I think I need to improve my DPS.

[Jrkh8er]

<p>First of all, here's all my stats and gear: <a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=393014201" target="_blank">EQ2players link.</a></p><p>As you can see, I don't have my Mythical and I'm only halfway done with T1 void armor. Also, my jewelry is a bit outdated, though it's pretty much all Legendary or better (mostly RoK quest stuff there).</p><p>My AAs... well, I'll probably fudge a number here or there, but off the top of my head...</p><p>STR: 4 4 4 7</p><p>AGI: 4 6 4 8 2</p><p>WIS: 4 8 4 8 2</p><p>Obviously, the first suggestion from many will be "get out of WIS and dual wield." I may do that, but I don't really want to, unless it's proven that being a Fencer is a really big handicap.</p><p>Anyway, now that that's covered...</p><p>First and foremost, I don't even know what "average DPS" is for a Swash. I know we aren't on the level of Wizards or Assassins, but I definitely know that we're still a solid DPS class. In an average group, I generally parse 2.0-2.5k, sometimes a little less, sometimes a bit more, depending on group buffs. With my current gear and AA setups, I have an 81% double attack chance, ungrouped. I believe my melee crit chance is somewhere in the 20s. I use a direct damage poison, an AGI/physical mit-reducing posion, and a threat-reducing poison together when grouping (all level 72 MC).</p><p>There are a few things I've already realized/been told that I can do to parse a bit better: Get my Mythical, get all my Void armor, spec out of the Fencer line (which I've already mentioned), and learn an effective casting order.</p><p>Any tips on the last one? As of now, I usually start out with the Defense debuff and then the two Mitigation debuff attacks, and then I unleash my back attack combo: Walk the Plank, Kidney Stab, Sack, stun with Cheap Shot, stealth (points in the stealth AA to reduce casting time quite a bit), from-stealth knockdown, Lung Pierce, and then Sinister Strike if I can. I also use the three temp buffs: On Guard and Insight usually go off first and at the same time when I'm spamming CAs, and then Perfect Finesse to buff my autoattacks once most of my CAs are busy recharging. AoEs are used when needed, especially Swathe for the knockdown. Beyond that, it's mostly just hitting stuff as it comes up, with an Evade here and there.</p><p>So... any and all advice is welcome. And I apologize in advance if I've left out anything important.</p>

[aytheon]

<p>Of course everyones gonna tell you to get out of the wis spec blablabla...i personally used to use the wis spec a while ago and i made the change to dual wield. I had a significant increase in dps...enough to say that ill never go back to wis again.</p><p>your casting order doesnt sound too far off from what i use. try to make an honest look at what ur haste is during fights. ur haste is gonna depend on how many ca's u can get off before your auto atk hits. if ur haste is 160+ its safe to say you have 2 ca's then auto atk.</p><p>I used to focus alot on upping my str until i actually got the gear. adorn all your gear if u can and try to get as much crit and double atk gear as possible. i also always run caustic poison.</p><p>hope i helped some</p>

[Antas22]

