Dubbell O'Seven - casting/ranged focused artificer

[Sitka_Kitty]

Yes it is, but in my opinion, it's not worth it. The primary advantage of bladeforged is the self healing from the recon SLA. This build already gets more than enough self healing from arti spells. The SLA also costs a good chunk of AP, which you could certainly free up somewhere, but you will be losing out on something else by doing so. So in effect, you're trading some enhancements for extra self healing which isn't really needed in the first place.

The other thing to consider is the paladin levels. Personally, I like the capstone. You can have a full dps weapon and still gain an implement bonus to spell power, which is a decent amount. Plus, level 6 spell slots are valuable imo, and you lose one for every level lost. So you either lose some advantages by keeping the paladin levels (for minimal gain imo), or you pay the cost to LR+1 them out.

For all of those reasons, bladeforged isn't worth it in my opinion, but it's certainly viable if you're willing to accept those limitations.

EDIT: Also, there is an arti pass coming soon, so who knows how that will change things.

Thank you, CThru!

[Nodoze]

Of all the builds this one was the closest to the type of Artificer I prefered to play (Pure level 20 WarForged Artificer and more Battle Engineer Repeater/Rune-Arm focused than some that focus on the Arcanotechnician tree).

Playstyle-wise for my Artificer I liked trying to prioritize my use of the Repeater and Rune-Arm saving mana as much as possible (using it when needed though).

Some questions:

For the WF Lvl 20 Artie can you give me an idea of the rating of the current relative power/DPS for the following Epic Destinies?:
- Legendary Dreadnought: (I realize this is one you are currently using);
- Sharadi Champion:
- ShadowDancer:
- Any others that should be considered?:

Of the above I remember playing mainly Sharadi and ShadowDancer and ShadowDancer was my historic first choice as I wanted to have max trapping skills and Evasion but I am curious what I would currently, relatively, be giving up choosing one over the other (rough % of DPS or power difference and any thoughts on CC/survivability/etc comparison would be great).

Also curious if any thoughts on u36 would change the above weighting? My first thought was that more uptime on Fusillade may help Shiradi more than others, etc...

Lastly I was curious if there was any way currently (or in u36) to make a pure WF Lvl 20 Artie that would be desirable in groups in Reaper dungeons (the ones being commonly run) and if so would appreciate any thought that direction. I don't know what repair amp is possible off hand or whether pure WF Arties are just non starters for Reaper.

I realize that there are already some Reaper build threads like the "Electric Critzilla" that have some Artificer in them (and favor fleshies) but my preference would be a Pure WF Level 1->20 Artificer that would be desirable/helpful in groups (even if not optimal/best). I don't mind if it would need to play a little safe and stay a little back and range as I kinda got used to that back when my TR friends typically were zerging ahead of me anyway and I often could only contribute much on ranged characters back then (they TRed much, much, more than me and had everything memorized)...

In the end it may not be possible but I at least want to ask ;-).

[CThruTheEgo]

For the WF Lvl 20 Artie can you give me an idea of the rating of the current relative power/DPS for the following Epic Destinies?:
- Legendary Dreadnought: (I realize this is one you are currently using);
- Sharadi Champion:
- ShadowDancer:
- Any others that should be considered?:

Of the above I remember playing mainly Sharadi and ShadowDancer and ShadowDancer was my historic first choice as I wanted to have max trapping skills and Evasion but I am curious what I would currently, relatively, be giving up choosing one over the other (rough % of DPS or power difference and any thoughts on CC/survivability/etc comparison would be great).

Nothing in the current game or the proposed arti pass changes the status of these imo. I'll still stick with dreadnaught to maximize repeater dps. Shiradi is still garbage (in my opinion) for ranged builds with a low rate of fire (it's fine for shuriken builds with an extremely high rate of fire). Shadowdance is good for evasion but I find I don't really need that the vast majority of the time. I don't know about dps calcs, but in my experience, dreadnaught is the better destiny for this type of arti build.

The only other destiny worth considering would be draconic. It puts more of an emphasis on the casting side of the build but leaves the ranged dps too far behind imo. Even though it offers nothing for casting dps, I think dreadnaught provides the right balance because ranged dps is much further behind in epics than casting dps.

Also curious if any thoughts on u36 would change the above weighting? My first thought was that more uptime on Fusillade may help Shiradi more than others, etc...

I don't think U36 will change anything about the above weighting. Yes, longer fusilade will help shiradi procs, but dreadnaught core 2, action hero, reduces the cooldown of all action boosts by 1/3, which means you can fire fusilade every 20 seconds. So I'm thinking pump extra action boosts and you could have roughly 15 seconds of fusilade (including the windup animation) out of every 20 seconds for a solid 4 minutes with 12 total action boosts (5 base, 1 guild, 3 battle engineer, 3 dreadnaught). I'm sure that would out dps any benefit shiradi would gain from the longer duration of fusilade. It will certainly be awesome for boss beatdowns and would go very well with thunder-forged tier 3 draconic reinvigoration.

Lastly I was curious if there was any way currently (or in u36) to make a pure WF Lvl 20 Artie that would be desirable in groups in Reaper dungeons (the ones being commonly run) and if so would appreciate any thought that direction. I don't know what repair amp is possible off hand or whether pure WF Arties are just non starters for Reaper.

That's a good question. I plan on running this build on one of my alts after the changes go live, and I will be doing some reaper, so I'll let you know how it works out. I have read on the forums about some bladeforged in reaper who were able to self heal well enough, but I have no experience with it myself. I suspect it should work fine, but I'll report back when I have more info.

[Nodoze]

<SNIP tons of great feedback> ... in my experience, dreadnaught is the better destiny for this type of arti build ...

[Regarding performance of a Pure WF Artie in Reaper,] That's a good question. I plan on running this build on one of my alts after the changes go live, and I will be doing some reaper, so I'll let you know how it works out. I have read on the forums about some bladeforged in reaper who were able to self heal well enough, but I have no experience with it myself. I suspect it should work fine, but I'll report back when I have more info.

Thanks for all the great input. I agree LD looks like the hands down winner DPS wise... Certainly in sustained DPS over time with the extra Action Boosts but even likely more overall regardless with all the LD perks. I would love to see how LD preforms if we can somehow get Blunted Ammunition on our on best Repeaters ;-).

With that said I am thinking I will also go LD as my primary spec... This is kinda sad for me in that I liked ShadowDancer because:

• - Stealth: Sounds like Stealth is all messed up these days...
• - Solo: I liked the Shadow-Manipulation+Stealth+Evasion+Improved Invis+Displacement+Incorpreal+etc..
• - Traps: I wanted to be the very best EE Trapper I could be for out party and the Evasion+Saves+Skills+etc were nice;
• - Thematically it just seemed to fit ;-)

I will likely keep SD builds ready as a backup if there are any quests where the group really needs the extra trap help but otherwise I think I will try to main LD after reading your thread and understanding the LD changes...

