why buy R9

Who do people always get r9 over r12

if im at swordsmanship and get a R9 will it be any different then the R12?

Requirement 9 on a weapopn is worth more, and more in demand than a requirement 12, because your attributes do not need to be set as high in order to have the damage of the weapon.

Most players use the lower req items for farming builds or specific builds that do not allow you to use a requirement over a certain requirement due to the attributes spread.

As long as you meet the req in swordsmanship r9 and r12 swords will perform the same.

Weakness also lowers your attributes by one, so a 12 can become an 11 easily. If you take a couple levels out of that attrib. for a special build then you're down to 9 already.

But it's mostly just the idea that the farther to one end of a scale you are then the better something must be that most of us use to judge the quality of most anything.

so that you can use those extra attribute points in some other attribute. setting your weapon attribute to 12 doesn't leave as many attribute points to spend compared with setting it to 9.

cause req 9 consists of only 1 number which makes it look nicer then 2 number reqs like 10, 11, 12, or 13.

Tbh, it doesn't matter for a warrior, apart from for vanity's sake.
You should never have less than 14 Swordsmanship

Even when I'm using a hammer?

Hmm, i did not know this. Say i was a Curses Necro, if i left at attribute 9 for the req, will my curse effects be the same, as if i had a req 12? what im saying is like, i cast a spell, and it has changing variables, like seconds it lasts. If i just met the req, wouldnt the variables be lower than if i raised it to 12? Sorry if you cant read this, i tried wording it as well as i could.

If your curses attrib is higher, then your hexes last longer and do more damage. But that depends more on if your attribs are high, and not the req of your gear. As long as you meet the req, your curses will be the same regardless if you're using req 8 or req 13 gear.

If your dealing damage with a weapon it is almost always a good idea to put the attributes as high as possible.

However if your main source of damage is from skills they only meeting the requirement of a weapon allows it to deal a reasonable amount of damage while you put most of your points in the attribute of your skills.

For all weapons inorder to deal the maximum damage of that weapon you must place 15 points in the attribute it is linked to. Meeting the requirement alone does not lead to maximum damage, however if you fail to meet the requirement you will deal damage equivilent to a starter weapon, ie 2-5.

The requirement on a wand or staff only affects damage done when attacking with the wand/staff itself, and the requirement on an offhand is only for the energy. The requirements don't affect your spells in any way.

Maximum damage for martial weapons is inflicted at rank 16. Maximum damage for wands and staves is dealt when you're level 20.

People want rank 9 weapons simply because they have enough gold that they can. If you are bothering to purchase utra-rare might as well purchase ultra-rare.

Once you meet the requirement of the weapon no change in the attribute changes the *base* damage of the weapon (however, higher attributes provide extra damage over base - so if the weapon is your
main source of damage you still want a high attribute), if you do not meet the requirements the base damage of the weapon is the same as a starting weapon.

To further confuse matters the "extra" damage that your weapon attribute gives is 0 at 12, reduces damage below 12, and add to it above 12. So, while you will still get a base max damage with 10 in swordsmanship on a req9 weapon you will have a negative modifier to damage keeping you from having *actual damage* at the max level.

Spells, on the other had, do not have a requirement (well, a few do but it says in their description "fails 50% of the time with curse less than 4). Their effects scale based on what the attribute is - the higher the more effect the spell has.

There are also requirements on many offhands - such as shields or foci. The requirement needs to be met to gain the energy or armor, but you either get starter item numbers or whatever the offhand provides.

Also note that requirement only affects the line they are on - thus if an item were to have the following:

Energy +12 (req 9 curse)
Armor +16

then the requirement *only* affects the energy, you would still get the full armor no matter what. However, were you to happen to find the following:

Energy +12
Armor +16 (req 9 curse)

then the item would give you 12 energy but *only* give you 16 armor if you have 9 or better in Curses. (note that the exact combination of mods on an item do not exist, I picked them simply for illustrative purposes).

You will run into an item here or there that has some strange mix of modifiers and requirements, especially on some staffs.

Whew, I think I got all that right - if I didn't someone else will correct me quickly

Yeah, you're pretty much dead-on, requirements only affect the numbers they're listed next to. To clarify weapon damage:

Finding the damage for martial weapons (Sword, Bow, Hammer, Axe, Scythe, Spear, Daggers):

1. Do you meet the requirement?
-If yes, then the damage you deal is what is listed on the weapon.
-If no, then you deal crap for damage.

2. What is your weapon attribute rank?
-Assuming you aren't dealing crap for damage, you multiply the damage in step one by the corresponding percentage:
Rank - Percent
0 - 35%
1 - 39%
2 - 42%
3 - 46%
4 - 50%
5 - 55%
6 - 59%
7 - 65%
8 - 71%
9 - 77%
10 - 84%
11 - 92%
12 - 100%
13 - 104%
14 - 107%
15 - 111%
16 - 115%

3. Multiply the damage by any additional modifiers such as customization, still assuming you aren't dealing crap for damage.

A weapon is usually only useful if you can meet its prerequisites. For the "proper" primary class that can use runes, this is easy. For a secondary class, it can be hard. A requirement of 9 is easily met. A requirement of 12 will drain your attribute points. A requirement 13 is downright impossible.

Since I meet requirements (when do you run a b/p build with less than 13 marks - when you're not a primary ranger x]... which I play often. Req11 or 12 will be enough for me) or they are totally irrevelent, like caster melee weapons, I prefer high reqs. I don't NEED to spend 100k+xx ectos for a perfect req9 caster weapon while I have a high-req, max dmg. purple inscribable one that I modded on my own.

Oh and purple inscribable req9 max stuff is a great way to get items with nice skins, yet available on lower prices since they're purple and people don't want them too much. I have this purple req13 caster spear and it works just like a gold one, don't know why people whine so much about them... sure it's nice to have gold text, but eh. It does the job for people who prefer blowing their money on armor rather than weapons, like me x].