Which Sword to Use?

I currently have saved numerous swords & upgrades. Which in your opinion would be the best sword to use? I have 1 sword with +5 energy & 1 with +15 Damage while enchanted it. Everything else is almost identical? The second question is I have been experimenting on the amount of damage different swords provide. It seems to me the shocking hilt provides the consistantly highest damage. I also have tried a 3.1 vampiric sword. This seems to give the least amount of damage. When it strikes, does it not only provide damage in addition to removing an additional 3 of life? Is it worth losing 1 health generation for the + 3 in life?

Thanks,

A vampiric mod will provide an additional 3 damage everytime you strike. If you do decide to bring along a vampiric mod, make sure you have another weapon set where you don't have that sword on. That way you're not running around constantly losing health inbetween fights.

Defense is one of the best suffix mods for a sword, providing a +5 AL. It has been shown on these forums that +5 AL is better than +30 health is almost every situation. Enchanting is always good to have if you are using a lot of enchantments, which can lengthen your enchantments by a maximum of 20%.

The best inherent +% damage that you can get depends on your build. Most people favor the +15% damage while your health is above 50%. Really it depends on your preference. If you're constantly under the influence of an enchantment, then naturally your sword will be best to use. If you are heavy on stances, find a sword with +15% while in stance.

The shocking hilt is showing more damage probably because you are fighting enemies who are vulnerable to it. The vampiric hilt won't show the additional 3 damage which is probably why you believe that it is weaker.

Elemental weapons get around the +armor vs physical you'll see on most melee mobs in PvE. It's a great weapon mod for a tank because of that.

Vampiric is an invisible mod. You actually are dealing an extra 3 damage with every hit, but that isn't shown in the damage that you see. So if you hit a boss monster for, say, 5 damage with a vampiric 3 weapon, you're actually dealing 8 - the 5 you see, and another 3 life stolen that only the boss sees. I credit this invisibility for the lack of popularity of vampiric mods.

You aren't going to gain a lot of health from a Vampiric weapon - usually you just break even or do slightly better. The whole point is the +3 damage per hit, making it the best damage mod available.

Peace,
-CxE