First off, this is for PvE only.

I am currently sitting (fully buffed as I always run in PvE) at:

2134 Aim

837-1066 Primary

500 Power

104.1% Accuracy

35.5% Crit

70.15% Surge,

Arsenal Spec

 

I will be gaining 10 augment slots come 1.3 so the question is: With the diminishing returns that i will be hitting with aim, would it be better to apply aim or power augments?

Edited June 16, 2012 by Daemonson

You've got enough crit, so you don't need Aim. Stack power.

Probably power.

 

Is that 104% ranged accuracy? So 114% tech? That's a lot, think about trading off some of that for surge to get 75% surge.

 

Your crit is low IMO, but since 1.3 crits won't vent heat, so it won't matter any more I guess.

Edited June 16, 2012 by Sinsavz

Power should only be considered for enhancements. Main stat gets bonus from skill tree and mark of power inquisitor buff. The overall bonus compensates for what power gives you.

Power should only be considered for enhancements. Main stat gets bonus from skill tree and mark of power inquisitor buff. The overall bonus compensates for what power gives you.

 

This right here.

 

You get +% Aim due to talents. Grabbing Aim augments is your best bet.

Hmm... I've been wondering about this for a while. My logic seems to say that +power is still worthwhile, but maybe I don't understand the formulas. Here's my reasoning:

 

I have currently 1919 aim which amounts to 383.7 bonus damage. I also have 409 power which gives 94.1 bonus damage. So basically 1 point aim = .1999 bonus damage, 1 point power = .2301 bonus damage

 

We get 9% bonus to aim, plus 5% bonus from Sorc buff. But we also get 5% bonus to power from warrior buff. So really 1 point aim = 1.14 points and 1 point power = 1.05 points. So that brings us to 1 point aim = .2279 bonus damage and 1 point power = .2416 bonus damage

 

Not sure if I've implemented the buffs correctly or if the relation between power/aim and bonus damage is linear.

Ok, so my calculations were wrong, but what I have now is still showing +power slightly ahead in terms of Bonus damage, although maybe the +crit from Aim makes up for it. In case anyone wants convinced here's the model roughly speaking.

 

Bonus damage = (Aim*1.2+Cun*1.2+TechPow*1.23+Pow*.123) * 1.05 (for warrior buff)

For my current setup (confirmed by ingame stats and by the model):

Bonus damage = 836.64

For + 1 point of Aim we get 836.8835

For +1 point of Pow we get 836.8858

 

So the bonus damage for 1 Aim is .2393 and for 1 Pow is .2416. Basically you're losing .0509 damage per hit (not counting crits) for every augment slot you take +aim instead of +power.

Edited June 17, 2012 by lawphill
Calculation was incorrect

Ok, so my calculations were wrong, but what I have now is still showing +power slightly ahead in terms of Bonus damage, although maybe the +crit from Aim makes up for it. In case anyone wants convinced here's the model roughly speaking.

 

Bonus damage = (Aim*1.2+Cun*1.2+TechPow*1.23+Pow*.123) * 1.05 (for warrior buff)

For my current setup (confirmed by ingame stats and by the model):

Bonus damage = 836.64

For + 1 point of Aim we get 836.8835

For +1 point of Pow we get 836.8858

 

So the bonus damage for 1 Aim is .2393 and for 1 Pow is .2416. Basically you're losing .0509 damage per hit (not counting crits) for every augment slot you take +aim instead of +power.

 

Thanks for this. What I am really concerned with especially with this calculations is the diminishing returns that i will hit since i have over 2100 aim. The 180 aim that I would gain would likely be diminished to only 130-140 Aim while I would gain 180 unmodified power. Since the rest of my stats are fine, especially concerning 1.3, I am thinking that it would be better dps wise to get the power augments.

 

Thanks for the input.

You should have a look at this thread which is still up to date.

Aim has no DR, only the Crit addition has, and should be the way to go in most cases.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=427724&page=2

There are no diminishing returns to Aim, other than the crit you gain after a certain point.

 

You have to keep in mind that you get a 14% increase to your Aim with buffs and Talents, so augmenting Aim is what you NEED to do. If you augment Power as a DPS Merc, you are merely doing it wrong.

