Dubbell O'Seven - casting/ranged focused artificer

[Nodoze]

... (however, from a pure 'by-the-numbers' approach, its almost impossible now to argue anything other than WF being the no 1 choice for an arty).

I appreciate your contributions & insights & will try to pick up an acid arm to gain some experience there. Even if a Warforge's DPS was a somewhat lower I don't think I would want to be without my quickened reconstructs hitting for full as it is just that good. It is great for solo'ing but even in our group, when our front line folds (our healer is typically up front in the fight & if he goes down then likely everyone in front starts to follow), even if I am the only one left standing, I can often start jumping and get him a rez & a heal to help him get back up while reconning myself as well.

[Nodoze]

... FotW is actually my preferred ED for arties so far. I haven't yet tried Draconic or Magister, but the high hp and massive Xbow damage output is very nice - at tier 5, I was seeing 1000+ crits and you get a new (almost) auto-crit every 10 seconds + 7 free ones.

Re: Lucid Dreams vrs Archaic Device

... The symbiote is yucky. I mean, uh, the damage is lower. Using LD, I mostly see hits in the 100+ range and one or two crits. Archaic device is consistently 200+ and crits, averaging between 1200-1800 damage per group-shot (or per 6 seconds). I'm maxed out in force and wearing Flawless Blue Dragon Armor and Helm, plus anywhere between 0-30 extra spell power + max and emp always on.

Re: Toven's. ...

Although...part of me wants to boost my Xbow damage through Human Versatility and artie enchancement boosts and then try to beat the 1000 k crits in FotW... I mean, I've been doing very well just force specked. Why bother with other enhancement lines if I don't have a Corruption of Nature? I guess I could try it out for each of the GH rune arms and report back with how well they work. Right now, they're just taking up inventory space

I like the extra survivability of Shadowdancer but have semi-enjoyed leveling Shiradi thus far on my Arti... I eventually want to try Draconic with Corruption of Nature but darn-it, now you got me thinking about FotW...

What Xbow are you Adrenalizing in FotW?

Seems weird to me that, when wearing something > Potency 60, that with equivalent spell power/lore multiple people would be seeing consistently higher numbers on the Archaic Device over Lucid Dreams... I have LD and the specs seemed identical so I haven't bothered with AD & besides the little bug was kinda growing on me (literally)...

Anyone know why the Archaic Device would be outperforming Lucid Dreams (all other things like spell power & lore being equal)?


Lastly, does Maximize &/or Empower help Rune-Arms?

[CThruTheEgo]

Seems weird to me that, when wearing something > Potency 60, that with equivalent spell power/lore multiple people would be seeing consistently higher numbers on the Archaic Device over Lucid Dreams... I have LD and the specs seemed identical so I haven't bothered with AD & besides the little bug was kinda growing on me (literally)...

Anyone know why the Archaic Device would be outperforming Lucid Dreams (all other things like spell power & lore being equal)?

When they made the change to spell power, in the release notes it said something about rune arms being only partially affected by spell power, 50-80% iirc. So some rune arms are more affected by spell power, and some less. It was not made clear if this was different for each rune arm or damage type (element). I never noticed a difference between Lucid Dreams and Archaic Device, but maybe I just missed it and I never checked for it after hearing about it. If they are giving different amounts of damage, it could be that they are affected by a different percentage of spell power, with Archaic Device using a higher percent, it sounds like.

Loriac mentioned just a few posts ago that Corruption of Nature uses a higher percent than either of the force rune arms, and so will always be ahead of them. I haven't seen any testing but it makes sense that force would be weaker since it is more versatile and synergistic with the arti spells.

And I have to agree, I actually like the bug.

Lastly, does Maximize &/or Empower help Rune-Arms?

Maximize and empower do not affect the rune arm.

[Singular]

I like the extra survivability of Shadowdancer but have semi-enjoyed leveling Shiradi thus far on my Arti... I eventually want to try Draconic with Corruption of Nature but darn-it, now you got me thinking about FotW...

What Xbow are you Adrenalizing in FotW?

Seems weird to me that, when wearing something > Potency 60, that with equivalent spell power/lore multiple people would be seeing consistently higher numbers on the Archaic Device over Lucid Dreams... I have LD and the specs seemed identical so I haven't bothered with AD & besides the little bug was kinda growing on me (literally)...

Anyone know why the Archaic Device would be outperforming Lucid Dreams (all other things like spell power & lore being equal)?


