Dubbell O'Seven - casting/ranged focused artificer

[CThruTheEgo]

1) Take Mithril body and use the Shadow Striker docent - for the 20% Ranged speed. I know this caps dodge, and maybe there's an item that gives you this already? And maybe dodge is a lot more important?

I don't have a ranged alacrity item slotted, but armor of speed grants 15% alacrity. For balance, I'd take the 5% loss to alacrity for 10+ more dodge. But you're suggestion is certainly an option.

2) I bought some complete TF handwraps a while back on the shard AH, it had mortal fear and 2 of the gem slots with the AOE gems. I crafted it, and gave it to the iron defender, since I couldn't use it anyway (I put a +8 str augment in the colorless spot). Is there a downside to this that I might be missing, I'm not sure exactly how the pet's attack work - and they don't attack the boat dummy very well.

3) I created the Shadow Guardian DR 30/Epic DR 60/Epic while below 75% health docent for my pet. And put on false life or maybe +8 dex, +8 con. Is there a downside to this? I also put 2 points into the pet harper line, and took out the +5 hp one.

I haven't looked into upgrading the dog yet, but a Thunder-Forged collar and Shadowscale docent are probably the new optimal setup. The options you have sound solid. I'll probably do something similar when I get around to it.

Glad you are enjoying the build.

[CThruTheEgo]

I took Dubbell out last night for the first time in a long time to get him flagged for the new raid and it was an eye opening experience. The build is in need of some serious increase in defenses. I was taking some pretty heavy hits so I gave some thought to unbongwah's suggestion to take adamantine body. It would provide me with an extra 61 PRR for the cost of a feat and a loss of 12 dodge. My dodge wasn't near cap without a body feat anyway, and I think the decrease in spike damage will more than make up for the lower damage avoidance. I will also take elusive target for the level 28 feat to boost avoidance.

Adamantine body means that shadowdancer for evasion is no longer an option. I'm OK with this since I hardly ever ran in shadowdancer anyway. Plus, the added PRR and MRR from using heavy armor will (mostly) offset the loss of evasion when dealing with things that are evadable.

Arcane spell failure on adamantine body is reduced to 0 with battle engineer cores and a blue augment, so this is not a concern.

The OP has been updated with these changes. Now to go LR...

And just a friendly reminder to anyone planning an LR on their arti (or druid). Don't forget to unequip your pet's gear BEFORE LRing. It will disappear if you don't.

[Kick]

I took Dubbell out last night for the first time in a long time to get him flagged for the new raid and it was an eye opening experience. The build is in need of some serious increase in defenses. I was taking some pretty heavy hits so I gave some thought to unbongwah's suggestion to take adamantine body. It would provide me with an extra 61 PRR for the cost of a feat and a loss of 12 dodge. My dodge wasn't near cap without a body feat anyway, and I think the decrease in spike damage will more than make up for the lower damage avoidance. I will also take elusive target for the level 28 feat to boost avoidance.

Adamantine body means that shadowdancer for evasion is no longer an option. I'm OK with this since I hardly ever ran in shadowdancer anyway. Plus, the added PRR and MRR from using heavy armor will (mostly) offset the loss of evasion when dealing with things that are evadable.

Arcane spell failure on adamantine body is reduced to 0 with battle engineer cores and a blue augment, so this is not a concern.

The OP has been updated with these changes. Now to go LR...

And just a friendly reminder to anyone planning an LR on their arti (or druid). Don't forget to unequip your pet's gear BEFORE LRing. It will disappear if you don't.

Thanks for the update again, and the reminder about losing your dog's stuff. It happened to me right when the arty came out, I lost my awesome docent.

For the ada body feat, I was wondering how you overcame the arcane failure rate - that's awesome - I didn't notice any of that in the tree. I'm going to try out the 30/60 DR shadow docent on my arty now. Mark of Death raid, even on normal, is just no joke. My hitpoints on my arty are low vs my FvS. So I'm a bit worried.

This is totally theory crafting - so I'm wondering if I should lose throat dagger and agent of good III. I always forget to cast throat dagger. That frees up maybe 4 points. Not sure there's a better place though. Maybe Endless Fusiladge and an extra action boost?

For those who haven't done Mark of Death - make sure to bring a ton of raise spells, and heal spells for Mark of Death, that's for sure. And keep jumping so you don't get encased.

[CThruTheEgo]

For the ada body feat, I was wondering how you overcame the arcane failure rate - that's awesome - I didn't notice any of that in the tree. I'm going to try out the 30/60 DR shadow docent on my arty now.

The base arcane spell failure on adamantine body is 35%. Battle engineer cores 3 and 5 each reduce it by 10% bringing it down to 15%. A blue augment of arcane spell failure -15% reduces that to 0.

