Lancer Knightz (Guild)/Swords

These sword measurements are part of the Lancer Knightz data collection project. We also have some handgun data. If you'd like to help us collect such measurements, then please contact the project administrator, Donkeyhaute.

Combos per Minute

This table shows the combos per minute of various swords, at various levels of attack speed increase (ASI). To collect such data, the tester goes to a safe area, such as Moorcroft Manor. He (or she) executes combos for a minute straight against thin air, turning as necessary to avoid obstacles. He records the result in the hidden HTML comments in this table. The test is repeated until it seems to settle on a single answer, which is entered into the table explicitly. However, even this reproducible answer should be regarded as approximate. (For uniformity, all of the current data were collected by Donkeyhaute. But thanks to Squamph and Bopp for preliminary data.)

Some remarks:

• In most cases, each increment of ASI results in a 2%-5% increase in the combos per minute. The geometric mean of the increases is about 3.6%.
• Either Dread Venom Striker reaches a speed cap, or the tester just can't swing fast enough to exploit ASI+6.
• Gran Faust's speed bar is much longer than Divine Avenger's, although it seems no faster in practice. These data support that view that GF is not faster than DA.

We can combine our combos per minute data with damage data from the wiki, to compute the damage per second (DPS) that results for comboing as fast as possible. In detail, we take the ASI+6 data from the table above. We look up the depth-28 damage on the wiki. For swords with no data (e.g., Voltedge), we use the available data from similar swords (Glacius). We total the damage for all of the strokes in the sword's combo. Then we compute

damage per second = damage per combo * combos per minute * minutes per second,

where minutes per second is obviously 1/60. It is worth noting that, because combos per minute are precise to within a few percent only, so is DPS precise to within a few percent only. For example, the difference between 628 (Combuster against constructs) and 607 (Final Flourish against beasts) may not be significant.

Charges per Minute, and Charge Movement Speed

This table shows two kinds of data about sword charges: how fast the user can move while charging, and how many charges per minute (CPM) the sword allows. (All of the current data were collected by Donkeyhaute.)

The Dash and Penalty columns show movement speed data. To collect such data, the tester goes to the train platform on the west side of Moorcroft Manor, with no movement speed increase or decrease. The tester runs from the north end of the platform to the south end three times, with the sword charged. The average of the three times is shown in the Dash column. When not charging a weapon, this dash takes a baseline 6.8 seconds. The Penalty column shows how much longer than baseline the observed dash time is; it's a measure of how much charging the sword slows down the user.

The 0 to +6 columns of the table contain CPM data. To collect such data, the tester goes to a safe area, such as Moorcroft Manor. For each level of charge time reduction (CTR), the tester executes charge attacks for a minute straight against thin air, turning as necessary to avoid obstacles. Each test is repeated until it seems to settle on a single answer for the CPM. However, even then the results should be regarded as approximate. Also, we should note that all tests are carried out with ASI+6, because ASI has a small effect on charge attack speed. For example, Combuster CTR+3 does 16 charges per minute at ASI+0, but 17 charges per minute at ASI+6.

Based on the data so far, each level of CTR increases the charges per minute by an average of 6.4%.

Seconds per Combo

The following data describe the time, in seconds, required to complete a single combo, at various levels of ASI. Unlike the combos-per-minute data above, these data do not include the "cooling down" time that comes at the end of a combo. The data may be useful if, for example, you can kill a monster in a single combo and want to know how long it takes. (These data are being collected by Beast-All-Day.)

Almost-Combos per Minute

An almost-combo is a combo that stops one stroke short. Gunners perform almost-combos frequently, to avoid reloading. Claims have been made that almost-combos lead to high DPS on swords as well. So let's collect data about how many almost-combos per minute (APM) a sword can perform, and what sort of DPS this generates against each monster family. To keep the table manageable, let's study just ASI+6.