This math was done a ways back but I can't seem to find it anymore. I do recall through that the conclusion was that Aim > Power up until around 2100 aim, then Power becomes stronger. The difference is incredibly small between the two at that point so if you want to stack power or aim here is really up for grabs.

This math was done a ways back but I can't seem to find it anymore. I do recall through that the conclusion was that Aim > Power up until around 2100 aim, then Power becomes stronger. The difference is incredibly small between the two at that point so if you want to stack power or aim here is really up for grabs.

 

The difference is incredibly small without the Talents being used. However, including Talents makes Aim superior. The Bonus Damage gained with Aim has no DR, the only DR involved is the crit you gain from Aim.

 

HOWEVER, You essentially need 2100 aim UNBUFFED for your Crit on Aim to start experiencing a DR, that is because you do not go into a DR when you include the buffs, since those aren't 'real stats on gear' that you have. Its just stats given by another class. That still doesn't change that Aim is > Power when including talents.

But we also get 5% bonus to power from warrior buff.

 

The Warrior buff improves Bonus Damage, it improves both Aim and Power (and Cunning and Tech Power).

 

 

Aerro is right as usual.

 

Except for this bit...

HOWEVER, You essentially need 2100 aim UNBUFFED for your Crit on Aim to start experiencing a DR, that is because you do not go into a DR when you include the buffs, since those aren't 'real stats on gear' that you have. Its just stats given by another class.

 

...but his main point that Aim > Power is correct.

 

Here's the two types of Augment side by side (assuming you can aug every slot):

14 x Aim augs with group buffs = 57.5 damage bonus and 0.93% crit (depends on your starting Aim score)

14 x Aim augs without group buffs = 54.9 damage bonus and 0.91% crit (depends on your starting Aim score)

14 x Power augs = 58 damage bonus.

Edited June 19, 2012 by acnoj

Blah I knew I spouted something incorrect there but I wasn't sure. Maybe I shouldn't try to do things productive with less than 3 hours of sleep

 

Thanks for the extra bit of information!

I hope you guys are right! I am aug-ing all my gear with +aim today

im going with aim, because without frequent crits your damage is going to be weak, no matter how much power you stack. aim adds to both power and crit, so seems like a no brainer

I hope you guys are right! I am aug-ing all my gear with +aim today

 

Don't worry, I have stacked all +Aim augments. Currently over 2400 aim with buffs. I noticed that adding all of the augments with Aim gave me an additional 1% crit that allows me to redistribute mods even more.

FYI i did some broad testing over primary stat vs power and found that the point at which power becomes more valuable than the primary stat is between 15,000 primary and 30,000 primary. This was for operatives, but the test stands for mercs as well.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=4775853&postcount=5

 

Only if you disregard the crit from aim is power more valuable. The difference is tiny at .002. But when you factor in the crit it takes a LOT of aim to hit enough DR for the benefit to be smaller than that. On my testing for mercs in basic campaign gear that happens at broadly around 23,000 AIM, well beyond what we can reach in game.

 

I've often heard people say seemingly arbitrary numbers like 2100, 1700 etc. Is there actually any evidence for those numbers? Because my testing shows aim to be worth about 10% more than power down at those achievable levels.

The short answer is to take aim everywhere you can get it.

The short answer is to take aim everywhere you can get it.

 

That's not entirely true, in some cases you can give up 11 Aim for 29 Power. 29 Power is way better.

http://www.torhead.com/item/1EJA6Ku/black-hole-boltblasters-mk-2-bracers

http://www.torhead.com/item/9sYXmUk/campaign-bodyguards-bracers

Aim>Power>Crit

 

Accuracy till cap, which is stupid easy to reach.

 

 

It would be nice to have weights assigned to each stat.

Edited July 3, 2012 by Kourage

Your stat weights are going to change based on your current itemization.

 

That's not entirely true, in some cases you can give up 11 Aim for 29 Power. 29 Power is way better.

 

True, but that's a less-short answer, isn't it?

I wrote post on a blog for people who want proof which stats is better. Here is link :

http://gameshelperonline.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-is-better-aim-or-power-in-swtor.html.