Exenterator

I'm fuzzy on the math so thought I'd ask... Are the Scopuli Nails better for SA Exenterator than AF3+2? Pretty sure it is but I wanted to confirm.
IE - is 10 dex better than 5 agi for SA -> Exenterator

Also, is there an easy way to compare those stats in general for this situation? What I mean is... Can you say X dex = Y agi for SA -> Exenterator?

AGI is still better than DEX because the DEX bonus only applies to the first hit.

I don't really know which is better, though.

12 base damage (with AF3+2 hands multiplier) from 10 DEX on one hit vs 4.25 base damage from 5 AGI on all hits. 3+ hits and it's better, and you're DWing on a 4-hit WS so you've got 5 hits pre-multiattack. Between the two, AF3 for sure.

Thanks man. That's exactly what I needed to know. Kinda off-topic, but is that 85% multiplier you used for AGI the standard for all merit weaponskills?

it's applied to all mods on all WS

The WSC% for all 5/5 merit WS is 100%, but there's an additional multiplier we refer to as "alpha" applied to all weaponskills that takes your WSC and multiplies it by 85%. The result is the value that is actually added to your base damage.

Gotcha.
Lol. Got Sylow for the quick, straight to the point answers, and Nightfyre for the explanations. You guys make a great team =P

I did a breakdown of each stat's contribution to damage for SA Exen the other week, and came up with:


Factoring in my Exen set's QA/TA/DA rate, I come up with 3DEX:AGI for with AF3+2, or 3.6DEX:AGI without. No Critical Damage+ gear, only 14% from the trait.

So unless I find some boots with +45 dex, I guess I'll stick with AF3+2 =D
(being facetious of course)

Offhand damage has absolutely nothing to do with your WS damage. The "offhand" hit uses the damage of your main-hand.

Your numbers are also way off. Look at your contribution from fSTR (which basically equates to a 29% mod with a cap) compared to AGI (100% mod with no cap).

Pretty sure that's incorrect.

I could be wrong about that, but I stand by the fSTR/AGI part!

Yes, fSTR is a large mod on this WS. In fact, it's better than AGI per point because it's counted every swing, and not multiplied by alpha. Too bad it takes 4~ STR to get an fSTR.

It would be better to write it in terms of STR.
The "f" in fSTR refers to function (STR-VIT difference function)

You don't get an fSTR, you increase the value of fSTR by 1.

It's a semantic difference but if you're going to write mathematically ...

I'm glad I left it fSTR, if I hadn't, people would think adding a point of STR meant a damn more than one time in four.

Actually in practice, it does, because fSTR composes dSTR, a function of two independent variables.

Unless you're calculating the VIT of every target and adjusting your STR accordingly - a practice which I would fully support in theory.

I think I remember some Mystic Boon testing that indirectly confirmed that.

I'll be damned, is fSTR not floored?

It's not "floored" in the sense that it's a discrete function and never takes non integer values.

But if you are fighting a target and dSTR=43, you're wasting 3 points of STR essentially. When you switch targets and the new one has one less VIT, the value of fSTR increases.

On paper we usually don't care about it because we assume constant VIT on targets, but in reality, target VIT varies and you can't just assume that dSTR is always divisible by 4.

Other important things to consider is that daggers cap out on fSTR very low. You'll never get more than 14 points of base damage from fSTR with a dagger, compared to the (likely) hundred+ you'll be getting fom AGI. You can add 4 STR for a guaranteed +1 or you can add 1 AGI for (usually) the same effect.

I stand by that the way your formula is written, the effects of STR appear to be inflated even if it's technically correct the way I've defined things.

You can just not floor fSTR and this sufficiently expresses target variance in your average. (+3 STR will increase the value of fSTR 75% of the time ~ fSTR += 0.75)

I'm not sure you get to call someone 'technically' correct when it's your own misinterpretation at fault.

If I'm misinterpreting something, you'll probably want to be more clear.

Not my problem if you don't see how one higher fSTR is better than a point of AGI on Exen.

They're only different (in terms of adding one more) if your AGI divided by 20 has a remainder of 0 or 13.

But no amount of modular arithmetic will explain why I'm wasting so much energy on a poor representation of a poor model based on poor assumptions.

It excites me sexually when two people nerd out and fight over math on an internet forum.

A great quote with a great avatar. Double lols to you, sir.

Random question, if I'm main handing twashtar, should I be offhanding centovente, lux, evasion dagger, or asteria?

Str-Thokcha

Until you get that, Aluh Jambiya would probably be best/almost as good anyways.

(I am well aware that those are not the options given, but you should at least get Aluh Jambiya.)

STR Thokcha.