Vamp or Sundering, which is more dmg in the long run?

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

suprised i've never seen this debate before, maybe i've just missed it. now in general PvE terms, if u just generally wanting to do the most damage, which takes off more damage from enemies in the long run? 3 vamp points gauranteed every strike, or 20/20 sundering? most people seem to generally want sundering off the bat, cuz it sounds and looks good, but i've been thinking about this vamp thing, and it seems that would add up to alot too. i personally have 20/20 sundering atm, but am just pondering the possiblities of vamp. any got any logistics on the numbers? ;-) what you think?

Turbobusa

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

By the Luxon Scavenger

The Mentalists [THPK]

N/

vamp.
in fact, it has been discussed many times. if you want more details, i'll suggest you to search for old threads, many of them include a damage calculation over time.

sundering is an illusion

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

ah i wish, but they changed the search mode, u cant limit it to one forum, so anything searched for sundering or vamp is just gonna bring up hundreds of WTS and PC threads with those words in it. :-(

Truong

Truong

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2006

Texas, USA

Guildless.

I'm pretty sure Vampric is the better choice, because it's guaranteed extra damage, while Sundering only has a certain percentage of chance to do additional damage.

Effigy

Effigy

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Illinois, US

Heroes of Talia [HoT]

Mo/

Vamp adds +3 unresistable damage per hit. That's roughly a 10% damage boost over the base, on every hit.

20/20 sundering gives 20% AP on 1 out of every 5 hits; this equals out to roughly 4% AP per hit on average over time.

As you can see, vamp is already looking better. However, it is even greater when you consider that AP loses effectiveness as the AL of the target decreases. Since your job as a warrior is generally to beat on squishy targets most of the time, sundering is clearing inferior.

llsektorll

llsektorll

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2005

Toronto, Canada

R/

vamp + dual shot is ftw... have 1 vamp and 1 cold weapon so it is easier to kill warrior monsters

Thom Bangalter

Thom Bangalter

Grindin'

Join Date: Dec 2005

MO

E/Mo

for pvp purposes, vamp is superior, for the reasons effigy listed above.

for pve purposes, sundering isn't bad because then you're not running around in a mission with -1 degen from vamp. of course, you can always weapon swap, but sundering is just a practical choice if you're looking for a mod without any sort of negative drawback.

(just to throw this out, My warrior is my go to guy for most pvp aspects of the game, that or ranger. I don't even have a sundering weapon on my warrior, instead having an elemental weapon, zealous weapon, and vamp weapon).

Marty Silverblade

Marty Silverblade

Administrator

Join Date: Jun 2006

Don't forget if you hit with a vamp weapon, you get the 3 health drained, it's not just damage. That's another pro for the vamp weps.

ubermancer

ubermancer

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

******************* Refuge From Exile [RFE]

Please remember that if you are using a Vampiric Hammer, you should go ahead and plan on buying a Sundering Hammer Haft sometime soon.

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by ubermancer
Please remember that if you are using a Vampiric Hammer, you should go ahead and plan on buying a Sundering Hammer Haft sometime soon. I don't really use Hammers too often... but you've sparked my curiosity now. Is there some reason besides the fact that Hammers get more out of AP?

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

yeah, i'm not concerned about -1 degen or gettin 3 health with every hit, i'm just talkin about dealing the most damage. say for troll farming though, where their armor is high. Effigy, you compared apples and oranges though. a supposed 10% dmg boost to 4% average AP. AP and dmg is not the same. from my understanding, when the 20% AP takes place, you hit the enemy as if their AL was 20% lower. (i.e. if u were fighting a monster with 100 AL, then 1 of every 5 hits would hit them as if they had 80 AL, which would be more damage of course. the question is, how much more?) i saw a chart on a GW site once with AL's and AP, forgot where though. that would probably help. let the discussion continue ;-)

Yanman.be

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

A/

Vamp 1/1 still does more damage I believe.

dgb

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2005

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
I don't really use Hammers too often... but you've sparked my curiosity now. Is there some reason besides the fact that Hammers get more out of AP? They have a higher base DPS than sword or axe and that's waht the benefit for sundering is calculated off - however I'm not sure that necessarily means that Sundering is better.

