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

[Sarzor]

Is this still a viable build for a Heroic Ranger PL?

Very much so. It's easy to gear, there's not a ton of new equipment/craftables you need. It's also fun. I am splitting my racial lives between warlock, this build, and occasionally something else for variety.

It's also relatively low on the button-mashing. Sure, it's more optimal to do more mashing, but I'm a pretty lazy player and just like to cycle 1-2-3-4 on the hotbar. It also holds up pretty well in epics as a furyshotter. Once again, it's not the strongest out there, but it's among the more fun and less mindless.

[Memnir]

Currently running a build based on this - and having a blast. A+ in terms of sheer fun, which for me is the only determination of success that matters.

[Swimms]

Sitting at lvl 24, love the build. I recently swapped from Shiradi to Fury and the damage is just insane. If I already have a T1 TF bow is there any sense in blowing a Raider's Reward Box on Pinion (although I am not sure what else I would use them on)? More than likely I will eTR and run this character up to 30 again before I hTR so I am not so concerned about "end game" viability.

[unbongwah]

If I already have a T1 TF bow is there any sense in blowing a Raider's Reward Box on Pinion (although I am not sure what else I would use them on)?

I don't know which tier-1 upgrade you made but:

Pinion has higher base [W] so it benefits more from Point Blank Shot and Combat Archery; +2 crit range; and built-in Seeker and Ranged Alacrity bonuses so you don't need to worry about them slotted elsewhere.

Unless you're saving that raider's box for some future life when you're no longer an archer, I'd say go ahead and claim that Pinion.

[Swimms]

I don't know which tier-1 upgrade you made but:

Pinion has higher base [W] so it benefits more from Point Blank Shot and Combat Archery; +2 crit range; and built-in Seeker and Ranged Alacrity bonuses so you don't need to worry about them slotted elsewhere.

Unless you're saving that raider's box for some future life when you're no longer an archer, I'd say go ahead and claim that Pinion.

Thanks, grabbed Pinion and then forgot I had added the +150 corrosion on my TF bow and only added insightful corrosion on my cannith crafted gloves , will have to rejigger some gear to use Pinion but it looks great.

Can someone post general guidelines on which arrow secondary imbues work best with which mob? The wiki says the following but I was wondering if there was anything more comprehensive out there.

Bearded Devils and Orthons (devils) require Good Aligned or Silver weapons
Clay Golems require Bludgeoning and Adamantine weapons
Crimson Foot Spiders require Piercing weapons
Eladrins require Cold Iron or Evil Aligned weapons
Flesh Renders (demons) require Good Aligned and Cold Iron weapons
Thaarak Hounds require Lawfully Aligned weapons
Maruts require Chaotically Aligned weapons
Ghostly Skeletons require Good Aligned weapons
Iron Golems and Flesh Golems require Adamantine weapons
Rakshasas require Good Aligned and Piercing weapons
Skeletons require Bludgeoning weapons
Vampires require Silver weapons
Zombies require Slashing weapons

[Matuse]

The wiki has an incredibly comprehensive list found here:

http://ddowiki.com/page/Monster_DR_and_weaknesses

You might even say it's TOO comprehensive.

[Garix]

Sitting at lvl 24, love the build. I recently swapped from Shiradi to Fury and the damage is just insane. If I already have a T1 TF bow is there any sense in blowing a Raider's Reward Box on Pinion (although I am not sure what else I would use them on)? More than likely I will eTR and run this character up to 30 again before I hTR so I am not so concerned about "end game" viability.

DDO tends to give enough chances to get Commendations of Heroism through various Anniversary gifts that it is possible to get a fully upgraded pinion without ever setting foot in the raid (or in my archers case - any raid. Never did work out why he got one).

[Whitering]

DDO tends to give enough chances to get Commendations of Heroism through various Anniversary gifts that it is possible to get a fully upgraded pinion without ever setting foot in the raid (or in my archers case - any raid. Never did work out why he got one).

Don`t do what I did and pull a pinion out of the raider box after 7 years and then run the raid the very next weekend and pull a pinion...I have never felt so lucky, as I also got another item there but not one I wanted, and disappointed at the same time lol

[LrdSlvrhnd]

Don`t do what I did and pull a pinion out of the raider box after 7 years and then run the raid the very next weekend and pull a pinion...I have never felt so lucky, as I also got another item there but not one I wanted, and disappointed at the same time lol

So I was farming Legendary Tempest Spine for the Leathers of the Celestial Archer, and got skunked again and again and again (well, other than when I was running on my warlock, who pulled and passed 2-3 sets during this period)... and finally gave up and purchased a set. Next run: I pulled a set. Next run: I pulled another set, with a mythic bonus. Next run: I pulled a set. And the next run. And the next run. The first five runs I ran after buying them, I pulled one, including two with mythic bonuses. (As an aside, I really ****ed off the other ranger in that second run because I was obviously wearing them and refused to pass the new ones to him... because hey, mythic bonus, I'm gonna upgrade mine. But he was ranting and screaming at me about it.)

