To compare all possible combinations of weapons and traits for 2H and DW, it is worthwhile to consider the average damage formula with every bonus conceivable and then setting the relevant parameters and then calculating and determining when a certain weapon and trait combination is optimal. Axes are not being considered since the Bleed effect is refreshed quite often and it appears unlikely that it will run its full course.
The average damage formula is
where
Tooltip is the tooltip value without any Champion Points and scales of Stamina and Weapon Damage. Attacker Bonus typically comes from Champion Point effect such as Mighty. While the effect of Mighty is now calculated in the Tooltip, I have separated in this formula since some Champion Point effects are not shown in the Tooltip (example: Force Pulse and Elemental Expert). Defender Bonus refers to racial and Champion Point bonuses that the Defender gains such as Thick Skinned for a physical DoT or the Nord Rugged Passive. Since k is always positive it can be ignored from now on but was included here for completeness.
The formula for mitigation is
The effect of Major Fracture is to reduce the Resistance by 5280. The Focus value for most Stamina builds is 100 (base Focus value). Placing points in Piercing will alter the Focus Rating as reported by Harven’s Extended Stats but using that Focus value will result in errors with the formula provided above. The tooltip value of Piercing (in decimal form) should be used. For PvE involving a V16 character against any veteran level mob, Level should be 50000. Level should be set to 66000 for PvP involving a V16 attacker and a V16 Defender. I do not know what value of Level should be used in PvP if the Attacker or Defender is not V16.
The increased penetration from using Mace or the Sharpened trait is additive. It is possible to separate the Mitigation equation into two components, a base mitigation component and a penetration mitigation component
Crit is the Weapon Critical Rating as reported in the Character Sheet. Here, it has been separated into a base component that does not take into account the benefit from Precise or Dual-Wielding daggers and a bonus component that includes only Precise and Dual-Wielding daggers. Mod is the Critical modifier and is defined as
For every weapon and trait combination it is sufficient to determine, f,
for most Stamina builds is 100 thus Mit_Base is only a function of Resistance. With this in mind, it can be seen that f depends on Resistance, Crit_Base and Mod.
Thus for selected values of Resistance, it is possible to create graphs showing which weapon and trait combination is optimal as a function of Crit_Base and Mod.
2H
There are 4 possible combinations:
1. Sharpened Greatsword
2. Precise Greatsword
3. Sharpened Maul
4. Precise Maul
The following colours will be used to represent each combination
PvE
PvP
DW
There are 18 possible combinations:
1. Two Sharpened Mace
2. Sharpened Mace + Precise Mace
3. Sharpened Mace + Sharpened Sword
4. Sharpened Mace + Precise Sword
5. Sharpened Mace + Sharpened Dagger
6. Sharpened Mace + Precise Dagger
7. Precise Mace + Precise Sword
8. Precise Mace + Precise Dagger
9. Two Precise Mace
10. Two Sharpened Swords
11. Sharpened Sword + Precise Sword
12. Sharpened Sword + Sharpened Dagger
13. Sharpened Sword + Precise Dagger
14. Precise Sword + Precise Dagger
15. Two Precise Swords
16. Two Sharpened Daggers
17. Sharpened Dagger + Precise Dagger
18. Two Precise Daggers
The following colours will be used to represent each combination
PvE
PvP