Increasing Damage Per Second (DPS)

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Okay mates, so ye want those famed weapons, right? And ye know that yer sword is going to be the quickest way to bring down old Dartan or Darkheart, right? Well, the faster ye can cut him down, the faster ye can get through loot chests and get those famed weapons, right? Well then, ye want to increase yer Damage Per Second (DPS) to cause as much damage as possible as quickly as possible.

SETUP: with any sword, ye have five seperate moves that can work together as a combo. Each in the series does progressiely more damage. Therefore, stack as much damage (five points) on your final move as ye can. Do the same for each skill as ye work from yer highest damage attack to your lowest damage attack, EXCEPT for your first attack skill. Just leave that at one point. I'll explain why later.

SPEED: DPS has two compnents; Damage dealt and speed at which ye can deal that damage. In order to get the most damage dealt ye have to increase the speed of your attacks. In this case, timing is everything. The key point in timing yer combos is to hit your attack button JUST BEFORE THE PREVIOUS ATTACK DOES DAMAGE. This takes a bit of practice, but once ye master that your attack combos will be happening exceptionally quicker. Personally I like the broadsword best for this because it allows a continuous chain of attacks without a pause between the last attack of the chain and the first attack of the next chain, AND because of the massive damage it deals. These two elements together increase DPS substantially.

SPECIAL SKILLS: Thses are your Sweep, Headbutt, Taunt, and Bladestorm. Now personally, I don't use nor care about taunt. It may reduce the damage the enemy does to me, but it's immaterial. I will have cut down Gen DH before I have any significant damage anyway. So, I throw five points in Sweep, Headbutt, and Bladestorm. Each of these does good damage,and the Headbutt not only stuns the enemy, but with a chance for a critical hit will actually do some AMAZING damage.

SKIP YOUR FIRST ATTACK IN THE COMBO: What?!! Well mates, remember how I mentioned earlier that I only put one point in the first attack of a combo? Well there's a very good reason for that: I will skip this attack as often as I can! This gets through my combos in four moves instead of five, increasing my DPS! So how do we skip the first move in a combo? Pretty easy, really. It's all in the timing. Simply put, ye can't skip the first move in a combo the first time you attack. It just won't happen. So, start the combo regularly, remembering the speed tip above. When you're just about to hit that fifth attack, use Sweep. Again, just as Sweep is just about to connect, begin your next combo. if timed perfectly, YOUR NEXT COMBO MOVE WILL BE THE SECOND ATTACK IN THE CHAIN! Follow through the combo paying attention to timing, and when you're just about to land that fifth combo move again, Bladestorm. Again, right when the Bladestorm is just about to land, begin your next comboa, and again you will skip the first (weakest) move in the combo. Same as before, run through your new four move combo, and if your timing is right you're ready for your next Sweep. Just keep using the special attacks as needed to keep the combo going on four moves instead of five.

Now, that's the biggest reason to have a third special attack (headbutt); it keeps you in the four combo move progression if your Sweep or Bladestorm have not recharged all the way yet.

Also, any interruptions to your chain attacks will cause you to have to start with your first weakest attack again.

Additionally, no; you cannot start with a Sweep or Bladestorm and then skip the very first attack in the combo--it just doesn't work. So go ahead and start with the combo, Sweep, 4-attack-combo, Bladestorm, 4-attack combo, Sweep (Headbutt if necessary), and repeat until your adversary is lying a pile of his own ruin.

Finally, YES; this works with daggers too.

Try it out and let me know how it works for you.

[Edward Edgemenace]

No cutlass combinations any-which-way come anywhere near siege bombs, for DPS.

On cutlass, I skip the last combo move. In PvP, your chances of pulling off all 5 attacks on a moving enemy are nil. When leveling, finding multiple enemies is key - so broadsword attacks 2, 3 and 4 are all you want. All 4 special attacks (sweep, taunt, brawl and bladestorm) are very effective in PvP, depending on YOUR personal fighting style.

Increasing the "endurance" passive skill dramatically increases the damage you do with every attack (of every weapon of yours, especially sailing and cannon.)

