Spell popularity - Revision history

Hordes: /* Notable Results */

2023-01-15T18:38:33Z

‎Notable Results

Hordes: /* Casting vs. Non-Casting */

2022-04-29T12:57:42Z

‎Casting vs. Non-Casting

Hordes: /* Casting vs. Non-Casting */

2022-04-27T23:20:11Z

‎Casting vs. Non-Casting

Ge0ff: /* Casting vs. Non-Casting */ es-what?

2022-04-24T14:30:11Z

‎Casting vs. Non-Casting: es-what?

Hordes: /* Notable Results */

2022-04-23T09:52:14Z

‎Notable Results

Hordes: /* Casting vs. Non-Casting */ time in clock format

2022-04-23T06:18:25Z

‎Casting vs. Non-Casting: time in clock format

Hordes: convert time

2022-04-23T06:09:22Z

convert time

Wwf: /* Casting vs. Non-Casting */ Noted outliers in min/max table

2022-04-23T03:55:02Z

‎Casting vs. Non-Casting: Noted outliers in min/max table

Wwf: /* Methodology */ Added time/turn statistics for cast vs non-cast games

2022-04-23T03:41:35Z

‎Methodology: Added time/turn statistics for cast vs non-cast games

Hordes: /* Notable Results */

2022-04-22T10:26:03Z

‎Notable Results

@@ Line 280: / Line 280: @@
 * Of the 10 most frequent spells, 6 were at least partially [[Earth Magic]], and 3 were [[Translocations]]. Shatter and Crystal Spear trail behind at 11th and 15th, respectively.
 ** [[Irradiate]] was a dark horse -- it was cast in the most winning games. It also took the number one spot for the most popular mid-game and late-game spells. The runner-ups were [[Apportation]], [[Blink]], and [[Passwall]] - all low level, Translocation(-like) spells which are more broadly useful.
-*In total ''casts'', Iron Shot was used 50% more than the runner-up (Stone Arrow). Both are pretty simple spells that deal damage with no resistances.
+*In ''total casts'', Iron Shot was used 50% more than the runner-up (Stone Arrow). Both are pretty simple spells that deal damage with no resistances. You need to cast these spells multiple times to kill each monster.
 **Specifically, the most cast spell in the early game was [[Magic Dart]], in the mid game it was [[Stone Arrow]], and in the late game it was [[Iron Shot]].
 *The worst ranking spells are Necromancy:

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 |Maximum Time
-|54:38:58& || 13:48:34
+|54:38:58* || 13:48:34
 |-
 |Maximum Turns

@@ Line 264: / Line 264: @@
 |-
 |Maximum Time
-|54:38:58 || 13:48:34
+|54:38:58& || 13:48:34
 |-
 |Maximum Turns

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 ====Casting vs. Non-Casting====
-A tournament with specific goals can skew the use of spells in a game. [[Speedrun]]s, aiming for time, will most likely eskew all forms of spellcasting. Meanwhile, those going for a high [[score]] would want to pick spells which are near game-breaking. So, for comparison, here are some statistics on the [[0.28]] Tournament results.
+A tournament with specific goals can skew the use of spells in a game. [[Speedrun]]s, aiming for time, will most likely ignore all forms of spellcasting. Meanwhile, those going for a high [[score]] would want to pick spells which are near game-breaking. So, for comparison, here are some statistics on the [[0.28]] Tournament results.
 {| class="wikitable"

@@ Line 280: / Line 280: @@
 * Of the 10 most frequent spells, 6 were at least partially [[Earth Magic]], and 3 were [[Translocations]]. Shatter and Crystal Spear trail behind at 11th and 15th, respectively.
 ** [[Irradiate]] was a dark horse -- it was cast in the most winning games. It also took the number one spot for the most popular mid-game and late-game spells. The runner-ups were [[Apportation]], [[Blink]], and [[Passwall]] - all low level, Translocation(-like) spells which are more broadly useful.
-*The most ''cast'' spell in the early game was [[Magic Dart]], in the mid game it was [[Stone Arrow]], and in the late game it was [[Iron Shot]]. In total casts, Iron Shot was used 50% more than the runner-up (Stone Arrow). Both are pretty simple spells that deal damage with no resistances.
+*In total ''casts'', Iron Shot was used 50% more than the runner-up (Stone Arrow). Both are pretty simple spells that deal damage with no resistances.
 *The worst ranking spells are Necromancy:
 **[[Excruciating Wounds]] appears in the least amount of games. Possible causes are the unpopularity of 3-rune Necromancy outside of [[Borgnjor's Vile Clutch]], that most Necromancers are taking [[Kiku]]'s pain blessing anyway, its tedious means of recasting, a natural aversion to melee as a caster, and the inability to be used by [[Djinn]].

