Weapons Question

[hongman]

I am stuck for choice between 2 swords right now.

I currently own 2 x Centurion's Sword, which has a DMG:19 and ATT+4 ACC+3

I was looking at getting the Divine Sword - DMG:23

Which is better?

Does the ATT+4 and ACC+3 make it even par with the Divine Sword? Hows does this work?

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Re: Weapons Question

In addition to overall damage, it's worth paying attention to the delay of the weapon as well. Most sites will list a calculated stat known as Damage Per Second (DPS), which reflects the balance between damage and delay. The higher the DPS of a weapon, the greater its "efficiency" at dealing damage.

Sometimes, a weapon will give only slightly higher damage, but at a steep increase in delay. This will show up as the higher damage weapon having a lower DPS. In this case, however, Divine Sword not only has higher damage, but also higher DPS.

While the attack and accuracy bonuses of Centurion Sword might seem like a slam dunk, keep the following in mind. You can improve stats like attack and accuracy through other equipment slots and food. You cannot, however, enhance your weapon's damage rating that way.

Since you mention having two Centurions, I'm assuming that you are dual weilding swords. I'd suggest using Divine Sword in the main hand while keeping a Centurion Sword in the offhand. In general, I go after raw damage in the main hand and go for high DPS / stat boosts in the offhand.

[hongman]

Re: Weapons Question

Yes, I like having 2 Swords for when I occsionally go on a murder hunt of Yags. As of yet my NIN is far far off being a fully lvled sub.

So in this case the Divine is indeed a better sword to go with - tho I also like your idea of having one of each....

Thanks

[Skoal]

Re: Weapons Question

DPS only accounts for normal hits and not weapon skills. If you were to never use any weapon skills or any job abilities that caused damage, then looking at only dps would be the case.

Example:
Spear vs Lance

The spear has a higher dps but the damage is 16 points lower than the lance. I am missing that 16 points of weapon damage on my 2 jumps and my weapon skills. Grant it, not every job looks at weapons the same way. This is just an example why dps isn't always the best thing to look for in a weapon.

[Kafeen]

Re: Weapons Question

In the case you specify using 2 weapons I'd say the Centurion's are better. The +4 Attack on them will effect both weapons not only the sword with the bonus. On top of that you also have the added accuracy never hurts.

[hongman]

Re: Weapons Question

Ok, ll just stick with the Cents then. I do see your points though.

Next sword I should get? Any Reco's? Ill look later but never hurts to ask

[Skoal]

Re: Weapons Question

Hunting Sword

This is the nq version and War sword is the hq. This sword has the best DPS and damage rating (for normal quality weapons not hq).

EDIT: I just assumed you were a war.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Re: Weapons Question

I had forgotten about Hunting Sword. It's definitely better than Divine Sword... provided you can equip it.

To the OP: are you talking about gearing up RDM/NIN? If so, then unfortunately you will not be able to use Hunting Sword.

Also, you mentioned mass Yagudo hunting. Does that mean you primarily use it for farming? This probably means that +atk and +acc aren't as critical as it would be if you were trying to gear up to be a melee DD in an exp party. I'd suggest going with whatever has 1) low delay, 2) high damage and 3) low cost. It's annoying getting that "You must wait longer" message when engaging the next mob. And there's really no need to break the bank on a coveted weapon for a marginal statistical increase which may or may not affect your farming efficiency.

[Armando]

Re: Weapons Question

The spear has a higher dps but the damage is 16 points lower than the lance. I am missing that 16 points of weapon damage on my 2 jumps and my weapon skills. Grant it, not every job looks at weapons the same way. This is just an example why dps isn't always the best thing to look for in a weapon.

This is true, but most weapons of the same type don't have such a huge disparity in DMG/Delay. If we're talking about a difference of 1-3 points of DMG, it's not really enough to throw WS into question; odds are that the increase in DMG/sec, even if small, will outweigh whatever small loss you took to WS damage.

In the case you specify using 2 weapons I'd say the Centurion's are better. The +4 Attack on them will effect both weapons not only the sword with the bonus. On top of that you also have the added accuracy never hurts.

