Highest damage ranged build advice/ideas?

[wolfy42]

Hi everyone.

I've been playing around with artificer builds lately. The ranged damage you get early on as an artificer (by level 6) is pretty insane compared to any other class/combo right now.

Thing is....after level 6 you don't really gain that much more currently.....which kinda blows.

If mechanics int bonus would stack with arti's int bonus...that would be an obvious choice right away.....sadly it does not currently at least.

I tried bard for the song buffs and CC abilities and that at least has some more long term use then artificer. I find post lvl 10 as an artificer pretty dull leveling up pretty much.

So I'm looking for ideas for as high DPS with ranged attacks as possible end game.

I'm thinking of going with a artificer/ranger next.......which will give me evasion as well.

I'm a bit in the air on the split so far. I know I want at least 11 ranger levels....but i'm not 100% sure where I want to leave my arti levels (at least 6 though).

7 arti levels are nice since it would give me flame turrent etc...and 9 artificer levels would give me the the 15% attack speed from the armor spell.

So I'm sort of looking at 11 ranger/9 artificer for now.

Few problems with that is I wouldn't really get flame turrent unless I go pure artificer initially (already going to take the first 6 as artificer probably) to 9.....and while 15% attack speed is a nice bonus...I'm not sure if it's really worth 3 more artificer levels. I would get a better pet though, an extra bonus feat....and a few other bonuses along the way.

I could also go with a few paladin levels for a nice boost to saves...going with ranger 11/arti 7 (or just 6) and the rest into paldin (2 or 3).

Another option is instead of paladin levels...take 2 fighter levels for the bonus feats. I think the large bonus to saving throws from the paldin levels might be better over all though as the fighter levels won't really add much more damage.

I'm avoiding sneak attack damage btw...as I don't consider it worth it in this case.

Anyway any ideas or advice on optimizing ranged damage would be appreciated. The ranger split would also allow me to use manyshot as well btw...but would not be the focus. Main focus is totally on repeating xbow damage since it can get so high and is very consistent.

[Olath_Senger]

I believe the Helve's Angel is still the highest burst ranged DPS, probably with very respectable sustained DPS and good melee ability.

[wax_on_wax_off]

I would say to go to 12 ranger as Deepwood Sniper II PrE is coming Soon (TM). Well, it was supposed to come out in U11 so maybe U12 (seems unlikely with the schedule) or definitely U13.

The leaves 7 levels for Arti (for damage boost III) and 1 level for ... fighter maybe? Fighter will give you haste boost which is a nice combo with manyshot (which you need to use if you want to maximise your DPS).

[wolfy42]

I would say to go to 12 ranger as Deepwood Sniper II PrE is coming Soon (TM). Well, it was supposed to come out in U11 so maybe U12 (seems unlikely with the schedule) or definitely U13.

The leaves 7 levels for Arti (for damage boost III) and 1 level for ... fighter maybe? Fighter will give you haste boost which is a nice combo with manyshot (which you need to use if you want to maximise your DPS).

Yeah, 7 levels are arti makes alot of sense. It also lets me get flame turret...and crossbow damage II. Main problem I see is just 1 more arti level nabs me a bonus feat at that point...so it's hard not to take 8. I agree that having haste boost from fighter would be nice...but unless I'm taking quick draw as well....I don't think it'll matter that much.

I'm pretty sure there is no deep wood sniper II in up 12....and no clue if it'll be coming out soon after that....but your right...just for the chance of getting it I should probably plan on 12 ranger levels.

So that basically drops the choices down to if I want 6, 7 or 8 artificer levels...and if there is any other class I can add in up to 2 level that will make it worth losing the artificer levels instead. Level 7 and 8 are full AB progression levels so I don't lose a BAB point by taking them, and I get a bonus feat as well at 8....so that minimizes the bonus I'd get from other classes as well.

I'm not 100% sure on this...but I think a damage action boost will increase damage more then a haste boost due to reloading time on repeating xbows...not to mention the use of fusalage. So I'm not sure if there is as much need for haste boosts on this character.

As a side note I'm totally not planning on waiting till level 19 or so to get improved precise shot. I'll probably take the feats early on, and then switch them out when I am about to get them for free.

If I am going to be switching between bows/xbows (to use fusalage and manyshot) I'll probably need quick draw anyway....but still not sure if it's worth getting haste boosts for that.

