Mech Repeater Builds

[Retrodark]

Do you guys tested if the new Assasin Lethality work with mech if you have a runearm on offhand?

I know that it at least doesn't stack with Expert Builder. I didn't try to do it exclusively.

[unbongwah]

Do you guys tested if the new Assasin Lethality work with mech if you have a runearm on offhand?

I'm guessing the answer is no; xbows aren't considered one-handed weapons, even though arties can put a RA in their offhand. Usually when Turbine refers to "one-handed weapons," they mean only melee weapons.

[Yamato-San]

Do you guys tested if the new Assasin Lethality work with mech if you have a runearm on offhand?

I tried nearly all combinations (repeater/gxbow/shuriken/throwing dagger + runearm/second hand weapon/second hand empty):
Lethality is completely useless for ranged combat.

@devs: could you please look at this, the previous Lethality vorpal functionality was a nice little boost for (nearly) pure ranged rogues, now it's 100% nerfed.

[unbongwah]

@devs: could you please look at this, the previous Lethality vorpal functionality was a nice little boost for (nearly) pure ranged rogues, now it's 100% nerfed.

/not signed

There's still plenty of DPS perks for Mechanics in the Assassin PrE: +2 INT, +4D6 SAs, Crit Mastery, Killer (+20% Doubleshot when maxed out). I'm fine with Lethality being 1H-melee-weapons-only; just means more APs to spend elsewhere, like Harper.

[Vanhooger]

/not signed

There's still plenty of DPS perks for Mechanics in the Assassin PrE: +2 INT, +4D6 SAs, Crit Mastery, Killer (+20% Doubleshot when maxed out). I'm fine with Lethality being 1H-melee-weapons-only; just means more APs to spend elsewhere, like Harper.

Yeah I was just cheking, if that was working mech could be a bit overperforming.

[ToastyFred]

/not signed

There's still plenty of DPS perks for Mechanics in the Assassin PrE: +2 INT, +4D6 SAs, Crit Mastery, Killer (+20% Doubleshot when maxed out). I'm fine with Lethality being 1H-melee-weapons-only; just means more APs to spend elsewhere, like Harper.

Agree completely.

[Thorvax]

New Mechanic build versions that I am running. I am currently running in Shadar-kai for Iconic life and for a rogue life. I had two versions under the discussion thread about gxbow vs. repeater. Decided to post just the artificer version in a separate thread. The fighter x 2 version was my first attempt and I took fighter for both heavy armor and the 2 extra feats. I decided that I don't get hit a lot and evasion was a little more important than the small amount of PRR/MRR I got from heavy armor. I am still over 100 PRR while blitzing, so I can take a hit or two.

Otherwise hey are virtually the same build.

Differences: Fighter - higher BAB (get IPS at 15 instead of 18), heavy armor, 2 bonus feats. (arty has rapid reload granted, so a net of 1 extra)
Arti - Rune arm usage for additional damage (and specific rune arm bonuses depending on rune arm), enhance weapon spell, dog for lever pulling, higher spell point pool (for rejuv. and KtA)

I was not actually running with 31 points in Assassin in the fighter version (I spent more points into mechanic because I was playing around with Gxbows). Edit: I am really not thinking that the core 5 of assassin is worth taking. I never see lethality working with xbow. In addition damage boost III from assassin and LD pull from same number of action boosts, so it makes sense to switch one of those out for something else.

Here is the version build that I am currently running. I changed the name because it is like using a rocket launcher machine gun and my character's name is Retrodark.
Currently playing this version at lvl 28. This build is a beast. I am using the rune arm from the Druid's chain for +3 insight Int. It adds a small amount of acid damage as well. Fully buffed, my Int 60-62 with yugo and exceptional pots, so it actually evens it out.

New version
18/2 Rogue/Artificer
True Neutral Shadar-kai




Level Order


1. Rogue. . . . . .6. Rogue . . . . .11. Rogue. . . . . 16. Rogue
2. Rogue. . . . . .7. Rogue . . . . .12. Rogue. . . . . 17. Rogue
3. Artificer. . . .8. Rogue . . . . .13. Rogue. . . . . 18. Rogue
4. Artificer. . . .9. Rogue . . . . .14. Rogue. . . . . 19. Rogue
5. Rogue. . . . . 10. Rogue . . . . .15. Rogue. . . . . 20. Rogue




Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt. . .34pt . . 36pt . . Tome. . .Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . ---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8. . . .+6 . . . 4: INT
Dexterity . . . 16. . . .16 . . . 17. . . .18. . . .+6 . . . 8: INT
Constitution. . 14. . . .16 . . . 16. . . .16. . . .+6 . . .12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .18 . . . 18. . . .18. . . .+6 . . .16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8. . . .+6 . . .20: INT
Charisma. . . . .6. . . . 6 . . . .6. . . . 6. . . .+6 . . .24: INT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28: INT


Feats


.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.3. . . . : Rapid Shot
.6. . . . : Completionist
.9. . . . : Precise Shot
12. . . . : Precision
12 Rogue. : Opportunist
15. . . . : Improved Critical: Ranged
15 Rogue. : Crippling Strike
18. . . . : Improved Precise Shot
18 Rogue. : Slippery Mind
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Combat Archery
26 Destiny: Holy Strike
27 Epic . : Improved Sneak Attack
28 Destiny: Doubleshot




Spells

1. Enchant Weapons, Conjure Bolts, Enchant Armor

Enhancements


Assassin (23 AP)

• Knife in the Darkness, Dagger in the Back, Assassin's Trick
  
  1. Poison Strikes: Heartseeker, Sneak Attack Training, Stealthy I
  2. Venomed Blades III, Sneak Attack Training, Damage Boost III
  3. Critical Mastery III, Intelligence
  4. Killer III

Mechanic (38 AP)

• Arbalester, Tanglefoot, Targeting Sights, Improved Detection, Expert Builder
  
  1. Sharpshooter, Mechanics III
  2. Sharpshooter, Improved Traps III, Skill Boost II
  3. Sharpshooter, Intelligence
  4. Sharpshooter, Leg Shot, Fletching III, Intelligence
  5. Sharpshooter, Rapid Fire III, Mechanical Reloader

Thief-Acrobat (3 AP)

• Staff Control
  
  1. Fast Movement

Harper Agent (16 AP)

• Agent of Good I, Intelligence, Agent of Good II
  
  1. Harper Enchantment, Traveler's Toughness II, Strategic Combat
  2. Versatile Adept III, Know the Angles III

Destiny


Legendary Dreadnought

1. Extra Action Boost III, Constitution
2. Damage Boost III, Constitution
3. Critical Damage III, Haste Boost III, Constitution
4. <none>
5. Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
6. Master's Blitz

Hi, in your assassin enhancements tree does heartseeker poisonstrikes works with repeaters or gxbow. It states only for melee attacks. Whats the purpose of 3 ranks heartseeker poisonstrikes in your build? Is it for debuffing purposes only? ?

[Retrodark]

Hi, in your assassin enhancements tree does heartseeker poisonstrikes works with repeaters or gxbow. It states only for melee attacks. Whats the purpose of 3 ranks heartseeker poisonstrikes in your build? Is it for debuffing purposes only? ?

Well, it looks like I only have 1 rank in it right? W/e the case, it was probably an accident...can put it somewhere else. I don't think I had it in my actual live build.

[Thorvax]

Well, it looks like I only have 1 rank in it right? W/e the case, it was probably an accident...can put it somewhere else. I don't think I had it in my actual live build.

Copy and thanks

[Pank]

Didn't see a reason to. The mech core 3 gives int for damage with xbows and my DEX is high enough for the to-hit side (I guess you could take the to-hit from Harper to gain a bit (about +5-7ish), my personal version is a completionist with 3 enhancement PLs and 3 fighter PLs, I really don't miss much).

You have the boost from Know the Angles (half INT bonus added to damage) which is still nice, and cheap AP-wise

[RumbIe]

Fantastic build. Lots of fun. I went SDK as well because what the heck. Never played one before. Plus this was my assassin I TR'd from and thought the starter SDK knives might be fun to play with if I TR back to an assassin build. It was my original intent, but now that I'm playing a mech repeater I wish I had TR'd a different toon to a repeater because I don't think I can change back. I've played an artie and it is nothing like this. Even have a 14 pally/ 6 artie and maybe I just have the feats wrong, but not even close.

I also kept the 2 artie splash for free xbox feat, rune arm damage (In these levels I use Tira's splendor so have death block always slotted) and conjure bolts and enchant weapon.

I know kill counts don't mean anything (especially while I'm only at level 18), but basically every quest I have 100 kills while the rest all have 5 to 15. If there's a warlock they may get 30-40. Maybe.

