Best ranged damage build?

[Kalmah36]

Half Elf 12 Fighter/6 Monk/2 Ranger
Rogue Dilettante
Arcane Archer/Kensai/Dark Monk

4d6 Sneak Attack Damage

Starting Stats:

Str: 16(base)+3(tome)+4(Level ups)=23 Base Str for feat qualification.
Dex: 16(base)+4(tome)+1(Level ups)=21 Base Dex for feat qualification.
Con: 14(base)+3(tome)
Int: 8 (base)+3(tome)
Wis: 16(base)+3(tome)
Cha: 8 (base)+3(tome)

7 Base Feats/7 Fighter Feats/3 Monk Feats/2 epic feats

Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Dodge
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Improved Precise Shot
Manyshot
Toughness
Completionist
Improved Critical Piercing
Weapon Focus
Weapon Specialization
Greater Weapon Focus
Greater Weapon Specialization
Zen Archery
Past Life: Arcane Prodigy
Combat Archery
Overwhelming Critical Piercing

As far as past lives go for extra damage and attack.
I will have 3 Ranger, 3 Monk, 3 Rogue, and 3 Fighter.

Hoping for some heavy ranger damage. I'm curious as to why this build isn't more popular, as far as ranged damage goes. Maybe I'm missing something.

[unbongwah]

Unless they changed it in U14 (haven't checked), you will not have SPs with only 2 rgr lvls (and therefore cannot imbue arrows) and Arcane Prodigy doesn't grant SPs without already having them. Bows require the Ranged feats, not the Piercing ones, and there is no OC:Ranged (unless I missed it). Seems a shame not to have more TWF feats and maybe Stunning Fist, but I suppose technically they're not required. Pretty sure you do not need GWF.

[Malky]

Improved Critical Piercing
[...]
Overwhelming Critical Piercing

Those two do not affect bows, improved crit: ranged is what you'll want, but overwhelming crit: ranged does not exist.

[Kalmah36]

As far as the SP, since I have a past life in sorc and fvs, I will have 40 sp. I can pick the sorc past life to qualify for AA.

[unbongwah]

Did they change how the sorc & FvS PLs work? Because if not, they only provide SPs if you can cast spells, which lvl 2 rgr cannot; same with Arcane Prodigy - i.e., they add SPs to an existing SP pool, but they don't create SPs if you can't cast spells.

In any case, that doesn't change the fact there's no Overwhelming Crit: Ranged, which seems to be the crux of this build. Without it, Cleave & GC are pointless.

[Mavnas]

I'm pretty sure AA requires one of the enhancements that adds SP. So whether or not you have a blue bar, not being able to get one of those stops you.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Did they change how the sorc & FvS PLs work? Because if not, they only provide SPs if you can cast spells, which lvl 2 rgr cannot; same with Arcane Prodigy - i.e., they add SPs to an existing SP pool, but they don't create SPs if you can't cast spells.

In any case, that doesn't change the fact there's no Overwhelming Crit: Ranged, which seems to be the crux of this build. Without it, Cleave & GC are pointless.

Pretty sure it got changed so you now can qualify for AA without a blue bar class. This actually looks like quite a decent split being able to fit in all the melee feats courtesy of the 2 ranger levels (previous 12 fighter/6 monk builds were lacking in feats) but as others have pointed out IC:P/OC:P doesn't affect bows so you're fresh out of luck there.

[grandeibra]

good or decent split

but

My two cents: sneak damage is really overrated on many of the forum ranged builds. Unless you run in groups with many/most rangeds (or actually used ranged vs single mob-bosses even though that dps i gimp), most of your arrows will hit mobs that the casters/melees haven't hit yet so sneak won't count.

[wax_on_wax_off]

good or decent split

but

My two cents: sneak damage is really overrated on many of the forum ranged builds. Unless you run in groups with many/most rangeds (or actually used ranged vs single mob-bosses even though that dps i gimp), most of your arrows will hit mobs that the casters/melees haven't hit yet so sneak won't count.

Plenty of ways to generate SA's on an archer:
(Epic) Bow of Earth ---> Stone Prison gives SA's
Radiance II Bow ---> Blindness gives SA's
Frozen Tunic ---> Freezing Ice gives SA's
Alchemical Earth I Bow ---> Earthgrab/stone prison procs give SA's
Guards of any of a variety of affects ---> get SA's and the foes are on top of you to guarantee you're close enough
Bluff/Diplomacy ---> aggro passing/minimising/turn them around'ing

Just takes some imagination. I'm playing an Acrobat/Archer at the moment and have no issues generating sneak attacks in a variety of quests which is important as this is a majority of my DPS edge compared to other archer builds.

[Vengenance]

Getting ready to start my cleric life on my completionist toon and want to play with making it an AA. I will be taking at least 2 monk levels for the feats and Zen Archery, but other than that not sure of the split. I would like to keep as many cleric levels as possible to make it an adequate healer although that will not be the focus. As soon as I hit 20 it will be TR'd again so while being a decent healer is a nice to have it isn't a must have.

