Reply To: Neither generalist nor specialist: A "Hybrid" approach to team building

[ManaSeed]

First, I’m not sure if the classification is meaningful. ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ Second, my communication skill is poor. (╯_╰) Third, a discussion is for those who are passionate so first and second point doesn’t matter. (￣︶￣)
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1) pure DPS build ==> deal highest DPS against dummy target.

Everyone has Perfect Focus + Battle Flow + berserk + Melee skill + Ranged skill + Max Fatigue + Woven Tunic. If enemies stand right front of your brothers like dummy target at start of battle, this setup will deal the highest damage possible. Similarly, you can expect this build to yield highest DPS in simple mathematic calculations.

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2) highest DPS build ==> deal highest DPS per round.

I said this before and you more or less agreed. Due to inability for brothers to stand on same tile, some are forced to detour thus can’t reach enemy timely. So you might face situation like this, with 4 DPS brothers it yields a total of 2000 damage in 3 rounds, BUT with 7 DPS brothers it still yields a total of 2000 damage in 3 rounds. Pure DPS build will advise you to go with as many DPS brothers as possible, while highest DPS build will ask you to stop adding DPS brothers when damage per round is maximized.

Also, enemies are not dummy targets, so wearing woven tunic might reduce players’ aggressiveness as they need to wait, keep distance or defend sometimes. This is not merely about psychology, it is also about survivability.

Similarly, there are other factors that prevent pure DPS build (mathematically highest DPS build) from being highest DPS build.

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3) optimal DPS build (aka optimal build) ==> deal DPS where offense and defense has achieved perfect balance

I have no idea about the actual relationship of highest DPS build and optimal DPS build in this game so I MADE UP SOME NUMBERS for illustration purpose. Their difference could be something like this:

Highest DPS build
Offense 10/10 (in terms of damage per round)
Defense 5/10

Optimal DPS build
Offense 9/10 (in terms of damage per round)
Defense 7/10

Highest DPS build might clear a battle faster than optimal DPS build. But an optimal DPS team might defeat a highest DPS team if they fight.
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4) stats maxout DPS build ==> deal DPS where all stats spent yield greatest value (diminishing return on stats is minimized to the least)

Higher stats, higher effect. It’s true. But when your stats are high enough, it will be begin to yield diminishing return. For example, I made up some numbers:

90 melee skill = 74% average hit chance against all enemies = each stat point contributed to melee skill yields 0.8% hit chance
110 melee skill = 80% average hit chance against all enemies = each stat point contributed to melee skill yields 0.7% hit chance

It might happen because there is an upper limit/cap to hit chance. Similarly, this is the same for def stats.

Let’s take a look other stats. Let’s say Initiative. It has less meaning when your Initiative is too high. As long as you’re faster than enemy, it doesn’t matter if you’re a little faster or a lot more faster. But who doesn’t want highest initiative? It eventually come in handy or make a difference when your brother is tired. But stats maxout DPS build will suggest you to spend your stats point on other stuff when your initiative is quite efficient.

I think you can differentiate stats maxout DPS build with pure DPS build and highest DPS build. But you might be wondering the difference between stats maxout DPS build and optimal DPS build. Which isn’t my team optimal when all stats are as efficient as possible? Because you might not be choosing the right stats, using the right people, right weapon & etc.

It is easier to construct the stats maxout DPS build while it is far harder to construct optimal DPS build (probably the hardest build to construct as you need to know almost every single little thing). If you know exactly what to increase, how much to increase, which roles to use, you can turn stats maxout DPS build into optimal DPS build.

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P.S.
I have no idea how to construct optimal DPS build. But I suspect it will involve 9 pages of excel and a lot of charts.