Lastly, does Maximize &/or Empower help Rune-Arms?

Glad you like the bug! hahaha

I don't know why AD does more than LD - Loriac mentioned at another time that rune arms do between 50-80% of spell power and, when I wrote that LD was consistently doing less damage for me, he theorized that the lower level rune arms might be getting less of the spell power than the higher level ones. (and, as Cthru writes, the elemental ones might get more than the force ones). I can only assume that's the case - I thought that LD would naturally do more damage, since it has spell lore on it, but it consistently produced less (against the training dummy and baddies). So I put it away.

How does Shadowdancer increase survivability? I, uh, maxed this ED out in Crystal Cove last week so I really didn't put it through its paces. The dimension door was nice, but I didn't care for anything else about the destiny (well...the int was nice, too).

But Fury...mmm...so enjoyable to do a ton of damage while having high hit points!

I primarily use an alchemical fire-acid-fire. That does the best damage over all of all the alchemical weapons. It even has a red slot for another damage augment - I have cold slotted atm, b/c I don't have my water-water-water alchemical finished yet and the cold gives me versatility. Once I get the c-c-c one done, I'll slot fire or acid.

Otherwise, I use a GS +++ for undead, and a Lit II for times when the alchemical can't do damage, plus the usual banishing and smiting xbows. The alchemicals are slightly better, since they have the full 2[1-10] rather than 1.5 [1-10] damage dice.

[Singular]

When they made the change to spell power, in the release notes it said something about rune arms being only partially affected by spell power, 50-80% iirc. So some rune arms are more affected by spell power, and some less. It was not made clear if this was different for each rune arm or damage type (element). I never noticed a difference between Lucid Dreams and Archaic Device, but maybe I just missed it and I never checked for it after hearing about it. If they are giving different amounts of damage, it could be that they are affected by a different percentage of spell power, with Archaic Device using a higher percent, it sounds like.

Loriac mentioned just a few posts ago that Corruption of Nature uses a higher percent than either of the force rune arms, and so will always be ahead of them. I haven't seen any testing but it makes sense that force would be weaker since it is more versatile and synergistic with the arti spells.

And I have to agree, I actually like the bug.

We really should test the rune arms and figure out which ones get what percentage benefit from spell power. It would be nice if the Devs just told us...

[CThruTheEgo]

We really should test the rune arms and figure out which ones get what percentage benefit from spell power. It would be nice if the Devs just told us...

I agree some testing would be great. Unfortunately I don't have the time. Real life is keeping me pretty busy these days, so when I do get a chance to log on I certainly don't want to spend it testing game mechanics that should be revealed to us in the first place.

I really don't understand why such game mechanics are kept secret from us. Generally the players are able to figure out what they are through testing, so really it's just a time sink to not give us the details right from the start. Then again, it has often been the case in the past that when such details are provided (such as in item descriptions) they are wrong, and we find out from testing anyways.

[Nodoze]

Glad you like the bug! hahaha ...

How does Shadowdancer increase survivability? I, uh, maxed this ED out in Crystal Cove last week so I really didn't put it through its paces. The dimension door was nice, but I didn't care for anything else about the destiny (well...the int was nice, too).

But Fury...mmm...so enjoyable to do a ton of damage while having high hit points!

I primarily use an alchemical fire-acid-fire. ... It even has a red slot for another damage augment - I have cold slotted atm, ... Once I get the c-c-c one done, I'll slot fire or acid.

Otherwise, I use a GS +++ for undead, and a Lit II for times when the alchemical can't do damage, plus the usual banishing and smiting xbows. The alchemicals are slightly better, since they have the full 2[1-10] rather than 1.5 [1-10] damage dice.

Since I am new to Arties since MotU (and split my time on other characters) so I don't have much gear yet (so no GS or Alchemical stuff yet ;(. I have been just using Holy Burst of Superior Heart Seeker (or Impellent when not evil or Aligned with Arti metal buff to break odd DRs) but I imagine those would be decent for Adrenalized crits...

Thanks... Now you doomed me to FotW grind... (just kidding as I wanted fate points anyway)...

Regarding ShadowDancer, yes the Dime Door is great (especially for the Cove to get back to defend the base) but there is so much more and it all works well together for a balanced offense & defense (especially when solo).