Parry is very effective in PvP, but useless for bosses that barely touch you, as it is.

The only effective part of cutlass, for DPS, is "fast switching" bladestorm. (You mentioned the "skip hack" glitch, but neglected the useful one?) Finish with another weapon, F1, 4, Esc, switch to another weapon. As long as you have endurance and bladestorm at rank 5 (or more) then you should do significant damage very quickly.

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Thanks for the input. However, I would question the usefulness of seige bombs in a sustained one on one battle, either against a boss like DH or in PVP. Have you successfully won PVP matches using only seige bombs?

Along the same line, I'm not sure because I've never tried it, but I have a feeling I could knock out Gen Dh with my sword faster than I could with seige bombs. Again, I have never tried it, but I might just give it a try and time both against the same level boss. It certainly will be interesting. Of course, when DH bum rushes me and I keep using seige charges, I'll certainly have maxxed the DPS against myself!

As for attacks when doing PVP and your likelihood of getting all four hits in, it seems to be problematic--if you can get four hits in using the first through fourth attacks, why can't another person get the second through fifth attacks? I understand your point, but now we're discussing PVP likelihood to hit versus overall DPS.

However, I will correct my post to be merely aimed at defeating bosses/NPCs instead of PVP. While this technique has worked for me, there are certainly better PVP pirates out there, and DPS must therefore include the likelihood of hitting your opponent, which may indeed not happen against a running, jumping, or speed-glitching opponent.

Yes, endurance increases damage. I didn't mention that simply because additional skills were not the topic, but you are absolutely correct. There are other passives that help in many other areas also.

Now, I don't understand why parry would be "very" effective in PVP. Does it not have the same low chance of blocking a hit as when dealing with NPCs? If this is different, please explain.

Your post is predominantly aimed (so it reads to me at least) as a PVP specific post. Since I have changed my post to be specifically for NPCs, here's what I would suggest for a true measure of DPS in relation to my edited OP:

Try out all of your methods on the same boss (not a running, jumping, or speed glitching opponent) of the same level and time them. Let us know if you actually come up with a faster way of defeating that boss. I will do the same comparing seige charge with my sword style and let you know which method actually has the best DPS.

Which, when ALL the time is taken into account will still probably be the sword attack, because I never have to leave the boss to buy more swords to use--something that really should be taken into account when we're looking at trying to defeat as many bosses as possible in as short a time as possible to maximize our likelihood of getting famed drops.

Again, thanks for the input.

[Sven Osymthe]

Nice guide Bart, and additional information Ed.

However, I would question the usefulness of seige bombs in a sustained one on one battle, either against a boss like DH or in PVP. Have you successfully won PVP matches using only seige bombs?

This may not be what Ed was referring to (and it may have been fixed, although I doubt it), it is possible to kill another player in PvP with 2-3 successful siege charges. If you throw the siege charge, and change to a sword (prior to the siege coming in contact with the enemy), the siege charge does more than twice the original damage. You do risk hurting yourself, however against Darkhart you can easily stand behind the fence. Sorry if either glitch has been fixed (which personally I hope is the case with the siege charge).

Now, I don't understand why parry would be "very" effective in PVP. Does it not have the same low chance of blocking a hit as when dealing with NPCs? If this is different, please explain.

In PvP parry is more noticeable. As Ed mentioned, regular enemies don't get as many hits in on you, so parry doesn't come into effect as often. In PvP though the other enemy hits you more often, giving parry more chances to work. I have a single point in parry, yet I tend to block around 5 attacks on average in a PvP (most of which are bladestorms). However outside of PvP I tend to get 1 attack blocked, after numerous enemies have attacked.

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Good info for the PVP aspect of this. Thanks.


EDIT: As of just this morning (even though I understand that the original reference to using seige charges was in relation to a specific glitch, was in relation to PVP, and there are far too many variables than I want to get into at this point) here's my results of testing DPS of Seige Charge vs. Sword against General Darkheart:

Seige charge: Took me 1:17 to defeat one level 29 Undead Raider Boss. 16 seige charges used. Additionally, as other skellies spawned, they were aggroed and came running up to me to attack, causing a delay in my ability to focus solely on DH. Also, General DH kept hitting me with daggers, and even using the raider freeze glitch, I was getting more damage from the seige charge explosion than I would like due to my being close enough to throw the bomb without having to invoke long volley (to make the attacks quicker). I had to use a potion partway through in order to survive due to all the damage I was taking.

