Post#5 » Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:53 pm
So, the mathcrafter in me is going to rear its ugly head without solid proof to back it, BUT, last time I parsed, and the general nature of the way EQ crunches attack numbers, a dual wielding class will always (ALWAYS!) out dps a 2h wielding class given that their gear is absolutely equivilent. This is base dmg, before aa's and other item effects. So, the neat thing about playing on emu (and especially on THF), is that there is custom gear that live normally wouldn't represent. Starting as early as Chaotic armor you get items that differ in nature, representing the dmg vs survivability aspect of the class roles. The warrior's base dmg, with the same atk score and equivilent weapons, will out dmg the BER. Once the warrior picks up the aa that raises the offhand dmg, this imaginary gap widens. However, with the onset of more aa's the BER quickly closes the gap with their class specific aa's as the warrior's focuses more on defense and crit, as opposed to damage and crit. This is the pint where gear starts making a big difference. Unfortunately a 2h weapon hits a point in item progression to where they need a monstrous base damage OR bonus damage to keep up with two 1hers when aa's are involved. This stems from the nasty fact that 1hers get aa's that up their (missing) bonus damage, as well as add more double attack / extra attacks, wheras Sony in their infinite wisdom thought it would be best to just keep stacking double attack / extra attack aa's for 2h users. This is all well and good since it ups your average dps, but 2hers are punished much more for missing due to delay and essentially half as many attacks (even after multiple attack aa's.) Where the extra damage actually comes from is the special attack (frenzy vs kick lol!), which scales off of your gear. So in the end, BER make up for their inherent 2h disadvantage by bringing disciplines, aa's, and dmg clickies to the table to froth at the mouth and be rather unpleasant (Warning, point away from group!) Warriors counteract with survivability in their own category.
TL;DR: Warriors are safer autoattack dps due to beefiness and 1h advantages, but lack the punch of a BER in supersaiyan mode. Cycling through disciplines and dmg clickies will make all the difference.