Level 9 arti really only gives 1 spell...and drops a BAB in the process. The spell is nice though (+15% haste boost)....but it can be gotten through equipment or potions fairly well anyway.

So yeah, I think 8 arti/12 ranger is the way to go. I can focus all my favorite enemies towards late mid to end game content since I won't get them till then anyway.

I'm not sure how much actual extra damage I get for my xbow attacks with this setup though when looking at it objectively. In fact, the bard build still may add more damage over all. You get 2 extra damage from Ram's......and bonus favored enemy damage...but thats it. The deepwood bonuses would need to be fairly large to make it worthwhile. Bards though add 6 damage towards everything (not to mention 5 attack) and have tons of other nice buffs to go along with it (haste, good hope, displacement etc).

I already have a arti/bard though....so thats not really specializing any more in ranged damage......it might be the best setup I can get though now that I'm looking at it a bit more carefully. The only advantage ranger gets is a ton more feats are freed up, and bonus damage vs favored enemies (think it's 9). So vs favored enemies the ranger gets an extra 6 damage...but versus everything else it looses 6.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Yeah, 7 levels are arti makes alot of sense. It also lets me get flame turret...and crossbow damage II. Main problem I see is just 1 more arti level nabs me a bonus feat at that point...so it's hard not to take 8. I agree that having haste boost from fighter would be nice...but unless I'm taking quick draw as well....I don't think it'll matter that much.

I'm pretty sure there is no deep wood sniper II in up 12....and no clue if it'll be coming out soon after that....but your right...just for the chance of getting it I should probably plan on 12 ranger levels.

So that basically drops the choices down to if I want 6, 7 or 8 artificer levels...and if there is any other class I can add in up to 2 level that will make it worth losing the artificer levels instead. Level 7 and 8 are full AB progression levels so I don't lose a BAB point by taking them, and I get a bonus feat as well at 8....so that minimizes the bonus I'd get from other classes as well.

I'm not 100% sure on this...but I think a damage action boost will increase damage more then a haste boost due to reloading time on repeating xbows...not to mention the use of fusalage. So I'm not sure if there is as much need for haste boosts on this character.

As a side note I'm totally not planning on waiting till level 19 or so to get improved precise shot. I'll probably take the feats early on, and then switch them out when I am about to get them for free.

If I am going to be switching between bows/xbows (to use fusalage and manyshot) I'll probably need quick draw anyway....but still not sure if it's worth getting haste boosts for that.

Level 9 arti really only gives 1 spell...and drops a BAB in the process. The spell is nice though (+15% haste boost)....but it can be gotten through equipment or potions fairly well anyway.

So yeah, I think 8 arti/12 ranger is the way to go. I can focus all my favorite enemies towards late mid to end game content since I won't get them till then anyway.

I'm not sure how much actual extra damage I get for my xbow attacks with this setup though when looking at it objectively. In fact, the bard build still may add more damage over all. You get 2 extra damage from Ram's......and bonus favored enemy damage...but thats it. The deepwood bonuses would need to be fairly large to make it worthwhile. Bards though add 6 damage towards everything (not to mention 5 attack) and have tons of other nice buffs to go along with it (haste, good hope, displacement etc).

I already have a arti/bard though....so thats not really specializing any more in ranged damage......it might be the best setup I can get though now that I'm looking at it a bit more carefully. The only advantage ranger gets is a ton more feats are freed up, and bonus damage vs favored enemies (think it's 9). So vs favored enemies the ranger gets an extra 6 damage...but versus everything else it looses 6.

Ranger 12 gives 3 FE's. Say, Evil Outsider, Construct and 1 other (Undead while leveling, Elemental at cap maybe?).

That's +6 base damage against the most important enemies in the game.
Additional +3 from FE damage enhancements.
+2 from Rams Might (which applies to non-FEs as well).
=+11 overall.

Deepwood Sniper I isn't too bad really, it increase Point Blank Shot range by 50% so gives more DPS often from PBS and Sneak Attack in the 30-45 range and increases survivability (as you don't have to be as close to the enemy). Sniper Shot isn't bad as it doesn't have an activation cost and can be useful for procing on-critical affects.

DWSII is definitely set to be in the next PrE release along with NSIII and DAI (was supposed to be U11 maybe but pushed back due to introduction of Artificer).