Ok just got back from testing in Act 1 Hell versus Fallen, Quill rats and Zombies. Both tests done without Venom activated (obviously).
With 1 75% CB item on (Cranium Basher): Progress was good. The weapon damage undoubtedly helped Blade Fury a lot though. But I did see diminishing returns on Fallen life which suggests that Crushing Blow was doing the work, not Blade Fury's physical damage. There where times when the blade would hit but the life bar wouldn't move, suggesting a fail to Crush. Very rare though. Takes 2-3 blades to kill a Fallen. First one hurts it down to half, second to a quarter, third pretty much kills it.
With no CB items on at all (wielded a white Flanged Mace): Progress sucked. Monster health bars barely moved. Blade Fury damage was less than 50.
With two 60% total CB items on (Guilliame's Face + Goblin Toe): Much slower progress. Again, weapon damage MAY have played a part, but I saw a lot more "crush misses" (ie, blade hits that seemed to do no damage). It's pure murder trying to do the den without the Cranium Basher wielded. You can't finish off anything - all these fallen running back and forth with tiny slivers of life, ARGH. I started using Dragon Tail, still without wielding a weapon, and it was much better - I could actually kill fallen. So the physical damage has to come in useful for getting the finishing blow. I did NOT see the life bar drop any faster with two items - it appeared that a successful Blade Fury hit took off the same amount of life bar as it did when I was wielding Cranium Basher and no other gear. And believe me, I threw a LOT of blades.
With full gear on (Guilliame's + Goblin Toe + Stormlash + Rattlecage) and Venom: Like night and day. Destroying things in 2 blades, or one full kick sequence.
It looks like CB takes half the life bar though. That can't be right.
With 1 75% CB item on (Cranium Basher): Progress was good. The weapon damage undoubtedly helped Blade Fury a lot though. But I did see diminishing returns on Fallen life which suggests that Crushing Blow was doing the work, not Blade Fury's physical damage. There where times when the blade would hit but the life bar wouldn't move, suggesting a fail to Crush. Very rare though. Takes 2-3 blades to kill a Fallen. First one hurts it down to half, second to a quarter, third pretty much kills it.
With no CB items on at all (wielded a white Flanged Mace): Progress sucked. Monster health bars barely moved. Blade Fury damage was less than 50.
With two 60% total CB items on (Guilliame's Face + Goblin Toe): Much slower progress. Again, weapon damage MAY have played a part, but I saw a lot more "crush misses" (ie, blade hits that seemed to do no damage). It's pure murder trying to do the den without the Cranium Basher wielded. You can't finish off anything - all these fallen running back and forth with tiny slivers of life, ARGH. I started using Dragon Tail, still without wielding a weapon, and it was much better - I could actually kill fallen. So the physical damage has to come in useful for getting the finishing blow. I did NOT see the life bar drop any faster with two items - it appeared that a successful Blade Fury hit took off the same amount of life bar as it did when I was wielding Cranium Basher and no other gear. And believe me, I threw a LOT of blades.
With full gear on (Guilliame's + Goblin Toe + Stormlash + Rattlecage) and Venom: Like night and day. Destroying things in 2 blades, or one full kick sequence.
It looks like CB takes half the life bar though. That can't be right.