Why do ppl take Oak's reward? (40 maximum Life)

So the higher a players total increased % life the better Oak reward is compared to another % node.

But all of my characters are EB + MoM life hybrids so I only pick up roughly +180% life and in each case an 8% node is better than Oak.

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Fluffy_Puppies wrote:

So the higher a players total increased % life the better Oak reward is compared to another % node.

But all of my characters are EB + MoM life hybrids so I only pick up roughly +180% life and in each case an 8% node is better than Oak.

Wait what?

Wouldn't the flat be even more precious to you?

You're EB MoM, meaning you have zero energy shield.

Oak's reward is to supplement those nodes, not replace them. Also, I play with almost all unique items, none of which have base life on gear.

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DorenAlexander wrote:

In ambush, doesn't matter unless you care about dying. The hardcore leagues i always take to +40.

this....

i dont have the luxury to throw my body against vaal countless times i need to make use of every advantage i can have for the fight

and having the boost 40 hp + my life nodes% makes a huge difference lvl 25-28

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Fluffy_Puppies wrote:

So the higher a players total increased % life the better Oak reward is compared to another % node.

But all of my characters are EB + MoM life hybrids so I only pick up roughly +180% life and in each case an 8% node is better than Oak.

It's the opposite. You should be grabbing oak's 40 hp.

40 life loses to 8% node after 192% increased life.

This is my scratch work but I'm pretty sure everything is obvious as far as what stands for what..

y = 1500(x+1)
y = 1460(x+1.08)

1460x + 1576.8 = 1500x + 1500
40x = 76.8
x = 1.92

edit: it's actually even worse if you have a bigger hp pool - if this was done with 1500 and 1540 hp you'd need 200% increased life to begin beating the 40 flat life.

Ok. I've seen enough of people claiming one thing or another without understanding. This is math. This is the equation for life:

Maximum Life = (42 + (Level * 8) + (Strength / 2) + additive modifiers) * (100% + multiplicative modifiers)

Which boils down to two numbers.
1) What your static life bonus is. (From level, strength and additive modifiers)
2) What your percentage life bonus is. (From % life modifiers)

This means at any given point, the +40 or +8% may be better and it matters what your other values are which make it better. Either one is the more optimal choice if your percentage is at a certain value and your static life bonus is at a certain value.

If your static life bonus is 500 base you get the same life bonus out of an 8% life node or 40 life. It doesn't matter if you have 8% life. But if you have 16% increased life or more, you're better off with the +40 life over an 8% node.

If your static life bonus is 1000 base you get more bonus for an 8% life node if your current percent bonus is at 104% extra life or less. After that the +40 life gives you more life.

If your static life bonus is 1500 base you get more bonus for an 8% life node if your current percent bonus is at 200% extra life or less. It's exactly the same at 208% life and once you get more than 208% life the +40 life is worth more life.

If your static life bonus is 2000 base you get more bonus for an 8% life node if your current percent bonus is at 304% extra life or less. At 312% extra life and higher +40 life is worth more.

This means that the larger your base life pool, the less and less effective +40 life is over a percentage bonus. This means the following:

1) The lower level you are (because you have less strength possible and less life from levels), the better the +40 life bonus is. In normal it seems almost always superior.
2) The worse your gear (because it's not giving as much static bonuses), the better the +40 life bonus is. As you optimize with the best gear possible and with the highest life bonuses on them, the less and less that +40 life is, if you have a possible 8% life node to take in it's place.

Looking at the data, combined with the fact that any character can get it for only one point, regardless of where they are on the passive tree, the +40 life is usually the better choice. There are some scenarios where 8% life can be a better choice though, especially if you're optimizing a late game character. It might be good to look into this if you're going against Atziri or Uber Atziri and you have more 8% nodes available to take. For those reasons, most people are correct in taking +40 life.

P.S. How I got these numbers I did basically made a spreadsheet and compared +40 life vs having 8% less % life for the values of 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 base life. I was able to see the breakpoints at which one was better than the other for these values. I could have more different static life points if needed, but in all reality, those are were enough to give a general understanding.

I don't know what to tell everyone except that your (simple) math is wrong.

Here is my example with a decent base life of 1500.

+180% with oak vs +188%:
1540 x 2.8 = 4312
1500 x 2.88 = 4320

+150% with oak vs +158%
1540 x 2.5 = 3850
1500 x 2.58 = 3870

So again the less +% life a player has the worse oak is and the more +% life a player has the better oak is.

I have yet to have a build where I had ready access to so many 8% life nodes that it would have been better to skip the 40 flat life and take an extra % life node. Most successful end-game builds take all the life nodes that are within easy reach, so you take the Oak reward on top of that.

Not to mention that the bonus is really helpful at that stage in the game.

Alright calm down guys lol. My math was actually not wrong at all, it was the conclusion drawn from it. In hindsight I don't know why I said the flat 40 hp gets outscaled.. anyway if anyone's still curious and want a little explanation without drawing pointless graphs and spreadsheets:

y = 1500x+ 1500
y = 1460x+ 1460*1.08

The 1500 in front of the x is called a scaling coefficient for a reason. Bottom line is that 1500 > 1460 and so the 40 base health is better the higher the x (%life) is. The constant on the right doesn't matter except just note that it gives a good head start for the players who picked for the extra passive %life node.

What I don't agree with PsionicKitten is that the 40 base hp falls off when you get higher base hp. He used 2000 base which is.. pretty damn high, you'd probably need a kaoms heart to get that kind of base hp. He is right in the technical sense but realistically if you are using a rare chest, you won't reach 2000 base. And if you do, you're probably stacking hp for a reason, in which case +%life is probably high enough to warrant the 40 base anyway.