Weapon type?

[OrcMugger]

<p>I just came back to my warden after an absence.  I've followed alot of the advice here and thank you all for it.  I've started to specc out my AA's for melee fighting and like that style.  At 32 I'm starting to come into my own a bit.  My wife plays a warlock (witch) and with my heals we don't have much problem and do a pretty rapid job of taking care of most enemies (PVE).</p><p>My question is..should I continue as I have and swing a 1h and carry a buckler for the defense and the extra stats?  Or find the biggest, baddest 2hb weapon I can and swing that?  All suggestions are welcome (except for "You SuXX0rs!  Reroll as an XYZ."<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /> <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />.  Thanks  </p>

[detson2]

I'd say both. At lvl 45 I'm using a ebon falchion and the Shiny shield from Training is a shield HQ when soloing and when in groups I have a big ole 2 hander WIS hammer. The hammer ain't that slow either when you have your haste on. So I vote go for both!

[Arielle Nightshade]

<p>I have always argued for 1h and Buckler, primarily because the stats on those 2 items can really add up compared to even the baddest 2H.   I'm not sure that's true of melee, and would leave the answer to someone else as far as numbers, etc - or recommendation for a good one at your level.</p><p>What I always do recommend as someone is leveling Warden:  Make sure you have both crushing and slashing weapons on you, and keep both of those skills maxed.   That way, when you DO find the perfect weapon, you won't be out auto attacking bears in Antonica just to be able to use the new toy <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[gatrm]

<p>Until you have the 75% melee crits, you may as well stick with the 1h/buckler.</p><p>Once you have the crits, however you need to try finding the biggest hammer you can find with the highest max damage you can find (though, if you run across a fabled 1h with high top end damage, it might be just as well)</p><p>Unless you get a really good 1h, the 2h will be better for you...Look for the highest delay you can find because high delay usually means high top end damage- and for crits, it's the top end damage that matters.  High delay also allows you to time heals and CAs between autoattacks to maximize your dps without giving up your primary role of healing.</p>

[Skivley101]

<p>Instead of calculating the dmg with the weapon delay , the dmg rating is a good rule of thumb... except that the stats dont play into it .... like if a particular weapon has more str on it but a lower dmg rateing , wich one is better? ,,, im not sure what the dmg per str pt is at your lvl , but a little self testing( with diff str amounts)and reading your CA's will tell you. Although it is true that the longer delays of the slow 2h yeild less interrupts from casting , they also suck more when you miss. Slow delay tends to give you bursts while fast delay tends to spread it out evenly with procs,dmg,misses. One way to get the dmg of 1h buckler equal to or greater than 2h , is to put the dmg sheild adornment on your buckler (but only if your the one getting hit) .</p><p>But like others have stated its good to have both so you can adapt to the situation. What stats they give to round you out well for your play style is more important than just a high dmg rating imo.</p>

[OrcMugger]

<p>All great advice, and I will get a hammer to try both.  Thanks again, everyone.</p>

[Skivley101]

<cite>Chordd@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>All great advice, and I will get a hammer to try both.  Thanks again, everyone.</p></blockquote>One more thing , You have to make sure it goes with your armour look <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />, Then post it in the sexy warden sign up thread , maybe get a shot of you and your wife in there ... <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/385970365b8ed7503b4294502a458efa.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />  lol , We like witches too ... wardens are pretty much witches also imo, Did you ever see the Blair Witch project ? Gota be a warden ...

[RpTheHotrod]

<cite>Skivley101 wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Instead of calculating the dmg with the weapon delay , the dmg rating is a good rule of thumb... except that the stats dont play into it .... like if a particular weapon has more str on it but a lower dmg rateing , wich one is better? ,,, im not sure what the dmg per str pt is at your lvl , but a little self testing( with diff str amounts)and reading your CA's will tell you. Although it is true that the longer delays of the slow 2h yeild less interrupts from casting , they also suck more when you miss. Slow delay tends to give you bursts while fast delay tends to spread it out evenly with procs,dmg,misses. One way to get the dmg of 1h buckler equal to or greater than 2h , is to put the dmg sheild adornment on your buckler (but only if your the one getting hit) .</p><p>But like others have stated its good to have both so you can adapt to the situation. What stats they give to round you out well for your play style is more important than just a high dmg rating imo.</p></blockquote>Type /weapon    that'll fix your question of which is better.

