Artificer Rapid Shot Feat

[pmanthony]

Does this make a difference?

I played around with a heavy repeating crossbow and the rapid shot you already get and then added the rapid shot feat.

There seemed to be no discernible difference in the amount of time it took to fire 3 volleys with or without the extra feat.

[ReaperAlexEU]

you get given rapid reload not rapid shot. they do both stack but the difference is hard to notice. studies have been done though to prove rapid shot and rapid reload do stack

so, make sure you now have both feats. if you have doubled up on rapid reload then swap it out for something else

[pmanthony]

If its hard to notice is it really worth it?

[djsonar919]

Yes there is a noticeable difference if you take the rapid shot feat. There is a thread that already measures the difference. If I can remember correctly, it's about a 10% increase to heavy repeaters and a 12% increase to light repeaters. The reload speeds are also visually noticeable.

[Daggertooth]

I had the same issue with my now lvl 20 artificer. As far as I know you get faster at shooting and reloading the higher your level is. I took rapid shot at lvl 18 and I did notice a minor difference. As it turned out I needed that feat slot so I traded it out for something else. I did notice a slight difference in shot speed. I don't think you need it but if you have nothing else to get and you are not trying to do anything extraordinary with your artificer I see no reason in not getting it.

[MartinusWyllt]

By 20 you're probably relying more on spell damage anyway, generally, right?

Not a bad thought to swap that feat out for a metamagic.

[Daggertooth]

I swapped mine out for greater evocation focus. When I hit epics I realized that being a drow and having an intelligence of nearly 40 I was actually able to land quite a few spells. At that point I decided to do everything possible to get the maximum DC (difficulty check) for my spells. So I crafted a greater evocation item, grinded out the Epic Illusionists Garb and 25 Epic tokens to get the +7 Intelligence and and the +1 exceptional (I already had an Epic Treasure Hunter Spyglass with +2 exceptional Int) and then did the tough part which was grinding out the Yugoloth faction to get the alchemical potions (i.e. stacking +2 to int)

At that point it was only logical to trade out Rapid Shot for Greater Evocation Focus. But it all paid off because now my artificer can actually do epics without the need for another arcane. He has a 40'ish DC and can actually keep things under control quite well using some of the highest level Artificer spells. So for all you people who think it is a no brainer to make your artificer a warforge, remember that it is POSSIBLE to actually have an effective array of spells even at the Epic level if you work hard for it (I definitely recommend a Drow)

[voodoogroves]

I swapped mine out for greater evocation focus. When I hit epics I realized that being a drow and having an intelligence of nearly 40 I was actually able to land quite a few spells. At that point I decided to do everything possible to get the maximum DC (difficulty check) for my spells. So I crafted a greater evocation item, grinded out the Epic Illusionists Garb and 25 Epic tokens to get the +7 Intelligence and and the +1 exceptional (I already had an Epic Treasure Hunter Spyglass with +2 exceptional Int) and then did the tough part which was grinding out the Yugoloth faction to get the alchemical potions (i.e. stacking +2 to int)

At that point it was only logical to trade out Rapid Shot for Greater Evocation Focus. But it all paid off because now my artificer can actually do epics without the need for another arcane. He has a 40'ish DC and can actually keep things under control quite well using some of the highest level Artificer spells. So for all you people who think it is a no brainer to make your artificer a warforge, remember that it is POSSIBLE to actually have an effective array of spells even at the Epic level if you work hard for it (I definitely recommend a Drow)

Prismatic Strike and Tac. Detonation?

Don't get me wrong - you don't need much more than a little bit of CC on some epics and plenty have been done without arcanes at all (or divines). What are you casting that is epic capable CC for the epics that need CC?

[Daggertooth]

Prismatic Strike and Tac. Detonation?

Don't get me wrong - you don't need much more than a little bit of CC on some epics and plenty have been done without arcanes at all (or divines). What are you casting that is epic capable CC for the epics that need CC?


Which epics can you do without an arcane or a divine? I'd be interested in seeing that. Tide Turns? Ive done Tide Turns a few times with no arcane or divine. Did Big Top.. pretty much anything without anything too intense I can handle without an arcane as long as I have a few self sufficient melees. The DC seems a bit low for Deeps I did that once didn't land as much stuff so no way in hell I would try to do that w/o an arcane. I havent been out to the desert yet didnt have a problem with VON1 although the arena got a bit hairy pretty much anything where you've potentially got a few spell casters at once or things that are immune ... i.e. the arena in von1 with the ogre magis and the minotaur shamens etc

[voodoogroves]

Many of the D and P epics can be done without a typical party.

For kicks this morning I ran a Snitch and we started w/o a healer - we reformed since I ran out of heal scrolls when Crateos was at 5-10% and the mass cure moderate scrolls weren't fast enough to keep up.

Healer types are more necessary for the bosses. Most of the trash can be CC'd through combat tactics, other means.

[Daggertooth]

Oh well yeah I thought you meant melees doing Epics without a caster OR a divine. Even someone who could heal with scrolls would have a tough time I think :) My artificer can heal with scrolls, CC most stuff (using PS and TD mostly along with BB's), get traps and also put out very good dps using Epic Hellfire and being fully specced in acid with Glorious Obscenity (3000+ common each burst)

I'd like to get Lucid Dreams but 30+ Mindsunder runs and I've never even seen one drop for anyone. And obscenity is actually kind of nice in that it has a bloodstone on there as well with the +6 seeker.

[Mrmorphling]

I was curious how you can achieve 40DC on arti i was planing to make one too.

human:
18 Base
5 Lvl ups
3 ARti int
1 human adapt
1 Litany
7 item
3 except
2 tome
2 yugo (kinda foce you to slot unimpressive except forti items)

42 for a +16 mod (if you are drow and with a +3 tome you can scrounge one more)

so base dc will be: 10+6+16+2(feats)+2(item) = 36 (37 if drow with +3 tome or human +4) What am i missing to reach 40?