Repeater TR/RTR Build

[Niminae]

Help me out here. I threw together a Fighter Repeater build. The goal is a ranged build with enough damage output to solo (or contribute in a group) low level reapers all the way until a TR/RTR. I think that a few Ranger levels would improve this via the AA and/or DWS trees, but I'm not sure that it wouldn't just push the Fighter advantages back enough levels to make them not valid for a build that isn't looking to go past level 20. It picks up the exotic weapon proficiencies via Artificer Dilettante, but then that ties the build to the race which isn't great for a RTR build. An option might be to take Light and/or Heavy Repeater proficiency, but given the named options it looks like you'd need both unless you're just going to CC all of your repeaters.

Repeater_Kensai
Fighter 20
True Neutral Half-Elf


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . .8. . . .+5. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . 16. . . .+5. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 15. . . .+5. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .+5. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . 10. . . .+5. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . .8. . . .+5. . .


Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Jump. . . 2. 3. . .2 .1 .1 . . 2. . .2 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Swim. . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 3. 23
Spot. . . 1. . .½ . . ½. ½. 1. ½. 1½ ½ .1 .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .11½
Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 11½
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 11½
Perform . 2. . .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .11
Spellcr . 2. . .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .11
Haggle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 1. 11
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .24. 6. 6. 7. 7. 7. 7. 8. 8. 8. 8. 9. 9. 9. 9 10 10 10 10 11


Feats

.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.1 HalfElf: Half-Elf Dilettante: Artificer
.1 Fighter: Rapid Reload
.2 Fighter: Rapid Shot
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Ranged
.4 Fighter: Weapon Specialization: Ranged
.6. . . . : Precision
.6 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Thrown
.8 Fighter: Improved Critical: Ranged
.9. . . . : Greater Weapon Focus: Ranged
10 Fighter: Precise Shot
12. . . . : Improved Precise Shot
12 Fighter: Greater Weapon Specialization: Ranged
14 Fighter: Heavy Armor Champion
15. . . . : Heavy Armor Master
16 Fighter: Superior Weapon Focus: Ranged
18. . . . : Power Critical
18 Fighter: Quick Draw
20 Fighter: Heavy Armor Combatant


Enhancements (57 of 80 AP)

Kensei (34 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Crossbows, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought, Power Surge
  1. Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Exotic Weapon Mastery, Attack Boost III
  2. Weapon Group Specialization
  3. Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Shot III
  4. Weapon Group Specialization, Liquid Courage
  5. Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Deadly Shot, Keen Edge

Harper Agent (19 AP)

• Agent of Good I
  1. Traveler's Toughness II, Strategic Combat
  2. Versatile Adept III, Know the Angles II
  3. Know Your Foe: Monstrous Humanoid, Versatile Adept III, Strategic Combat, Intelligence

Half-Elf (4 AP)

• Versatile Nature, Human Intelligence, Human Damage Boost

[Stoner81]

6 Rogue, 6 Arti, 8 Fighter
Pure Arti.
Pure Rogue.

As for which is best I could not say but they should all be pretty good.

Stoner81.

[unbongwah]

Do you have Artificer? If so, it seems like it would be easier to start with arty 2 splash. Capstones don't matter for RR/HTR builds; you won't be lvl 20 long enough for them to matter. The only thing which might matter is your lvl 18 Enhancement to make the final bit of heroic leveling easier, but that's probably unnecessary. That also gives you more flexibility in terms of race and other class(es) depending on which RPL/HPL you want.

[Blastyswa]

Help me out here. I threw together a Fighter Repeater build. The goal is a ranged build with enough damage output to solo (or contribute in a group) low level reapers all the way until a TR/RTR. I think that a few Ranger levels would improve this via the AA and/or DWS trees, but I'm not sure that it wouldn't just push the Fighter advantages back enough levels to make them not valid for a build that isn't looking to go past level 20. It picks up the exotic weapon proficiencies via Artificer Dilettante, but then that ties the build to the race which isn't great for a RTR build. An option might be to take Light and/or Heavy Repeater proficiency, but given the named options it looks like you'd need both unless you're just going to CC all of your repeaters.

I'm playing 2/6/12 artificer/ranger/rogue atm, it's incredibly amazing. Sniper Shot is a one-shot against bosses or mobs, manyshot is actually workable for massive DPS, lots of sneak attack, artificer runearm is doing alright, freeish feats... The one change I'd consider is maybe doing 2/6/12 with the 12 fighter instead of rogue for +1 crit multiplier. Problem with Fighter is that it isn't particularly frontloaded, so while you'll do good from about 6 onwards the first few levels might be a little interesting, especially if you're running at normal level for rxp. You also won't be able to trap. If you want to stick with mostly fighter and not do the 2/6/12, 2/18 with 2 levels artificer first then 18 fighter levels would work fine, especially since you don't need the capstone if you're TRing at 20. You'd actually come out the same on feats since you'd pick up repeating crossbow proficiency and rapid reload.

[Thrudh]

6 Rogue, 6 Arti, 8 Fighter
Pure Arti.
Pure Rogue.

As for which is best I could not say but they should all be pretty good.

Stoner81.

If just for TRing, I would replace the pure arti choice with 18/2 arti/rogue. Evasion is useful.

[Niminae]

Do you have Artificer? If so, it seems like it would be easier to start with arty 2 splash. Capstones don't matter for RR/HTR builds; you won't be lvl 20 long enough for them to matter.

I have Arti. Capstones don't matter because I won't be level 18 long enough for them to matter. That's why my posted build has such useless feats for level 18+.

Arti 2 pushes back the feats from Fighter by 2 levels. Arti 4 for BE Endless Fusillade seems to be worthless.