[Niminae]

Disclaimer: This is mostly a leveling build. It does work well at level 30, but it isn't refined for level 30. I TR constantly and haven't been able to fully play test at 30.
[snipped]
Try it out as your next life and let me know what you think!

I did a Heroic life using your build. It is solid. I do think that swapping a few AP so you can pick up Paralyzing Arrows is the way to go. It is great CC and in groups you'll be loved for locking down huge piles of mobs when you have Manyshot going or after you get IPS.

[Rhysem]

So my static group needs someone else to do the trapping next life. I'm considering a build mod of Elf 1 rogue/1 barb/18 ranger in that order. Rogue 2 doesn't add much, nor does ranger 19. I expect to be using Elf-AA at epic to pick up the 6th core there, but the point split means it is even more talent starved than normal (I don't have any racial AP, unfortunately. I'll buy the tome for points once they release it probably, but that's only going to be 1 or 2 pts). Thus barb, because fast movement. The points required to sink into Elf for AA once I hit 20 conveniently gives me displacement too, which is handy.

Is the Elf-AA too point intensive and I should just learn to be content stopping at the 18 cores in both ranger AA/DWS and sticking with DWS t5 as normal?

I've also been thinking that a lot of the content my group tends to do, fire does pretty fine for damage (previously a warlock, fiend pack) and wondered if it'd be worth switching to it for the +30 fire spell power twist from EA in epics. I'd have to recraft a bunch of my acid SP gear then...

[unbongwah]

So my static group needs someone else to do the trapping next life. I'm considering a build mod of Elf 1 rogue/1 barb/18 ranger in that order.

Unsurprisingly, I have a build for that. Okay, drow instead of elf, but the stats etc. are basically the same.

Is the Elf-AA too point intensive and I should just learn to be content stopping at the 18 cores in both ranger AA/DWS and sticking with DWS t5 as normal?

Part of the goal of this build is maxing out Doubleshot bonuses. But on a MCed ranger without extra racial APs, you can't afford to take tier-5 DWS + racial AA capstone; that takes a minimum of 41 AA + 32 DWS + 14 elf = 87 APs. So either you get +20% Doubleshot from racial AA capstone or +20% Doubleshot from tier-5 DWS (Strikes Like Lightning) but not both, making it a wash.

So unless you're running in FotW and really want Arrow of Slaying, I would probably stick with something like 41 DWS / 31 rgr AA / 8 filler. The DPS loss vs pure rgr is the price you pay for trap skills + 10% runspeed.

I've also been thinking that a lot of the content my group tends to do, fire does pretty fine for damage (previously a warlock, fiend pack) and wondered if it'd be worth switching to it for the +30 fire spell power twist from EA in epics. I'd have to recraft a bunch of my acid SP gear then...

It doesn't matter until you get to late epics and have to decide which (if any) epic spellpower ED feat you want to take. For lvls 1-25, it's "reset the AA tree periodically to pick whichever is the best elemental type for the content you're currently running" and adjust your Spellpower gear accordingly.

[Rhysem]

Tempting to stay elf and grab nothing is hidden. Very convenient, that.

[Tilomere]

With these trees, the path is simple.

1. Get first DWS core
2. Get acid damage to the 4th tier, with force imbue as backup
3. Get Improved Weapon Finesse
   

I fixed your list for you. An 18 dex archer gets 4 damage from investment in Tier 2 DWS for weapon finesse on mobs that are engaged on them. That same archer in Tier 2 AA would instead get 3d8 scaling with spell power acid damage. At 50 spell power, this would deal 20 acid damage per hit, or give 5x as much damage for AP investment to mobs engaged on them than Tier 2 DWS.

This also gives fair bow damage at level 1 (1 sneak die and 1 acid die), and very strong bow damage at level 2 with 8 AP (1 sneak die and 3 acid die).

Bows are very strong at low levels. At level 3, with 5d8 acid imbue scaling with 80 spell power, they can destroy things easily with a 40 damage imbue. However, in your AP order at level 3, they have 1d8 acid +4 physical for 12 total damage from imbue/finesse.

