Weapons getting stuck

Guide created using an unknown version of Cataclysm DDA.
The information present here might not apply to the current version of CDDA.

Weapons that deal cutting or piercing damage can get stuck in the target, wasting time or even getting pulled out of user's hands.

• Base stuck penalty is equal to weapon's move cost
• This is multiplied by weapon's damage ratio: (cut) / (cut + bash) ^{Verify (cut, or cut + pierce?)}
• Depending on weapon's type:
  • Slicing weapons (katana) get only 1/4 penalty
  • Stabbing weapons (knives) and spears get 1/2 penalty
  • Chopping weapons (axes, swords) get normal penalty
  • Improvised weapons get 2 times the normal penalty
  • "Messy" weapons (chainsaws) get 1/6 the penalty if they deal 10 damage or more
• Impale attack technique multiplies the penalty by 5
• Weapons with non-stick feature have 1/4 the penalty
• Each point of skill at using the weapon's type (piercing or cutting) reduces penalty by 1d20
• If impale attack technique wasn't used, cap penalty at twice the attack cost
• If penalty is negative, zero it

Then depending on penalty:

• If penalty > (2*user_strength)d20 and the weapon isn't an unarmed weapon:
  • Remove weapon from user's hands and add it to target's inventory
  • Target loses 30 move points
  • Improvised weapons without a good grip (glass shards) deal half their cutting damage to random user's hand
• Otherwise:
  • If the weapon is stabbing or a spear, target loses 30 move points
  • If total damage > 20:
    • Halve penalty
    • Decrease penalty by random number from (cutting skill) to (cutting skill * 2 + 2)

Finally, user loses a number of move points equal to penalty.

Example

A survivor with 8 dexterity, 10 strength, knife spear (2 bashing, 16 piercing), 0 melee skill, 3 piercing skill and 1 cutting skill, who managed to deal 22 damage:

• At 0 melee and 8 dexterity, spear's move cost is 113, so base stuck penalty is 113
• Damage ratio is 16/(2+16) = 8/9. Penalty is now 100
• Penalty halved for a spear type weapon. Penalty now 50.
• Skill's effect on penalty is random. Let's assume average (10.5 per skill point). Penalty is now 50-31=19.
• (2*user_strength)d20 will always be higher than 19:
  • Target loses 30 move points for being poked with a spear
  • Total damage is higher than 20:
    • Penalty is halved: 19/2=9
    • Penalty is decreased by random number, in this example average of rng(1, 1*2+2=5) is 3. Penalty is now 6

In the end our survivor loses 6 points in addition to normal attack cost, for a total of 119 move points.

Pessimistic example

A survivor with 8 dexterity, 4 strength, makeshift machete (4 bashing, 14 cutting), 0 melee skill and 2 cutting skill, who managed to deal 15 damage:

• 105 base cost and thus base penalty
• Damage ratio is 14/(4+14) = 7/9. Penalty now 81
• Chopping weapons don't change penalty (still 81)
• Skill's effect on penalty is random. This time let's assume lower than average: 5 per skill point. Penalty now at 81-10=71
• (2*4)d20 has about 21% chance of being 70 or less. Survivor has about 21% chance of losing the machete in this attack
• Regardless, they'll lose 71 move points for a total of 176 move points in this attack.