Attack Rating, DW and Shields, and such rambles

[Dyr]

<div>So I (60 Ranger) dual box  with a mystic and have been using a fabled one hander (axe of misery) and shield for a long long time but also have a fabled piercer and rare crafted t6 leafblade and had casually noticed that my attack rating was 100 less in the sword and board setup than dual wield like 970 in one handed and 1060 dual wield. Not sure why or how that happens, and what it means, not complaining, and was actually impressed that going "defensive" had a drawback built in . Then to my horror :smileysurprised: happen to be switching out the DW weapons for the sword and shield and omg with  a dual wield weapon and shield my attack rating falls to 500 or about half ????</div><div> </div><div>But I have on many occasions esp in the past had a shield and dual wield weapon up (pgt and shield fer tanking long fights in the past , also was the setup I finally beat the pit champ with ) and did not notice a 50 % decrease in my hit rate or damage or such, and there are plenty of Rangers running around with a fabled shield and prismatic dual wield weapon ...</div><div> </div><div>Whats all this mean ?</div><div> </div><div>Is the "attack" number mean anything, is it working right, am I missing something.</div><div> </div><div>Really curious as to why as I prepare to have to trade in my fabled axe for something else with the next expansion as we all kind of sort of know that level 40 weapons, our beloved proc'ing t5 and prsimatics cant hit the mobs over what level 65 or so ?</div><div> </div><div>Sorry fer the rambles, just looking for some clarification and info</div>

[jarlaxle8]

<div></div><div></div><div></div><p>yes, i noticed same thing when i only had one dual wield weapon equipped.</p><p>i'm not sure, but i THINK (hell, i wish they would just tell us...) that 'attack' is a summary number in which your chance to hit (skill of piercing/slashing/ranged) AND damage rating is factored in. so it's kind of 'how much your autoattack dps is relativ to one with higher/lower attack'. it's confusing, i always looked at it as the same thing as 'to hit' of the D&D system. but it seems not to be. so, with just one dual wield weapon, you loose the damage rating of the other one, which reflects in the 'attack' value. and a one-hander has less damage rating then 2 dual-wielders (summed up), so therefore the lower 'atttack' too.</p><p>now, when i once was grouped and had my persona window open, i noticed that the value changed. i really didn't know what to think of it then. but looking at this now, it may be because i switched between ranged and mellee attacks. which, if i am right in my assumption, would make sense, cause the damage ratings are different on my bow then on my mellee weapons.</p><p>--------------------------<a target="_self" href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=383113204">Ryilan Nightbreeze </a>--------------------------</p><p>Message Edited by jarlaxle888 on <span class="date_text">01-11-2006</span><span class="time_text">09:15 AM</span></p>

[Deml]

<div></div><p>I did testing on this a week or so ago with a zerker in my guild.  the Attack Rating number on your persona screen seems to be tied to the damage rating on your weapons and your strength, and your skill with the weapon for the 3rd factor.  Swap out a weapon with the same attack rating and better str and you'll see a slight increase.  Swap out something with the same str but a lower attack rating (or higher) and you will see a significant change.   Watch your attack rating drop when you click on focus fire.  Mine drops from like 1150ish to 580 when focus fire is on and I'm using a bow.</p>

[Ronin]

Honestly I think the number is a joke.... doesn't seem to matter what it is. At 46 I can take the shield and pgt out and use bow on mob still do same dmg with bow, so seems to me attack is really just chance to hit in melee, nothing to do with ranged, honestly should be two numbers, one for melee and one for ranged from how its  seeming to work.Also, I know alot of rangers that don't like to not have dual wield weapons, but honestly, our melee dmg isn't really all that good, infact parsing it, all other scouts and brawlers can out dps us in melee combat, using all our melee ca's and all we can't do the dps. Infact also one bowshot auto attack ranged can come close to nearly 10-15 melee auto attacks cause of such higher chance to proc.  THought about  actually trying Aegis of scorn and some fabled 1hs or 1hp, for stats, and then using a ironwood roundshield to swap out with here and there for more or different stats as needed. Melee dmg would be  nealy the same, cause of ca's being our primary dmg anyhow.Granted this all just thoughts  not tested all this.  THink i should though, would be interesting to see.<div></div>

