High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

Post strategies and guides, and comment on those that others have written.

Moderator: Mills

Post Reply
Message
Author
Executor
Regular
Regular
Posts: 72
Joined: September 26th, 2011, 11:33 pm
Realm: Azeroth (U.S. East)
Battle.net name: Judacator

High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

#1 Post by Executor »

High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Archery

UPDATE(10/3/11): Added more information about spending crystal, and compared Orb of Skill to Guiding Gloves in the example for level 26.
UPDATE(9/29/11): Made changes to when Weapon Upgrades are bought with crystal to more accurately fit its long term behavior in maximizing dps. Also, corrected the example for level 26, and added a bit more info.

This guide does not account for: marketplace item abilities, buffs and debuffs from consumables or other heroes, gold cost of items, survivability in most cases, attack speed cap, and talents. Also, I approximate the amount of damage gained from the primary attribute with (Agi-2)/4. I believe the actual value is Agi/4 rounded down to the nearest integer (aka floor(Agi/4)). To deal with the weapon damage range, I take the average between the minimum damage and maximum damage.

In the long term, Damage Multipliers provide more dps than Agility, Agility provides more dps than Attack Speed, and Attack Speed provides more dps than Intelligence or Damage (point for point).

Spending crystal regarding the long term:

Code: Select all

Agility Cost 1st     Intelligence Cost 2nd     Weapon Cost last
     6 to 13                                          20
    14 to 18                  6                       29
    19 to 20                  7	
    21 to 22                  8                       38
    23 to 24                  9	
    25 to 26                 10                       47
    27 to 28                 11
    29 to 30                 12                       56
                             13	
                             14                       65
                          15 to 17                    74
                          18 to 19                    83
                          20 to 21                    92
                          22 to 23                   101
                          24 to 25                   110
                          26 to 27                   119
                          28 to 29                   128
                             30                   137 to 191
For example, buy agility from costs 6 to 13 crystal, then buy the weapon upgrade for 20 crystal, then buy agility from costs 14 to 18 crystal, then buy intelligence for 6 crystal, then buy another weapon upgrade for 29 crystal. Keep in mind that spending 13 crystal on Intelligence is better than waiting a long time to buy a weapon upgrade for 56 crystal, especially if the games ends before you can save up 56 crystal. I only compared cost per dps when making the table.

Assuming you use level 6 Zen Archery, to optimize dps, maintain the balance 2*(Int.+Dmg.)=Agi+1.5*AS+70, where AS is the Attack Speed gained from items (not from Agility), and Dmg. is the Damage gained from items (not from Agility) or bought with crystal. Each weapon upgrade adds about 8.5 damage. I recommend achieving this balance by switching items rather than spending crystal until you reach the fully upgraded best item set (listed further down). Know that you will gain about 3 more Intelligence than Agility every 5 levels.

For example, at level 26 (assuming no stats or items are bought yet) you would want to fully upgrade Guiding Gloves, then fully upgrade Dexterous Ring, then worry about balancing Agility and Intelligence. Keep in mind that I didn’t take into consideration the race to get marketplace items or gold cost of items or marketplace item abilities or survivability, etc. Technically, it is better to get Guiding Gloves +3, then Dexterous Ring, then upgrade both simultaneously, but you rarely need to worry about balancing Damage Multipliers with Agility, and it quickly becomes irrelevant after a few more levels or Agility purchases with crystal. Technically, it is also better to get Orb of skill +5 first instead of Guiding Gloves +5 since its gold cost per dps is considerably lower.

Read from top to bottom for each item set:

Code: Select all

Best Item Set 1          Best Item Set 2          Best Item Set 3          Best Item Set 4
Flute of the Winds       Flute of the Winds       Flute of the Winds       Zephyr Totem
Zephyr Totem             Zephyr Totem             Talisman of the Sun      Talisman of the Sun
Talisman of the Sun      Guiding Gloves           Guiding Gloves           Guiding Gloves
Guiding Gloves           Leather Armor            Leather Armor            Leather Armor
Leather Armor            Orb of Fury or Skill     Orb of Fury or Skill     Orb of Fury or Skill
Orb of Fury or Skill     Dexterous Ring           Dexterous Ring           Dexterous Ring
Best Item Set 1 represents what is best when all items are available. Best Item Sets 2, 3, and 4 represent what is best when a marketplace item is unavailable where set 2 is better than set 3 and set 3 is better than set 4 in terms of dps.

In a 5v5 game, it is more realistic to expect that your team will only be able to reserve half of the marketplace items, which may then be split up among those who can make the most use of those items. You must also consider the gold cost of each item and if it is better to spend gold on other things such as mercenaries, consumables, or buildings. Just know that Flute of the Winds > Zephyr Totem>Talisman of the Sun>Orb of Fury in long term non-ability dps contribution to the High Oracle.

In Best Item Set 1, Orb of Fury provides more dps than orb of skill when hitting at least 2 targets on average but is less dps on a single target.
Leather Armor is chosen for its good combination of dps and survival contribution. If survival is not an issue, it may be switched out for Dexterous Ring or Helm of Champions to increase dps.
Last edited by Executor on October 3rd, 2011, 3:58 pm, edited 8 times in total.

watermelon
Yak's Secretary
Yak's Secretary
Posts: 569
Joined: August 12th, 2011, 12:28 pm
Realm: Azeroth (U.S. East)
Battle.net name: watermelon_1234

Re: High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

#2 Post by watermelon »

Well, this was pretty interesting to know. =P
Thanks for sharing this.

User avatar
DarnYak
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 2364
Joined: August 12th, 2006, 2:54 pm

Re: High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

#3 Post by DarnYak »

Am I understanding that first chart correctly, that it's best to spend up to 11 agi upgrades, then the weapon upgrades, then back to 15 for agi, then weapon again, then 18 agi, then int, then agi etc.?

I have no idea how to read that second chart. What is each column?

DarnYak

Executor
Regular
Regular
Posts: 72
Joined: September 26th, 2011, 11:33 pm
Realm: Azeroth (U.S. East)
Battle.net name: Judacator

Re: High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

#4 Post by Executor »

That is correct. This is my first time posting on forums, so I don't know how to create tables. For the best item sets, read them from top to bottom. I should also clarify that in 2*(Int.+Dmg.)=Agi+1.5*AS+70, Dmg. also includes the Damage bought with crystal. I'll see if I can edit the original post.

User avatar
DarnYak
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 2364
Joined: August 12th, 2006, 2:54 pm

Re: High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

#5 Post by DarnYak »

Using code tags to line things up usually works best.

So wait, is each column in the item table assuming a particular item is unavailable (ie flute in set 4)

DarnYak

Executor
Regular
Regular
Posts: 72
Joined: September 26th, 2011, 11:33 pm
Realm: Azeroth (U.S. East)
Battle.net name: Judacator

Re: High Oracle: Maximizing Auto-Attack DPS with Level 6 Zen Arc

#6 Post by Executor »

Thanks, I'll try that out, and I'll indicate what each best item set represents.

Post Reply