Was thinking 16 cleric, 2 monk, 2 ranger (Bow strength) or even 12 Cleric, 6 Ranger (many shot), 2 monk or 12 Cleric, 6 monk (10K stars), 2 ranger or some combination of those. Would prefer more cleric than less but again this is just a TR so really anything goes.

[krackythehoodedone]

Well technically when you get to 20+ THe Shiradi line will give you SP so you can qualify for AA.

However i believe top ranged DPS is actually a 18/1/1 FB111 Bowbarian. Problem with this build is it is so feat starved it cant afford IPS so this damage is only usable against one opponent which kind of defeats the object IMHO. May as well just get an ESOS.

Gear wise its E Thorn/E Mari/Claw set/TOD. Jury sais AA set is superior to monk because rate of fire increase outweighs the +2

Otherwise some derivative of your build/Helves Angel with 7 past lives will do it or the old Crit Rage Bowbarb which is right up their.

If they bring back the Crit Rage pre later on this year then one of those with 7 PL will be the top dog.

I'm still trying to figure out which tree gives the best ranged output. I'm not 100% convinced its Shiradi as of yet. Some stuff is still not working as intended and exactly what twists are gonna be best is anyones guess atm

[wax_on_wax_off]

Getting ready to start my cleric life on my completionist toon and want to play with making it an AA. I will be taking at least 2 monk levels for the feats and Zen Archery, but other than that not sure of the split. I would like to keep as many cleric levels as possible to make it an adequate healer although that will not be the focus. As soon as I hit 20 it will be TR'd again so while being a decent healer is a nice to have it isn't a must have.

Was thinking 16 cleric, 2 monk, 2 ranger (Bow strength) or even 12 Cleric, 6 Ranger (many shot), 2 monk or 12 Cleric, 6 monk (10K stars), 2 ranger or some combination of those. Would prefer more cleric than less but again this is just a TR so really anything goes.

Look in my sig for 10k stars cleric. The build has some discussion on it in some recent posts.

[wax_on_wax_off]

The problem is there's simply no way yet to compensate for the lost DPS from not having 10K Stars on an archer. The rgr & ftr capstones don't increase ranged atk speed as much as they're supposed to; and even if they did, I'm not sure that's better than a max-WIS monkcher. You could try to go for lots of SAs like my Triple A build; but even then it probably makes more sense to go with something like rogue 13 / monk 6 / arty 1 to get 10K Stars.

Is that WAI though? Could've sworn the devs have said in the past you're not supposed to have SPs without being able to cast spells, even if you have, e.g., the sorc PL. And with so many other bugs in U14, I'd be reluctant to plan a build around something I suspected would be patched out someday...

I'm currently leveling that exact build and having a ball. I went 12 rogue/7 monk though to get Improved Precise Shot at level 15, not optimal at cap but I'll TR anyway. If the blue bar thing turned out to be WAI I'd love to do a 12 rogue/6 monk/2 fighter build and I could even be tempted to try 12 fighter/6 monk/2 ranger.

Regards 10k vs non-10k, I think it's about +50% attack speed that you can reliable add for 1 minute of every 2 minute window. Manyshot makes up 33% of an AA's DPS with boosts (according to a dev post I remember reading). So you have: .33 + (.396 * 2) + .264 = 1.39 increase over a build without 10k stars where the *2 is for a 40 wisdom stat (50 wisdom gives: .33 + (.396 * 2.25) + .264 = 1.485). In contrast a pure kensei fighter has 1.05 (due to 10% capstone giving +5% attack speed).

105%+kensei boosts for kensei vs 148% for a 10k stars archer is no contest really (quite possible to hit 50 wisdom with ED boosts). Even the Kensei III expanded crit range is equalised by Earth Stance III +1 crit multiplier, all that's left is some damage and seeker bonuses (many of which are equalised by ranger 6 boosts, +9 damage vs 2 enemy types, +3 damage vs all others).

[96th_Malice]

I'm pretty sure AA requires one of the enhancements that adds SP. So whether or not you have a blue bar, not being able to get one of those stops you.

Speaking from a person with 18 AA builds of some sort .. you DO in fact need a class in your build that povides spell points.

Having a past life that provides EXTRA spell points does not help at all if you dont in fact have any spell points to sart with ..... thats why they are EXTRA

Good luck with your build

As for damage ..... Old school bow barian was the way to go .... Cant wait to get mine to 25th

[Aerendil]

105%+kensei boosts for kensei vs 148% for a 10k stars archer is no contest really (quite possible to hit 50 wisdom with ED boosts). Even the Kensei III expanded crit range is equalised by Earth Stance III +1 crit multiplier, all that's left is some damage and seeker bonuses (many of which are equalised by ranger 6 boosts, +9 damage vs 2 enemy types, +3 damage vs all others).