Regarding Reaper, I suspect the key for Level 20 WF Artie will be high Repair Spell Power and Repair Amp and hopefully we can pull it off with items and WF Tree Repair Amp + 3 BladeForged Past Lives and whatever else helps... Unfortunately the DDO wiki article on Repair Amp is way out of date so maybe I will update it after I understand it more. It may end up being that only Fleshy Hybrid Arties (Arty+Monk+etc) can really pull off strong self healing off in Reaper(with Human Healing Amp+Paladin Past Lives etc) but I really want to try with WF pure Artie... I don't care if it is OP or even optimal I just want it viable and to be able to play it and not feel like I am not pulling my own weight on the team...

I did dust off my two main accounts and I believe both are currently Shiradi builds (my Artie is TRed into a Shuriken-Shiradi build and my other main is an SLA-caster-Shiradi build)... Since both are near Cap I will try to check and if they don't have max BF past lives for the extra Repair I may try to do some quick Iconic-TRs before u36 launches...

[CThruTheEgo]

This is kinda sad for me in that I liked ShadowDancer because:

• - Stealth: Sounds like Stealth is all messed up these days...
• - Solo: I liked the Shadow-Manipulation+Stealth+Evasion+Improved Invis+Displacement+Incorpreal+etc..
• - Traps: I wanted to be the very best EE Trapper I could be for out party and the Evasion+Saves+Skills+etc were nice;
• - Thematically it just seemed to fit ;-)

I agree. Shadowdancer was actually my first choice of ED for this build for similar reasons, but after playing through all of them to level them up, I settled on dreadnaught as the best for overall balance based on my playstyle.

Regarding Reaper, I suspect the key for Level 20 WF Artie will be high Repair Spell Power and Repair Amp and hopefully we can pull it off with items and WF Tree Repair Amp + 3 BladeForged Past Lives and whatever else helps... Unfortunately the DDO wiki article on Repair Amp is way out of date so maybe I will update it after I understand it more. It may end up being that only Fleshy Hybrid Arties (Arty+Monk+etc) can really pull off strong self healing off in Reaper(with Human Healing Amp+Paladin Past Lives etc) but I really want to try with WF pure Artie... I don't care if it is OP or even optimal I just want it viable and to be able to play it and not feel like I am not pulling my own weight on the team...

I did dust off my two main accounts and I believe both are currently Shiradi builds (my Artie is TRed into a Shuriken-Shiradi build and my other main is an SLA-caster-Shiradi build)... Since both are near Cap I will try to check and if they don't have max BF past lives for the extra Repair I may try to do some quick Iconic-TRs before u36 launches...

I think it depends on what skull we are talking about too. I haven't played anything in R10, but I'm guessing the self healing is so penalized that no amount of effort will make it sufficient, for any build. In which case you will want to run with other builds who can also repair you, or run as a fleshy. For lower skulls, there's no doubt that minimal effort is needed to maintain self healing (e.g. repair spell power item). Mid skulls is where you will want to start stacking up the repair amp, whether that's through gear, racial enhancements, past lives, or all three, depends on how high you want to push those mid skulls.

And if you happen to have a static group of WF artis, wizards, and sorcs, well, then problem solved.

[CThruTheEgo]

Just copying the OP here before I make some changes to it for U36.

Updated for U30.

Dubbell O'Seven
WF artificer 20
True neutral
36 point build
In-game name: Dubbell O'Seven on Sarlona

This is a 36 point casting/ranged/survivability focused artificer with a sorc PL. Went WF for survivability and easy button self-healing. Goals for the character are casting/ranged dps, survivability through high HP and quickened reconstruct, and self-sufficiency. Breakdowns on everything can be found below. I'd appreciate any feedback about the build. Thanks in advance.

Stats:
str: 8
dex: 16
con: 18
int: 18
wis: 6
cha: 6

All level up points in int.
+5 tome in dex required by level 21, +3 tome in dex required by level 16.

Feats:
1 point blank shot
3 rapid shot
4a precise shot
6 empower
8a maximize
9 spell focus evocation
12a imp crit ranged
12 adamantine body (arcance spell failure will be 0)
15 greater spell focus evocation
16a improved precise shot
18 insightful reflexes
20a quicken
21 combat archery
24 overwhelming critical
26 epic spell power electric/force
27 intensify
28 doubleshot
29 arcane warrior/harbinger of chaos
30 ruin
30 scion of the plane of air
Note: Empower is taken at level 6 so it can be swapped with precision if desired.

Skills: max spot, search, disable, open lock, UMD, repair, spellcraft, concentration, balance, jump

Spell List:
1st: Ablative Armor, Resist Energy, Conjure Bolts, Enchant Weapons, Enchant Armor
2nd: Elemental Weapons, Byeshk Weapons, Reinforce Construct, Toughen Construct, Elemental Prod
3rd: Stoneskin, Flame Turret, Insightful Damage, Adamantine Weapons, Positive Energy Infusion
4th: Protection From Elements, Lightning Motes, Thundering Armor, Armor of Speed, Cold Iron Weapons
5th: Radiant Forcefield, Prismatic Strike, Align Weapons, Silver Weapons
6th: Blade Barrier, Tactical Detonation, Deadly Weapons, Reconstruct

Enhancements:
Battle Engineer: 41 total
Core: 6 total
Battle engineer 1 (rune arm provides 8 spell power when charged to tier 1)
Infused weapons 1 (1 enhancement to weapon, 1 seeker, rune arm provides 8 spell power when charged to tier 2)
Infused armor 1 (1 enhancement to armor, 5PRR, -10% ASF, rune arm provides 8 spell power when charged to tier 3)
Infused weapons 1 (1 enhancement to weapon, 1 seeker, rune arm provides 8 spell power when charged to tier 4)
Infused armor 1 (1 enhancement to armor, 5PRR, -10% ASF, rune arm provides 8 spell power when charged to tier 5)
Master engineer 1 (2 int, 1 enhancement to weapon and armor, weapon provides implement bonus)
Tier1: 6 total
Weapon training - crossbow 2 (1 to hit)
Field engineer 1 (filler, 1 concentration, disable device, and open locks)
Thermal venting 3 (-30% rune arm cooldown)
Tier2: 8 total
Weapon training - crossbow 2 (1 to hit and damage)
Wracking shot 3 (5d6 vs constructs, loses immunity to sneak attacks, reduces fort by 10%, stacks 5 times)
Thaumaturgical conduits 3 (+33% rune arm charge rate)
Tier3: 6 total
Weapon training - crossbow 2 (1 to hit)
Arcane capacitors 2 (-25% rune arm charge decay)
Int 2
Tier4: 10 total
Weapon training - crossbow 2 (1 to hit and damage)
Endless fusilade 2
Rune arm overcharge 2 (stable charge tier 2)
Arcane capacitors 2 (-50% rune arm charge decay when moving)
Int 2
Tier5: 5 total
Weapon attachment 1 (0.5[W])
Rune arm overcharge 2 (stable charge tier 3)
Tactical mobility 2 (rune arm charge does not reduce movement speed)