Defense-wise & survivability-wise on a pure Artie with ShadowDancer you can gain (depending on how you spend your points):

- Shadow Mastery: Evasion & with high Intelligence & Insightful Reflexes you really can leverage it;
- up to +6 Intelligence to help with reflex saves & DCs/SPs, etc (Tac-Det);
- Lithe: +6 Reflex saves, AC, & Max Dex AC bonus;
- Acrobatic 3: +9 circumstance to Reflex saves while tumbling & +6 to Balance, Jump, & Tumble;
- Shadow Form: Tumble through enemies; This may also help when Harried (haven't tested while Harried yet);
- Shadow Form: 25% Incorporeality (stacks with concealment);
- Improved Invisibility: 30 seconds of invisibility while attacking followed by 90 seconds of 50% Displacement/Concealment (4m CD);
- Shadow Training IV: Shadow Walk for 1 min (5x per rest w 45 sec cool-down so basically 5 mins straight) with +40/50% movement & 50% displacement/Concealment to get places or out of trouble;
- Shadow Training V: Dime Door the hell out of dodge when needed;
- Untouchable: +7% dodge;
- Meld into Darkness: +100% dodge for up to 15 seconds (2m cooldown);
- Shadow Manipulation: Dominate a target for 1 minute to do your bidding & then give it a Finger of Death as a reward for its service; Great to do from stealth or around a corner to start a fight without your pet or you getting initial aggro (then send your pet in so he is next on their hate list then you burn them down 1 by 1 with no aggro except from the mob you are targeting);
- Consume: Basically an Implosion to thin out mobs when swarmed;
- Technician 3: +6 Spot & +6 Disable so you don't die from Traps;
- Skill Mastery: +1 to all skills (spot disable for traps & UMD to heal/rez);
- Shadow Training III: 20% less threat (less likely to be attacked);
- Escape Notice: Extra Diplomacy use leveraging Hide instead of diplomacy;
- Shadow Training II: Sneak at full speed and can jump while stealthed for 30 seconds per 5 mins which is useful avoiding stuff;
- Shadow Form: Free Featherfall for those of us who forget to put it on and fall to our deaths often ;-)...

Offense-Wise via ShadowDancer you get:

- 6d6 Sneak Attack;
- Envelope Shadow: A random attack debuff that seems to proc often for 5% extra vulnerability to physical damage & removing invulnerability to sneak attack.
- Shadow Training III: 20% less threat (more likely to get sneak attacks in);
- Technician 3: +6 on Attack rolls when Flanking;
- Grim Precision: Bypass 15% enemy fortification and 3% enemy dodge;
- Consume: Basically an Implosion (I mainly use it defensively though);
- Shrouding Shot: +3 Weapon Damage shot per 15 seconds;
- Executioner's Shot: 35% instant death or +3 Weapon Damage +1 crit threat, +1 crit multipler, +100 damage;

There is more but the above are the main ones that I have tried and/or like; For me with good twists is seems to be the best for survival (especially when solo) & decent/good on DPS.

[jakeelala]

Glad you like the bug! hahaha

I don't know why AD does more than LD - Loriac mentioned at another time that rune arms do between 50-80% of spell power and, when I wrote that LD was consistently doing less damage for me, he theorized that the lower level rune arms might be getting less of the spell power than the higher level ones. (and, as Cthru writes, the elemental ones might get more than the force ones). I can only assume that's the case - I thought that LD would naturally do more damage, since it has spell lore on it, but it consistently produced less (against the training dummy and baddies). So I put it away.

How does Shadowdancer increase survivability? I, uh, maxed this ED out in Crystal Cove last week so I really didn't put it through its paces. The dimension door was nice, but I didn't care for anything else about the destiny (well...the int was nice, too).

But Fury...mmm...so enjoyable to do a ton of damage while having high hit points!

I primarily use an alchemical fire-acid-fire. That does the best damage over all of all the alchemical weapons. It even has a red slot for another damage augment - I have cold slotted atm, b/c I don't have my water-water-water alchemical finished yet and the cold gives me versatility. Once I get the c-c-c one done, I'll slot fire or acid.

Otherwise, I use a GS +++ for undead, and a Lit II for times when the alchemical can't do damage, plus the usual banishing and smiting xbows. The alchemicals are slightly better, since they have the full 2[1-10] rather than 1.5 [1-10] damage dice.

get a Needle it's bomb.com

[Loriac]

How does Shadowdancer increase survivability? I, uh, maxed this ED out in Crystal Cove last week so I really didn't put it through its paces. The dimension door was nice, but I didn't care for anything else about the destiny (well...the int was nice, too).

