"Strimtom's Acid Arrow", Maximum Bow DPS, F2P/new player Friendly

[CThruTheEgo]

For FotW, I would probably swap T5 DWS for Slaying Arrow; FotW is all about burst DPS and it doesn't get much burst-ier than Adrenaline+Manyshot+Slaying Arrow.

Agreed. Adrenaline and head shot are redundant imo, and slaying arrows has such great synergy with adrenaline. Arcane archer tier 5s are better for fury. Deepwood stalker tier 5s are better for dreadnaught and divine crusader.

Fury is the destiny for an archer. LD is alright but if you want sustained ranged damage, roll a Blitzer mechanic instead.
No archer should ever run in Shiradi. It's useless destiny.

Fury is still the best destiny if you want to emphasize burst dps, but I don't think it's the better option for consistent dps. Dreadnaught and divine crusader are the best choices for that. Divine crusader is a solid choice now with the changes to doubleshot. Zeal for doubleshot and ranged power, +1 crit range, +10% damage through consecration, blessed blades for breaking dr, and wis for paralyzing arrows DC.

I absolutely agree with you about shiradi. I have not been impressed with it on any kind of ranged build I've ever played. I think people are attracted to it because it seems intuitive given all the abilities that work with ranged attacks. But when you look at the other options (i.e. fury, dreadnaught, divine crusader), shiradi just doesn't compare.

This isn't the build for this discussion but, people on the forums at least are starting to look at/talk about CC archers Shiradi adds a lot to that wisdom, nerve venom, Pin and Whistle (yes everyone twistes them ...).

Might be that this Shiradi comes back round as an option for a certain kind of build Archer build.

Based on my experience with White Feather Sniper in my sig, a sufficient paralyzing arrows DC makes nerve venom and whistler unnecessary. It's easy enough to paralyze an entire room of mobs and really doesn't take that much investment to reach a sufficient DC.

[Eskelle]

its been a while since ive seen things from a very casual new player perspective, but i would always trust quests marked as extreme challenges as extreme challenges, and there are probably some quests which are sort of extreme challenges but are not marked as such.

Should clarify, casual playtime, not casual player. Not really new to the genre, though I mostly tended towards PvP games, so I'll definitely be doing the work to get the right gear/pots/wands/utility and will be spoiling myself re: quests on the Wikis of the world. One of the things that drew me towards this build is that it seemed entirely serviceable without the 32pt (or higher) build requirement, without needing a bunch of tomes eaten before a TR, without past lives in general, without having a bunch of Greensteel or hand-me-down gear, and without-only-really-getting-good-at-level-20. There seem to be very few of those out there - Pale Master hasn't quite clicked with me, and the only other options I've seen so far overlap a bit with what I'm playing w/ my friends (which is a melee cleric build that looks to be comparable to Axel's).

for the most part the quests you may end up writing off will be quests which require you to have x amount of people to do various things, or require your character to have certain stats that you will be unable to achieve with your build/gear. im thinking along the lines of xorian cipher here. [...] as far as a build like this struggling, id say if you are really dependent on your hireling then any quest where you will be taking a high amount of sustained damage will be an issue. also possibly quests where you need to sustain very high dps for more than 20 seconds. example that comes to mind is enter the kobold.

Cheers, thanks. I've been looking up any quests before I tackle them to see if they seem feasible for my build, and there are a few I've skipped for now (will go back for favour once I'm a few levels above) due to them seemingly potentially unwieldy. To date, I haven't had problems with anything I've run, and the hireling has mostly been there as a damage add and for runes (has cast one heal through two contracts). I suppose in a pinch I can just re-run some Normals or Hards if the Elites start to punch my teeth in and I run out of at-level stuff. If I didn't have the bot it would likely be easier since I'd just LFM it up, but, I don't know how well received that would be, and I'd like the bot to not lag too far behind me so she can still handle traps on any Elites I try to run. The one I run with my friends is at level-2 and I have to use skill boosts an awful lot sometimes.

I solo'd pretty much from level 1-20 with mediocre lootgen gear. The only named items I had were Silver longbow, Voice of the Master, and Mantle of the Worldshaper. This build can solo every single quest in the game since you ignore damage reduction of almost every monster in the game, are ranged, and have an extremely high burst with manyshot.

Thanks for this and your other notes, btw. I ran through Abandoned Excavation with my friends just before rolling this char, and I don't quite think it's soloable material for this character haha, so I might see if they want to run through it again to farm a cloak for this char. That cloak looks really good and that set bonus looks like it would be immensely useful on an rdps build. Again, appreciate the help and the spec!

