2011-10-21, 11:05 AM
Looks like the formula has been covered. Also note that you cannot get any faster than Faster (2), even if you're using a Fast (4) weapon with Booster (-2), Speed Infusion (-2), and Advanced Yellow Aura (-1 or -2, I forget).
Without the rounding part of the formula, you will notice that weapon speed just scales your damage by a certain %. (e.g., Fast (4) is 16/14, or 14.29% faster than Normal (6)). This affects all skills cast by the player equally across the board (all skills will do +14.29% more DPS). So if you're comparing a NL at Faster (2) to a Buccaneer at Faster (2), it would be equivalent to comparing them both at Normal (6) speeds. Yes, weapon speed should be considered if the two classes being compared reach different speeds based on the weapon & buffs. For comparing within one class, this is not necessary since the character won't be switching weapons between skills.
AND BEFORE ANYONE JUMPS ON THE 'EQUALLY ACROSS THE BOARD' COMMENT: Do note that I started that paragraph with the phrase "Without the rounding part of the formula". With the rounding, individual skills will vary slightly from the expected "+14.29%" DPS for a Fast (4) weapon. Yes, this means that the calculation isn't entirely accurate, but it's good enough for most things. For example, when trying to figure out which skill to use on 3 mobs, or which one to use on 4, unless the skills are within 1-2% DPS of each other, the weapon speed will not affect the relative ordering of the skills. Likewise, if class A is ~26% stronger than class B at Normal (6), the weapon speed won't have ANY influence on the RELATIVE strengths of the class ("XXX is better than YYY at ZZZ"). Yes this is roughly universally true since Cannon Shooters are the slowest (Slower (8) weapons -> Fast (5) after booster), and classes that reach the speed cap (Faster (2)) would have ~25% more DPS.
TL;DR: Weapon speed doesn't matter when: 1) Player A and Player B have the same speed, and 2) The goal of the calculation is to produce a relative comparison, and not a specific %/sec or #/sec.
Fluidz Wrote:Does your weapon speed matter? I see on the forums many people doing the DPS calculations without including the weapon speed. Does it contribute delay?
Without the rounding part of the formula, you will notice that weapon speed just scales your damage by a certain %. (e.g., Fast (4) is 16/14, or 14.29% faster than Normal (6)). This affects all skills cast by the player equally across the board (all skills will do +14.29% more DPS). So if you're comparing a NL at Faster (2) to a Buccaneer at Faster (2), it would be equivalent to comparing them both at Normal (6) speeds. Yes, weapon speed should be considered if the two classes being compared reach different speeds based on the weapon & buffs. For comparing within one class, this is not necessary since the character won't be switching weapons between skills.
AND BEFORE ANYONE JUMPS ON THE 'EQUALLY ACROSS THE BOARD' COMMENT: Do note that I started that paragraph with the phrase "Without the rounding part of the formula". With the rounding, individual skills will vary slightly from the expected "+14.29%" DPS for a Fast (4) weapon. Yes, this means that the calculation isn't entirely accurate, but it's good enough for most things. For example, when trying to figure out which skill to use on 3 mobs, or which one to use on 4, unless the skills are within 1-2% DPS of each other, the weapon speed will not affect the relative ordering of the skills. Likewise, if class A is ~26% stronger than class B at Normal (6), the weapon speed won't have ANY influence on the RELATIVE strengths of the class ("XXX is better than YYY at ZZZ"). Yes this is roughly universally true since Cannon Shooters are the slowest (Slower (8) weapons -> Fast (5) after booster), and classes that reach the speed cap (Faster (2)) would have ~25% more DPS.
TL;DR: Weapon speed doesn't matter when: 1) Player A and Player B have the same speed, and 2) The goal of the calculation is to produce a relative comparison, and not a specific %/sec or #/sec.