Originally Posted by
JaytB
4.8 Dmg difference in your stats screen should translate into much more skill Dmg difference. I don't have the exact numbers, but you should loose about 15'ish skill Dmg (possible more on your highest Dmg skills) with the new rod. Although that may not sound like a lot, the point is that they aren't any better than the existing weapons, in fact they are worse in therms of dealing Dmg.
Maybe they contribute different to skill Dmg though, I couldn't test that myself. You could give me access to that dev server, so I could test them out :p