Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

[TheMuttonExplosion]

Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Since the Council was nice enough to give me a Jah yesterday I'm contemplating making "Faith" to be able to replace that grumpy Act 2 moron once in a while. I'm glad I realized early enough that I can't use Amazon Bows but that doesn't make the decision which base to use any easier.

Here is my progress so far

Weapon Speed / Damage / Requirements:

The 3os Spider Bow aside, there are 3 "speed groups". Taking also average damage and requirements into account, these 3 bows seem to be top in their respective group (IAS means "IAS needed to hit last breakpoint if Fanaticism roll is 12/15"; Able to equip assumes nakedness):

Bow		IAS		Avg. Damage	Requirements		Able to equip
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Bow	34/30		32		Str 121 / Dex 107	L71

Shadow Bow	52/48		37		Str  52 / Dex 188	L75

Crusader Bow	75/70		39		Str  97 / Dex 121	L65

The requirements are all reasonable. Most of my playtime is with toons 90+ anyway.

The differences in damage and IAS are pretty huge on the other hand but depending on the gear (say Treachery + JoF Andy's Visage) even the Crusader Bow with L12 Fanaticism could hit the last breakpoint.

So: What do wise people with lotsa experience with Act 1 Mercs prefer?
Are Merc favorites like Treachery and AV even good for Act 1?
Does Fire/Cold Arrow narrow the damage difference down a lot?
Have I forgotten something entirely?

I'd appreciate all you input!:thumbup:

 

[Greebo]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

This thread might be of interest.

--Greebo

 

[hubb]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Seems like Greebo links mostly covers it...

Have I forgotten something entirely?

Maybe that the A1 merc damage is fairly insignificant compared to the char you'll be using it with? Unless you really don't like bowas or see yourself making another Faith if you ever want to roll one, I would much rather at look the zon's MS breakpoints.

 

[TheMuttonExplosion]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

@ Greebo

Thanks! And it's always good to know that a quick search could have saved me about an hour of researching.:wink:

@ Hubb

Mmh, that is actually a very good point. I would not want to compromise too much for that, but if the difference for the Merc is pretty insignificant it might as well tip the balance. I even have a sup Great Bow in my stash that Larzuk could socket.

 

[TheMuttonExplosion]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Greebo, in the thread you linked to you wrote: "I rolled a 14 Fana in a Diamond bow. Which is nice, since A1 Rogue needs just 20 IAS to hit the 9 fpa breakpoint."
That's either not correct or the weapon speed calculator I'm using is wrong. I'd say with 14 Fanaticism you need 20 IAS to hit 10fpa, 50 IAS to hit 9fpa.

That would make a big difference since the 50 IAS req seems to make Treachery mandatory for anything other than -10 bows.

In that vein: Is mandatory Treachery a real downside or is it the one and only armor for Act 1 Mercs anyway?

 

[Greebo]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

No, I'm right. IAS table for lvl 14 Fanaticism A1 Rogue using Diamond Bow

IAS	fpa	attacks per second
0	11	1.92
5	10	2.08
20	9	2.27
48	8	2.5

 

[TheMuttonExplosion]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

The one I'm using:

IAS	fpa	attacks per second
0 %	12	2
5 %	11	2.2
20 %	10	2.5
48 %	9	2.7

Link


And isn't it 24 fps? That would make your 8fpa to 3 attacks per second no?

 

[hubb]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Which calc are you using? V3 of Titanseal's calc gives me 20IAS for 9 fpa and 48 for 8. *edit: Here is the newer one.

Fort should roundabout double a rogue's off-weapon ED, so if you've got one of those then it certainly looks better than going from 9 to 8 fpa.

And it's 25 fps

 

[TheMuttonExplosion]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

The attacks per seconds are still wrong in the calculator you are using. No matter if it's 24 or 25 fps. But at least the breakpoints are the same in both calculators so it doesn't really make a difference.

So you are certain yours is correct at least in regard to fpa?

 

[Greebo]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Let me put it this way: it is commonly accepted that the one that hubb linked to works and is the most accurate. There are known mistakes in the one you linked to, something about wareforms iirc.

As far as the Rogue breakpoints go, I think if you really want to know, you're gonna have to test it...

I would trust fpa more than aps from the calc.

 

[hubb]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Either that's a mistake, or there's a 2-frame idle period between each of the Rogue's attack.

 

[TheMuttonExplosion]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

Mmh, the one I link to is consistent but wrong, the one you link to is inconsistent but right. It doesn't fill me with confidence either way.

But the most important part are obviously the breakpoints itself, not the absolute number of frames. If that part of both calculators works I'm happy. And then your point about only 20 IAS to the next breakpoint -no matter if 9 or 10 fpa- stands.

So Andy's Visage even without Jewel + Fortitude would suffice for damage, or Treachery for the next breakpoint and speed. I think I'm starting to like the Ward / Shadow / Diamond range best. Seems like a great middleground and if the roll is not good enough there are always JoF's.

So thanks guys, that helped a lot!:thumbup:

 

[maxicek]

Re: Act 1 Merc / Faith questions

I did a sept of 2h sword builds with a Faith merc, and in all cases the merc's damage was not considered. She had Treachery, Tal's Mask with an IAS Jewel and a Faith Ward Bow. My advice is don't get hung up about her damage, she needs to survive and keep the Fanaticsm aura up. If she dies and your attack speed drops from 7FPA to 14FPA, you will have a bigger problem than how quickly she can kill stuff.

I think Ward bow is a good choice for PvM as you can equip it as soon as the merc hits 65. It is also pretty good for PvP too, only requiring 65IAS for 7FPA and out damaging a Matriarchal Bow.