• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 15:35
CEST 21:35
KST 04:35
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting1Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview4[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview2herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)7
Community News
StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th62Weekly Cups (May 18-25): MaxPax wins doubles0Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League4Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2
StarCraft 2
General
StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th Changing from 12 to 8 is just asking for StarCraft TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview
Tourneys
GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Welcome to the External Content forum Mutation # 527 Hell Train The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 526 Rubber and Glue
Brood War
General
Pros React To: ASL S21 Finals VPN experiences Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ? Every Matchup's Top 5 Winrates (all ASLs & KSLs) BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[ASL21] Grand Finals Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [BSL22] WB Final & LB Semis - Saturday 21:00 CEST Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Path of Exile Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Trading/Investing Thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
McBoner: A hockey love story 2024 - 2026 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Customization Drives Loyalty…
TrAiDoS
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2730 users

Valkyrie dmg formula? - Page 3

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Freakling
Profile Joined October 2012
Germany1533 Posts
January 10 2021 00:03 GMT
#41
Most unit data is actually stored in separate files in the MPQs.
stambe
Profile Joined May 2005
Bulgaria492 Posts
May 09 2021 14:09 GMT
#42
This is too much programing and difficult calculations for me. What i wanna know is - do valkyries cost wise inflict more damage to clumped mutas/air units compared to corsairs ?
Valks rulzz
WolFix
Profile Joined December 2009
Poland43 Posts
May 11 2021 08:52 GMT
#43
Nice discoveries. I always wondered if the SCV movement during building is fully randomized or deterministic in some way?
ZOrb_
Profile Joined May 2021
16 Posts
May 12 2021 01:57 GMT
#44
Awesome write up @StRyKeR. I did a bunch of testing myself, as well as a review of the BWAPI (Although, this can't be considered as gospel, right? It is a fan project, not source code, no?) and I came to the exact same conclusions as you. The only thing I did not specifically test was the "super damage" that you mention, although it does seem plausible. Anyways, I think the best way to conceptualize the Valkyrie missile attack is that it was maybe inspired by how real Anti Air homing missiles operate. Basically, the warhead does not impact a target, but rather explodes nearby in a shaped blast that sends shrapnel into a target aircraft, but also releases a pressure wave due to the explosion. So anyways, I think of it like that. On detonation the HALO missile picks a target nearby (within a 100px radius) to fire its shrapnel at, dealing heavy damage, and collaterally damages any OTHER targets within that explosion radius with the blast wave. Anyways I lowkey like to roleplay like this as it kinda makes the games more fun and immersive.

Also stand by everyone - I'm going to release a map soon that demos how to get perfect U-Turn micro on the Valkyrie, allowing you to fire backwards without glitching basically 100% of the time :_)
MeSaber
Profile Joined December 2009
Sweden1235 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-12 13:45:14
May 12 2021 13:44 GMT
#45
I did a post about that. Check my previous posts where i show how to aim your patrol-click and position your valk.

What do you mean "without glitching"?
-.-
Freakling
Profile Joined October 2012
Germany1533 Posts
May 12 2021 15:04 GMT
#46
On May 12 2021 10:57 ZOrb_ wrote:
Awesome write up @StRyKeR. I did a bunch of testing myself, as well as a review of the BWAPI (Although, this can't be considered as gospel, right? It is a fan project, not source code, no?)


It is source code. Not Blizzard source code of course, but it does accurately reproduce the game's behaviour. If it didn't you couldn't run things like a replay viewer on it.
ZOrb_
Profile Joined May 2021
16 Posts
May 12 2021 17:52 GMT
#47
Hey Saber, I found your post and it describes it PERFECTLY. I'm kinda surprised there are no replies because I feel like a lot of people tend to mess up or misunderstand that micro with the Valkyrie. The key is not to "click behind", but rather order the unit to do a RIGHT or LEFT U-turn - whichever one will allow the targeting scan to see the enemy in front as it spins around. I am almost done making both a Valk U-turn demo map as well as a practice map that should get this info out there.
MeSaber
Profile Joined December 2009
Sweden1235 Posts
May 12 2021 20:07 GMT
#48
Sounds good. Make a new post about it when ure done
-.-
stambe
Profile Joined May 2005
Bulgaria492 Posts
May 13 2021 13:15 GMT
#49
On May 13 2021 02:52 ZOrb_ wrote:
Hey Saber, I found your post and it describes it PERFECTLY. I'm kinda surprised there are no replies because I feel like a lot of people tend to mess up or misunderstand that micro with the Valkyrie. The key is not to "click behind", but rather order the unit to do a RIGHT or LEFT U-turn - whichever one will allow the targeting scan to see the enemy in front as it spins around. I am almost done making both a Valk U-turn demo map as well as a practice map that should get this info out there.


