PIllar of the Caged God is a real let down for me;

So let's assume a best-case scenario here:

40 Str 40 Dex from the following pieces of gear: Helm, Chest, Gloves, Boots, Ring, Ring, Belt.

120 all stats from Astramentis.

400 Str 200 Dex from skill tree.

Total Strength = 800
Total Dex = 600

Pillar damage = 207-342 Damage
Pillar attack speed = 2 Attacks per second
DPS = 549

Highest DPS 2h weapon on PoExplorer = 532

Did I miss something or is this staff actually quite good with the right gear?

Unless the boost isn't local, and adds up with all other "increased" modifiers? In which case, it doesn't affect damage from external sources because it's "Increased Weapon Damage"? That makes things a lot clearer.

So, let's assume that diminishing returns come into play:

800% Damage modifier with above stats. Add in 200% increased from strength, skill tree and skill gem. So 1000% damage modifier.

Pillar damage = 230-380 damage

160% Attack Speed modifier with above stats. Add in 60% increased from skill tree and skill gem. So 220% Attack Speed Modifier.

Pillar Attack Speed = 2.75

Pillar DPS = 839

Now let's take a very high physical damage staff.

Rare staff base damage = 182-493
Rare staff attack speed = 1.1
Rare staff DPS pre-bonuses = 371

Rare staff after 300% damage modifier and 160% attack speed modifier:


Rare staff base damage = 546-1479
Rare staff attack speed = 1.76
Rare Staff DPS post-bonuses= 1782

Yep... 1782 DPS vs. 839 DPS with the most optimal build.

it should be interesting to experiment with added physical damage on other item slots. the new patch says they are now affected by %physical damage increases, would the bonus of the staff apply as well?

The problem is note the unique proprieties... the prob is the base of the staff... if only we could Upgrade base to a higher tier this items would be nice

"

Novalisk a écrit :

Yep... 1782 DPS vs. 839 DPS with the most optimal build.

Considering how much investment it requires... that's totally cool!

So, after the patch, with phys damage gear getting full benefits... Let's run the math again!

800% Damage modifier with above stats. Add in 200% increased from strength, skill tree and skill gem. So 1000% damage modifier.

Pillar damage = 230-380 damage

160% Attack Speed modifier with above stats. Add in 60% increased from skill tree and skill gem. So 220% Attack Speed Modifier.

Pillar Attack Speed = 2.75

Pillar DPS = 839

Now, let's add in phys damage gear! ~30 physical damage from rings and gloves, 50 from Abyssus. so 80 * 10 * 2.75 = 2200

Pillar DPS = 3039

And the same rare staf after 300% damage modifier and 160% attack speed modifier:


Rare staff base damage = 546-1479
Rare staff attack speed = 1.76
Rare Staff DPS post-bonuses= 1782

With same phys damage gear:

80 * 3 * 1.76 = 422

Rare Staff DPS = 2204

I would consider damage-per-hit as an important factor in this. The reason why Pillar of the Caged God compares so well to the example rare staff is its attack speed bonus.

In actual use it may not be better because the damage per second is spread through more hits, which lets enemies' armor mitigate more damage per second than against the rare staff.

Plus Pillar of the Caged God requires far more investment than the rare staff and gear that all the unarmed builds want. You also didn't apply the added physical damage from gear to the rare staff calculations, which I'm sure is a hefty boost.

I always thought it was meant for an ele hit dex build once I saw it personally.

If it works with some builds (Though I'm no official to say it does nor tried it) I think it is okay you can't always base a char based on such a strict model and expect because its a staff and unique it must be good for whatever role playing skill/passive set you throw at it. Ofc can still use astramentis and deshrets vise going with the ele hit build, or you could use items like wake of destruction and thunderfist to get a lot of added lightning damage while still getting some high dex. then you would have a super fast attack presumably which would do some nice damage of all elements and some physical.

You'd need 500 Dexterity to get just 50% increased attack speed, which still doesn't affect the 1.25 base attacks per second enough to get a speed that even comparable to other options for melee Elemental Hit.

By the way, the increased attack speed isn't a local modifier, which means it's additive with other increases, such as from gear, support gems, and the passive skill tree.

I think it's clear the use of the staff is to capitalize upon getting as much of the three attributes as you can (Strength being the most important) to amplify your base physical damage when using area skills such as Sweep, Leap Slam, Cyclone, and physical conversion skills with Melee Splash.

With calculations it seems to require ample investment to compare to good quality rare staves. The problem I find is mainly that you're competing with unarmed builds (which are very popular right now) to get added physical damage gear, which, in the end, is far more expensive than trading/crafting a rare staff and other generally good equipment.

"

Iao a écrit :

I would consider damage-per-hit as an important factor in this. The reason why Pillar of the Caged God compares so well to the example rare staff is its attack speed bonus.

In actual use it may not be better because the damage per second is spread through more hits, which lets enemies' armor mitigate more damage per second than against the rare staff.

The damage is still pretty damn high, You're overstating the significance of it here.

"

Plus Pillar of the Caged God requires far more investment than the rare staff and gear that all the unarmed builds want.

True, but you can't get the increased AoE bonuses from rare staffs. For an AoE build like Ground Slam, Pillar is an awesome weapon.

"

You also didn't apply the added physical damage from gear to the rare staff calculations, which I'm sure is a hefty boost.

I did.

"

Novalisk a écrit :

The damage is still pretty damn high, You're overstating the significance of it here.

In my experience it does mean a good deal of damage lost but as long as you have enough links I guess it'll matter less. I'm not trying to overstate anything, just saying it does play a part.

"

True, but you can't get the increased AoE bonuses from rare staffs. For an AoE build like Ground Slam, Pillar is an awesome weapon.

That is true. For some reason I didn't consider the possibilities with Concentrated Effect. With 400 Intelligence you completely negate its drawback, which makes it just a damage multiplier, and that's actually pretty awesome. Though 400 is a lot, so with, say, Blast Radius or Amplify you can get there easily.

"

I did.

My mistake.

Sadly this also brings up the fact that to reach endgame-required damage, you need an Abyssus unless you have good enough gear to downgrade to the added physical damage of the Bringer of Rain. And with an Abyssus you'd probably want to focus a good amount on Endurance Charges and, by extension, frequent and lengthy Immortal Call usage.

In my experience with my physical staff build it can be done (I have 7 Endurance Charges and enough increased duration for Immortal Call to use against physical reflection and hard-hitting enemies) it just requires a good amount of investment.