I like testing things. I do not like when I need excel sheet to make a choice between +10% Attack Speed and +30% Damage bonus, because you need to account diminishing returns from all your items and feats for proper estimate.
Or you can just, you know, play the game.
Attack speed is admittedly the one vital statistic in the game that is really obscure. From my playing I could only tell that attack speed bonus =/= attack speed bonus.
The most realistic analysis I could find on the net claimed that attack speed bonuses only affect the recovery phase (just like armor speed penalty claims to be only a recovery speed penalty), and that Dex is the one thing that affects speed in all phases. I don't think that this is 100% true because Dex speed bonus is marginal unless boosted to very high levels.
Anyway, attack speed is one thing that you either focus on, you try to keep reasonable (just leave Dex at 10 and maybe don't use heaviest armors) or you deliberately don't give a fuck about (dual wielders can still be very effective with Dex dumped to minimum, or e.g. Barbarians may focus on big splash damage instead of attack speed). Then the question is if you focus on Might OR Perception OR both (on glass cannons). So your choice would depend on your build first of all. And then you could still... test both things.
And about bonuses - Might is multiplicative with PL in Deadfire and that makes it top stat for casters. But trashy for all martials since its additive with weapon enchantments and feats. Extra trashy for rogue thanks to sneak attack. Good luck identifying this without system knowledge, because it is completely contrary to how you expect it to work in RPG.
yeah I can't talk about Deadfire, haven't really been playing it yet.
But yes Pillars is counter intuitive at first. "Ok I want a fast DPS, so I'll max Dex and dual wield" yeah except no, dual wielding is fucking fast at default Dex, still pretty fast with Dex dumped to minimum, and not much faster with max Dex. At the same time you're losing damage per hit compared to two-handed weapons, accuracy compared to a single one-handed weapon, and the defensive bonuses of a shield. IOW, it's mostly a hackjob solution for trying to get more efficiency out of an unfocused build.
So main problem with percents - in most cases you'll get less that stated in description, sometimes to the point of feat being suboptimal, like modal for -5 Acc and +20% Damage that always reduces output of the Rogue when you check the math.
uhm… yeah. So your rogue already does +100% damage per hit on debuffed enemies. Another +20% is not significant unless… two-handed weapons. And even then, you can't kill something deader than dead. Surplus damage is definitely a thing in Pillars. If a -5 accuracy actually noticeably diminishes your damage output, well… If you tend to just barely hit things and now your grazes go up, probably. The Rogue was advertised as a super high accuracy character, but his natural accuracy isn't better than that of a Fighter or Monk. And since a huge Damage Bonus is
guaranteed, you will want to focus on accuracy with the Rogue when it comes to stats and equipment. And in that case, the -5 acc may turn a crit into a hit, big loss in damage.
But most of this stuff is obvious when you think about it, just counter intuitive when you're used to RPG conventions.
And honor mention to Int that nerfs DPS from your own dots by increase in duration.
this is another obscure (but marginal?) thing. I assume you mean DoT effects? "Ticks" happen every 3 seconds… apparently. If it says "does X damage over time for Y seconds" that would mean there are Y/3 ticks, each doing X/(Y/3) damage. Now duration is Y+Y*Int duration bonus (let's call it D), so now there'll be D/3 ticks, each still doing X/(Y/3) damage… I think. Otherwise, damage per tick would be affected by Int instead of (or together with) Might. But damage over time is still damage, not duration. Anyway, pretty marginal, all things considered. Mebbe just don't max Int if you want to go DoT… spell damage in general, actually.
But honestly, why even talk about math with a guy who's best argument is "lolol" and who probably never played POE...
you're right, never heard of this PoE. I thought we were talking Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics