Weapon Analysis

[Kaedis]

Ok, so every class has a multitude of weapon options, several of which are exclusive to that class. In this thread, I'll be investigating the effects of weapon type on weapon selection, based on each type's base damage range, APS, and allowed enchants. The goal is the analyze and potentially dispel the common belief that weapon DPS is the only thing worth looking at when selecting a weapon.

Below I've compiled a table of allow available weapons. Included on the left is an indicator of which classes may use that type of weapon, the type (M = Melee, R = Ranged), and whether the item requires 1 hand or 2. The given damage ranges are the base damage for a perfect rolled item-level 63 version of that weapon.

I've also computed a Damage Factor and a DPS Factor. The former is the average damage of that weapon divided by the average damage of a Dagger (the lowest average damage weapon). The DPS Factor is identical, except it uses the DPS of the weapons rather than the average damage. These factors stay roughly the same over the entire level spread, so they are a good way to compare weapons without having to specify itemlevel.

Barb	DH	Monk	WD	Wiz	Type	Hands	Type	Min	Max	Avg	DPS	APS	Dmg Factor	DPS Factor
X	X	X	X	X	M	1	Axe	154	285	219.5	285.35	1.30	1.5735	1.3637
			X		M	1	Ceremonial Knife	74	294	184.0	257.60	1.40	1.3190	1.2311
X	X	X	X	X	M	1	Dagger	70	209	139.5	209.25	1.50	1.0000	1.0000
		X			M	1	Fist Weapon	107	248	177.5	248.50	1.40	1.2724	1.1876
X	X	X	X	X	M	1	Mace	191	354	272.5	327.00	1.20	1.9534	1.5627
X					M	1	Mighty Weapon	154	285	219.5	285.35	1.30	1.5735	1.3637
X	X	X	X	X	M	1	Spear	214	320	267.0	320.40	1.20	1.9140	1.5312
X	X	X	X	X	M	1	Sword	107	248	177.5	248.50	1.40	1.2724	1.1876
X			X	X	M	2	2h Axe	515	629	572.0	572.00	1.00	4.1004	2.7336
X			X	X	M	2	2H Mace	659	728	693.5	624.15	0.90	4.9713	2.9828
X					M	2	2H Mighty Weapon	539	595	567.0	567.00	1.00	4.0645	2.7097
X			X	X	M	2	2H Sword	382	572	477.0	524.70	1.10	3.4194	2.5075
		X			M	2	Diabo	341	632	486.5	535.15	1.10	3.4875	2.5575
X		X	X		M	2	Polearm	570	696	633.0	601.35	0.95	4.5376	2.8738
		X	X	X	M	2	Staff	468	701	584.5	584.50	1.00	4.1900	2.7933
	X				R	1	Hand Crossbow	50	279	164.5	263.20	1.60	1.1792	1.2578
				X	R	1	Wand	122	226	174.0	243.60	1.40	1.2473	1.1642
	X		X	X	R	2	Bow	82	462	272.0	380.80	1.40	1.9498	1.8198
	X		X	X	R	2	Crossbow	421	514	467.5	514.25	1.10	3.3513	2.4576

Wow! That's pretty striking. A polearm will deal nearly 3 times the DPS that a dagger will! However, in addition to base damage, each weapon blue quality and up has additional elemental damage on it. For all weapons except for Daggers and Hand Crossbows, this damage maxes out at +286-667. For Daggers and Hand Crossbows, it maxes at +250-583. We also can get up to +81-180 damage from amulets and rings (which top out at +27-60 apiece). Add these in, and the factors even out quite a bit:

Type	Avg	DPS	APS	Dmg Factor	DPS Factor
Axe	826.5	1074.45	1.30	1.2039	1.0434
Ceremonial Knife	791.0	1107.40	1.40	1.1522	1.0754
Dagger	686.5	1029.75	1.50	1.0000	1.0000
Fist Weapon	784.5	1098.30	1.40	1.1428	1.0666
Mace	879.5	1055.40	1.20	1.2811	1.0249
Mighty Weapon	826.5	1074.45	1.30	1.2039	1.0434
Spear	874.0	1048.80	1.20	1.2731	1.0185
Sword	784.5	1098.30	1.40	1.1428	1.0666
2h Axe	1179.0	1179.00	1.00	1.7174	1.1449
2H Mace	1300.5	1170.45	0.90	1.8944	1.1366
2H Mighty Weapon	1174.0	1174.00	1.00	1.7101	1.1401
2H Sword	1084.0	1192.40	1.10	1.5790	1.1580
Diabo	1093.5	1202.85	1.10	1.5929	1.1681
Polearm	1240.0	1178.00	0.95	1.8063	1.1440
Staff	1191.5	1191.50	1.00	1.7356	1.1571
Hand Crossbow	711.5	1138.40	1.60	1.0364	1.1055
Wand	781.0	1093.40	1.40	1.1377	1.0618
Bow	879.0	1230.60	1.40	1.2804	1.1950
Crossbow	1074.5	1181.95	1.10	1.5652	1.1478

Now we can start to get down to the fun stuff. For ye melee classes, we get 15% bonus attack speed when dualwielding. Here's what happens when we add that 15% in for 1H weapons (taking the assumption that you're dual-wielding 2 of the same item):

Type	Avg	DPS	APS	Dmg Factor	DPS Factor
Axe	826.5	1235.62	1.50	1.2039	1.0434
Ceremonial Knife	791.0	1273.51	1.61	1.1522	1.0754
Dagger	686.5	1184.21	1.73	1.0000	1.0000
Fist Weapon	784.5	1263.05	1.61	1.1428	1.0666
Mace	879.5	1213.71	1.38	1.2811	1.0249
Mighty Weapon	826.5	1235.62	1.50	1.2039	1.0434
Spear	874.0	1206.12	1.38	1.2731	1.0185
Sword	784.5	1263.05	1.61	1.1428	1.0666
2h Axe	1179.0	1179.00	1.00	1.7174	0.9956
2H Mace	1300.5	1170.45	0.90	1.8944	0.9884
2H Mighty Weapon	1174.0	1174.00	1.00	1.7101	0.9914
2H Sword	1084.0	1192.40	1.10	1.5790	1.0069
Diabo	1093.5	1202.85	1.10	1.5929	1.0157
Polearm	1240.0	1178.00	0.95	1.8063	0.9948
Staff	1191.5	1191.50	1.00	1.7356	1.0062

If you're a Wizard or Witchdoctor, instead of dual-wielding, you get an off-hand that can provide up to 110-405 damage:

Type	Avg	DPS	APS	Dmg Factor	DPS Factor
Axe	1084.0	1409.20	1.30	1.1483	0.9952
Dagger	944.0	1416.00	1.50	1.0000	1.0000
Mace	1137.0	1364.40	1.20	1.2044	0.9636
Spear	1131.5	1357.80	1.20	1.1986	0.9589
Sword	1042.0	1458.80	1.40	1.1038	1.0302
2h Axe	1179.0	1179.00	1.00	1.2489	0.8326
2H Mace	1300.5	1170.45	0.90	1.3776	0.8266
2H Sword	1084.0	1192.40	1.10	1.1483	0.8421
Staff	1191.5	1191.50	1.00	1.2622	0.8415
Wand	1038.5	1453.90	1.40	1.1001	1.0268

Lastly, Demon Hunters can equip a Quiver offhand when using a Bow, Crossbow, or Hand Crossbow, or dual-wield Hand Crossbows. Adding those value in (instead of the dual-wield haste buff):

Type	Avg	DPS	APSAPS	Dmg Factor	DPS Factor
Hand Crossbow (Quiver)	711.5	1252.24	1.600.101.76	0.7537	0.8844
Hand Crossbow (Dual)	711.5	1309.16	1.600.151.84	0.7537	0.9245
Bow	879.0	1353.66	1.400.101.54	0.9311	0.9560
Crossbow	1074.5	1300.15	1.100.101.21	1.1382	0.9182

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Ok, Kaedis, so what's this all mean? Well, it means that certain classes do have optimal weapons, and they aren't always the ones with the best displayed DPS on the AH. Let's go over it on a class by class basis:

Barbarian
From the DPS factors, it's rather close between 1H Swords, 1H Axes, and 1H Mighty Weapons. Maxes, Spears, Daggers, and all 2H weapons are a decent chunk behind (though it's still no more than about 8% in the worst case).

