Kult abilities by numbers

This sheet quantifies the effects of the ability values, so you can see exactly how your capacities increase when spending advancement points on melee, ranged, magic or speed. Exactly how your attack speed changes when equipping different items and attunements, is explained at the end.

Note that the numbers in this sheet are 'reverse engineered', so I wrote down large amounts of damages, speeds etc., and extracted the values in this sheet from those. So there is no guarantee that they are correct, but they did seem to fit, apart from a few minor deviatations.

Melee

Melee influences damage of melee weapons and block chance: Note that there is no chance to miss: you hit automatically (if you position your mouse correctly), unless the opponent blocks or dodges.

Ranged

Ranged ability influences the damage of bows in the same way melee weapon damage is calculated. So if you wield a 12-20 bow, and have ranged ability at C (damage multiplier 1.5), you will effectively do 18-30 damage.

Magic

Magic ability influences the damage of focuses, in the same way weapon damage is calculated. Damage from spells (focus attunements) is directly related to the damage the focus does. The recharge times of spells seem fixed: around 8 seconds for a First, 13 for a Second, 23 for a Third and 38 for a Fourth Circle magic.

Speed

Speed influences dodge chance and attack speed: Note that your movement speed is NOT influenced by your speed ability. (There is an attunement that does increase your movement, though.)

Table 1: The effects of your ability scores

ability value damage multiplier block / dodge base speed base delay
F 1 5 133% 3
E- 1.05 9 139% 2.875
E 1.1 10 145% 2.75
E+ 1.15 11 152% 2.625
D- 1.2 14 160% 2.5
D 1.25 15 168% 2.375
D+ 1.3 16 178% 2.25
C- 1.4 19 188% 2.125
C 1.5 20 200% 2
C+ 1.6 21 213% 1.875
B- 1.9 24 229% 1.75
B 2 25 246% 1.625
B+ 2.1 26 267% 1.5
A- 2.3 32 291% 1.375
A- 2.5 33 320% 1.25
A+ 2.7 34 356% 1.125
S 3 45 400% 1

Attack Speed

The game displays attack speed in 2 ways, a percentage and a number. The number would more accurately be called attack delay, since it grows if you attack slower, while the speed percentage drops. The precise way they are related is: To get a percentage, take 400% and divide by the number.
Examples: if your speed is S, you have 400% / 1 = 400% speed, and if it's F you have 400% / 3 = 133% speed (without equipment; see below).

Base attack speed, as you find in the table above, is modified by your equipment: wielding heavier / bigger items means your delay increases. The table below lists the specific multipliers, and for convenience also the change to speed as a percentage: speed (%) multiplier = 1 / delay multiplier. (The speed % multiplier is rounded to 2 digits, which can give slight rounding differences.)
Note that the armour type (light/heavy) doesn't influence speed, only its weight.

Table 2: The effects of equipment on attack speed

equipped item speed (%) multiplier delay multiplier
fast weapon / focus 1.0 1.0
normal weapon / bow 0.67 1.5
heavy weapon / focus 0.5 2.0
small shield 0.91 1.1
medium shield 0.8 1.25
large shield 0.67 1.5
armour 1000 / (1000 + total weight) 1 + (total weight / 1000)
deadeye 0.77 1.3

Example 1: your speed is C (base 200%), you use a normal weapon, medium shield, no armour:
your attack speed will be: 200% * 0.67 * 0.8 = 107%
calculated with delay factor: 2 * 1.5 * 1.25 = 3.75 (check 400% / 3.75 = 107%)

Example2: your speed is C (base 200%), you use a fast weapon, no shield and have armour weighing 400:
your attack speed will be: 200% * 1.0 * (1000 / 1000 + 400) = 200% * 0.71 = 143%
calculated with delay factor: 2 * 1.0 * (1 + 400/1000) = 2 * 1.0 * 1.4 = 2.8 (check 400% / 2.8 = 143%)

Example 3: your speed is S (base 400%), you use a bow (normal speed), no shield, no armour, and have deadeye - III active:
your speed is 400% * 0.67 * 0.77 = 206%
and the delay: 1 * 1.5 * 1.3 = 1.95 (check: 400% / 1.95 = 205%)
now, if you forget to unequip an (ineffective) medium shield:
your speed will even be 206% * 0.8 = 164% (or 1.25 * 1.95 = 2.44)

So you can see that you get twice as many attacks in with a fast weapon as with a heavy weapon. And coincidentally, comparable heavy weapons will do about twice as much damage. That is, not counting armour: if the first 10 points of damage are absorbed, I prefer once 24 - 10 = 14 damage to twice 12 - 10 = 2 damage! But then again, fast weapons have twice as many chances to score critical hits, and to trigger their active attunements. All in all, there is enough game balance here to pick your own favourite, or even carry weapons of different categories for different situations.