Is 120 worth it?

I'm Gm (100) in swords with all other skills in that tree at 80. At 100 its +50% Damage , at 120 it will be +75%. I guess the real question is, what does +50% Damage mean, 50% of what? Is taking it to 75 worth the 5-7 mill esp points? What do you guys think is a better bang for the buck, taking it to 120 of spending it on dex/str? Thanks for the opinions

 

I believe the +50% refers to the your weapons base damage

 

Going beyond GM will just be pushing the boundary. However, while there is still the increase in the effectiveness, it is not as significant as going from 0 to 60. I would focus on other skills that you need before going past 100 on one specific skill.

For melee skills, it is always good to push forward, though. Not so much with spell tress (focus increase vs effectiveness is bad).

 

If you have the xp then there is no reason to not do it. I used to take my bludge up to 110. There seems to be 2 focus's at higher levels, maximizing GM's which most people do or keep your GM's to your core build and go above GM. Im still not really at that point myself because Im working on GM passives. I use obsidian arrow and my bonus is +50% damage with my wands and I usually can get 3 stacks while killing stuff easy so you bet Im taking that bad boy up as high as I can go. The flip side is how often you die and lose xp. I really never die so I dont feel limited yet by continuing to raise skills at adv lvl 92.

 

Higher melee skill increases your hit chance, too

 

Are you sure of that? I thought it just increased base damage and dex controlled chance to hit.

 

Dex and skill level both control hit chance.

Switch to a weapon you have no skill in and you can see the difference

When you use a skill it uses both your primary weapon skill and the used active skill in your hit chance. So if your blades is 120 but thrust is 80, when you use thrust itll have more of a chance to hit than just 80/80, but less of a chance to hit than your auto/free attack

 

I don't know, I only have blade at 40 I think but high Dexterity. Last time I tried blades I wasnt missing very much at all. I could be wrong tho!

 

Jamist. I took swords from 100 to 110 and noticed the difference in how mobs dropped much faster. It did not take that long to raise either (two days). Just locked the other stuff I was training and kept about 350k exp on the bar while doing it at Crag Foothills. Definitely train up the earth tree especially the passives for strenght/damage resistance. Greet the mob with an obsidian arrow, body slam, sneak attack and thrust, Goodnight Mob in most cases. R/Boris/El Pirata

 

Excellent advise and thanks to all. I think Ill stop at 110 and work str and dex to complement. Another question though is it worth taking any of the 80's to 100? Being that is will cost roughly 1 mill to go from 80 to 100, would that make a 110/100 swing significantly more powerful then a 110/80? Lets break down the numbers, shall we. Math is fun!!

 

Each three points of STR = +1% damage.

Each point in blades base skill gives ~ +.645% (or +.3225% if using a glyph).

Definitely worth it to raise blades base skill above 100 (I have mine highish).

Same goes for thrust and double slash as they're cheap (comparatively) too as a 120/100 swing is quite a bit more powerful than a 120/80. Others skills it would be worth GMing are whirling blades for AOE, rend for DOTs, coup de grace for bosses, defensive stance, and glancing blow, vital points.

Getting a GM enchanted sword that gives +16% damage on some glyphs is also very, very, very handy. Check out my vendors in Aerie and New Britannia Market for some.

 

This is an excellent read, thanks!

Great question @Jamist
~Time Lord~

 

@Sara Dreygon That's some great data, I'm a GM Smith, so the weapon is easy. Ok, 120 and 100 for the rest in that tree.

 

Jamist, please do follow Sara Dreygon's advice. She is my mentor and due to her advice I continued on the blades path. Her equipment is top notch and for your needs her swords and armor are top notch. R/Boris/El Pirata

 

You gotta put that xp into something, and base blade skill is very point efficient and versatile compared to most things, as well as having no down side like increased focus cost. I did it and don't regret it.

 

I was wondering the same type of questions for Archery. Very good info.
Has me re-thinking my skill set and how best to maximize.

Im a 120 Archer and locked until i had more information regarding "value to pool" ratio.
And accompanying skills to best server a pure as possible archer.

Great Info....

 

Don't worry about riposte... not good.

For Coup de Grace and Blade Mastery, 90 works. For blade speed, this only affects free attack charge rate and auto attack speed. Most of my damage comes from glyphs so this one is fine at 80 as it is very expensive.

Body slam is also badass... forgot to mention to GM that .