I have given some thought as to gear selection for a Smiter and have been searching for a way to mathematically calculate which gear would optimize my 1 pt. Smiter. I found the math formula and entered it into a spreadsheet which allows to me to quickly calculate the effects of different gear options and skill selection. I will continue to update this post as I discover new and interesting facts about Smiters in general and the effects that different gear and skill options has on the Smite damage.
Part 1 Weapon Selection
Conventional wisdom dictates that the single most important stat in terms of weapon selection for a Smiter is that the weapon must have Crushing Blow. Now I don't see many Smiters using Crushflange Mace so there must be other important factors that go into weapon selection. There are indeed. The weapon must be fast because a faster weapon means more smites per given second and the weapon must do damage not only for Smite sake, but also for other attacks because many Smiters rely on skills other than just Smite.
Is Crushing Blow important? Absolutely, however there are other gear choices which can give the Smiter ample Crushing Blow. For instance, Guillaume's Face and Goreriders will add 50% Crushing blow. Is 50% CB enough? The difference in the chance to cast Crushing Blow is insignificant once you reach an ample amount. With a fast weapon at 50% CB a Smiter will trigger Crushing Blow about twice per second and 25 times over 10 seconds. At 83% CB with an equally fast weapon, a Smiter will trigger Crushing Blow three times per second and roughly 34 times over 10 seconds. The difference in time to kill even the Uber Bosses is a couple additional seconds with the 50% CB vs. the 83% CB.
Now lets look at damage. There are two important factors to consider when looking at damage. The first and most important to a Smiter is how the damage will affect Smite. Only weapons with Damage + x affect Smite. Likewise, weapons with +skills will also add damage with the increase in level to Smite itself, Holy Shield and Fanatism. The second factor and one that we will leave to another discussion, is how useful is the weapon damage when not Smiting?
Here is the formula for calculating Smite Damage:
Quote:
Min Smite Damage = (Shield Min Damage + (Damage +x) + (Holy Shield Min Damage)) * (1 + (Strength + (+x% Enhanced Damage) / 100)))
Max Smite Damage = (Shield Max Damage + (Damage +x) + (Holy Shield Max Damage)) * (1 + (Strength + (+x% Enhanced Damage) / 100)))
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I used the above formula to calculate the Smite Damage of several different weapons. I used my 1 pt. Smiter build as the basis for the calculations adding my plus skills from gear and charms into the equation:
Fanatism = lvl 26
Holy Shield = lvl 24
Zeal = lvl 24
Smite = lvl 5
Strength = 150
My 1 pt. Smiter uses Guillaume's and Gores and Fortitude for armor (more on armor later in the discussion). I assumed a Zakarum Shield with an even 46 Smite to average the calculations. I added the damage from plus skills wherever necessary. Attack Speed is strictly based on Smite using the same gear and is sourced from the German Speed Calculator.
Heaven's Light (perfect 3 skills/2x Shael) is a 6 Frame Attack with 33% Crushing Blow (83% total).
Smite Damage = 1585
The Redeemer (perfect damage +120) is an 8 Frame Attack with no additional Crushing Blow (50% total).
Smite Damage = 2893
Astreon's Iron Ward (perfect +4 Combat skills/damage +85) is a 7 Frame Attack with 33% Crushing Blow (83% total).
Smite Damage = 2569
"Black" Flail, Knout or Scourge is a 7 Frame Attack with 40% Crushing Blow (90% total).
Smite Damage = 1326
"Last Wish" Phase Blade is a 7 Frame Attack with 60-70% Crushing Blow (100% total). Also an additional +200% ED from lvl 17 Might aura.
Smite Damage = 1567
"Grief" Phase Blade (perfect damage +400) is a 6 Frame Attack with no additional Crushing Blow (50% total).
Smite Damage = 5726
Part 2 Armor Selection
Armor selection can definately affect your Smiter damage as well. There is at least one armor with +% Crushing Blow and +skills and off weapon Enhanced Damage can also be added into the equation. I concentrated on 4 different armors for the calculations, Fortitude, Enigma, Chains of Honor and Duress and used the same weapon (a perfect Damage +400 Grief Phase Blade) in each of the calculations to be consistent.
Duress has an additional 15% Crushing Blow for a total of 65% CB.
Smite Damage = 4164
Enigma has +2 skills and will have a total of 50% Crushing Blow.
Smite Damage = 4566
Chains of Honor has +2 skills and will have a total of 50% Crushing Blow. The off weapon Enhanced Damage that changes with different monster classes does not work with Smite.
Smite Damage = 4566
Fortitude has 300% off weapon Enhanced Damage and will have a total of 50% Crushing Blow.
Smite Damage = 5726
Part 3 Shield Selection
There is much debate amongst Smiters as to which shield to use. The general consensus is split between Herald of Zakarum and Exile. Each has it's advantages. HoZ has plus skills and resists and Exile has high defense and the all important chance to cast Life Tap. Suprisingly, neither does the most damage in terms of Smite. Here are the Smite damage calculations for the more popular shields including an upped Herald of Zakarum. They are based on the same gear and skill selections noted above for consistency.
Exile has +2 Offensive Skills, can be made in an ethereal elite paladin Shield for extremely defense as it has the repair mod, gives a level 13-16 Defiance Aura and has a 15% chance to cast level 5 Life Tap.
Smite Damage = 5726
Herald of Zakarum has +2 Paladin Skills and +2 Paladin Combat Skills, has 50 to all resistances and can be socketted, has a very high block and adds strength and vitality.
Smite Damage = 5891
Herald of Zakarum can be upped to an elite Paladin Shield following the Horadric Cube recipe.
Smite Damage = 6143
Alma Negra has +1 or +2 Paladin Skills, has a high block, can be socketted and adds 40-75% Enhanced Damage. A perfect (+2/75% ED) Alma Negra was used for this calculation.
Smite Damage = 6368
Phoenix has +400% Enhanced Damage, gives a level 10-15 Redemption Aura, adds 50 life, and plus to maximum fire and lightning mods.
Smite Damage = 7631
Note that the increase in Smite damage by upping your HoZ is minimal (only about 250 with this gear). One could easily ask whether the gain of a few points in Smite damage is worth the cost of a Ko and Lem rune.
Part 4 Skill Selection
I started thinking about the effect that the level 17 Might aura had on the Last Wish PB's Smite Damage. Recognizing that the right side of the Smite equation had a less dramatic effect than the left side, I began to wonder what effect Maximizing the Smite Skill would have on the Smite Damage vs. the Single point I use in my build.
This is the 1 point Smiter build using Grief and Fortitude which equates to a
level 5 Smite with Torch and Annihilus sc.
Smite Damage = 5726
Here is the Calculation with a dedicated Smiter build,
level 24 Smite using same gear as above:
Smite Damage = 7209
That damage difference would of course be a much lower if it used a weapon other than Grief. A person making a Smiter could ask themself is the 1500ish increase in damage is worth the additional 19 skill point investment. Obviously PvP Smiters would want to make this investment however, if the build is used in PvM for Uber running or any other purpose, only investing a single point in Smite allows you to max another attack skill thus increasing your flexibility with the build. I'm certainly not the first to discover this as the 1 pt. Smiter build has been around for a while but, it does help me understand why the build is so effective.
I hope people thinking of building a Smiter find this information useful.
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