Zealous

Zealous is a weapon mod that generates 1 energy every time you hit with an attack. It has the drawback of taking a permanent -1 energy regeneration.

“

Energy gain on hit: 1
Energy regeneration -1

— in-game description

Efficiency

A Zealous weapon can generate more energy while fighting than would otherwise be gained from natural regeneration. For example,

• One hit per second builds energy at the equivalent of three pips of regeneration for a net improvement of two pips.
• One hit every 10.5½ seconds is equivalent to 2 pips — a net improvement of one pip.
• The break even point is hitting once every three seconds; this generates 1 pip, the amount lost by equipping a zealous weapon.

Net energy gain per second

The following table shows the net amount of energy gained each second assuming you are hitting as often as possible.

Weapon	Standard attack rate	25% IAS	33% IAS
Scythe (3 foes)	1.714	2.286	2.559
Scythe (2 foes)	1.143	1.524	1.706
Daggers (16 Dagger Mastery)	0.992	1.323	1.481
Axe, Daggers (0 Dagger Mastery), Sword	0.752	1.002	1.123
Spear	0.667	0.889	0.995
Hammer, Scythe (1 foe)	0.571	0.762	0.853
Flat-, Shortbow	0.500	0.667	0.746
Long-, Recurve Bow	0.417	0.556	0.622
Hornbow	0.370	0.494	0.553
Non-zealous weapon †	0.333	0.333	0.333

^† This is the baseline for comparison, i.e. the amount of energy that would be gained without using a zealous weapon.

Upgrade components which provide this bonus

• Axe Haft
• Hammer Haft
• Sword Hilt
• Dagger Tang
• Scythe Snathe
• Bow String
• Spearhead

Notes

• Skills that result in multiple hits from a single attack (such as Barrage or Triple Chop) dramatically increase the benefits of this mod.
• In contrast, conditions and hexes that reduce your rate of attack or chance to hit dramatically reduce the benefit. For example,
  • Zealous bows are often poor choices against moving targets that can dodge or otherwise evade arrows.
  • You can also expect to lose more energy than you gain while Blind or hexed with Blurred Vision.

Bug. Since the Zealous bonus is applied on hit, if you swap to a Zealous weapon from a bonus-on-attack ranged weapon (e.g. Fiery) while a projectile is in flight, you can get both bonuses.