Bug with Strafe?

[Malachi X]

I have a question regarding strafe and the dmg penalty and bonus it receives.

It only does 3/4 weapon dmg, which is fine, but i have level 24 strafe with a dmg bonus of 120% and yet it STILL does lower dmg than a normal shot from my bow??!! is this normal?? the dmg diff between a level 20 strafe and a multishot is very very very VERY small for me. definitely NOT worth maxing if this is what it's like. Is this justa bug for me or is this how its supposed to be?

[Kaptain_Insano]

It makes sense. lets say your bow does damage of 100. Well strafe will knock that down to 75(3/4 damage). the damage percentage is then added to that damage of 75. take out a calculator and u will see that it is correct.

[RSG]

Makes sense, but here's a quick example:

Let's say your bow does 100 damage with bonuses and everything (because Strafe cuts down total damage). So take 3/4 of that and apply the Strafe bonus (let's say the 120% you mentioned):

100 * 3/4 = 75
75 * 120/100 = 90

Less than a normal arrow fired from the bow :innocent:

For you to "break even" with Strafe you would need a 4/3 damage bonus, or 133% damage bonus from the skill. Since level 24 is 120% and Strafe adds 5% per level, another 3 levels and your Strafe will start doing more damage than a normal arrow :clap:

Whether it's worth the bother getting to level 27 Strafe is another story altogether, of course ;)

[cthrag]

Makes sense, but here's a quick example:

Let's say your bow does 100 damage with bonuses and everything (because Strafe cuts down total damage). So take 3/4 of that and apply the Strafe bonus (let's say the 120% you mentioned):

100 * 3/4 = 75
75 * 120/100 = 90

Less than a normal arrow fired from the bow :innocent:

For you to "break even" with Strafe you would need a 4/3 damage bonus, or 133% damage bonus from the skill. Since level 24 is 120% and Strafe adds 5% per level, another 3 levels and your Strafe will start doing more damage than a normal arrow :clap:

Whether it's worth the bother getting to level 27 Strafe is another story altogether, of course ;)
You haven't got that quite right, actually. 120% enhanced damage means you actually multiply the damage by 2.2 (initially you do 100%, and the extra 120% takes it up to 220%). So your example would go:

100 * 0.75 = 75
75 * 1.2 = 165
And so strafe would do more damage than a normal arrow.

What makes strafe generally do less damage than normal arrows even at high skill levels is the fact that other things, such as dexterity, also increase your damage:

A zon with 300 dexterity, for example, would do:
Normal attack is 100 * 4 = 400 damage
Strafe is 75 * 5.2 = 390 damage

[Kaywe]

Thanks cthrag, didn't know that.

Guess i wont max strafe for my LF/Bow-hybrid then.

[Xiamet]

If all Strafe did was fire one arrow at a time like a normal arrow, than no...it's not worth maxing.

It's what Strafe does that makes it worth maxing IMHO. Consider this...It's both a single and multiple target attack, and vs single targets, it fires a minimum number of arrows per volley after a certain level. (not sure just now what level)

Strafe is also an auto target skill, meaning you don't have to choose each target to shoot, like a normal arrow.

Consider this before you decide not to max Strafe...I've never regretted any zon I've maxed Strafe with.

-X

[Kaywe]

I've tried many different variants on my LF/Bow-hybrid. I will write a guide when i feel that i got it just right. This is the most powerfull and versetile character with the right gear and merc (closely followed by hammerdin and bramblemancer).

The thing is that the build is very short on skillpoints. I want as much as posible in the Lightningskills, usually around 60-70. A decent valk is good to have to, thats another 20.

I find MS much better when it comes to getting mana back fast (mostly in cow games). Besides MS will make your life until LF gets usefull alot easier. MS is also better when it comes to dealing with glooms, the only problem this build has.

On the other hand strafe ia auto-aim. It's great for probing dangerous areas and good in caves (where MS sux). And as u stated strafe gets extra arrows to a single monster with more levels. As I see it this is the greatest drawback when not maxing strafe,

Usually i only use my bowskills on LI monsters. But i still want to kill those as fast as possible.

I like to have my MS at like 10-15. I plan on having like +5 to all skills. The best balance i found this far is to put something like 5-10 into MS and 10-15 into strafe. I usually have around 30 points to distribute between valk,MS and strafe.

This is a great dilemma indeed. To strafe or not to strafe.

Thanks for "warning" me btw.

[Shanksie1337]

Personally i'd really recommend maxing strafe.

I think that on a LF/Strafe Hybrid the emphasis for both skills and gear should be aimed at your strafe as lvl 20 LF + Titans + Peirce = Effective Lightning attack.

Strafe will need: a good bow, AR (depending on bow), lots of dex, Peirce, IAS and knockback (if desired).

I know you say you want as much as possible in the L tree, but i fear you will sell your Strafe short, a pure L zon will always have a "stronger" LF than a Hybrid. My LF/Strafe hybrid has ~1100 LF with 100% peirce and her LF is very effective in high player games. I'd suggest holding off on adding points into LF's synergies until you have your strafe at an effective level. My hybrid is lvl 82 and she has 10 skill points spare that i could put in the L tree for ~200 extra to LF damage but i feel that the LF is effective enough so i am saving them for a rainy day.

I'd disagree (tho "disagree is a little strong), that the build is short on skillpoints. It depends on how much balance you want.
If you want an "uber" (and imho overkill) LF and just use strafe to leech then of course you will want as many skill points in the J&S, and the bare minimum in strafe.

But i prefer a 50/50 split, with both tree's being effective in there own right, and with this emphasis there are plenty of skill points to go round.

My hybrid at clvl 82

J&S
3 pre rq's
20 LF

P&M
20 Penetrate
17 Valk (including +skill and cast using titans) - i think it is slvl ~7
1 in ALL other P&M's - I wear Razortail and have 100% peirce in LF mode, and 96% in Strafe.

B&XB
20 Strafe
1 in all pre rq's

10 Unspent skills.