Chapter 12: Gauntlets of Chaos
“Which enchantment should I choose for my gauntlets?”
This has been a Very Frequently Asked Question on this board since the introduction of the Family Crest quest. As a reward for retrieving the quest, the Fitzharmon family patriarch Dimintheis gives the quester a pair of steel Gauntlets. These add 8 to Armor and 2 each to weapon Aim and Power. In addition, the quester may choose to have the gauntlets enchanted by one (and only one) of Dimintheis’s three sons.
Deciding which enchantment to choose has been made more difficult by the absence of factual information. Each time the question is asked, it draws replies from people who may mean well but don’t know the facts, and the person asking is no better off after reading the answers.
I originally completed the quest on 56warrior, and chose to have the gauntlets enchanted by the second brother, as Gauntlets of Goldsmithing. These increase the XP gained from smelting gold nuggets into bars by 50 per cent– from 22.5 XP to 33.75 XP. This is an increase of 11.25 XP (EDIT: Thanks, CloakSim, for correcting the FAQ sticky! ). That’s ALL they do–they give 0 crafting XP (as I verified by smelting 2000 Gold in a single session), despite oft-repeated claims to the contrary.
When I obtained a membership for Omegawytch, one of my objectives was to determine just how much the Gauntlets of Chaos increase the damage done by Bolt spells. So, after Omegawytch killed the level 121 demon Chronozon at 41 combat, retrieved the final Crest fragment, and claimed her steel gauntlets from Dimintheis, I hurried to the third son to have them enchanted as Gauntlets of Chaos.
My testing would not have been done so soon without the generosity of two other players. Roxsolid123 was a total stranger to me when he entered the room south of Ardougne’s east bank, where I was picking a Paladin’s pocket, and offered a trade:
Yes, for real! Not only that, but Roxsolid found me again later the same day, and gave me another 100 Chaos runes and 165 Air runes. Thank you, Sir!
I’ve often been the beneficiary of my friend Mystique777’s generosity, but she managed to surprise me again last night:
I am deeply indebted to both Roxsolid123 and Mystique777!
Appropriately enough, the first bolt spells I had cast with my Gauntlets of Chaos equipped, were on the Hellhound in the dungeon east of Ardougne, where Scared2death, Omegawytch’s partner in the Lost City quest and the Hero quest, was mining the “special gold” and preparing to slay Chronozon at 31 combat and obtain his own Gauntlets of Chaos.
The first Fire Bolt I cast on the Hellhound was a 7, followed by 6, 5, 6, and another 7– Hell, yeah! Now, equipped with enough runes to do meaningful testing, I returned to the Hellhound’s lair.
Omegawytch was a level 63 mage as the testing began, level 64 before the first Hellhound was dead, and level 65 by the time Omega’s Fire Bolts returned the eleventh doggie to eternal flames.
In all, I cast 843 Fire Bolt spells and killed 17 Hellhounds. Because the precise damage done by the final spell on each Hellhound could not be determined, I excluded these 17 spells (9 with gauntlets, 8 without) from the count.
This was a “real world” test (to the extent permitted by a virtual fantasy game); Omegawytch was in armor, rather than Wizard hat and robe, and equipped with Fire or Air Staff and Diamond Amulet of Power (27 under Equipment Status). No spells failed.
Results: Without gauntlets, 469 Fire Bolts caused 1031 damage, an average of 2.1983 damage per spell. With gauntlets, 357 Fire Bolts caused 1096 damage, an average of 3.0700 damage per spell. 3.0700/2.1983=1.3965– a 40 per cent increase in Fire Bolt damage while wearing Gauntlets of Chaos.
The results also confirm beyond doubt what I have long contended: Spells hit for less than their average possible damage. If we take the maximum damage as 6 (the most I have achieved without gauntlets), the average possible damage is 6+5+4+3+2+1+0 (=21) divided by 7, or 3. If we take the maximum damage as 7 (possible with gauntlets), the average possible damage is 7+6+5+4+3+2+1 (=28) divided by 8, or 3.5. Damage done while wearing gauntlets equals only the average possible damage without gauntlets. This should prove beyond doubt that Magic is weaker than it should be.
Below are the raw data and calculations; I welcome any corrections, additions, or other conclusions anyone may draw from them.