I'm also looking at thunderforged with shadow guardian upgrade. Sacrifice another 1 DC, but survivability should be excellent with these changes.

This is totally theory crafting - so I'm wondering if I should lose throat dagger and agent of good III. I always forget to cast throat dagger. That frees up maybe 4 points. Not sure there's a better place though. Maybe Endless Fusiladge and an extra action boost?

I just thought I'd try out throat dagger, it's definitely not a must have. There are a few good options to consider spending those remaining points on, endless fusilade being one of them, but none of them are essential so it just comes down to a matter of preference. I like agent of good III for the 10 spell power, but that's just where I place my priorities.

[Shrimpboy]

Thanks for updating! Just a little thing, now that you aren't using Shadowdancer, the 100 HP from Fury isn't added/specifically listed in your calculations on the build. Other than that, keep us posted on survivability changes and how well it performs, as well as how your DC works on endgame content.

[CThruTheEgo]

Thanks for updating! Just a little thing, now that you aren't using Shadowdancer, the 100 HP from Fury isn't added/specifically listed in your calculations on the build. Other than that, keep us posted on survivability changes and how well it performs, as well as how your DC works on endgame content.

Good catch on the missing HP. That's even more reason not to bother with epic toughness. Thanks for pointing it out. OP updated.

[Nodoze]

I was noticing in one of the Thrower threads that Ranged Spell power and the new Blitzing was working well.

Anyone know if the new Legendary Dreadnaught also works with CrossBows like it apparently does with Throwers?

Have you considered Legendary Dreadnaught after the changes?

[CThruTheEgo]

I was noticing in one of the Thrower threads that Ranged Spell power and the new Blitzing was working well.

Anyone know if the new Legendary Dreadnaught also works with CrossBows like it apparently does with Throwers?

Have you considered Legendary Dreadnaught after the changes?

I do intend to give dreadnaught a try, but haven't yet. I'll definitely report back what I find after I do.

[CThruTheEgo]

Survivability is much better with adamantine body. This was a great change. Thanks to unbongwah for mentioning it.

I have made the switch to dreadnaught. Up to 79 ranged power with a full stack of blitz and the 9 from harper. It's not very useful for lower difficulties because mobs die too quickly to get it stacked, but they die quickly regardless of what destiny you're in so it doesn't really matter. On EE (or EN raids) it's not too difficult to get it built up.

To get blitz going, before I activate it, I usually tone down my damage by not using know the angles yet, make sure improved precise shot is on and try to have some mobs lined up, hit haste boost (from dreadnaught), then activate blitz. That usually ensures that I'll get a few stacks going and can build it up from there. It works great in Mark of Death and once you get it going you can stand on the blue tile, go into archer's focus stance and let that build up also. A full stack of both archer's focus and blitz along with damage boost puts out a lot of consistent, high damage.

Also, with damage boost from battle engineer, haste boost from dreadnaught, 3 extra action boosts from dreadnaught and 1 from ship buff, you get 9 each of damage and haste boost. That's enough to keep them up for a while. I use haste boost to get blitz going and damage boost once it's stacked.

Also, a guildie linked Knives Eternal from his 20th reward and it is a reflex save. So that will suck against evasion mobs. Against other mobs though, it won't matter. Because of the lower rune arm DCs, they will make their save no matter what type it is.

[Shrimpboy]

Survivability is much better with adamantine body. This was a great change. Thanks to unbongwah for mentioning it.

I have made the switch to dreadnaught. Up to 79 ranged power with a full stack of blitz and the 9 from harper. It's not very useful for lower difficulties because mobs die too quickly to get it stacked, but they die quickly regardless of what destiny you're in so it doesn't really matter. On EE (or EN raids) it's not too difficult to get it built up.

To get blitz going, before I activate it, I usually tone down my damage by not using know the angles yet, make sure improved precise shot is on and try to have some mobs lined up, hit haste boost (from dreadnaught), then activate blitz. That usually ensures that I'll get a few stacks going and can build it up from there. It works great in Mark of Death and once you get it going you can stand on the blue tile, go into archer's focus stance and let that build up also. A full stack of both archer's focus and blitz along with damage boost puts out a lot of consistent, high damage.

Also, with damage boost from battle engineer, haste boost from dreadnaught, 3 extra action boosts from dreadnaught and 1 from ship buff, you get 9 each of damage and haste boost. That's enough to keep them up for a while. I use haste boost to get blitz going and damage boost once it's stacked.

Also, a guildie linked Knives Eternal from his 20th reward and it is a reflex save. So that will suck against evasion mobs. Against other mobs though, it won't matter. Because of the lower rune arm DCs, they will make their save no matter what type it is.

