06-13-2003, 05:47 PM
Does an Ethereal Hellslayer look like it would do a lot of damage? Yes. This is what it would roughly look like:
Average Damage: 285.105 to 589.395
Basically, I looked up the damage for Hellslayer in the Arreat Summit and then multiplied by 1.5 (for it being Ethereal). Note that the damage ranges with character level and so only at level 99 would you hit the high end. For level 66, when you could first equip it, you would have 487.965 average damage (again, these are rough numbers). Not quite as high as you expected, I think. Then again, you factored in the fire damage into the calculation which is a big no-no when calculating weapon damage for the sake of comparison (because elemental damage is NOT affected by strength/skill/item +%Enhanced Damage bonuses). :)
Now, that sort of an average damage LOOKS really good on paper. The problem comes in on its actual use. A 0% WIAS Hellslayer will attack at 14/8/8/8/8 at fastest (assumes slvl 20 Werewolf and 20% OIAS). Needless to say, this is really freaking slow. A 14 frame standard attack? I almost guarantee that you will find it VERY hard to maintain more than 3 charges of Feral Rage going at a time with this sort of a weapon. This severely hampers the strengths of a Werewolf. Additionally, you have probably noticed that there are some bugs associated with Zeal, Fend and Fury's targetting. With a fast weapon, if you have a couple Furies in a row that miss due to this bug, then it's not really a big deal. However, with a Fury Animation that takes nearly 2 full seconds to complete, you can expect to have a great deal of frustration and start chugging potions to try and keep yourself alive in those cases. Also, if a group of fanaticism enhanced frenzytaurs comes charging at you and you've just started a Fury Animation (in which it misses), 2 seconds is awefully long time to sit there, watching your life plummet before being able to disengage.
Finally, the question of whether it does more damage or not.... I'll compare this weapon to a Shaeled Immortal King's Stone Crusher at level 80.
Ethereal Hellslayer Average Damage: 530.996
Attack Rate: 14/8/8/8/8
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame: 37.93
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame: 57.72
Hellslayer Fire Damage is roughly equivalent to +1 damage per frame in this form (since it is not enhanced by +%ED)
Hellslayer Strength enhancement is roughly equivalent to a little less than +1 damage per frame
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame (+fire, strength): 39.93
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame (+fire, strength): 59.72
Shaeled Immortal King's Stone Crusher Average Damage: 277.5
Attack Rate: 9/5/5/5/5
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame: 30.83
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame: 47.85
IK Stone Crusher's Crushing Blow is roughly equivalent to about +5-7 damage per frame when modeled in this way (assumes at least 2 people in the game in Hell difficulty, varying with monster hp and # of people)
IK Stone Crusher's +Damage Undead and Demons is roughly equivalent to about +4 damage per frame, on the average.
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame (+other bonuses): 39.83-41.83
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame (+other bonuses): 56.85-58.85
Now, I've kind of pulled the extra damage adjustment numbers out of the air, but I actually DID do a study of how those modifiers ACTUALLY affected damage a while back on the Amazon Basin and I've basically adjusted the results to fit the attack speeds listed (the original calculations were done for Werebear). But, if you believe me on those, you'll see that the Immortal King's Stone Crusher will do roughly the same amount of damage over time, but the IK Maul is much more flexible and potentially less lethal to its user. :)
Average Damage: 285.105 to 589.395
Basically, I looked up the damage for Hellslayer in the Arreat Summit and then multiplied by 1.5 (for it being Ethereal). Note that the damage ranges with character level and so only at level 99 would you hit the high end. For level 66, when you could first equip it, you would have 487.965 average damage (again, these are rough numbers). Not quite as high as you expected, I think. Then again, you factored in the fire damage into the calculation which is a big no-no when calculating weapon damage for the sake of comparison (because elemental damage is NOT affected by strength/skill/item +%Enhanced Damage bonuses). :)
Now, that sort of an average damage LOOKS really good on paper. The problem comes in on its actual use. A 0% WIAS Hellslayer will attack at 14/8/8/8/8 at fastest (assumes slvl 20 Werewolf and 20% OIAS). Needless to say, this is really freaking slow. A 14 frame standard attack? I almost guarantee that you will find it VERY hard to maintain more than 3 charges of Feral Rage going at a time with this sort of a weapon. This severely hampers the strengths of a Werewolf. Additionally, you have probably noticed that there are some bugs associated with Zeal, Fend and Fury's targetting. With a fast weapon, if you have a couple Furies in a row that miss due to this bug, then it's not really a big deal. However, with a Fury Animation that takes nearly 2 full seconds to complete, you can expect to have a great deal of frustration and start chugging potions to try and keep yourself alive in those cases. Also, if a group of fanaticism enhanced frenzytaurs comes charging at you and you've just started a Fury Animation (in which it misses), 2 seconds is awefully long time to sit there, watching your life plummet before being able to disengage.
Quote:Besides, more damage in less attacks helps against MSLE bosses.While this is true, I've rarely had issues with Lightning Enchanted Bosses when using very fast weapons, either, for the simple reason that I maintain a high level Feral Rage charge at all times. If you deal a GOOD amount of damage with each hit and leech back a goodly portion of the damage you deal, more often than not, there is no problem. :lol:
Finally, the question of whether it does more damage or not.... I'll compare this weapon to a Shaeled Immortal King's Stone Crusher at level 80.
Ethereal Hellslayer Average Damage: 530.996
Attack Rate: 14/8/8/8/8
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame: 37.93
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame: 57.72
Hellslayer Fire Damage is roughly equivalent to +1 damage per frame in this form (since it is not enhanced by +%ED)
Hellslayer Strength enhancement is roughly equivalent to a little less than +1 damage per frame
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame (+fire, strength): 39.93
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame (+fire, strength): 59.72
Shaeled Immortal King's Stone Crusher Average Damage: 277.5
Attack Rate: 9/5/5/5/5
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame: 30.83
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame: 47.85
IK Stone Crusher's Crushing Blow is roughly equivalent to about +5-7 damage per frame when modeled in this way (assumes at least 2 people in the game in Hell difficulty, varying with monster hp and # of people)
IK Stone Crusher's +Damage Undead and Demons is roughly equivalent to about +4 damage per frame, on the average.
Standard Attack Damage Per Frame (+other bonuses): 39.83-41.83
Fury Attack Damage Per Frame (+other bonuses): 56.85-58.85
Now, I've kind of pulled the extra damage adjustment numbers out of the air, but I actually DID do a study of how those modifiers ACTUALLY affected damage a while back on the Amazon Basin and I've basically adjusted the results to fit the attack speeds listed (the original calculations were done for Werebear). But, if you believe me on those, you'll see that the Immortal King's Stone Crusher will do roughly the same amount of damage over time, but the IK Maul is much more flexible and potentially less lethal to its user. :)
-TheDragoon