Big F'n Stick Build

[Gol]

Same logic as Power Attack - if PA makes you miss you end up behind on DPS. That said it seems like most melee builds hit on every swing by the endgame...

Full BAB melee, yes. 3/4 BAB melee (aka, Rogues), not necessarily.

[rimble]

Full BAB melee, yes. 3/4 BAB melee (aka, Rogues), not necessarily.

Yeah, makes me nervous. Just planned out a stick build that is leaning towards 13 Rogue/6 Fighter/1 Barbarian to make up some ToHit and Damage...if WotTA III is just another 10% speed it's likely what I'll do...no point going faster if you can't hit...if it's got a little extra somethin'-somethin' on it I'll reconsider.

[Gol]

Yeah, makes me nervous. Just planned out a stick build that is leaning towards 13 Rogue/6 Fighter/1 Barbarian to make up some ToHit and Damage...if WotTA III is just another 10% speed it's likely what I'll do...no point going faster if you can't hit...if it's got a little extra somethin'-somethin' on it I'll reconsider.

Well, when it is a problem, DP clickies take care of it. I've grown accustomed to DP clickies when doing shroud runs. My Bard has over 20 clicks of it, and both of my Clerics have it loaded all the time.

[The_Phenx]

Yeah, makes me nervous. Just planned out a stick build that is leaning towards 13 Rogue/6 Fighter/1 Barbarian to make up some ToHit and Damage...if WotTA III is just another 10% speed it's likely what I'll do...no point going faster if you can't hit...if it's got a little extra somethin'-somethin' on it I'll reconsider.

I have almost no issues hitting...and leave power attack on 95% of the time. Especially on raids theres almost always a bard around and if not... tumbleweed grants a +2 ... or you could use the spectral gloves for the same effect.

You can also switch to fire stance as mentioned earlier for an additional +1 But...

Wind stance stacks for 3.5% I believe... and if your at say +28th and additional +1 is < that.

Your best bet is to use greater banes, divine power clickies, madstone boots... or a combination thereof.

That is why my favorite subterranea weapon is the dreamspitter...and seeing as the new mod will be almost entirely evil outsiders, I imagine that I will continue to use it quite often, and will be one of the strongest weapons I have.

I love running around and hearing "whos enervating the hell out of everything?"

[Gol]

Wind stance stacks for 3.5% I believe... and if your at say +28th and additional +1 is < that.

Wind stance is 2.5%. Not guessing. +1 on top of +28 isn't the way to look at it at all, either. Either a natural 2 misses or it doesn't. If a natural 2 misses, that +1 means your hit-rate goes up by 5%. Ie, you used to need a 4 to hit, now you need a 3 (so you hit 18/20 instead of 17/20). 5% > 2.5%. Like the guy that replied to me said, it's just like the PA debate. If you miss, you're better off to turn PA off.

[Gol]

So, I've been futzing around a bit with a spreadsheet and crunching some numbers while the servers are down...

Verses a single opponent, a Greensteel Greataxe does 93-101% of the damage a Greensteel Quarterstaff will depending on how much of the time you get in Sneak Attack. If you're getting 100% sneak in, a GS GA is 93.3% as effective as the quarterstaff. If you get 0% sneak in, the GS GA is 1% MORE effective. For something like Harry in Shroud who has 50% fortification, the GS GA is 96.3% as effective.

This made me step back a bit and crunch the numbers for dual wielding Rapiers. I mean really, this build has the Dex for GTWF, at least run the math, right?

Against a single opponent, dual GS Rapiers do 135% of the DPS of a GS QS, not to mention procing Radiance 2 at least almost 3 times as often. Sure, you have to get twice as much gear, but dayum.

Granted, this assumes GTWF which many of us can't get until level 18. But even if you can only get ITWF, it's 120%. I don't know about you, but I'm not sneezing at an extra 20%. Not to mention better stat damaging, better banishing/smiting/wounding/puncturing/etc... It's all about how much time you want to spend grinding for shroud ingredients, IMO. The qstaff is much cheaper (only need a radiance 2, mineral 2 can be replaced by a good transmuter). Loot gen qstaves are much cheaper too.

Sorry to wreck the train, Phenx, but running the spreadsheet was quite an eye-opener for me. I'm switching, myself

edit: at which point the Monk level, which I didn't take until I hit level 14 LAST NIGHT, is a complete and total waste.

[moorewr]

Ouch, Gol.

I'm sticking with THF & Staves.. two reasons.. everyone else has a TWF tempest.. can't compete with that. Plus it's boring, very boring, to be one of the crowd..

Also a THF might be optimal for certain bosses and mobs in Mod 9.. depending on their immunities and DR (when I ran the numbers I came up with DR>25 && DR<50 as the THF optimal range).

[rimble]

Ouch, Gol.

I'm sticking with THF & Staves.. two reasons.. everyone else has a TWF tempest.. can't compete with that. Plus it's boring, very boring, to be one of the crowd..

Also a THF might be optimal for certain bosses and mobs in Mod 9.. depending on their immunities and DR (when I ran the numbers I came up with DR>25 && DR<50 as the THF optimal range).

I agree. I feel like I was an early discoverer of the Ranger/Monk cheese, and abandoned him at level 11 when I saw all the identical builds coming up behind.

Also, THF equations should hopefully change a bit in Mod 9 with the special effects on glancing blow stuff. We have no idea how much, but it should at least close the gap a little on that 135% number, if you can work that into your build. My version of this will likely be WF for this reason, though this Halfling is a bit out of luck.