Sword: Took me 0:20 to defeat a level 29 Undead Raider Boss. I was barely hit due to the quick work done. No other interruptions. This is approximately 1/4 of the time it took using seige charges.

Therefore, even if I could glitch the damage to be twice as much for seige charges, and I could continue to throw them uninterrupted one after the other, using the technique as outlined in the original post still produces more DPS.

It seems clear to me that based ONLY upon this information (yes, I know there are a whole BUNCH of variables), that the sword (especially the broadsword) is still the quickest method--especially using the technique outlined in the first post--for defeating the key bosses that are most likely to give you famed loot drops.

Now, if anybody has any other ideas for increasing DPS, please do feel free to post. I welcome this information. However, if the post is about how other factors in PVP can affect DPS and that my test against General DH was not a good one, then you're missing my point. I've already changed the original post to remove the PVP reference. If there is information about how you can increase DPS against NPCs to get faster/more loot drops, I'm all ears. But 20 seconds against a level 29 Raider Boss seems pretty darned fast to me. Can you do it significantly faster? If so, what technique do you use?

Remember, the original post states that the two factors for DPS is amount of damage dealt and the amount of time it takes to deal that damage. Ergo, the PVP issues which may or may not affect likelihood to hit (as referenced above) are outside this post.

[Edward Edgemenace]

Sorry if it seemed like my post was oriented towards PvP. I guess it was, even though that was not my intent.

Siege (normal, without Siege Glitch - which is NOT fixed, by the way,) is very effective against Darkheart. Give it a try. He dies long before you do. :-) And yes, the straight DPS is enormously more for Darkheart. (ROTFL: bring a healer when you first practice it!)

Another note about PvP (ugh, don't wanna talk about PvP; I'm not so good at it, but we keep talking about it...so....) Well, your "normal" opponent is moving left and right. NPC enemies come at you and STOP, but humans don't.

Uh, ok, let me explain that better. My "normal" practice for PvP, is to go to Devil's Anvil, Barbossa's grotto. By attacking Jack The Monkey, I can practice *MY* movement of holding down the "Q" and "D" keys. And switching to "A" and "E" keys. Try delivering a full cutlass combo to Jack The Monkey. If you can hit him with THRUST, you are a better cutlass wielding pirate than I am. (That's not saying much - I stink at PvP overall.) And remember that only someone playing PvP for the very first time, will stand there without moving. So, if you *can* hit them with thrust, you probably should be using "kid gloves" and showing them some mercy.

And yes, I have used siege (non-glitch) to great effect, in PvP and bosses.

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OK, back to bosses. Siege is the fastest way to defeat Remington or Darkheart. 5 points on long volley + 5 on siege + 5 shrapnel + 5 barrage takes these bosses out in very short order. Much faster than 29 seconds!

The stump boss on outcast island does not give drops. Since that is the stated purpose of the original post, I'll say only that "sure-foooted" skill is essential, there.

For Darkheart and Remington, I start about 50 pirate feet back; this puts them (both) at "throwing dagger distance" from me, which allows me to siege them without hitting myself. 17 seconds is about normal, 24 seconds when I mess up. It's a little faster when you charge the long volley about 1/2 for each throw. About 13 or 14 seconds for a level 34, when I do it right.

Using a foul bane blunderbuss (max take aim, max bane shot,) takes 10 to 26 seconds on a level 35. That without using fast switching on blunderbuss shots...the large variance is due to "STUN" which locks up all "gun" type weapons, causing me to stop and reload. This delivers more damage (for me) than my max siege, HOWEVER, it takes longer to reload and jams. It also cannot be used on the assassin boss.