Arcanotechnician: 28 total
Core: 4 total
Arcanotechnician 1 (1 universal spell power per point spent, 10 electric spell power)
Palliative admixture 1 (AoE effect, provides 20 temp sp and 10 temp hp, cost 5 sp, cooldown 30 seconds)
Thaumaturgical battery 1 (gain 1 temp sp on spell cast)
Lightning bolt 1 (lightnint bolt SLA, 1 evocation DC)
Tier1: 6 total
Energy of creation 2 (60 sp)
Uncaring master 2 (no damage when defender dies)
Spell critical 2 (1% electric, fire, force)
Tier2: 5 total
Imbue defender 3 (15 electric spell power, 6 universal spell power, iron defender gets 15 PRR 15 doublestrike)
Spell critical 2 (1% electric, fire, force)
Tier 3: 6 total
Automated repairs 2 (AoE repair for 4d4+1 every 12 seconds)
Spell critical 2 (1% electric, fire, force)
Int 2
Tier 4: 7 total
Arcane engine 3 (15 electric spell power, 6 universal spell power, 10 universal spell power when near iron defender)
Spell critical 2 (1% electric, fire, force)
Int 2

Harper: 11 total
Core: 1 total
Agent of good 1 (1 to hit vs evil, 1 universal spell power)
Tier 1: 4 total
Harper enchantment 2 (1 weapon enhancement, 20 spell points)
Strategic combat I 2 (int to hit)
Tier 2: 6 total
Know the angles 3 (int based divine might)
Versatile adept 3 (3 melee/ranged/spell power)

Epic destiny:
Legendary Dreadnaught
Tier 1: 4 total
Extra action boost 2
Con 2
Tier 2: 5 total
Action boost damage 3 (30% damage boost)
Con 2
Tier 3: 5 total
Critical damage 3 (+6 crit damage)
Con 2
Tier 4: 2 total
Con 2
Tier 5: 6 total
Advancing blows 2 (+1 hit/damage on crit hit, stacks 5 times)
Devastating critical 2 (+1 crit multiplier on 19-20)
Con 2
Tier 6: 2 total
Master's Blitz PRR version 2 (7 ranged power for 15 seconds, 10% chance on hit to gain another stack, stacks 10 times, 30 PRR)
Note: 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, then activate blitz. That usually ensures that I'll get a few stacks going and can build it up from there. If you can stand still, turn on archer's focus as well. A full stack of both archer's focus and blitz along with damage boost puts out a lot of consistent, high damage.

Twists:
1) energy burst electric (draconic incarnation tier 4)
2) evocation specialist (magister tier 2, +3 evocation DC's)
3) precise casting (draconic incarnation tier 2, +2 evocation DC's)
4) interrogation (divine crusader tier 1, +5 universal spell power, +1% crit chance)
Alternatives: energy sheathe electric (draconic incarnation tier 2), brace for impact (unyielding sentinal tier 1), fey form (shiradi champion tier 2)

Gear Set:
Weapon: Thunder-Forged Heavy Repeater (1st degree burns/dragon's edge/mortal fear/orange slotted meteoric star ruby/colorless slotted repair15)
vs fire immune mobs: Thunder-Forged Heavy Repeater (touch of shadows/dragon's edge/mortal fear/orange slotted meteoric star ruby/colorless slotted repair15)
Rune Arm: Knives Eternal (knife shot/spike guard/2d10 pierce imbue/impulse150/kinetic lore22/spiked - 3.5 pierce damage/yellow slotted disease10/green slotted poison10)
Armor: Shadowscale docent with shadow guardian upgrade (shadow phase x3/deathblock/ghostly/fort130/DR30 epic/DR60 epic below 75% health/blue slotted arcane spell failure -15%/green slotted armored agility2)
Goggles: EH Intricate Field Optics (int3/spot20/TS/green slotted wizardry10/colorless slotted globe of true imperial blood)
Helm: Sightless (true seeing/deathblock7/ranged power6/melee power6/PRR35/MRR35/con12/green slotted greater evocation focus/blue slotted good luck2)
Neck: Sage's Locket (evocation focus5/spellcraft15)
Trinket: Epic Litany of the Dead (turn the page/profane abilities2/attack4/damage4/light of dawn/yellow slotted draconic soul gem/green slotted resistance8)
Cloak: Legendary Construct's Mantle (repair amp56/quality int3/repair21/quality magnetism36/green slot)
Belt: Belt of Braided Beards (teleport/int12/spell resistance35/lesser displacement/acid resistance40/cold resistance40/blue slotted vitality/green slotted blindness immunity)
Ring Swap: EE Consuming Darkness (seeker12/combat mastery5/green slotted wis8)
Gloves: Sanctified Gages gloves (UMD5/2d6 light damage/deadly11/greater dispelling guard/yellow slotted fear immunity/green slotted str6)
Boots: GS Smoke2 mef/eea/eefa (10HP/150SP/dex skills2/cha skills4/int skills6/blur/displacement clicky x2)
Ring: Strange Tidings (dex12/deception/sneak attack to hit8/sneak attack damage16/UMD7/diversion20/green slotted sonic resistance40/blue slotted cha8)
Bracers: Dissolution (corrosion156/acid lore20/acid absorption30/conjuration focus5/blue slotted HP40/green slotted con2)
Quiver: Epic Quiver of Alacrity (concentration -50/speed15/ranged and spell threat -15%/insightful sneak4/doubleshot8)
Dog's Docent: Shadowscale docent with shadow guardian upgrade (shadow phase x3/deathblock/ghostly/fort130/DR30 epic/DR60 epic below 75% health/blue slotted con8/green slotted defense16)
Dog's Collar: Grave Wrappings (2d12 untyped/d3 neg levels on vorpal/imp destruction/stunning10)
Note: Gear set is outdated because lootgen is a pita. Legendary Construct's Mantle and Epic Litany are key named items. From lootgen, you want to include an electric spell power item, a set of lootgen gloves with insightful electric spell power or insightful force spell power, int and insightful int, evocation focus and insightful evocation focus.