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...nics-id674.php

they have a few charts there on game mechanics, including AP. mathematically, this could be solved if one knew the AL of lev24 mountain trolls, the example enemy in this case.. anyhoo, i did some experimenting today to try to see the sundering difference, in which i have 20/19 sundering on my troll farmin axe. (not to mention 20% vs trolls grip, 15% while enchanted mod, and 20% customized dmg, so off the top thats 55% more dmg than regular, just FYI before i give the numbers, as they may different for someone else). 19% of the time (gettin 20% AP) is roughly 1 in 5 axe swings. so i hacked away, watching the numbers, and i found that i usually/regularly average between 5-20 dmg per swing, we'll say 12 on an average. though i noticed about 25-30% of the time, it went way up in the 30's and 40's. this is using no skills remember. i counted a couple 33's and a few 48's. my guess is that one of these is from the AP kicking in, and the other from scoring a critical hit. which one is which, i dont know. either way, playing it conservative and say that i averaged a 30 every time sundering kicked in, thats 18 more hp than my regular hit average. divide that number by 5, and you get about 3.5 more hp dmg per swing, which is only slightly above what a vamp mod would do. now, if it's vice versa, and those numbers i saw in the 40's were from the sundering mod, and the lower ones were from a critical hit, then yeah, its gonna be a lot more than 3.5 extra dmg, and IMHO, would clearly make sundering the better damage dealer.

sludderx

sludderx

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2006

Multiplay Uk [MPUK]

Think of it as this. You will ALWAYS have the vampiric damage, no matter what. But if you have sundering 20/20, thats only a 1/5 change to hit and do extra damage. So vamp is better for the long run. Most people ignore the 20% and think they can hit extra damage like most of the times, but you dont.

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

but 20% is guaranteed. i'd rather do 20 to 30 more damage every 5 swings, than just 3 more every swing. in the long run, sundering seems better for damage dealing.

lemming

lemming

The Hotshot

Join Date: May 2006

Honolulu

International District [id???]

Quote:
Originally Posted by skreet preacha
but 20% is guaranteed. i'd rather do 20 to 30 more damage every 5 swings, than just 3 more every swing. in the long run, sundering seems better for damage dealing. No it's not.

For one, you can't count on having the 20% AP when calculating spike damage, whereas you can with the vamp mod. The AP is not guaranteed; it's mathematically possible to go 5 swings without it triggering.

And secondly, that 20-30 more damage figure is exaggerated.

Isaac Lunoa

Isaac Lunoa

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

The Runners Academy [LBS]

20-30 is WAY more than sundering will give you...

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Effigy
However, it is even greater when you consider that AP loses effectiveness as the AL of the target decreases.
Actually, armor penetration loses effectiveness as the AL of the target increases. The target has more armor so the damage increase from sundering is reduced. The reduction in effectiveness is minor though (a sundering hammer loses about .25 points of damage per hit between a 60 AL target and a 100 AL target) so I wouldn't be too concerned about the difference.

Quote: Originally Posted by ubermancer Please remember that if you are using a Vampiric Hammer, you should go ahead and plan on buying a Sundering Hammer Haft sometime soon. Yay for statements without the slightest evidence to back them up.

Quote: Originally Posted by Yanman.be
Vamp 1/1 still does more damage I believe. No it wouldn't, but who needs to use vamp 1/1? Vamp 3/1 is cheap as dirt thanks to rich people who collect sundering and the dumb popular masses who insist sundering is great.

Quote: Sorry, got held up by them gestapo noobs. Who the hell do they think they are, fuhrers? Geez...


Anyways, here goes:
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3066860

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3021321

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3068652

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3060603

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...d.php?t=118344


Heil!

Ajantis

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

W/

Nice numbers Savio, just one question, the hornbow difference seems to be very small, did you include the inherent penetration bonus from hornbows?

Dante the Warlord

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

W/R

Sundering is not totally inferior to Vampiric! Look at vampiric, IF you hit them Then you will gain health. What if they use a blocking stance?! then you won't hit them, you will have a bonus degeneration, and they will really be putting the hurt on you. Sundering is more of a universal thing, if they block, sundering will just not happen...no bonus damage, but no negetive side effects. Vampiric are more for risk takers. I like sundering personally, i don't take a lot of risks

Skuld

Skuld

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2005

Thousend Tigers Apund Ur Head [Ttgr]

A/

1 degeneration is nothing. Sundering doesn't do anything if it can't hit either..

