Ranger weapon with Swiftwind
 

So I am quite a ways away from finishing my epic but was just wondering which weapons would work well with Swiftwind. I was thinking of maybe Wurmslayer especially if I can ahold of the PoS Cloak it would be really nice. Anyone have some other suggestions? Not thinking BiS, just obtainable weapons or even just fairly cheap droppables.

I can't see Wurmslayer being bad. I'm pretty sure I saw some of my TMO guildies doing that combo in Kunark. Ideally, you'd want a fast main to take advantage of the damage bonus for that hand. Swiftblade of Zek is fantastic, expensive, but that's what I use and it's very very solid damage.. What I used before that, and it'll take a bit of doing on your part, is the Fayguard Parrying Dagger from HS north's boss. It's a fantastic dps weapon. That with Swiftwind was the best DPS combo in Kunark, but it does proc a point blank AE. Use caution when wielding it, especially in an area you're relying on enchanter or root crowd control. You'd definitely need some other swap weapon if you went with that.

Cecily, could you elaborate on what you said in your above post? It looks like the fayguard parrying dagger would only have a damage/delay ratio of about 0.92 after epic haste and cloak haste are applied. The wurmslayer looks to have damage/delay ratio of about 1.09. Would the higher damage of the fayguard parrying dagger be due to the faster attacks with damage bonus of main hand?

Yes

WS - 25/40

FPD - 9/17

You get the same primary hand damage bonus regardless of type of one-hander or damage on the one-hander.

At level 60, I believe it is ((level-25)/3) ---> ((60-25)/3) = 11.6 (don't recall if it floors or rounds up)

Then to compare the primary hand options between the two:

((damage_primary_one-hander x 2) + (primary hand bonus)) / delay

WS: ((25*2)+11) / 40 = 1.525

FPD: ((9*2)+11) / 17 = 1.70

I think this covers most of the droppable mainhands a ranger might consider. Epic put in for comparison. Ty Ele for that formula.

Main Hand Weapon Effectiveness at 60:

Lamentation: ((9*2) + 11) / 21 = 1.38
Scimitar of the Emerald Dawn: ((20*2)+11) / 34 = 1.5
Revulant Whip: ((5*2)+11) / 14 = 1.5
Wurm Slayer: ((25*2)+11) / 40 = 1.525
Edge of the Night Walker: ((14*2)+11) / 25 = 1.56
Frostbringer: ((12*2)+11) / 22 = 1.59
Jade Mace: ((9*2) + 11) / 18 = 1.61
Winter's Fury: ((13*2)+11) / 23 = 1.61
Skyfury Scimitar: ((13*2)+11) / 23 = 1.61
Earthcaller: ((14*2)+11) / 24 = 1.625
Exquisite Velium War Sword: ((12*2)+11) / 21 = 1.67
Exquisite Velium Battle Hammer: ((12*2)+11) / 20 = 1.75
Exquisite Velium Spear: ((12*2)+11) / 20 = 1.75
Swiftblade of Zek: ((11*2)+11) / 18 = 1.83
Horn of Hsagra: ((13*2)+11) / 20 = 1.85

What's really interesting is how good Jade Maces are. IMO, spend 1k on a mace and get that HS dagger when you can. Then start saving plat.

So this is why selecting a primary is more complicated than an offhand. Pure ratio is the only consideration for an offhand, for the most part. Damage bonus messes that all up so you need that formula Ele and I used when picking a primary. The bonus gets applied on every attack, so a lower delay = more damage from sheer number of hits. So fast AND good ratio is what we're looking for in primary.

See how the Edge of the Night Walker, Scim of the Emerald Dawn, and Wurmslayer perform at 60 and notice how these slow, high ratio weapons are bad for primary later on.

get a swiftblade of zek

Basically. The cost / value of it is so much better than HoH for a ranger.

Thanks guys, in my calculations I wasn't including the damage bonus.

Velium Maul of Superiority: (11*2)+11)/18 = 1.833