So, I now am up to lvl 40 on my Barbarian and after a lot of experimenting and swapping, I have a very interesting observation I'd like clarification/thoughts/ANSWERS about.
I originally was going for a dual wield barb, super high dps build....well, 30 levels later (especially when I noticed NM mode wasn't that easy) I started checking stuff out...
When you DUAL WIELD two 1H weapons, it appears that your CHARACTER DPS is calculated ONLY on whichever weapon has the HIGHER dps, leaving your second weapon for STAT BONUSES ONLY.
Which begs the question, why would I EVER want to dual wield if I could wear a shield w/ similar stats and still do the same amount of damage?
I was wondering about this because it seemed wrong to me, but I couldn't tell if I was hitting enemies more, or if I was doing more damage at all. (In char/inventory window, the DPS is the same either way)
Example:
I have 2weps, my main hand is 70dps lets say
Off Hand is 70dps w/ +70 str
My character DPS is 623dps
When I switch the Off Hand for a SHIELD with +70 (around) str, my CHARACTER DPS stays around 615 or so...
Now, is it just me? Can someone offer an explanation? Thoughts?
I've been trying to figure out exactly what's going on with the math myself, and have had a hard time coming up with solid answer (also not a lot of time to play test as I'm stuck at work.)
My current understanding is this (happy to be corrected if someone has legit sources):
The DPS calculation on the character sheet may not necessarily be a practical predictor of DPS.
When you dual wield you alternate between striking with each weapon. So weapon A swings->Weapon B's swing timer starts->Weapon B swings->Weapon A's swing timer starts. Additionally, dual wielding grants a 15% attack speed bonus, so (for the sake of clear math) say you are dual wielding 2 x 1.00 APS axes. You actually attack with 1.15 APS overall.
That also means, if your off-hand weapon is inferior to your main-hand by more than 15%, it could potentially decrease your DPS, because you're attacking less often with the better weapon. Ideally, you want 2 identical weapons to get the most out of the dual wield benefits.
Edit- to add Math to that last part. If your mainhand does 100 DPS, and your offhand does <74 DPS, then dual wielding would do less damage than using a shield with the same affixes as the offhand.
Edit again - after plugging my own math into excel, it seems the break even is a 74 DPS offhand weapon in my example.
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@Theungry
Good observation, and I had actually thought about that myself (more swings and the fact that maybe the char window dps is NOT necessarily 100% accurate THINK: Modifiers that say "Critical hits do 20% more damage")
ALSO: Did NOT know that DW gave you the auto 15% attack speed bonus, but that does make more sense...However, in that case it seems to me like that's the only good reason to DW over using 1H + Shield...And obviously would want 2 fast atk spd weps with comparable dps, if that's the case.
In my experience thus far though, I have to say the shield just seems like a better option. (Nightmare hits hard)
Yeah, I tend to favor sword and board as well (not in NM yet), but Dual Wielding has it's place. It's strengths are resource generation, and "per hit"/"%chance per hit" affixes and runes.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I grew up gaming without internet forums. The entire phenomenon of being upset with a game developer makes no sense to me. No sense. I cannot imagine spending my time and energy being upset about something I choose to do for recreation.
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I originally was going for a dual wield barb, super high dps build....well, 30 levels later (especially when I noticed NM mode wasn't that easy) I started checking stuff out...
When you DUAL WIELD two 1H weapons, it appears that your CHARACTER DPS is calculated ONLY on whichever weapon has the HIGHER dps, leaving your second weapon for STAT BONUSES ONLY.
Which begs the question, why would I EVER want to dual wield if I could wear a shield w/ similar stats and still do the same amount of damage?
I was wondering about this because it seemed wrong to me, but I couldn't tell if I was hitting enemies more, or if I was doing more damage at all. (In char/inventory window, the DPS is the same either way)
Example:
I have 2weps, my main hand is 70dps lets say
Off Hand is 70dps w/ +70 str
My character DPS is 623dps
When I switch the Off Hand for a SHIELD with +70 (around) str, my CHARACTER DPS stays around 615 or so...
Now, is it just me? Can someone offer an explanation? Thoughts?
In DETAIL character stat window, attack speed, etc. also remains the same, regardless.
My current understanding is this (happy to be corrected if someone has legit sources):
The DPS calculation on the character sheet may not necessarily be a practical predictor of DPS.
When you dual wield you alternate between striking with each weapon. So weapon A swings->Weapon B's swing timer starts->Weapon B swings->Weapon A's swing timer starts. Additionally, dual wielding grants a 15% attack speed bonus, so (for the sake of clear math) say you are dual wielding 2 x 1.00 APS axes. You actually attack with 1.15 APS overall.
That also means, if your off-hand weapon is inferior to your main-hand by more than 15%, it could potentially decrease your DPS, because you're attacking less often with the better weapon. Ideally, you want 2 identical weapons to get the most out of the dual wield benefits.
Edit- to add Math to that last part. If your mainhand does 100 DPS, and your offhand does <74 DPS, then dual wielding would do less damage than using a shield with the same affixes as the offhand.
Edit again - after plugging my own math into excel, it seems the break even is a 74 DPS offhand weapon in my example.
Good observation, and I had actually thought about that myself (more swings and the fact that maybe the char window dps is NOT necessarily 100% accurate THINK: Modifiers that say "Critical hits do 20% more damage")
ALSO: Did NOT know that DW gave you the auto 15% attack speed bonus, but that does make more sense...However, in that case it seems to me like that's the only good reason to DW over using 1H + Shield...And obviously would want 2 fast atk spd weps with comparable dps, if that's the case.
In my experience thus far though, I have to say the shield just seems like a better option. (Nightmare hits hard)