Just saw this post, have some free time so here we go
Thought I would show some simple math to help clarify some things...I am going to compare a toon with 100% crit and 0% DA vs a toon with 0% crit and 100% DA.
IMPORTANT NOTE: None of the below calculations factor in buffs and debuffs!!!! This is ok b/c I'll still get my point across to everyone.
Looking at Auto-Attack first and using only one weapon:
Given:
One Self Buffed Bad Mofo Brigand with an Actual Dmg Range = 293 - 1174
so on average with 0% crit and 0% DA your AA will hit for the median in this range which is 734.
At 100% crit and 0% DA
When you crit your AA will do 1175 so your gain is the crit value minus your average hit without crit which is 1175 - 734 = 441. At 100% crit you will gain 441 more damage on each swing because you are crit'ing every swing. This means that 1% crit = 441 * 0.01 = 4.41 per crit
At 100% DA and 0% crit
If you are DA'ing every swing, your gain on average will be twice that of your original median or 732 * 2 = 1464 (note: your range has doubled with 100% DA, so it is now 586 - 2348 w/ median being 1467...yes i know there is a slight difference in 1464 and 1467 due to rounding errors and the plus 1 to max damage used in the crit calculation)
With your average AA damage with 100% DA being at 1467, your gain is the DA average minus your normal median or 1467 - 734 = 733. This means that with 100% DA you will gain on average 733 damage per swing. So 1% DA will gain you 733 * 0.01 = 7.33 per DA
Comparing The Two:
1% crit gains you 4.41 extra damage on average
1% DA gains you 7.33 extra damage on average
So with AA only, 1% DA does 7.33 - 4.41 = 2.92 more damage on average per swing than 1% crit.
WTF Az?!?! I thought crit > DA ??? Crit is > DA overall. Remember we are just looking at self buffed Auto-Attacking without buffs and debuffs. Buffs and Debuffs do not really matter that much with AA'ing because they will benefit DA and crit about the same (if you don't believe me, crunch the numbers yourself)
Why is Crit > DA ??
Crit affects both Auto-Attacking at CA damage while DA only affects Auto-Attacking. When you add in the crit benefits of CA damage, 1% crit will be more than 4.41. Also crit benefits more from buffs and debuffs due to the added benefits of CA damage.
How much benefit do CA's get from crit ?
We are going to take another simple approach to this mainly because I can get my point across without heavier math, and this is the toughest part of the equation to figure out. Why? Because it is so buff and debuff dependant. This math does NOT include buffs and debuffs!!! Also for this math I have to assume some things, but IT'S OK!!
With 100% crit:
In excel, I recorded the min and max damages of every CA I have (dot ticks included and double up excluded). Then I ASSUMED that when I attack something, I will cycle through all my CA's once and the dots will tick once. I did not use any CA twice, so every CA is weighted equally even though this isnt the case in an actual raid. Some CA's are used more than others (duh!).
Then I multipled every MAX DMG of every CA by 30%***(see the reference below as to why I did this) b/c I am at 100% crit so everything is going to crit and my gain will be 30% more than the MAX DMG. I then took the average of all the MAX DMG * 0.3 values and came up with ~463. So at 100% crit with the ASSUMPTIONS above, I will on average do 463 more damage with every CA. This means that 1% crit will do on average 463 * 0.01 = 4.63. With buffs/debuffs this value would be a higher value and not so conservative.
Putting all this simplified math together:
This is what we have calculated with the given dmg range...
1% crit AA gain = 4.41
1% DA AA gain = 7.33
1% crit average gain per CA = 4.63
Looking at a Combat Art & AA Interval:
In this Combat Art Interval we are going to cast 3 CAs then AA once. Sorry for this crappie format of the interval but this post keeps reformating what I want.......
The sequence of numbers will represent CA1, CA2, CA3, AA and then the Sum of these damages.
with 100% crit your damage gain would be:
4.63 + 4.63 + 4.63 + 4.41 = 18.3
with 100% DA your damage gain would be:
0 + 0 + 0 + 7.33 = 7.33
I hope everyone can form the conclusion of this post by themselves. Time to LOG IN and play some eq2. Hope this helps some of ya grasp the concepts of crit and DA. If not, flame me all ya want.
Az
***If youre into math and wanna see why CA crits oddly follow the straight MAX DMG * 1.3 rule, then go to this link:
Now with Weapon DR calculation!: Critical Damage and You.. A guide to critical damage.
Re: crit > doubleattack > +ca dmg
