I was actually referring to Zangeif with the mention of BOTD, but anyway.. I'm still not so sure that ETH DC is *THAT* much better than ETH RE. Let me throw some numbers out there, and for a start lets ignore open wounds and bring it back at the end so I can talk about damage in two senses, first being instant damage second being damage over time (and also I'd like to talk about the merits of each.)
1) Lets assume that this fictional barb has 22% Critical Strike from his mastery.
2) Lets assume we are dealing with perfect gear.
3) Lets throw out the "Socket with UM until low on durability" idea because it can be applied to both, and this isn't a terribly good long term tactic and not something you would build a character with in mind. Besides what about "socket with Lo" or "socket with Ohm" until low on durability? RE has more durability than DC too.. RE might even benefit from this more than DC?
4) Lets assume that this fictional barb has slvl 24 Mastery (143% ED) and slvl 26 WW (150%) and 200 strength with gear (200% ED) for a total of 493% ED.
5) Lets assume charms consist of (among other things) + 117 max damage.
Ethereal 280% DC w/ ZOD: 239 Average Weapon Damage
Ethereal 225% RE w/ ZOD: 206.375 Average Weapon Damage
DC @ 493% ED = 1417.3 Average Final Damage
RE @ 493% ED = 1223.8 Average Final Damage
DC @ 81% DS & 22% CS = 2624.56
RE @ 65% DS & 22% CS = 2113.5
This is what I like to call instant damage because its applied the instant the hit takes place, not over time like poison or OW. So if the remainder of the equipment used is the same, DC looks better for instant damage dealt.
Now lets look at OW, because there is a significant difference in chances for OW between DC and RE. If Duress and Gore riders and Dracul's are used, DC has 68% OW, RE has well over 100% (get back to this later on.)
But how much is OW really worth? One way to approach this is to consider a 50% PDR opponent. Two things are unique to OW; you can't resist or reduce the damage, and the PVP penalty is only 25% for melee attacks.
The OW formula is: 25*(45*Clvl-1319)/256 dmg per sec and it lasts for 8 seconds. (
http://wirsz.phpwebhosting.com/General.htm)
Assuming clvl 90, this is a total of 2133.6 damage. In melee PVP this is 533.4 damage.
To compare this to physical damage, I then divide by 0.17 (the physical damage pvp penalty) and then multiply by 2 (the physical damage denominator for a 50% PDR opponent).
This makes 100% OW worth 6275.3 physical damage @ clvl 90 over 8 seconds.
Obviously, this is quite different from damage that is dealt in an instant, but how can this be taken advantage of? Think about a typical WW duel between two high def barbs with 75% block. You RARELY if ever hit more than once per WW pass, and often times 1 hit per 8 seconds seems common. In fact if you know you are most effective if hitting once per 8 seconds and limiting your opponent to the same opportunity, then why not play with that objective?
So going back to the DC vs RE argument, lets add OW to that @ 68% for DC and 100% for RE:
68% OW = 4267 equivilent physical damage on average.
100% OW = 6275.3 equivilent physical damage on average.
DC: 2624.56 + 4267 = 6891.56 equivilent physical damage for a single hit.
RE: 2113.5 + 6275.3 = 8388.8 equivilent physical damage for a single hit.
If you play to your strength of optimising damage over 8 seconds, RE is now clearly better. What would be really interesting is if someone particularly skilled in calculus could tell us at what duration after hitting DC == RE in the above terms of total physical damage dealt, because clearly these curves cross at some point.
Now also consider that because Dracul's grasp are not required to reach 100% OW when using RE, you might use Steelrends instead, giving the potential for 65% additional ED (558% ED total.)
RE now has an average final damage (instant dmg) of 2345.18, only 279 behind DC but with another 10% CB, and still maintaining the OW advantage.
Then, really, the only down side to RE is its range, but then how much of an issue IS that? It always sounds like a big deal on paper, but I'm not convinced it's that terribly important.
DC and RE are pretty much interchangable on a BVBer as far as build requirements go, so it might be interesting if someone HAS tried both against the same opponents and can comment. Hell, when my 225% Eth RE comes to NL from Ladder, maybe >I< will?
) now my question is what i need to do with him? i mean to put zod in it?