[Skivley101]

<cite>RpTheHotrod wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Skivley101 wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Instead of calculating the dmg with the weapon delay , the dmg rating is a good rule of thumb... except that the stats dont play into it .... like if a particular weapon has more str on it but a lower dmg rateing , wich one is better? ,,, im not sure what the dmg per str pt is at your lvl , but a little self testing( with diff str amounts)and reading your CA's will tell you. Although it is true that the longer delays of the slow 2h yeild less interrupts from casting , they also suck more when you miss. Slow delay tends to give you bursts while fast delay tends to spread it out evenly with procs,dmg,misses. One way to get the dmg of 1h buckler equal to or greater than 2h , is to put the dmg sheild adornment on your buckler (but only if your the one getting hit) .</p><p>But like others have stated its good to have both so you can adapt to the situation. What stats they give to round you out well for your play style is more important than just a high dmg rating imo.</p></blockquote>Type /weapon    that'll fix your question of which is better.</blockquote>im not familiar with that comand , what does it tell you or do? ...plz elaborate ...

[Eugam]

<cite>Chordd@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>My question is..should I continue as I have and swing a 1h and carry a buckler for the defense and the extra stats?  Or find the biggest, baddest 2hb weapon I can and swing that?  All suggestions are welcome (except for "You SuXX0rs!  Reroll as an XYZ."<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" /> <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />.  Thanks</p></blockquote>Both. I guess your wifes warlock is tanking all the time anyways <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> So, scrap that buckler and get a huge two handed weapon.But its a bit more complex. I have 6-7 weapons/symbols and bucklers with me for different situations. Mind you that you can have nice adornments on weapons. I have also 2-3 bucklers. There are a few buckler with fighter stats on them wardens can equip.If i have to heal a lot i usually have a one hand weapon with high power regen or power leech and a buckler. In some situations i dual wield a symbol and a one hand weapon. I have two one handed weapons. One with damage proc and one with power leech. Solo or when i am not the main healer i use a two handed weapon with damage proc. Occasionally i use the buckler on a named quest mob or if we go for a heroic with a small group. There are a lot of heal proc'ing items. Especially in RoK. With those my melee does almost the job. I even raided with the two handed weapon without any problems.

[Eugam]

<cite>Skivley101 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>RpTheHotrod wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>Type /weapon    that'll fix your question of which is better.</blockquote>im not familiar with that comand , what does it tell you or do? ...plz elaborate ...</blockquote>/weaponstats is now also dispalyed in the personae window (press p). Those numbers do not say all. Its more complex due to haste, weaponspeed and timers on skills. If you really want to know it, you have to try different combat styles and then parse them. But thats a bit much effort for a duo.

[Skivley101]

thank you Eugam <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[Skivley101]

I will freaking type/weapon in game , but would it have hurt you to explain it ? ...you know who im talking too...

[Ferunnia]

/weaponstat gives you the adjusted actual damage ranges on weapons (including bonuses from str/dps mods) plus the actual delay of the weapon you're using after haste mods.

