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[Bowcraft/Fletching] Enhancing Bows : Ash or Yew ?

popps

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I see most of the interest as in regards to enhancing bows, going into using Ash for the 10% SSI Bonus (the added 20% Lower requirement I do not think matters much for the choice....).

Since Yew gives a bonus of 5% Hit Chance Increase and 10% Damage Increse, I wonder why so many prefer Ash considering that also the Yew enhancement looks nice......

Not to mention Bllodwood with its +2 Hit Point Regeneration and 16% Life Leech which is nice to have to stay alive.....

Bottom line question is, why so many prefer SSI ?
 
L

LionUWF

Guest
For stuff like peerless or champs or pvp its all about getting the most amount of damage in quickly.


Example -

Hit 40 times a minute at 50 damage and u get 2000 damage a minute

Hit 30 times a minute at 55 damage u got 1650 damage per minute

I think it all depends on what type of bow your using, and your suit, remeber its ALOT easier wokring DI or HPR into your suit then it is working SSI in there :p
 

popps

Always Present
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For stuff like peerless or champs or pvp its all about getting the most amount of damage in quickly.


Example -

Hit 40 times a minute at 50 damage and u get 2000 damage a minute

Hit 30 times a minute at 55 damage u got 1650 damage per minute

I think it all depends on what type of bow your using, and your suit, remeber its ALOT easier wokring DI or HPR into your suit then it is working SSI in there :p

So, if I understand correctly, people prefer to concentrate most of their SSI on their weapon so has to then use the suit available for Damage Increase and Hit Point Regeneration or else ?

The Swing Speed Increase CAP is 60. How much of that can realistically be concentrated in a weapon ?
 

Basara

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LionUWF, you make the assumption that the extra 10% will make a difference for everyone. You also fail to add in the HCI effects on number of attacks for a Yew-enhanced weapon.

According to the devs, SSI effectively counts as stamina points, for determining weapon speed. However, fractions above each multiple of 30 are wasted if you don't have the matching stamina to make up for it.

So, your choice in SSI amounts to whether that extra 10% from ASH will raise your swing speed.

125 Stamina + 40 SSI swings at the SAME SPEED as 125 Stamina + 30 SSI (165 vs. 155 = both round down to 150).

If you have equipment to go to 140 stamina, then 40 SSI will give you a faster swing speed than 30 SSI - but only while you are at full stamina.

If your equipment gives you 150 stamina, then 30 SSI with full stamina will be the same as 40% with 140-150 stamina; in effect, just giving you a slight buffer for lost stamina from movements or hits.

As I dont have a suit that would push Max Stamina + SSI over 180 with a 40% SSI weapon, I typically stick with 30% SSI yew-enhanced weapons on my archer, for the extra Hit Chance (more so than the DI).

So, really, it comes down to the choice between Ash & Yew being a niche thing. You need to know the template and suit of the person the bow is for, and then decide whether having 10% more SSI will have any effect in the long run. More people will opt for the SSI out of feelings, more than practicality, though it will in some cases let you tough out one hit and not lose swing speed (but then, that's what Divine Fury and refresh pots are for). For others, SSI will have a real effect. But, there's also a few groups where SSI over 30 doesn't really matter, or they require a different number (ex. a PvM mage using a sc mage weapon bow as backup while letting their mana passively regenerate between spell dumps, who might only have 40 stamina - and therefore could probably get away with an amount of 20-30% SSI on their weapon - especially when you consider that most of the intensity of the bow will be in SC, FC 1, and mage weapon, and they will want to leave some room for imbuing mana leech, before enhancing)
 

Lorax_Pacific

Lore Master
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Every archer has to have 45 HCI and 120 otherwise you will rarely do damage over time because the speed of almost every bow that does a good amount of damage and has the right special is so slow. You need the highest percentage of swings to count as a hit. You need to make the decision fitting all the HCI on the suit or is some on the weapon required. The weight of HCI on the weapon is 1.3 compared with 1.1 for SSI meaning imbuing HCI on the weapon is an expensive property. Comparing enhancing on the two though (5*1.3+10*1)>10*1.1 so you get more intensity for the yew enhance. The good thing about yew enhance on the weapon is it replaces one HCI woodland and one DI woodland armor piece.

