Display MoreAgree with most of your calculations and suggestions except for one fundamental point. You downplay the attack speed of ranged weapons, even minimizing the additional 15% that makes this difference and is the foundation of this combination. Remember that the Scout's DPS includes, among other things, the multiplier of the attack speed of the weapon, and in S/D, it's +15% compared to S/W. If there were runes for the attack speed of ranged weapons, you would see this difference perhaps more clearly.
you're right about the additional 15% in single target damage, which does make S/D better in the bigger picture. But it might not be as significant as you think, and here's why.
Let's imagine you're attempting a 30-second single target sustain at maximum range+warp charge (which is impossible btw to achieve in real situations). If we assume you have a similar, good rotation and manage to land around:
27-30 wind arrows.
23-25 skills with GCD
Both classes deal almost the same damage, and the reason behind this is that S/W has a 26% damage buff that only has a 60-second cooldown and lasts for 30 seconds. However, your autoattacks benefit more from the 15% boost than S/D, as you can potentially land +30 more autoattacks in 30 seconds, contributing to over 60% more damage.
It's true that S/D's joint blow and Wind Arrows deal more damage than S/W, but the difference isn't substantial (3.23% and 1.8% respectively). Plus, you have non-GCD snipe with zero channeling time. Although it's true that when S/W's berserk wears off and if you add another attack speed potion in this sustained phase (like Elven Agility Flask or Strong Stimulant), S/D will likely outperform S/W. However, in ini, hitting skills at maximum range is impractical. Also, during sustained fights, you typically engage more than one single target, where S/W proves to be stronger in these cases.
in nutsell, Scout class (except Scout/Mage) is quite expensive, demanding substantial resources to compete effectively. This is primarily due to the significant impact of its physical damage. In a basic scenario without any damage buffs, each tier of a weapon increases your damage output by roughly 1.7%. However, since damage is not additive, the impact of x% damage buffs increases output damage more significantly as your raw damage (higher weapon tier + raw damage bonus from gear) increases
When you mentioned, 'only M/W seems to be able to outclass me in damage,' considering someone who has dedicated a considerable amount of time exclusively playing as a scout, and their weapon alone costs roughly as much as Mage gear with swapped equipment, it raises concerns about this class being inherently weak. Now, picture the experience of an average player with significantly fewer resources—a Tier 15/14 bow paired with Tier 11/10 gear and no additional cards. It amplifies the struggle and emphasizes the inherent weaknesses of the class
You know ramer talked about the Attack Speed passive, S/D has? And this works for single and aoe DMG. He is not talking about the general scout ranged dmg passive depending on range