Weapons Are Overrated.

I don't find this very impessive... Your only missing a Warrior + Two Rangers for a couple fights till you get some weapons... Once you get some weapons it becomes really easy. This would have been more impessive if you didn't have a full party.

Umm... they would just have there ele blinding flash the Aatxes and steam roll them.

Maybe in PvE but in PvP you need to use every advantage you can get your hands on.

Please don't sidetrack this into a PvE vs PvP. If we had wanted to test in pvp we would have done a scrimmage. Since the majority of players spend their money and time in PvE it made sense to see the effects there. Feel free to test in PvP tho

I must disagree,most weapons can match the "uber-stuff" in quality or are diffrent in stats,but in my eyes the diffrence is not very big,and usually its the skin they care about.

A skilled player can take down someone no matter what weapon he or the enemy is using,and i do think alot of players think that weapons make alot more diffrence then they realy do.(Im not blaming you by the way,i doubt any of those players even comes to GWGuru.)

Sure every bit helps,but its no more needed in PvP then it is in PvE.

Regardless of whether or not PvE is easy, it shows that people shouldn't discriminate against another because of their +29 health instead of +30 in pve since they can complete a task just as well or even better (if they have better skills) than the guy with +30 health sword.

Good observations!

For a long time it was clear to me that, given the cap system, the usage of skills is far more important than weapon damage. Now let me throw in another observation:

The skill system is the equivalent of using magic in rpg games...

Basically GW is a game for magic users! No matter if your chr. is called warrior or necromancer or whatever..., you can't survive without the usage of 'magic'. I bet lots of players who like the skill system prefer to play magicians or conjurers in other games. And those who hate it would like to see their warrior be more independent from all the magic stuff, and have better armor and weapons.

So the question arises: Is it ok that weapons and armor don't make much difference for 100% melee chr's since they can't survive without 'magic' support anyway?

So the fact our Warrior was using a 6-28 chaos axe w/ a Furious mod and no other damage mods means nothing? Or maybe that our other Ranger was using i think a plain white 15-28 Shadow Bow with no other damage mods also means nothing? Theres still a loss of damage, overtime it becomes quite a big loss.

Personally i found my non-max Earth Wand quite helpful at making my pet go about its business, but that was just me

The only thing you proved is that the skills you have been using are what's important in PvE.

Now repeat this by doing the opposite this time: Use presearing skills and top equipment instead.

Well, in Real Life, a M1A2 Abrams owns a T-72, weapons DO matter.

In GW though, not so much. A flashy max 15^50 3:1 Vamp sword won't to a hell of a lot more damage than a regular max sword. But it DOES do more damage, never discount the effects of +4 over hundreds of swings....

I was with you (at least with the caveat "PvE is easy if you are in a maximum size group") until you stated this.

I would love for you to elaborate on this statement, as it seems to infer that you could go into the Underworld with a Candy Cane Sword and nothing but IAS skills and still succeed.

but yet a -8 degen beats that -4 hit every time though. when ppl get off the spoonfeeding, they may realize like the OP did that mods are like vanity items, they are a WANT and not NEEDED part of playing.

i aggree with OP on those points

If that's the build you're playing...

Please note that I stated "8" players, not "12"...

I think a high proportion of you need to stop flaming the experiment itself. The rest of you need to keep your PvE vs PvP to yourselves.

With that said....
I always thought that weapons were there to augment your style of play. You have to know HOW to use your skills and set a good build up; otherwise, you can have the most "leet" weapons in the game, and still get your head handed to you...

Except the part where there is no difference in damage between 14^50 and 15^50, which is what his post was refering to...


Don't care what anyone else is saying, I'm slightly impressed.

Good job, OP.

However, any player worth his salt knows the leet Req. 8 Sundering Crenellated Sword of Fortitude is nothing but a moneysink. Same with dye, 15k/FoW armor, Drunkard title, etc.

I frequently buy things right off of these forums that are flawed and therefore sold for a disgustingly low amount. The prices are based in rarity and coolness of the skin, not much else, and not in the least functionality. That's why PvP Swords are free

I'm also impressed with the experiment. I have always wondered what the buzz is about 2 more hp on a fortitude mod that makes the price go from 500g to 30k or makes a 14>50 gold axe worthless and a 15>50 priceless. I mean with a 28dmg hit it means a dif of .3 dmg.

I think with lower levels the better mods make more difference, especially the +hp and +armor. That's because their game knowledge makes a big difference. But the inherent mods still don't do much.

Some of the posters deriding the OP's experiment, should try it the other way. Go to the Battle Isles training area and hit something 100 times with first a modded weapon and then with an unmodded one. You might be surprised how little difference there is. Have a caster do the same thing with only one skill equipped and a 20% or 10% staff/wand. See how many times you get the HCT or HSR.

Players, especially those who never played paper D&D, don't seem to realize that every time is a new roll with a 100-sided die. If you have one or can borrow one, try it and see how often you can roll 1-10 or 20.

As the OP stated, the damage loss didn't matter, just the loss of +energy and the ranger's lack of a bow. And she is right, it sounds like more fun than the training field.

Nice experiment, but not really sure what you're trying to prove. Any player with any experience knows they're paying the 100k for the skin. I mean, you want a 15^50 weap? They go for like 5k+materials from crafters. You can even get some free just for collectors items. You want specific mods? You want your 15^50 sword, 3:1 vamp per fort mod? 5K for victos. You don't need to pay 100s of plat for a good weap. You pay 100s of plat for a GOOD LOOKING one. This is like armour, what's the difference between 1.5K and FoW armour? Nothing but looks. Yet how many run around with 15K and FoW?

As for not needing perfect weaps and mods, I think most know. Its just that if you're going to buy an item, especially if you're paying for a pretty skin, you may as well get a max weap if you're intending to keep it. I mean, if you had a choice of buying a max shield or a 15AL shield, which would you buy?Otherwise, you make do with what you can find for yourself. And you'll keep on using it, but eventually you'll settle on a weap for keeps, and either just buy it, or farm and chestrun till you get it. Most can't be bothered doing the mass runs, so they just pay for it. Then mod it up the way they like.

I think you're underestimating people if you think they spend that money cause they think they need the extra point of damage or one HP. That's only pve of course, pvp is perfect gear all they way.

Perhaps if one were to be able to read beyond the surface, one would be able to see this as another self-promotion/celebritism attempt of the highly esteemed DVDF. But surely this cannot be the case since if it is you wont be able to see this post.

People buy expensive weapons because they're max gold with a rare skin, low req and good inherent mods You can get max weapons with perfect mods from collector's and crafters which are cheap but they're blue and have common skins. So people don't need to spend 100's of plat but they do and for another reason than to be effective.

So what did you proove? You prooved that you can start fow with no weapons and get to the crafter with only the stuff you find on the way. Also the factor 'time needed' is left out, which would be interesting to know but difficult to measure as no run is exactly the same.

Very well done, Im glad you and your friends took the time to have this experiment