You want to have as little SSI on your weapon because the HML and HSL are decreased by the weapon speed. My suit has 20 SSi on it and I am revisiting a 30 SSI suit again. If I only need to use an oak kit to get 15 SSI and can enhance to 25 then I get higher properties on my bow overall. This means I wouldn't have to use relic fragments or special materials. In general, you can't rely on having max stamina so the SSI is important. Archers need as close to 55 SSI as possible because you can't rely on stamina being maintained at maximum without pots or leech if you are taking any damage. Successful leeches require the highest damage weapons, which are the slowest.

If your suit has max HCI and max DI then yew is pointless. It comes down to adding things up and moving things around to get what you need. I look for the lowest SSI on the weapon to have higher leeches and other high properties.

-Lorax
 

popps

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Every archer has to have 45 HCI and 120 otherwise you will rarely do damage over time because the speed of almost every bow that does a good amount of damage and has the right special is so slow. You need the highest percentage of swings to count as a hit. You need to make the decision fitting all the HCI on the suit or is some on the weapon required. The weight of HCI on the weapon is 1.3 compared with 1.1 for SSI meaning imbuing HCI on the weapon is an expensive property. Comparing enhancing on the two though (5*1.3+10*1)>10*1.1 so you get more intensity for the yew enhance. The good thing about yew enhance on the weapon is it replaces one HCI woodland and one DI woodland armor piece.

You want to have as little SSI on your weapon because the HML and HSL are decreased by the weapon speed. My suit has 20 SSi on it and I am revisiting a 30 SSI suit again. If I only need to use an oak kit to get 15 SSI and can enhance to 25 then I get higher properties on my bow overall. This means I wouldn't have to use relic fragments or special materials. In general, you can't rely on having max stamina so the SSI is important. Archers need as close to 55 SSI as possible because you can't rely on stamina being maintained at maximum without pots or leech if you are taking any damage. Successful leeches require the highest damage weapons, which are the slowest.

If your suit has max HCI and max DI then yew is pointless. It comes down to adding things up and moving things around to get what you need. I look for the lowest SSI on the weapon to have higher leeches and other high properties.

-Lorax

Thanks for the reply.

It is kinda confusing.......
You say :

"You want to have as little SSI on your weapon because the HML and HSL are decreased by the weapon speed. "

and also :

"Archers need as close to 55 SSI as possible because you can't rely on stamina being maintained at maximum without pots or leech if you are taking any damage. "

Hinting that you think it is best to have SSI on the suit, rather than on the weapon...
And if it is important to have 55 SSI but little on the weapon, this means the suit needs to carry quite a good value of remaining SSI.....

but then you also say :

"You need to make the decision fitting all the HCI on the suit or is some on the weapon required. The weight of HCI on the weapon is 1.3 compared with 1.1 for SSI meaning imbuing HCI on the weapon is an expensive property. "

and also :

"If your suit has max HCI and max DI then yew is pointless"

So, I get confused but while on one side you say it is best to have only minimal SSI on the weapon, then you also say that it is pointless to enhance the bow with Yew.

So, neither enhance it with ash nor with yew.

Then enhance bows with what if I may ask ??
 

Barry Gibb

Of Saintly Patience
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So, neither enhance it with ash nor with yew.

Then enhance bows with what if I may ask ??
What they are trying to tell you is simple. Your enhancement selection depends on the rest of your equipment and your stats. If you are already at the maximum DI or HCI, then enhancing with Yew is a waste. If the additional 10% SSI from Ash does not gain you any swing speed, then enhancing with it is a waste.

Use this calculator to compare the swing delay of the different bows and versus your potential SSI values and character stats: Weapons. Alternatively, you can use the information in this post: http://vboards.stratics.com/uo-warrior/154261-swing-speed-archers.html, to do a similar comparisson.

The choice of which material to enhance with is not a universal "always do this..." answer. Choose the material you want to enhance with based on what you want to inforce in your gear. Also, keep in mind that Ash brings a Lower Requirements property with it. This will consume an imbuing property slot if you try to enhance before completly imbuing the weapon.

Stayin Alive,

BG
 

Basara

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. Also, keep in mind that Ash brings a Lower Requirements property with it. This will consume an imbuing property slot if you try to enhance before completly imbuing the weapon.
Whereas an exceptional bow already will have DI, and therefore adds only one more property to an exceptional bow (though the HCI from crafting, then imbuing will be lost when you imbue HCI onto it, you start with a 50% DI bow (with arms lore) that way, but bows have the ability to be imbued to 25% HCI as 100% intensity/130% weighted anyway, so no big loss)
 
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