Yep.
Earth stance III + half-elf damage boost (+25%) + FotW's adrenaline / unbridled fury would be sick.
I'd imagine you could also twist in SD's shadow strike/shot for a nice adrenaline topped +3[W] shot that's an almost guaranteed crit at 400% damage. With Pinion (2.5[W] base) + deadly (+1[W]) + combat archery (+1[W]) + PBS (+1[W]) and possibly improved martial arts from GMoF (+1.5[W]) if it affects bows).... that's a lot of base damage being multiplied by adrenaline.

[Vargouille]

U14 intentionally changed various abilities and items to provide spell points for non-caster classes. This is by design.


(Now to prepare my Sorcerer for twenty levels of Fighter, for Kensei & Arcane Archer...)

[sephiroth1084]

U14 intentionally changed various abilities and items to provide spell points for non-caster classes. This is by design.


(Now to prepare my Sorcerer for twenty levels of Fighter, for Kensei & Arcane Archer...)

Any chance of seeing some abilities in the next couple updates that allow non-monk archers to compete with Ten Thousand Stars?

I think I'd like to see fighters gain the ability to use tactics feats at range (perhaps limited to point blank range), and for rangers to get some spells that give them some CC abilities, and some AoE damage abilities with ranged weapons, as a starting point.

Could possibly include a fighter-only feat Improved Manyshot that cuts down the timer/increases the duration of Manyshot, and perhaps a ranged spell that mimics Manyshot (or 10K Stars).

[sephiroth1084]

good or decent split

but

My two cents: sneak damage is really overrated on many of the forum ranged builds. Unless you run in groups with many/most rangeds (or actually used ranged vs single mob-bosses even though that dps i gimp), most of your arrows will hit mobs that the casters/melees haven't hit yet so sneak won't count.

You just have to decide when it makes sense to shoot something outside sneak attack range and when it doesn't, and when to hit things that are unaggro'ed.

Well technically when you get to 20+ THe Shiradi line will give you SP so you can qualify for AA.

However i believe top ranged DPS is actually a 18/1/1 FB111 Bowbarian. Problem with this build is it is so feat starved it cant afford IPS so this damage is only usable against one opponent which kind of defeats the object IMHO. May as well just get an ESOS.

Gear wise its E Thorn/E Mari/Claw set/TOD. Jury sais AA set is superior to monk because rate of fire increase outweighs the +2

Otherwise some derivative of your build/Helves Angel with 7 past lives will do it or the old Crit Rage Bowbarb which is right up their.

If they bring back the Crit Rage pre later on this year then one of those with 7 PL will be the top dog.

I'm still trying to figure out which tree gives the best ranged output. I'm not 100% convinced its Shiradi as of yet. Some stuff is still not working as intended and exactly what twists are gonna be best is anyones guess atm

Let's see...
An 18 barbarian/1fighter/1ranger gets essentially 7 heroic feats, 1 fighter bonus feat, Bow Strength, and 2 epic feats for 11 total.

1. Point Blank Shot
2. Bow Strength
3. Rapid Shot
4. Precise Shot
5. Manyshot
6. Improved Critical: Ranged
7. Weapon Focus
8. Improved Precise Shot
9. Power Attack
10. Cleave
11. Combat Archery

What's missing?

[wax_on_wax_off]

Any chance of seeing some abilities in the next couple updates that allow non-monk archers to compete with Ten Thousand Stars?

I think I'd like to see fighters gain the ability to use tactics feats at range (perhaps limited to point blank range), and for rangers to get some spells that give them some CC abilities, and some AoE damage abilities with ranged weapons, as a starting point.

Could possibly include a fighter-only feat Improved Manyshot that cuts down the timer/increases the duration of Manyshot, and perhaps a ranged spell that mimics Manyshot (or 10K Stars).

I could get on board with this.

Ranged Trip/Stunning Blow/Improved Sunder on IPS? Could be devastating.

For your suggested ranger part I'd just adjust the AA PrE to actually give decent spells on arrows rather than just weapon affects (probably both). Flaming arrows = Flaming Burst+Fireball based on your caster level. Rangers win here as their caster level counts towards it and they could also expand Ranger Devotion to affect everything. A final win for Rangers would the mention that I heard that spell power/lore is supposed to affect Shiradi imbues.

[sephiroth1084]

I could get on board with this.

Ranged Trip/Stunning Blow/Improved Sunder on IPS? Could be devastating.

For your suggested ranger part I'd just adjust the AA PrE to actually give decent spells on arrows rather than just weapon affects (probably both). Flaming arrows = Flaming Burst+Fireball based on your caster level. Rangers win here as their caster level counts towards it and they could also expand Ranger Devotion to affect everything. A final win for Rangers would the mention that I heard that spell power/lore is supposed to affect Shiradi imbues.

I'd definitely like to see AA gain some more interesting imbues, though that doesn't necessarily tilt the scales away from 10K Stars builds.