But Fury...mmm...so enjoyable to do a ton of damage while having high hit points!

Shadowdancer is an extremely good defensive destiny, as Nodoze listed.

On a HElf build (which is what you play iirc), I would take the following:

Shadowform (2); Untouchable (1); Sealed soul (2); Improved invisibility 3 ranks (3), Cloak of shadows 1 rank (2), shrouding shot 3 ranks (3), grim precision 3 ranks (3), lithe 2 ranks (2), technician 2 ranks (2), and 2x +1 Int (4).

You lose a theoretical 4 Int, but in return you get a very good set of defences. I never found the instakill abilities to work reliably, but things like effective displacement 50% of the time, 25% incorporeality in shadow form, +7 to dodge when fully charged up, 15% stacking fort bypass, immunity to energy drain, and of course evasion makes it an incredibly strong ED.

Twist in energy burst (acid), boulder toss, and brace for impact (to allow you to potentially use yugo Int pots) and you have a very strong defensive character with rock solid ranged dps and burst nuke capability.

Edited: I got the ED point cost wrong for the cloak of shadows ability, the points now correctly total to 24.

[CThruTheEgo]

For those of you who did not notice LRing has been fixed (sort of). So I am going to drop combat archery and build for epic toughness instead. It would be nice if there was any hope at all that combat archery is going to be fixed, but this has received no attention from the devs and since it's now safe to LR (sort of), I'm not waiting any longer. I updated the OP with this change and used the new character planner to include epic levels.

[Singular]

For those of you who did not notice LRing has been fixed (sort of). So I am going to drop combat archery and build for epic toughness instead. It would be nice if there was any hope at all that combat archery is going to be fixed, but this has received no attention from the devs and since it's now safe to LR (sort of), I'm not waiting any longer. I updated the OP with this change and used the new character planner to include epic levels.

I'm pretty sure Combat Archery works with xbows - it doesn't work with longbows. So it's fine for arties.

[Singular]

Shadowdancer is an extremely good defensive destiny, as Nodoze listed.

On a HElf build (which is what you play iirc), I would take the following:

Shadowform (2); Untouchable (1); Sealed soul (2); Improved invisibility 3 ranks (3), Cloak of shadows 1 rank (2), shrouding shot 3 ranks (3), grim precision 3 ranks (3), lithe 2 ranks (2), technician 2 ranks (2), and 2x +1 Int (4).

You lose a theoretical 4 Int, but in return you get a very good set of defences. I never found the instakill abilities to work reliably, but things like effective displacement 50% of the time, 25% incorporeality in shadow form, +7 to dodge when fully charged up, 15% stacking fort bypass, immunity to energy drain, and of course evasion makes it an incredibly strong ED.

Twist in energy burst (acid), boulder toss, and brace for impact (to allow you to potentially use yugo Int pots) and you have a very strong defensive character with rock solid ranged dps and burst nuke capability.

Edited: I got the ED point cost wrong for the cloak of shadows ability, the points now correctly total to 24.

I play a human, actually - extra feat, not ugly!

Yeah, I didn't find the instakill abilities super useful - and, to be honest, I'm not sold on them ever being that useful. In Epic Elite content, you're going to want to be maxing dps output, not insta-kill. Instant killing is great for trash, but worthless on bosses. So...I feel like they won't really add to a party whereas if you max out your dps, you can bring down trash fast enough and contribute to bringing down red-names.

I think that an artie who focuses on making insta-kill abilities work is going to be best suited for Epic Hards/Normals, whereas if you can offer sustained damage output, you'll be suited to any difficulty.

[Singular]

Since I am new to Arties since MotU (and split my time on other characters) so I don't have much gear yet (so no GS or Alchemical stuff yet ;(. I have been just using Holy Burst of Superior Heart Seeker (or Impellent when not evil or Aligned with Arti metal buff to break odd DRs) but I imagine those would be decent for Adrenalized crits...

Thanks... Now you doomed me to FotW grind... (just kidding as I wanted fate points anyway)...

Regarding ShadowDancer, yes the Dime Door is great (especially for the Cove to get back to defend the base) but there is so much more and it all works well together for a balanced offense & defense (especially when solo).

