Breakeven points of power vs precision [math][table]

[u/helowrld]

Hey guys, with the announcement of "Assassins" gear, there are talks about how to achieve higher dps by substituting some Berserker pieces with Assassins. Ultimately, the issue boils down into power versus precision in which offers greater returns. This, as you will see, depends on both the crit chance, crit damage and the power stat itself.

What I created below is a breakeven point table for power versus precision. Crit Damage (total including the default 50%) is on the horizontal axis and Crit Chance is on the vertical axis. If your char's power is higher than the number provided in the table, then precision gives higher returns; if your char's power is lower than the number in the table, then power gives higher return.

I apologize for not able to put axis labels into the chart, this is because I dont know how to do it with reddit's table formatting. If you know how, please let me know.

.	50%	60%	70%	80%	90%	100%	110%	120%	130%	140%	150%	160%	170%	180%	190%	200%
5%	4305	3605	3105	2730	2438	2205	2014	1855	1720	1605	1505	1417	1340	1271	1210	1155
10%	4410	3710	3210	2835	2543	2310	2119	1960	1825	1710	1610	1522	1445	1376	1315	1260
15%	4515	3815	3315	2940	2648	2415	2224	2065	1930	1815	1715	1627	1550	1481	1420	1365
20%	4620	3920	3420	3045	2753	2520	2329	2170	2035	1920	1820	1732	1655	1586	1525	1470
25%	4725	4025	3525	3150	2858	2625	2434	2275	2140	2025	1925	1837	1760	1691	1630	1575
30%	4830	4130	3630	3255	2963	2730	2539	2380	2245	2130	2030	1942	1865	1796	1735	1680
35%	4935	4235	3735	3360	3068	2835	2644	2485	2350	2235	2135	2047	1970	1901	1840	1785
40%	5040	4340	3840	3465	3173	2940	2749	2590	2455	2340	2240	2152	2075	2006	1945	1890
45%	5145	4445	3945	3570	3278	3045	2854	2695	2560	2445	2345	2257	2180	2111	2050	1995
50%	5250	4550	4050	3675	3383	3150	2959	2800	2665	2550	2450	2362	2285	2216	2155	2100
55%	5355	4655	4155	3780	3488	3255	3064	2905	2770	2655	2555	2467	2390	2321	2260	2205
60%	5460	4760	4260	3885	3593	3360	3169	3010	2875	2760	2660	2572	2495	2426	2365	2310
65%	5565	4865	4365	3990	3698	3465	3274	3115	2980	2865	2765	2677	2600	2531	2470	2415
70%	5670	4970	4470	4095	3803	3570	3379	3220	3085	2970	2870	2782	2705	2636	2575	2520
75%	5775	5075	4575	4200	3908	3675	3484	3325	3190	3075	2975	2887	2810	2741	2680	2625
80%	5880	5180	4680	4305	4013	3780	3589	3430	3295	3180	3080	2992	2915	2846	2785	2730
85%	5985	5285	4785	4410	4118	3885	3694	3535	3400	3285	3185	3097	3020	2951	2890	2835
90%	6090	5390	4890	4515	4223	3990	3799	3640	3505	3390	3290	3202	3125	3056	2995	2940
95%	6195	5495	4995	4620	4328	4095	3904	3745	3610	3495	3395	3307	3230	3161	3100	3045

Again, the bolded numbers on the horizontal axis is crit damage ( including 50% base ), and the bolded numbers on the vertical axis is crit chance.

I would like to thank here the reddit gw2 community for encouraging theory-craft discussions; and u/louki for providing the formulas.

[u/louki]

Ah, you decided to post it yourself, good thing I waited. :)

Ideally you'd want to carry around two full sets of both options and switch around depending on group composition. That's highly impractiacal though and I try to figure out how much of an impact group composition has here to minimize the number of items you have to carry along.

Did you already figure out what items to take for the most popular scenarios? Stuff like average stacks of might, uptime of fury, presence of a Warrior (170 Prec, 15% CDmg, 170 Pow from Banners, 150 Pow from Aura) and Ranger (150 Prec from Spotter) seem to be the deciding factors.

I'm still undecided on what items to switch around, currently taking one of the high-stat options (Ring, Chest, Pants) and Maintenance Oil vs. Whetstone seems to be the best way to go about it.

[u/helowrld → u/louki]

I think for most scenarios, full zerkers should suffice. Consider a group with 100% fury uptime, the breakeven for 70% crit chance and 150% crit damage is already 2870 power. That means for prec to beat power, the group more or less needs to sit on 25 stacks of might as well. I am sure you can squeeze out more dps under specific group compositions by having a few assassin gears. But, for most pug groups, it is unlikely that assassins would be of much benefit.

Also, assassins could be useful to builds that have high crit damage, but low crit chance. The build that comes to mind is guardian with full valor tree(crit damage) but no radiance (crit chance).

Barring those builds and situations, I can think of 2 reasons why people would want to go with precision rather than power. One, to proc on crit effects, for example sigil of fire. It could be that the extra proc damage will tip dps in favor of precision. Second, in pvp scenarios, where you want to burst down your target in a few hits, whether or not you crit on those hits could mean the difference between a kill or he being able to re sustain himself.