Level 96 comparison: Guns vs Staff

[ToeKnee]

I was a gunner from lvl 1 through lvl 92 when I found a decent enchanted staff while looking for weapons for the guild. I tried it out and was amazed at the difference. Now I'm lvl 96 and got to wondering once again how guns stand up against a stick. My old weapon was an enchanted dreamworld staff +7 with 953 enhances on it (4765). Stats were STR 278, CON 184, INT 715, Dex 659, QWK 243. I was in HEA at the time and guild bonus for exp was approx 120%. In faction I was hitting in the 170-180 mil range per round. In Atlantis pretty consistently around 40-45 mil per round.

I switched classes and found a dreamworld bow of speed +9 and fused it (losing 53 enhances in the process) at 5400. Reset my stats as follows STR 252, CON 184 INT 201, DEX 709 and QWK 708. I'm in VV now and the guild bonus has jumped up to approx 198%. So basically I'm using a +9 gun instead of a +7 staff, guild bonus is 78% higher, and my main stats are higher. So how am I doing with all this marvelous power? Instead of hitting faction at 175 mil or so, it's now more like 132 mil - in Atlantis I'm hitting hard around 32 mil instead of 40+.

Bottom line - mama don't let your kids grow up to be gunners. I'm switching back as soon as possible. Mages rule, gunners drool. (your mileage may vary)

[Petoht]

There was a (very brief) period where gunners were top, but we're pretty solidly boned. Considering that's how it almost always is, I've come to grips with it. Frankly, at high levels, +crit is useless because pretty much everyone has maxed crits. Then again, it's pretty hard to compete when another class can have +700% damage gear.