Grand Matron Bow or Matriarchal Bow?

[ChrisF]

Grand Matron Bow or Matriarchal Bow?

Hi all, it seems silly to even ask the question really as 9/10 Faith's are Grand Matron Bows. My reason for asking is that speed is pretty important to an ama and I read on a website that the speed of Matriarchal Bows is higher than on a Grand Matron Bow but the GMB has higher average damage, so I understand that putting faith in a GMB is not a problem as you get a fana aura to make up the difference. But if I were to make a different runeword bow eg Brand/Ice/Wrath would the speed difference be beneficial enough to use a Matriarchal bow or would it be just as good in a GMB???

 

[zallus]

Hang on and slow down.

It makes a huge difference what the base bow is for faith.

Because the damage isn't all that noticable after all is said and done. Using a Matri bow frees you up to many more equipment choices.

Using a GMB you are pretty much required to uses certain equipment to reach the last breakpoint.

Its all preference though as to which you use when making faith.

 

[ChrisF]

I didnt say GMB was better for faith (I dont actually have an opinion, I never use faith, I prefer good ol windforce) I was just saying I can understand why people use GMB for Faith. I just wondered which bow would be better for a Wrath etc as I saw the thread Faith vs Wrath and thought I might test it out but Im not sure how much faster a matriachal bow would be if at all.

 

[zallus]

O i can give a link to a skill calculator and it will also test speed to reach last breakpoint.

I think this will help you answer your question beause I don't actually know the answer to what you are asking. I actually am not even sure what you are asking.

 

[ChrisF]

Which Bow would be faster if I made wrath/ice/brand in it is what im getting at, I guess my question was a little bit long winded and confusing lol.

 

[zallus]

Well Matri bow will always be faster because its a faster bow, that is without any other auras or equipment.

I can't find the calcuator at the moment try the statistics sub forum. There might be something more helpful in there.

 

[Von Lazuli]

Here is the calculator. Bookmark it...

Weapon Speed Calculator

Laz

 

[NASE]

You have two different situations, is your merc using faith or not.
If she is using faith, then you have your speed A-bom and you can use a slow bow if you want higher damage.
If you mercs isn't using faith, it depends on your playing style and the bow you chose. If you use strafe often, you can agian go with a slower bow and high ias gear. If you use multi more often, then probably your better off using a fast bow.

Now wrath is a special bow. It has that huge ctc decript that is the most important element on that bow. I guess you will be using strafe more often to trigger the ctc as multi can only trigger it with the two middle arrows.
If you want, it's not wrong to with gmb, although without a faith merc, you will need to have ias gear where you could have mf-gear.

Things change when your char is a hybrid. Hybrids mostly don't have much room to go berserk on ias gear. It will make your build less item depending - on bow side - if you go with a fast bow.

 

[BlushNine]

I just wondered which bow would be better for a Wrath etc as I saw the thread Faith vs Wrath and thought I might test it out but Im not sure how much faster a matriachal bow would be if at all.

For Wrath and any other Runeword you would make out of the bow, Matriarch Bow would be "better". The amount of speed increase between a GMB and a MB Wrath would be dependent on how much other IAS gear you wear with the bow. In general, and I say this loosely, MB version will be approximately 1 frame faster than the GMB version (This is around the 8frame breakpoint, why did I choose the 8frame for comparison? Its a compromise between the last 7frame breakpoint which is very difficult to achieve and 9 frame which is very easy to achieve). Again this is largely dependent on which breakpoint you can achieve with other gear. Specifically, you will have to add up all the IAS in your outfit and look up the table of breakpoints listed here to find out. Remember, the breakpoints are also dependent on which skill you use, specifically if you are using Strafe or not, and whether or not you have the fanatic aura from a Faith Rogue, since Fanaticism affects your base bow speed.

The quick answer, go with MB, there are more benefits to the extra speed besides the obvious analysis of more arrows to more damage over shorter time. Benefits such as Chance to Cast modifiers and other special effects like knockback that are also increased in effectiveness. If you are using Strafe, strafelock becomes shorter and will allow you to move more quickly between strafe sprays. The long answer, calculate the IAS breakpoints.

I suggest you take a plain white MB[-10] and GMB[10] and test the speed difference trying out different IAS gear with them. Alternatively you can test this with any [-10] and [10] WSM bows such as a Hunter's[-10] and a Long Battle Bow[10], if you can't get a hold of the MB/GMB. This is probably the best way for you to get a feel for the difference, without committing to the runes.

 

[Mistress Sersi]

I am making a strafer, should I go wrath or faith?

 

[ChrisF]

Depends what you want it for, Im no expert but this thread was just about the speed of Matriarchal Bows and GMB's theres a thread somewhere recently that has a debate on Wrath vs Faith, check it out, you can probably get some good advice there.