Is sharpened still best for Spriggans?

VonNelson

Yes?

davey1107

I double checked a couple of builds...plus dps builds on various classes because you didn’t say what you’re class is.

For PvP, the expert builders I reference are using nirn on the attack and infused on the back. (Alcast uses precise on his second dagger...I have no idea why, he doesn’t say. I’m going to assume the performance is so close that it doesn’t really matter).

On his pve builds, however, he uses nirnhoned on his bow bar too. I can see this. In PvP the back bar is largely defensive, and the infused keeps the weapon damage enchant proc up. But in pve the bow starts to become more offensive, so nirn probably beats it a bit. His pve builds are hardcore trial builds...his stamina characters aren’t running heals or wards, they’re set up for dps. So he’s probably wanting the nirn there because he has his bow up a lot offensively.

So...if you’re a class that uses your back bar for a lot of buffs and heals, and maybe a few DOTs you lay down then swap bars, infused on the bow with a weapon dog enchant on your front dagger will probably be more dps. This will cause the enchant uptime to keep that weapon damage rolling. (You need to be a good threader, though).

If you do tons of attacks from the back bar, the more you’re accumulating damage while keeping the bar up, nirn Becomes a more compelling choice.

As an example, I run a pve stamblade. My back bow bar is for poison inject, vigor, cloak, and leeching strikes. This is the sort of setup that leans infused. Most of the heals from vigor and damage from poison inject happen after I swap bac to my attack bar. So the infused buffs my weapon damage enchant and I get better dps with infused. If I equipped for trials and brought in caltrops, endless hail, trap...then I’d be spending more time on my back bar and might use a nirnhoned bow.

Loc2262

I'd say no. Since the nerf, you get more out of Infused, Precise or Nirnhoned. You're now better off getting that penetration with set/mundus/CP.

davey1107

It depends. For 95% of play, you’re going to get within 2% the same damage from precise, sharpened or nirnhoned...so you don’t have to stress too much over it.

But if you want to max, right now nirnhoned is doing a bit more damage. It’s especially helpful in PvP. Why? Sharpened pushes through armor, which an attack hits AFTER a damage shield. So when fighting enemies with a shield, sharpened is wasted on that part of the hit. Nirnhoned, however, happens at the beginning of the damage calculation, so it hits the shield harder and takes it down faster. Also, nirnhoned affects heals and any other effect with a variable value...sharpened doesn’t.

Precise works more like nirn than sharp. It increases crit values, which can be heals or other effects. For most characters Nirn is a bit more powerful, but it’s close.

The meta is to put infused on the back weapon. It’s time works even while using the front bar, so you get the benefit while using your front bar.

VonNelson

So @davey1107 I’ve got a spriggans dagger and bow to transmute. The bow should be infused and the dagger should be nirnhoned?

VonNelson

@davey1107 it’s a stamsorc. Backbar is trap, hail, snipe. Bound Armor and dark deal. My current red mountain bow is nirn but want to see if I can up my dps if I use spriggans. Would love maelstrom bow but I think I need to up my dps before I stand a chance. Might try spriggans hundings combination. Currently red mountain and toothrow. And seline.

Taleof2Cities

As was said above, @VonNelson, the traits are so close that the meta actually shifts depending on the type of content that you’re running. Unless you’re doing PvP (where the slight edge is mentioned above) there’s no one trait to rule them all.

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with trying out different weapon traits. Eventually you’ll find something that fits your specific content & playstyle.

Kikke

nirn bow, nirn main hand and infused off hand xD it todays "PvE meta"