Drow Dagger vs Agony?

[BoBoDaClown]

Which is better (with 5+ filigrees)?

Or is this build dependent?

The min-level doesn't matter to me - after taking sagas, I'm normally close to level 23 anyway.

Swashbuckler/vistani type build


Thank you in advance

[askrj1]

Sacrificial dagger.

[droid327]

Drow has 10% more crit but Agony has much better base die. With +1W from Vistani...4[1d4]+6 on Drow is 16 base damage, 3.5[2d4]+7 on Agony is 24.5 base damage.

That's the only difference. You can pretty much factor out the affixes since they dont crit or scale with melee power. And with lots of scaling +damage-per-hit like Deadly, stat-to-dmg, Guild buffs, KtA-type skills, etc. the 8.5 points of base damage difference become less important too. However, with increased crit mult (Swash and Vistani both have at least x3) then crit chance becomes more valuable.

Crit > All. Drow Dagger.

[BoBoDaClown]

However, with increased crit mult (Swash and Vistani both have at least x3) then crit chance becomes more valuable.

.

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry, bit confused: you seem to be saying agony, but then the sentence above suggests the drow dagger?

Another thing to factor, is the planar conflux trinket slot.

[Selvera]

I'd have to have an idea of your planned (or current if you're at the level) potential DPS with each dagger. (you know from gear/enhancements/etc). Vistanii swash isn't a build I've done, and I'm pretty sure there's a few variants on it out there, not to mention gear and pastlives are a huge factor in such a discussion but...

Drow dagger (with swash/IC/OC/LD): 2-12 x1, 13-18 x3, 19-20 x5 = 195% critical profile

Base damage: 4.25[1d4]+6 = 16.6 x melee power x 1.95 = 32.4 x melee power
Deadly/stat damage: i = i x melee power x 1.95
Maiming = 7 * 40% = 3 damage

Total damage per hit: (32.4 + i * 1.95) x melee power multiplier + 3

Agony (with swash/IC/OC/LD): 2-14 x1, 15-18 x3, 19-20 x5 = 175% critical profile (Note: I'm calculating a fully upgraded dagger here)

Base damage: 3.75[2d4]+8 = 26.75 x melee power x 1.75 = 46.8 x melee power
Deadly/stat damage: i = i x melee power x 1.75
Entropic = 7
Phlebotomizing = 10
Disintigration = 9
Improved deception = Super good!

Total damage per hit: (46.8 + i*1.75) x melee power multiplier + 26

Doing a little bit of math here to find the spot where these 2 numbers meet:

(46.8 + i*1.75) x j + 26 = (32.4 + i * 1.95) x j + 3
(46.8 + i*1.75) x j + 23 = (32.4 + i * 1.95) x j
46.8 + i*1.75 + 23/j = 32.4 + i * 1.95
14.4 + i*1.75 + 23/j = i*1.95
14.4 + 23/j = i*0.2
i = 72 + 115/j

So when all the math is done; if your bonus to damage from your main stat, deadly items, +damage enhancements, pastlives etc is greater then 72 + 115 divided by your melee power multiplier (probably between 100 and 200 melee power here, so between 38 and 58). Then the drow dagger will deal more damage then agony. So... Somewhere in the range of +106 damage with drow dagger, +108 damage with agony they're about equal damage. Higher damage = more damage with drow dagger.

Note: KTA doesn't show up on your character sheet; so don't forget to factor that in to your current damage calculation.

And all in all; Agony is probably the better dagger to use; since improved deception is nice if you have any significant amount of sneak attack.

[HuneyMunster]

Sacrificial dagger.

I agree with Sacrificial dagger due to 1-3 negative level on critical hit. Base critical chance 19-20, 17-20 with Improve Critical Pierce. I think Swashbuckling gives double threat range if you have Improved Critical feat to bring it too 15-20 for a 25% chance to inflict 1-3 negative levels. Throw in doublestrike and SWF fast attack speed you will be inflicting a lot of level drains. Only downside is no augment slot to add Ruby of the Endless Night for negative levels on vorpal which would be on 19-20 for SWF with PSWF.

[Saekee]

I use the drow dagger. Nice calcs above but don't forget seeker which favors crit profile.
ife stealing is great if on the first few hits and only for non-bosses. Sacrificial dagger even heals undead.

I use Phiarlan in offhand for improved deception, mid-epics I switch to ToEE set or Ekiss; I do not play endgame

[Selvera]

don't forget seeker which favors crit profile.

(46.8 + i*1.75 + s* 0.8) x j + 26 = (32.4 + i * 1.95 + s*1.0) x j + 3
(46.8 + i*1.75 + s* 0.8) x j + 23 = (32.4 + i * 1.95 + s) x j
46.8 + i*1.75 + s* 0.8 + 23/j = 32.4 + i * 1.95 + s
14.4 + i*1.75 + 23/j = i*1.95 + s*0.2
14.4 + 23/j – 0.2*s = i*0.2
i = 72 + 115/j – 0.2*s

You can lower the break-even point between the weapons by 20% of your seeker value.

OP mentioned swashbuckler; which means nothing in the offhand; so no imp decp there.
However it is worth noting that the drow dagger has the advantage of being 2 levels lower; which is important if you plan to do multiple ETR's.

[Vish]

I just ran a twf dagger assassin, halfling

I used drow high priestess daggers,
Using 5 pc prowess on main hand
Carried me all the way to 29
Improved paralyze worked the whole way