173 vs 137 strength Paladin stat comparison

Since I switched back to Paladin, I've been playing as 173 base strength. I decided to go with the advise of others and try 139 for the dual spec. What I found is that actually you only need 137 base strength (explanation later). In case anyone was curious here is the stat change while wearing the same gear (3/4 Fury set, rooter's gemstone battle axe).

Str: 219 (173 base) 183 (137 base)
Dex: 2 2
Int: 105 141
hit: 82% 85%
crit: 19% 18%
dodge: 25% 24%
health: 510 492
H/S: 23 23
Mana: 652 670
M/S: 26 27
Dam: 139-159 141-161
DPS: 165 167
Armor: 151 149

So the tradeoff:
+3 hit, +18 mana, +1 m/s, +2 dps in exchange for -1 crit, -1 h/s, -18 health, -1 dodge, -2 armor. Basically you could make up the stats either way with your ring selection.

Not that big of a deal... until you look at spell damage where the first range is 173 strength and the second range is 137 strength.
Lightening: 204-292 went to 207-305
Heal: 96-194 went to 102-206
Flame: 208-284 went to 215-297
Drain: 238-337 went to 245-352

I suspect this will all look a lot better when I finally get my Fury sword as that will also bump up the spell damage and make up for the armor, dodge and h/s loss. Of course that leaves out the advantage of being able to also wear end game int items.

As for how to do it with 137, the following items:
LVL 43 Scarab Blade of Osiris... req 136 Str, +8 strength.
LVL 45 Mynas Plate Mail of Osiris... req 142 str, +8 strength
LVL 45 Pharaohs shield of Osiris... req 142 str, +8 strength
LVL 51 Bodyguard's gemstone helm... req 161 str, +12 strength

Start with 137...
Equip SB of Osiris... go to 145 strength. (+8)
Now can equip MP of Osiris and PS of Osiris... go to 161 strength (+16)
Finally equip BG gemstone helm... go to 173 strength (+12).

Thought I would see how dex plays into it... so swapped 38 points out of int and into dex.
The changes:
+3% hit, +1% crit, +1% dodge, -18 mana, -1% m/s, +3 dps, +1 armor
This actually is pretty workable with a fury set since with 3/4 of it I'm not seeing any mana issues. 26 m/s isn't bad considering that when I get my fury sword I'll be sitting at 34 m/s.

The final one is all dex with no +int. Stats are adjusted as if the same ring could be worn.

Str: 219 183 183 183
Dex: 2 2 40 136
Int: 105 141 103 7
hit: 82% 85% 88% 93%
crit: 19% 18% 19% 20%
dodge: 25% 24% 25% 25%
health: 510 492 492 492
H/S: 23 23 23 23
Mana: 652 670 652 604
M/S: 26 27 26 24
Dam: 139-159 141-161 143-163 150-170
DPS: 165 167 170 178
Armor: 151 149 150 152

Lightening: 204-292 207-305 208-297 210-280
Heal: 96-194 102-206 96-193 80-160
Flame: 208-284 215-297 212-288 210-270
Drain: 238-337 245-352 242-341 240-320

I am curious why you say that it leaves out the advantage of being able to wear end game int gear?

I am able to duel state and wear both end game str and mage with 138 str.

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Originally Posted by Zeazety

The final one is all dex with no +int. Stats are adjusted as if the same ring could be worn...

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If I am reading your charts right, it looks like there is not much difference in spell damage between having 141 int and 7 int. Drain Life, for example, is 245-352 with 141 int, and 240-320 with 7 int, which is a difference of 37 points, or 19.5 damage on average. That's a 6.5% decrease, which is not much at all.

Also, I think 125 is the absolute lowest you can go to still wear max gear. Using 3 pieces of +7 gear to get to 146, then a +8 gear (not helm) to get to 154. Then a +11 helm gets you to 158, then the rest of the +11 gear gets you to 169, then 4 +12 purples gets you to 173.

Or you can use some cross-stat eq for an easier time if your main stat is high enough.

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Originally Posted by Olli Walli

I am curious why you say that it leaves out the advantage of being able to wear end game int gear?

I am able to duel state and wear both end game str and mage with 138 str.

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Sorry, miscommunication. I meant to say that I'm not evening bringing up the advantage of wearing end game int gear.

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Originally Posted by kamikazees

If I am reading your charts right, it looks like there is not much difference in spell damage between having 141 int and 7 int. Drain Life, for example, is 245-352 with 141 int, and 240-320 with 7 int, which is a difference of 37 points, or 19.5 damage on average. That's a 6.5% decrease, which is not much at all.