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 |Average Time
-|5 hr, 56 min || 3 hr, 57 min
+|5:56:16|| 3:57:26
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 |Average Turns
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 |Minimum Time
-| 42.6 min || 27.33 min
+| 0:42:40 || 0:27:44
 |-
 |Minimum Turns
 |8492* || 10553
 |-
-|Maximum Time (s)
+|Maximum Time
-|54 hr, 38 min* || 13 hr, 48 min
+|54:38:58 || 13:48:34
 |-
 |Maximum Turns

@@ Line 241: / Line 241: @@
 ====Casting vs. Non-Casting====
-A tournament with specific goals can skew the use of spells in a game. Speed runs goals may lead many players to abandon all spell casting. So for comparison here are some statistics on the [[0.28]] Tournament results.
+A tournament with specific goals can skew the use of spells in a game. [[Speedrun]]s, aiming for time, will most likely eskew all forms of spellcasting. Meanwhile, those going for a high [[score]] would want to pick spells which are near game-breaking. So, for comparison, here are some statistics on the [[0.28]] Tournament results.
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 251: / Line 251: @@
 | 739 || 418
 |-
-|Average Time (s)
+|Average Time
-|21376 || 14247
+|5 hr, 56 min || 3 hr, 57 min
 |-
 |Average Turns
 |92501 || 74901
 |-
-|Minimum Time (s)
+|Minimum Time
-| 2560 || 1664
+| 42.6 min || 27.33 min
 |-
 |Minimum Turns
@@ Line 264: / Line 264: @@
 |-
 |Maximum Time (s)
-|196858* || 49711
+|54 hr, 38 min* || 13 hr, 48 min
 |-
 |Maximum Turns
@@ Line 271: / Line 271: @@
 There were some extreme min/max results for single games. These are indicated by an '''*''' in the table. The second place values are mentioned here:
-*The minimum turn count for a game with casting was 8492. However the second shortest turn count in this category was 14875.
+*The minimum turn count for a game with casting was 8492. However, the second shortest turn count in this category was 14875.
-*The maximum time for a game with casting was 196858s. However the second longest game took only 83560s.
+*The maximum time for a game with casting was 196858s (about 54.5 hours). However, the second longest game took only 83560s (about 23 hours).
-*The maximum turns for a game without casting was 200314. However the second longest turn count was 151422.
+*The maximum turns for a game without casting was 200314. However, the second longest turn count was 151422.
 ===Notable Results===

@@ Line 239: / Line 239: @@
 The 0.28 Tournament had 1160 winning games by 357 players. Due to a server being down, only 1157 morgue files were used to gather these statistics. Of the 1157 games available, 418 games were played without a single spell being cast.
 Statistics were gathered both for the number of times a spell was cast and the number of games the spell was cast in. A further breakdown into early, middle and late game usage is provided to see how starting spells held up and which spells were sought after.
 ===Notable Results===

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 ===Notable Results===
 * All 111 available user spells were used in at least six games.
-* 36% (418/1157) of the winning characters did not use any spells, and of those, only 72 games played with the Berserker background. Data seems to suggest that melee only characters are able to compete against spellcasters or hybrid builds. However, this ignores the higher prevalence of real-time [[speedrun]]s, and the viability / games of those only casting low level utilities.
+* 36% (418/1157) of the winning characters did not use any spells, and only 72 games played with the Berserker background. Data seems to suggest that melee only characters are able to compete against spellcasters or hybrid builds. However, this ignores the higher prevalence of real-time [[speedrun]]s, and the viability / games of those only casting low level utilities.
 * Of the 10 most frequent spells, 6 were at least partially [[Earth Magic]], and 3 were [[Translocations]]. Shatter and Crystal Spear trail behind at 11th and 15th, respectively.
 ** [[Irradiate]] was a dark horse -- it was cast in the most winning games. It also took the number one spot for the most popular mid-game and late-game spells. The runner-ups were [[Apportation]], [[Blink]], and [[Passwall]] - all low level, Translocation(-like) spells which are more broadly useful.
-* [[Iron Shot]] was the workhorse spell. In raw casts, it was used 50% more than the runner-up, [[Stone Arrow]]. Both are pretty simple spells that deal damage with no resistances.
+*The most ''cast'' spell in the early game was [[Magic Dart]], in the mid game it was [[Stone Arrow]], and in the late game it was [[Iron Shot]]. In total casts, Iron Shot was used 50% more than the runner-up (Stone Arrow). Both are pretty simple spells that deal damage with no resistances.
 *The worst ranking spells are Necromancy:
 **[[Excruciating Wounds]] appears in the least amount of games. Possible causes are the unpopularity of 3-rune Necromancy outside of [[Borgnjor's Vile Clutch]], that most Necromancers are taking [[Kiku]]'s pain blessing anyway, its tedious means of recasting, a natural aversion to melee as a caster, and the inability to be used by [[Djinn]].
 **[[Borgnjor's Revivification]] was the least used spell, with less than 1/5th the casts of any other spell. It's too expensive to realistically use in a 3-rune game, which is used intentionally sparingly due to its permanent max HP cost, that is also impossible to use under [[Necromutation]] and forbidden by common extended gods [[The Shining One]] and [[Zin]].
-*Of the spells introduced in 0.28, Scorch appeared the most, and Anguish appeared the least.
+*Of the spells introduced in 0.28, Scorch appeared the most, and Anguish appeared the least. It's noteworthy that Scorch appears in 2 distinct starting backgrounds.
 *Of level 1 spells available with a background, Animate Skeleton was cast in the early game the least. Of all spells that you can start with, Ice Form appeared the least (followed by Pain and both Animate spells).