However, Barbarians also get a passive called Weapons Master, which grants Swords and Daggers +15% damage, Axes and Maces +10% crit, Polearms and Spears +10% Attack Speed, and Mighty Weapons 3 fury per hit. The last one is difficult enough to quantify that I'm not really going to bother, but the former 3 are relatively easily analyzed. Since the attack speed from WM is additive, this means that 1H Swords easily take over the lead spot, with Daggers and 2H Swords trailing by about 7% (unless you have a TON of crit damage gear, in which case the Axe might catch up).

Verdict: If you have Weapons Master slotted, use a pair of 1H Swords, or a pair of Daggers or 2H Sword if necessary (note, this applies to sword-and-board Barbs as well). If you don't have Weapons Master slotted, dual 1H Swords, 1H Axes, or 1H Mighty Weapons are all solid options (Mighty Weapons may be favored due to Barbarian-specific bonuses).

Demon Hunter
Demon Hunters are capable of equipping a number of melee weapons, but the overwhelming majority of their abilities require a ranged weapon equipped, so I'm only going to be considering Hand Crossbows, Bows, and Crossbows. We actually have 4 options here: dual Hand Xbows, Hand Xbow + Quiver, Bow + Quiver, and Crossbow + Quiver. Quiver top out at 13% IAS, putting it close to the benefit of dual-wielding. From raw damage factors, this favors Bows.

However, Demon Hunters also have a weapon-type-exclusive passive: Archery. Archery provides +15% damage to Bows, +50% Critical Damage on Crossbows, and +10% Crit on Hand Crossbows. This is actually relative even, but benefits Bows slightly more unless you have an absolutely ridiculous amount of crit damage or crit chance already.

You would need just a touch over 50% crit chance with no additional crit damage for Crossbows to equal Bows (68% crit if you have 50% additional crit damage from gear). You would need +190% crit damage at 5% crit for dual Hand Crossbows to equal a Bow.

Verdict: Bow + Quiver

Monk
For Monks, the playing field is somewhat more even. The only obvious outliers are Fist Weapons and Swords (which have identical damage ranges and speeds), being some 3% better than the nearest competitor (Axes). The best of the 2-hand weapons, the Diabo, is a bit over 6% behind Fists and Swords, with Staves and 2h Swords roughly another percent behind Diabos.

Monks, as with Barbarians and Demon Hunters, have a weapon-specific passive: The Guardian's Path. However, unlike Barbs and DHs, the Monk's weapon passive isn't really DPS oriented. When dualwielding, it increases the Monk's Dodge chance by 15%, and while using a 2-hander, it increases all spirit generation by 25%. Given how limited Monk spirit can be at times, I would tend to lean toward a Diabo for DPS purposes, but that's a bit murkier theorycrafting ground. The dual-wield benefit provides zero DPS, so I'm going to ignore it, but it's obviously superior for a tanking build.

Verdict: Murky. Fist or Sword are solid. If you have The Guardian's Path slotted, Diabos, 2H Swords , or Staves (in that order) are also decent options. I would tend to favor the Fist or Diabo due to monk-specific bonuses.

Witchdoctor
Witchdoctors lack any sort of weapon-specific passive, so this one is based on raw damage factors (with off-hand bonus included). WDs do, however, have the largest pool of usable weapons (with 13 out of 19 types usable), so the list is pretty large. That said, Ceremonial Knives dominate the list, with 1H Swords behind but just under 1%. Daggers and 1H Axes follow 1H Swords by about 3%. All 2h weapons are 15-20% behind Daggers and 1H Axes.

Verdict: A Ceremonial Knife and a really good Mojo, if possible. If not, 1H Swords, Daggers, and 1H Axes ( descending order of preference) are possible fill-ins. 2handers not recommended.

Wizard
Wizards similarly have no weapon-specific passive. They do, however, have access to Wands, which have a very similar damage range and identical base speed to 1H Swords. 1H Swords have a slightly wider damage range, which means that their lowest damage attack will be lower than a wand's, and their highest damage attack higher. 1H Swords beat out wands by less than half a percent damage factor, though, and Wands tend to have Wizard-specific bonuses to boost their desirability, so it's a tossup.