Final Stats:
str22: 8base, 3tome, 6item, 1exc, 2profane, 2ship
dex38: 16base, 5tome, 12 item, 1exc, 2profane, 2ship
con47: 18base, 5tome, 12item, 2insight, 1exc, 2profane, 5destiny, 2ship
int66: 18base, 5tome, 7levels, 2capstone, 2battle engineer, 2arcanotechnician, 14item, 6insight, 1exc, 3quality, 2profane, 2yugo, 2ship
wis22: 6base, 3tome, 8item, 1exc, 2profane, 2ship
cha22: 6base, 3tome, 8item, 1exc, 2profane, 2ship

HP:
120 base
100 epic levels
25 heroic durability
20 improved heroic durability
10 draconic vitality
10 traveler's toughness
60 legendary dreadnaught
504 con47
40 false life slotted
20 vitality
10 GS Smoke2
20 hag's apothecary ship buff
919 TOTAL
48 Yugo pot
987 self buffed

SP:
845 artificer base
80 magical training
20 past life sorc
20 harper enchantment
60 energy of creation
1092 int58
250 wizardry10
150 GS Smoke2
2517 Base SP

Fort/Reflex/Will Saves:
6/6/12 base
5/5/5 epic
8/8/8 item
2/2/2 good luck
1/1/1 alchemical
4/4/4 greater heroism
3/0/0 game hunter ship buff
0/2/0 chronoscope ship buff
0/0/2 grandmaster's dojo ship buff
18/0/0 con47
0/25/0 int60
0/0/6 wis22
47/53/40 TOTAL

Evocation DC's:
16 base
28 int66
1 sorc PL
2 spell focus feats
6 evocation focus item
2 insightful evocation focus item
2 greater evocation focus augment
1 archwizard ship buff
3 magister evocation specialist
2 draconic incarnation precise casting
4 scion of the plane of air
1 lightning bolt SLA
68 DC blade barrier and tactical detonation (67 DC prismatic strike)

Dodge:
2 combat archery
4 scion of the plane of air
6 TOTAL, MDB is 5
Max dex bonus on adamantine body is 5 with blue slotted armored agility and fencing master ship buff.

PRR:
40 adamantine body with 20 BAB
10 infused armor (battle engineer core 5)
35 Sightless
85 TOTAL (45.95% damage reduction)

MRR:
35 Sightless
35 TOTAL (25.93% magic damage reduction)

Force Spell Power:
23 ranks
10 epic
60 epic universal spell power
30 scion of the plane of air
5 interrogation
3 tome
28 int66
4 harper
50 arcanotechnician
48 implement
150 knives eternal
6 GS Smoke2
15 spellcraft
2 good luck
1 elite spider cult mask
3 forbidden library ship buff
4 GH
20 superior impact pot
20 arcane warrior
482 TOTAL with 29% crit chance
150 maximize
75 empower
75 intensify
782 with metamagics
40 rune arm charge tier 5
822 with metamagics and fully charged rune arm

Electric Spell Power:
23 ranks
10 epic
60 epic universal spell power
40 scion of the plane of air
5 interrogation
3 tome
28 int66
4 harper
100 arcanotechnician
20 epic spell power acid
48 implement
163 lootgen
77 insightful lootgen
36 quality (Legendary Construct's Mantle)
6 GS Smoke2
15 spellcraft
2 good luck
1 elite spider cult mask
3 forbidden library ship buff
15 shrine to the devourer ship buff
4 GH
25 superior electric pot
20 arcane warrior
708 TOTAL with 25% crit chance
40 rune arm charge tier 5
748 with fully charged rune arm

Repair Spell Power:
23 ranks
10 epic
60 epic universal spell power
30 scion of the plane of air
5 interrogation
3 tome
28 int66
4 harper
50 arcanotechnician
48 implement
6 GS Smoke2
15 slotted
2 good luck
1 elite spider cult mask
3 forbidden library ship buff
4 GH
25 superior mending pot
20 arcane warrior
327 TOTAL - providing 641 HP quickened reconstructs
40 rune arm charge tier 5
367 with fully charged rune arm

To-Hit:
15 artificer BAB
5 epic
3 enhancement from battle engineer cores
4 crossbow training
1 harper enchantment
28 int66
4 profane
12 enhancement
4 competence from Adamantine Cloak of the Wolf
2 tactical training room ship buff
75 Total
5 advancing blows
6 vs evil from harper cores
up to 85 situationally

NOTE: Some info below this point is from pre-U19 and may be outdated. I will update at some point in the future.

See post #46 for options on converting this build into a 32 point version.

See post #55 for my comments on building an arti only for leveling a past life, not built for endgame.

Alternative Build Options:
WF offers the greatest survivability by far, due to quickened reconstructs, as well as more options for spell power due to having fewer racial enhancement lines that are worth taking. Helf offers less survivability but better crossbow dps through the rogue dilettante and human versatility damage boost. Helf will spend more AP on racial enhancements which limits their ability to spend on spell power enhancements. Helf also has the option of picking up 1 more spell DC by taking human adaptability int and swapping combat archery with great int. These two races are optimal for this build. See this post for a good summary of the differences between WF and helf.

Helf:
For all out ranged dps and one more spell DC but with less survivability, self-sufficiency, and lower spell/runearm dps, go helf w/ rogue dil for 3d6 sneak attack. Start with dex16, con16, int18. Feats: drop quicken and pick up precision, drop epic toughness and pick up great int. Base HP of 602. Enhancements: drop repair1, healer's friend1 and 2, improved UMD2-4, and acid 7/2/1; swap WF con for human adaptability con; pick up human greater adaptability int, imp rogue dil2, human versatility damage boost2, and human improved recovery1 (heal amp).

Human:
Human offers an extra feat but there really isn't anything else you need, and human does not get the extra sneak attack damage that helf does through the rogue dil, making helf the better choice. Human also offers the same option of 1 more spell DC as helf.

Halfling, Elf, Drow:
Halfling, elf, or drow would all allow for the possibility of combat archery much more easily, but I don't think they offer much beyond that making helf the better alternative overall. I must admit, I have not worked out these options fully, but here is my brief opinion. Halfling sneak attack enhancements are very expensive and helf does more damage for less cost. The con penalty to elf reduces the survivability with no other benefit. Drow suffers the same con and survivability penalty as elf, but does gain 1 DC, though I'm still not sure that is worth it imo.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any feedback.