Note: fast switching on blunderbuss pretty much prevents the weapon jams. MY OPINION: that glitch is in place from one programmer who loves the game, while the weapon jam "feature" was added by a programmer who deeply hates POTCO and wants everyone in the world to just stop playing. Weapon jams don't even slow down cheaters; that feature only messes with people playing the game legitimately. Grrrr.

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For my tests (about 50 darkhearts, averaged,) I timed it only for level 34s and 35s. Level 28s and 29s die way too fast.

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Final note on "famed weapon farming" - I've had slightly better success in Tormenta, than I have had at Darkheart. Overall, Remington gives the fewest famed drops, for me.

Originally Posted by Bartholomew Foulsteel

Seige charge: Took me 1:17 to defeat one level 29 Undead Raider Boss. 16 seige charges used.

OK, there are about 100 things you could be doing wrong there. More than 10 seconds for a level 29, using max siege? Oh my. Hitting yourself? Gracious, me! Are you throwing them at your feet, instead of his face?

[Sven Osymthe]

Not to go off topic, but I thought I would comment on one thing.

My "normal" practice for PvP, is to go to Devil's Anvil, Barbossa's grotto. By attacking Jack The Monkey, I can practice *MY* movement of holding down the "Q" and "D" keys. And switching to "A" and "E" keys.

Not sure if it would help, but I find the WASD keys to be much easier when fighting or PvPing. It makes it easier for me to get all of my combos in too, not sure if it would help, just felt like sharing.


Back on topic though, thank you for the information again. If I find any method that helps, i'll be sure to post it.

As of now I've been able to defeat Darkhart (among other bosses) rather quickly. I doubt I've done it as fast as either of you though, as our skills are set completely different.

[benjamin_warmenace]

Awesome advice mates, so I'll offer my own as well.

Darkhart is a 2 hit kill for me. One +5 Siege (notice I before E ecxept after C...), with which I also have +5 long volley, also increasing the damage.... not to mention +5 barrage... strengthening them further, then fast switch to blunderbuss (the siege itself usually does around 10k) and finish him with a +5 Take Aim, +5 Silver Shot from the blunderbuss.

Doesn't get any easier than that.

Just my 2 cents.


*Disclaimer, using the broadsword combo is also a quick way to bring him down , especially if you don't want to go running into the Ammo shop all the time to buy more siege (again, I before E except after C... sorry for the grammar patrol, it's just a pet peeve, hehe).

See ya out there, guys.

[Crazypirate]

Or You could just shoot DH I can do between 9000-18000 damage in one shot with my blunderbuss so 1 shot kill sometimes at the most 2, much quicker than any blade out there.

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Originally Posted by benjamin_warmenace

...(again, I before E except after C... sorry for the grammar patrol, it's just a pet peeve, hehe).

Hehe.. and I believe it's DarkheArt, not Darkhart, mate.

But thanks for the info.

As for siege (YAY! I did it right! err, I mean correctly), please take into account the time you have to spend getting more, as a person using weapons that don't have to be reloaded/replaced get to keep fighting while you are buying more grenades.

Great information all around on this thread--it has certainly become far more user friendly and informational than I ever expected/intended it to be. I really do appreciate your comments on this.

Also, don't forget that Broadswords have an areea of attack that cutlasses don't--the probability to hit even a PVP opponent is amplified with a broadsword because you only need to be NEAR, you do not have to have them targetted.

[Midhav]

No actually Bart, it is Darkhart not Heart. People usually get confused on that fact.

[Isaiah Ropeswine]

Thank you for posting Bart, this helps me out on my lower lvls.

[Bartholomew Foulsteel]

Originally Posted by Midhav

No actually Bart, it is Darkhart not Heart. People usually get confused on that fact.

Well indeed it is! Strike two for me!

[William ORoberts]

Originally Posted by Bartholomew Foulsteel

Well indeed it is! Strike two for me!

I think I've said Darkheart here on the forums a couple times, I'm just so used to saying "heart" ingame for people with speedchat.

[MacIronhawk]

You max out the lead or silver shot and then get a shadow stalker blunder buss or the pirate blunder buss and darkhart is down in around two shots.

I'm able to get three famed weapons a day doing that.(if a bit lucky)