Blade Combat Vs. Duel Wielding, other DE matters...

[Totalimmortal 0]

question, fellow members of the illustrious forum... I am playing a DE (IDK what level now... I havent played in a few days =[...) but I have both duel wielding and blade combat skills... why does it seem to me that my level 50 something blade combat doesn't affect my attack speed or damage? I used to use a DE blade and an enlightened iron... (gotta love the + to finding special items) but I was dealing a petty 200 something damage per hit, (I had only like a level 20 duel wielding) I recently switched to using the ethan rhys's (spelling) sword/shield... noticed a HUUUUUGE Difference in damage and attack speed. I was wondering if duel wielding negates the bonus given by blade combat? I feel kind of like a fool after finalizing all the skills of my DE if I wasted one skill like that... I was wondering what your recommended DE builds are? Best CA/Traps? Best set items? I'm looking to make a new DE after this one... also, what ranged items do DE get besides crossbows? what good is the J'dahn'nielo's mastery set (+72 Ranged Combat when you complete the set)?

Appreciate it my brethren,

-Total

[FrostElfGuard 9]

My DEs are trappers. I love trappers. I sometimes take Pak Dain (Return Projectiles) just for fun. It is nice to see the damage reflected and amplified by your Weapon Lore. Often, the archers kill themselves in one hit!

 

Some people's DE's are melee fighters. I don't like melee fighting much. But other people do.

 

The two styles are all about what skill choices you took.

 

I don't even take Blade Combat anymore--I can oversocket to avoid the BC requirements of set items. So, why bother, I don't hit things with blades/swords/etc...

 

With Dual Wield, if you have two weapons, the DW skill level is used. If you have single weapon, it is the higher of DW or BC. (For attack rating and weapon speed to the cap of 220 attack speed.)

 

Hope you have lots of fun with Sacred.

[griffman 0]

I just wanted to address a few things frosty left out:

 

1. DW or Blade Combat don't increase damage at all. They increase your attack speed and attack rating. The increase you see is from the fact that you went from 2 weapons to 1 weapon and probably also the quality of the weapons. If I'm not mistaken, the damage for DW weapons is calculated by averaging the two weapons, so each hit would be an average of the damages caused by the weapons alone.

 

2. It isn't of much use to take both DW and blade combat. One basically negates the other, as only one weaponry lore (except for 1 or maybe a few more cases) affects the attack speed/AR of the weapons. One example that doesn't follow the rule is blade combat and unarmed combat - but only if you are using the small blades for the DE.

 

3. Trappers can be very strong. I know moon_reaper has a wonderful build for an explosive charge DE somewhere... and there are many builds for poison mist DE's. Melee DEs are also very strong. Tharkane has a very helpful guide when building many different types of DEs here.

 

4. As far as sets go, you really want to just take a look at all the sets and see if any of them benefit the way you want to play your DE. He is very versatile, and each set offers something different from the others. Personally I tend to use whatever set item helps me out the most in it's own slot, and not really worry about what the complete set bonus offers. In most cases they aren't spectacular, and hardly worth the effort.

 

 

I just wanted to quickly expand on the DW versus BC thing...

 

I have 2 exact of the same weapon for my approx. level 130 melee DE. I took DW, no BC with him. Using the same CA, and no extra bonuses from a shield, the DE did about 40k more damage. I'm talking a jump from 80k to 120k per hit from the attack CA. I'm not saying that a DW player is weaker, but this is just one thing I've found with this DE. I've remade him, and instead of taking DW I'm taking BC. So far so good

[Totalimmortal 0]

Good deal. Thanks guys. I never really paid attention whilst making my dude, he's more an opportunity-taker. He takes whatever skill seems the best at the time without regards for the future. At the moment, I like to call him a trapping trading musclehead with a bit of luck and a hidden talent in duel wielding. lol. thanks a lot guys for clearing up my questions, appreciate it.

-Total