I understand that different weapons types (e.g. hammer versus a sword) have different base damage, and so (for a strength+faith user) level-for-level a weapon like the Climber’s Pick hammer will always excel at damage compared to the Whetted Wedge straight sword.
What I didn’t expect was for the attribute bonus (that is, the bonus damage for attributes required to use the weapon) on the Climber’s pick hammer to be significantly higher than the attribute bonus for the Whetted Wedge straight sword. In fact, I expected them to be exactly the same, assuming the attribute requirement has been met.
However, this is the information I’m seeing in-game.
How exactly is the attribute bonus calculated? My Strength and Wisdom are both 26, and if the attribute bonus is a percentage of the weapon’s base damage per attribute point, then that means the Whetted Wedge not only has a lower base damage, but also uses a lower percentage of the weapon’s base damage per attribute point (4.55%) than the Climber’s Pick (5.1%). It’s like a double handicap for using a straight-sword. Is that really true?
I think you may have misunderstood the question. Yes, I have the Reliable facet on the Whetted Edge specifically to help try and close the damage gap between it and the Climber’s Pick. In other words, the Whetted Edge has the advantage of a damage-boosting facet and yet still falls woefully short of the Climber’s Pick (without a facet) in terms of damage.
But what I was mainly getting at was that the fact that attribute point bonus on the Whetted Edge is lower (point for point) than the bonus the Climber’s Pick is receiving because the Whetted Edge has a lower base damage than the Climber’s Pick. In other words, the Whetted Edge suffers from a lower base damage, and then suffers further from a stunted attribute bonus because of that lower base damage. Meaning that as faith and strength increase, the gap between the Climber’s Pick and Whetted Edge only worsens (which I find odd and it surprised me).
I think you’re missing the point. And I’m not even sure why you bothered focusing on the facet so much as it really had nothing to do with any of the points I was trying to raise. My comment, at it’s core, simply attempted to get two points across:
Despite both being one-handed weapons, the Whetted Wedge deals less damage than the Climber’s Pick because (for whatever reason) swords have a lower base damage than hammers. And while people are quick to point to potential advantages like attack speed, the reality is the Whetted Wedge and the Climber’s Pick complete their attack cycle in a very similar amount of time. Movesets is another advantage players like to point to as a potential advantage or equalizer, but I find the Climber’s Pick to have a much more useful set of animations. That leaves me with the impression that the Whetted Wedge sucks compared to the Climber’s Pick for no real reason, which is unfortunate because it’s the only straight-sword for a faith-strength user.
The attribute bonus, rather than being an independent damage bonus, instead appears to be a percentage of the weapon’s base damage. We both agree on this. I’m disappointed in this because it it means the points I’m spending in attributes like strength and faith are less impactful if I’m using a straight-sword instead of a hammer. And it essentially means we’re being penalized twice for using a weapon like the Whetted Wedge instead of a weapon like the Climber’s Pick. Penalty one is the sword’s lower base damage. Penalty two is the sword’s lower benefit from player attributes. If attributes were just a straight bonus (e.g. each point in strength raises damage on strength-based weapons by X, regardless of the weapon’s base damage), this second penalty wouldn’t exist and weapons with a lower base damage would be a bit more appealing. That’s how I had originally hoped it worked, but was disappointed when I noticed it didn’t work that way.
Those were my points. And all I was looking for was clarification if this is really what the developers intended. While I appreciate that you spent a fair bit of time discussing facets, it really had nothing to do with either of my points. Your comment about diminishing returns versus linear scaling is useful information, but again it doesn’t alter my points/observations - the sword is still inferior to the hammer and I’m being penalized again on top of that because of the way attribute bonuses work.
Your comment about runes, oils, and enchantments working off the base damage of the weapon just makes the decision to use a sword over a hammer seem even worse and more depressing. I prefer using swords in my fantasy games, but seem to always get stuck with a hammer instead. Every time I do an attack sequence on an opponent with the Whetted Wedge and the enemy is standing there with a sliver of health left I’m thinking “I should have used the Climber’s Pick”.
Hopefully that clarifies the points I was trying to get across. I do appreciate that you came in here with details and useful information.