----------------------------

Adding the following quote here for safe-keeping in case the Lamannia forums aren't available when it's needed.



As of U29, per the release notes:

[CThruTheEgo]

Wow! Hard to believe this build is getting an update nearly 5 years after its creation. U36 brought some good changes to artis. I copied the OP to the post directly above this one before making any changes, in case anyone needs the old version or wants to compare the changes. I moved some feats around in heroics so they flow a little better now and changed a few feats in epics to optimize it a bit more. I'll play around with those changes and maybe update further if need be.

The big change is in enhancements. Still going 41 battle engineer for the capstone, which got a nice boost with U36. Only 1 rank of caustic shot and shatter defenses because the only difference in ranks is a higher +[W], which is an extremely small damage increase when the attack has a cooldown. Shatter defenses also adds 2/4 to the DC but I'm not too concerned about that anyway. The primary reason to take them at all is because they are pre-reqs of thunder-shock weapons. To boost the DC of thunder-shock, which now procs trip using a sunder DC check (don't ask me why), I took field scrapper, warforged tactics, and dreadnought's legendary tactics.

I'm still of the opinion that doublestrike on a repeater is **** due to the 1/3 penalty, so I only took 1 rank of agility engine because it is a pre-req of unlock potential which grants 20 ranged power.

I'm disappointed that tactical mobility costs 2 AP when swift defense in both stalwart defender and sacred defender costs 1 AP and is tier 4 instead of tier 5. Not to mention it is the least powerful of all of battle engineer's tier 5s but the only one that costs 2 AP whereas all the others are 1 AP. Whatever.

The biggest change is endless fusilade now lasts 18 seconds and the duration starts after the long wind up animation. I strongly advise maxing action boosts and running in dreadnought to take full advantage of this. Enjoy it while it lasts folks!

8 in harper is still a must-have for strategic combat 1 and know the angles. So with 41 in battle engineer and 8 in harper, that leaves 31 AP to spend. You could dump all of those into arcanotechnician for the level 18 core which is useful for reaper healing. However, electric is a poor element choice for current endgame and the dog is more useless than ever, so I opted to skip arcanotechnician altogether and instead focus on both warforged and harper. The universal spell power from both makes up much of the difference compared to what you would get from investing in arcanotechnician, and gives a number of other benefits as well.

Warforged recently got some improvements to their tree also, which I noticed has not been updated on the wiki. 16 AP in warforged gets you 25 spell power, 15 ranged power, 12 PRR (with adamantine body), 3 tactics DCs, 40 repair amp, 10 hp, 1 con, and 25 fort. That's not a bad investment at all imo. Beyond that, I took the typical stuff from harper, as much int and versatile adapt as I could afford.

And since I was maxing out action boosts, I decided to take both damage boost and haste boost from dreadnought which gives me 36 total boosts. I may do some testing on haste boost to see exactly how beneficial it is on a repeater. Depending on the results, I may drop it for more con.

Let me know what you all think. As always, I'm open to feedback.

[Rig_O_Mortis]

Thanks for the update to Dubbell!

[Phil7]

great timing right when I TRed to pure arti for the final past life! I already made up my build 2 days ago before your post and it is very similar.

I tend to agree with you about the enhancements, like Caustic Shot (1/3 ranks) but I splashed a bit in Arcanotechnician during the heroic leveling, because of Lightning Rod and AoE trash damage. Lightning Sphere stun seems to be adding helpless damage, so it's a nice combo for room clearing.

About Doubleshot, I would take 3/3 points from Battle Engineer. An extra chance for an additional bolt is always welcome, even if the base damage is very low. You can proc more slow effects, freezing ice, Nerve Venom, Vorpal (Fatal Flaw) etc. Back during the slavers era (as pure Rogue mechanics) we used to play with Repeating LGS Ice crossbows for CC and LGS Vacuum Great Crossbow for DPS. It was all about the hits/second which resulted in more reliable CC.

Feats:
Apart from the obvious Completionist/PL:Wizard instead of Spell Focus Evocation...
Where is Precision? I understand that Mechanic now has a ton of fortification bypass, but still the +5% to hit is incredible in LE end game. I dropped Great Focus Evocation and took Precision

I took Quicken at level 6 and Imp Crit:Ranged at level 20. Why? Because Imp Crit Ranged is level 12+ anyway and at 14 you get Fatal Flaw which is Keen.
At level 20 you may have Epic DoublecrossBow so it stacks and at level 21 you need OC which requires ImpCrit:Ranged.
And I spam 2x Blast Rod at level 6 so Quicken is great.

Epic Feats are very flexible and they depend heavily on your destiny. You play in LD and choose Hellball and 2x Ruins while also taking Scion of Earth.
This combination imo is poor. You are better off killing the mobs/boss with your crossbow.
When you choose 2x Ruins then Scion of Fire is an incredible choice along with Wellspring of Power and PL:Wizard for the exploit.

Artificers are a hybrid between ranged DPS and evocation spells and can make more than 3 different end game builds.
1) Full-xBow DPS with Blitz and Scion of Arborea, Arcane Warrior and Combat Archery and Doubleshot 10%

2) Nuker using Draconic/Magister with Scion of Fire, Burst of G-Wrath, A-Pulse, 2x Ruins, Hellball, Intensify and Wellspring of Power

3) Hybrid using LD/Shiradi/Draconic/whatever with Scion of Air, OC, Intensify, A-Pulse, Arcane Warrior and perhaps Doubleshot. But not bursts.
This one is like a Swashbuckler, relying on atk speed and weapon effects (sonic dmg/hit, electric dmg/hit)

You can not expect to maintain your Blitz stacks using Hellball without even Shiradi procs or DPSing a boss with ur x-bow + Haste Boost open and then suddenly decide to throw 2 Ruins when you don't even have Scion of Fire and Wellspring of Power. It makes no sense and there is no synergy between your Epic Feats and your destiny.

This is only my opinion, I don't want to discredit your build or your theory-craftng abilities nor insult you in any way. Just plain feedback and criticism.

[Phil7]

Also can we move this thread in the Artificer sub-forum? When one scrolls to "Most-Viewed" in that sub-forum the only thing one can find is the Electric Critzilla from Tilomere. There are like no pure Arti builds in there it's a shame.

[CThruTheEgo]

This is only my opinion, I don't want to discredit your build or your theory-craftng abilities nor insult you in any way. Just plain feedback and criticism.

None taken whatsoever. In fact, I appreciate your well-thought out and detailed feedback.

I splashed a bit in Arcanotechnician during the heroic leveling, because of Lightning Rod and AoE trash damage. Lightning Sphere stun seems to be adding helpless damage, so it's a nice combo for room clearing.

