The effect of marksmanship on damage and crit rate?

Glabro

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jul 2005

I´ve read several conflicting takes on how marksmanship affects your damage. I´m aware of the Combat Mathematics guide here on GW Guru, which tells its own story, but I´ve also read posts that claim that each point of marksmanship offsets 5 levels of armor from your target. I´ve also heard that the critical hit rate increases dramatically beyond level 12 - and that for serious bow damage, you NEED 16. These players cite that their crit rates are close to 50% as opposed to 25-33% at 12.

Who has the truth of it? Has anyone studied and tested this? I´m building a ranger and am not sure on how much marksmanship is enough - there´s expertise to pump, you see, and wilderness survival, and....

Discuss your experiences!

Yukito Kunisaki

Yukito Kunisaki

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2005

Chicago, IL

W/N

12/11/11
marksmanship/expertise/secondary

12/10/10/8
marksmanship/expertise/primary/secondary

If bows behave as a weapon mastery would, then it'd be safe to guess that at 12 Marksmanship, you have a 20% critical hit rate and you deal 100% dmg - enemy armor.

However, to say that 16 weapon mastery causes you to do 50% crit rate I think is kind of a stretch. Weapon dmg gain drops when u go from 12-13 then 11-12. So I think it'd be safe to say crit rate drops like that too. I'd guess that it goes as high as 33% crit with 16 marksmanship. To say it goes to 50% is somewhat contradictory to the dmg increase output. That'd make it sooo much more dangerous.

Glabro

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jul 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yukito Kunisaki

If bows behave as a weapon mastery would, then it'd be safe to guess that at 12 Marksmanship, you have a 20% critical hit rate and you deal 100% dmg - enemy armor.
However, to say that 16 weapon mastery causes you to do 50% crit rate I think is kind of a stretch. Weapon dmg gain drops when u go from 12-13 then 11-12. So I think it'd be safe to say crit rate drops like that too. I'd guess that it goes as high as 33% crit with 16 marksmanship. To say it goes to 50% is somewhat contradictory to the dmg increase output. That'd make it sooo much more dangerous. All well and good speculation, but have you actually ever tested marksmanship beyond 12, or simply assumed this to be the case?