Offhand for almace

[hideka]

OA1-2 Khanda or OA2-4 Khanda? which would do best?
im sure the questions been posted before.

[Neisan_Quetz]

The answer was Str Shamshir.

[hideka]

somehow i dont think str and attack is going to beat out OAT and OA2-4 for almace :/ i could be wrong tho. im sure someones tested the numbers for it.

[Neisan_Quetz]

ODD and both suck for overall damage say sup

[Transmit]

I personally use the Double Attack Khanda and love it. BLU/war can easily hit 30+% DA and 8% Triple Attack with it, which tops the OAT, plus it has much higher damage. Though I am working on a STR sword on the side.

[Prothscar]

STR Shamshir is the only option. Double Attack and OA2 fall behind due to their delays, and the OA2's base damage. OA4 isn't even worth mentioning.

The attack and STR from a fire shamshir is very valuable.

DEX Shamshir is suitable for situations where your ACC is horrible, but those situations hardly exist. Even in voidwatch, Stalwart's and food will be enough fix that issue, often just the stalwarts.

Ephemeron, I would argue, is the strongest offhand however.

[Transmit]

Is the gap between the STR sword and the DA one really that large when gearing specfically for CDC spamming?

I mean the slightly increased delay (22 with the DA sword, it doesnt receive the +12 extra delay that the OAT ones get) pushes my TP per hit spot on to 5 TP a swing, which in a way is nice for rounding getting to 100% reliably. In most situations where I do go CDC spam I usually sub WAR, so berserk really covers any lack of attack my BLU has along with appropriate food / Stalwarts etc. +11% Double attack is a big increase in attack speed as well as WS damage.

I'm not saying the DA sword is better, I'm saying is it really such a gap to say "STR is the only option"

[Prothscar]

Yes it's a big enough gap. STR is the only sword worth using if you do not need Accuracy or do not have an Ephemeron. Your extra TP per hit accounts for 1 attack round worth of TP. The extra delay shaved off of the Khanda is worth more than that.

[Prothscar]

What did I just read? If you value your BLU, do not take the above poster's advice.

[Tashan]

Hey Guys,

The discussion of "which sword is best" is certainly one which has taken place time and time again throughout the history of Azure Lore. Before anything, I want to just say please don't feel disconcerned or uncomfortable for not being able to gauge the differences between the vast options available.

I for one can completely relate to this:

I'm not saying the DA sword is better, I'm saying is it really such a gap to say "STR is the only option"

Indeed, it's difficult to correctly discern what the gap is without prior knowledge or informed discussion. For one, I personally could not tell how much of difference it was at first without some parsed testing, research and talking to some better informed players. I felt that if I was going to put all this time and effort into something it had better be noticeable. More often than not for Blue Mage it's the subtle benefits which make the biggest differences.

DPS - Damage Per Second. Calculated as DPS = DMG/(Delay/60). The higher a weapons DPS, the better it is before considering additional effects.

OA2-4 Weapon

• 30 Base Damage - The Base Damage on these weapons are comparable to that which a LV47 Blue Mage could use. What this leaves you with is poor damage over time. The only way a weapon with such low DMG could be worthwhile is whether the delay was so low its DPS (damage per second) ends up actually very high.
• 264 Delay - Unfortunantly the delay on these weapons is very high, lowering your DPS drastically.
• Effect - Does the effect outweigh these downsides? Unfortunatly no. It tries to balance itself out with this effect but the downsides of the aforemention two points is so great it's not worth it.

OA2 Weapon

• 51 Base Damage - This base damage is better than the OA2-4 weapon but still below average.
• 264 Delay - Unfortunantly the delay on this weapon is still very high. While the higher base damage does make the DPS better, it's still below average for Blue Mage Weapons at this level.
• Effect - Last year this weapon was tested to have a ~40% proc rate. I don't know whether it still is but even if you attacked twice 90% of the time it would not be enough to outweigh the benefits of the alternative weapons.

Whilst the concept of additional attacks may seem attractive, it actually does very little to improve a Blue Mage's offense. I'll illustrate why whilst covering the upcoming weapons:

Double Attack +11

• 62 Base Damage - The base damage for this sword is respectable for LV99.
• 252 Delay - The delay for this sword is lower than that of the OA? weapons but is still very high for the average Blue Mage weapon.
• Effect - The juciy part of this weapon is its DA +11. While DA+11 procs a less than the OAT weapons, the mechanics of Double Attack outshine them.

  --> The effect "Occasionally Attacks" procs only on the weapon which it is stated for. The effect "Double Attack" can proc on either weapon whilst Dual-Wielding, or even both weapons.

  --> The effect "Occasionally Attacks" procs only on melee swings. The effect "Double Attack" can proc on melee swings and also twice on weaponskill's. For example: Chant Du Cygne is a 3-Hit Weaponskill. When dual-wielding, your offhand weapon can make it a 4-Hit Weaponskill. Should double attack proc twice during the weaponskill, it becomes 6-Hits. The limit on this is 8-Hits per Weaponskill.

  --> The effect "Occasionally Attacks" and "Double Attack" do not stack with each other. In addition the effects also have a priority order:

  • Quadruple Attack
  • OA4
  • Triple Attack
  • OA3
  • Double Attack
  • OA2

As the effects do not lend themselves to each other, when one activates the rest are equivalent to nothing. e.g. If your DA activates, your OA2 is worthless. With all the Double Attack enhancements available to Blue Mage that you'll most likely be taking advantage of, you are better off increasing the effect rather than working on another.

STR Weapon

• 61 Base Damage - Respectful.
• 230 Delay - Combined with the base DMG the delay results in a good DPS rating.
• Effect - Without getting too precise, STR increases the damage of Melee swings, weaponskills, physical blue spells. It also contributes to secondary STR modifiers should the spell or WS have one. The additional 27 attack also increases the damage of your Melee Swings and Weaponskills.

While it is difficult to express fully in a summary, the reason why the STR sword outshines all of the other Magian weapons is because of the increase in damage it provides to practically everything you will be doing offensively.

If you would like more specific details or have any questions please ask.

Hope this helped.