[Dyr]

<div></div><p>Yeah I pretty much just one hander fabled and shield it anymore and love it, its a different look and feel, mitigation and defense are btter than what those crap numbers show, and with a fabled weapon proc off the bow, the damage is insane.</p><p>Now the problem is have not seen an attainable 1 hander with a proc for T6 ....</p>

[Ebjelen]

<div></div><p>It's hard to read your grammer. I guess I'm wondering why you would want to do a DW/shield combo instead of a 1h/shield combo. Across the board DWs have lower attack and damage ratings than one handers. Thats so common sense would point at using a DW with a DW.</p><p>There are some really nice one handers out there so opting for the PGT just doesn't fly for this example. Sounds more like you're trying to break out of the mold by using the mold.</p>

[Onyxius]

<div></div><div></div><p>Ebjelen,</p><p>  Odd, but I had absolutely no trouble understanding a word of what was posted above. Sounds like, to me, you need to be posting on the "College Level Posting Boards" and not here. You gave no info that was worth reading, nor did you constructively answer or add anything to the post above.</p><p> </p><p>  I am interested in figuring this out as well. I also switch (on occasion) between a Board and 1H, and Dual Wielding.</p><p>Message Edited by Onyxius on <span class="date_text">01-12-2006</span><span class="time_text">01:59 PM</span></p>

[Jay]

<div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><p>LOL, oh boy, more fun with snobbery. Didn't miss this in the least.</p><p>EDIT: Ebjelen, if you're going to try and sound more intelligent than other people, you might try spelling "unintelligible" correctly. Oh, and "grammar," while you're at it. Unless of course the mispellings and poor usage are also intentional.  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Message Edited by Jay42 on <span class="date_text">01-12-2006</span><span class="time_text">09:22 PM</span></p>

[Qwexer]

Sorry just have to say <b><font color="#ff9900">BURN</font></b>. That was funny ROFL; to the OP, you got my curiousity (Jay I hope I spelled it write<span>:smileywink:</span>) up cuz I'm new and didnt think about that. <span>Highkeep/Ranger/WoodfireTrader of collectables pst me anytime</span><div></div>

[Ronin]

Ultimately, 1hs w/ shield is fine. As well as PGT with shield is fine. All pgt does is give you a self buff proc that shields you slightly and raises your power. So what no one has really said is this.Take off your weapons, now Minus the stats on those weapons, the Attack amount listed in personal window is not showing you, the amount for Ranged arts, its only showing Melee arts attack rating. Now then, Since your primary weapon procs with bows, its a viable choice to use a shield now. SPecially since about 90% of the dmg a ranger can do is ranged.  Here again, this is something new to alot. But why not dual wield and get the stats from second weapon? Well, before 50's sure, but 50+ we have another option, Pristine Imbued Ironwood roundshield. Has 10str 9agi 9sta, good amount of hp and power as well, plus it comes with alot of shield factor mitigation. This can help keep you from a few extra hits while soloing or even while in groups getting accidental agro. Not saying its for everyone, but honestly, 1h weapon using our melee attacks, or dual wield weapons using our melee attacks doesn't make alot of difference. Can get nearly same melee dps from 1h as dual wielding. However, slower lower delay 1h weapons, will proc more in melee combat then dual wield weapons, like a longsword or spear. Still thought I still use PGT cause makes sure I always have power, silly or not, my melee dmg just isn't all that, but when soloing the PGT is valuable for power regen mid fight, and the buff dmg absorber is great for shruging off a hit or two.This style isn't for everyone, but it is very fun to be different sometimes. Btw, when i do use a shield I have two setups, shield and PGT is no chanter, and shield and 1hs or 1hp thats imbued if there is a chanter. But then again, I also carry alot of extra items around. Extra resist armor for diff resist types, and resist buff potions and dot cures for diff type dots. All standard equipment of raiding players or should be. =)So in whole, shields don't lower our attack rating while using a bow, shields do raise our defensive sides a good deal, and shield do add character to our ability to do what we do and do it well. Plus, if you agro alot in exp groups, get a shield will save your healer a tad bit of power on your heals overall.<div></div>

[Dyr]

