SWORD VS BW, AN ESSAY ON THE FUTILITY OF DPS.

Proword: I apologize for my bad editing skills and picture editing. If I knew how to make this better I would but since I can't, I will write an essay. I would like to note that english is not my first language I apologize for the bad english at times.

The desecration of the DPS Cult.

Intro: Since the dawn of time, Heroes and Dark Knights have laughed at Paladins. From the various smega R> Heroes and Darks to the countless messages ignored while attempting to join a party, we have prevailed. The date of this reversal, Feb 18 2019, a date that will remain engraved in our hearts (Godbless @Tim). The revival was swift and controversial.
Dark Knights desecrated, outshined by Paladins and Heroes, cried in the dark corners of the abyss paladins once found themselves in. Most surprisingly, a new era ushered. @Haplopelma and @patnais77 witnessed something never seen before. Paladins were being created left and right.
We went from being rejected by 3k Night Lords to being God Tier. Stonetooths swords left and right started dissapearing from heroes and appearing on Paladins. It was the begining. Hordes of ex-heroes paladins laughing at me for using skull. I will vaguely quote some of these convos : "Haha skull noob, my ST faster than your little stick"; "Haha noob, did you even read on multipliers?" :''Haha noob, look at your little stick, you cannot even reach HT arm"; "2H SW> 1H BW LUL noob dps"

Thesis: The endless pursuit of maximizing dps has left paladins with a bleak disregard for the quality of life they have missing.
Body: I would like to preface this by saying that I have played a 2H Paladin with a 149 claymore and 1h pally with a 160 skull. My results might be biased since im lacking 1 damage on my claymore, I apologize beforehand for this. I have also had the brief chance to play with a perfect flame sword. Never have I equipped a Stonetooth sword as I was always too poor to reach 120 dex.
Firstly, I am a believer in the power of mathematics (For the people who are close to me, yall know about my quik maffs skills). The undeniable appeal of something so perfect is never to be underestimated. Therefore, I am not delusional and accept that the dps ranking goes as follow. 2h SW> 1h SW> 1h BW> 2h BW.
Second, there is clearly a lack of understanding or knowledge regarding the skill Guardian. This is important to understand my future arguments. This skill, obtained by slaying 200 black centaur guys near manon in a special map (Shoutout to my thread looking to buff gellerhead shield : https://royals.ms/forum/threads/gellerhead-shield-buff.131870/) gives paladins and heroes that are 1H with a shield the opportunity to block 15% of hits at lvl 30. But what does being more defensive do to me DPS-wise you might ask yourself. The answer is simple, im many bosses, you will often hear Dark Knights and Heroes crying about Power Stance. The skill often dubbed "Skem Stance, China Stance, or various configuration of a scam spell). Power Stance, at lvl 30, gives you a 90% chance to be not receive a knockback blow when being hit. Wow you must ask yourself, 90% is a very high number. Think again, for eons, 2 handed sword heroes and dark knights have lost countless lines of dps falling down from this measly 10% chance to fall in bosses such as HT or Zak. By now, you must be asking yourself why this paragraph is so long compared to the others, and I agree with you, but this is the center of my argument in this thread, please do not give up here. With Guardian, instead of having 10% chance to falling down, you now have 8.5%, a significantly lower number. By falling less, you are hitting more. Now, at this point RNG takes over. Whether you will fall 1200 times in a HT run or 10 times I cannot tell you. But 10% > 8.5%. Here is where a potential for higher damage by 1handers kick in. By falling less, you have a chance to attack more and do more dps.
Third, I would like to address the elephant in the room, look at the dps charts out there noob, 2h sw> 1h. Yes this is true that 2H Sword does more damage. However, most of these tests are done by killing bosses such as Krexel which are stationnary. A warrior is a nimble beast when handled properly and the opportunity to show off is limited in fights such as Krexel. Instead of showing off your guardian or rush30, you showoff your dps. The enjoyment of the game, the friendships created, the ultimate victory over a strong boss ruined by 2 words : "ez white" ushered by some elitist player who spent 80b to get an extra attack on a 28 atk cape. The desecration of the DPS cult must be done in order to restore unity and sanctity to the world of MapleRoyals.
Forth, one of the most controversial updates to date raised the prices of potions. This unbearable change has caused strife and anger from the community. With guardian blocking 15% of the hits this will translate into signifcant savings buying potions.
Lastly, the psychological effect of playing warriors is something to understand. For the many warriors out there falling left and right from platforms because they are not wearing shields, the psychological warfare undertaken by bosses like Horntail and Zakum can be devastating. I will refrain from quoting some of the famous warriors I've seen fall into a pit of depression from their Power Stance failing 12 times in a row and doing no dps for approximately 1/3 of their apple time. Furthermore, the more stable damage of swords make it so less 199999 are encountered. There is something extremely satisfying about hitting 199999 non crit even though you might hit 60k the next hit. Also, the amazement of various classes when seeing a paladin hit 199999 is something to behold. The world of possibilities to new players seeing the potential of a class that was ignored for so long. Paladin is a class of happiness and satisfaction. Your first 10k, your first 50k, your first 100k and finally your first 199999 are moments you do not forget.

