by Seignar Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:45 am
Lightning weapons trade their scaling for pure static AR. In addition, Lightning weapons have split damage types (Lightning and Physical), which means that each individual damage type has to go through a defensive stat, so your weapon is practically being reduced by the enemies defense twice instead of once. Scaling may also be a factor.
"Scaling" refers to AR bonuses your weapon gains based off the level of your STR, DEX, INT and/or FAI stats. Since you're using the Claymore, your old one would have gained extra AR (or Attack/ATK for a more common term) depending on the level of your STR and DEX stat (up to level 40, where its effectiveness drastically lowers). Since you traded it in for a Lightning Claymore, the scaling is removed and the damage is static, on top that your damage is going through 2 defenses.
This is mostly to compensate for the fact that Lightning Weapons have naturally high AR for no investment (they work the same at level 10 than at level 60), so they are only effective against enemies with low defence, otherwise the standard upgrade path is better. In fact, the standard upgrade path is usually considered the best.
