[imac2much]

Good post and very intelligent reply! Allow me to respond a bit to a few things...

Originally posted by Lyonesse
If I wanted to try damage dealing, I'd be wearing the Haubergeon, Sniper's Rings, Merman's Earring, Valkyrie Mask, Feral Ledelsons, RK breeches, and Battle Gloves on top of what I'm actually wearing right now.

My stance is to put up enough damage to close the aggro gap between us and other melee classes while tanking. This allows our JAs to have more of a pronounced effect so RNGs and the like aren't stealing hate that we can't bring back (assuming you don't have a DRK/THF or a THF/WAR).

I think we're both agreeing on the same thing. I'm about as offensive as you are except that I have a bit more ATK and a bit less ACC. I also agree that dealing a little extra damage is worth it at times. I think most of your gear is pretty good but..

At later levels I'd have to disagree with the Tiger Ring and the Balance Buckler. The other stuff doesn't really sacrifice much, since there's not much else better to put in Waist, Earring, Collar, etc. But ring I'd rather be using a VIT+4 ring + Jelly Ring, and for shield I'd rather be using General's or Koenig's. At your level it should be fine though.

+19 is quite a big help actually. The only mobs I have trouble hitting immensely are ones that are naturally high evasion (yuck for Toramas) or much higher than me due to sheer level (upper end Perytons). Otherwise, the +19 to accuracy helps most mobs con down to Even evasion rather than high evasion which is a big benefit. Quite noticeable when you're swinging 10 times and hitting for 5-7 out of them rather than 3-5 out of 10.

That's pretty good. I only have +14 ACC right now but I guess you're right that 5 more ACC will make a difference when our ACC is already low (that's like a Sniper after all). But you won't be using that shield forever.. I don't think I'd want to sacrifice my Koenig Shield for 4 ACC.

1H Sword damage isn't crappy. In fact the highest DMG 1h Sword is about 1/2 the DMG of most 2H weapons and half or a little more than half the delay.

Actually we seem to be agreeing here. 1h sword IS crappy, for the sole reason that that the damage formula favors high damage high delay weapons in terms of DPS, just as you stated. Don't really understand why you are disagreeing with me, but then proving my point :sweat: I didn't mean that the damage/delay ratio on the weapon status is bad, I mean that in actual xp pt's 1h sword won't do good damage even if you're not tanking and using meat mithka + berserk + haubergeon + snipers + peacock charm + assault earring, etc. Why? Because every weapon has a damage cap, and 1h sword's is very low compared to 2h weapons. Why do you think PLD's have trouble holding hate from same level DD's when fighting EP~DC monsters (such as helping lower levels with AF mobs, etc)?

I guess I should have been more open minded in a sense. I mistakenly was talking about my current experiences... but I can see at lower levels you can do some decent damage with different equipment as well. I can't really test or try that out anymore. All I know is that even with 77+34 vit and 530+ defense Ladon's still regular hit me for 130-140's, so for the first time in 15-20 levels I have to resort to Defender at times ><


P.S.

I don't use Sword on Bones, I use Club and there's nothing better than True Strike on bones for a PLD. 200+ hit or miss at 100TP and a chance to double the damage with DA. Nothing more satisfying than hitting a 350-400 damage True Strike while XPing on Bones. =O for 100 TP.

Now THAT is a great idea. Some people have told me to try it but ... I dunno, I guess I've grown too attached to my joyeuse Also I've spent so much time skilling up GS (228) and staff (232) that I fear skilling up Club to the necessary cap to use it in xp pt's (probably about 245 by my level). Good idea though.

[Lyonesse]

I think we're both agreeing on the same thing. I'm about as offensive as you are except that I have a bit more ATK and a bit less ACC. I also agree that dealing a little extra damage is worth it at times. I think most of your gear is pretty good but..

At later levels I'd have to disagree with the Tiger Ring and the Balance Buckler. The other stuff doesn't really sacrifice much, since there's not much else better to put in Waist, Earring, Collar, etc. But ring I'd rather be using a VIT+4 ring + Jelly Ring, and for shield I'd rather be using General's or Koenig's. At your level it should be fine though.

