Posted this on reddit as well:
Hi guys, so I’ve been scouring all the forums I can to find out what the optimal stat build is for an archer. The common debate is that you should either go full STR, full DEX or a mix between the two stats. I’ve done some number crunching to help me decide on a build. Now bear with me it’s been awhile since I’ve applied math at a decent level and I don’t understand the mechanics of this game fully. If I’ve made any mistakes do make sure to let me know, please!
Do keep in mind that this data is only an approximation of realistic values!
Also a disclaimer, I’m not claiming that you are supposed to go a specific build. I’m merely posting data. You can go Full STR, Full DEX or even the popular Full SPR if you want.
First things first, we’re going to talk about the relevant stats, skills and attributes. I’ve used a hypothetical lvl 120 character in my data. Lvl 119 means that 119 stat points have been spent, which amounts to 146 DEX or 146 STR with the added bonus stat points. Add the base stats for an archer and you get 155 DEX and 153 STR. Every class rank you get a 10% increase in STR and lvl 120 is around rank 5, meaning a full STR build has 1,4 * 146= 214,2STR. CritA has the same value as STR. Archers actually get a bonus for CritR; Instead of just the amount of DEX, they get a bonus of + level/5. In our case our lvl is 120 so a bonus of 24 CritR. Physical damage is level + STR.
This is what our stats look like at the moment for a level 120 archer class without gear:
Full STR
STR 214,2
DEX 9
PhysD 333,2
CritA 214,2
CritR 33
Full DEX
STR 9,8
DEX 155
PhysD 128,8
CritA 9,8
CritR 179
According to data gathered by dualwind every 2.33 CritR for an archer translates to 1% actual crit rate. So the Full STR build has about 14,2% actual crit rate and the Full DEX build has 76,8% crit rate.
The base damage formula is:
Actual damage = (atk+skill atk+ atk bonuses - def)
if crit multiply by 1.5 and add crit attack value from character sheet
then multiply by element/type mod (slash/stab/hit)
then add “additional damage” things like concentrate or from " bonus attack damage" stats.
For the sake of ease, we have no defensive buffs on and the assumed defense and crit res for mobs is zero. We also have no elemental/type advantage. If we do just basic attacks, so no skills the formula will look like this:
FullSTR
DMG = (333,2)
Crit = 1,5 * (333,2) + 214,2 = 714
Factor in the actual crit rate to get average damage per hit:
Avg DMG = 0,142 * 714 + 0,858 * 333,2 = 387,2736
~387,3 DMG per hit.
FullDEX
DMG = (128,8)
Crit = 1,5 * (128,8) + 9,8 = 203
Avg DMG = 0,768 * 203 + 0,232 * 128,8 = 185,7856
~185,8 DMG per hit.
A whopping 387,3 DMG per hit against 185,8 DMG per hit. To be honest, it’s not too surprising considering this is just basic attacks without a weapon. If we actually add in the skill atk and the weapon atk in the damage formula the story changes entirely. Our new formula we’re going to use is:
Full STR
Avg DMG = (chance for crit) * (1,5*(atk+skill atk)+crit atk)+(chance for no crit) * (atk+skill atk)
y= (0,142) * (1,5 * (333,2+x)+214,2)+(0,858) * (333,2+x)
where y is the avg damage dealt and x is the skill atk and weapon atk combined.
Full DEX
Avg DMG = (chance for crit)(1,5(atk+skill atk)+crit atk)+(chance for no crit)*(atk+skill atk)
y=(0,768) * (1,5 * (128,8+x)+9,8)+(0,232) * (128,8+x)
where y is the avg damage dealt and x is the skill atk and weapon atk combined.
These two equations can be plotted on a graph: http://puu.sh/l4Alz/998ac49c04.png
What we find out is that for a lvl 120 rank 5 archer class, Full STR will out-damage Full DEX up until about 700 damage. Keep in mind that level 120 bows do about 150-222 min damage and 222-334 max damage so you can easily get your damage in the 300 range if you refine your weapon. Skills for a lvl 120 do around 500-900 damage depending on what you use. This means that a full DEX build can easily out-damage a full STR build but you are severely limited by your cooldowns. You also have to factor in that your gear usually gives extra archer stats like DEX, crit rate and crit attack. You also have to take in account buffs which could be beneficial to either build. Circle 1 archer has a buff which can give you +25% of your total critical rate which can make you reach 100% crit easily combined with the DEX from your gear. Rogue has a skill which gives an insane amount of strength depending how much physical damage you have. I think Vendetta can give like 50-100 STR.
To bring this story to an end, Full STR massively outdamages DEX in the early game and full DEX probably massively outdamages STR in the late game, around level 120-ish and maybe even earlier. In CBT we have convenient status reset scrolls but I don’t know how available they’ll be in the actual game so leveling full DEX might be a royal pain in the ass.
TL;DR STR for early game, DEX for late game.
Some considerations:
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In all equations the defense of the enemies haven’t been taken out. All assumed defensive stats are zero. Accuracy and evasion hasn’t been taken into account either. This suggests that the data is a bit in favor of full DEX, because of the crits.
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Since I’m fairly unfamiliar with many of the popular builds, attributes or skills my data is a bit incomplete. Ideally I would want to run numbers on popular builds and skills to see what would be ideal. There are some skills which increase crit rate or STR, for example circle 2 Archer’s swift step increased the total(not base) crit rate by 25%! You can actually get 100% crit rate with just that buff on.
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With elemental/type advantage crits will do even more damage.
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I am pretty sure with all the DEX you get from gears you won’t even need to use all your points on DEX to get 100% crit chance. Maybe 90 DEX 30 STR is the way to go? Would have to do some more research.
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This data is mainly relevant to archers and only serves as a helping hand for people to decide what stats to put. I mainly posted it because I want people to error check me. Please help with any mistakes I might have made!
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It is unknown whether there’s a hard cap on crit rate but according to the data if you have 233 crit rate more than the enemy you have around 100% crit rate.
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