With these formulas, if Atk and Def are equal, the damage is half the attackers attack value. They suit games with small number stats because damage scales and remain low and predictable. The highest damage an attacker can do will be equal to its Attack stat and the lowest damage will be 1.
Formula:
DAMAGE = a.ATK^2/(a.ATK+b.DEF)
Attackers Atk = 10
Defenders Def = 10
10^2/(10+10)
100/20
5
Formula rewritten for RPG Maker (because RPG maker can't do exponents?)
DAMAGE = a.ATK * (a.ATK / (a.ATK+b.DEF) ) or Damage = X * (X/(X+Y))
Attackers Atk = 10
Defenders Def = 10
10 * (10 /(10+10))
10 * (10/20)
10 * ( .5)
5
Examples
Attackers attack = a
defenders defense = b
damage = d
d = a * (a/(a+b))
1. Attack and Defense are equal
a = 10 b = 10
d=10(10/(10+10))
d=5
2. Attack is twice defense
a = 20 b = 10
d=20(20/(20+10))
d=13
3. Attack is thrice defense
a = 30 b = 10
d=30(30/(30+10))
d=22.5
4. Attack is definitely higher than defense
a = 43 b = 8
d=43(43/(43+8))
d=36
5. Attack is half of defense
a = 5 b = 10
d=5(5/(5+10))
d=1.25
If you haven't noticed, the above formula is based on the idea that if you are equally matched with your enemy, you will dish out damage that is equal to 50% of your attack stat and no matter how much you outclass your enemy, you will do no greater damage than an amount equal to 100% of your attack stat without a critical. You may also notice that your damage asymptotes. By adding a x2, you can change that 50% when you're equally matched to 100%. This brings us to...
SPELLS WITH BASE POWER THAT STILL SCALES
If you add a variable as a multiplier to the beginning of the formula, you can increase the damage you do. This variable could represent the strength of the attack or spell or power or etc. Think of spell levels in Final Fantasy for instance.d=x*a*(a/(a+b))
X can represent the level of the attack or spell. Example:
Weak = 0.5
Basic = 1
Medium = 1.2
Strong = 1.5
Very Strong = 2
If X = 2, your damage would be equal to your attack stat (if a.atk = b.def). I prefer to make 2 the basic value of an attack or spell. This way, every point of ATK and every point of DEF has more value, making upgrades from equipment and levels more valuable. If 2 is your normal damage, 3 would net 1.5x damage and 4 would net you 2x damage.
FORMULA 2
Found this one here:
https://www.rpgmakercentral.com/topic/27581-how-to-make-damage-calculation-and-leveling-more-like-final-fantasy/
it's: (a.atk / 2)(a.atk / 2) - (b.def / 3)(b.def / 3)
As the OP puts it, damage scales greatly, see below. I think he's very pleased with it, however it makes Defense a less valuable stat compared to attack.
a.atk=10, 25 damage dealt
a.atk=16, 64 damage dealt
a.atk=20, 100 damage dealt
a.atk=30, 225 damage dealt
a.atk=50, 625 damage dealt
a.atk=70, 1225 damage dealt
a.atk=100, 2500 damage dealt
a.atk=150, 5625 damage dealt
a.atk=200, 9999 damage dealt
if defense is /3 then ^2, this is how much less the base damage will be.
(b.Def / 3)(b.Def / 3)
def damage
10 11
11 13
12 16
13 18.5
14 21
15 25
16 28
17 32
18 36
19 40
20 44
25 69
30 100
35 136
40 177
45 225
50 277
55 336
60 400
70 544
80 711
90 900
99 1089
125 1736
150 2500
175 3402
199 4400
255 7225
300 10,000!
In my opinion, this method of having scaling damage is cool, but it means that 1 point to attack is more valuable than 1 point of defense, which is weird to me. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much? If you back track to an earlier point in the game, you'll be one-shoting everything with obscene numbers and the players might start to think too much too.
Let's say you're going for a damage cap of 9,999. Dividing attack by 3 instead of 2 will net you a base damage of 4400 if your attack power is at 200. If your damage doubles when you crit, you'll be approaching 9900 base damage. Factoring in things like elemental weaknesses and resistances and you're pretty much set.
Just for curiosity, let's look at numbers if you divide stat x by 4.
(b.def/ 4)(b.def / 4)
atk damage
10 6.25
11 7.5
12 9
13 10.5
14 12
15 14
16 16
17 18
18 20
19 22.5
20 25
25 39
30 56
35 76.5
40 100
45 126.5
50 156
55 189
60 225
70 306
80 400
90 506
99 612
125 976
150 1406
175 1914
199 2475
255 4064
300 5625
I might give a try, but my characters stats will be pretty low so that I can keep make damage around 999. In several Final Fantasy games, 5, 6, and 9 for example, your stats were low. The highest Strength state in FF5 was in the 40s. The formulas scaled because the game had a modifier that was the characters level. You can't assign a level to enemies in RPG maker with scripting, however, which is unfortunate.
Let's see what it would look like to compare high attack to low defense.
70 attack vs 20 def is 519 base damage. 80 attack vs 30 defense is 655 base damage.
Atk VS Def = base damage
70 20 519
70 40 444
70 50 388
70 60 319
80 30 655
100 50 922
100 80 711
100 90 605
100 100 486
80 99 99
70 99 0 or 1
80 110 45
90 110 0 or 1
120 150 194
125 150 330
130 150 471
150 150 1094
Based on this information, if the attack and defense are equal, there will be a damage and you will probably be giving enemies a fuck ton of HP. If your attack is too low, you will probably be no match for the enemy. If your attack is much greater than enemy defense, you'll be doing a lot of damage and it makes the numbers look kind of same-y I guess.
If I was developing a game using this number system, I would have to make a spreadsheet and keep I think I would have to micromanage the distribution of points and fine tune to game a little to much.
How to change critical damage.
Here are the steps:
1 - Open up your game folder
2 - Go to "js"
3 - Open up "rpg_objects" (I personally just used word pad)
4 - Find this line:
Game_Action.prototype.applyCritical = function(damage) {
return damage * 3;
Change the "3" to whatever critical damage multiplier you want.