<div></div><div></div><div><p>Wow, good information , greatly appreciate it,</p><p>The main reason I was curious is that there is no one-hander 2.0 prismatic available to us, the one-hander is a crush and the slash is a two-hander , so we will have to go with the dual wield option and then the question becomes do I :</p><p>Get the DW Prismatic 2.0 and match up 2 dual wields so hit PP till I get the fabled piercer out of there or from a raid</p><p>Keep my Ironwood shield and swap prismatic and a one-hander out as needed</p><p>Skip the prismatic and [Removed for Content] of the warriors and get a fabled one hander :smileytongue:</p><p>With all that in mind went to cazels duo with my mystic  and tried three different setups,  true Dual Wield, Dual Wield and a Shield, and a One hander and Shield. As a  60 ranger in offensive stance with a shield my damage output was insane and my mystic was mildly bored, in true dual wield set up and offensive stance I took too many big hits for comfort and would need to go no stance or defensive and noticed a significant decrease in damage output . As for damage difference of a DW and 1H it was not noticeable at all.</p><p>So in the end with all this in mind, keep my shield and look for a nice fabled one hander and do the prismatic 2.0 if i feel like it or really start raiding, and swap out as needed.</p><p> </p><p>OR I amy need to quit EQ and go back to grammar school as all that useful medical training is such a waste when it comes to trying to impress people on these boards [Removed for Content] :smileywink:</p></div><p>Message Edited by Dyrks on <span class="date_text">01-12-2006</span><span class="time_text">10:34 PM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Dyrks on <span class="date_text">01-12-2006</span><span class="time_text">10:39 PM</span></p>

[EverMan]

<div></div><div><blockquote><hr>RoninDF wrote: Since your primary weapon procs with bows, its a viable choice to use a shield now.<hr></blockquote>Why not use a procing dw on secondary, aslong as it not the same proc as ur bow and primary dw.  If u shield is not procing a damge from ur bow  then it really is useless. And there only 3 shields that i know of that do that and all 3 come from zalak.</div><p>Message Edited by EverMania on <span class="date_text">01-13-2006</span><span class="time_text">03:59 AM</span></p>

[Dyr]

<div></div><p>Oh sorry, need to clarify that I "solo" dual box my ranger and mystic with my ranger playing tank 90 % of my 30 or so hours a week of play time. My favorite pastime is hunting named, I can now (with a good number of masters and pieces of fabled gear on my two toons)  duo cache, roost, sanct, vault, plus all the named in CoR and the easy half of SC ...... The limiting factor is my ability to tank, so every bit of mitigation and or avoidance is essential to me.</p><p>The imbued  ironwood shield, and before that a fabled rounshield definitely make a significant difference in my ability to tank named mobs. Pulling with  sniper shot, then a quick debilitating arrow, then stream of arrows, the fight may only last say 30 secs or a little longer and avoiding just one or two mob HO's can be the difference between victory or loading ...... please wait :smileytongue:</p><p>So yeah this is a different type of ranger, I took the +5 defense attribute, plus some of my gear my gear has resists to pierce, slash, and crush so that in my current set-up with my mystic buffs  I run at 3000 mitigation, 5000 Hp, +8 Defense passively and can buff to +13 for up to 6 mins every 30 minutes and finally with some gear swaps can get resist to crush,  pierce, or slash to ~160. </p><p>So Yes I want to keep a shield in my off hand and was curious what my primary hand weapon should be ....... From what I have read here it seems any fabled proc'ing weapon main hand is what I need in addition to some type of weapon, even if greyed out, for power regen to swap out as needed, say one of the prismatics or at lower levels the pgt. </p><p> </p>

[Ebjelen]

<div></div><p>Geezum, talk about jumping to flamehappy. I said I didn't understand? How is that an attack? I didn't point out any mistakes or mispelling or even point fingers? So, how am I a snob? Could it have been that the problem was on my side?</p><p>What did I add to the thread?</p><p>I asked why one would want to go the DW/shield route. How was that a flame?</p><p> </p>

[Fennir]

I want the Foreman's Shank so I can use Culling the Herd in the middle of a solo fight.Gates on Sunday and I have the most DKP of any scout.  WISH ME LUCK<div></div>