Hellhound 01: With gauntlets, level 63/64 magic 2 4 3 5 0 6 3 3 4 6 1 6 4 0 0 3 2 0 0 6 3 6 0 0 0 6 4 0 0 2 7 4 0 3 1 5 5 0 4 7 5 0 4 dead; 124 damage, 43 spells, average 2.8837
Hellhound 02: With gauntlets, level 64 magic 7 1 0 4 1 7 7 5 1 3 5 7 0 1 1 2 1 7 4 1 4 7 3 6 6 6 1 6 1 0 4 1 5 7 1 dead; 123 damage, 35 spells, average 3.5142
Hellhound 03: Without gauntlets, level 64 magic 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 4 5 5 1 0 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 4 5 0 0 5 4 4 1 2 0 3 0 5 0 0 0 5 6 0 3 5 0 2 6 3 6 0 0 2 dead; 124 damage, 48 spells, average 2.5833
Hellhound 04: Without gauntlets, level 64 magic 2 1 3 0 5 0 1 0 0 4 0 2 4 3 1 3 0 0 0 1 5 4 0 1 2 3 6 4 0 4 2 5 0 5 5 1 4 0 2 4 0 1 6 0 4 1 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 2 6 1 5 2 dead; 127 damage, 63 spells, average 2.0158
Hellhound 05: With gauntlets, level 64 magic 0 2 7 4 0 2 7 0 5 5 6 4 6 5 6 0 5 6 7 4 5 6 4 3 5 7 1 2 7 dead; 121 damage, 29 spells, average 4.1724
Hellhound 06: With gauntlets, level 64 magic 2 0 7 6 6 2 5 1 2 0 2 5 2 0 3 7 7 2 4 4 2 4 5 5 2 0 0 2 3 6 2 2 3 5 2 5 1 4 2 0 dead; 122 damage, 40 spells, average 3.05
Hellhound 07: Without gauntlets, level 64 magic 3 1 3 6 1 0 1 3 1 0 0 5 6 0 3 0 2 5 2 3 2 0 0 5 2 0 2 0 0 4 2 0 5 0 0 0 5 0 4 0 1 3 5 0 0 4 5 2 3 1 0 0 1 3 5 6 4 0 1 0 2 5 1 dead; 130 damage, 63 spells, average 2.0634
Hellhound 08: Without gauntlets, level 64 magic 0 4 1 1 2 4 6 3 0 3 0 2 4 1 3 1 6 5 0 1 3 5 2 6 3 5 0 2 6 1 6 3 0 5 0 2 5 2 5 2 0 0 3 5 6 dead; 132 damage, 47 spells (including first two spells on next Hellhound), average 2.8085
Hellhound 09: With gauntlets, level 64 magic (first two without gaunts) 3 5 3 5 1 5 3 4 3 6 7 7 5 1 2 0 0 2 1 5 1 2 5 5 2 0 5 2 5 0 3 4 1 7 5 5 dead; 112 damage, 34 spells (excluding first two spells), average 3.2941
Hellhound 10: With gauntlets, level 64 magic 1 3 2 0 0 2 3 3 0 1 6 4 0 3 1 1 5 7 5 3 3 2 0 0 6 2 0 4 6 2 7 0 3 0 5 1 7 0 0 7 3 3 0 3 4 1 0 4 3 dead; 126 damage, 49 spells, average 2.5714
Hellhound 11: Without gauntlets, level 64/65 magic 0 0 2 2 0 4 0 1 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 3 0 1 1 4 1 0 2 1 3 1 2 1 5 4 5 2 5 5 3 4 0 1 0 1 0 3 5 4 3 0 0 3 0 3 3 0 4 0 3 0 5 2 3 0 1 4 1 3 0 5 dead; 129 damage, 67 spells, average 1.9253
Hellhound 12: Without gauntlets, level 65 magic 5 0 2 4 3 1 2 5 5 4 1 1 1 0 3 5 0 6 2 2 3 4 6 0 1 2 2 1 5 3 4 5 1 0 4 5 5 4 5 0 0 3 5 0 5 dead; 125 damage, 45 spells, average 2.7777
Hellhound 13: With gauntlets, level 65 magic 5 5 5 6 4 1 3 7 6 5 7 4 0 1 1 7 5 3 6 2 6 7 1 7 4 6 2 1 dead; 117 damage, 28 spells, average 4.1785
Hellhound 14: With gauntlets, level 65 magic 1 0 6 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 6 5 3 1 1 1 3 4 4 0 0 1 3 7 3 1 7 7 3 6 2 7 3 5 2 0 0 3 0 3 1 3 2 6 1 5 dead; 124 damage, 46 spells, average 2.6956
Hellhound 15: Without gauntlets, level 65 magic 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 6 2 0 0 0 1 4 4 0 1 0 4 0 5 2 1 0 5 0 0 2 0 4 4 0 0 1 4 4 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 0 0 2 2 5 0 4 2 0 4 3 3 0 2 0 6 0 1 3 0 0 5 4 0 3 0 6 1 1 5 dead; 138 damage, 82 spells, average 1.6829
Hellhound 16: Without gauntlets, level 65 magic 5 1 0 3 3 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 3 3 1 2 3 6 1 0 5 4 5 2 3 3 0 5 4 5 0 2 5 2 1 0 5 0 0 3 0 1 5 5 0 0 4 1 3 1 4 5 2 dead; 126 damage, 54 spells (including first spell on next Hellhound), average 2.3333
Hellhound 17: With gauntlets, level 65 magic (first spell without gaunts) 0 4 2 1 7 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 1 7 4 0 7 1 4 3 3 3 2 0 2 0 3 3 2 4 0 1 4 6 2 0 5 0 2 3 3 7 4 0 1 5 5 1 2 dead; 127 damage, 53 spells (excluding first spell), average 2.3962
With gauntlets: 124+123+121+122+112+126+117+124+127=1096 damage; 43+35+29+40+34+49+28+46+53=357 spells; 1096/357=3.0700 average
Without gauntlets: 124+127+130+132+129+125+138+126=1031 damage; 48+63+63+47+67+45+82+54=469 spells; 1031/469=2.1983 average
3.0700/2.1983=1.3965
For more about Omegawytch, see the most recent previous report, Omegawytch reaches 80 Thieving at 42 Combat. There are links at the end of the report to all previous posts.
56warrior