[Loromir]

Based on my experience with White Feather Sniper in my sig, a sufficient paralyzing arrows DC makes nerve venom and whistler unnecessary. It's easy enough to paralyze an entire room of mobs and really doesn't take that much investment to reach a sufficient DC.

would agree with you except for that fact that paralyzed mobs are not considered helpless.

[CThruTheEgo]

would agree with you except for that fact that paralyzed mobs are not considered helpless.

That's why I twist pin and hit them with it after they're paralyzed.

The fact that they're paralyzed ensures they aren't moving, so pin is guaranteed to land.

[Grailhawk]

Based on my experience with White Feather Sniper in my sig, a sufficient paralyzing arrows DC makes nerve venom and whistler unnecessary. It's easy enough to paralyze an entire room of mobs and really doesn't take that much investment to reach a sufficient DC.

Does Paralyze from AA make a mob helpless like Nerve Venom does?

I'm not saying it for every one but I can see a build that is good and not useless for an Archer in Shiradi.

[CThruTheEgo]

Does Paralyze from AA make a mob helpless like Nerve Venom does?

I'm not saying it for every one but I can see a build that is good and not useless for an Archer in Shiradi.

See my post just before yours.

Paralyzing arrows does not induce helplessness, but pin does when used against enemies that are not moving. So paralyze them, hit em with pin, and get helpless damage, all while being in a destiny that offers much better overall dps than shiradi.

[Grailhawk]

See my post just before yours.

Paralyzing arrows does not induce helplessness, but pin does when used against enemies that are not moving. So paralyze them, hit em with pin, and get helpless damage, all while being in a destiny that offers much better overall dps than shiradi.

So back in the day when I built a CC Wizard I didn't care too much about my own personal DPS or instakill ability I just wanted to make sure that nothing could move ever. This is the kind of player mind set that might see value in Shiradi archer. The kind of player who doesn't intend to make the mob helpless for himself to kill the mob.

Not that thats a good toon these days but there was a time and who knows what Reaper might bring.

[CThruTheEgo]

So back in the day when I built a CC Wizard I didn't care too much about my own personal DPS or instakill ability I just wanted to make sure that nothing could move ever. This is the kind of player mind set that might see value in Shiradi archer. The kind of player who doesn't intend to make the mob helpless for himself to kill the mob.

Not that thats a good toon these days but there was a time and who knows what Reaper might bring.

That is exactly what I designed White Feather to do, specifically for legendary elite. CC is extremely valuable with the one hit instakill dps that mobs have in there. I can keep a whole room of mobs frozen in place and let the group pick them off one by one. And I don't have to sacrifice much dps to perform that function. Elemental arrows is really all that's lost, but I get that against bosses anyway since they are immune to paralyzing arrows.

You're right that shiradi has more CC options. But as far as I can tell, it's overkill because the same ability to control a room can be had with paralyzing arrows. And with pin twisted in, helpless damage can still be applied to benefit the whole group.

[Rykka]

Nice clean easy to understand build.

DDO Wiki is listing the crit profile of Silver Lpngbow ar 19-20/x3 however.

[unbongwah]

DDO Wiki is listing the crit profile of Silver Lpngbow ar 19-20/x3 however.

That's its pre-U28 profile; it's now 18-20/x3 to compensate for the Improved Crit changes. Same deal with Bow of Sinew, Pinion, and any other bow that had a 19-20/x3 profile before.

[EllisDee37]

Physical Damage beats out the acid damage after level 28, so that is the big reason why I haven't. Didn't get to test scion of earth, but it doesn't feel better.

I think Scion of Earth might be the clear best possible option, and by a good margin.

Acid Arrows grant 7d8 acid damage scaled by spell power. That's 31.5 base on average. Scion of Earth adds another 2d20 acid damage (base 21), also scaled by spell power. That's a flat 67% increase.

How much spell power do you have at 30? Add 40 to it (Scion of Earth grants +40 corrosion) and run the numbers on your acid arrows, then multiple by 1.67 to see the effect. Plus you get +20 PRR out of the bargain.

[Shoemaker]

Nice clean easy to understand build.

DDO Wiki is listing the crit profile of Silver Lpngbow ar 19-20/x3 however.