Do you mind telling us your Layout for LD and if Advancing Blows works with Ranged?

[CThruTheEgo]

Do you mind telling us your Layout for LD and if Advancing Blows works with Ranged?

Sure I'll add that in today. I have not tried advancing blows, but now that you mention it, it is probably worth finding out if it works with ranged. I'll let you know what I find.

Also, forgot to mention in my update, ruin has been a great addition as well. I don't even have the spell power from Knives Eternal yet, but it's a solid 3k damage with a short cooldown. It can eat up your sp quickly but when you need to unload on something (Abbott at the end of MoD, for example), it's a great asset.

Last night I was wandering around wiki and discovered this page which tested doubleshot on repeaters. Apparently repeaters gain the full benefit of doubleshot. The testing was done on March 7th of this year, so it was recent enough to assume that it is still valid. I'll be swapping out elusive target for doubleshot. I looked at gear and I'm not real clear about which items with doublestrike also apply to ranged, but I think the best place to fit in some doubleshot is the Epic Quiver of Alacrity. It will add more dps than the EE Quiver of Poison.

[Shrimpboy]

Sure I'll add that in today. I have not tried advancing blows, but now that you mention it, it is probably worth finding out if it works with ranged. I'll let you know what I find.

Also, forgot to mention in my update, ruin has been a great addition as well. I don't even have the spell power from Knives Eternal yet, but it's a solid 3k damage with a short cooldown. It can eat up your sp quickly but when you need to unload on something (Abbott at the end of MoD, for example), it's a great asset.

Last night I was wandering around wiki and discovered this page which tested doubleshot on repeaters. Apparently repeaters gain the full benefit of doubleshot. The testing was done on March 7th of this year, so it was recent enough to assume that it is still valid. I'll be swapping out elusive target for doubleshot. I looked at gear and I'm not real clear about which items with doublestrike also apply to ranged, but I think the best place to fit in some doubleshot is the Epic Quiver of Alacrity. It will add more dps than the EE Quiver of Poison.

Sweet! Apparently, Skirmisher's Bracers also adds doubleshot, which is my item of choice so far for it. With 3 epic past lives, the feat, the bracers and ship buff, you can get a nice 29% doubleshot!

[CThruTheEgo]

Sweet! Apparently, Skirmisher's Bracers also adds doubleshot, which is my item of choice so far for it. With 3 epic past lives, the feat, the bracers and ship buff, you can get a nice 29% doubleshot!

The problem I have with the Skirmisher's Bracers is they compete with the Epic Inferno Bracers, which is the best item for an elemental spell power that I have found. There's also Epic Noxious Embers for fire spell power, but the neck is used for the Sage's Locket which is the only way to get a decent evocation focus item without sacrificing tier 2 of the Thunder-Forged repeater.

[Shrimpboy]

The problem I have with the Skirmisher's Bracers is they compete with the Epic Inferno Bracers, which is the best item for an elemental spell power that I have found. There's also Epic Noxious Embers for fire spell power, but the neck is used for the Sage's Locket which is the only way to get a decent evocation focus item without sacrificing tier 2 of the Thunder-Forged repeater.

How does the 22 extra spellpower fare against 15% vulnerability for energy burst? If you changed your energy burst to electric, you could theoretically free up your cloak and bracers slots by switching to iron beads every time you energy burst, then switch back. Tact Dec + Lightning Motes, then run to middle of group, put on beads and wait for rune arm, then energy burst and switch back.

[Livmo]

The problem I have with the Skirmisher's Bracers is they compete with the Epic Inferno Bracers, which is the best item for an elemental spell power that I have found. There's also Epic Noxious Embers for fire spell power, but the neck is used for the Sage's Locket which is the only way to get a decent evocation focus item without sacrificing tier 2 of the Thunder-Forged repeater.

Just some ideas from my arty:

• Rings ~ I use one of my ring slots as a swappable. Craftable and non-craftble rings can fill the gap and be swapped on the hot bar.
• Trinkets ~ I have mobility and dodge crafted on one and I use trinkets as another swapable spot.
• Spell Sticks ~ I sometimes use a pair of spell sticks for spell crit and power. There are some really nice loot gen ones that crop up from time to time, but I also craft my own as well to fill gaps.

I don't like to swap bracers, but always make sure I got my dodge, spell crits/power, and doubleshot within easy reach, swapable or clickable.

[CThruTheEgo]

How does the 22 extra spellpower fare against 15% vulnerability for energy burst? If you changed your energy burst to electric, you could theoretically free up your cloak and bracers slots by switching to iron beads every time you energy burst, then switch back. Tact Dec + Lightning Motes, then run to middle of group, put on beads and wait for rune arm, then energy burst and switch back.

