Lowbie Warrior with Questions

[Kamden]

Hello folks, i've just restarted the game and have a few questions about my warrior (currently level 32) and his equipment. When I had trouble holding agro without constantly using provoke, I switched to a couple steel etched aged snake whips (12/18 +4 agi/+6MR). Just out of a desire to use something on my char than a whip, I picked up a Long Sword of Ethereal Energy today (16/29 Magic Damage 5, AC 15, -5str/sta, +12 Dex, +10MR). Here are my questions:

1.) Which combo should I use? Right now, it seems like I should use a whip in my main hand and the sword in the off hand just based on always hearing that you should use the better ratio weapon in the main hand. Does bonus damage effect this? With my whip, i'm up to 2 bonus damage and i'm guessing it might be 3 or 4 with the sword (haven't equipped it yet to check).

2.) How does the Magic Damage factor in? Would it basically be a 21/29 weapon or does it just add in at the end like a little mini-nuke?

3.) I've noticed that my SK does more damage with a bash (i'm guessing from having a shield equipped) than my Barbarian Warrior with his slam. Is this due to the shield? If so, is it from the AC and that means if I equip an off hand weap with AC, will my bash damage go up?

4.) From what I understand, the game checks for dual weild/double attack each time you swing with your main hand weapon as long as the off hand is "ready" again. Is this correct? If so, and I end up using the Long Sword of Ethereal Energy in my main hand, would it be better to get a weapon with a slightly higher damage (than the whip) for my off hand as long as the delay is still lower than the Long Sword? (like a steel etched baton)

5.) How should I calculate in haste? I wear silver chitin hand wraps and lately have had a enchanter keeping me hasted. Should haste have the same net effect no matter what you use? It seems like haste would benefit the higher delay weapons more.

Thanks in advance for any help you folks can provide. I've been going nuts trying to decide what to use. Partially, this is just really coming up because my friends and I just can't find anything at the lower levels to stack up against that damn whip...but we're tired of seeing them on my warrior, my wife's warrior, my friend's ranger, etc..... :p

[Yoda]

1. & 2.
main hand : whip > long sword
off hand : long sword > whip

explaination :
please note that breal's formula : Hate_per_Swing = DM + DB * mod1 / mod2
mod1/mod2 = 1.4 for warrior without hate mods (works for 1Her, don't remember if it's the same for 2Her). let's call DBM = DB * mod1 / mod2 for the one hander. (note that at lvl 37 all one-hander have a DB of 4).
DM is the total domage (thus normal domage plus elemental domage plus bane domage).
assuming they will both swing x times each round.
round per minute being Rpm = (1+Haste%) * 600 / DL
we get Swing_Hate_per_minute = x * (DM + DBM) * (1+Haste%) * 600 / DL
x and haste% being equal for each weapon (they are in the same slot and of the same type), we get the ratio between weapon 1 and weapon 2 being : ( (DM1+DBM) * DL2 ) / ( (DM2+DBM) * DL1 )

Numerical result :
Mainhand : Whip/Sword ratio is 1.07 thus whip is better
Offhand : Whip/Sword ratio is 0.92 thus sword is better


3.
I don't think so

4.
wrong. your hands are separated thus there is no link between them to determine the beginning and the end of their own round.

5.
there is no minimum hasted delay of a round thus haste does affect every weapon equally.

[Kamden]

Thanks for the info Yoda...the one thing i'm not understanding is how you end up with different numbers there at the end? It seems like comparing the two would end up the same regardless of hand. (I realize i'm probably just not getting something in the formula)

Edit: Ooh, wait a min...is it that you don't get a damage bonus for the offhand?

Also, would anyone have any suggestions on what would be a good upgrade for the main hand after the whip for about 10k or less? I'm wondering if I could look into doing that or if I should just plan on just sticking with the whip until some of these weapons that scale with level become a little more effective.

[Tempur]

How does the Magic Damage factor in? Would it basically be a 21/29 weapon or does it just add in at the end like a little mini-nuke?
It could be 16/29, 17/29, ... 21/29 depending on how much the magic damage gets resisted.
With my whip, i'm up to 2 bonus damage and i'm guessing it might be 3 or 4 with the sword (haven't equipped it yet to check).
Your damage bonus on one handed weapons doesn't vary between weapons. Two handed weapons have an increasing damage bonus based on delay > 28.
I've noticed that my SK does more damage with a bash (i'm guessing from having a shield equipped) than my Barbarian Warrior with his slam. Is this due to the shield? If so, is it from the AC and that means if I equip an off hand weap with AC, will my bash damage go up?
No, if its not a shield, you can't bash with it. I think pally/SK epic 1.0s were bash enabled, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

IIRC, slam/bash has a fixed delay of 60. Slam has a damage of 5. Bash is based off of shield AC with a cap on the damage. I could be off on the damage of slam or the delay. Its been a while since I have seen the numbers, but you get the general idea.

Edit: As for your weapons, you should be fine for a few more levels and then you may want to start looking at stun proccing weapons. Copper Hammer of Striking, Sword of the Bloodsworn, Reinforced Sandstone-Hilt Sword, Honed Blade of the Ykesha, etc.

[Brabble]

I wouldn't worry about upgrading that whip until the sworn of the bloodsworn/copper hammer of striking are usable. The whip is a very good weapon at your level; in fact the droga weapons do not generate better melee aggro. What they'll do is generate aggro for you through their procs. And, from your late 40s on, procs will be a progressively more important part of the total aggro you generate.
Oh and there's no shame in pounding that provoke key, particularly before you have other endurance-eating discs. I'd try to time it so that the provoke key was always up when new mobs hit your camp (or when you get a successful taunt on a mezzed mob and you're ready to break mez--taunt then provoke is nice). Otherwise, use it as endurance allows.
Not sure what armor you're wearing, but if i had that weapon set up and 10K plat, I'd be thinking of how to save another 10K plat over the next several levels so I could get better haste sometime in your 40s. You're very apt to spend more on haste pre-level 60 than you are on aggro weapons.

[Yoda]

right, get the best haste you can, it will improve your aggro.
Moreover there a complete DB table on lycy up to lvl 65 to help you understand game mechanics (and yes offhand has DB=0).