+ AGI doesnt help much

[yepe]

Has anyone tried this yet? I removed +6 AGI from my earrings and SATA still hit around the same dmg. I dont think AGI works much on SATA. Can someone verify my observation?

[Narru]

I believe there is a cap on max damage you can do with SATA. I don't know the specifics of the formula for the cap, but most likely your level, your attack, your dex, and your agi is all involved with this calculation.

This just might be a case where you're already at the cap, and by removing the AGI items you're still hitting the cap. That's why you might think AGI doesn't matter. A good test to run is to remove your DEX gear, note the damage you do with SATA, then add the AGI again.

If you're already at the cap, you might want to swap out that +AGI or +DEX gear for +Accuracy (if you have an accuracy problem) or +Attack (if you see yourself hitting for 0 a lot). +STR also helps.

[guyincorporated]

You're a level 53 thief, which means you should have somewhere around 80 agility at this point. So you're removing less than 10% of your agility, which is only a portion of the formula (dex,agi,str,damage,more?) that governs how much damage (over an amazingly WIDE range) you will do on santa. No wonder you aren't noticing much of an improvement.

I find it nearly impossible to track damage on santa. Against the same mobs, conning the same toughness, I can do 500 on santa, or I can do 220 and not even turn the thing around. We definitely chose a strange class.

[Kastel]

bah to AGI. I gues its ok, but sometimes I will just wear my Rogue's Poulaines because they look so so so uch better than leaping

[Tythera]

Daenerys, you shouldn't attack Santa. If you keep it up he won't be able to deliver presents...

[guyincorporated]

Well maybe he should stop sending me coal then!!!

:mad:

[Balodoth]

Me too

There's a thread talking about the damage equation. After having looked at the proposed equation, which seems accurate to everyone who does the math, it's very easy to hit the damage cap with minimal addition to DEX & AGI. In fact, it is usually better to go for +STR when you have the option since it works the same way as DEX & AGI in SATA but also raises your damage over time. Of course, take this all with a grain of salt as the equation is only a theory--a really close theory though.

So, if you farm a lot and use SATA as an opening move, then I would suggest focusing on AGI since it also increases evasion. If you play damage dealer, I would recommend DEX for accuracy purposes. Now, since the bonuses from them are minimal, opting for STR when possible is a great choice to help you do better damage overall. It will also increase your attack slightly which further increases the damage range.

A sidepoint is this: If you hit your cap and have stats to spare, you would likely do more damage by not stacking them. In other words, a SA weapon skill and a TA normal attack may net you more damage in the long run. Of course, nobody is going to do that. It's just too much hate to tack onto somebody to ignore!

[Balgas]

Not to mention that TA alone does not have an accuracy boost and 7 out of 10 times you will miss it.

[Macht]

Originally posted by Narru
I believe there is a cap on max damage you can do with SATA. I don't know the specifics of the formula for the cap, but most likely your level, your attack, your dex, and your agi is all involved with this calculation.

This just might be a case where you're already at the cap, and by removing the AGI items you're still hitting the cap. That's why you might think AGI doesn't matter. A good test to run is to remove your DEX gear, note the damage you do with SATA, then add the AGI again.

If you're already at the cap, you might want to swap out that +AGI or +DEX gear for +Accuracy (if you have an accuracy problem) or +Attack (if you see yourself hitting for 0 a lot). +STR also helps.

I agree with this person. If you are going for more damage what it seems you need to focus more on is pushing (more specifically) is your Attack if you want SATA to be powerful on it's own. The added attack will give you a slight boost in Damage Over Time, but to improve that more you can do by just adding STR.

What will happen when you create a huge enough boost in +Attack is your SATA you'll notice should start skyrocketing. Attack governs the max potential damage you can do, SATA brings out the max potential damage. So basically you are hitting the cap set by your Attack.

Keep in mind Attack increases max potential damage and STR increases average damage or DoT (And both affect eachother but at a less effecient manner).

EDIT:

If you do this you'll start to notice a point were your damage may start to vary wildly. At this point is when your max potential has exceeded your SATA and will need to boost AGI and DEX again to cap it.

This is also considering that you are fighting a monster of known damage you do to it. So if damage is varying wildly with another monster (Given that they check the same each time) then it could also be their defense kicking to it also. Also monsters like crabs or beetles may cause your damage to vary wildly.

[Sasarai]

so attack earrings over drone? I have beetle+1 and drone in moggy already

[yepe]

Can someone post a link to the equation thread or knows the equation by hard ;p?

[Omena]

I switch between Beetle +1 and Drone earrings and my average SATA damage is considerably better with Drones. Sometimes I forget to switch and wonder why my SATA sucked so much. Usually it's because I forgot to change earrings.

[Theiry]

Hey Yepe, here's the link to the damage formula thread:

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40812

Also, since this whole thread is about Theif Sneak Attack damage, here's another nice link:

http://www.moonlight.gr.jp/~el/ffxi/index.html.en

Anyway, hope these help.

[yepe]

Thanks Thiery, funny I used the calculator at:

http://www.moonlight.gr.jp/~el/ffxi/backstub.html.en

and played with values of AGI and it does not seem to be adding or subtracting SATA dmg while Weapon Dmg, STR and DEX affects it. So, my guess AGI is not part of the SATA dmg formula?

[guyincorporated]

Hrm, that's very funky. I think the damage calculator is messed up then. You can play around with it, slide agility to 0 or 1000 and it never makes any change. If it wasn't a factor at all, they wouldn't have a blank in the caculator for it. That SAME website says that agility is added to Weapon Damage during a trick attack, so I think it is just an oversight.