[gatrm]

<p>/weapon (/we if you are lazy) will take proc chance and haste into consideration...It will show you the actual damage you will do with the weapon, taking modifyers into account such as str.  so yeah if you do /we and compare between different weapons you will get a good comparison of which weapons will account for the most damage.  It does not take into consideration your weapon skills or defense/avoidance.  Weapon skills affect whether you hit or chance to hit rather than amount of damage you do- not certain when wardens get the +skills buff, but you may have trouble hitting anything until you have it.</p><p>If you have a 1h and a 2h and /we shows a similar overall damage between the two, go 1h and buckler for the added defense (there are a few select roundshields priests can use, but these are very few and mostly in the higher levels.</p><p>It takes practice to get used to using a high delay weapon, but with crits those will give you more potential dps without loss to heals.</p>

[Arielle Nightshade]

<p>I'm really lazy.  Can I just type /w ?</p><p>TY in advance.</p>

[gatrm]

<cite>Arielle Nightshade wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I'm really lazy.  Can I just type /w ?</p><p>TY in advance.</p></blockquote><p>LOL</p><p>I don't think it would do any good, but sure....go ahead.</p>

[Skivley101]

<cite>gatrm wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>/weapon (/we if you are lazy) will take proc chance and haste into consideration...It will show you the actual damage you will do with the weapon, taking modifyers into account such as str.  so yeah if you do /we and compare between different weapons you will get a good comparison of which weapons will account for the most damage.  It does not take into consideration your weapon skills or defense/avoidance.  Weapon skills affect whether you hit or chance to hit rather than amount of damage you do- not certain when wardens get the +skills buff, but you may have trouble hitting anything until you have it.</p><p>If you have a 1h and a 2h and /we shows a similar overall damage between the two, go 1h and buckler for the added defense (there are a few select roundshields priests can use, but these are very few and mostly in the higher levels.</p><p>It takes practice to get used to using a high delay weapon, but with crits those will give you more potential dps without loss to heals.</p></blockquote><p>Well taking into account your skill , the mobs mitigation and avoidance would bring way to much situational info to the table to give an accurate reading , But this command surely helps in comparing weapons , Thank you so much all for the elaboration ....sorry if i seemed a little peeved RPthehotrod ... I just didnt understand why you would send PM saying same thing  you said in the thread , sort of left me feeling doubley confused ... Kinda like that statement from Spinal Tap ...."But these go to eleven" .... Screeeeeeeeeech , sorry been painting with laquer and i had to start drinking .....God i hate painting , but luv drinking ... </p><p>Its to bad this statement is true .</p><p>"A little spackle , A little paint , Will make me the carpenter I aint .  <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p>

[RpTheHotrod]

<p>All you had to do is type /weapon and see :p</p><p>I takes most factors into account and "prints out" a report.  Weapon speed, haste, delay, damage, your favorite color, everything.</p><p>Keep in mind, the report it shows is according to a "base" enemy. Naturally things get tougher if enemy is higher, or easier if lower.</p>

[Anaximand]

<p>The description of the AA Natural boon states that I have a 32% chance to heal party on a <b>succesful</b> melee attack. The AA before that gives a % to double attack, also on a <b>succesful</b> melee attack.</p><p>Wouldn't this mean a low-delay weapon is miles better than a high delay weapon, since the AA's are triggered by melee successes? </p><p>edit: changed ambiguous wording</p>

[Skivley101]

<cite>Anaximander wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>The description of the AA Natural boon states that I have a 32% chance to heal party on a <b>succesful</b> melee attack. The AA before that gives a % to double attack, also on a <b>succesful</b> melee attack.</p><p>Wouldn't this mean a low-delay weapon is miles better than a high delay weapon, since the AA's are triggered by melee successes? </p><p>edit: changed ambiguous wording</p></blockquote>Yes that would be true if things were actually as stated , But what isnt said in the descriptions , is that those % #'s are for a 3 second delay weapon , the % goes down for shorter delay & the % goes up for longer delay.

