Weapon Speed

[myusernameistaken]

Hi, first of probably many newb posts :)

I've seen people suggesting fast or slow weapons based on class types and I don't really understand it, especially when people are recommending slower weapons.

If DPS is the same, when is it important to look at weapon speed?

Cheers!

[Stigg]

Some classes (like rogues) get abilities that are instant attacks and deal weapon damage +XX amount. SO, if you have a weapon that does 20 damage in 2 seconds (10 dps) or 40 damage in 4 seconds (10 dps), you will want the 4 seconds and 40 damamge, because you get the ability to use that weapon every so often from the instant attack.

So it would look something like this(lets say that XX was 10 damage...):
with the 20 dps: (this is over the same 8 second interval....)

20 damage
20 damage
30 damage
20 dmg
20 damage
30 damage
=140 damage

now with the 40 damage weapon...
40 damage
50 damage
40 damage
50 damage
=180 damage

40 damage extra, or about 30% extra damage

But, rogues can dual wield, and the extra attack is for their main-hand only....so in their off-hand, they are going to want somehting quick...as the cahnce to miss with the OH is much greater than with their MH.

Other players enjoy seeing big numbers, and big crits, so theygo for the slower higher damage dealng weapons. Other players like the quickness of faster weapons, so they choose those.

[myusernameistaken]

Ah nice one - that makes sense, I'll now have to look over my various character's abilities to see what does what.

My hunter then would want a slower bow (which he has) as stuff like Arcane Shot and Concussive Shot are instant attacks. When he gets Dual Wield in a level I was planning on sword in main hand and dagger in off-hand (just for looks really)... would that be shooting myself in the foot?

I've got a Dwarf Paladin and an Orc Warrior too so I'll have to figure them out as well... I was aiming for axe and shield for the former and polearm for the latter. Any quick recommendations would be appreciated.

Cheers for the reply Stigg, from what I've read so far you seem to be the man :grin:

[Stigg]

Lack of knowledge on hunters about to shine through...

IIRC, hunters don't have any instant abilities that are damage based on the ranged weapon. I.e. your Arcane shot actually only is based on your ranged attack power....so a gun that does 1 damage is going to do the same as a gun that does 1000000 damage for your arcane shot. Same with your melee abilities....

And I am not even going to attempt to talk about warriors and pallys....I'll leave that to people that have played them above level 1! *Cough* tanitha get your hiney in here *cough*


Cheers for the reply Stigg, from what I've read so far you seem to be the man
lol @ that

[elmoreb]

Slow weapons benefit hutners to a certain extent, but so do faster weapons depending on talents.

Slow weapons affect the damage from multishot and aimed shot.

Fast weapons benefit from chance to proc talents like Improved Aspect of the Hawk, Expose Weakness, and Master tactician. Fast weapons also recieve more benefit from scopes. Adding +10 damage to a 2.0 speed weapon increase the DPS by 5, while adding 10 damage to a 3.0 speed weapon only increases the DPS by 3.3.

And as Stigg said, arcane shot is based on ranged attack power, rather than the weapon itself.


Melee weapons for a hunter dont really matter except the stats on them. The exception to that is in PvP. The biggest, slowest 2 hander is usually best. Ideally, you would only swing it once anyway, so big hits are more important.

[stoutewolf]

It kind of depends on fluff abit too. Rogues are more likely to wield daggers or short swords than a hammer etc.Humans are more likely to fight with swords and
maces than axes.

I will equip my dwarf with a huge two-hand axe once I can afford it.

[Felix Niebuhr]

For warriors, arms ones at least, the same goes: You want as slow a twohander as you can find. As has already been explained, the DPS might be the same but thats the white damage. Yellow damage, I.E. your skills, will benefit greatly from a slower weapon. Think about a mortal strike, it costs 30 rage no matter what weapon you use. But if you use a 2.0 weapon, it will only give you half the damage compared to if you had used a 4.0 weapon with same DPS.

[myusernameistaken]

Excellent - cheers for the replies. Makes sense.

Elmoreb, my hunter has Improved Aspect of the Hawk so looks like a faster bow is in order :)