Curse

Zelc · Oct 25, 2005, 06:02 PM // 18:02

I've heard rumors that Read the Wind's bonus damage and Favorable Wind's bonus damage do not stack. So, I specced 14 Marks, grabbed a vanilla 7-10 damage bow (poor Charr) and tested it (poor Lvl. 3 Hulking Stone Elementals). Since I get criticals pretty much every time, the damage I do is consistent and can be compared to one another even though I have very few data points. The numbers:

Without Anything:
Normal Attack: 20
Dual Shot: 15

FW Only:
Normal Attack: 26
Dual Shot: 21

RtW Only:
Normal Attack: 30
Dual Shot: 25

FW + RtW (FW activated first):
Normal Attack: 30
Dual Shot: 25

RtW + FW (RtW activated first):
Normal Attack: 36
Dual Shot: 31

Also notable is that Expertise 13 Distracting Shot hit for 14 every time, which is the number in the skill description.

So, what does that mean? Well, if you activate Favorable Winds and then activate Read the Winds, the damage bonus won't stack. However, if you activate Read the Winds first, followed by Favorable Winds, the damage bonus does stack. Very interesting. Also, note that the bonus damage provided by these effects are not affected by Dual Shot's damage penalty or by the critical hit's damage bonus. Finally, note that FW and RtW's damage bonuses don't get carried by Distracting Shot.

beleg curudin · Oct 26, 2005, 09:06 AM // 09:06

interesting. I would like to know from Anet why this is so. From my point of view either way you activate it should all work.

Try seeing how much damage you can work up useing preditory season, favorable winds, winnowing, and read the winds.

Arcador · Nov 15, 2005, 07:41 AM // 07:41

*note about distracting - it hits every time for the number displayed on it, no matter armors and shields (not sure bout spells). So if you make 8 dmg per normal attack, be sure that distracting shot CAN do 14 (with expertise 13).