Quote (Perverse @ May 30 2012 06:30am)
First, I never said that you should aim for slower casting--simply that you should not look for speed on a weapon, but on gear. And the 2.0 attack speed I suggested works wonders (A. because it's fast enough to provide versatility, and B. because slow casting Wizards have no chance in Inferno--that attack speed, of course, could be increased, but I'll explain in a second why that is not such a good idea).
After further reading, I've come to realize that you were, in fact, right; and yet, it changes nothing. It only changes the fact that when looking for a weapon, you shouldn't look only for average damage, but also DPS. You should still find it very important for a weapon to have high damage, though; as you always want your spells to pack the biggest punch per hit (since you use them rarely), and still not look for ias on a weapon. What you should look for is anything that provides you with more damage (min, max, int). The reasons are as follows:
Weapon #1: 500-1000 damage, 1.3 attack speed--975 DPS.
Weapon #2: 400-900 damage, 1.5 attack speed--975 DPS.
Your Hydra will deal the same amount of damage per hit, it turns out--but; but your Blizzard and Signature spells are going to suffer--and with enough dps-gear, that difference in damage will be significant. I said before that you have to aim for the most damage per hit, and so you should. Why limit yourself to only Hydra? While it is the primary spell for damage in Inferno for most builds, it isn't the only one.
So, your weapon is slower, but you have, on the other hand (because you can't afford those rares with 25 ias, 200 int, a socket, 100 vit, etc) a weapon that hits hard and provides you with a damage boost from mods that can actually be used for good (the most important one being int, I'm guessing). Now you focus on speed, because as I have explained, you need it nevertheless. You find pieces of armor with ias that add up to approximately 55% and you're golden. You find pieces that add 70 ias? Even better, it seems. Ias isn't a wasted modifier on gear other than weapons.
Now, your Hydra isn't dependent on attack speed, but your DPS. And since attack speed isn't the only way to increase DPS, you still shouldn't worry yourself over AS as much as, let's say, a DH. It is much more effective to have a DPS of 50k with spells hitting hard than to have 50k with spells that hit lightly. Hydra would be doing the same damage, but your other two spells (Blizzard and Piercing Orb) would benefit.
" it changes nothing. It only changes the fact" ahahahaha
semantics, whatever. I'll ignore that.
Anyways, you're right in that aspect. But you're assuming that people can reach the 2.0 "benchmark" without much effort. I'm suggesting that people not disregard IAS for damage. They should primarily hit that benchmark, or something close to where they can kite well enough. Personally, with 12% mspd and 1.74 attack speed, I do fine with kiting.
Regarding Blizzard/Signature spell. Firstly, it's mainly a choice between higher mobility or higher Blizzard/Signature spell per hit damage. I prefer mobility, since I could care less about that damage (it's gonna be high enough already, no need to gimp DPS to make it higher)
Secondly, you're assuming that adding more damage would be the same cost as adding more attack speed. But it should be noted that if you focus damage, there is a point where +100 Damage (sounds pretty damn costly) will not be as effective as +10% attack speed (extremely cheap, under 10k i guarantee it), despite them being equal increases in DPS. Realistically, increasing solely your Damage per Hit will make hydra suffer/aspd suffer. On the flipside, increasing only Attack Speed will make your damage with casted spells suffer, and hydra will suffer again. Balance is key.
I agree, attack speed is definitely not the only way to improve DPS. I never said it was. Attack speed and damage go hand in hand. More of one makes increasing the other better. But when itemizing, don't limit yourself from IAS.
I believe we can come to the conclusion that weaponization should be as follows:
1. Get as much IAS and Movespeed until you are comfortable using your setup to kite. It's usually pretty cheap to get a quick 50% IAS from Rings/Amulet/Glove (15, 15, 15, 13 -ish), so just get that then try out different crappy weapons (they maintain their dps) until you find an attack speed and weapon that you are comfortable with.
2. From there on, just get as much DPS as you can, however you can or want. Naturally, you will probably get a lot of pure damage, since IAS is already hard to come by at this point. So it should work out nicely however you build it and as long as you spend your money wisely.