That's its pre-U28 profile; it's now 18-20/x3 to compensate for the Improved Crit changes. Same deal with Bow of Sinew, Pinion, and any other bow that had a 19-20/x3 profile before.

Hey, thanks for letting me know... I've updated the wiki page accordingly.

Updated File:Silver_Longbow.png --> http://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=F...9&oldid=189366
Updated Item:Silver_Longbow --> http://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=I...5&oldid=266844


I'll update the others as I come across them to take new screenshots.

[EllisDee37]

Hey, thanks for letting me know... I've updated the wiki page accordingly.

Updated File:Silver_Longbow.png --> http://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=F...9&oldid=189366
Updated Item:Silver_Longbow --> http://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=I...5&oldid=266844


I'll update the others as I come across them to take new screenshots.

The list of named weapons that got similar treatment in U28 is here.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

I'll update the others as I come across them to take new screenshots.

Looks like Bow of Sinew's been done, and I just did Pinion (though a new SS from somebody 23+ would be good)

OT: great write-up, OP! Looks like fun, I've been thinking about going AA for my next TR, so now I know what to do with it *g* (though I was planning on throwing some rogue in and going SK, but mebbe not... this girl's missed being a dorf anyhoo *g*)

[Mindos]

Hey, thanks for letting me know... I've updated the wiki page accordingly.

Updated File:Silver_Longbow.png --> http://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=F...9&oldid=189366
Updated Item:Silver_Longbow --> http://ddowiki.com/index.php?title=I...5&oldid=266844


I'll update the others as I come across them to take new screenshots.

Can you possible make a little note that some weapons were overlooked? https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5707964

I don't know why they never went back and increased the crit range of these, the players were helpful and pointed them out right away...

[Mindos]

Looks like Bow of Sinew's been done, and I just did Pinion (though a new SS from somebody 23+ would be good)

OT: great write-up, OP! Looks like fun, I've been thinking about going AA for my next TR, so now I know what to do with it *g* (though I was planning on throwing some rogue in and going SK, but mebbe not... this girl's missed being a dorf anyhoo *g*)

http://i.imgur.com/xNZzZft.jpg

not the cleanest

http://i.imgur.com/DEL2lCA.jpg This has nothing to do with anything. Neither does this: http://i.imgur.com/xlol0lT.jpg

[Shoemaker]

The list of named weapons that got similar treatment in U28 is here.

http://ddowiki.com/page/DDO_wiki:Adm...t_range_update

[Flagg89]

New-ish player here and been away from the game for several years. Love the work on the build Strimtom. Thank you.

I'm reviving an old AA character and trying to understand the new mechanics.

So acid arrows do Xd8 damage, and then "scale with spell power." But what is the practical application of this "scaling"? I mean, how important is it to gear for maxing Spell Points/Power instead of say, seeker, speed, deadly, and so on?

Also, Force Arrows say they increase in damage with your elemental arrows. So, is there an advantage to still using acid arrows over force for general leveling?

And finally, does Acid spell power actually affect damage of your acid arrows? (I have gotten conflicting answers from veterans in-game.) Is it worthwhile trying to gear for corrosive items? Or, should I gear for force spell power? Or universal spell power? All the above? Or something else entirely?

Thanks for any advice!

[unbongwah]

So acid arrows do Xd8 damage, and then "scale with spell power." But what is the practical application of this "scaling"? I mean, how important is it to gear for maxing Spell Points/Power instead of say, seeker, speed, deadly, and so on?

+1 Spellpower = +1% dmg from base amount. This build has 7d8 acid (or force) imbues, which is an avg of 31.5 dmg per hit. So with 100 Spellpower, this becomes 63 dmg; 200 Spellpower -> 94.5 dmg; etc. Looks like you can hit standing Spellpower of ~550 in endgame, so that's ~205 imbue dmg per hit.

[Flagg89]

+1 Spellpower = +1% dmg from base amount. This build has 7d8 acid (or force) imbues, which is an avg of 31.5 dmg per hit. So with 100 Spellpower, this becomes 63 dmg; 200 Spellpower -> 94.5 dmg; etc. Looks like you can hit standing Spellpower of ~550 in endgame, so that's ~205 imbue dmg per hit.

Awesome, thanks unbongwah.

So, Corrosion (adding to acid spell power specifically) is a good way to go then?

Also, I feel like this might be a silly question, but:

"Corrosive" items (+ acid lore) increases chance of acid spells to critical hit. Would this affect our elemental arrows in any way?

Thanks again!