Quote Originally Posted by Spider-Dan View Post
Instead, we have a system where high DPS weapons almost completely obsolete high DMG weapons, so it's 6 of one or a half-dozen of the other. I prefer a system where you choose between slow, hard-hitting weapons or faster, lighter weapons, but when the faster weapons also hit the hardest, it kind of kills the comparison.

Anyway, a few things bear mentioning:

- DPS never accounts for anything but DMG/delay; this means that the ATK+30 on Ifrit (or whatever you have melded to Sarnga) will not factor in. Given that Garuda has no real +damage bonuses, Garuda's DPS is not quite representative.
- Verdant Shortbow's DPS is significantly higher than Ifrit, and the DMG is slightly better than Garuda (along with having DEX+3 and ATK+5). Might be worth considering.
- Does Sarnga+1 even have better DPS than Garuda? Melds should easily push it over the top, but still...
What you're saying makes little sense, since high DPS weapons can also be high Damage weapons. The point of making WS damage based on DPS is so that you can chose between faster and lighter hitting weapons versus slower and harder hitting weapons.

A good example is the Sarnga +1. The HQ increases the Damage value enough to push the DPS above that of Garuda's Spine, although marginally. At the same time this is a weapon that is slow and hits hard like Ifrit's Bow.

As for your mentioning the Verdant Shortbow, it's DPS value is 38, whereas Ifrit's Bow DPS value is 36.74. So indeed going by the logic behind why I suggest the Spine, the Shortbow may seem like it can have an edge over Ifrit's, however there's still the large attack power buff to overcome as well as the additional fire damage. While on most weapons the fire damage may not amount to much, on a job/class where most of the damage comes from Light Shots it is worth noting. That all being said, Garuda's Spine has a DPS value of 40.96, which is greater than Verdant even more than Verdant is greater than Ifrit's. On top of that it also has additional wind damage comparable to Ifrit's fire damage.

That all being said, while DPS may be the primary factor when it comes to determining a weapon for DoW, ARC/BRD may follow a different path due to it's deviation in the distribution of damage between AA and WS compared to the rest. I won't argue if reputable players that have done thorough testing say they prefer Ifrit's Bow due to the higher Damage value bolstering their Light Shots being that the testing I have done has not been methodical or very thorough. I can say that the difference isn't very large between Ifrit's and Garuda's when it comes to BRD I suppose.

For ARC though, I don't see myself ever allowing an ARC as a DD into a full party scenario over a BRD unless they have a Sarnga (+1) as well as a full Gryphonskin set all melded properly. Being that both the weapon and the entire set come packed with DEX and PIE on every piece and can all be melded coupled with the high Damage and DPS of the Sarnga+1 allowing for heavy hitting Light Shots as well as increased stat caps I can see ARC getting a significant edge in DPS over BRD that way.