more diversity in sets

[Fusionstrike]

I recently finished crafting the strength set in Mt Fang, the Orlok items. I didn't see any public info posted on the set bonuses, and had some extra time and money, so I decided I'd make all the items so I could check out the performance of all three sets. First off, here are the numbers:

Orlok crafted sword set info (helm, plate, shield, sword):
Bonus: 3 Str, 1% Dodge, 7 H/s, 7 Armor
Totals: 103 Str, 29% Dodge, 12% Crit, 39 H/s, 20 M/s, 190 Armor, 33 Damage, 170-200 Damage range, 1.3 Speed

Orlok crafted mallet set info (helm, plate, mallet):
Bonus: 3 Str, 5% Crit, 5 H/s
Totals: 78 Str, 21% Dodge, 14% Crit, 29 H/s, 15 M/s, 127 Armor, 22 Damage, 200-220 Damage range, 1.0 Speed

Orlok crafted claymore set info (helm, plate, claymore):
Bonus: 3 Str, 5% Crit, 5 H/s
Totals: 78 Str, 21% Dodge, 14% Crit, 29 H/s, 15 M/s, 127 Armor, 22 Damage, 217-292 Damage range, 1.3 Speed


Ok, so if you compare the sets, you have the usual kind of tradeoff: the one-handed weapon set has lower damage output but higher armor and regen stats. The two-handers have slightly better crit but give up a lot in armor and dodge. This is nothing new.

What I don't get is why even bother making the claymore? It's statistically identical to mallet except it's slower, so has significantly lower DPS. (For me, DPS is claymore=243, mallet=272.) There's no reason ever to use the claymore set. It seems to me if you're going to go through all the trouble to deliver three different sets, then spend the time to make them actually be different. For example, one could have better dodge or armor and the other more regen or crit. There should be some kind of tradeoff, even if it's something as simple as giving one of them an interesting proc. There's got to be something the devs could think up that would make there be at least some reason to think a tiny bit when equipping.

This seems to be a pretty clear trend in crafted sets. Fortified set had very few people use anything other than the one handed weapons, and something similar happened with demonic set as well. Since crafting requires a pretty large investment, it seems not too much to ask that the game designers spend at least a little time making them different enough to be a true tradeoff rather than just stamping out stuff where everyone makes the same (obvious) choice.

[Register]

Claymore has more damage than mallet. Dps does not take into account enemy armor and it lies, unless the weapon speed is 1.0.
If a weapon has 50 damage with a speed of 1.1, dps will say something other than what it really is. With 1.1 speed, the first second, you do ZERO damage. Next you do 50. Dps will say something higher than 50.

[Ruby!!!]

Claymore provides higher skill damage - probably because of the higher base damage.

[CrimsonTider]

As Reg said, Base damge > DPS. You also see a raise in Crit vs. Armor/Dodge in the 2h sets because of the need to kill faster due to this decrease in survivability. The 2h set is a well-rounded set for both PvE/PvP while the 1h sets are pretty much only viable in the PvE arena.

I personally prefer the 1h sword while farming/leveling because of the ability to destroy the mobs faster. It is all personal preference though.

[Fusionstrike]

As Reg said, Base damge > DPS.

If it really is always true that base damage is how a weapon should be judged and not DPS, then someone needs to tell this to the developers. They recently added those tips on how the game works, and one of them says "choose the weapon with the highest DPS". Are they really that inept that they're giving exactly the wrong advice on their own game?

[trunzoc]

For me, it really only seems to make a difference on bosses. Higher DPS tears through normal baddies much more efficiently than the higher base, but the falters against a boss. the higher base damage excels in the area only.