Ranger offhand weapons

[darkreap]

So I feel like I should know the mechanics by now after playing this long, however, I was wondering which weapon I should use in my offhand as a ranger. My baby ranger is lvl 8 but once he hits 17 I was wondering what the better combination of weapons would be. Currently I have a Sword of Skyfire for my main hand weapon (10/22) and I picked up a Silken Whip of Ensnaring thinking I would use that as my offhand (14/28). I was wondering if I got a Crystalline Claw Dagger (10/22) would my offhand attack go off more often as the delay is the same as my main hand weapon or should I stick with the better ratio of the Silken Whip and higher damage as the weapon bonus does not apply to offhand?

[Cecily]

I think you're thinking your hands are linked and that's what why you're asking about using same delay weapons? But no, don't worry about that. They aren't. Offhand, at least, is easy. Higher ratio means better weapon.

[darkreap]

Thanks for the reply. Also, I know the Woodsman's stave (31/35) is better than most DW combos till epic but I'm too poor to afford that. Is the Springwood Stave (31/42) going to out damage the DW weapons I currently have after lvl 20?

[Cecily]

Probably. DW is pretty bad odds for a long time and your damage bonus for main hand will be weak as well. It's not what you signed up for as a ranger, but 2 handers are gonna be your best option. Double attacks with a woodsman are a thing of beauty.

Also, if you're only level 8... get a silver swiftblade if you can find one. 16/24 2hs. Best 1-20 weapon for rangers and it's so fun to use. Should only cost you 100p.

[Jimjam]

I suggest not worrying about duel wield until you are able to reach 150 skill in double attack. The offhand is almost negligible until then! The only exception is if you are able to put a handy utility proc in that hand (I think this is why you see a fair number of people running around with polished granite tomahawks in their offhand at low level).

Once you hit 150 double attack the off hand has good potential, but it quickly starts to taper off a little again as it doesn't benefit from the damage bonus that the primary hand is starting to accrue.

That, combined with the availability and value pricing of 2handers for rangers probably explains why many rangers will forgoe dual wield entirely until they have their epics.

[jolanar]

Originally Posted by Cecily [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Offhand, at least, is easy. Higher ratio means better weapon.

Well outside of procs the same is true of primary weapon. The only difference is you need to add the damage bonus to the equation.

For some reason I couldn't find the damage bonus table on the wiki. But it starts in the high 20s at 1 and ends up at 11 or 12 at level 60.

[Fanguru]

Close: it starts at 28, then one every 3 levels.
So max of 11 damage bonus is reached at 58.

It does not mean, however, that higher ratio means better weapon in primary, even if you add the damage bonus.

Damage bonus is the minimum you will hit. So having a low delay weapon applies the damage bonus more often, especially on high ac mobs (Velious).

[koros]

Yeah, speed in the primary hand can offset ratio, depending on some factors.

a 14/24 and 9/18 will perform about the same at 60 (with the 14/24 having a slight edge), because of the damage bonus.

[titanshub]

First figure out your dual wield success percentage.
DWSP = (Dual Wield Skill + Level) / 400

Next figure out your damage bonus

DB = (level - 25) / 3

Calculate the DPS for each weapon with the DMG bonus only on the main hand.
Primary DPS = ((DMG*2)+DMG BOUNS)/DLY
Secondary DPS = (DMG*2) / DLY

Finally put it all together(DWSP is dual wield success percentage from earlier):
Primary DPS + (Secondary DPS*DWSP)

(PDF Warning) All formulas are not mine and I gathered from the monk spreadsheet at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwL...JtaGVsanM/edit

If somebody sees a mistake or knows better please let me know. I am tired of the old wives tales about weapon order and this is how i have been calculating it.