If you look at it that way, it may seem that way, but if you compare their DMG/sec directly...well...Divine Sword has a DMG/sec of 5.92, and Centurion's Sword has a DMG/sec of 5.07. The ratio of Divine Sword's DMG/sec to Cent. Sword's is 5.92/5.07 = 1.17, which basically means that the Attack/Accuracy aside, the Divine Sword does 17% more raw damage than Centurion Sword, leaving the Cent. Sword to play "catch up" with its other stats. 3 Acc and 4 Attack can't provide a 17% boost to raw damage.

Anyways, you really gotta be more specific. I mean, Hunting/War Swords obviously blow everything out of the water, but they're WAR/PLD (and DRK, for whatever it's worth) exclusive. Also, some HQs are significantly better than their NQs due to not only getting higher DMG, but also reduced Delay (take a good look at Republic Sword,) so you'd also have to tell us how much of a budget you're working on. And, of course, like Lyonheart said, it also depends on what you'll be using it for...

[Skoal]

Re: Weapons Question

This is true, but most weapons of the same type don't have such a huge disparity in DMG/Delay. If we're talking about a difference of 1-3 points of DMG, it's not really enough to throw WS into question; odds are that the increase in DMG/sec, even if small, will outweigh whatever small loss you took to WS damage.

In swords and daggers most of the time you won't find more than a few dmg points difference. If you look at staff vs poles, short bow vs longbow, spear vs lances, rods/club/wands vs hammers (just a few examples) they have more than a few points difference. Of course this is not an absolute. Just trying to spread the message that not all jobs look for dps to determine what kind of weapon to use.

By all means use the swords you have if this is going to be used for farming.

[hongman]

Re: Weapons Question

Well, Ill be more specific.

Im a RDM/BLM main, so in parties I dont melee anymore at all.

But, I DO fight a lot solo. Hence why I am in the process of lvling up NIN. Farming is also a biggy for me, especially right now with trying to raise my Tens fame.

1) Solo fighting. I have just got my NPC buddy so I am in the process of figting EP's with him, as they must check higher than DC for him (Im 38, he's 30). I do this in between lfp's in Qufim.

2) Famring. I know some might disagree, but taking into consideration that I dont believe in mass AOE killing, I tend to pull loads and then stand and melee them all down. Even as 38RDM/11NIN, just for the fact I can dual wield, cuts the time down of slashing through 10-20 Yags considerably.

I also like to keep my sword skill capped, hence I sometimes get on of my LS buds to keep a DC-EM on them while I hack away.

Budget - well I if I am to get what I paid for the 2 Cent's (50k combined) and I dont mind investing a little...say 60-70K for 2 Swords?

Also, I heard I should be keeping my dagger skill up as well - my Dagger Skill is at 16 Is this true?

OR...should I just wait till 40 and get a pair of Buzzard Tucks (1. Cheap cheap!! 5k for both swords!) or get the Flame Degen (maybe +1 if I can)

Descisions Descisions..

[Jei]

Re: Weapons Question

I prefer to use sword myself. And I think /thf is superior for weak mobs farming just for the better drop rate of items and gil.

I'm not a big fan of daggers usually. They have their use, but honestly for 3 years I have never used dagger. Well except for some rare occasion that I open skill chain for friends to break their weapons.

[Icemage]

Re: Weapons Question

Dagger isn't really a consideration until muuuch later for RDM. Daggers have low base damage, but are fast. This is good when using Enspells, not so good if you need to deal physical damage (until you get access to the quested weaponskill Evisceration in your 70s). Until then you can mostly ignore Dagger skill and never really miss it.

Buzzard Tuck is a great sword with a 6.16 DPS rating. However, it's Rare, so you can only ever have one, and the Enspell damage boost only applies to hits made with the Buzzard Tuck (i.e. won't work on your other weapon when dual wielding). It's still a nice weapon though, and totally worth picking up if you solo a lot as RDM in your 40s or for level cap 40 activities.


Icemage

[hongman]

Re: Weapons Question

Cool thanks - I didnt notice the Rare flag. And also thansk for the Dagger info!