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 is the speed at which projectiles travel in a straight line away from the player. A weapon’s projectile speed is typically listed on this wiki as tiles per second (t/s). If a weapon’s projectile speed is set to 0, then the projectile will remain stationary for its lifetime (see Void Blade). A weapon’s projectile speed is not shown in-game.
Examples:
Projectile lifetime is the amount of time (measured in milliseconds or seconds) that the projectile remains in existence. When a weapon is fired, the projectile fired travels at its designated speed until it has reached the end of its lifetime. Weapons with very fast projectiles tend to have relatively short projectile lifetimes, and vice versa. Like projectile speed, a weapon’s projectile lifetime is not shown in-game.
Examples:
A weapon’s range is the length (measured in tiles) of which any weapon’s projectiles will reach out to. A weapon’s projectile speed and lifetime are both used to determine the exact range of the weapon.
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 = rr = 3.5 tiles
Unlike projectile speed and lifetime, a weapon’s range is shown in-game. For additional clarity, the typical visual length of a tile is 50 pixels (assuming you are playing the game at its normal 800x600 resolution). So a tiered sword’s range can also be measured at 175 pixels.
A projectile’s amplitude is the existence of a sine wave pattern in each projectile. If this value is set to 0 (like it is on most weapons besides staves), 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 with a width dependent on how high the value is set. The width (in tiles) of the sine wave is dependent on how high the amplitude value is set to; it will always be twice that of the amplitude value. 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 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 have a maximum width of one tile.
A projectile’s frequency is the amount of times a projectile is allowed to complete a full sine wave. 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. Tiered staves have a frequency value of 2 cycles, meaning that each projectile will complete two sine waves before disappearing. A projectile will always complete f sine waves before disappearing (f being the amount of cycles that the frequency is set to), regardless of the actual range of the weapon. The value of this attribute is irrelevant to a weapon unless the amplitude value is set to a number above zero. Projectile frequency is not shown in-game.
A weapon that fires wavy shots will fire shots that have an increasing amplitude as the projectile travels farther away from the player. The presence of wavy shots is not shown in-game. The Leaf Bow is an example of a weapon that fires wavy projectiles.
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. The presence of parametric shots is not shown in-game. The Wand of the Bulwark is an example of a weapon that fires parametric projectiles.
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, any weapon that has parametric shots will default to a specific value. Like the presence of parametric shots, a weapon’s magnitude is not shown in-game. The Recurring Terror Spell is the only parametric shot firing equip that has an explicitly defined magnitude (2.0).
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). The Tablet of the King’s Avatar is the only equip that possesses boomerang projectiles.
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.
A weapon’s arc gap is the radial distance (in degrees) at which each projectile is spaced apart. If this value is set to 0, every shot fired by the weapon will fly directly toward the point of aim. High tiered bows have an arc gap of 8 degrees, meaning that each of the three projectiles are spread 8 degrees apart. A wider arc gap allows for a wider area of which enemies will be hit by projectiles, but the true range (the farthest one can stand from an enemy while still landing every shot per use) is also reduced. The aforementioned bows have a range of 7.04 tiles, but the spread of the shots reduces their true range to 3.56 tiles. A weapon’s arc gap is not shown in-game.
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 (tiered staves), then there is no alternation and each shot will always have a consistent sine wave pattern.
The relationship between shot count and amplitude causes an anomaly with certain amplitude-using weapons or abilities that have an even number of projectiles fired per use (such as the Nectar Crossfire). The shot pattern of these weapons will change whenever an odd number of projectiles are fired in between the use of the affected weapons or abilities (by use of another weapon or ability). This affects any weapon with an amplitude. However, it is not noticable unless said weapon also possesses an arc gap and fires an even number of shots.
Many weapons have a rate of fire modifier that cause them to fire faster or slower than tiered weapons depending on what the modifier is set to. The rate of fire modifier is typically shown 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:
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 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. This said, 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.
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. Bows, katanas, and wands typically have piercing projectiles, while daggers, staves, and swords typically do not. 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.
A weapon with this attribute will fire projectiles that do the same amount of damage to any enemy, regardless of the amount of defense the enemy possesses. No weapon type typically possesses this attribute, but all weapon types except bows have at least one weapon capable of armor piercing. 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.
A weapon with this attribute will fire projectiles that are unaffected by certain obstacles that would block other shots. However, there are still certain obstacles that will block projectiles even if they possess this attribute. No weapon type typically possesses this attribute, but many ability types such as shields fire shots that pass through these obstacles. 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.
Most weapons do not provide stat bonuses on their own. However, there are a few exceptions:
Typical equipment is divided into tiers, and weapons are no exception. Weapons of higher tier are more powerful than lower tiers. T13 weapons in particular are soulbound, meaning that 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!