Tempest...wow :(

[Aerendil]

So, having had a long break since enhancements were still in Alpha, I return to find Tempest is sadly very weak, and some of the previously promised abilities have been replaced by, shall we say, less-than-appealing options.

*sigh*

On the plus side, before I whinge, yay for Haste Boost, critical accuracy/damage, Whirling Blades, and Improved Parry. Good stuff there, and a nice boost for Rangers.

On the negative side....ugh. T5 could be so much better if they had the originally promised full STR to offhand attacks, as well as making Growing Storm and Elaborate Parry either last longer or have a reduced CD (or even better, turn Parry into a passive Riposte ability). Would have also loved to see a lightning blades weapon stance in the same manner as Assassin's envenomed blades instead of Bleed Them Out, which wouldn't bleed out a level 1 Kobold :(

So, ahh, for those few pure Ranger Tempests around - what are you spending your points on, since T5 stuff is undesirable. I'm guessing DWS for the sneak attack, Killer and Thrill of the Hunt enhancements?

[Rykka]

I'm not really sure what the point of Elaborate Parry is. Short Duration, Long Cooldown, Doesn't break the dodgecap (AFAICT), and it's an attack that has to hit or it's wasted. I think it's just there to make Evasive Dance more of a punishment for not taking Monk8 or Rogue 10.

[Inoukchuk]

So, having had a long break since enhancements were still in Alpha, I return to find Tempest is sadly very weak, and some of the previously promised abilities have been replaced by, shall we say, less-than-appealing options.

*sigh*

On the plus side, before I whinge, yay for Haste Boost, critical accuracy/damage, Whirling Blades, and Improved Parry. Good stuff there, and a nice boost for Rangers.

On the negative side....ugh. T5 could be so much better if they had the originally promised full STR to offhand attacks, as well as making Growing Storm and Elaborate Parry either last longer or have a reduced CD (or even better, turn Parry into a passive Riposte ability). Would have also loved to see a lightning blades weapon stance in the same manner as Assassin's envenomed blades instead of Bleed Them Out, which wouldn't bleed out a level 1 Kobold :(

So, ahh, for those few pure Ranger Tempests around - what are you spending your points on, since T5 stuff is undesirable. I'm guessing DWS for the sneak attack, Killer and Thrill of the Hunt enhancements?

Well, you nailed it in that there are 20-30pts of really nice stuff in tempest, but the tier5 and capstone are both useless as they are. Are you a pure ranger? If pure, the nice thing is that both AA and (especially) DWS have some very nice stuff to add. I would make DWS your tier 5, pick up head shot, killer, some pos SP, and from AA grab the core imbues and elemental imbues and conjure arrows. If not pure (which is what I recommend) then I would probably take 8-12 levels of fighter for kensei tier 5 or 5 levels of rogue for knife specialization. You could even do both with an 11/5/4 split to get dagger specialization from rogue (5), +4/+4 and haste boost from kensei (4) and 11 ranger levels for +4/+4, G***, IPS, 3rd level spells, spell power pos, manyshot, etc. If you lack the AP to do tier4/tier4/tier5 then lower your fighter levels accordingly and increase ranger for more spells, or drop fighter for paladin 2 for saves (or pal 3 for immunities, immune to magical disease and fear is really very nice). Matter of fact.... that may have to be my next life =)

[Aerendil]

Well, you nailed it in that there are 20-30pts of really nice stuff in tempest, but the tier5 and capstone are both useless as they are. Are you a pure ranger? If pure, the nice thing is that both AA and (especially) DWS have some very nice stuff to add. I would make DWS your tier 5, pick up head shot, killer, some pos SP, and from AA grab the core imbues and elemental imbues and conjure arrows. If not pure (which is what I recommend) then I would probably take 8-12 levels of fighter for kensei tier 5 or 5 levels of rogue for knife specialization. You could even do both with an 11/5/4 split to get dagger specialization from rogue (5), +4/+4 and haste boost from kensei (4) and 11 ranger levels for +4/+4, G***, IPS, 3rd level spells, spell power pos, manyshot, etc. If you lack the AP to do tier4/tier4/tier5 then lower your fighter levels accordingly and increase ranger for more spells, or drop fighter for paladin 2 for saves (or pal 3 for immunities, immune to magical disease and fear is really very nice). Matter of fact.... that may have to be my next life =)

The Ranger is currently sitting at level 18, with level 19 banked. Unsure whether to splash, stay pure and finish it off, or just get to 20 and TR. Or even stay pure but go archer instead. The melee firepower seems quite lacking on this char, and while I know FoTW will save it somewhat, I also know my dps would be twice as strong with FoTW as an AA which saddens me.

[Inoukchuk]

The Ranger is currently sitting at level 18, with level 19 banked. Unsure whether to splash, stay pure and finish it off, or just get to 20 and TR. Or even stay pure but go archer instead. The melee firepower seems quite lacking on this char, and while I know FoTW will save it somewhat, I also know my dps would be twice as strong with FoTW as an AA which saddens me.

Well, the great thing about fury is that it helps melee as much as ranged because overwhelming force is SUPERB! As a ranger you should probably be doing both anyway, using furyshot (mostly in epic moment) on bosses and to clear nasty fights out, using OF to CC mobs and kill them super fast. IMO the last 2 levels would be wasted on a melee ranger (DWS capstone is nice on ranged), so assuming you dumped cha I would take the last 2 as fighter for a little extra oomph from kensei. But TR is a fine idea for a more optimal build =) If you want to TR into something similar but with better damage consider a Ginsu (can be built as 12/6/2 (ftr/rng/mnk), 12/6/2 (ftr/monk/rng) 8/6/6 (ftr/rng/mnk, or if you want more ranger 11/8/1 (rng/ftr/mnk).