I switch the Tiger Ring out as needed. I only really use it when mobs don't hit me very hard and a little extra ATK and AGI are handy. It's actually fairly useful on Critter mobs like Raptors or Crabs because they tend to hit weaker than other mobs like Ladons or Beastmen.

There isn't much to use up until the Koenig's or General's in terms of shields though. Most of the other shields up until those 2 really have only minor benefits to them. The Balance Buckler (this is 3 Accu btw =P) and the ATK shields (Lantern, Strike, and Viking) are probably the best shields we can get with a noticeable effect on performance until 70. I'll be picking up a RG Shield and a RK Shield again eventually though for asthetic looks, solo, and when I'm not tanking.

I'll probably also change shields when I hit 65 and I get access to my Save The Queen. Now that Cover is a 3 minute ability with Promathia coming up, I'm going to abuse the bananas out of it by activating Cover for WS and switching out my Lifebelt with a Sword Belt +1 (amongst a few minor things) for better damage on Vorpal while XPing.

Actually we seem to be agreeing here. 1h sword IS crappy, for the sole reason that that the damage formula favors high damage high delay weapons in terms of DPS, just as you stated. Don't really understand why you are disagreeing with me, but then proving my point I didn't mean that the damage/delay ratio on the weapon status is bad, I mean that in actual xp pt's 1h sword won't do good damage even if you're not tanking and using meat mithka + berserk + haubergeon + snipers + peacock charm + assault earring, etc. Why? Because every weapon has a damage cap, and 1h sword's is very low compared to 2h weapons. Why do you think PLD's have trouble holding hate from same level DD's when fighting EP~DC monsters (such as helping lower levels with AF mobs, etc)?

The formula actually doesn't favor high DMG/high delay weapons which is what I was trying to point out. Rather, 1H weapons lose out because we have more chances to swing and not because the formula is skewed in the direction of 2H weapons. It's like throwing passes in a football game. Even if you're good and can land passes very well, just throwing more and more passes will increase your chances of missing one because of sheer volume. It's a problem of amount as opposed to a skewed formula or anything of the sort. I'm not not disagreeing with you that 1H weapons make a less reliable DD weapon but my reasoning is a little different.

I actually haven't had a problem holding aggro from EP/DC mobs against other DDs if the need arises. One of the great things about fighting EP/DC mobs is that their atk shoots way down and less is needed to tank them allowing for more leeway with what you do. I was PTing with a Dark Knight (and a few others) fighting some EP/DC beetles in Quicksands for skill. We got a link and I immediately squared off with the other Beetle with the DRK following suite. I hit the beetle for like half the DRK's swings and I was able to keep up with his damage swings. He then pops a Guillotine for like 900 damage. In counter, I tagged Berserk and landed a 600 damage Vorpal Blade and just voked the mob off of him. Really fun stuff.

It is really hard to hold aggro on weak stuff with other DDs when I'm being all defensive though, you're right there

Now THAT is a great idea. Some people have told me to try it but ... I dunno, I guess I've grown too attached to my joyeuse Also I've spent so much time skilling up GS (228) and staff (232) that I fear skilling up Club to the necessary cap to use it in xp pt's (probably about 245 by my level). Good idea though.

Staves and Clubs are king on bone mob on no doubt about it. It's a shame we don't get any hammers or at least more mace choices. I've been keeping my Club leveled with PLD (since it's a 1h Weapon and I can use it with my shield) so it's been incredibly easy to keep it capped. True Strike is one reallllllly handy ability. If you want a nasty Club ability though, ask a WHM with a good weapon and maxed skill to try Judgement at 300 TP with either Sneak Attack or WAR sub on some bones. At 300 TP, Judgement gets a 4x damage modifier @_@. I've seen a 65 WHM buddy of mine hit a Funnel bats in Garlaige for close to 1000 damage with a 300 TP Judgement and Sneak Attack. =|

[Rogan]

hey Ilidan!