<p>Well, simply put, yes, you will get a LARGE return by dropping WIS and dual wielding. Simply buying a Sebilite Croaking Dirk for your offhand will spike your DPS up quite a bit, partially by way of its 10% increase to poison damage, until you can get an offhander with a 90+ rating and a good max damage (read: not the incredibly overrated Carrotidcutter, which parses lower than the Seb Dirk). There are benefits to doing this beyond simply gaining an offhander (and the +stats, procs, and DPS that come with it). Going to the STR endline will gain you Traumatic Swipe, an absolutely essential skill for raiding (if you ever choose to do so). Also, going with at least 4/1 in the INT line gains you Boot Dagger, a MUCH better option for getting off Stealthy Charge than using the very slow casting Stealth skill (even at max casting speed--which, with Sailwind, is obtained with 4 points in Enhance: Stealth--there's just no way you're not going to lose some Auto-attack damage using it). You can also gain a lot of HP to survive better when soloing or taking AoEs, etc, by going to the third ability in STA line. Personally, I use:</p><p>4/8/4/8/2 STR</p><p>4/6/4/8/2 AGI</p><p>4/4/6 STA</p><p>4/1 INT</p><p>Really, the only situation where fencing could possibly out-DPS or even rival dual-wielding in the end game would be if you had your Mythical but an absolutely trash option for offhander (like Seb Dirk or Carrotid). Even then, it's debatable. I do have a WIS spec on my mirror for tanking instances, as it does add a good deal of survivability without as big a drop off as using a shield (until I can get a really nice shield to swap in, at least), but the DPS drop off is still extremely evident when doing so.</p><p>Also, there are some obvious points in gear that could use major upgrade. Your first priority with void shards should be T2 Shoulders. The 8% base CA damage is HUGE.</p><p>Your neck piece also has several easy upgrade options. A Petty Officers Medal of Slaughter can probably be picked up on the broker for 50g or less to hold you over. A slightly better choice is a Sebilisian Choker from Crypt of Agony, which is a very common drop. Also, running the very easy Thuuga quest line (starts in Kylong Plains with the quest A Fistful of Metal) will gain you a rather nice necklace or ring. A rarer, but better option is the Ganak's Torque from the final boss in Vaults of Eternal Sleep. Also, if you have the means, the reward for the Collection quest Relics of the Ethernauts is an absolutely INCREDIBLE neck/earring piece (the proc on it will likely add ~200 DPS on its own). The top option for most group or raid situations when you have any healer worth his/her salt, however, is the Bloodthirsty Choker out of Shard of Fear. Just make sure you have one of the others to use as a backup when you get a poor healer who doesn't know how to cycle in group heals or just swap and throw a heal or two your way.</p><p>Run Abbey once, doing the side-quests, to get the Ring of the Wolfslayer, a nice ring that will give you +2 MC, +2 DA. It's a really easy zone, and one with some nice drops anyway.</p><p>Bracelets can easily be upgraded with a Quartermaster's Clasp (obtained off the broker or in Sebilis). Nicer options can be found in many zones, including RE2 (Gahdash's Bangle), Fabled Kor-Sha (Atrebite Shackle), Befallen: Caverns (Wristlet of Nil Sight), etc.</p><p>Basically, just running as many instances as you can to upgrade much of your gear will see a nice increase to your DPS.</p><p>Also, in reguards to your casting order, it's mostly solid. In groups, I would suggest leading with Bedazzling Steel however, as it will help your tank and healer considerably (remember, your role is one of DPS/Debuff, with a focus on offensive debuffs, so you want to get those on mobs early and often). Also, don't simply spam CAs, it will hurt your DPS significantly. Download Advanced Combat Tracker (just google it), and search the forums for it for the Double Attack plugin. You can use this plugin to set up a sound to go off whenever you autoattack. Use it to develop your timing, generally, it should be 2 CAs, very short pause for autoattack, 2 CAs, etc. rinse and repeat. Autoattacks will do close to 50% of your total DPS if you time things correctly, compared to the 30% or less you will get from just spamming CAs, so it really does make a big difference.</p><p>Also, you should have a 4th temp buff, if you haven't already picked it up (which I gather from your post is the case). Search the broker for Ruthless Cunning, which is a level 35 spell I believe from one of the Adventure packs. It's an additional short-term DPS buff which you can mix in while Finesse is down.</p>

[DngrMou]

<p><cite>Kalandre@Oasis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p> Also, don't simply spam CAs, it will hurt your DPS significantly. Download Advanced Combat Tracker (just google it), and search the forums for it for the Double Attack plugin. You can use this plugin to set up a sound to go off whenever you autoattack. Use it to develop your timing, generally, it should be 2 CAs, very short pause for autoattack, 2 CAs, etc. rinse and repeat. Autoattacks will do close to 50% of your total DPS if you time things correctly, compared to the 30% or less you will get from just spamming CAs, so it really does make a big difference.</p></blockquote><p>A word of warning when using ACT to beep on auto attacks....in the pressence of lag, those beeps are not going to be timed right, and you're going to be missing out on a lot of CA's, because you're waiting on a beep that's late.</p>

[Jrkh8er]

<p>Ah, that's quite a lot of information... thanks.</p><p>And I've been thinking about getting an achievement mirror and keeping a non-WIS spec for a while, but it kept slipping my mind... I really do like the idea of the achievement mirror, because I still have fun with my single weapon and insane double attack, and won't want to give it up forever. Also, I do have ACT and the double attack plug-in, though I've only been using it for a few days - I'll mess around with the ol' training dummy for a bit until I get used to things.</p>

[Jrkh8er]

<p>Well, I got my mirror, stored my memories of Fencing, and respecced. Str/Agi with a point in Boot Dagger, enough points in the Swash tree to get Reach and Advance Warning, and then the rest into Shadows (which netted me Evasive Maneuvers). Bought a Croaking Dirk + adornment and a few pieces of jewelry, and hit up Deep Forge.</p><p>I think I've just about got the timing thing down, though there are still hiccups from lag or necessity. I parsed 3.3k on the mid-boss and around 2.8k on the boss, though frankly the boss fight involves way too much running about to give an accurate parse. Either way, though, that's better than I've ever parsed - and that was with nothing more than a respec, second weapon, and two bits of jewelry.</p>

[Ethi]

<p>it is really hard to evaluate dps especially in a group since bufs from different combinations of players have a large effect.</p><p>What I do when evaluating equipment and AAs is to get a training dummy and spend some time killing that solo.</p><p>I do a couple tests. One i do is I just autoattack only.  This is good for testing various weapon and equipment combinations. I only look at my melee damage to evaluate things like weapons, crits, and double attacks.  Right now my character does around 875-900 dps for melee damage.</p><p>Then I do an attack with CA usage.  I don't use one ability I forget which one... It boosts stats and adds haste, etc.  It is a big booster of dps but on a one minute or more reuse and it creates a big spike so I just leave it off.  Doing this I'm currently parsing around 2800.  My equipment is not much different then yours so it is a pretty good comparison.</p><p>I'm ethion on najena if you want to look at my equipment for comparison.</p>