Weapon Attributes

This is a page explaining each attribute of a given weapon. These attributes are listed in the order of which they appear on the weapon editor in Pfiffel’s DPS tool. Many of these attributes may also apply to abilities as well.

Projectile Speed

Projectile speed is the speed at which projectiles travel in a straight line away from the player. Projectile speed is typically given as tiles per second (t/s). If projectile speed is set to 0, then the projectile will remain stationary for its lifetime (see Void Blade). Projectile speed is not shown in-game.
Examples:

  • Tezcacoatl’s Tail has a very high projectile speed (22.5 t/s).
  • The Lumiaire has a very low (but above zero) projectile speed (5 t/s).

Projectile Lifetime

Projectile lifetime is the amount of time (measured in milliseconds or seconds) that the projectile remains in existence. When a projectile is created, it travels at its designated speed until it has reached the end of its lifetime. Weapons with fast projectiles tend to have short projectile lifetimes, and vice versa. Projectile lifetime is not shown in-game.
Examples:

Weapon Range

Range is the maximum distance (typically measured in tiles) that projectiles can travel. A weapon’s projectile speed and lifetime are both used to determine exact projectile range.

Projectile Speed (in t/s) * Projectile Lifetime (in seconds) = Range (in tiles)

For example, a tiered sword has a projectile speed of 10 t/s and a projectile lifetime of 350 ms. If we combine those measurements using the above formula, we get this:

10 t/s * .35 seconds = r
r = 3.5 tiles

Unlike projectile speed and lifetime, a weapon’s range is shown in-game, rounded to two decimal places.

Projectile Amplitude

A projectile’s amplitude is the existence of a sine wave pattern in each projectile. If this value is set to 0, the projectiles will fly straight and true. If the value is set to any number above zero, the shots will adopt a sine wave pattern. The width of the sine wave is double the value of Amplitude. Amplitude will not affect the forward speed of a projectile, and thus will not affect a weapon’s range lengthwise. However, high amplitudes may affect a weapon’s ability to land all shots at certain points within their range (the Staff of Esben and Colossus Sword are notable examples). Projectile amplitude (or the presence thereof) is not shown in-game.

Tiered staves are well known for having sine-wave pattern shots; the amplitude value on these weapons is set to 0.5 tiles, meaning that the staff shots cover a width of one tile.

Projectile Frequency (of Amplitude)

A projectile’s frequency is the amount of times a projectile is allowed to complete a full sine wave. A projectile will always complete f sine waves before disappearing (f being the amount of cycles that frequency is set to), regardless of weapon range. For instance, any weapon with a frequency value of 1 cycle (such as the Doku no Ken) will have projectiles that form the path of a complete sine wave before disappearing. The value of this attribute is irrelevant if amplitude is set to 0. Projectile frequency is not shown in-game.

Wavy Shots Wavy Shots

A weapon that fires wavy shots will fire shots that have an increasing amplitude as the projectile travels farther away from the player. The projectiles have a fixed frequency of ~2.75 cycles, and the increasing amplitude peaks at ~0.4 tiles. The presence of wavy shots is not shown in-game. The Leaf Bow is an example of a weapon that fires wavy projectiles.

Parametric Shots Parametric Shots

A weapon with parametric shots will fire in a fixed figure-eight pattern. The projectile will traverse the entire figure eight before disappearing, regardless of the actual projectile’s lifetime value. Any item with this attribute will have the words “Shots are parametric” in its description. The Wand of the Bulwark is an example of a weapon that fires parametric projectiles.

Magnitude (of Parametric Shots)

A parametric projectile’s magnitude determines the size of the figure-eight pattern it travels in. The value that magnitude is set to determines the range at which parametric shots will reach their “peak” before returning to center. If a magnitude value is not explicitly defined, the default value is 3 tiles. Projectile magnitude is not shown in-game. The Recurring Terror Spell is the only parametric shot firing equip that has an explicitly defined magnitude (2 tiles).

Boomerang Projectiles Boomerang

A weapon with this attribute will fire projectiles that, after being fired forward, return to their point of origin before disappearing. Since the projectile speed and lifetime are retained, this attribute effectively halves the range of the projectiles (a weapon with a 10 t/s projectile and a lifetime of 700 ms would have a range of 3.5 tiles with boomerang projectiles). Any equip that has this attribute will have the words “Shots boomerang” in its description.

Projectile Amount

All weapons will fire at least one projectile for each use; many weapons offer the ability to fire multiple projectiles per use. High tiered bows will fire three projectiles per use. Weapons that fire multiple shots can potentially do more damage than equivalent single-shot weapons, but at the cost of enemy defense affecting the weapons by a factor of how many shots are fired per use. The amount of projectiles fired per use is shown in-game.

One important fact to keep in mind is that each individual shot fired is counted and weapons that fire multiple shots will increase your character’s lifetime shot count by a factor of how many shots the weapon fires. This is important if you wish to maximize your character’s accuracy.

