Which is the Better Wand?

I am trying to improve the damage I can inflict in PVE, but I'm not sure which of these two wands is best.

http://s302.photobucket.com/user/frankasanchez/library/Drakensang/Legendary 45 Wand

 

The 2x weapon damage and 1x damage wand will most likely be better, especially if you open up the 4th and 5th slots.

 

Second one is better by far, that 40 damage upgrades nicely and the 43.6% weapon damage will boost your rubies from 125 damage to close to 180. You could be gaining close to 200 damage, so the best choice is obvious. Also, for PvE I definitely recommend a book unless you like to go solo, I really dislike seeing mages that go in groups using balls/riddle as it makes your DPS quite a bit worse.

 

I'm a little confused though... you have five sacred rubies, but can't figure out that the second wand is better?

 

I assumed the second was better, but I didn't want to overlook anything so I wanted anther opinion.

 

It really depends on where the group is going. If it's a Hard boss, a PW map or PW boss and the likes, having a shield will make you survive longer, so even if you deal less damage, you'll be there to deal it the whole while, rather than dying every now and then and having to come back.

Yeah, the second one is better. Sadly now you'll want to open 2 extra gem slots on that one too... I wouldn't have done it in the first place with that first wand. I'd only do it if I got a very, very good item that I'd know I wouldn't/couldn't replace anytime soon. Still, nice weapons.

 

Hands down the 43% increase damage wand is better. Even with the 3 gem slots add the gems in and you should see a very nice damage increase. Yet alone your destruction spell skill.

 

If it came with 4 slots and I had 5 +25 gems, i would just burn the anders for the 5th slot on the 1st weapon (assuming that was the best weapon I had).

Its nearly a nobrainer to open all 5 slots on the new wand.

What are the glyph costs and damage/crit increases at level 47 or 48 for that 2d wand?

 

This is exactly what I disagree with. If you are in a group, as a mage you should be trying to do as much damage as possible, a good group will almost always have a warrior with them, and that is who should be taking the hits. Sure, you might get hit once or twice, but it really isn't hard to avoid being hit after you know you are being targeted by the mobs. I personally never die in PWs or bosses and I don't PvE with more than 1500 armor or 6k HP. There really is a huge difference between a group that has mages using book and another one with balls being used.

Sorry for going a little off topic but I think the above will help you make your gear decisions for PvE and also be a tad more useful for your group.

 

Well, if you're one of those people for whom "makin' it rain" with Ander is not a problem, then sure. But otherwise, why would you spend the Ander to open a 5th slot on a weapon that has no % increased damage lines? Just for an extra 25 damage? That's the actual nobrainer, rather than opening for items that actually enhance your gems. At such high rubies, 40% on each is quite a nice amount, and a worthy return for the Ander spent on opening, if you're gonna do that. But still, it's not an OP wand, so I personally probably wouldn't open them on that one either (at least not all of them). I mean, OK there's 5 +25 rubies at disposal, but I'll probably find a better wand soon, and then I'll have to spend even more Ander on opening.

Though there's one thing that bugs me... that wand has 159 DPS with 40% IWD? I have a lv43 Legendary Myrdosch Magus Rod that has 181 DPS with only one 20% IWD line and two +5 rubies. What gives? I thought the base stats rise from lv43 to lv45 wands, but it doesn't seem that way in the screenshots provided here. On top of the IWD, he has a +40 damage line and one with critical hit rate, and mine has two lines of +30-ish damage and one (useless) line of 6% attack speed.

That's provided you have at least one good tank to absorb the damage. And don't take this the wrong way, but I'm tired of the "low defence doesn't matter if you never get hit" sintagm concerning SWs. You will get hit (again, unless you're with a good tank or more), and that's why going too much towards the "glass cannon" typology isn't advisable (unless you're a Final Supernova using SW in PvP). Sure, if you group with powerful people, you can go about PWs without dying, but that's not always possible for everyone. I'm talking about the scenarios in which you don't. I did say that "it depends on the group". Now if there aren't players tanky enough to ensure I don't get hit too much, then what's better: for me to die every 10 minutes and then leave them without a player for the while it takes for me to get back or to have them use Spirit Stones that frequently or to be there to offer support for the whole while? Sure, group me with some OP 2H DKs that can assure my not being touched and I'll go full-offensive to make things faster. But otherwise... just think of a group of solely mages. I'm not being more useful by dying more than I should, albeit dealing higher damage. Technically, you should be able to have a good built without it heavily relying on the offensive offhand.

Bottom line: there are cases where it's better to use a book/scroll, and cases in which you'd be better off with an orb/skull, but by no means is it ALWAYS better to have one offhand rather than the other.

 

If you're just farming, may as well use the second wand. Speed is kind of unnecessary for pve. As for slots, I usually judge whether to open slots on an item or not by how long it'd take me to farm back the ander with the increased stats (before the next better item comes along). If it's reasonable, which it frequently is, since I change weapons maybe once every few months, then I usually open the slots.

What about 2h SWs? We don't even have an offhand to use.

 

Sincerely, 2H is not really a real option for us SWs. For starters, we can only boost 2H damage with the Dragan set, which is already hard enough to get (complete), unlike DKs who get an extra 40% from a talent. Then, unless you have or can get the 3k gold Premium one for the Lightning Strike boost and increased attack speed, there's not much you can use. Sure, in theory a 500+ damage lv45 leg. 2H is possible, but very rare. The best I could find (leg. lv37 and slightly ruined by a line of critical damage) has 209 DPS... my leg. 1H + exo. scroll is better than that.

 

Dragan set: Check. 3k gold staff: Nope. Darn, been doing it wrong for 6 months. Who knew.

Anyways, those kinds of weapons do exist, but they aren't easy to find. Speed really shouldn't be the main concern for 2h, but damage. There's ways of compensating for the lack of speed.

We're probably going to incur the wrath of the mods at some point for going totally off the original topic.

 

Yeah, speed's not the problem with 2Hs, but having 1 attack per second rather than the usual 0,83 isn't bad for that unique staff. Anyway, if you've been doing it for 6 months, it means you can pull it off and that your weapon is good enough.