Help with DPS and Advice for 80 Swashy

[Korwyn]

<p>Hello guys,</p><p>Been here a while and have appreciated all the advice and wisdom that the many great posters have contributed. </p><p>I am hoping some of you can help me now. I am 80, but only for about 3 weeks or so.</p><p>I am having trouble with my DPS, with out melee buffs I can not seem to get over an average DPS of around 1.2k.  </p><p>For example last night in Seb in a good group I was usually 2nd on the parse after the ranger who averaged close to 2k, while I was lucky to get 1.5k, and was usually around 1.2k. (quite</p><p>a few times I was out parced by the 80 Bruiser)</p><p>I am using caustic t8 and have been trying out various weapon combos--the weapons I have access to now include-Anaphylaxis 4.5 dly, Nathsar SS 6.0 dly,  </p><p>Arbiter of Absolution 4 dly,  and Snake Eyes Raptor Axe 3.5 dly. I know none of them share a delay.  How big of a loss will that cause? I also try to time my CA's between autoattacks</p><p>as much as possible. AA set up is Str 8,8,4,8,1 Agi 4,8,4,8,1 Int 5,8</p><p>My self buffed strength is around 760, agi 574, sta 394, int 109, wis 88 .</p><p>I have all Adept 3's except for 3 Masters (Stealthy Charge, Triple Blade, and Kidney Stab as a Master II)</p><p>Here is the link to my EQ2 Players Profile ( not totally up to date but close)</p><p> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=104234104" target="_blank">http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...terId=104234104</a></p><p>I would appreciate any advice on what I can do to improve.  </p><p>Thanks,</p><p>Kilbane</p>

[Froed20]

First off, if you're duel wielding, try to find two weapons with the same delay, prefferably in the 4.0 range.  Auto attack is a huge part of your damage, and timing your auto attacks with your combat arts will bring a huge improvement.  As far as timing goes, it depends on what haste buffs you have while in each group, but a good rule of thumb is to hit 2 or 3 combat arts and then allow it to hit with auto attack before hitting your next ca's.  Make sure you use your mit and agi debuffs first, and just develope a good rythm.  It takes a bit of work, but depending on your group makeup, you should be able to parse closer to 2k if not over.

[Junaru]

<cite>Fayle@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote>First off, if you're duel wielding, try to find two weapons with the same delay, prefferably in the 4.0 range.  Auto attack is a huge part of your damage, and timing your auto attacks with your combat arts will bring a huge improvement.  As far as timing goes, it depends on what haste buffs you have while in each group, but a good rule of thumb is to hit 2 or 3 combat arts and then allow it to hit with auto attack before hitting your next ca's.  Make sure you use your mit and agi debuffs first, and just develope a good rythm.  It takes a bit of work, but depending on your group makeup, you should be able to parse closer to 2k if not over.</blockquote><p>I'm new to the Swashy but have an 80 Monk and I would think an 80 Swashy would parse much higher in Seb depending on the mobs you are fighting. My Monk's auto attack along is 1k to 1.5k against anything yellow or below.</p><p>As a Monk I also get weapons with the same delay. Makes life a lot easier. As for timing I would suggest downloading ACT(Advanced Combat Tracker) and get the Double Attack plugin for it. You can set it up for single attacks also. Mine Beeps everytime I hit a mob. Makes timing a breeze. After a week or so using it you will have the timing down pat. </p>

[Dreadpatch]

You should jsut about be able to parse 1.2 with auto attack alone. I would say your major problem is your weapons. Keep in mind that they are your most important piece of equipment. YOu don't have to raid, but from CoA until you get carotidcutter and I would put some work into the epic quest. I duel wield Charm's Way and Carotid (don't raid so don't have raid weapons). You can check my gear my name is Dreadpatch. Everything I have is attainable without raiding. I can parse between 2.5 and 3 with very little issue, even without dirge/ illu buffs.

[Korwyn]

<p>Most of the fights were lasting less than 30 sec...fyi where I was testing. (in Seb)</p><p>The one time I tried auto attackes only I parsed .5k I was very disapointed as my Ranger friend did the same and got 1.1k</p><p>I will work on getting carotidcutter and I am working on the epic right now as well.</p><p>Thanks for the suggestions... I do appreciate it.</p><p>Kilbane </p>

[Shiverr]

<p>A quick observation:</p><p> Id immediately stop using those 2 weaps together.  Until you can get something else, (and are having problems with timing, etc.)  try speccing down the wisdom line and go one-hander with your Anaphylaxis.  This line seems more forgiving for a somewhat lesser weapon and some off-timing.  I wouldnt recommend wis-line for end-game with good gear (few would now), but til you get there it works fine.  AAs:  Max out DA in Wis, keep Str up to crits, and keep Agi.  Lose Int for now.</p><p>You'll likely find that until you are able to progress to 2 good 4.0 sec weaps that its easier to hit higher dps.  Once you can get 2 decent weaps ( like epic and carotidcutter or segmented, etc.) and your double-attack to like 20 or 30 look at dual-wield again.  Im trying to get setup for higher stand-alone doubleattack myself to use my epic and carotid until I get a better replacement (just got epic done tonight).  Illusory Arm sets you up nicely too for doubleattack if you're grouped with an Illy.  ATM Im specced one-hander and with Carotidcutter Ive been parsing anywhere from 2.2 to 3.0k in a typical instance run, and higher spikes depending on the group setup can spike to 3.9k, which isnt too bad for just now beginning to raid again in rok.  Im anxious to see what I can get with a good dual-wield setup again....</p><p>Anyhow, try the wis-line out and see if it does anything for ya, if not, its a cheap experiment.</p>

