Glancing blow calculation

[hunzi2010]

Hi everyone,

I have been trying to do some research on glancing blows and if its worth while taking the THF feats all the way up or dropping them for something else more useful.
From what I can read on the Wiki it only gives bonuses to glancing blows so the more THF feats you take the more percentage you gain for this to proc. and also the higher it goes the more percentage you get for weapon effects.

Can anyone explain how this is calculated? and what damage you would be getting from it. I was thinking of dropping it on my bladeforge blitzer, but people are telling me I will miss out on alot of DPS from my glancing blows. How much DPS???

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone..

Regards

Hunzi

[hunzi2010]

hey guys, im guessing that as there is no response to this nobody knows how to calculate glancing blow damage, is there any devs that can shed some light on how this calculation works??
just want to check if its worth taking the THF feats or swap for something else that is more beneficial.
thanks everyone

regards
Hunzi

[Violith]

although it doesnt list all the new stuff (enhancement update or destinies) the wiki page does say how it is used. http://ddowiki.com/page/Glancing_blow

also note that while it doesnt mention it, I believe cleaves dont trigger glancing blows, so if your build uses cleaves alot then its probably not worth it to take thf feats.


Glancing blow
A glancing blow is an additional hit caused with a two-handed weapon. Glancing blows have lower chance of hitting and do significantly less damage than ordinary attacks, but they can strike multiple enemies.
Glancing blows are an inherent property of all two-handed weapons, including quarterstaffs. No Feats or Enhancements are required to enable them, though some make them better.

As of Update 5, two exotic weapons - bastard swords and dwarven waraxes cause glancing blows when wielded alone or with a shield (or with a Rune Arm, which Imbues each glancing blow with extra damage as well), not when used in two-weapon fighting. Despite being one-handed weapons, these glancing blows are improved in the same manner as two-handed weapons, including the Two Handed Fighting feats and class enhancements.
[edit] Basic mechanics

One free glancing blow attack is made automatically against all enemies in a wide arc in front of your character on the first and fourth swing (if you have a fourth swing) of your attack sequence. You must be stationary. If you move while attacking, you don't get glancing blows. It is possible -- in fact, common -- to get both a glancing and a normal attack against your main target. These are rolled separately.

Glancing blow weapon damage and chance of applying special weapon effects can be increased by the Two-Handed Fighting feat line, by certain enhancements available to Fighters, Barbarians, Half-Orcs, and Warforged, and by the Epic Destiny Fury of the Wild.

Glancing blow attack rolls use your normal attack modifiers with a -5 penalty.

Glancing blow weapon damage has a minimum of 1, however Damage Reduction applies against it normally, and can reduce the damage to zero.
[edit] Damage

Glancing blow weapon damage starts at a base of 20% of a regular hit. Feats and enhancements increase the damage.

Two-handed weapon damage glancing blows starts at a base of 20%.
The feat Two-Handed Fighting adds 10%, for a total of 30%.
The feat Improved Two-Handed Fighting adds 10%, for a total of 40%.
The feat Greater Two-Handed Fighting adds 10%, for a total of 50%. Additionally, it grants a glancing blow on your third attack while standing.

[Mahalko128]

A very long winded and detailed calculation of glancing blows can be seen further down in this topic:

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/432934-Pure-Fighter-Stalwart-Defender

[hunzi2010]

Ahh guys thank you thank you very much.

So from what I can see, if I conducted a swing for 130 base.
then it would be 130 x 50% x 3 / 4 to give me my glancing blow damage.
which would be 49 damage.

at lvl 28 without blitzing this was my base damage on my bladeforge.
so while blitzing my base hits were 330. so the glancing blows would be around 124.
so my question now would be to get this teird up I need to spend 3 feats.
is it worth doing between 50-130 extra damaged (depending on blitz or not) for 3 feats?
or should I be spending these feats into something else more valuable like perhaps precision or more dodge or something like that?
please let me know your thoughts.
and guys, thank you very much for explaining it.

Regards

Hunzi

[Jeromio]

also note that while it doesnt mention it, I believe cleaves dont trigger glancing blows, so if your build uses cleaves alot then its probably not worth it to take thf feats.


Yes, cleaves trigger glancing blows, and if I remember correctly, even when moving. It's very worthwile to take at least a couple of the THF feats if you can afford it and you cleave a lot.