Monk weapon choice, mid- to high-levels

[gcobb]

So I'm a 33 monk using a good old Wu's Quivering Staff. I think it's about time for an upgrade, and am considering both the equally good-old Jade Mace/Knuckle Duster combo and Peacebringer. Now, the conventional received wisdom seems to be that our 2hb options are always better than our 1hbs from 20-epic. I'm just curious, does anyone have or know of hard statistical data to substantiate this? I've had a hard time finding #s on our dual wield rates by level, which the dual wield rate is probably the most important variable in this whole equation.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Yaolin]

PB/IFS should do about 10-33% better than any 1 HB combo and a tranquil staff will do about 3-6% more damage than a PB or IFS. This is based off of using the DPS per weapon calculations and just adding max possible dps for mainhand/offhand and comparing it to max possible DPS for 2HB. One day I will figure out how to host one of my spreadsheets for all to see. This is all based on having MAX dmg bonus.

[gcobb]

Ok, thanks. I've seen some of your other posts and am convinced you have a way better idea of what you're talking about than I do. One thing, though, and this is mostly out of curiosity--do you/we have explicit info on those dual wield rates? And/or how exactly is this DPS-per-weapon formula derived?

[tommydgun]

the p1999 wiki describes dps calculations and dual wield rates pretty well... however the prior poster didnt mention anything about damage variance... obvioulsy max damage only considered a 2hb is going to be superior but the variance is much larger and your damage will be more consistent with a good 1hb combo.

having said that peacebringer will do more dmg than jade mace / KD... jade mace is actually one of our best primary dps weapons but KD isnt the best offhand.

edit: also you have to consider weight as a monk and jm/kd only weighs about 3 stones whereas pb weighs 10 so if you are taking hits whatsoever you will want to think about weight. unless of course the rest of your gear only weighs 5 stones or less.

[SirAlvarex]

I'm no expert, but from what I've gathered, the general rules are:

Pro 2h:
1. Fewer attacks mean fewer riposte's at you
2. Higher damage riposte
3. Damage bonus on 2h with slower than 40 delay is bigger than standard weapon bonus
4. Single double-attack check doubles all potential damage output, instead of only half of it

Pro Dual Wield:
1. More even damage due to a lower spread
2. Typically lighter weight weapons
3. Can obtain two weapons with a combined ratio higher than 1:1

But really, the uber damage bonus for 2h weapons is so insane, and coupled with the fact that the offhand doesn't get the bonus + you won't hit/double attack with it 100% of the time means 2h weapons win in a landslide.

[rsloans84]

Im twinked to hell but runed fighters staff (2hb) with some haste items and fungi works very well... When using any weapons haste is key... Theres a limit though so look that up

[gcobb]

What would you recommend for the offhand, tommy?

[tommydgun]

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

What would you recommend for the offhand, tommy?

i think if you have limited resources wu/kd is completely acceptable but if you have enough plat for a peacebringer i would go jm/adamantite club probably...

like i said it also depends on your role and whether you are taking hits / grouping / soloing etc. if you arent taking hits you really cant beat peacebringer unless u have AC/SoS or epic/SoS.

also if you do get AC and have a jade mace the proper equip slot is JM primary / AC secondary not the other way around