I'm playing with a Great Xbow and the damage is sick. I just wish there were more named XBow options. I may go to a repeater for epic levels, but GXB is so nice. The knock down effect is nice too. Good GXB are just hard to find. Luckily I have a metalline of PG from back in the days when you never never never sold a metalline or holy burst of pg item and while equipped it has a base damage of 45 and just mows all mobs down.

A question or two though because I want to maintain what I'm doing through epic lol and understand what's going on so I don't make a build mistake.

- Why did you not go with Sniper in the T5 mech tree? With a GBX it is a no brainer. I had to do it, but it seems useful for even a repeater build.
- I dropped the faster movement in acrobat. I assume that's just a preference. It also freed up 3 AP for me.

- I went 4 tiers with assassin SA. To do this though I need to give some things up and this is my real question. So adding sniper and just one SA (tier 3) I lost the faster moving (easy decision for me) and 1 RP from harper (is 1 RP that big a deal?). If I want to keep the tier 4 SA then I need to either sacrifice 2 more RP or 1 Int. I haven't really planned out if I'll be at an odd or even Int yet at end game so it may be an easier decision than I think, but let's assume 1 Int is the difference between an even or odd number.

So the root of my question here is what is more important to have? +1 SA from assassin, +1 Int (assuming it makes it an even number) or +2 RP? I'm not really good at understanding how RP effects things when all aspects are added in.

Thanks in advance

[FranOhmsford]

Why do I not see Imp. Evasion?

You stated that you went for Evasion over Hvy Armour so why skip Imp. Evasion?

[Retrodark]

Fantastic build. Lots of fun. I went SDK as well because what the heck. Never played one before. Plus this was my assassin I TR'd from and thought the starter SDK knives might be fun to play with if I TR back to an assassin build. It was my original intent, but now that I'm playing a mech repeater I wish I had TR'd a different toon to a repeater because I don't think I can change back. I've played an artie and it is nothing like this. Even have a 14 pally/ 6 artie and maybe I just have the feats wrong, but not even close.

I also kept the 2 artie splash for free xbox feat, rune arm damage (In these levels I use Tira's splendor so have death block always slotted) and conjure bolts and enchant weapon.

I know kill counts don't mean anything (especially while I'm only at level 18), but basically every quest I have 100 kills while the rest all have 5 to 15. If there's a warlock they may get 30-40. Maybe.

I'm playing with a Great Xbow and the damage is sick. I just wish there were more named XBow options. I may go to a repeater for epic levels, but GXB is so nice. The knock down effect is nice too. Good GXB are just hard to find. Luckily I have a metalline of PG from back in the days when you never never never sold a metalline or holy burst of pg item and while equipped it has a base damage of 45 and just mows all mobs down.

A question or two though because I want to maintain what I'm doing through epic lol and understand what's going on so I don't make a build mistake.

- Why did you not go with Sniper in the T5 mech tree? With a GBX it is a no brainer. I had to do it, but it seems useful for even a repeater build.
- I dropped the faster movement in acrobat. I assume that's just a preference. It also freed up 3 AP for me.

- I went 4 tiers with assassin SA. To do this though I need to give some things up and this is my real question. So adding sniper and just one SA (tier 3) I lost the faster moving (easy decision for me) and 1 RP from harper (is 1 RP that big a deal?). If I want to keep the tier 4 SA then I need to either sacrifice 2 more RP or 1 Int. I haven't really planned out if I'll be at an odd or even Int yet at end game so it may be an easier decision than I think, but let's assume 1 Int is the difference between an even or odd number.

So the root of my question here is what is more important to have? +1 SA from assassin, +1 Int (assuming it makes it an even number) or +2 RP? I'm not really good at understanding how RP effects things when all aspects are added in.

Thanks in advance

+1 SA from sniper didn't seem like anything spectacular for repeaters, but it is definitely a great choice for GXB (+3 SA, +2W and 19-20 vorps).

I would say it is something like +2 RP > +1 SA > +1 INT, but idk. They all seem too small and trivial on the overall damage matrix. I think the more important factors of the build are getting t4 assassin for killer, Getting the lvl 18 core 5 (Expert Builder) for the crit, KtA from harper. As long as you can fill in to get these, you will be fine.

[Retrodark]

Why do I not see Imp. Evasion?

You stated that you went for Evasion over Hvy Armour so why skip Imp. Evasion?

It is there now. Must have been a mistake. The original version had fighter instead of artificer and I did wear heavy armor, so maybe it was leftover from that.

[FranOhmsford]

It is there now. Must have been a mistake. The original version had fighter instead of artificer and I did wear heavy armor, so maybe it was leftover from that.

