Cinn
Banned Jerk
Dropped by Denos, Chosen of Enthann, a mini located inside Valorb.
Dropped by Ulkag the Earthshaper, the boss of the earth wing inside upper Thazeran's Tower.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v256/HeyPeoplez/results.jpg
A link to a chart of an hour long parse of each weapon.
Parses were done on "a clay golem" inside the Haven of Lore.
"a clay golem" is immune to critical strikes, with rounded resists to the figures of 45 FR and 95 MR.
These parses were done completely buffless while in Aggressive Combat Stance, positioned behind the mob.
Parse figure does not include the amount of times the rune proc went off for Greatstaff of Denos. (Rough Estimate: Alot)
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These two weapons are the major stepping stones in the road to monk DPS progression with the only definite upgrades poised at the completion of Tower of Tarhyl.
With both item's current stats there is virtually no progression from ValorB Mini's until your quest weapon is completed at the end of Tower of Tarhyl.
While the Spiked Obsidian Greatstaff does indeed offer 2% critical strike this figure is without a doubt obtainable through other gear choices with minimal to no configuration of your raiding attire.
Any HP bonus granted above Denos' staff is negated by an obscenely frequent rune proc absorbing 350 points of damage. This rune proc also grants the user a 100dd 80 mana drain attack proc that goes off at, as far as I can tell, the same rate as Relic: Blades of War.
The Spiked Obsidian Greatstaff's proc rate is drastically lower in comparison with the effect being a 300dd.
Exact amount of procs are found in the link to the parse chart above.
In addition to these figures, Denos' Greatstaff grants the wielder Damage Inc. V. This focus effect will increase the damage done, not only by its own proc buff, but by Illusion: Werefrog, Relic: Blades of War and any other damaging spell cast by it's holder.
Denos' Greatstaff's elemental damage is also giving the weapon a superior Min/Max hit than the Spiked Obsidian Greatstaff. This will translate into higher critical strikes on a non-critical immune mob.
The added 5ac and lower weight to the staff only goes to further it's luster.
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So? What does any of this mean?
It basically means that monks (and other classes that I am not qualified to comment on) now get an on par or debate-ably superior weapon much more easily and at a lower level of raiding.
Is this a good thing?
Not really. You're effectively giving more for less. Killing Denos' is nowhere near as challenging as clearing all 4 LT wings, getting keyed for UT, killing Landslide and downing Ulkag. Nor is it as time consuming. Not even close.
There was no reason to put a weapon on par with an UT drop at this stage in the game.
Aren't there 1 handed monk weapons floating around in some of these zones?
The only combo that I could realistically see even parsing close and having comparable stats is a Fist of Solid Ice + Funeral Guardians Tonfa combo. I dont have this combo. Nor do I think many will with the 6 man raid loot code.
What would you like done?
I don't know. There are a lot of possibilities. I just wanted to put the post up and get some feedback from the developers and the player-base. I know there was quite a bit of turmoil among high end monks when this item was implemented and this is a place for them to voice their opinions.
Keep it civil. Stay on Topic.
Thanks,
cinn
