Fleshie Arty Viable and other questions...

[WanderingGrump]

Hi folks,

Since it was on sale I decided to get the Arty class and while I am not in a hurry to building one quickly I am going to start researching the build I will use on my road to completionist since it's required. I am not sure if I will like the class but one thing I do know is for personal reasons I don't play Warfarged. Call me silly or odd but I just can't bring myself to do it. So with that being the case is it viable to actually run a fleshy Arty? Is Construct Essence worth taking and actually lead to viability for realistic self healing?

I have seen there is a Bastard Sword melee version of the Arty and since my completionist toon has a heck of a Bastard sword selection that will likely be a consideration for the build I use. I don't know if I will do much as far as repeaters go on the toon but I may try it and see if I like it.

Other than the damage considerations what is better between repeater types. Is it noticeable the difference between light and heavy crossbows? Which is supperior? Is a Great Crossbow worth using at all (I suspect it's something that looks good but in truth is more of a flavor thing or a trap like Kama's on a Monk, but since I haven't used them it's hard for me to say)?

Thanks for the thoughts on this...