Defense-wise & survivability-wise on a pure Artie with ShadowDancer you can gain (depending on how you spend your points):

- Shadow Mastery: Evasion & with high Intelligence & Insightful Reflexes you really can leverage it;
- up to +6 Intelligence to help with reflex saves & DCs/SPs, etc (Tac-Det);
- Lithe: +6 Reflex saves, AC, & Max Dex AC bonus;
- Acrobatic 3: +9 circumstance to Reflex saves while tumbling & +6 to Balance, Jump, & Tumble;
- Shadow Form: Tumble through enemies; This may also help when Harried (haven't tested while Harried yet);
- Shadow Form: 25% Incorporeality (stacks with concealment);
- Improved Invisibility: 30 seconds of invisibility while attacking followed by 90 seconds of 50% Displacement/Concealment (4m CD);
- Shadow Training IV: Shadow Walk for 1 min (5x per rest w 45 sec cool-down so basically 5 mins straight) with +40/50% movement & 50% displacement/Concealment to get places or out of trouble;
- Shadow Training V: Dime Door the hell out of dodge when needed;
- Untouchable: +7% dodge;
- Meld into Darkness: +100% dodge for up to 15 seconds (2m cooldown);
- Shadow Manipulation: Dominate a target for 1 minute to do your bidding & then give it a Finger of Death as a reward for its service; Great to do from stealth or around a corner to start a fight without your pet or you getting initial aggro (then send your pet in so he is next on their hate list then you burn them down 1 by 1 with no aggro except from the mob you are targeting);
- Consume: Basically an Implosion to thin out mobs when swarmed;
- Technician 3: +6 Spot & +6 Disable so you don't die from Traps;
- Skill Mastery: +1 to all skills (spot disable for traps & UMD to heal/rez);
- Shadow Training III: 20% less threat (less likely to be attacked);
- Escape Notice: Extra Diplomacy use leveraging Hide instead of diplomacy;
- Shadow Training II: Sneak at full speed and can jump while stealthed for 30 seconds per 5 mins which is useful avoiding stuff;
- Shadow Form: Free Featherfall for those of us who forget to put it on and fall to our deaths often ;-)...

Offense-Wise via ShadowDancer you get:

- 6d6 Sneak Attack;
- Envelope Shadow: A random attack debuff that seems to proc often for 5% extra vulnerability to physical damage & removing invulnerability to sneak attack.
- Shadow Training III: 20% less threat (more likely to get sneak attacks in);
- Technician 3: +6 on Attack rolls when Flanking;
- Grim Precision: Bypass 15% enemy fortification and 3% enemy dodge;
- Consume: Basically an Implosion (I mainly use it defensively though);
- Shrouding Shot: +3 Weapon Damage shot per 15 seconds;
- Executioner's Shot: 35% instant death or +3 Weapon Damage +1 crit threat, +1 crit multipler, +100 damage;

There is more but the above are the main ones that I have tried and/or like; For me with good twists is seems to be the best for survival (especially when solo) & decent/good on DPS.

Wow, fantastic summary.

Yeah, it definitely fits with Helf - that would be a lot of sneak attack damage dice!

I do have one question - I have put points from every level-up into search/spot/disarm and have max gear for it (up to +25), no enhancement points. With buffs, I'm sitting at over 80 on disable (which every other artie and rogue is capable of if they have the same gear as me). So...I've never encountered a trap I couldn't immediately disable. So why bother adding yet more disable points to a skill that already never fails?

Do you tumble a lot? If so, how do you use it? I play mouse and keyboard - it's a pain to press shift while moving, but I've also put a lot of points into Tumble (mainly b/c I didn't have a featherfall item early on!). So I almost never use it - and only when the Lord of Blades has decided I'm a tank.

[Loriac]

I do have one question - I have put points from every level-up into search/spot/disarm and have max gear for it (up to +25), no enhancement points. With buffs, I'm sitting at over 80 on disable (which every other artie and rogue is capable of if they have the same gear as me). So...I've never encountered a trap I couldn't immediately disable. So why bother adding yet more disable points to a skill that already never fails?

Do you tumble a lot? If so, how do you use it? I play mouse and keyboard - it's a pain to press shift while moving, but I've also put a lot of points into Tumble (mainly b/c I didn't have a featherfall item early on!). So I almost never use it - and only when the Lord of Blades has decided I'm a tank.

Technician (and to an extent lithe) are fillers on the shadowdancer tree, to use up 4 points per level so you can spend on the higher tiers. Thats why in my suggested spend, I have two in each - those plus the +1 Int at levels 1 and 2 is your 8 points to qualify for tier 3 spending.

