Mist won’t come close to being the best pvm bow.
- Having 9fpa via 95%ias is a 28% damage loss right there if you’re using multishot, magic arrow or guided arrow. Strafe will see much more use in 2.4 so this DPS loss may be less impactful, but you’re going to be restricted to farming low density areas.
- Attack rating will still be an issue for non-faith setups, and more so if you’re not using faith on your merc. At least with a traditional WF + faith setup, you get AR from the fanaticism that works on all of your bow skills. Whatever AR bonus you get from strafe in 2.4 will be partly negated by the fact that you’re not using faith in any fashion and once again, the AR bonus only applies on strafe
- Because you’re not using faith anywhere and you’re using mist, you are needing your amulet slot to get IAS, which prevents you from using Atma’s. I also see that you’re using reapers to get decrep, but you’ve basically traded away 120% ed from a lower level conviction and a further 288% ed from no fanaticism. You don’t need your merc dealing large amounts of damage… even if his polearm had a 20 yard swinging radius, you’d still be dealing much more damage than him if you’re built correctly
- Mist has more ed than WF… but WF gets half of its damage from +max damage per level, which on its own is the equivalent of almost 400% ed. WF out damages mist by a long shot, and faith out damages WF by a margin as well
- You absolutely can kill stuff in high players count with faith + pride. Mist on the other hand, and especially your setup, I have my doubts
Let’s compare 3 setups:
- Your stated Mist GMB + reapers
- WF + faith merc
- Faith MB + pride merc
1) Your stated Mist GMB + reapers
(note for pure damage comparison’s sake and benefit of doubt, we’ll assume fortitude instead of enigma)
Base weapon damage (bow, other gear, charms… min+max added together)
430 + (40 + 9ring) + 100 = 579
Off-weapon ed (dex, items, auras)
400 + (20 + 20 + 80 + 30strbonus + 300) + (225 + 230) = 1305 → multiplier of 14.05
Attack speed
25 / 9 = 2.78 per second
Physical resistance
-50% (decrepify) → multiplier of 2 assuming 50% default resistance
Final base DPS: 579 * 14.05 * 2.78 * 2 / 2 = 22,615 DPS
Additional notes:
- Highest resists
- Attack rating issues, though partly negated by strafe’s native bonus now
- Decrep has high % decrep, but requires merc to be close, and bonus not as high as amp damage
2) WF + faith merc
Circlet: 120ed/45ias with 30% frw
Base weapon damage (bow, other gear, charms… min+max added together)
613 + (40 + 9ring + 10razortail) + 100 = 772
Off-weapon ed (dex, items, auras)
400 + (20 + 20 + 120 + 300) + 144 = 1004 → multiplier of 11.04
Attack speed
25 / 7 = 3.57 per second
Physical resistance
-100% (amp damage) → multiplier of 3 assuming 50% default resistance
Final base DPS: 772 * 11.04 * 3.57 * 3 / 2 = 45,640 DPS
Additional notes:
- WF socketed with 40/15
- Has some attack rating issues but not as much as mist
- 100% pierce
- Mana leech on bow means can get more stats on rare ring
3) Faith MB + pride merc
Circlet: 75max/15ias with 30% frw (a 36-51 damage circlet would be even better, but jewels are too rare)
Base weapon damage (bow, other gear, charms… min+max added together)
298 + (40 + 9ring + 75) + 100 = 522
Off-weapon ed (dex, items, auras)
400 + (20 + 20 + 300) + (288 + 345 + 230) = 1603 → multiplier of 17.03
Attack speed
25 / 7 = 3.57 per second
Physical resistance
-100% (amp damage) → multiplier of 3 assuming 50% default resistance
Final base DPS: 522 * 17.03 * 3.57 * 3 / 2 = 47,604 DPS
Additional notes:
- Still high strafe skill
- 95% chance to hit without any trouble
- Resists not has high as mist, but can spawn skeletons
- No 100% pierce
- Can keep gface and gores in cube for engaging bosses
Results
- Your stated Mist GMB + reapers → 22,615 DPS
- WF + faith merc → 45,640 DPS
- Faith MB + pride merc → 47,604 DPS
It’s not even close… Mist falls far short of WF and Faith setups. And this doesn’t factor AR as well, which Faith > WF > Mist.
Let me say it again, it’s not even close.