Arc Gap

A weapon’s arc gap is the radial distance (in degrees) at which each projectile is spaced apart. If arc gap is not defined (e.g: Coral Bow), the default value is 11.25 degrees. If this value is set to 0, all shots fired will fly directly toward the point of aim. A wider arc gap allows for a wider area of effect, but the true range (the farthest one can stand from an enemy while still landing every shot per use) is reduced. For example, high tiered bows have an arc gap of 8 degrees, meaning that the two gaps between the three projectiles are at 8 degrees. The spread of the shots reduces their true range to ~3.56 tiles, despite each projectile having a range of 7.04 tiles. A weapon’s arc gap is not shown in-game, nor is true range.

Rate of Fire

Many weapons have a rate of fire modifier that cause them to fire faster or slower than tiered weapons depending on the modifier value. The rate of fire modifier appears in-game as a percentage (normal tiered weapons have a 100% rate of fire). The rate of fire modifier is only shown in-game on weapons that have a rate of fire that isn’t 100%. However, if the player is currently equipped with a weapon that has a non-100% RoF, the RoF will be visible on every weapon usable by the current character, even if it is 100%.
Examples:

  • The Doom Bow has a slow rate of fire (33% modifier).
  • The Thousand Shot has a high rate of fire (200% modifier).

Rate of fire modifiers will affect the persistence of enemy defense, because more shots per second means that defense will moreso affect the DPS of these weapons, and vice versa.

Weapon Damage

Weapon damage is typically listed in-game as a minimum and maximum value. For example, the Archon Sword has a minimum damage value of 210 and a maximum damage value of 255. The highest damage number is never rolled on any weapon, and thus the maximum damage value is one less than the number shown in-game. Likewise, the average damage of each weapon is one-half less than the average of the min-max values would indicate. The numbers shown in-game are before the attack stat modifier comes into play, and are thus only truly accurate for a character that has 25 ATT.

Enemy Piercing Projectiles Piercing

A weapon with this attribute will fire projectiles that pierce through every enemy that they happen to hit within their lifetime. There is no limit as to how many enemies can be hit by a single piercing projectile. Any weapon or ability capable of piercing enemies will have the words “Shots hit multiple targets” in their tooltip. Because any piercing shot can hit more than one target, it is possible to achieve an accuracy greater than 100% using a piercing weapon. However, it’s important to note that any one piercing shot will not hit the same enemy twice.

Armor Piercing Projectiles Armor Piercing

A weapon with this attribute will fire projectiles that do the same amount of damage regardless of enemy defense. Any weapon or ability capable of armor piercing will have “Ignores defense of target” in their tooltip. Oryx’s Greatsword is an example of an armor-piercing weapon.

Projectiles That Ignore Obstacles Passes Cover

A weapon with this attribute will fire projectiles that are unaffected by certain obstacles that would block other shots. However, certain obstacles (walls) will still block these projectiles. Any weapon or ability capable of this will have “Shots pass through obstacles” in their tooltip. The Wand of the Bulwark is an example of a weapon that is capable of firing through these obstacles.

Burst Fire

Weapons with this attribute will only be able to fire a certain number of shots before going on a brief cooldown period, determined by the Burst Count and Burst Delay parameters on the weapon. The cooldown period starts off at a base duration, which will grow shorter with fire rate buffs such as the DEX stat and the Berserk buff. However, each weapon has its own minimum delay between bursts which cannot be lowered any further, determined by the Minimum Burst Delay variable. The S.T.A.F.F is an example of a Burst Fire weapon.

Stat Bonuses

Most weapons do not provide stat bonuses on their own. However, there are a few exceptions:

  • The Staff of Esben provides the wearer with a bonus of 3 Speed.
  • The Thousand Shot provides a bonus of 30 MP but a penalty of 5 Speed.

Tiers

Typical equipment is divided into tiers, and weapons are no exception. Weapons of higher tier are more powerful than lower tiers. T14 weapons in particular are soulbound, and they can not be acquired by trading. Weapons that have unusual attributes are designated as “untiered” (UT). UT weapons, like other UT items, are always soulbound. Weapons that belong to a special themed set are designated “ST.” Most ST items are also soulbound like UTs are, but there are some STs that are not soulbound and can be acquired by trading. Weapons with UT or ST designations may or may not be more practical than a tiered weapon of the same type depending on the situation and the user’s preference. However, many UT and ST weapons can be useful enough to pass for a replacement of a tiered weapon. Go out and experiment with these weapons to see what suits your playstyle best!

Important Note on Amplitude

For any weapon that has an amplitude and an odd number of shots fired per use, each shot will alternate between firing a projectile with a positive (left-right) and negative (right-left) sine wave pattern. If a weapon with amplitude fires an even amount of shots, then there is no alternation and each shot will have a consistent “polarity.”

This fact causes an anomaly involving projectile amplitude. The shot pattern of such weapons will change whenever an odd number of projectiles are fired in between the use of these weapons or abilities (by use of another weapon or ability). Although this theoretically affects every equip with projectile amplitude, it does not affect the usability of a weapon unless it also possesses an arc gap and fires an even number of shots. The Nectar Crossfire is an example of one weapon in which this anomaly causes its shot pattern to change.