so when this skill is rolled the ambusher still needs to make a static action to use ambush right?
yes, every time. with negative modifiers to the ambush (depending on position and or parry vs the person trying to roll ambush)
So surprise
Roll for stalk
Roll for Ambush
Roll to hit
If successful ambush, and crit, modify by Full ranks if target not in combat. 1/2 ranks if target is in melee
No surprise (precision)
Roll for ambush with negative modifiers
Roll to hit
If Successful ambush and crit can modify by 1/2 ranks.
So lets say you have precision, +90on ambush, and you have to roll a 70+ to crit.
Fighting face to face without subtraction for parry.
-35, for ease here we'll say you need 110 + (100 is success, 111+ is successs)
So you're at +55, you need a 55+ to ambush
45% to ambush
30% to crit
13.5% chance that youll get an ambush and a crit off
lets say you have 18 ranks in ambush, already in melee thats +/- 9
and we'll say you're looking for a 61+, 61-9 = 52+ on the roll
48% the crit is a big impact with precision+ ambush vs 39% without precision.
Does it make an impact? certainly. Is it as game breaking as people try to make it out to be? No.
Please keep in mind how many additional points are sunk into this to improve the combat effectiveness of the character.. That are ONLY useful if a successful ambush goes of. Otherwise its wasted points. without precision it's very under powered. Especially if you make someone work so hard it rarely gets used. it's quite possible to make ambush a waste of points and time. If a player can only ever get it off once, they waste rounds trying to get into position to use it etc. Those are rounds they could of just gone into combat normally, swung at the target, and picked up an extra 1/2/3 etc crits over the duration of the fight. As well as the positional/tactical advantages of having another player in the fight earlier in the combat to control the flow... As well as points they could of put into something to improve their character in other ways, pick up level 1-3 spells to enhance? Pick up skills improving survival? any skill really...lol
note: please forgive the minor math inaccuracies... its close though.
Point was to just run the real numbers, compare the differences.
I think you'll really see how little of a difference it makes over the long run of fights.
is Ambush+precision powerful? Without a doubt.
Is Ambush powerful? Situationally, overall not really.