Also, I think 125 is the absolute lowest you can go to still wear max gear. Using 3 pieces of +7 gear to get to 146, then a +8 gear (not helm) to get to 154. Then a +11 helm gets you to 158, then the rest of the +11 gear gets you to 169, then 4 +12 purples gets you to 173.

Or you can use some cross-stat eq for an easier time if your main stat is high enough.

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Big difference is heal only gains from int where damage spells gain from dex. Odd thing is that dex appears to affect min damage instead of max. I've actually kept the str/dex build and frankly I'm liking it. I have no mana issues (thank you GCD) with the only problem being my heal is awful. However I'm definitely noticing the extra dps... I replaced my int based ring with a +10 damage, +2 hit dex ring.

I'm sure you could go lower but I'm poor and wanted to do it in 4 pieces.

You do not need that much str as a mage for fury. The key is getting your str as low as possible. People say 139/139 or close to those number. That is a basic, one size fits all dual build. Simple and easy. As a mage you do not need so much str, the less you have the stronger you will be. My normal str is 129 and it gets me to 173 exactly. I've heard of people using less than that. The secret is boosting gear. I double boost to fury. First is ice gear, iceburg armor and shield with a level 25 conquerors ursan helm and an iceburg frosty hatchet. That gets me to 158 then I equip rift to 173 for full fury. Boost gear can be expensive. I also use the zuraz shock lance (plus 9 stt) and the 25 vyxnaar helmet, same str as other, just a status thing. Makes me feel cool usinh expensive gear to simply boost.

Well while there is already a dual int/str guide here, this one does offer good stat insight and a direct comparison to other builds. Pretty nice.

I would prefer the 137 str Pally build ;-)

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Originally Posted by Alwaysdtf

You do not need that much str as a mage for fury. The key is getting your str as low as possible. People say 139/139 or close to those number. That is a basic, one size fits all dual build. Simple and easy. As a mage you do not need so much str, the less you have the stronger you will be. My normal str is 129 and it gets me to 173 exactly. I've heard of people using less than that. The secret is boosting gear. I double boost to fury. First is ice gear, iceburg armor and shield with a level 25 conquerors ursan helm and an iceburg frosty hatchet. That gets me to 158 then I equip rift to 173 for full fury. Boost gear can be expensive. I also use the zuraz shock lance (plus 9 stt) and the 25 vyxnaar helmet, same str as other, just a status thing. Makes me feel cool usinh expensive gear to simply boost.

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Yeah you might be able to go as low as 125... I'm just too poor to try it, still saving for my fury sword. I did pick up a cheap rift sword though so that I could drop my strength to 136 and raise my dex to 137. Now I could equip the mystery archer set and fury set.

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Originally Posted by KaotiicxDream

I would prefer the 137 str Pally build ;-)

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Definitely. I've been 136 str, 137 dex for about a week now and loving it. 90% hit with a full fury set once I finish it. The only problem with it is my heal blows.

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Originally Posted by Zeazety

Yeah you might be able to go as low as 125... I'm just too poor to try it,....

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125 is also the absolute minimum because the +48 from the purple and 55 gear (+12 each) gets you exactly to 173. You're right, though, those purple items (bodyguard?) can be pretty darn expensive. And it ends up needing 4 sets of gear boosters. +7, +8, +11 and +12.

Now that I think about it, you might be able to skip one set. If you have 125 in str, that means your int will be 153, or dex 154. That's enough to use the cross-stat +8 eq (maybe thoth or horus? the ones with 142 req but str bonus), which will save you from needing the +7 gear altogether. You would go from 125 to 157, then full rift (169), then the 4 purples to 173. Then your 55 gear. Hope you never need to change eq!

Yeah, it just doesn't seem worth it. The 10 extra points of dex (for me) won't make too big of a difference compared to the cost and time to switch. If the game was moddable or had gear swap macros maybe I'd change my mind. Its just annoying to carry 4 sets of gear on me when I have to take the time to swap them in the right order.

It would be fun though to be a fury paladin one second a dex mage another... talk about complete opposites.

With loadouts I can change from lvl 55 fury equips and lvl 55 sewer queen equips. Not seeing how you need any macro to do simple loadouts that take 5-10 seconds. The equips would only cost you around 100-150k if you're patient.

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Originally Posted by Kaarataka

With loadouts I can change from lvl 55 fury equips and lvl 55 sewer queen equips. Not seeing how you need any macro to do simple loadouts that take 5-10 seconds. The equips would only cost you around 100-150k if you're patient.

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I'm lazy and obsessive compulsive about my inventory slots.