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
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
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.