Below are the results of some of the various tests I have done

REGULAR SERVER SPECS (BOTTED TESTING)

I have been doing a lot of testing lately with various specs, so I figured I'd post my results. For those that will ask: I have +17 to CD and pierce. I used a 98% spirit lgw main hand and a 97% heat lgw offhand. I had full 50nurture druid buffs with +25% buff bonus and a maxxed out SC template with some slight cap increases to dex and str(321str 364dex). I attacked the thrust test dummy so there was no effect from the debuff procs on my lgw's. ALL specs had 30 stealth and 35 recurve.

How I tested. I took 200 swings with each Bumblebee Sting and Squall with each of the 4 specs. This will reflect the style that produced the highest damage for each spec

Formulas:

Mainhand only avg: mainhand base avg + style damage avg + mainhand DA damage avg

Double swing round avg: mainhand only round avg + offhand damage avg + offhand DA damage avg

Double swing %: CD spec X .68 + 25


SPEC 1: 50 Pierce, 27 CD, 21 PF Best Style: Bumblebee Sting CD%=54

Mainhand only avg: 122.6 x 46=5639.6
Double swing avg: 198.2 x 54=10702.8
Total combined damage per 100 rounds: 16342.4
AVERAGE DAMAGE PER ROUND: 163.424

SPEC 2: 34 Pierce, 34 CD, 36 PF Best Style: Squall CD%=59

Mainhand only avg: 123.4 x 41=5059.4
Double swing avg: 206.8 x 59=12201.2
Total combined damage per 100 rounds: 17260.6
AVERAGE DAMAGE PER ROUND: 172.606

SPEC 3: 34 Pierce, 42 CD, 27 PF Best Style: Squall CD%=65

Mainhand only avg: 121.7 x 35=4259.5
Double swing avg: 200.9 x 65=13058.5
Total combined damage per 100 rounds: 17318.0
AVERAGE DAMAGE PER ROUND: 173.18

SPEC 4: 34 Pierce, 20 CD, 46 PF Best Style: Bumblebee Sting CD%=50
Mainhand only avg: 127.9 x 50=6395
Double swing avg: 214.6 x 50=10730
Total combined damage per 100 rounds: 17125.0
AVERAGE DAMAGE PER ROUND: 171.25


So what does this testing show?? I guess it shows that the real determining factors between specs from 27 PF to 46 PF ought to be based on things other than damage output. Seems like one could go really with any of the last three and have very similar damage, so the limiting factor would be how important the styles in each line are to you as well as how much worth you put into the Af buff and speed shouts in the PF line. As a note on the AF at least, at 27 PF I had 727 AF(using +25% buff gear), while at 46 I had 783.

So, the advantage in terms of style utility and overall damage output goes to spec number 3, while the advantage in terms of utility( the ability to outrun/catch people etc) goes to spec 4. Spec two looks to be the comprimise between the two.

Some random info:

the style bonus at 34+17 pierce was 24.5. At 50+17 it was 32.4, a difference of only 7.9 points a swing.

the avg DA at 21 PF was 9.7. At 46 it was 22.6, a difference of 12.9

Thought I should add that in 1200 total swings I had 156 mainhand crits and 45 off hand crits as well as 159 mainhand procs and 72 offhand procs.

This leads to the conclusion that speccing for added style bonus yields less benefit than speccing for a higher DA.

MELEE SPECS (BOTTED)

I was also bored today, so I went back and tested two fotm melee only specs, so I'll post those results too.

SPEC 5: 36PF, 48 CD, 34 Pierce Best Style: Squall CD%=69

Mainhand only average: 127.0 x 31=3937
Double swing average: 206.7 x 69=14262.3
Total combined damage per 100 rounds: 18199.3
AVERAGE DAMAGE PER ROUND: 181.993

SPEC 6: 46PF, 38 CD, 34 Pierce Best Style: Squall CD%=62

Mainhand only average: 131 x 38=4978
Double swing average: 217.1 x 62=13460
Total combined damage per 100 rounds: 18438
AVERAGE DAMAGE PER ROUND: 184.382

CLASSIC SERVER SPECS (NO BOT)

Ok gang, here are results for 4 self buffed only specs with popular PF stopping points. They assume 35Bow and 30 stealth. I used the exact same temp and setup as I did for my buffed testing. The AF numbers are inflated due to +AF items I have, but they are proportional.

As Emeryc asked, I did average damage per minute as well.

SPEC 1: 50Pierce, 27CD, 21PF
SPEC 2: 42CD, 34Pierce, 27PF
SPEC 3: 36PF, 34Pierce, 34CD
SPEC 4: 48PF, 34Pierce, 19CD

Spec 1 Spec 2 Spec 3 Spec 4
Mainhand Only Avg 115.2 114.6 116 121.9
Double Swing Avg 181.4 185 190.9 201.6
Total Combined Avg 151.61 160.36 160.94 160.95
Base Avg 63.8 63.8 64.1 67.8
OH Base Avg 54.4 54.4 54.5 56.5
Style Bonus Avg 37.5 32.6 27.4 25.8
Mainhand DA 13.9 18.2 24.5 28.3
Off Hand DA 11.8 16 20.4 23.2
Double Swing % 54.92 65.12 59.68 49.48




Damage Per Minute 3147.4 3321.8 3525.7 4003.9
Swings Per minute 21 21 22 25
str 198 198 208 217
dex 255 255 270 299
quick 221 221 236 265
af 704 712 727 748

str: 166
dex: 209
quick: 175
AF: 653

Commentary: While 3 of the specs above did damage within 1 point of each other per round, the real difference showed when druid buffs were not in the picture. The last dex/quick buff enabled me to get 4 more swings off per round than the 27 and 21PF specs and 3 more than the 36PF spec. This made Spec 4 outperform the other three specs in terms of damage per minute by over 500 points. Also, the rise in dex increased the average base damage put out because the numbers were consistently higher.

Conclusion: 40 and 48PF should be the stopping points. For optimal Hybrid rangers. I suspect similar results would be found for melee rangers.