Yanman.be

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

A/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante the Warlord
Sundering is not totally inferior to Vampiric! Look at vampiric, IF you hit them Then you will gain health. What if they use a blocking stance?! then you won't hit them, you will have a bonus degeneration, and they will really be putting the hurt on you. Sundering is more of a universal thing, if they block, sundering will just not happen...no bonus damage, but no negetive side effects. Vampiric are more for risk takers. I like sundering personally, i don't take a lot of risks The question here is what does more damage. Not what has more risks.

SparhawkJC

SparhawkJC

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2006

The Amazon Basin

R/Me

Is losing 2 hp per second really that much of a risk compared to paying 10 times more money to deal less damage?

ubermancer

ubermancer

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

******************* Refuge From Exile [RFE]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SparhawkJC
Is losing 2 hp per second really that much of a risk compared to paying 10 times more money to deal less damage? Money? Who the hell cares about money? Its so damn easy to come by in Guild Wars its almost laughable, if it werent for the fact that the game mechanics support it.

And we have to seriously define the theatre in which we are talking about...

Dante the Warlord

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skuld
1 degeneration is nothing. Sundering doesn't do anything if it can't hit either.. 1 health degeneration is a HUGE deal! if you are attacking and your attacks are blocked taht could last for 30 seconds, that means -30 health right off the starting bat and also the actual damage you take which could be hundreds depending on e the level, efectivenes, and number of enemies....but more on topic:

well....in terms of specifically damage go vampiric...just know that its a big risk because of the health degeneration. In terms of safeness and solid foundation, but not as much damage go sundering. Personally, i think that someones poitning out of how PvE is more for sundering and PvP is more for vampiric. (that i think is mainly what you are looking for)

JR

JR

Re:tired

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante the Warlord
1 health degeneration is a HUGE deal! if you are attacking and your attacks are blocked taht could last for 30 seconds, that means -30 health right off the starting bat and also the actual damage you take which could be hundreds depending on e the level, efectivenes, and number of enemies....but more on topic:

well....in terms of specifically damage go vampiric...just know that its a big risk because of the health degeneration. In terms of safeness and solid foundation, but not as much damage go sundering. Personally, i think that someones poitning out of how PvE is more for sundering and PvP is more for vampiric. (that i think is mainly what you are looking for) Hi there.

See those four weapon slots? Stop being lazy and use them. Alternatively; get a monk who can deal with you having one pip of degen.

fallot

I'm the king

Join Date: Nov 2005

Aussie Trolling Crew: Grand Phallus and Chairman Pro Tempore

In addition to JR's advice, you may also attempt to hit something that isn't blocking your attacks.

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ubermancer
These tests were assuming 60 AL target, 16 Hammer, and 9 Strength. (what were your numbers at? 78 damage on a crit with a hammer, how?)
Originally Posted by Legendary Shiz
Where are the search nazi's at? Here and accounted for. It used to be fairly straightforward when sundering was 10/10 and completely blew, now it just kind of blows. Also, another recent thread tried to prove vamp vs sundering through 1v1s... yeah.

~~~
Assuming 16 in the weapon attribute, a 60 AL target, 23.5% critical hit chance (no critical strikes), 115% damage due to the weapon attribute (yes, 115% is a fraction of a percent off), a +15% damage modifier, and a +20% customization:

Hammers: Average damage is 51.11 damage per hit. Sundering triggering once every five hits will give a bonus of 11.81 damage. Vampiric steals 25 health in five hits. Total difference is 13.19 health per five hits or 2.64 health per hit. At normal attack speed that is a difference of 1.51 health per second.

Axes: Average damage is 35.44 damage per hit. Sundering triggering once every five hits will give a bonus of 8.19 damage. Vampiric steals 15 health in five hits. Total axe difference is 6.81 health per five hits or 1.36 health per hit. At normal attack speed that is a difference of 1.02 health per second.

Swords: Average damage is 33.98 damage per hit. Sundering triggering once every five hits will give a bonus of 7.85 damage. Vampiric steals 15 health in five hits. Total sword difference is 7.15 health per five hits or 1.43 health per hit. At normal attack speed that is a difference of 1.08 health per second.

Bows: Average damage is 40.91 damage per hit. Sundering triggering once every five hits will give a bonus of 9.46 damage. Vampiric steals 25 health in five hits. Total bow difference is 15.54 health per five hits or 3.11 health per hit. At shortbow attack speed that is a difference of 1.56 health per second. At hornbow attack speed that is a difference of 1.15 health per second.

Daggers: Average damage is 23.50 damage per hit. Sundering triggering once every five hits will give a bonus of 5.43 damage. Vampiric steals 15 health in five hits. Total daggers difference is 9.57 health per five hits or 1.91 health per hit. At normal attack speed (including double strikes) that is a difference of 1.92 health per second.


Summary:
Vampiric is actually very effective on hammers because the higher average damage (which affects how much of an increase sundering gives) is nothing compared to the additional 2 lifesteal per hit they have over other weapons. Axes have the least difference between sundering and vampiric due to a high average damage rate and only 3 lifesteal max. Daggers show the greatest difference due to the fact that they have a low average damage rate. But regardless, sundering is always inferior to vampiric.

~~~
"But Savio, what if sundering triggers when I get a critical hit?"

Hammers crit for 78 damage. When sundering triggers they will hit for 96 damage, or an increase of 18 damage. Vampiric will steal 25 health over five hits, a difference of 7 health per five hits or 1.4 health per hit.

Axes and bows crit for 63 damage. When sundering triggers they will hit for 77 damage, or an increase of 14 damage. Vampiric will steal 15 health over five hits, a difference of 1 health per five hits or 0.2 health per hit.

Swords crit for 49 damage. When sundering triggers they will hit for 61 damage, or an increase of 12 damage. Vampiric will steal 15 health over five hits, a difference of 3 health per five hits or 0.6 health per hit.

Daggers crit for 38 damage. When sundering triggers they will hit for 47 damage, or an increase of 9 damage. Vampiric will steal 15 health over five hits, a difference of 6 health per five hits or 1.2 health per hit.

So not even the high end of the sundering damage range can justify taking it. Although sundering is vastly better than its former 10/10 state, it still does not outperform vampiric as the physical damage mod of choice. Also, before anyone says anything about it, armor penetration does not affect +damage from attack skills (as they already ignore armor), so they are irrelevant.

Skuld

Skuld

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2005

Thousend Tigers Apund Ur Head [Ttgr]

A/

Just because you can't afford sundering savio If you took some time to get a decent farming build you could get some of your own!

Legendary Shiz

Legendary Shiz

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

This thread should be closed.

Where are the search nazi's at?

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

ah, my last post didnt get posted for some reason, lol, think i hit the BACK button before posting. anyway, it basically said thanks to savio for the breakdown, it doesnt make sense then though how i'm gettin 20-30 extra dmg every 4 hits or so (with sundering and critical hits)...

as for searching Shiz, unless i'm just blind, i dont see a way to limit searches anymore. as i stated already in this thread, you type in sundering or vamp in the search box, and ur just gonna get hundreds of listings for Sell and PC section.

ubermancer

ubermancer

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

******************* Refuge From Exile [RFE]

I didnt include the math because I have done it in this very sub-forum many times before.

Yes, Sundering is based only off of base weapon damage, NOT attack skills' bonus damage.

These tests were assuming 60 AL target, 16 Hammer, and 9 Strength. (what were your numbers at? 78 damage on a crit with a hammer, how?)

A crit with a clean 15% customized Hammer is 87. A crit with 20% Sundering activating does 107. A crit with Sundering activating while underneath the effects of Judge's Insight does 132. This means that Sundering activating underneath Judge's Insight on Fierce Blow can deal 174 damage. Without JI, it would still deal 149 damage.

Vampiric would, given an infinite number of hits, would deal more raw damage, yes. But if this game was about DPS then Cleave would be a favored elite over Eviscerate. Consider a standard Devastating Hammer + Crushing Blow + Fierce Blow chain:

With a Vampiric weapon you will always deal 15 extra damage. With a Sundering weapon, you have 3 seperate chances to deal ~20 extra damage. Given that you have an 80% chance for Sundering not to proc each hit, thats roughly a 50% chance that Sundering WILL proc, and deal more damage. And assuming you get one proc, there is still a decent chance you will get another.

Sundering allows you to put more pressure on your target when you need it most (as its in those three hits a Warrior does his job, not all the rest).

Its true that you can not rely on Sundering is not something you can rely on, but its potential is greater then that of Vampiric, whos damage in a spike is insignificant.

Also, Sundering has no downside, while Vampiric gives you health degeneration (health steal too, sure, but you dont always hit).

Don Zardeone

Don Zardeone

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Legendary Shiz
This thread should be closed.

Where are the search nazi's at?
I was listing critical hits sans attack skills, which was why Strength AP was irrelevant. With an attack skill and 9 Strength it would do 87 damage plus the attack skill damage if any.

Quote:
Vampiric would, given an infinite number of hits, would deal more raw damage, yes.
Which is what the OP asked about as stated in the title, and which I answered. But we might as well discuss which one is more useful since nobody really talked about it after the sundering buff.

Quote:
But if this game was about DPS then Cleave would be a favored elite over Eviscerate. The difference between Cleave and Eviscerate is the difference between one more spammable weaker skill and a skill that is part of a spike chain. The difference between vampiric and sundering is either always having a small amount (3 or 5) of extra damage or occasionally having an uncontrollable boost to damage (7-14, crit 20 for hammers). Just because DPS isn't the highest priority in the game doesn't mean we throw it out entirely. Were the extra damage from sundering to occur enough to be of significance, it actually would be a viable alternative. But does sundering have enough of an effect?

Quote:
With a Vampiric weapon you will always deal 15 extra damage. With a Sundering weapon, you have 3 seperate chances to deal ~20 extra damage. The problem with this statement is that you're assuming you're hitting for a critical every time sundering activates, which would give you 20 damage. If you're not getting a crit then the greatest bonus you get from sundering is 14 damage, which is less than what vampiric would give you in three hits. So sundering would only be greater than vampiric if it coincided with a crit, or if sundering triggers more than once during those three hits. The chances of either having at least one single sundering+crit combo or having sundering activate more than once is about 22%, which isn't great considering that during that 22% you only get 1-10 extra points of damage over vampiric.

But we aren't concerned with minor damage, are we? We want to see how often we'll get a good damage bonus from sundering. The chances of getting two critical+sundering combos to get 40 extra damage in three hits is 0.6%, a far cry from the 10% chance you'd get if you assumed that you always got criticals. I'd rather take my 15 lifesteal always rather than hope that my /roll 100 works. (We could assume that the target is being stupid and running away from you, resulting in an automatic crit the first hit, now giving you a 2.3% chance to get two critical+sundering combos. But somehow /roll 50 isn't much more appealing to me, especially as we're assuming stupidity on the enemy's part.)


@Ajantis: Actually, I forgot to include inherent AP. I just tacked on hornbows for the slower speed and didn't think about it much. Silly me. The actual number should be 1.07 health/sec difference for hornbows rather than 1.15.

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

aight, yall made a believer outta me. ;-) so i switched to vamp, and i havent paid attention to the numbers, but over the long run, i do notice that i take out the Warrior Troll Boss, Krogg Shmush, on my troll runs, faster than i did with a sundering haft. about a good 15 seconds faster too.

I R Chewy

I R Chewy

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2006

Pirate Raid [ARGH]

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante the Warlord
What if they use a blocking stance?! there's something called wild blow. maybe you should use it sometime.

Don Zardeone

Don Zardeone

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

Guys, we've been through this before.
The only time we'd need to do this again is when ANet buffs, nerfs, adds or remvoes vamp, sundering or other things related to them.

I already made the search nazi post!

Come on!!

skreet preacha

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

DDC

W/Mo

so hook us up on how to search Don

Dante the Warlord

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by I R Chewy
there's something called wild blow. maybe you should use it sometime. Personally i hate wild blow...its not that great...and its a pretty high adrenaline cost...all it does shove them down...i replcaed it with quivering blade because not everyone has a blocking stance, just i think vampiric is better for PvE only, sometimes i like to just sit back and relax while killing thye enemy, BUT i heard about zealous, does this really have no health degeneration...i know it has energy gain.

Thorin Monk

Thorin Monk

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

UMBC

Mo/N

wild blow = 5 energy....and it removes any stance....not just blocking....and wild blow is not a knock down..............it removes any stance, warrior, mesmer, ranger, or assassin, think of some stances commonly used in farming builds, wouldn't it be nice if you could remove them