier. The multiplier is, in theory, determined by your aimed shot skill divided by 95, on a critical hit the max damage of the weapon plus the weapon's critical damage are added together and multiplied. The maximum Damage that can be dealt by a Aimed shot is 13K. Aimed Shot is most commonly found on Rifle type weapons. Aimed Shot uses 1 unit of ammunition.

Recharge Time: (Recharge x 40) - (3 x AS skill/100)
Minimum Recharge Time: 10 seconds + Attack

Melee Specials[edit]

Fast Attack Fast Attack[edit]

A Fast Attack is a quick attack of opportunity that relies mostly on speed to get included between a normal attack pattern. In essence, Fast Attack is just another attack only with the recharge calculated from your Fast Attack skill instead of the Weapon recharge and your initiative. Fast Attack is commonly found on Sword type weapons.

Recharge Time: (Attack x 16) - Fast Attack Skill/100
Minimum Recharge Time: 6 Seconds + Attack

Brawl Brawl[edit]

A brawl is a rough and tumble special attack that generally involves some sort of punching, kicking, or wrestling. Brawl's chance of hitting and damage are both determined by the character's Brawl Skill. You need a Brawl enabled weapon (some weapons don't require any skill but is just brawl enabled, like starter weapons) or using martial arts to use Brawl, even thought the attack damaged is not related to it.

Recharge Time: 15 seconds

Dimach Dimach[edit]

Also known as the 'soul attack' or 'death attack', this special strike is extremely damaging and is said to use the power of one's Ki or soul to function. Keepers have a special benefit to using Dimach as their attacks with this special will allow them to use some of the damage dealt to heal themselves. Shades also have a differing version of Dimach that is called 'Lifetap'. The damage is dependent on the amount of Dimach skill the user has, though both damage and recharge vary by profession.

Recharge Time: Only varies for Martial Artists.
Minimum Recharge Time:

  • 10 Minutes for Martial Artists
  • 1 Hour for Keepers
  • 5 Minutes for Shades
  • 30 Minutes for everybody else

Sneak Attack Sneak Attack[edit]

A sneak attack is a melee attack made in stealth, similar to a Aimed Shot, but at close range. Sneak Attack is a truly special attack because it ignores most normal rules for combat, because of this it has slightly different rules for use in Player vs Enemy combat and Player vs Player combat. In PvE, the target you are trying to attack needs to be unaware of your presence, which ussualy requires the use of concealment to sneak up on the target. In PvP, a Sneak Attack automatically hits. The damage on Sneak Attack ignores Armor, ignores dodge chance, and deals the maximum damage of the weapon, augmented by a multiplier. The multiplier is determined by your sneak attack skill divided by 7. The maximum Damage that can be dealt by a Sneak Attack is 13K.

Recharge Time: 40 - Sneak Attack skill/150
Minimum Recharge Time: 10 seconds + attack

Backstab Back Stab[edit]

Backstab is really a revision of Sneak Attack that only applies to Shades and Adventurers. The special attack is enabled at various levels of Sneak Attack skill for each profession, and requires increasing levels of base, non-buffed, non-implanted, skill to achieve greater damage multipliers. To use this attack the character must be standing behind the target with somebody else fighting the target. Back Stab Damage is capped at 13K. Backstab is applied to any weapon that also does Sneak Attack. Unlike Sneak Attack, Backstab can miss.

  • Adventurer Progression
    • Enabled: 350 Sneak Attack Skill
    • Damage Multipliers: 540 Sneak Attack Skill
    • Critical Backstab: 625 Sneak Attack Skill
  • Shade Progression
    • Enabled: 100 Sneak Attack Skill
    • Damage Multipliers: 235 Sneak Attack Skill
    • Critical Backstab: 420 Sneak Attack Skill


Recharge Time: (40 - Sneak Attack skill/150)/2
Minimum Recharge Time:

Other Special Attacks[edit]

There are some skills that have no use other then operating certain special attack like items. This list is not comprehensive.

16252.gif Grenades[edit]

Though the grenade skill is best known for the use of grenade launcher weapons, there are two types of throwing grenade weapons in game. Both of these weapons are used from your inventory on a fighting target. The HSR Hedgehog Grenade deals a very small amount of damage but requires a very small amount of skills. The Mayfly throwing grenade deals a much greater amount of damage in a large radius, the downfall is that it requires a comparatively larger grenade skill and each use must be manually tradeskilled.

16286.gif Sharp Objects[edit]

There are many different types of 'sharp objects' that are used with this skill. Most of them are from the very dangerous areas of Pandemonium in the Shadowlands, but others like Kizzermole Gumboils are found on Rubi-Ka. Most weapons of this type are stackable and do damage to one target in amounts that vary by the weapon. It is generally difficult to get significant quantities of any of these weapons. Although such weapons are "free" attacks, in the sense that they do not take up other weapon's timers, they are not the same as the Fixer Cluster Bullet attack, and Cluster Bullets use the Sharp Objects skill for neither requirements nor damage calculation.

Bow special attack Bow Special Attack[edit]

There is a group of tradeskill made special arrows that are exclusively used by this skill.


Cluster Bullets[edit]

Fixers get a special item that attacks all enemies within a short radius: Cluster Bullets. Homing Permorpha Bullets are also an extra attack, on the same timer, and have a higher maximum QL, but attack only a single target. Although Cluster Bullets attacks share with Sharp Weapon attacks the quality of being activated by an item, and both being "free" attacks, in the sense that they do not take up other weapon's timers, they are not the same thing at all. Cluster Bullets use Burst, not the Sharp Objects skill, for requirements and damage calculation. Since Patch 18.7, Fixers get a nano that create a stack of either Cluster or Permorpha, in inventory. The result is random, and the QL is based on the caster's Burst skill level.

Sources[edit]

The Facts about Weapons
The Mystery of Special Recharges Solved!
Backstabbing Explained
Chronita's Martial Artist Compendium
Agent FAQ

--Berael 21:55, 1 March 2007 (CET)