In Depth Lucky vs Menacing Calculator

[Christmas Pudding]

Lucky vs Menacing calculator that accounts for enemy defense to find the maximum dps you can get from any combination of lucky and menacing accessories. Also comes with a formula on Desmos and a list of common enemies' and bosses' defense. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-pTacoJSK26j1JwR9BINc4Zq-IP-RRk5UVMN0F3DIZ0/edit?usp=sharing

Inspired by this reddit post written by u/SeryuSenga https://www.reddit.com/r/Terraria/comments/4ofed6/lucky_vs_menacing_a_critical_analysis/

[DobbaWon]

Cool, I checked it out, I'd like to criticise it;
1. The count of Luckys and Menacings will change based on your weapon. Not only this but it will change on your modifiers and buffs. All of these things are very variable in Terraria and as such your Luckys and Menacings will change accordingly.
2. It also changes based on Boss. This is massive as not only will you probably rarely fight the boss, but other bosses will need to be taken into account.
3. Very complex, why not just take the damage total after buffs and modifiers instead of breaking it down into base dmg and dmg increase?

Overall I would have found a Legendary/Ruthless Zenith vs Moon Lord Master Mode more practical than the spreadsheet itself. I just stick to all Menacing when I wanna do more damage, Warding when I wanna tank, and Lucky when I'm using fast guns.

[wcc]

I just keep either Lucky or Menacing, whatever I get first. :) There are too many situational/context factors for a practical guideline other than that.

[Smetrix]

I’d say that Lucky is pretty much best to use only for Ranger (personal preference), then just menacing for all other classes (outside of special/fun builds).

[HeraldOfOpera]

Originally posted by Smetrix:

I’d say that Lucky is pretty much best to use only for Ranger (personal preference), then just menacing for all other classes (outside of special/fun builds).

I'm going to assume that this is because there are enough ranged-exclusive critical bonuses that you can get to 100%, so I should warn you about the Sniper Rifle where you'll go over 100% critical rate which has no meaningful effect. So if you plan on being a Vortex Sniper, you might need a bit of Menacing to prevent that.

[Smetrix]

Originally posted by HeraldOfOpera:

Originally posted by Smetrix:

I’d say that Lucky is pretty much best to use only for Ranger (personal preference), then just menacing for all other classes (outside of special/fun builds).

I'm going to assume that this is because there are enough ranged-exclusive critical bonuses that you can get to 100%, so I should warn you about the Sniper Rifle where you'll go over 100% critical rate which has no meaningful effect. So if you plan on being a Vortex Sniper, you might need a bit of Menacing to prevent that.

Given the slow rate of fire, I use the sniper with other weapons anyway, so I’m not too concerned with min/maxing the optimal damage output for it.

[Christmas Pudding]

Originally posted by DobbaWon:

Cool, I checked it out, I'd like to criticise it;
1. The count of Luckys and Menacings will change based on your weapon. Not only this but it will change on your modifiers and buffs. All of these things are very variable in Terraria and as such your Luckys and Menacings will change accordingly.

Your weapon, its modifier, and buffs are all accounted for in the calculator. The 5 columns all represent these variables (crit chance, max accessories, weapon damage, weapon buffs, and enemy defense)

Originally posted by DobbaWon:

2. It also changes based on Boss. This is massive as not only will you probably rarely fight the boss, but other bosses will need to be taken into account.

Again, enemy defense is accounted for so you can change your lucky and menacing set up based on the boss's defense

Originally posted by DobbaWon:

3. Very complex, why not just take the damage total after buffs and modifiers instead of breaking it down into base dmg and dmg increase?

Adding 4% damage to a setup that already buffs damage by 50% will impact it less than if you add 4% damage to a setup that buffs damage by 20% and crit by 30% because of diminishing returns. You have to separate them so the formula can account for it

[Christmas Pudding]

Originally posted by Smetrix:

I’d say that Lucky is pretty much best to use only for Ranger (personal preference), then just menacing for all other classes (outside of special/fun builds).

Due to the high crit chance ranged gear normally gives, Menacing typically gives more dps than Lucky for rangers. Lucky is usually better for Melee and Mage and summons can't even crit without certain whips