That would be sweet ! What do you mean to order the unit to do a left or right U-turn ? Like dont do patrol behind the valk, but at the side 45 degree angle ? Sorry for the question, but there is conflicting tips about valk micro all over the internet.
Valks rulzz
MeSaber
Profile Joined December 2009
Sweden1235 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-13 14:54:36
May 13 2021 14:33 GMT
#50
@stambe if your valkyrie is going straight north and your target is north west you should patrol to the area that makes the valkyrie turn towards the target and not away from the target. If your valkyrie turns the wrong direction it wont shoot.

[image loading]
-.-
GGmano
Profile Joined February 2021
103 Posts
May 14 2021 11:25 GMT
#51
As far as i know Valkyries use center splash dmg so it definately matters where the missiles hit.. like nuke ,archon and tank splash center splash does 100% to the inner circle and (not fully sure on the lesser circles but i think its) second circle 75%or50% and outta circle is 50%or25%.. the circle diameter on the different center splash types variate, the nuke has the largest circle area
Poegim
Profile Joined February 2017
Poland289 Posts
May 15 2021 07:04 GMT
#52
Where is Orders::class ?
[ RANKGIM.EU ] Aka: Poezja[T4], Zulu. [[ Probably second best player in the world. In honor of my best friend Moagim, he was a Kraken from the sea. Poegim ]]
ZOrb_
Profile Joined May 2021
16 Posts
May 15 2021 08:53 GMT
#53
When you patrol click 'behind' the Valkyrie, you are basically giving it 1 of 2 possible orders: Turn CLOCKWISE and retreat, or turn COUNTERCLOCKWISE and retreat. By clicking directly behind, the Valkyrie will choose to turn towards the shortest path. If your Valkyrie is facing north and you click behind and slightly to the right, it will turn clockwise, slightly left and it will turn counterclockwise. When you click exactly behind, you are basically leaving it up to chance whether it will turn right or left. I will explain this further in my Valkyrie practice and demo maps. I should be done in about a week and I will post them here.
iloveav
Profile Joined November 2008
Poland1482 Posts
May 16 2021 14:41 GMT
#54
Please do remember that if you are shooting zerg or protoss, regen is to be accounted for. The lower the effective damage is, the higher the effectivness of the regeneration.

That is why a single valk is not as scary, but getting it dead soon is a priority for zerg in zvt.

(well... i am assuming that because I am toss :D).
aka LRM)Cats_Paw.
StRyKeR
Profile Blog Joined January 2006
United States1739 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-19 13:05:57
May 19 2021 12:46 GMT
#55
Firebathero uploaded an interesting video recently regarding interceptors and splash damage (he often does deep dives into Starcraft engine behavior via experiments in game):



It's in Korean, but the gist is that he figures out that air units do NO splash to interceptors (as I've found by reading the source code) but ground units and spells do. He tested this by having a group of enemy interceptors (adjusted to 0 shields, 1 hp, 0 damage) attack a tanky unit (e.g. his own Command Center) and then attacking moving into the interceptors with units that have artificially inflated damage. The valk killed 8 units per volley (so one per missile) and the corsair killed one unit per attack, implying no splash damage being done.

However, he finds one more interesting quirk, which is that when his valk attacks his own Command Center, he ends up killing 2-3 interceptors per volley, apparently doing splash. When his corsair attacks his own Command Center, once in a very long while does he kill an interceptor, apparently doing splash.

This phenomenon is again explained by our reading of the source code:

1) yes, indeed, blizzard made a special exception for interceptors to never be included in the splash queue for taking air splash damage

2) valk missiles land in a wide region and do not always land close to the target, so in the case of the Command Center, if the Command Center isn't within the inner splash radius of a valk missile, the full queue is populated with interceptors within the outer splash radius and a RANDOM unit from this queue is chosen to take full damage

3) when a corsair misses its target (every ranged unit has a miss chance of 1/256), the center of the hit is shifted a bit, and since the inner splash radius is fairly small, it may no longer include the target in question, in which case the full queue is populated with interceptors within the outer splash radius and a RANDOM unit from this queue is chosen to take full damage

This brings up one more point, which is that why is the behavior different when attacking interceptors directly versus his own Command Center. The answer is that it is still explained.

In the case of the valk attacking moving into interceptors, each valk missile likely rarely includes the original target in the full queue because interceptors are small and fast moving, and picking a random one within the larger splash radius. Since a valk has huge larger splash radius, it should almost always never have an empty full queue, thus getting one kill per missile. You don't get 8 kills per volley with the Command Center because it is large and stationary so you are fairly likely for the targeted missile to get within the inner splash radius to it to not have to randomly pick from its full queue.

Similarly, the corsair, when it doesn't miss with 1/256 chance, will land its "missile" directly on the unit and so does not have to pick randomly from its full queue.

We can make one more prediction as a result of this understanding which firebathero's video does not show, which is that the valk shouldn't ALWAYS kill 8 interceptors per volley when attack moving into the group of interceptors, which should occur if 1) a missile finds no interceptors within the outer splash radius (rare) or 2) two missiles overkill the same interceptor (rare).

I imagine we'd blow his mind if we told him a valk missile can do > 100% damage sometimes.
Ars longa, vita brevis, principia aeturna.
Freakling
Profile Joined October 2012
Germany1533 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-20 13:37:49
May 20 2021 13:26 GMT
#56
On May 19 2021 21:46 StRyKeR wrote:3) when a corsair misses its target (every ranged unit has a miss chance of 1/256), the center of the hit is shifted a bit, and since the inner splash radius is fairly small, it may no longer include the target in question, in which case the full queue is populated with interceptors within the outer splash radius and a RANDOM unit from this queue is chosen to take full damage.

Miss chance only applies to ranged ground attacks (and even for ground attacks it might be just sloppy coding rather than an intended mechanic). Corsairs always hit. The occasional Interceptor kill is from Interceptors that actually were within the 100% splash area when the attack hit.
Freakling
Profile Joined October 2012
Germany1533 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-20 13:43:23
May 20 2021 13:41 GMT
#57
On May 14 2021 20:25 GGmano wrote:
As far as i know Valkyries use center splash dmg so it definately matters where the missiles hit.. like nuke ,archon and tank splash center splash does 100% to the inner circle and (not fully sure on the lesser circles but i think its) second circle 75%or50% and outta circle is 50%or25%.. the circle diameter on the different center splash types variate, the nuke has the largest circle area

Splash radii work different for air units. Read the thread. It is all explained in here, all the way down to the code level.

On May 15 2021 17:53 ZOrb_ wrote:
When you patrol click 'behind' the Valkyrie, you are basically giving it 1 of 2 possible orders: Turn CLOCKWISE and retreat, or turn COUNTERCLOCKWISE and retreat. By clicking directly behind, the Valkyrie will choose to turn towards the shortest path. If your Valkyrie is facing north and you click behind and slightly to the right, it will turn clockwise, slightly left and it will turn counterclockwise. When you click exactly behind, you are basically leaving it up to chance whether it will turn right or left. I will explain this further in my Valkyrie practice and demo maps. I should be done in about a week and I will post them here.

All air micro is basically Chinese triangles…
StRyKeR
Profile Blog Joined January 2006
United States1739 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-20 16:19:16
May 20 2021 16:10 GMT
#58
On May 20 2021 22:26 Freakling wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 19 2021 21:46 StRyKeR wrote:3) when a corsair misses its target (every ranged unit has a miss chance of 1/256), the center of the hit is shifted a bit, and since the inner splash radius is fairly small, it may no longer include the target in question, in which case the full queue is populated with interceptors within the outer splash radius and a RANDOM unit from this queue is chosen to take full damage.

Miss chance only applies to ranged ground attacks (and even for ground attacks it might be just sloppy coding rather than an intended mechanic). Corsairs always hit. The occasional Interceptor kill is from Interceptors that actually were within the 100% splash area when the attack hit.


That's what I thought, but firebathero slows down the replay and zooms in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAYEr34dzfE&t=430s.

The corsair clearly misses the CC, so it must be the case that air units can miss.

Also, your understanding of air splash is incorrect here. If you assume the corsair never misses, then it CANNOT deal damage to any interceptor because its target is the CC and the full queue is populated with ONLY the original target if it is within the inner splash radius, which must be the case if the corsair does not miss since the CC is stationary.
Ars longa, vita brevis, principia aeturna.
Freakling
Profile Joined October 2012
Germany1533 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-21 10:44:32
May 20 2021 19:26 GMT
#59
On May 21 2021 01:10 StRyKeR wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 20 2021 22:26 Freakling wrote:
On May 19 2021 21:46 StRyKeR wrote:3) when a corsair misses its target (every ranged unit has a miss chance of 1/256), the center of the hit is shifted a bit, and since the inner splash radius is fairly small, it may no longer include the target in question, in which case the full queue is populated with interceptors within the outer splash radius and a RANDOM unit from this queue is chosen to take full damage.

