Yet another Metorb Question

[junglejunkie]

So, I finally jumped on the Meteorb bandwagon (I used to stick with single tree sorcs because the damage on meteorbs seemed relatively low.)

Anyway, I'm lvl 88, and after extensive mfin/trading, I managed to get a full tal's setup (which, after reading the "truth about tal's" novella here in the forum, i LOVE), a decent sorc torch, and an anni.

turns out, the damage is awesome. i have orb/meteor on the right, and FB on the left. i use orb and fireball almost exclusively -- rarely do i use meteor, and only on bosses.

the question is, then, since i use FB primarily, should i stop putting points into firemastery and put more into fire bolt? i read that the mastery point adds damage differently than the bolt point (before/after the synergy value or something.)

any ideas? i love the whole "slow them with orb, then spam fireballs like a mother****er" thing.

thanks

[Dawnmaster]

Well, in short:

fire mastery adds 7% damage per level
firebolt gives 14% synergie to fireball and 5% synergie to meteor

So yes, for fireball, firebolt would be better, for meteor, fire mastery would be better.

[AnimeCraze]

Well, in short:

fire mastery adds 7% damage per level
firebolt gives 14% synergie to fireball and 5% synergie to meteor

So yes, for fireball, firebolt would be better, for meteor, fire mastery would be better.I must say this arguement is flawed. The damage is calculated as follows.
final damage = base damage * (1 + synergy bonus) * (1 + mastery bouns)

From what I remember, you should have number of points in your synergy about 10~11 lvl above your mastery, or something like that.

[VisMaior]

no, mastery outweighs synergy.
check this skillplanner http://www.d2items.com/skills.php

[junglejunkie]

Thanks for the replies, all --

I ran the numbers and all things being equal, it looks like the mastery increases damage more than the synergy.

i set it up like so:

32 points into fireball and meteor.
18 into mastery and firebolt.

i checked the FB meteor damage, then put one point into mastery and checked the damages again.

i removed that point, and put it into firebolt instead, and checked the numbers.

Mastery was the clear winner -- thanks for the input!

[AnimeCraze]

That is a BAD idea. The function is not linear, and there is a maximum somewhere in the middle. The balance is somewhere in the middle. Max mastery OR max firebolt both give poor results.

[mjf]

Yeh maxing one or the other (leaving only 1 point in the other) will not give the best results. I had a play with the skill planner and you need to balance mastery with firebolt to get the best results.

[AnimeCraze]

Or you can set one variable dependent on the other (so that the total number of skill points used is the same), and start taking derivatives like how they taught you in calculus class.

[mjf]

Its more complex than its seems at first becasue when you start adding skills from items and charms the synergy seems to have more effect than mastery.

[Evrae Altana]

Its more complex than its seems at first becasue when you start adding skills from items and charms the synergy seems to have more effect than mastery.+skills from items will not count towards your synergy bonuses. Only hard points you invest in the synergies will give a bonus.

[mjf]

Not according to the skill planner it doesn't. try adding skiller points. maybe its wrong or my brains fried.

Assuming 79 points to play with

with synergy maxed

+12 all skills (items) +9 Fire skillers

20 Firebolt
20 Fireball
20 Meteor
16 Mastery

Fireball max damage is 15669

and Mastery maxed

+12 all skills (items) +9 Fire skillers

16 Firebolt
20 Fireball
20 Meteor
20 Mastery

Fireball max damage is 15390

[AnimeCraze]

Skiller counts toward mastery bonus. That will screw up a few things if you don't have your gear fixed already. The assumption is that you have the number of points you are going to spend fixed, as well as what gear you use.

[mjf]

But without + to skills its reversed with mastery winning

Assuming 79 points to play with again

with synergy maxed

20 Firebolt
20 Fireball
20 Meteor
16 Mastery

Fireball max damage is 3513

and Mastery maxed

16 Firebolt
20 Fireball
20 Meteor
20 Mastery

Fireball max damage is 3597

[mjf]

Skiller counts toward mastery bonus. That will screw up a few things if you don't have your gear fixed already. The assumption is that you have the number of points you are going to spend fixed, as well as what gear you use.

So with high +skills synergy is better than mastery, no?

[Dawnmaster]

So with high +skills synergy is better than mastery, no?

Logically, +skills grants your skill more damage (with more damage because it has increased due to synergy) and it auto increases mastery, furthermore increasing your skill damage.

If you put more points into mastery than synergy you get more damage from the skill itself (but no extra damage from synergy) and more auto damage from mastery.

I haven't run the numbers yet, but with a decent amount of +skills, I think extra synergy adds more damage than extra mastery.