Can anyone confirm the Maximum breakpoint in IAS for whirlwind with an eth Thundermaul? I remeber seeing 79%, on-weapon, ias. Is there any reason for having more on-weapon ias than this?

will most definitely be more. A tmaul has a base speed of 20 on b.net, but that was increased to 30 for HU which slows the weapon down. I don't know how much more IAS will be needed, probably only in the 95-100% IAS range as I don't think the 10pt increase makes that significant of an impact but I most certainly could be wrong.

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59% IAS for 4fpa WW with a 0 speed 2H weapon(34% for 1H). Thunder mauls in HU have a base speed of 30, so 89% for them.



The only real issue is that you cannot hit 4fpa WW with a eth Wind Hammer, and eth rare tmauls require three 20/60 jewels(including a base roll of 30-40% IAS) if you wanna hit 4fpa on them. Of course that's pretty overkill in my book and I'd rather just amethyst a rare tmaul than sit in front of the gamble screen for hours. Despite all the speed issues maces are still probably the best WW weapons.

Ok, I guess I'm gonna need another ed/ias jewel. I have a 511% (zero ias)eth thundermaul and I was hoping I could get away with two uber amythists, the ed/ias jewel that I have, and a 60%ed/15 max jewel. But that only adds up to 80% ias, so I'll go for 100% ias then. Bummer, more jewel gambling/tundra jeweling. Thanks for the clarification.

you could always scrap the ed/ias jewel and stick another uber thyst in there, bringing the total to 90%ias (which seems to be able to hit the 4fpa bp) and then having 1 slot for that sexy ed/max jewel. saves you gamble/jewel farming time and also adds a nice extra 300 AR, which ends up becoming a couple thousand more AR on WW. you may be sacrificing a bit of ed, but you get the max damage and AR to compensate, and i dont think youll miss a small portion of ed anyways.

just a suggestion though

What is your take on the Warpike? They have a base speed of 15, only a slightly lower max dmg (70-210 vs 70-220), and lower requirements to use. The big difference seems to be that the dmg boost is divided between str and dex rather than just pure str (150/150 vs 200) which might be the deciding factor. Perhaps it is silly to have large 2h melee weapons have a dexterity multiplier at all?

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People who live in cinder block houses can throw whatever they want.

It's probably pretty comparable to a tmaul if we're talking about just end game eth rares. I think the reason maces are favored is because the unique ones generally come with much better melee mods. Almost all the unique spears come with low IAS, but have better base speeds. And looking at the maces/mauls, they come out with higher IAS and lower base speeds. So it pretty much evens out most of the time speed wise. Meanwhile, maces are still getting all the benefits of the strength bonuses/higher max damage. This isn't even getting into the fact that maces almost always come with a high amount of CB.

Steelpillar vs WindHammer isn't even a contest. Both suffer the problem of not being able to hit 4fpa when they're ethereal, but again the unique maul mods shoot the spear down(1-2 more skills, 50%DS, 20 more resists, 25% slow, 50 more str). Hell non eth WH is so awesome it's all you really need. I'd put axes at second best. They have a great selection of uniques throughout the game, and eth Exe's Justice comes with enough IAS for 4fpa WW. Swords and polearms are generally shit from lacking CB and having split str/dex bonus.

The three uber amythests and a 60ed/15max might be the way to go, I like that idea. Base weapon is where the 60% ed starts right? So, 60% ed on the 220 damage on the eth thundermaul, means the weapon is now doing 352 damage, so an addition of 132 damage. So by running three amythests and one ed jewel I'm gonna be losing out on about 132 damage (compared to two uber amythests and two ed/ias jewels), but I'm going to be gaining 300 ar. Is this calculation correct?

yea youll be losing a possible 60% ed, which on an eth tmaul base is 70*.6 and 220*.6 = 42 min and 132 max on the weapon. seems like a lot, but considering all the skill ed and mastery ed and even the ed on the weapon, it becomes a moot point i think. you wont really notice a big fall in your damage on the character screen for whirlwind. and then you techincally have to factor in the damage boost from having a higher AR and chance to hit. you may not be doing as much damage, but you may be able to get another 1-2 hits per whirlwind because of an increased chance to hit monsters, which would raise your damage effectively anyways. that, and the fact that its much easier to grab yourself an extra uber thyst than a 60ed/ias jewel

and remember, thats 300 FLAT AR, which gets multiplied later by WW %AR and mastery %AR, so its really a lot more AR than that

the only way that the AR boost isnt a big difference is that if your AR is already really high for whirlwind and already gives you a huge chance to hit.

Ok cool, yeah, 132 damage really isnt that much over the scheme of 38k. Also being able to hit anything consistantly is always good. Heh, the maul also has 632 ar on it already, so with the three gems, it'll have over 1500 ar. Thanks for the info.