[DarkVantage]

<p>Since RoK has been released and I have 40 new AA's I have been trying the melee builds and the following seems to work best for me:</p><ul><li>Pick a weapon with a good max damage and a delay of 2.5 or higher (4 seems to be the optimum). Once you have the melee crit you will crit almost all the time and its the upper damage that the crit is based on so in most cases the lower range wont come into effect. For example if a weapon does 100-200 or 25-300 I would say the latter is better as most of the time you will crit and that will be based on the upper end so it would crit on 200 or 300 respecively.</li><li>As the others have suggested run "/we" so you know the real damage and delay and practise your CA's so in between your auto attacks.</li><li>Single hander and buckler seem to work best due to the stats, besides there arent that many decent two hander weapons that are comparable. Its a little way of for you just yet but the soulfire hammer is about the best I have seen pre ROK. Player made Falchions arent bad either and they have a 4 sec delay, this should tide you over until you find something real decent.</li><li>When you find a weapon you love think about adding a power/heal adorn to give you that little extra boost.</li><li>Finally dont forget you can root nameds, a good solo tactic is to run in melee the crap out of them, root, backup and heal then rinse and repeat when your CA's have refreshed. If you spec the wisdom line one of the melee aa has a built in root so you can use that as the last one in the chain for a speedy retreat.</li></ul><p>Happy Hunting</p><p> <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p>

[Anaximand]

<p>I don't want to be pedantic, but assuming the two weapons from your example have the same delay, the 25-300 would be better than the 100-200 one anyway. The expected hit of the 25-300 is 162,5 while the expected outcome for the other weapon is only 150. </p><p>I know, splitting hairs, bad habit, won't happen again, promised. </p>

[Skivley101]

<cite>Anaximander wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I don't want to be pedantic, but assuming the two weapons from your example have the same delay, the 25-300 would be better than the 100-200 one anyway. The expected hit of the 25-300 is 162,5 while the expected outcome for the other weapon is only 150. </p><p>I know, splitting hairs, bad habit, won't happen again, promised. </p></blockquote><p>It was just an example he was giving , but most likley the 100-200 would have a shorter delay than the 25-300.</p><p>Your expected outcome calculation is true , unless you have the 75% mele crits .... A crit adds 30% to the roll of the dice (pretty sure). Except when the end result would be less than max dmg .... in that case when a crit yeilds less than max ,,,, It gives you max dmg+1 ....... so if your critical hitting 75% of the time you will see the max+1 up to 30% above max that much of the time.  Your max dmg+1 will most likely be the most common specific hit you will see.</p><p>And to clarify a little more on the natural boon proc and Double hit .... They normalized it on a 3 sec delay , so that any weapon would yeild the same procs per min on average .... But what seems to happen is you get bursts grouped together with longer delays , while you get your procs spread out evenly with shorter delays , But about the same result over time.</p><p>I know I know , thats splitting hairs too <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p>

[Anaximand]

<p>Speaking of natural boon and double hit... would the extra hit from the double hit AA also trigger procs like natural boon? Would double hit be a sneaky way to increase procs per minute?</p><p>Being an eq2 n00b, this stuff is not altogether obvious. For instance, I firmly stuck to 1-h + shield (thinking low delay = more procs) until good Skivley here enlightened me as to the sneaky way devs tried to impose some balance in the proc department. </p>

[KaiZas]

I might be a total noob for not knowing this, but why do I have to CA inbetween the auto attacks?

[Skivley101]

<cite>KaiZas wrote:</cite><blockquote>I might be a total noob for not knowing this, but why do I have to CA inbetween the auto attacks?</blockquote><p>Its just sort of a min/maximizing practice .... Any casting spell/CA Will overide the auto attack , Its not that you wont get that attack, but it will pause untill your done casting, But doesnt save them up, It just resumes its auto attack schedule so to speak. I suppose if your auto attack is fast enough , you might start loseing swings.</p><p>So alot of people try to time the casting (even CA's) Inbetween the auto attack schedule.</p><p>I hope that makes sense <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p>

[KaiZas]

Yeah, it helps. I didn't realise this at all. And I don't suppose I'll be doing anything usefull with the information either, considering I have enough on my hands getting as much damage in and healing the group.

[Nillafurr]

<p>Ignore this post, pls - I didn't read page 2.</p>