Noob question - DPS?

[Eliott]

I know its a basic question but the large number of guides are a bit bewildring and I cannot find a clear answer after searching for almost an hour.

I understand DPS is damage per second, so should this be my main concern when looking for the best weapon for my bear?

I ask because I don't want to make a mistake like I did with allocating points and have lots of STR but no DEX :o

I would like a damage-dealer rather than a tank so should I go ahead and find the best DPS weapon I can equip or something with higher damage? Maybe a mix? Or there might be something else I'm missing...

[Ellyidol]

Although high DPS is good, it does not always mean it's the best stat to look for.

Since effective or actual damage is calculated as : Base Damage - Enemy Armour, to actually deal high damage you would need high base damage.

DPS is only showing how "fast" you can deal damage, since most high DPS weapons have fast attack speeds.

These are my two favourite quotes from very experienced Physiologic and Moogerfooger :


There's two things you need to think about: Damage vs skill damage. Damage is what you do when you do normal attacks, and it is seen in your character stat screen as "Damage: 192-204".

For damage:
1 point of STR = +0.02 damage
1 point of INT = +0.08 damage
1 point of DEX = +0.15 damage

As you can see, DEX adds the most normal damage per 1 attribute point used.

For skill damage:
STR adds more skill damage for bears
DEX adds more skill damage for birds
INT adds more skill damage for mages

But you also have to take into account that skill damage is calculated using a portion of your damage. So bears with high STR can have high skill damage, but bears with STR/DEX can also have high skill damage because DEX increases your damage by a lot, which in turns increases your skill damage.



Hmm....so let's pretend in BS that an enemy has 120 armor.

When equipped on my dual spec build with a 1 dodge, 9 armor ring, Royal Sewer BFH has 183-213 dmg (198 avg), the Gurgox has 214-299 (251 avg)

(Effective damage = Avg weapon damage - enemy armor)

Gurg Hammer effective damage = 251-120 = 131
Royal Sewer BFH effective damage = 198-120 = 78

Gurg Hammer true effective DPS = Effective dmg/weap speed = 131/1.4 = 93.6
Royal Sewer BFH true effective DPS = 78/1.0 = 78

So even with slow-as-dirt speed, Gurg Hammer beats the Royal Sewer BFH. I know the Sewer has some procs though, I forget which.

Royal Sewer BFH = higher dodge, h/s, armor
Gurg = higher hit, crit, more "true" DPS

[Redbridge]

I had the same problems understanding this too and remember reading something that summed it up for me.

If you hit something wearing armour, lots of times softly it's not gonna do as much overall damage as hitting something slowly much harder.... In general (very loosely) DPS is maybe ok for weak mobs but bosses need hitting hard to get through their armour... Skill damage/buffs/debuffs make all the difference too...

[Eliott]

Thanks guys, thats great!

I'm gonna start looking for some higher damage weapons instead and start pumping points into dex for a while (its at 12 now which I understand is way to low for a level 26 character)

One last question, are 2H weapons worth the sacrifice of not carrying a shield if I don't want to tank?

[Ellyidol]

Thanks guys, thats great!

I'm gonna start looking for some higher damage weapons instead and start pumping points into dex for a while (its at 12 now which I understand is way to low for a level 26 character)

One last question, are 2H weapons worth the sacrifice of not carrying a shield if I don't want to tank?

Yes they are, in some cases.

Take for example a Gurgox Hammer (its a level 50 Hammer).

It is 2H and only level 50, but it deals the same skill damage as my 55 1H Sword + Shield AND has almost double the base damage, which means I'd practically be normal attacking for almost 2x the amount.

Although 2H melee is nice, I recommend you to go dual spec and use a bow instead, better crit and DPS, therefore better damage overall. But you'll get to dual spec-ing later on in the game :)

[Eliott]

Awsome, thanks for the quick reply!