I would probably recommend the same during heroic leveling.

About Doubleshot, I would take 3/3 points from Battle Engineer. An extra chance for an additional bolt is always welcome, even if the base damage is very low. You can proc more slow effects, freezing ice, Nerve Venom, Vorpal (Fatal Flaw) etc.

I fully understand that more shots equals more proc chances, but the 1/3 doubleshot penalty to repeaters, in my opinion, weakens the value of doubleshot to the point that it's basically not worth worrying about. 10% doubleshot with a 1/3 penalty means you get an extra 3 bolts for every 100. If doubleshot were to proc an entire extra volley of bolts on a repeater, then I could understand giving them a penalty, but it has never worked that way. I'm not sure the rate of fire of a repeater is high enough to justify the 1/3 penalty to doubleshot either. A repeater would have to fire 3x as many bolts over the same period of time as a regular crossbow to get the same benefit from doubleshot with a 1/3 penalty. I haven't done any testing, but I have my doubts that the rate of fire disparity is that great. I'm actually interested in doing some testing on this, but I have no idea if or when I'll get around to it.

Apart from the obvious Completionist/PL:Wizard instead of Spell Focus Evocation...

If you want to twist precise evocation and evocation specialist, then you have to have spell focus evocation.

Where is Precision? I understand that Mechanic now has a ton of fortification bypass, but still the +5% to hit is incredible in LE end game. I dropped Great Focus Evocation and took Precision

You could certainly drop greater spell focus for precision. I have considered this as well and it may be something I do once I've playtested a bit. With the combination of increased crit range, crit multiplier, and fusilade duration, I suspect that the overall contribution of repeater dps will be significantly higher than it was before the pass, which makes it more worthwhile to invest in repeater dps. In fact, I have my concerns that it will be so great that it will minimize the value of casting dps at all.

I took Quicken at level 6 and Imp Crit:Ranged at level 20. Why? Because Imp Crit Ranged is level 12+ anyway and at 14 you get Fatal Flaw which is Keen.
At level 20 you may have Epic DoublecrossBow so it stacks and at level 21 you need OC which requires ImpCrit:Ranged.
And I spam 2x Blast Rod at level 6 so Quicken is great.

That's a good idea only if you have Fatal Flaw and I don't want to make build choices which require specific gear to be viable. It is a relatively easy item to farm, but I don't want to make that a universal recommendation for everyone who may follow this build.

Epic Feats are very flexible and they depend heavily on your destiny. You play in LD and choose Hellball and 2x Ruins while also taking Scion of Earth.
This combination imo is poor. You are better off killing the mobs/boss with your crossbow.

Epic feats are something I gave a lot of thought to, and you are right, there are a multitude of options you could go with on a pure arti. My goal is to maintain this as a hybrid ranged/casting dps build, but I am concerned that the increase to repeater dps will be great enough to minimize the value of casting dps.

When you choose 2x Ruins then Scion of Fire is an incredible choice along with Wellspring of Power and PL:Wizard for the exploit.

I'm not sure what the "exploit" is you are referring to, but I'm not a fan of wellspring of power due to its relatively short duration and long cooldown. While it is a rather significant boost during its duration, I personally prefer to have abilities that I can use more consistently or on demand rather than in short bursts on occasion. That's just a personal playstyle preference.

Regarding scion of fire, for raw casting dps, it is the superior legendary feat choice, but I don't just focus on casting dps and want to keep this a hybrid build. There are still many enemies in the current endgame that are immune or resistant to fire, which minimizes the value of the fire proc damage on weapon attacks.

Scion of earth has good synergy with energy burst acid. Not only does it boost acid spell power, but also reduces the number of spell powers you need to gear for. Plus, in terms of mob vulnerability, acid is currently the most useful of the elements.

Artificers are a hybrid between ranged DPS and evocation spells and can make more than 3 different end game builds.
1) Full-xBow DPS with Blitz and Scion of Arborea, Arcane Warrior and Combat Archery and Doubleshot 10%

With the changes to repeater dps mentioned previously, I suspect it will be viable to create a fully ranged specced pure arti, but that is not what I am interested in, personally.

2) Nuker using Draconic/Magister with Scion of Fire, Burst of G-Wrath, A-Pulse, 2x Ruins, Hellball, Intensify and Wellspring of Power

You can only pick 3 of burst of glacial wrath, intensify, ruin, and greater ruin. But yes, this is also a viable option with a much more casting burst dps focus. As with the fully ranged focus above, it's not what I'm interested in.

3) Hybrid using LD/Shiradi/Draconic/whatever with Scion of Air, OC, Intensify, A-Pulse, Arcane Warrior and perhaps Doubleshot. But not bursts.
This one is like a Swashbuckler, relying on atk speed and weapon effects (sonic dmg/hit, electric dmg/hit)

Scion of air is, unfortunately, a poor choice due to the electric immunity of endgame raid bosses.

You can only have one of arcane pulse and arcane warrior. I used arcane warrior on this build previously and liked it, but went with arcane pulse this time to boost boss dps, although it probably won't be needed with the combination of fusilade and action hero, in which case embodiment of law or harbinger of chaos may be better options.

You can not expect to maintain your Blitz stacks using Hellball without even Shiradi procs or DPSing a boss with ur x-bow + Haste Boost open and then suddenly decide to throw 2 Ruins when you don't even have Scion of Fire and Wellspring of Power.

Sure I can. I've been playing this as a hybrid ranged/caster dps build for years in dreadnought and have learned how to keep blitz up and still use spells as desired.

Also, I've never had scion of fire or wellspring of power on this build but have gotten good use out of ruin (I didn't take greater ruin previously). I can certainly understand the burst dps effects of those two feats on the power of ruin/greater ruin, but they are not a must-have combination.

Also also, hellball only procs shiradi effects once, so I'm not sure why you mention that.

It makes no sense and there is no synergy between your Epic Feats and your destiny.

Well if there is a lack of synergy, then it's always been there because I've always played this build with a dual focus on ranged and casting dps, and so far it's worked out pretty well. With the change to fusilade coupled with action hero, I can't imagine another epic destiny coming anywhere close to competing with dreadnought. If anything, I am concerned that the boost to repeater dps will be great enough that it negates the value of any sort of casting focus, but I will have to play to find that out.

