Harper Bard Vs Con Artist / Sellsword

viraaal

Many people ask which is better to use when in a buff group, Harper Bard or Sellsword? Here is a document comparing them and seeing which is better.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vS3iO5GZsvTkQdPUziR4ZPhjKiN5FPsxuGH3xTOjWrLdOyLsrTYPyCn8RQgzlsOGQuXdV-awqMcj0AZ/pub
Thanks to @thefabricant for updating this old guide for mod 12.5.

jojo

Ty for providing this. I have one more questions though. Since the harper bard also buffs hp by 5% afaik, how does this influence aura of courage dmg and op power share?

jappethebread

Well the debuff from sellsword is only for one target at a time isn't it? Of course for bosses it is better but for groups of mobs maybe not.

Is there any advantage for using sellsword over con artist? Is it worth it to grind for +4 gear for the sellsword when I already have bites rings and a greater dod on my TR?

jojo

Sellsword and con artist have the same debuff and it's AoE. Only advantage of sellsword is that it's got 3 offense slots but there are better ring options then neck/belt/swordknot so i'd stay with con artist.

sundance777

Nice, you just saved me 4.something million AD lol. I like the con artist except at the second boss of MSP, he's always standing around getting stoned.

veywiil

I added a link to this work in the Burnadin guide. Thank you for running the numbers, the only thing that wasn't directly covered that I could see is the AoC damage. However I'm guessing the debuff should make up the difference most of the time. Seeing as the HP boost is personal, and AoC damage is calculated on a per ally basis. Not that you were REALLY gaining that much from the personal 10% boost. Fantastic work.

viraaal

I do not know how the additional HP boost will factor into the numbers, however I know its not going drastically change final outcome of the results, that being said I will mention it to @thefabricant and get him to change it for me xD

dupeks

OP's HP converts to shareable power via Oath of Protection class mechanic. That 10% health may be more noticeable as an increase in power share rather than the nudge to OP's AoC (remember, allies calculate AoC hits based on their own HP, not OP's)

But any effort to put math around that requires bringing in more and more assumptions / factors (consistent uptime, power of allies to be buffed, presence of other power sharing classes in party, your own HP and relative portion of power coming from gear vs. oath). Suffice to say it's kind of a mess.

I'd also say that when we're getting towards BiS, it's not all that clear to me that uptime hinging on <50% HP is well approximated by multiplying debuff effectiveness by 50%. Not that I have a better suggestion, but it's something to consider.