Just some ideas from my arty:

• Rings ~ I use one of my ring slots as a swappable. Craftable and non-craftble rings can fill the gap and be swapped on the hot bar.
• Trinkets ~ I have mobility and dodge crafted on one and I use trinkets as another swapable spot.
• Spell Sticks ~ I sometimes use a pair of spell sticks for spell crit and power. There are some really nice loot gen ones that crop up from time to time, but I also craft my own as well to fill gaps.

I don't like to swap bracers, but always make sure I got my dodge, spell crits/power, and doubleshot within easy reach, swapable or clickable.

For anyone with the patience to constantly swap gear, these are all solid options, but I am not one of those people lol. I don't like swapping gear more than I have to. So for me, I need a consistent gear set. Besides, the Epic Quiver of Alacrity is a solid option for doubleshot since it has some other nice benefits as well. I'm not worried about the penalty to concentration since anything that's really important is quickened anyway.

[CThruTheEgo]

OP updated with legendary dreadnaught tree. Will let you all know what I find out about advancing blows.

[Shrimpboy]

Just an idea, but I'm not sure how effective it will be because I am not sure of the exact description of Master's Blitz and I am unable to check. But how many extra bolts does Haste Boost give compared to Endless Fusillade? If Endless Fusillade is better, you could drop Damage Boost from BE and take 2 Extra Action Boost and Endless Fusillade instead. Then if you drop Haste Boost from LD and take Damage Boost their instead you would gain:

-11 Uses of Endless Fusillade and Damage Boost Per Rest
-You can eliminate the filler and up to two extra action boosts from LD for other goodies like advancing blows or more con (if advancing blows works)

[CThruTheEgo]

Just an idea, but I'm not sure how effective it will be because I am not sure of the exact description of Master's Blitz and I am unable to check. But how many extra bolts does Haste Boost give compared to Endless Fusillade? If Endless Fusillade is better, you could drop Damage Boost from BE and take 2 Extra Action Boost and Endless Fusillade instead. Then if you drop Haste Boost from LD and take Damage Boost their instead you would gain:

-11 Uses of Endless Fusillade and Damage Boost Per Rest
-You can eliminate the filler and up to two extra action boosts from LD for other goodies like advancing blows or more con (if advancing blows works)

I considered this but the timing would be tricky. There's that "endless preparation" effect at the beginning of endless fusillade that eats up a couple of seconds. If you hit endless fusillade then blitz, you've then used up yet another second of fusillade. If you hit blitz then endless fusillade you've wasted about 4 seconds of blitz. In either situation, if you don't gain a stack of blitz during your endless fusillade, you may lose it altogether. So it would have to work out just right. I will try this at some point and see how effective it is in practice.

[CThruTheEgo]

I tried out advancing blows and the buff does appear in my buff bar, although I have not done any testing to verify that it is actually applying. I would assume that it is. Given the lowish crit rate of repeaters, though, I never picked up more than a couple stacks and so I don't think it's essential. I'll keep it for now, but if you need to free up some points in dreadnaught for something else, I'd say this is worth cutting.

EDIT: The information below is not correct. PRR augments do apply to MRR as well.
It was recently brought to my attention that PRR augments do not apply to MRR like the sheltering effect does. So I'd like to work in a sheltering item on Dubbell, but I'm having trouble figuring out where to slot it.

Sheltering 30 is found on Dumathoin's Bracers, Shroud of Ardent (neck), and Mythic Minos Legens. The Sage's Locket is the only way to get evocation focus outside of the weapon, so this is not something that can be given up. Epic Inferno Bracers is the best elemental spell power item that I am aware of, so I can't see giving this up either. Epic Deific Diadem just looks like a really nice helm. The lesser heighten is useless to me, and the wis 11 and cha 11 are nice but certainly not vital. Int 11 can be slotted elsewhere (gloves or ring), but deific focus is something I'd certainly like to have.

Sheltering 24 is on the Guardian's Ring. If I lose Consuming Darkness, I'd have to slot seeker in the goggles slot using Epic Mentau's Goggles and giving up the Intricate Field Optics which is my source of insightful int 3, which I don't want to do. Or I could lose the Avithoul Seal. I will have exceptional sneak attack on the Epic Quiver of Alacrity, but I won't have regular sneak attack or improved deception anywhere else. I could use Backstabber's Gloves for sneak attack and improved deception, but then I'd lose deadly and 2d6 light damage, which I don't think is a good trade off. Improved deception is not as vital for a ranged build as it is for a melee. And while I don't want to lose 8 points of sneak attack damage, 24 MRR would give me another 9% magic damage reduction on top of the 31% I have without it. So I'm leaning toward dropping the Avithoul Seal and using the Guardian's Ring instead, but I'd like to know what you all think about these options, or if you see other options.