I know this has been discussed a number of times already, but I can’t seem to find the answer.
LoD increases damage by 750% per ancient, or 375% per non-ancient legendary, at max level (99). So if you have 12 ancients and 1 non-ancient, the damage decrease is not truly 375%, but it is actually 1/26 (3.8%), correct? So if my non-ancient provides greater than a 3.8% damage increase, I should stick with that?
No, that is not correct. Sure, 375% damage is 3.8% of the maximum effect you can get from the gem, but it’s still 375% effective damage, 3.8% more on a pair of legendary gloves is 3.8% effective damage so it’s still a net loss of 371.2%.
I’m not sure how you came up with that conclusion but that’s incorrect and Dante00 is correct. Although numbers still need adjusting.
The non-ancient item on its own needs compensate (13 x 750% + 100%) / (12 x 750% + 375% + 100%) = 3.96% worth of damage. Remember that lot of damage modfiers are multiplicative. So if the non-ancient item gives more than 3.96% additional damage, it is better option than using ancient.
Using non-ancient item does not mean net loss of 371% of damage. The net loss is 3.96%.
While for damage it is absolutely true, keep in mind you will also lose toughness. Toughness is additive on LoD, which means the more you have, the stronger the buff will be. Going from 0 to 4% damage reduction is an effective 4% damage reduction. Going from 50 to 54% is an effective 8% damage reduction.
That’s some weird fricking math. How can a 3.96% reduction of the gem equate a 3.96% reduction of total damage? I believe you, it’s just odd.
That’s just how maths work.
13 ancients with maxed LoD is about 3.96% more damage than 12 anients and one non-ancient. However if that non-ancient item has for example much higher legendary affix than an ancient alternative, that alone can more than compensate the effective damage loss from the LoD bonus.
Example: an item has a legendary affix with 150-200% range of increased damage to some skill. Non-ancient has 196% value and ancient has 173%. That means the non-ancient is (196% + 100%) / (173% + 100%) = ~8.4% higher effective damage. In this case the non-ancient is clearly better for LoD.
No, not really. Math is wonky in diablo since damage is calculated at multiple levels, and both additive and multiplicative modifiers, and there’s no clear indication on what’s what.
Actually, there’s nothing wonky about it. The calculations are in most cases relatively straightforward.
But you’re right about one thing, it’s not always absolutely clear which modifiers are multiplicative and which additive. However in many cases these are not hard to determine either through experimentation.
i dont have to remind you that if you can do that and get the ancient version anyway, you really should.