I see you dropped Crippling Strike for it?

Is Slippery Mind that good then?

[mezzorco]

I see you dropped Crippling Strike for it?

Is Slippery Mind that good then?

It's Crippling Strike that is that bad, at least in Epic.

Two chances of rolling a 20 on will saves is way better.

[F2PPremiumLeech]

Nice build, I have capped it with just a few modifications:

I didn't have shadar-kai so I used halfling.

I took 1 rogue and then 2 levels of arti to immediately get repeater use +rune arm. The melee attack speed was so SLOOOOOOW at 1st level so life was much better when I got to use repeaters as soon as possible.

I took following feats:

.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.3. . . . : Rapid Shot
.6. . . . : Precision
.9. . . . : Precise Shot
12. . . . : Insightful reflexes
12 Rogue. : Opportunist
15. . . . : Improved Critical: Ranged
15 Rogue. : Improved evasion
18. . . . : Improved Precise Shot
18 Rogue. : Slippery Mind
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Combat Archery
26 Destiny: Holy Strike
27 Epic . : Improved Sneak Attack
28 Destiny: Doubleshot

Enhancements had that 1 extra point in assasin so I took +1 to saves from halfling racial. Otherwise they were same. ED is what was suggested.

Twists of fate:
Sense weakness
Technician to help compensate lack of optimal gear
Cocoon

Corruption of nature for +3 insightful int at 23.

[RumbIe]

So I went with the +2 RP over the +1 SA though to be honest I have no idea how the numbers all wash out with weapons, feats, enhancements, EDs and etc. But if you guys all say so then I'm ok with it

So I'm at level 20 right now and still having a blast. Working on finalizing the LD ED. I have Shiradi from a prior life all max'd. Any value in that? Should I be twisting in Pin or Prism until I get enough twist spots open for sense weakness? (Cocoon is twisted of course already). Any other good twists for the build?

Lastly weapons. As mentioned I have a metalline of PG great xbow that I am using. I love the GXB and in EE Battle for Eveningstar I was laying down wicked numbers on the end boss with KtA and a damage boost going. It seemed like every other bolt was 1K and I'm only tier 4 of LD right now. Can't wait until I get tier 5.

With the limited number of GXBs out there is it worth it to craft a Cormy one? (From EStar challenges?) I should have enough mats for a level 20 one that could get me through to I can get a TF. Can probably get a T2 pretty easily. T3 will be a long way off. Or should I focus on a GS one? (No more raiders boxes for this guy sadly so no needle during those levels since no one runs CITW any more and on the rare occasion anyone does nothing drops.)

Thanks

[Retrodark]

So I went with the +2 RP over the +1 SA though to be honest I have no idea how the numbers all wash out with weapons, feats, enhancements, EDs and etc. But if you guys all say so then I'm ok with it

So I'm at level 20 right now and still having a blast. Working on finalizing the LD ED. I have Shiradi from a prior life all max'd. Any value in that? Should I be twisting in Pin or Prism until I get enough twist spots open for sense weakness? (Cocoon is twisted of course already). Any other good twists for the build?

Lastly weapons. As mentioned I have a metalline of PG great xbow that I am using. I love the GXB and in EE Battle for Eveningstar I was laying down wicked numbers on the end boss with KtA and a damage boost going. It seemed like every other bolt was 1K and I'm only tier 4 of LD right now. Can't wait until I get tier 5.

With the limited number of GXBs out there is it worth it to craft a Cormy one? (From EStar challenges?) I should have enough mats for a level 20 one that could get me through to I can get a TF. Can probably get a T2 pretty easily. T3 will be a long way off. Or should I focus on a GS one? (No more raiders boxes for this guy sadly so no needle during those levels since no one runs CITW any more and on the rare occasion anyone does nothing drops.)

Thanks

Notice this thread doesn't say Mech GXB Builds , I honestly see the allure of the GXB, but find the repeaters superior for many reasons esp with LD...faster 10 stack of blitz. As for twists, pin and otto's from shiradi are good choices, though otto's doesn't always work that great if you use a deception item.

[Therrias]

Notice this thread doesn't say Mech GXB Builds , I honestly see the allure of the GXB, but find the repeaters superior for many reasons esp with LD...faster 10 stack of blitz. As for twists, pin and otto's from shiradi are good choices, though otto's doesn't always work that great if you use a deception item.

There are no repeater or gxbow builds, there are only Mech builds. The only difference is 3-5 AP.

Gxbow is owning so far on my build though. Still one-shotting mobs at level 14.