Verdict: A Wand or Sword plus a really good Magic Source (Wands may be preferred due to Wizard-specific bonuses). If you can't find a Wand or 1H Sword, Daggers and 1H Axes aren't far behind.

Weapon Speed and Average Damage
Thus far I haven't directly addressed weapon speed or average damage at all. This is partly because it complicates the issue far beyond standard theorycrafting. However, I feel I should at least touch on the subject.

Some players may wish to maximize average damage at the expense of DPS. This benefits hit-and-run playstyles, which use single high-damage abilities between kiting (for example, a Demon Hunter kiting with Impale). Wizards who are favoring Blizzard as their damage source may also wish to focus this direction (which would mean using 2h Maces, or possible Staves/2H Axes), as Blizzard doesn't benefit from Attack Speed at all, and therefore benefits from the highest damage, slowest weapon possible.

In addition, some classes and skill/rune setups favor slower attack speeds, even at the expense of DPS, due to resource cycling. This is, however, a bit of a double-edged sword. Slower resource cycling means that you deplete your resources slower as well (since the animation speed for nearly all abilities scales with attack speed). However, while baseline resource generation won't change, any resource regen based on using your basic attacks will also go down by the same margin.

For example, a monk has no baseline spirit regen, and won't get more than about 4-6 spirit/second from gear even if they go full monk gear. Most of their regen comes from melee attacks, so attacking slower will decrease their regen at close to the same rate as their decreased consumption rate. On the flip side you have wizards, who have an extremely rapid resource regen rate. They can generate up to 8 Arcane Power per Magic Missile with appropriate passive and rune choices, but those will still end up being less than half their regen, so attacking slower means more effect regen per attack, meaning more time spend using resource-consumer and less time spent using free or resource-generating abilities.

However, +damage effect on items scale far better with faster attack speeds than they do with slower, so it's a trade-off the player will have to balance carefully.

Anyway, if you have any commentary, feel free to let me know.

Note: The tables in the first section of the post are slightly off. When I started writing the second half, I noticed that I had neglected to include the benefits of the Radiant Star Ruby for each weapon. This slightly changes the Damage and DPS factors. The second half of the post (the actual analysis) was done after including the gem. I'll update the tables in the first half when I have time (it's kinda a pain in the ass).

[GWARRR]

Sweet tables. Confirmed my suspicions on many counts.

Question: Did you ever look at using Radiant Star Emeralds instead? For crit-heavy classes/builds (DH, some Wiz builds, some Barb builds), would these numbers and priorities change? I ask mostly because I'm leveling a DH and am leaning towards going with 1HXbow + Quiver for A. stacking Discipline, B. sweet looks (ok, I want to go this way mostly for the sweet looks), and C. using the 10% crit from Archery as a springboard for stacking tons of Crit damage. Of course, that may require new tables since messing with +Crit Damage% will probably change a lot of things. I see you kind of touched on it (i.e. 190% crit damage for 2x HXBows to equal Bow + Quiver), but I'm curious to see if Radiant Star Emerald would change for certain classes...though that might be better fit for individual builds/threads.

[Kaedis]

I didn't look at the Emeralds, no. This was meant to be a first glance to start optimizing. Beyond that, as my time has been rather limited (and I didn't get the game until several weeks after release), my highest character is 44, so I'm not yet familiar with what a "normal" crit chance at level 60 would be. Weapon damage is more easily computed, as all other factors (crit damage, attack speed, etc) are all multiplicative and thus can safely be ignored when comparing weapon types.

But yes, probably better suited for individual class threads.

[Asashdor]

Those are some pretty neat tables, Great work!

But you've also got a small error in your Demon Hunter recommendations: Magic and Rare Quivers top out at 15% IAS while the legendary Dead Man's Legacy goes up to 20%. I guess this means your potentially losing damage if you're dual wielding crossbows over using a good legendary Quiver, but how big of a deal would that be? And also, how does this affect the overall relation of Crossbows, Bows and Hand Crossbows?

[Dalthus]

Great job, thanks for the info!

[Kaedis]

Ashashdor, that would place dual xbows as equal to xbow +quiver at the magic and rare level (though the site I was looking at had them toppin out at 13%), and strictly inferior at the legendary level. Wouldn't really affect the relative ratings much, except to make dual xbows even worse than bows.