SnB versus 2H: The numbers

[Ramasee]

The following thread is to highlight the actual value and benefits of playing as tank career using 2H and SnB. I will be speaking about all 6 tank careers in broad terms and numbers but will highligh specfics here and there. I will then use this data and highlight the differences on the recent patch. Any responses to this thread should be rooted in data-based facts and not anecdotal experience/feelings. Also feel free to correct my data, some of these classes I'm rusty on and I am using the builder for changes I may have missed.

First some pulled numbers from the game:
1H weapons have 56.0 weapon dps.
2H weapons have a 81.2 weapon dps.
The difference is 25.2 weapon dps. Offhand weapons for dual wielding only provide 45% weapon dps and this always matches 2H. Not that any tank can currently dual wield.
Shield block rating is 390. Against targets that have 1000+ main stat, the value of this is slightly above 2.4% block rating as a base.

98% of instant-cast abilities have a weapon dps modifier of 1.5, this means that your weapon adds 1.5x its weapon dps to the damage of your abilities. Nearly all abilities deal 112, 120, 150, 187 base damage and have a 0.3STR modifier for every tank career.

Two-handers
This means that abilities do 37.8 more damage for having a 2H equipped versus SnB if you have the same strength and masteries applied. But wait there are 2H and Shield specific tactics, so we need to account for some of them. The only 2H specific ones I can think of are good at big choppin (BO), daemonclaw/opressingblows (chosen), great weapon mastery (SM), greataxe mastery (IB). So for the maximum dps values, we will assume these tactics are taken and we will go with 1K strength just to maximize even if few would ever choose (or be able?) this route.

So to breakdown for each career, this is the value of 2H in terms of damage per hit increase pre-mitigation, pre-crit.
Knight: 38 (+2.25% for party)
SM: 95 (+70)
IB: 95
Chosen: 104 (value added from crit/str increase requiring two tactics)
BO: 95
BG: 38 (+4.5% for party)

Then we have weapon restricted abilities. SM/BO gain almost nothing beyond additional damage abilities. Ether Dance is a substantial dps increase of about 70.3 (but it does increase burst damage in 5s window by about 500). IBs get a knockdown to replace their...knockdown so that doesn't count. Last I was informed by a tester, GBF doesn't equal a DPS increase due to lack of heavy blow uptime and auto attacks. Chosen gain rending blade, but since they have no procs anymore that this synergizes with, its fairly moot. Blackguard gains crimson death which is a 10% crit bonus (essentially) to enemies attacking the targets you hit. This means BG's CD gives tanks/healers/ranged a 4.5% dps increase, and melee a 9.5% dps increase. Knight brings the AoE wounds debuff while 2h as well as the same 10% crit thing as BG, but value is halved bc SnB knights have access to a 5%.

Shields
Now lets move on to the value of a shield. First personal effective health points. Just like 2H we are going to be looking at maximum value in general. We will start with the 2.5% base block chance and add 20% block to it. 10% from renown and the other 10% from a tactic or ability each tank career has access to. Tanks have 7k - 10k health. 22.5% block chance will increase your effective health points by 2032 to 2903 and that's assuming you have no other forms of mitigation. (Armor, toughness, and resistances would actually increase the value of these EHP increases)

Now lets go onto shield-restricted abilities. Hold the line adds on average 1364EHP to a dps/healer with 5.5K hp per stack. Shield Wall going to ignore for now, but can do if I reallllly need to.
BG - 5s kd instead of 3s.
BO - 20% less physical damage from 1 target (50% uptime).
Chosen - Self 15% damage reduction ability. +1594 to +2277 additional self EHP
SM - +5% self block. +623 to +890 additional self EHP
IB - a ton of self EHP tactics. Oathstone? lol
Knight - +15% parry for more self EHP

Averaged Comparison
So by swapping out your shield for a 2H weapon you are gaining at best 104 dps or 4.5% party dps premitigation, pre-crit for a loss of 2K to 4.5K person EHP and 1.4K party EHP.

This brings me to the recent guard changes since this now is included in the difference. 50% guard mitigation essentially doubles (+100%) the EHP of the guarded target. 25% guard damage increases the EHP of the guarded target by +33%. So in addition to all the above, by switching to 2H you are increasing the amount damage your guarded target takes by +50%.

[Smellybelly]

Reasoning crits you for 1 gazillion dmg, luckily you were guarded by a snb tank so its all good.

[berneke91]

Amazing post and never even once talking about the change that people disagree with. 10/10 I like turtles.

[Luth]

Yeah, totally unrelated.
He even made a tl;dr conclusion:

So by swapping out your shield for a 2H weapon you are gaining at best 104 dps or 4.5% party dps premitigation, pre-crit for a loss of 2K to 4.5K person EHP and 1.4K party EHP.

This brings me to the recent guard changes since this now is included in the difference. 50% guard mitigation essentially doubles (+100%) the EHP of the guarded target. 25% guard damage increases the EHP of the guarded target by +33%. So in addition to all the above, by switching to 2H you are increasing the amount damage your guarded target takes by +50%.

[Feanor]

Reading the OP just made me feel bad for Blackguards.

[Valarion]

All Im seeing from these changes is a lot less guard and more dead healers.

[Smellybelly]

In part due to tanks being demoralised and dont want to login and play (me included).

[Luth]

You must adapt. Adapt.

[Smellybelly]

You must adapt. Adapt.

Not a braindead zombie, sorry

[Wiede]

Would suggest:

focused offense

20% more damage
25% less guard

viewtopic.php?f=95&t=30937

Like Daniel did.

But this doesn't helps SnB in smallscale... So... ideas?