[Faenril]

With the stuff you wear you should already be able to parse more. A few hints: Try to max %crit and %DPS. Ensure that you have the +10 (T7) or +12 (T<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> DPS adornments on your neck and ranged wpn slots. If/once you dual wield, focus on %dbl attack too. Get a mastercrafted ring of strength, it procs often and lasts long, so if your group does not go afk between fights it's always ON. Get the Tynonium shackle from the monks trials in KJ. Get Ganak's Torque from Vaults. Until you get two 4.0 weapons, go fencer line, with a long delay 1 hander and focus on %Crit. Short sword of Nathsar can crit for insane amounts, for instance. If you go the DW way, get the boots from the General in JW, they proc a +10% dbl attack. Once you DW, haste may become more interesting to focus ON, due to the extra wpn delay, but anyway with bravado procs I don't think we have an issue with haste <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Regarding the CA order, if the mob is not a threat to your tank, put all your mitigation/defense debuffs 1st, then put your hard hitters/other debuffs, to maximize overall DPS. If the mob hits hard, go offensive debuffs 1st, to help keep your tank alive, then debuff mit.

[Klantic5]

<p>When I checked your profile last I noticed you were using just one weapon and your secondary slot was free.  "Back in the day" of 100 AA's a lot of swashies had the Wisdom line speced.   With the increase of 140 AA's (70/70) a lot of them when to the agility line.</p><p>Your AA line set up is what most have and you should try to dual wield again..</p><p>With my current set up I can do about 2k solo and up to 4k with a good dirge/illy.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=341560103" target="_blank">http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...terId=341560103</a></p><p>If you have more comments and/or question feel free to reply or send a private message.</p><p>Edit/Added:  Also, try to work on your intelligence.   The higher the intelligence the more damage you will do with your poisons and the more procs you will get... That can be huge.   If any of my gear has the ability adornments I add it.  My "offline EQPlayers" page had our intelligence about 130 points difference.  Try that?</p><p>~Quilem Quickblade, Blackburrow (Oggok)</p>

[Korwyn]

<p>Actually trying out a one hander with a wisdom spec since I dont have the best weapons to go DW.  I changed  last night...takes a while for EQ2 Players to catch up I have noticed.</p><p>Thanks</p><p>Kilbane</p>

[Klantic5]

<p>I'd like to see how you are progressing.   Keep me (us) posted.</p><p>~Quilem Quickblade</p>

[Dreadpatch]

I would really work at getting Carotidcutter from CoA and on the epic quest.. The weapons are going to help you a ton : ) Feel free to ask any specific questions, we will certainly try to help out.

[Korwyn]

<p>Thanks,  I am doing both Epic and trying to work on Carotidcutter.</p><p>I will post my progress.</p><p>Thanks,</p><p>Kilbane</p>

[Spite]

<p>Personally the best place to parse is the wall at the tabernacle of pain in the jungle. </p><p>This gives you a static mob (which has a back as well) that you can kill over and over to check results on ACT. If you dont have act get it and install it if you are serious about testing/improving.</p><p>First thing you should do is kill it serveral times with auto attack only. Like 5 should do it. I dont apply poisons for testing on the wall BTW because it can get pretty costly. Look at act and note your dps and average delay of your weapon. The average delay of your weapons as displayed by ACT is better than /weaponstats because your haste changes greatly while fighting due to rings and bravado procing. </p><p>Now that you have a baseline, figure out how many CAs you should be able to use between autoattacks. The answer is probably 2. Now parse the wall serval times trying to time your attacks and compare the average delays for your weapons there to your baseline. Don't forget to clear your encounter every five or so to see your progress. After a while your autoattack only (baseline) and your autoattack and CAs should match. You now have mastered timing.</p><p>At that point, if you haven't worked out a good spell order I would do it next. Just rearange and use them against the wall until you find one that best maximizes your dps.</p><p>If this sounds like a bit of work - it is. But if you are truely committed to increasing your DPS and ability it is the best way i have found.</p><p>In case you were wondering without poisons i am about 2800 dps vs. the wall with no short term buffs used.</p>

[Korwyn]

<p>I have been busy with RL stuff...but went to the wall and with my one hand spec was avg around 2k...still tesing and getting a feel for the new AA spec. With no poisons or short term buffs.</p><p>Hope to get around your 2800 with some work...</p><p>Kilbane </p>