Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

[Painman]

Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

Not much mention of this little gem in here according to the search I just did - I took my Zealot from lvl 31 to 45 with this weapon, and I couldn't help thinking that I may already have a decent Ubering weapon in my possession...

Now, I don't know exactly how different factors affect Smite damage (or not) - weapon damage, weapon %ED, offweapon %ED, etc.

But let's take a look:

Base Weapon Speed: [-30]
+200-250% Enhanced Damage (varies)
50% Chance Of Deadly Strike
20% Increased Attack Speed
6% Mana Stolen Per Hit
Slows Target By 30%
Hit Blinds Target

(FWIW, my Coldsteel is a perfect 250% ED specimen.)

Anyway.

Cutlass base speed: [-30]. That's zippy. With 20 Fanat, you need 10% more IAS to reach a maxed Smite speed. If you upped it to an Ataghan ([-20]) you'd need 20% IAS. Not sure if that'd make any difference Smite damage wise, or if it'd be worth it considering the price of Heaven's Light, but it's got all the IAS you need already built in. You could socket it with something that provides other forms of support, such as a Ko, Lit Res jewel, etc.

50% chance of Deadly Strike. That's pretty major. I would assume you can deliver onweapon DS through a Smite attack, since you can certainly deliver onweapon CB.

Let's have a look at my own guy who is getting built. He will wear Highlord's and Guillaume's, so at lvl 89 (target) he'll have 48% DS between those 2 items. Add in the Coldsteel, and he'll have 98% Deadly Strike. (Can't remember - does this stack, like CB or Pierce, or does each DS item get its own check? Probability of success still seems decent even if not stacked).

He will also wear Duress, and I'm thinking I might just stick with my Goblin Toe boots rather than fight over a pair of Gores and spend all my currency. With Guil, Duress and Toes that's 75% CB.

He has a pair of Dracs I was lucky enough to find, and they have 25% chance of OW to go along with the 33% on Duress. That's 58% (plenty).

I'm looking at one last thing here: Slows Target By 30%. Don't underestimate the power of this mod - Necros sure as heck don't. I'm going to assume that you can slow an Uber, since I know first hand that you can at least slow a mini-Uber. Getting thwacked 30% less often? I like the sound of this.

Welp, I'm compelled to give this a try. Unless there's something I've missed, or made incorrect assumptions about, I don't see why this weapon wouldn't be viable (or perhaps even desirable). Mad experiments are my thing - after all, I'm the guy who (successfully) did his first ever Uber run with a Frenzybarb packing a pair of Bul Kathos set Colossus Blades.

Donations of Destruction keys are more than welcome

 

[sequoia]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

I believe that even DS is calculated separately on separate sources.

That is, even if you have deadly strike on Highlord's and Guillaume's, they don't add directly.

That is, you'd have 15% (from Guil) + .85*xx (from Highlord's).

That said, the thing about ubering and smiting is that it really isn't dependent on much aside from life tap and crushing blow. As long as you have a decent amount of the latter you can get away with virtually any weapon, including magic hand axes with IAS to 6 shael phase blades. I don't think the deadly strike will make much of a difference in your smite speed, though.

 

[SnickerSnack]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

On-weapon DS does not work with Smite. And yes, all sources of DS stack together. It is DS and Critical Strike that are each rolled separately.

I don't know about slow though.

I don't see why you'd put a ko in the coldsteel. Shaeling it might work better since it frees up other slots, slots in which you could get more than 10 dex. And if you up it, you'll need just one shael. If you get yout ias in 10% and 15% chunks, you'll need two sources of ias.

Coldsteel seems as good as Black for an ubering weapon; they are both good. But Astreon's Iron Ward, for example, has +xx damage, which is added to smite damage before any +ed%. So the damage bonus from fanaticism enhances that damage too. It makes finishing off the last 10% of the demon's health easy.

 

[Painman]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

Well, there's no point in shaeling the weapon if you have maxed Fanat, as it would take you to max Smite all on its own base speed and builtin 20 IAS. Ko might not be ideal for the socket, true, but that's neither here nor there. You wouldn't need that socket for IAS, so use it for whatever else you might need (you might decide to use it for more DEX - I was just giving examples).

If you're smiting without Fanat or with 1 point Fanat, then there aren't too many options. You'll probably have to Shael the socket.

It's disappointing if the on-weapon DS wouldn't help Smite though. I thought that might help make up for the lack of damage output for that last sliver (but at least you'd still have the other sources). And at least the weapon is still very fast. I may try it out on mini-ubers to see how it performs before taking it into Tristram.

 

[SnickerSnack]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

You said that it would need 20% more ias.

 

[Painman]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

I said that a Cutlass would need 10% more IAS and an Ataghan 20% more. Not Coldsteel in particular. Sorry if that wasn't clear from what I wrote in the OP.

 

[SnickerSnack]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

Okay, I understand you now. Coldsteel already has the needed 20% ias. I had misunderstood this sentence:

Not sure if that'd make any difference Smite damage wise, or if it'd be worth it considering the price of Heaven's Light, but it's got all the IAS you need already built in.

And you said you were wearing Highlord's Wrath, which I assumed was for the ias. I should have known better since you said you were assuming that DS worked with Smite. DS doesn't work with smite at all, not just on-weapon DS.

You probably already know from all the blood on the ground, but OW works fine with smite. I don't think that anyone mentioned it yet, so: +ed% on the weapon does not work with smite, but other +ed% sources do. That's one reason why Fortitude armor is used for smiters.

Also, if slowing from "slows target by x%" does work on mini ubers, then it probably works on the biggies. What test did you do that made you sure it works? Afaik, the clay golem's slow works, so any other should work too. But, there a number of things that smite doesn't work with, and I've never read anyone say anything about it either way.

 

[Painman]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

Last season I ran mini-Ubers with a tele-stomping Fishy necro, and the slow from Clay golem was kicking in. Seemed logical that it would work from other sources too.

However, now I'm questioning whether the slow from Coldsteel would xfer over to Smite if the %DS doesn't...

It's starting to look like it might not be such a great option after all - not getting the DS chance is a killer =\ so all it would do (if it didn't slow either) is give you speed... there's other, better stuff that's still cheap.

I was going to start myself out using HL or Black, but I was pretty impressed with this little blade while using it in early NM and wondered if it might make an interesting alternative. I'll stick with the original plan methinks, but I'll still see what the Coldsteel does on an easy target like Uber Izual.

 

[SnickerSnack]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

Yeah. Just try it. It's not like you can't retreat and switch to a different weapon.

EDIT: Upon looking again: Coldsteel doesn't really do anything except give you speed. The slow is okay if it works, but you'd be better off with some more CB.

 

[Painman]

Re: Ubering Weapon Analysis: Coldsteel Eye

Yeah, I agree. I didn't know Smite was so finicky about what it works with (I figured it would at least get DS, since it gets OW and CB).

Ah well, live and learn. I'm sorry now that I left the Pally on the bench all these years and learned nothing about him. My Zealot is lvl 62 in act 4 NM and kicking serious butt with a seemingly lowly Aldur's Rhythm. I like this little fella. I hope he can cruise through Hell with similar levels of competence.