I have the rare gear for Shadow Queen's "Shadow Cowl" ability, which buffs it to 450%/crusaders. However, the mechanics of this kind of confuse me. I get how it works - how if she is next to two crusaders, they each get 225% DPS buff - but when the "doubles when Jason is adjacent" ability comes into play, the math and results don't seem to add up. If I replace a crusader next to her with Jason, then the ability should double to 900%/crusaders, meaning that if the added amount resulting from the doubling (225%, in this case) is greater than the collective buffs the original crusader gave, then the DPSer's damage should go up. For example...

-First chapter (triangle formation)
-DPSer (Merman) in second-from-top slot in back row
-Queen in top-left corner (above DPSer)
-Second crusader to direct right of Queen

In my formation, the second crusader is Montana James. Epic global DPS gear (40%) + "Just in Time" ability (100% for animals) + "Damsel in Distress" (40%) = 180% DPS buff in total.

Jason's only global DPS buff is his epic gear (40%), but putting him in doubles Queen's ability, effectively adding 225% to Merman, meaning overall 265% DPS buff.

If I replace Montana with James, the following occurs...

-180% DPS for +265% DPS

That is a difference of +85% in favor of having Jason, and yet when I do this switch, my DPS goes down.

Additional notes: Other crusaders in the formation during the switch are Veronica, Princess, Bubba, Fright-o-Tron, Mr. Boggins, Littlefoot, and Merci. None of these crusaders' abilities change during the switch. Montana and Jason are both human, so Mr. Boggin's "The New Students" buff does not alter.

Ah, okay. I should have been doing the buffs multiplicative of eachother in the same type, THEN adding the results of each type to a final cumulative total, as opposed to just additive per crusader. Yeah, that would change it quite a bit. So then would there ever be a situation where having Jason in the formation for the doubling effect would actually be better than having another separate crusader with their own individually-multiplicative buffs? Even assuming Queen is affected by her epic gear and the base buff of the ability is 600%, then cut in half to 300%, that is a x4 buff, changed to x7 with Jason. Having Jason would give a x3 difference (which already has reduced effect due to being additive on top of the original x4), as opposed to any crusader with a 10% global ability, 40% epic, and another ability that affects targeted crusaders for at least 100% (or less + an additive buff from another crusader, like robots for Precise Aim), as that adds up to x3.08 non-additive.

I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining. I just want to add my input in hopes that all crusaders have balanced, useful abilities. It would be a real shame if an entire ability slot was rendered useless on an otherwise very useful crusader. Unless the intent of the "doubling" ability is to provide a decent, comparable buff to a full-fledged crusader, but slightly weaker so the formation can benefit from Jason's gold buff so that people who do not easily reach the cap can retain most of their DPS while buffing their gold find. In that case, I would actually be pretty shocked that so much thought went into that single ability.

Simply put: If it is meant as an actual DPS buff to push areas after reaching the level cap, then it needs to be reworked to be a viable option compared to other crusader buffs. Queen is still a great crusader. Just that one ability needs tweaking. If it is meant as a "slight DPS sacrifice for nice gold buff" strat, then it is perfect as-is.

Fair point. Considering my Sal has both self-DPS golden epics and I have the golden epic for "New Students", there's no reason to use any other setup. Guess I've just been using that combo for so long that I entirely forgot that other setups even work if the gear is right lol Whoops. Considering the possibility of a human-based formation, that prospect of using Queen when she is isolated and can only buff Jason is actually pretty terrifying. 1200% with an epic; 1400% with a golden epic. That would EASILY justify having no crusader in the second nearby position.