Anyone use a great crossbow for any useful effect?

[voodoogroves]

I've got a number of repeater users, done the bow thing and even have a shurricannon ... and was thinking I might break the mold on one of my toons, running a few lives w/ a great crossbow. I could craft up a greensteel one easily enough and certainly all the Cannith-twink for heroic.

.... but ....

My brain says they suck. I've been away, and have no idea all the changes - is it something that's viable for arti / rogue / ranger types? Deepwood, Mechanic, etc? Does anyone have any practical experience with them not-sucking?

[gwonbush]

With the animation changes and the recent updates, great crossbow mechanics are pretty beastly (though I still prefer a repeater at lower levels).

[voodoogroves]

Rogue looks good up straight, that's for sure.

Wondering about the other options though - I think if you want to really use the greatcrossbow, that kinda mandates at least 5 rogue.

I guess that means you could do Ranger 11 / Rogue 5 as one core ... maybe Arti as the rest. I guess for heroic as long as I sham in 5 rogue for the T5 mechanic it's not horrible.

Rogue 18 / Arti 2 ... or just pure rogue and ignore the rune arm otherwise rune arm early
Rogue 7 / Ranger 7 / Arti 6 ... arti 2 / ranger 2 (for rapid) / rogue bunches then back to ranger may be the best start - you eat some skills but you'll be swimming in them anyway
Arti 15 / Rogue 5 ... or maybe some other split ... again, get rapid reload early, then make sure you've got rogue 5 ready for full-on mechanic

That'd net me Rogue, Ranger and Arti lives (respectively).

[UurlockYgmeov]

I have seen and heard many experienced players raving about the GXB 2.0.... how it is like a shoulder mounted ballista blasting holes the size of ogre's fists into mobs.

[voodoogroves]

I think i'm going to build a Rad2 for a few lives.

I did, on my crafter who will never TR again, play a bit with a cannith great crossbow and fusilade ... and it sounded nifty as heck, but the DPS was just not so good at the time (and frankly, probably still isn't for anyone who's not shoving 50 some points into Mechanic).

[unbongwah]

For simplicity's sake, let's start with hvy repeater vs gt xbow on a pure Mechanic:

repeater: 19-20/x2 -> 17-20/x2 IC:Ranged -> 17-20/x3 Expert Builder -> 17-18/x3 19-20/x4 Overwhelming Crit
gt xbow: 18-20/x2 -> 15-20/x2 IC:Ranged -> 15-20/x4 Expert Builder -> 15-18/x4 19-20/x5 Overwhelming Crit

So that's a pretty big boost to crit specs; there's also a bunch of static DPS bonuses as well in Mechanic. The downside is their low RoF, ofc; +20% Ranged Alacrity from Mechanical Reloader helps, but I don't think it's enough to close the gap.

My hunch is repeaters are still better DPS overall; plus there are a lot more named repeaters than gt xbows, although the ToEE one looks fun. But rog 18+ gt xbow Mechanic is powerful enough that they no longer feel gimp.

[Memnir]

I've always had a soft-spot for GXB builds. I've been a fan of the weapon for years.. since Shroud was big. I think I was the only person on my server who made a Greensteel GXb on purpose. (RadII, godly weapon even at the time) I ground out the gear that would amp up shooting speed as much as possible, and had one hell of a Ranger. Sure, I'd use a bow for Many Shot, but when it was on cooldown, GXB all the way. And this was before they added the Knockdown effect.


I just came back to the game part-time after a few month off - and have found the Mechanic tree for Rouges amazing for GXB. Haven't equipped a repeater yet, and don't plan too. The damage I'm kicking out is amazing. Probably the most fun I've had with a starter build in a long time.



My only regret is I've been a dedicated Casual for years now, and don't have any Greensteel materials to make a new RadII GXB. lol

[voodoogroves]

Yeah you guys are talking me into it.

I'm pretty sure I could make a Rad2; or buy the bits required on the AH.

I really wish I could get Fusilade but keep Rogue 18 Expert Builder ... ah well, that's the price to pay!