Ruin, greater ruin, and arcane pulse all use force spell power, which I plan to max out as much as possible. This also benefits blade barrier and the best endgame rune arms all still use force spell power. So there is good synergy among those. I don't plan to spam ruin or greater ruin, but will use them when I need or want big damage immediately. Unfortunately there is no energy burst: force, so you have to pick an element if you want energy burst. Acid has the widest range of use at cap and that synergizes well with scion of earth when gearing for additional spell powers. Scion of arborea boosts force spell power, but only by 10 more than scion of earth, plus it adds nothing to DCs. And while I haven't done any testing or number crunching, I suspect the 2d20 acid proc (since I'll already be geared for acid spell power) will provide more dps than the 20 ranged power and +2 enhancement bonus from arborea.

Regarding hellball, I admit this is kind of the odd one out, but I chose it because there really isn't much else worth taking. I flip-flopped quite a bit over which feat to take at this level and none of them are very appealing to be honest. It's a level 28 epic destiny feat. Let's look at the other options.

~epic skill focus spellcraft, epic spell power repair, epic spell power acid: all of these have worth but nothing very significant
~elusive target: maybe not a bad choice on a build with a relatively low damage avoidance, but also not a very strong choice on a ranged build
~holy strike, first blood: these are total garbage in my opinion
~tactician: maybe not a bad choice to boost thunder-shock weapons DC
~doubleshot: I've already talked at length about my view of doubleshot on a repeater build

No other epic destiny feat available at level 28 is worth mentioning. So, as you can see, none of the choices are very strong. I ended up choosing hellball just for another AoE damage effect. But I don't plan to build for all the spell powers that hellball uses, so it's probably not a great choice, and probably one I will end up changing. If I do get rid of hellball, I'll probably take tactician, spellcraft, or acid instead.

Also can we move this thread in the Artificer sub-forum? When one scrolls to "Most-Viewed" in that sub-forum the only thing one can find is the Electric Critzilla from Tilomere. There are like no pure Arti builds in there it's a shame.

Well, it's been here for 5 years. I'd hate to move it now. Plus, it's always near the top and easily found in the specialist sub-forum.

Thanks again for the feedback Phil7. I hope that answers some of your questions.

[Phil7]

If you want to twist precise evocation and evocation specialist, then you have to have spell focus evocation.

yes my bad I forgot about that

I'm not sure what the "exploit" is you are referring to, but I'm not a fan of wellspring of power due to its relatively short duration and long cooldown. While it is a rather significant boost during its duration, I personally prefer to have abilities that I can use more consistently or on demand rather than in short bursts on occasion. That's just a personal playstyle preference.

read here:
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5897985
It happens when u lag sometimes, I have also managed to recreate it and it appears in your Combat log too (multiple Ruins).

Scion of air is, unfortunately, a poor choice due to the electric immunity of endgame raid bosses.

Hm? I can't exactly remember right now but i thought it was mostly Sorjek? So many years of not playing casters except from warlock and shiradi have made me careless it seems.

Sure I can. I've been playing this as a hybrid ranged/caster dps build for years in dreadnought and have learned how to keep blitz up and still use spells as desired.

Yes but their damage will be considerably low. As Shiradis or Warlocks we used to ruin for 45-60k on bosses with everything open and in Fire. On helpless mobs you could rarely hit 100k+. Anyway it's your build CThru and you play the way you like. I would just drop them in LD that's all.

Also also, hellball only procs shiradi effects once, so I'm not sure why you mention that.

It used to do a double-proc on shiradi, but I think they fixed it now not sure. I always use Hellball as an AoE burst room-clearing spell after having helpless mobs near me. Similar to E-burst and Primal Scream and without Shiradi it seems weak. You could swap it for Force SP or Acid SP (Earth) I guess.

Well if there is a lack of synergy, then it's always been there because I've always played this build with a dual focus on ranged and casting dps, and so far it's worked out pretty well. With the change to fusilade coupled with action hero, I can't imagine another epic destiny coming anywhere close to competing with dreadnought. If anything, I am concerned that the boost to repeater dps will be great enough that it negates the value of any sort of casting focus, but I will have to play to find that out.

Yep that is a generall reaper issue. Burst builds are dying and especially caster burst builds like Sorcerers. With us dealing less damage and the mobs having higher HP it was meant to happen. Sustained dps is now king in high skulls where the fights take much longer and burst is only needed if u really can burst down a target within seconds.
But this is a different and long discussion. My prediction is that Mechanics and pure Tempests (RIP wolf aoe dmg) will become meta in end game reaper and classes like fighter and monkcher will be less and less needed. Apart from a few instances like Shroud part 2 where you need to burst the crystal.

Scion of arborea boosts force spell power, but only by 10 more than scion of earth, plus it adds nothing to DCs. And while I haven't done any testing or number crunching, I suspect the 2d20 acid proc (since I'll already be geared for acid spell power) will provide more dps than the 20 ranged power and +2 enhancement bonus from arborea.

Yes I believe that is true when you have a high spell power. Does not apply to every build ofc, cause a Barbarian with max -perhaps- 400 acid SP? and 280 Melee Power will obviously benefit more from Arborea. Depends on the build.

Well, it's been here for 5 years. I'd hate to move it now. Plus, it's always near the top and easily found in the specialist sub-forum.

Would you reconsider if Cordovan could move it to the Artificer section AND make it so you can keep your views? It would still be on the top :P
Nah, it's your build and your time spent writing it man. Your call of course, I just mentioned it for the sake of our new players when searching for builds.
I also searched in the Arti thread, found nothing and then accidentally found this here, only because you updated it for U36 and I was lucky to read the "Today's Posts".

[CThruTheEgo]

read here:
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5897985
It happens when u lag sometimes, I have also managed to recreate it and it appears in your Combat log too (multiple Ruins).

Well that's interesting, but I certainly wouldn't want to make build decisions that are dependent upon the game messing up to get the effect I am after. I prefer reliability and consistency in my playstyle.

Hm? I can't exactly remember right now but i thought it was mostly Sorjek? So many years of not playing casters except from warlock and shiradi have made me careless it seems.

Kor-Kaza is also immune, being a blue dragon and all. White Feather Sniper in my sig currently has scion of the plane of air and I recall noticing other mobs with either immunity or resistance, although they are not coming to mind. I haven't played that character in endgame content much recently.

Yes but their damage will be considerably low. As Shiradis or Warlocks we used to ruin for 45-60k on bosses with everything open and in Fire. On helpless mobs you could rarely hit 100k+. Anyway it's your build CThru and you play the way you like. I would just drop them in LD that's all.

Underlined added. Again, this seems like more of a stars aligned kind of situation, which doesn't fit my playstyle.

I've been quite pleased with the damage I've gotten from ruin in the past. Keep in mind this is a hybrid build. I'm not expecting spell dps alone to compete with the spell dps of a full time dps caster. I do, however, expect the combination of repeater, rune arm, and spell dps to be on par with other builds which have been revamped.