Findings: This short essay would not be completed without a subjective assessment of the paladin situation at various bosses. I have compiled this list from personal experiences and many hours spent testing at various bosses.

Krex: 2H SW > REST
Zakum 2H SW> Rest
HT 1H> Rest
Auf 1H> Rest
Bigfoot: Speed 6 (Claymore and Skull) > Rest
HH> 2H SW
Pianus 2H > SW
Mano: 2H BW
CWK: Pally sucks, 2H> 1H
TOAD: 2H SW > all

Weapon choices explained:
2H With SI = Claymore
2H without SI= Stonetooth
Overall gameplay without SI (ie: solo play) = Flame Sword
Most satisfying gameplay: Skull + shield
Best quality of life gameplay: 1h +Shield
Biggest showing off factor : Claymore (ez whites)
Memes: 2h BW

Thank you all for making it this far.
Although this essay was meant to be serious in nature, I have obviously used sarcasm and satire to push my point across. I have nothing against heroes and dks.

Shoutout to my mentor @patnais77
All the paladins out there but some notables mentions who have been with me for a while : @Icato , @Valens for keeping the best guild ever alive @ioopy @miramo whatever ur forum acc is. @Ayane for trusting me and making the best class out there. @Belzet you wont be forgotten even though you quit, , @Albuttt (the only person in the server who took me hting when I was a paladin prebuff- MY favorite MM). fuck this is getting long. @sids never forget the legend, the myth and finally, @Shane for gracing Templar with EustaceBagge (perf dragon flame when) and @TomTechTales

BUT MOST SPECIFICALLY, TO ALL THE PALADINS WHO PLAYED PREBUFF AND DIDN'T GIVE UP. Ya'll the real MVPs

 

Cringe

 

Stab penalty tho

 

I apologize for answering a question that is asked to me daily in a manner that does not fit your ideals.
Wish you all the best!

 

Removeeeeeeeee this,
MFW you post once every 3 years and its for a smear campaign

 

LMAO that happens way too much

 

It's just the right attention a thread like this needs.
In all seriousness though, after having played NLstory for most of my royals career and having tried nearly every other class, I'm comfortable enough to say that pally is just so much fun, there's something relaxing about the non-screamy red critical lines and just one line of pure demolition.

 

Haha ty nick appreciate the words.

On a side note, if anyone has a question I didn't answer in this essay feel free to post it here and I'll answer to the best of my abilities without using sarcasm and satire. Keep them pally related though I have no idea how any other classes are played

 

Yes. All pally ht when? J>

 

hey @Haplopelma just wanna say thanks for answering my noob questions on pally the other day

 

@ioopy organize

 

Hey, i am new pally lvl 137, right now i use skull, me using skull make me depended on si? If yes should i move using sword because i dont like be depended on others buff to much? Thanks.

 

Benda, thank you for your question. The short answer to your question is No. Almost all weapons used by paladins work extremely well by themselves and do not require SI. However, for all weapons, except the flame sword, Si will give an additional boost of damage.
This means that without SI, flame sword will usually deal slightly more damage than other weapons and feel nicer to play because you can reach the maximum attack speed with it. That being said, With SI, every other weapon (except 2h bw) is better than flame sword.
I have never delved deeply into the formulas to give you an exact answer but I can definitely tell you that you do not require SI to play your skull paladin. Until very recently, buccs were rare and most paladins did fine without flame sword and speed infusion. So whether you use a Stonetooth, a Skull, a Claymore, a 2h BW, you will be fine and will not lose out that much dps.

Keep enjoying your Skull pally!

 

thank you for the answer, i will continue with my skull.

 

?????

 

ya sry typo, will fix, thanks bro, still remains speed 6 > all for bigfoot

 

I have some questions, mainly about bossing. Do you stand in the body for zak(arms part) just to HH all the arms. Where would be the ideal spot for us to stand at in zak. And should I get a flame sword to use when I don’t have SI?

 

Thank you for your question. I know paladins that switch to flame sword when they do not have SI. Personally, I am completely fine with slower attack speed. I have never gotten used to attacking at maximum speed and always have a smile when theres an SI in the party because I actually benefit from it. If I played with Flame Sword, I would never have an appreciation for this small thing as I would always expect to attack at maximum speed. If you are looking to MIN-MAX (which this essay is trying to attack), Having a Flame Sword as a backup when no SI is the way to go, but I believe it is unecessary.

Next, for zakum arm, this is heavily dependant on ur party composition. However, my rule of thumb is the following, if you are the only warrior. I will stand on the lowest platform left side and use ACB ice as close as possible to arms. If you notice the platform, theres a small drop where u can get even closer. HH can hit anywhere from 5- 8 in that spot, it depends on what animation the arms are in. Using ice will allow you to potentially hit the middle top arm and the bottom arm which are ice weak. If I am playing with a hero or dark, I jump up to the 2nd platform and use Holy ACB. I tend not to move around for HH because if you jump up or down, you cannot simply downjump in zak map.

Cheers,
Haplopelma

 

Hey, mad respect for this thread. It helps a lot. Shoutout to Valens!