Sorry if this had been posted in the past, but my search-fu did not find it.
And the FanPro FAQ isn't there yet.
And I am brain dead at this point.

So, to see if I have this right, for a manabolt to drop someone in one shot, on average, they would need to cast it as a Force 12 spell, and get 12 hits (to be able to lose two to resist), to get the 10 Damage Value needed to drop the average person?

In the process from converting from SR3 to 4, and wanted to be sure I understood this part

No. The spell does damage equal to the force plus hits, kind of like damage from a weapon. The number of hits is capped by your spell force though. THerefore the max damage a spell can do is it's force x 2.

OK, that makes more sense

Cast a Force 6 manabolt, and you start with 6 damage value with your first hit, and every extra hit adds to the damage. So in this case, your maximum damage value, before resistance, is 11?

Reread the magic section of the book a few times, but couldn't find anything that stated that clearly, nor an example. But then again, I am operating on about 3 brain cells right now. If anyone can point me to the page where this is listed, it would be appriciated.

No, your max damage value before resistance is 12 (6 force + 6 hits). remember that the limit on hits is on total hits, not net hits, so if you were to get 9 hits casting that force 6 spell you would throw 3 of them away before your target rolls his resistance.

Page 174, the spellcasting example is of a power bolt at force 5 with 1 net hit dealing 6 damage..

Bangs his head on the table
read / skimmed that part more than once and missed it, at least this time round, must have seen it months ago when SR4 first came out.

Hmm, my Mz Johnson just gave me a run to do, get some ZZZs

Thanks all

Reminder: That cap on hits doesnt apply if you've added edge to your spellcasting pool before the first roll. Edge breaks the cap, meaning you can use all your awesome hits on even a discrete Force 1 spell. Easy to erase and hard to see during casting, but the damage in more variable.

But that's how Edge goes

Real men separate out the Edge dice and only treat them as immune to the cap.

What're you trying to say, huh?

He's being himself, don't take offense - you get use to it. lol.

He's saying that it's a bit cheap to exploit the edge perks to make a force 1 spell into an assassins favorite toy (or at least quikspell wonder touch! Knock them out cold with the minimum effort!). I agree it's a bit cheap, but considering you are wasting edge on that...

It probably depends just how often you use edge in your game. low risk means could waste it like that, but high risk means you better need to be turning that force 1 into a gambit for a good reason, or else you may find yourself out of edge to save your life later.