Hmmm,

I also have a ranger, but I remember quite a different conclusion being
drawn on the ranger mailing list.

the consensus was indeed Yaks if you are trying to dish out damage, however,
many rangers opted for waks for a few reasons:

1) stamina. waks weigh 2.0 and are vitrually no stamina drain.
2) taunts. waks have no proc, so they don't taunt as much.

As a side effect of the lowered taunts, many rangers found that they could
last much longer in a fight than if they were using yaks. In fact, many
rangers with yaks would get eaten for lunch by fire giants or dragons
because they taunted so much, but upon switching to waks, they would often
not only last longer, but sometimes even survive the fight. Finally many
rangers who don't have the mistwalker or the fluxbladed axe choose waks for
the planes since the yak proc is resisted so much and draws undue attention.

Granted though, if you have the HP or the AC to survive the additional taunt
factor, yaks are the way to go.

Draelon

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin L. Crawford [mailto:Lyrnia@...]
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 12:11 PM
To: eqbards@onelist.com
Subject: Re: [eqbards] Waki or Yaki... Was Claw Hype

Sar I dunno about Bards, I've never bothered with Yaks myself ;) But as a
Ranger I can guarantee that a Y'kesha vastly out damages a wakizashi.
Rangers have done a lot of testing of log files, combat durations, solo
fights, what they can and cannot kill with the various weapons etc.

I'm not going to re-hash those discussions here but suffice to say the
Y'kesha, every time, out dammaged the Wakizashi by enough that we all agreed
that we were better off with a Y'kesha over a Wakizashi. The Wakizashi's
dmg output is not significant enough during a fight to out-dmg a y'kesha
once the Y'kesha procs. Remember, Rangers have Dual Wield AND Double
Attack, so they tend to proc more often than us when using them. My Ranger
proc's between 3 and 5 times a fight. So 3*70 or 5*70 additional dmg. Many
rangers average higher (My ranger's dex is horrible (<80)) and I still
regularly proc 5 times a fight. A ranger with 100 dex will *regularly* proc
between 4 and 7 times a fight. Sometimes more.

Ciao! As I said the rangers discussed it. The numbers may be different for
Bards since we don't have Double Attack or the Rangers THAC0 table and thus
hit a LOT less often. But I suspect people will find that the Y'kesha will
still edge the Waki's out in dmg. Though not by nearly as much as it did
for rangers.

Hope this clears up my post ;)

~ L

----- Original Message -----
From: "jay schultze" <sartori69@...>
To: <eqbards@onelist.com>
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: [eqbards] Waki or Yaki... Was Claw Hype

> My prime reason for chucking my yaks is the taunt factor. I am usually on
> larger raids lately where any taunting onto me is usually not a good
thing,
> and best kept to a minimum (i.e., "an ire ghast feels the force of ykesha,
> an ire ghast hits YOU for 120 points of damage! an ire ghast hits YOU for
> 120 points of damage! an ire ghast hi....a_purple_cleric says to the
party,
> "aw geez there goes my mana"...)
>
> Other than that they weigh half as much as a Ykesha, they are no drop (no
> worries of them slipping between the cracks of my hotkeyed inventory
boxes),
> and yes they DO look nice.
>
> As far as damage comparisons: I have to completely disagree with the
notion
> that Yaks will SIGNIFICANTLY outdamage Waks even if you only get 1 proc.
> Waks will generally do more damage OVER TIME. This means little if you are
> fighting short battles. In longer fights (such as against 45+ mobs) the
proc
> vs. wak ratio debate loses steam. When you go to the planes almost all of
> these factors come into play. You are dealing with mobs that have upwards
of
> 12K hp. Most fights are quite long, the majority of Ykesha procs are
> resisted, and the Yaks suck stamina quite nicely in long drawn out fights.
> Of course any bard with his mandolin will twist Jig in as needed in any
> fight. =)
>
> I fully agree that it's personaly preference. Some people live by the
proc,
> others live by the ratio. After having been beat down more than enough
times
> I've decided to shitcan my Yaks that I've owned and loved for 6+ months.
And
> let me tell you, my cleric spends a LOT less mana on me, and can worry
more
> about keeping the real tanks alive in my party.
>
> Sartori D'Elsiraad <Legion>
> 50th Bard of Veeshan
>
> >From: "Kevin L. Crawford" <Lyrnia@...>
> >Reply-To: eqbards@onelist.com
> >To: <eqbards@onelist.com>
> >Subject: [eqbards] Waki or Yaki... Was Claw Hype
> >Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 11:26:26 -0500
> >
> >Agreed, the Claws are far better until 28 when the Staff begins to Proc
;)
> >Once it starts to proc, especially with a good Dex, then you can switch
;)
> >But in the meantime don't neglect your 1h blunt skill!
> >
> >As to the point about the Wak or Yak...
> >
> >A LOT of discussion went into these on the Ranger's boards. If you
aren't
> >worried about the Taunt of the YAK then that is definitely the way to go.
> >Even though it has a lower dmg curve the Proc causes the Yak to out-dmg
> >(rather significantly) the Wak, even if it only proc's once during a
fight.
> >However, the dmg loss isn't significant to outweigh the greatly reduced
> >taunt factor if that is a major concern for you.
> >
> >A lot of bards opt for the Wakizashi because:
> >a) Taunts less
> >b) Looks nicer
> >
> >It's really a personal choice. I almost never use weapons myself so I'm
> >not
> >that concerned ;)
> >
> >Lyrnia Jongleur
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> PERFORM CPR ON YOUR APR!
> Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! Get rates as low as
> 0.0% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees.
> Apply NOW!
> http://click.egroups.com/1/2121/7/_/451022/_/954521242/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Please send submissions for the eqbards newsletter to lol@...
with the subject submissions.
>
>

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds!
1. Fill in the brief application
2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds
3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR
Apply NOW!
http://click.egroups.com/1/2646/7/_/451022/_/954522632/
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please send submissions for the eqbards newsletter to lol@...
with the subject submissions.