Which is stronger – a titan or a black dragon?

Excellent question. As a reminder, "Titans are awesome" (Zingel).

No, it was much more serious! ))))

:smile13: Sorry for the off-topic!

Glad to see everyone and glad that the eternal topic is still alive!

If we approach the question academically, we don't take into account the bonuses for morale, luck, and terrain (home ground). We also average the damage (the average value from the range of base damage). There are, of course, no spells or other nonsense. That is, we equalize the chances of the units, after which the only determining factor is their abilities - which is the subject of discussion.

In total, we have (Damage/Attack/Defense/Health):

Titan - 50 HP+50% (ability against Black Dragons)=75/24/24/300 (no penalty in melee combat)
Black Dragon - 45 HP+50% (ability against Titans)=67/25/25/300

With each attack, the Titan deals damage=(1-0.025)*75=73 HP, the Black Dragon - (1+0.05)*67=70 HP. That's it. The calculation is complete - the Titan is physically stronger! All other results are just fluctuations in the space-time continuum, where anything can happen... :smile19:

However, the question of the first turn decides everything - and this advantage is on the side of the Black Dragon - it will reach the Titan at the start in any case, and this will create an advantage for itself. If we allow the Titan to attack from a distance without response at the start, the Dragon will have no chance to restore parity. Neither of the participants in the duel will survive the fifth hit - and both will definitely withstand four. Victory will go to the one who has the first turn. But, the Black Dragon has an innate high speed, and, all other things being equal, it will get a 100% advantage.

P.s. I averaged the damage solely for the purpose of bringing the situation to an average model - if the number of tests tends to infinity, then the damage will be exactly at the median (I assume that the damage range is equally likely). Don't believe me - ask Grisha Perelman! :D

Practice shows that the Titan often emerges victorious from the battle - this is quite possible, given the existence of a 40-60 HP damage range per hit. The Titan will defeat the Black Dragon only if it deals 300 health points of damage to the opponent in 4 hits (with the classic combat scheme - without "wait", the fourth hit will always be behind the Titan).

The damage range for the Titan is from (1-0.025)*60=58 HP to (1-0.025)*90=87 HP. In 4 hits, this will be 232-348 HP, which in 42% of cases will be equal to 300 HP or more (this will allow you to win the battle) and, accordingly, in 58% of cases the duel will end in defeat. This distribution is perfectly confirmed by practice.

P.s. "Wait", as well as going into a strong defense, does not save the situation, since in a one-on-one battle, "Wait" is not needed for the slower outsider, and "Defense" will be applied only after receiving damage, and the fact that it works only until the end of the round makes this technique completely useless.

Conclusion: The Titan is stronger. But the Black Dragon is more likely to win.

What did the author of the question mean?
Did I miss anything? Was it about the third one? :D