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In Lord of the Rings online, weapon speed seems to work more or less on the same principles as AC and AC2, meaning that in a theoretically long fight, auto-attack damage from a fast weapon versus a slow weapon that both have the same exact DPS will be equal.
However, in short fights, the faster weapon always does more reliable and consistent damage and is so better for things like PvP where whiffing one of your big 2H hits can make you lose the damage race in a relatively short fight. A lucky streak with the slower weapon will do more damage but generally for short fights the faster weapon has better odds for doing the most damage within that short time period. It's been proven time and again, even though this fact at first seems counterintuitive.
In Lord of the rings online, what is not entirely clear yet is how armor mitigation works and that has a big effect on whether faster weapons are actually better. Armor mitigation also works like it did in AC2, based on the anecdotal observations from others, meaning that harder-hitting, but slower, weapons ultimately do more damage overall. In AC2, the Defender class learned that the top-tier flurry-type skill didn't do nearly as much burst damage as the top-tier "big hit"-type skill. The reason was that the armor mitigation mechanics subtracted the same exact value from every weapon attack, and faster but smaller attacks had most of their value absorbed by the armor mitigation. The amount mitigated from the big hits was proportionally much smaller, so more damage got through past the mitigation.
So we're about to go our on a limb here and make an educated guess that armor mitigation in Lord of the Rings online probably entails a flat absorption amount rather than a scaling percentage of absorption. If we're right, it means that against high armor targets your auto attack damage will generally be better with a hard-hitting 2H weapon than a faster but equal DPS weapon.
In this game, the lack of understanding is another aspect of the fast vs. slow debate. Currently we've about power regeneration from cumulative group buffs. For the DPS classes, the bonus damage from many of your weapon-based skills is based more on all the extra swings those skills confer and less on the +damage component. For these skills only, a faster weapon can generate more of that "extra swing" DoT in a really long fight. The problem is that using a faster weapon to gain this higher damage output from your "extra swings" will burn out all your power long before the fight is over.
It's not easy to calculate which weapon speed might be better for attack chains comprising most those extra swing style skills due to the power burn-out issues. You should be able to do more damage over the course of a long fight with a faster weapon if your fellowship is somehow generating a ton of extra power regeneration during battle. Though, this is a judgment call and the anecdotal evidence so far points to the slower 2H weapons being superior damage over time in most regards.
However, in short fights, the faster weapon always does more reliable and consistent damage and is so better for things like PvP where whiffing one of your big 2H hits can make you lose the damage race in a relatively short fight. A lucky streak with the slower weapon will do more damage but generally for short fights the faster weapon has better odds for doing the most damage within that short time period. It's been proven time and again, even though this fact at first seems counterintuitive.
In Lord of the rings online, what is not entirely clear yet is how armor mitigation works and that has a big effect on whether faster weapons are actually better. Armor mitigation also works like it did in AC2, based on the anecdotal observations from others, meaning that harder-hitting, but slower, weapons ultimately do more damage overall. In AC2, the Defender class learned that the top-tier flurry-type skill didn't do nearly as much burst damage as the top-tier "big hit"-type skill. The reason was that the armor mitigation mechanics subtracted the same exact value from every weapon attack, and faster but smaller attacks had most of their value absorbed by the armor mitigation. The amount mitigated from the big hits was proportionally much smaller, so more damage got through past the mitigation.
So we're about to go our on a limb here and make an educated guess that armor mitigation in Lord of the Rings online probably entails a flat absorption amount rather than a scaling percentage of absorption. If we're right, it means that against high armor targets your auto attack damage will generally be better with a hard-hitting 2H weapon than a faster but equal DPS weapon.
In this game, the lack of understanding is another aspect of the fast vs. slow debate. Currently we've about power regeneration from cumulative group buffs. For the DPS classes, the bonus damage from many of your weapon-based skills is based more on all the extra swings those skills confer and less on the +damage component. For these skills only, a faster weapon can generate more of that "extra swing" DoT in a really long fight. The problem is that using a faster weapon to gain this higher damage output from your "extra swings" will burn out all your power long before the fight is over.
It's not easy to calculate which weapon speed might be better for attack chains comprising most those extra swing style skills due to the power burn-out issues. You should be able to do more damage over the course of a long fight with a faster weapon if your fellowship is somehow generating a ton of extra power regeneration during battle. Though, this is a judgment call and the anecdotal evidence so far points to the slower 2H weapons being superior damage over time in most regards.
