Questions

[Rahr]

Some questions I forgot to ask....a couple years ago

1: Anyone ever get a definite answer on if 120 Bushido/130parry diminishes shield block chance?

2: Considering 220dex insta heal, Is reducing DCI to maximize RPD chance a viable strategy to increase damage output?

3: Poisoning Skill: Does it affect a weapons Hit Poison Area?

4: What is your Spell/Attack Rotation for a long single target melee fight? (Ex: Bless, EnemyofOne, Consecrate, Divine Fury, CounterAttack, CrushingBlow)

Thank you in advance

[Miranda Ventrata]

The answer to 2 is yes.

[Shindaril]

1. I believe that this is correct. I see more RPD procs with a shield and a lot more counter attacks without one.

3. It does not

4. I personally use Double Shot / Double Strike with Enemy of One, Consecrate Weapon, Counter Attack. With high proc hit spells, this seems to maximize the hit spell damage. Crushing Blow is nice, but having an extra attack along with a chance for third from Counter Attack, really gives those weapon hit procs and also more chances to leech.

[Yoda]

all answers are correct BUT

in the case of 1 and 3 neither effect is significant enough to warrant worrying about min/max adjustments to gear. The benefit you achieve will not be life changing or impact your day in any significant way in an almost "that really wasn't worth the effort to fuss about" sort of way.

but numerically 100% correct on answers 1 and 3

[Johnny Warren]

The dci thing is very interesting, something I had not thought of. I'm often fighting Minotaurs and the fastest way to kill them is have them hit me and cop a few hundred percent dmg returned, if they do an armour ignore hit for 400+ dmg they bounce off and die without needing any assistance from my sword. Lowering dci would definitely speed up this type of hunting and hence speed up total dmg output.

[Wil]

2: Considering 220dex insta heal, Is reducing DCI to maximize RPD chance a viable strategy to increase damage output?

I don't know but I hear about 1-shot-kill enemies. You can't insta-heal if you're insta-dead.

[Miranda Ventrata]

DCI wont prevent a one shot. Well it might prevent one instance of a one shot. But you'll still be one shotted next hit. It doesn't reduce the damage you take. Only the *chance* of being hit.

[Rahr]

1. I believe that this is correct. I see more RPD procs with a shield and a lot more counter attacks without one.

3. It does not

4. I personally use Double Shot / Double Strike with Enemy of One, Consecrate Weapon, Counter Attack. With high proc hit spells, this seems to maximize the hit spell damage. Crushing Blow is nice, but having an extra attack along with a chance for third from Counter Attack, really gives those weapon hit procs and also more chances to leech.

So..If you see “a lot” more Counterattack’s without a shield and your preferred combo is Double Strike/CounterAttack. Do you sacrifice the shield, RPD increase and offhand stats Shindaril? Yoda had mentioned the difference is extremely minimal.

Thanks everyone for your input!! (I’d still be interested to hear other Attack rotations being used, surely there’s some folks out thar mixing it up with some effective odd combos and strats?)

[Shindaril]

Yes, blocking an attack means you won't be reflecting damage when you take none. It's a trade off between reflecting damage and an extra attack. However, with only a few relayers and lowish total RPD, that extra attack(s) with a weapon that has 2+ hit spell effects does seem to increase my damage more.

There's also another reason why I prefer having one hand open with my one handed yumi. The ability to use greater strength potions for the HP and damage boost. I am stacking enhanced potions to make this a viable option. My HP is still a bit too low for certain creatures, so those potions do come very handy.

As for another pro for relying on RPD, in some cases, it might be worth using Enemy of One on another creature than what you're fighting. This way you'll be taking more damage and thus reflecting more. This is probably better suited for AoE situations where you're lacking whirlwind, for example.

In the end, it all comes down to your own playing style and what works best for you and with your gears. While I am usually relying more on Counter Attack, I still do carry a shield and can always opt to use it.

It does get dull at times, so experimenting with different styles, weapons, even habits will both, be fun and rewarding when you find something new that fits for you. As an idea if you do decide to go for RPD, testing the Necromancy spell Blood Oath if you can take the karma hit (mostly used Chivalry spells only gain duration from high karma) and the prayer Trial by Fire, should be fun.

[Rahr]

Thanks for the input Shindaril! I’ve got a fair amount of RPD nowadays but have always used CounterAttack/DS with shield myself too. I’ve used it for a couple of years, mainly due never ending deco projects, I haven’t returned to my original obsession of swinging the deadliest axe
I’m think I got a little burnt out straining to calculate the mass of quick fading overlapping red numbers. Is there a damage calculator out there, specifically one that breaks down different sources other than base weapon, like RPD, Hit Lightning etc? I remember seeing somewhere a server that had a “combat log” that could calculated averages on every combat mechanic for an entire fight or training session?
I also use Blood Oath and am currently playing an Evil Overlord but Alas, I am soooo lazy and without a buff timer or damage calculator to compare, I have nothing to report nor am I sure how badly the chivalry spell duration has been gimped.
But yeah, I’d bet it’s true these adjustments here and there would result in minimal actual damage difference and it is hard to be exact as it is player specific and varies largely. Cheers