Techician does give a bonus to flanking attacks, so its not entirely useless. Lithe similarly gives +2 reflex save per rank, and can open up more dodge if you're wearing light armor (this is particularly true for warforged in mithral body, who I would recommend take all 3 ranks, as well as search for an item with the mobility feat so as to make use of the dodge available from shadowdancer).

Tumble can be a good way to move around once you're past 31 (36 for forward tumbles). Its faster than normal movement, and looks cool to boot. Definitely not something you need however, and can be quite clumsy unless/until you master the keys to do it fluently. Having it so you don't have to wear featherfall is an excellent reason to build it up if you have the points to spare however, as ff slows you down a lot.

[CThruTheEgo]

I'm pretty sure Combat Archery works with xbows - it doesn't work with longbows. So it's fine for arties.

Do you have any definitive evidence of this? This thread, as well as many others, indicate that it is still broken, as it always has been. If you know otherwise, I would love some confirmation.

[Singular]

Technician (and to an extent lithe) are fillers on the shadowdancer tree, to use up 4 points per level so you can spend on the higher tiers. Thats why in my suggested spend, I have two in each - those plus the +1 Int at levels 1 and 2 is your 8 points to qualify for tier 3 spending.

Techician does give a bonus to flanking attacks, so its not entirely useless. Lithe similarly gives +2 reflex save per rank, and can open up more dodge if you're wearing light armor (this is particularly true for warforged in mithral body, who I would recommend take all 3 ranks, as well as search for an item with the mobility feat so as to make use of the dodge available from shadowdancer).

Tumble can be a good way to move around once you're past 31 (36 for forward tumbles). Its faster than normal movement, and looks cool to boot. Definitely not something you need however, and can be quite clumsy unless/until you master the keys to do it fluently. Having it so you don't have to wear featherfall is an excellent reason to build it up if you have the points to spare however, as ff slows you down a lot.

Huh. Really good points as always, Loriac!

You know, I have been noticing that w/out ff on, I move quicker than other party members - and that never registered as a benefit! Except for monks and barbs, though. I can never keep up to them. Dirty extra movement speed and lack of rune arm! grrrrrr

Excellent point about mobility and dodge synching. Unfortunately I created a medium restored blue dragon armor, for the higher AC and PRR. But I run TOR so much I could probably make a light one, too. That's a thought.

Finally, I'll have to check out my tumble score - at what level can you do flips?

[Singular]

Do you have any definitive evidence of this? This thread, as well as many others, indicate that it is still broken, as it always has been. If you know otherwise, I would love some confirmation.

This thread here suggests that it's working for xbows but not short and long bows:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=410505&page=2

Also, this post suggests that it's not working only for bows:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...23#post4843623

The reason I think it's working is b/c my crits are higher now than they were before. There was a noticeable change after update 16, I believe.

[Loriac]

Huh. Really good points as always, Loriac!

You know, I have been noticing that w/out ff on, I move quicker than other party members - and that never registered as a benefit! Except for monks and barbs, though. I can never keep up to them. Dirty extra movement speed and lack of rune arm! grrrrrr

Excellent point about mobility and dodge synching. Unfortunately I created a medium restored blue dragon armor, for the higher AC and PRR. But I run TOR so much I could probably make a light one, too. That's a thought.

Finally, I'll have to check out my tumble score - at what level can you do flips?

31 back/side, 36 forward

[CThruTheEgo]

This thread here suggests that it's working for xbows but not short and long bows:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=410505&page=2

Neither Kierg's or Charononus' tests were conclusive. And neither reposted with a more definitive test.

Also, this post suggests that it's not working only for bows:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...23#post4843623

The reason I think it's working is b/c my crits are higher now than they were before. There was a noticeable change after update 16, I believe.

Devs, like many of us, often don't type exactly what they mean. It is just as likely that "bows" is shorthand and intended to include crossbows also. If he had said specifically that it is working for crossbows but not bows, then that would be different. But whether or not crossbows is included in "bows" in that statement is ambiguous.

It doesn't matter now anyway since I've already LRed, and glad to have an extra 100 hp.

[QuantumFX]

When they made the change to spell power, in the release notes it said something about rune arms being only partially affected by spell power, 50-80% iirc.

I’m thinking the epic runearms get more out of it. The bludgeon portion of the Glass Cannon hits for a lot more than Lucid Dreams on my arti (To the tune of double the damage.)

(Combat): You hit Training Dummy for 1,035 points of bludgeon damage.