It used to do a double-proc on shiradi, but I think they fixed it now not sure.

You used to be able to get hellball to proc its own damage twice, and I'm guessing that is why it procced shiradi twice. That was fixed with U34, at least according to the release notes:

Hellball and Eldritch Ball no longer proc extra times if you are within melee range of your target(s).

I always use Hellball as an AoE burst room-clearing spell after having helpless mobs near me. Similar to E-burst and Primal Scream and without Shiradi it seems weak.

What makes shiradi really shine as a dps destiny is having many spells that hit multiple times to maximize the number of shiradi procs per cast. For that purpose, artificers have lightning sphere, blast rod, lightning bolt (not guaranteed to hit multiple times), an SLA for each of them, and tactical detonation. Plus, the damage of shiradi procs on the repeater are basically negligible. Add in the fact that artis get fewer base spell points than other dps caster classes (excluding warlocks, but they are much less dependent upon spell points for dps than any other caster) and that shiradi procs require metamagics to be turned on for the spell being cast, and artis really don't shine in shiradi like a typical shiradi caster. I played this build in shiradi years ago and found it to be a terrible choice for the build. You could certainly make a caster specced arti for shiradi and it would probably work, but that's definitely not my goal with this build.

You could swap it for Force SP or Acid SP (Earth) I guess.

I'm already taking epic spell power force at level 26, so I'd probably go acid.

Yes I believe that is true when you have a high spell power. Does not apply to every build ofc, cause a Barbarian with max -perhaps- 400 acid SP? and 280 Melee Power will obviously benefit more from Arborea. Depends on the build.

Yes, my comment was specifically about this build.

Would you reconsider if Cordovan could move it to the Artificer section AND make it so you can keep your views? It would still be on the top :P
Nah, it's your build and your time spent writing it man. Your call of course, I just mentioned it for the sake of our new players when searching for builds.
I also searched in the Arti thread, found nothing and then accidentally found this here, only because you updated it for U36 and I was lucky to read the "Today's Posts".

I'll think about it.

[Nodoze]

How have you enjoyed playing your Artie since u36?

Do you feel it's DPS is on par or better/worse with top builds now?

Any thoughts overall on where it fits or doesn't fit?

[CThruTheEgo]

How have you enjoyed playing your Artie since u36?

Do you feel it's DPS is on par or better/worse with top builds now?

Any thoughts overall on where it fits or doesn't fit?

I haven't played much since U36 went live and I've been focused on a different character, one which I am trying to get to level 30 so I can TR into this build for a life. So I haven't actually played an arti at all since the changes, other than shooting the guild ship cannon for a bit.

That said, I'm sure arti dps will be on par with other builds which have already been revamped. Why do I think that without even playing one? Because the revamp upgrades for all classes have been pretty homogeneous overall. In regard to dps, each class has basically received some combination of increased crit range/multiplier and ranged/melee power. So I have little doubt that it will be at least on par with other revamped classes.

[Nodoze]

I haven't played much since U36 went live and I've been focused on a different character, one which I am trying to get to level 30 so I can TR into this build for a life. So I haven't actually played an arti at all since the changes, other than shooting the guild ship cannon for a bit.

That said, I'm sure arti dps will be on par with other builds which have already been revamped. Why do I think that without even playing one? Because the revamp upgrades for all classes have been pretty homogeneous overall. In regard to dps, each class has basically received some combination of increased crit range/multiplier and ranged/melee power. So I have little doubt that it will be at least on par with other revamped classes.

Thanks for feedback. Personally I am in the same boat as you as my Artie is on a different life also and I have to finish leveling him up and then TR and with my limited play time I will likely be slower than you.

Please try to remember to post back once you able able to TR and level up some. Maybe would be a good idea to posting feedback about whether the change in play for various level ranges is the same as in the past or not. etc...

[CThruTheEgo]

Thanks for feedback. Personally I am in the same boat as you as my Artie is on a different life also and I have to finish leveling him up and then TR and with my limited play time I will likely be slower than you.

Please try to remember to post back once you able able to TR and level up some. Maybe would be a good idea to posting feedback about whether the change in play for various level ranges is the same as in the past or not. etc...

My play time is pretty limited right now as well. It takes me 2-3 months to go from 1-30. But I will definitely give an update after I've played the build some.

[Dulcimerist]

I don't have Harper yet, but I do see purchasing it in the future. Until then, what would you suggest as an alternate build option of this without Harper?

Thanks!

[CThruTheEgo]

I don't have Harper yet, but I do see purchasing it in the future. Until then, what would you suggest as an alternate build option of this without Harper?

Thanks!

I purchased harper before it was available through favor, but I honestly wouldn't purchase it today. The harper agent tree can also be unlocked with the highest tier of harper favor, which is relatively easy to get nowadays. Just take a high level character into the heroic versions of the harper favor quests and smash them on heroic elite for the favor.

But until you get harper, whichever way you get it, you can really invest those extra AP into whatever suits you. There isn't much else in battle engineer, in my opinion, unless you run a lot of content with constructs, in which case I'd get wracking shot and disable construct, maybe more ranks of caustic shot. More warforged for added survivability (construct toughness, the other cores for con and fortification, construct nature for higher will/fort saves) is always a good option. Arcanotechnician provides some nice options for both universal spell power and electric spell power (if you're using that at all), as well as more int and spell crit. So you've got some options. None of it is essential and it's really up to you what you'd prefer.

[Dulcimerist]

I purchased harper before it was available through favor, but I honestly wouldn't purchase it today. The harper agent tree can also be unlocked with the highest tier of harper favor, which is relatively easy to get nowadays. Just take a high level character into the heroic versions of the harper favor quests and smash them on heroic elite for the favor.

But until you get harper, whichever way you get it, you can really invest those extra AP into whatever suits you. There isn't much else in battle engineer, in my opinion, unless you run a lot of content with constructs, in which case I'd get wracking shot and disable construct, maybe more ranks of caustic shot. More warforged for added survivability (construct toughness, the other cores for con and fortification, construct nature for higher will/fort saves) is always a good option. Arcanotechnician provides some nice options for both universal spell power and electric spell power (if you're using that at all), as well as more int and spell crit. So you've got some options. None of it is essential and it's really up to you what you'd prefer.

Thanks for the advice on Harper! I'm unsure if I have all of the adventure packs to grab the favor. If they run Harper on sale at 75% or more off, I might be tempted to take the shortcut of buying it.

Arcanotechnician was something I was looking at in a rough plan I was drawing up. Inspired by your build, I'll see if I can put something together to post on the forums, and would highly value your opinion when I post it. Thanks!