Miss chance only applies to ranged ground attacks (and even for ground attacks it might be just sloppy coding rather than an intended mechanic). Corsairs always hit. The occasional Interceptor kill is from Interceptors that actually were within the 100% splash area when the attack hit.


That's what I thought, but firebathero slows down the replay and zooms in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAYEr34dzfE&t=430s.

The corsair clearly misses the CC, so it must be the case that air units can miss.

Also, your understanding of air splash is incorrect here. If you assume the corsair never misses, then it CANNOT deal damage to any interceptor because its target is the CC and the full queue is populated with ONLY the original target if it is within the inner splash radius, which must be the case if the corsair does not miss since the CC is stationary.

Anti-air attacks definitely have no miss chance. Since air units are not influenced by terrain levels miss chances are not applied when they are attacked.
I suspect the reason for the target switch may be the difference between the CC position (centre of the CC) and the hit position of the attack which is far enough offset to put the CC outside the inner splash radius.

EDIT: Although looking at the distance function, as long as the weapon sprite is within the bounding box of the unit it should still be the primary target:
int unit_distance_to(const unit_t* u, xy pos) const {
return xy_length(pos - nearest_pos_in_rect(pos, unit_sprite_bounding_box(u)));
}

So there must be something else going on entirely. Maybe lifted buildings don't have a bounding box…

EDIT: Nevermind, according to in-game testing miss chance seems to apply to air splash attacks, but not to single target air attacks.
MeSaber
Profile Joined December 2009
Sweden1235 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-21 07:49:33
May 21 2021 07:22 GMT
#60
https://ufile.io/lgpfy3bl Air to Air have miss chance. Time: 13:06 - 13:07 and from what i can tell it didnt do damage.

https://ufile.io/j7azbhu3 Corsair vs CC. Time 1:41 - 1:42. Miss is a hit.

https://ufile.io/25dj506u vs scourge. Takes full damage also even though its a miss (Base 20 dmg, 10 dmg vs scourge. Took 10 dmg on miss)
-.-
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 4h 25m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ZombieGrub604
UpATreeSC 275
JuggernautJason58
MindelVK 55
EmSc Tv 23
StarCraft: Brood War
Dewaltoss 143
Rock 25
Sacsri 17
GoRush 14
soO 11
ajuk12(nOOB) 10
Dota 2
Gorgc5384
qojqva1653
League of Legends
KnowMe108
Counter-Strike
ScreaM1734
fl0m1716
byalli685
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King52
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu225
Other Games
Grubby4447
summit1g4289
B2W.Neo555
C9.Mang0141
QueenE129
XaKoH 97
Trikslyr47
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL231
Other Games
BasetradeTV178
StarCraft 2
EmSc Tv 23
EmSc2Tv 23
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 6
• FirePhoenix6
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota258
League of Legends
• TFBlade876
• Stunt172
Other Games
• WagamamaTV313
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
4h 25m
RSL Revival
11h 25m
Lambo vs SHIN
Solar vs Rogue
herO vs Clem
Maestros of the Game
15h 25m
SKillous vs Ryung
Solar vs Percival
Maru vs sOs
Lambo vs Arrogfire
IPSL
20h 25m
ZZZero vs WorsT
Julia vs eOnzErG
BSL
23h 25m
TerrOr vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs eOnzErG
Replay Cast
1d 4h
RSL Revival
1d 11h
Maestros of the Game
1d 17h
SHIN vs Nicoract
Rogue vs Gerald
ByuN vs Shameless
Cure vs TriGGeR
OSC
1d 17h
IPSL
1d 20h
Dragon vs Artosis
dxtr13 vs Hawk
[ Show More ]
BSL
1d 23h
Wardi Open
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
3 days
Maestros of the Game
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
Maestros of the Game
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
5 days
Maestros of the Game
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
6 days
Maestros of the Game
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

ASL Season 21
2026 GSL S1
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

2026 KK StarCraft Pro League
BSL Season 22
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
KK 2v2 League Season 1
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
Escore Tournament S2: King of Kings
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026

Upcoming

YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
Heroes Pulsing #3
Heroes Pulsing #2
Bounty Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.