Just use strength for damage from level 1 free feat bow strength, and save the 5 AP to get dex to damage until you have acid damage well established.

Cannith crafting is 47 (bit less from AH/random loot) spell power at level 3. Ship buffs add 5 more. 3 AA imbues add 15 more. Implement +2 bow adds 6 more. Spellcraft adds 5 more. Doing well if you are around ~80 spell power at level 3. A veteran with gnome PLs/consumables/arcane warrior PL will kick this up another 30 spell power and be around 110+ spell power with a 50 damage imbue at level 3. With rage pots and your 36 point build stats, that same veteran would only gain 2 damage converting from strength to dex to damage, and it would cost them 40 of the 50 damage of their imbue.

How does this build perform dps wise between lets say paralyzing monkcher, arti repeater, mechanic rogue and shuriken thrower? Can anyone answer this question?

With the above mentioned changes, this build will easily out-damage all of the above in low to medium level heroics. It isn't until higher heroics that these other builds synergy well.

[Sarzor]

More for my own thoughts as I'm running another life with this, but for heroics what is the order of bows?

Level 1-5 - Been doing a L1 keen vorpal bow I found (seriously, this thing is awesome)
Level 6 - Silver bow
Level 7 - Sapphire sting, with the vorpal for higher reapers and silver for when I need to break good DR

After this, I would normally stay with these until unwavering ardency, but I'm wondering where the Ravenloft freebie bow fits in. Is it better than silver/sapphire? Is it even better than unwavering ardency?

For epics, I go with pinion (and maybe morninglord) mostly because I cant get the ESapphire to drop, and I don't stay in a life long enough to be worth making Thunderforged or EGreensteel.

[unbongwah]

Level 6 - Silver bow

Do you still have the original Silver Longbow? Current version is ML:8.

[Sarzor]

Do you still have the original Silver Longbow? Current version is ML:8.

Ya, still got original. Trying to figure out if the Ravenloft bow affects my normal plan.

[Sarzor]

Ya, still got original. Trying to figure out if the Ravenloft bow affects my normal plan.

So, I'm only at level 13, however my feeling is the sapphire sting wins vs mobs able to be crit, and the ravenloft bow wins against mobs not able to be crit, such as undead, constructs, and elementals. Except fire elementals obviously.

I presume this will hold up when I get to ardency, but the sapphire sting is nice because of the meteoric ruby on it.



On a different note, this build seems to be showing its age, largely due to that bows are getting worse and worse. I'm consistently having problems where my first arrow just misses, without even a roll. Other shots are missing much more often than they should, where I have plenty of to-hit.

As a whole, I feel that while this build is fun, it may be best to look at other classes/playstyles if one wants to remain competitive in the game.

[Whitering]

So, I'm only at level 13, however my feeling is the sapphire sting wins vs mobs able to be crit, and the ravenloft bow wins against mobs not able to be crit, such as undead, constructs, and elementals. Except fire elementals obviously.

I presume this will hold up when I get to ardency, but the sapphire sting is nice because of the meteoric ruby on it.



On a different note, this build seems to be showing its age, largely due to that bows are getting worse and worse. I'm consistently having problems where my first arrow just misses, without even a roll. Other shots are missing much more often than they should, where I have plenty of to-hit.

As a whole, I feel that while this build is fun, it may be best to look at other classes/playstyles if one wants to remain competitive in the game.

Yes, it is much weaker than an arti build. I think my ranger lives will be some kind of melee build.

[Strimtom]

On a different note, this build seems to be showing its age, largely due to that bows are getting worse and worse. I'm consistently having problems where my first arrow just misses, without even a roll. Other shots are missing much more often than they should, where I have plenty of to-hit.

As a whole, I feel that while this build is fun, it may be best to look at other classes/playstyles if one wants to remain competitive in the game.

The missing is simply due to the small amounts of desyncing that happens with the server as you play. That little bit of lag changes your position and the position of the monsters, and so quite often ranged attackers are at a disadvantage when attacking moving targets since sometimes the attacks just don't connect. It sucks yo.

Also, this build isn't meant to be competitive! it is designed to be an introductory build that can get you up to level 30 without too much difficulty to play and understand game mechanics.

If you are looking to get into endgame ranged, I recommend 6 ranger/14 monk archer, 20 rogue mechanic, 16 rogue/4 arti mechanic, 20 arti, or shuriken thrower. Those are all competitive for the ranged damages. A well built pure ranger won't do as much damage as these other classes.