Kelstat

Goodbye..

Dropped the STA line in favor of INT line and my lord I like it a hell of a lot better.

Not only do I get to ditch the crappy dinner plate of a shield for the real protection of a tower but with acceleration strike up (which is always with 6points spent) and 8 points in haste AA I bring my 5 sec delay weapon down to 2.6 seconds and hit for 1500-1750 dmg (3600 w/ 2h).

Correct me if my thinking is wrong but would not a weapon with a 2.6 sec delay weapon do more damage then the same weapon with a 5 sec delay

Crunching some numbers:

2.6 delay 100dmg = 38.46 DPS

5 delay 100 dmg = 20 DPS + 50% double attack = +10 DPS = 30 DPS.

I know this is not exactly right but is my thinking even close ?

Thanks

Ryuujin

No.

1. You're not getting anywhere near 92% actual haste from the INT line alone. Then comparing that to a weapon with 0% Haste is way overstating your case.

2. Taking the STA line doesn't preclude you from having Acceleration Strike - I'm 4-4-8-8 STA and 4-1 INT myself.

3. Haste is the damage multiplier most effected by not timing your combat arts and autoattacks correctly. A delayed autoattack will negate some or all of the DPS benefit of Haste, but you will still have the same chance at a double attack.

4. With Gladiator's Revenge, the avoidance difference is not significant unless you have something like the Shield of the Green Dragon. With Virtue's Guard, I think I lose avoidance when I switch to a T8 Legendary or T7 Fabled Tower Shield. (And I did fine using a T8 Treasured buckler before I got Virtue's Guard.)

If you prefer to go Tower Shield, that's your perogative, but don't try and talk yourself into thinking you do more DPS that way because it's absolutely not true.

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Judist

INT line is pretty much a standard regardless of your shield preference. What was your previous spec? Typically...

Tower: Str-Agi-Int
Buckler: Str-Sta-Int

Falken

was probably str-agi-sta spec.

str-sta-int for the win!

Kelstat

previous was

4-4-5 STR

4-4-4 AGIL

4-4-8-6-2 STA

Now as

4-4-4 STR

4-4-5 AGIL

4-6-8-4-2 INT

So for me it is either STA or INT. only 64 so only 50 points.

Agil is the one line I will not give up. AoE attacks are godsend for my tanking style, and STR well crits just look cool.

To the fellow who mentioned haste effecting timing of attacks. Sure haste with a 3 or less speed weapon. Thats why I pick slow weapon at 5 speed and hasted to 2.6 i can easily make 2 CA's and never miss an auto attack. with my old 1.6 sped weapon i missed all the time. And just getting Accel strike DOES not get the job done for int, the end skill alone is rocking, I came from an assassin so beleieve me casting and reuse will up your DPS more then anything you do to your auto attacks.

Im not trying to say bucklers suck outright but there are cetainly other possibilities out there for those who dont like that route.

nigh

"I came from an assassin so beleieve me casting and reuse will up your DPS more then anything you do to your auto attacks."

There is nothing wrong with doing things your own way, but there is already info about this out there, check through the forums and you'll find it. You should not be using a 1.6 delay weapon, so it's good that you realized that. Put your horse back in the stall tho please, you are not the only person who has tried something other than buckler. Do you really think 12% reuse and 30% recovery speed is better than 60% DA? I know you are limited due to the number of AAs you have, but your quote above seems to suggest you do believe that.

Judist

Sounds like you pull multiple encounters. I'd consider going zerker if thats the case, they deal AE damage 10x better naturally and are great tanks for blazing thru instances.

Otherwise, the lack of multi-mob encounters in RoK means most guards who dabble in Agi only go 4-1 (extra AoE for reinforce) or they spec down the whole line for Reflexes.

And when you combine Sta with Int you get real results for solid DPS.

Kelstat

I sure do believe 37% reuse and 60% recoverys is better then ANYTHING you can do to your autoattacks. This incluses double attacks, crits, and Poisons, go on over to assassin forums and take a peek they figured this one out a long time ago (why do you think agil/repeated stabbing is highest DPS build for a Sin?)

And go berserker, pffft why not just shoot myself in the foot while im at it.

Kelstat

No I pull whole rooms.

Ryuujin

INT line gives you 12% reuse, not 37%. 60% recovery is nice, but it just lets you crank out a little bit more burst damage, saving .3s per CA.

Keep in mind that you're playing a Guardian, not an Assassin, and what's best for one isn't necessarily best for the other. Assassin DPS is combat art heavy, thus focusing on CA damage over Autoattack is optimal. When Guardians get CA's as good as Assassins, you may have a point.

I'm not hating on the INT line either - I like it a lot and wish I had more points to spend in the Warrior tree. But if you're taking it instead of the STA line, you're losing DPS plain and simple.

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