So I picked up one of the new 2hand blunts from mammon the other day, and realized that I was doing a fairly good amount of damage. Something my dorf never did before.
I then thought to myself, perhaps I'd do alot more damage if I got some tats. Realizing how much CON dorfs have inherently, I got a +4 DEX and +3 STR w/ -7 to CON. My thought process was that even with -9 CON I'd still end up with more CON and HP than my SK, and he's always fared quite fine tanking and against stuns.
Lo and behold, my dorf now owns in pve, and is actually incredibly fun to play. I thought it would damage my poling abilities but I actually think I'm better at it now, because with the increased damage and crits, VR kicks in alot more, meaning alot less heals are needed. With the 2hand blunt I do amazingly well soloing, and even better with a boxed SE. If I can ever manage to loot an Ice Storm Hammer off of the ice spiders, and put a focus SA on it, I dare think of the damage I'd be capable of. I might actually be viable in pvp! :eek:
The damage difference between 1 handed vs 2 handed is 1,2% in damage. It feels like you hit for more alright as your P.atk goes up, but your atk speed drops a lot as well.
The only thing you earn using an 2 handed blunt vs 1 handed is in shots, and if your target is running, Thats about it.
My experience on the PTS with the new 2 handed blunts was fun I will say. For A grade I would suggest Tallum heavy and a destroyer hammer with Haste on it. I was pulling aggro a lot set up this way in parties (well I never did get the hatse SA but greater swift attack pots had my attack speed up there :) )
The crits are what do it for me with the 2hand. I was grouped with a BD and an SwS. Both of them were higher lvl than I, and I consistantly stole their agro. When was the last time you stole agro from a BD while playing a dorf?
Also keep in mind my 2hand blunt isn't even B grade, it's just top C, and I'm grouping in apostate at lvl 53.
Pulling aggro does not necessarily indicate greater DPS.
Perhaps, but it does indicate that I'm actually doing a significant amount of damage, or that I may be critting higher than both a BD and SwS. This means that now I may actually be a viable damage dealing member of a pve group, where as before I was just the little dorf that nobody wanted to party, short of pole groups.
Just a comment on the tats. I'm -7 con on my warlord (+3/+2 dex/-con, +3/-2 dex/con from doom light), and it really helps for pve with VR.
More HP doesn't mean you will take less damage. +Con means you will kill slower as you sacrificed dex or str. If you add VR to the mix, you can almost say you tank *better* with --con, the only difference is a thinner safety margin, should you mess up.
Sucks for pvp though since that +5% dps or whatever it is doesn't mean jack when you're melee, but the -1k hp does. For endgame (if I ever get there) I want to do +5 con/-dex since my only strong points is stun and durability.
A dagger, once up close to a target, has an equal or higher DPS than an archer - but you never really see grabbing aggro off the archer.
Large-damage crits are a decisive factor, one which BDs, for example, lack due to using two-swing weapons.
So even though you might be critting only once in a blue moon, each of those crits will make mobs notice you.
Go use a two-hand sword, or duals, for actual damage output - maybe even a dagger, but not having general masteries makes that more unadvisable unless full crit buffs are present.
Pulling aggro doesn't make you a valuable member, it makes you a liability.
A dagger, once up close to a target, has an equal or higher DPS than an archer - but you never really see grabbing aggro off the archer.
Large-damage crits are a decisive factor, one which BDs, for example, lack due to using two-swing weapons.
So even though you might be critting only once in a blue moon, each of those crits will make mobs notice you.
Go use a two-hand sword, or duals, for actual damage output - maybe even a dagger, but not having general masteries makes that more unadvisable unless full crit buffs are present.
Pulling aggro doesn't make you a valuable member, it makes you a liability.
If daggers and archers are such huge liabilities, why do they find groups so easily?
Think i once upon a time long forgotten read in the patch notes/news that mobs gain more hate towards the one with lowest lvl. Or that they even might start attacking them a bit by random.
That depends on the type of mob I think. Some monsters have different ways of aggroing.
Group mobs is a good example. Crit the leader and watch where his minions go. Crit a minion and they hardly care. Kill the leader while you have aggro and you will never lose it.
Go use a two-hand sword, or duals, for actual damage output - maybe even a dagger, but not having general masteries makes that more unadvisable unless full crit buffs are present.
Pulling aggro doesn't make you a valuable member, it makes you a liability.
This is gonna depend on whether or not blunt mastery applies to the 2 handed blunt. All of my dwarves' attack speed with duals, crit swords, etc are all WAY down from the blunts. The DPS doesn't add up, it's not even close.
masteries only apply to P.atk yes thats it, and at highest lv it adds 120 P.atk or so about there.
example duals, Tsu*SLS +4 give a hell a lot more damage then blutn at least up to A grade, S grade may be different havent done the damage thoght.
Ofcorse an unbuffed dwarf don't earn on the duals, but buffed, aka you hit for 3x the damage on a crit adn crit 5 times as often. The damage adds up quite fast.
A tip Look at the P.atk never show the real damage you dash out.