ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I never know if something is going to trigger when I land an attack, or if someone lands an attack on me. There is ambiguity because the subject and object are both being omitted out of the sentence.

Example Eel-skin armour reads:
Talent on hit(spell): Lightning (10% chance).

I am assuming that's when I am being hit, but on the other hand it could be like an arcane combat like thing like searing armour.

My suggestion would be (this is for a damage weapon for instance):
Damage when striking(melee) (subject is now implied)

Depending on what is actually meant by Eel-skin armour:
Talent on being hit by a spell.
Talent (spell) on being hit.

I agree that the phrasing is ambiguous.

The meanings are clearer when you see all the options together, but typically a player sees only one at a time. I was confused until Pander cleared things up.

damage on strike (melee) - extra damage is applied when striking an enemy with a weapon
damage on hit (melee) - extra damage is applied on any melee contact with an enemy (weapon strike, shield bash, etc.)
damage when hit (melee) - damage is applied when the enemy makes melee contact with the player

Yeah, that... I keep forgetting to add that to the FAQ.

To further clarify, on strike (melee) means the damage only applies when you hit with the weapon that actually has that flag. Whereas on hit (melee) means the damage is done by any melee hit you make, even with your other weapon. The on hit (melee) often appears on non-weapons, like gloves.

I would assume on hit (spell) means you have to be the one hitting the monster with a spell.

FAQed.

greycat wrote:To further clarify, on strike (melee) means the damage only applies when you hit with the weapon that actually has that flag.

Aha, thank you. I didn't know that.

Is there any argument against using clearer language so that a FAQ isn't needed?

When the wearer is hit: 15 Lightning damage (maybe add in retaliation or returned?)

When this weapon hits: Wilful Strikes (lvl 4) (10% chance)

When the wearer hits: +22 Fire damage

HTH.