The goal here is a quick template for a fast TR/RTR. As I said, the use of Half-Elf for the Dilettante exotic proficiencies makes it less useful for a RTR build, since it would only be of use for 3 cycles.

I'm playing 2/6/12 artificer/ranger/rogue atm, it's incredibly amazing. Sniper Shot is a one-shot against bosses or mobs, manyshot is actually workable for massive DPS, lots of sneak attack, artificer runearm is doing alright, freeish feats...

In epics, or as a heroic build? Context matters a lot here. Adding the rune arm imbues to damage output in heroics seems nice though. And the rune arm damage, although the drawbacks are a bit of a pain. Plus it wouldn't be tied to Half-Elf as a race.

If just for TRing, I would replace the pure arti choice with 18/2 arti/rogue. Evasion is useful.

Evasion is useful, but I'm not sure it is useful enough to be worth pushing back the ranged power that all those Fighter feats bring. I'm not concerned about the XP for disabling traps, or with survivability. Killing stuff fast is the pure (intended) focus.

[unbongwah]

I'm not concerned about the XP for disabling traps

Why not? If you're just trying to bang out PLs quickly, having trap skills means up to +30% XP which means faster leveling. That plus free profs, Rapid Reload, Conjure Bolts spell at lvl 1. To my mind, the only real downside to splashing arty is it delays your fighter feats / enhancements one or two lvls; in particular, waiting until lvl 7 or 8 for Strike w/No Thought. But early heroics should be a breeze, so the pros outweigh the cons, IMO. Just because a build is a little more front-loaded doesn't mean it'll level faster in the long run.

I was actually thinking of something like arty 2 / ftr 6 / rgr 6 to start: Kensei + DWS makes a good alternative to Mechanic with Killer+Sniper Shot. Something like 32 Kensei / 23 DWS / 12 Harper / 13 SD.

[Lonnbeimnech]

If just for TRing, I would replace the pure arti choice with 18/2 arti/rogue. Evasion is useful.

I would suggest 17 arti 3 rogue for bab reasons.

a 2 rogue doesn't qualify for ips at level 15, a 3 rogue splash does.

[Thrudh]

I would suggest 17 arti 3 rogue for bab reasons.

a 2 rogue doesn't qualify for ips at level 15, a 3 rogue splash does.

Very good point.

[Niminae]

Why not? If you're just trying to bang out PLs quickly, having trap skills means up to +30% XP which means faster leveling. That plus free profs, Rapid Reload, Conjure Bolts spell at lvl 1.

It's because banging out PLs quickly is not the goal. The goal is, as I said in the OP:

The goal is a ranged build with enough damage output to solo (or contribute in a group) low level reapers all the way until a TR/RTR.

My understanding, and I'd be happy to be corrected here, is that doing optionals/disabling traps/breakables in a quest does not impact the rxp. And if I am not mistaken then there is no particular point in spending the time on non-productive parts of quests. I find it confusing to know how rxp actually works since statements by the devs have been demonstrated to be inaccurate a number of times.

Just because a build is a little more front-loaded doesn't mean it'll level faster in the long run.

When there are only 20 levels to be concerned with, front-loading capabilities seems to have a strong basis for effectiveness. Just look at one of the options offered up: 17 Arti/3 Rogue for IPS at 15th. Pure Fighter gets IPS at 12th, and 3 levels earlier means you'll have IPS for 9/20 of the levels instead of only 6/20 of the levels (and that's ignoring people leveling only to 18th). In exchange for pushing the undeniable potency of IPS for a significant number of levels I'd get, what? Trapping skills (and a much broader skill list overall), evasion, and some sneak attack dice? If the sneak attack dice were quantified then it could be something I could compare against IPS, but they haven't been.

[Blastyswa]

In epics, or as a heroic build? Context matters a lot here. Adding the rune arm imbues to damage output in heroics seems nice though. And the rune arm damage, although the drawbacks are a bit of a pain. Plus it wouldn't be tied to Half-Elf as a race.

Heroic build, I'm actually level 12 on a version of it at the moment. Main points are:

1. Max int to start, take one rogue level first for max skillpoints, run korthos with a hire to get level 2.

2. At level 2 pick up Int to Hit and Know the Angles and take first artificer level, equip heavy repeating crossbow and use the summon bolts spell.

3. At level 3 get int to damage, take second level of artificer and equip a Runearm, Flamewarden or Flicker work well but Thought Spike is fine too.

4. Take second rogue level at level 4 for evasion, either put points into some random tree or just save them for level 5.

5. From level 5-10 take ranger levels for increasing amounts of force damage and some ranged feats, put as many points as needed into Arcane Archer (Without pulling from Harper Agent, keep int to damage for sure) to get force arrows to second rank and pick up the full extra damage dice line with force arrows. Slot impulse somewhere.

6. Once you have 22 AP spent in Arcane Archer (Should be level 9 if you also have 12 in Harper Agent) start putting points into Deepwood Stalker for Sniper Shot. For manyshotting at level 10+, make sure to use ranged power action boost from Deepwood, Know the Angles, reaper doubleshot boost, a haste pot, and anything else you have to maximize your spike damage.

7. At level 12 drop points from Deepwood Stalker to make sure you have 36 points in Arcane Archer for the full extra element dice line, Final Shot, and Arrow of Slaying.

8. At level 12 you'll have just enough points for 36 Arcane Archer/12 Harper Agent, by level 15 you'll have Sniper Shot again. I personally don't ever do normal shooting, I cycle inferno shot/dispelling shot/shattermantle shot with the crossbow for extra +W and then mix in big hits whenever you need them. Level 12 is when you take improved critical ranged, level 15 is improved precise shot.

9. After level 15 it's more up to you what you put your remaining AP into. Assassin is an option for additional sneak attack damage and even venomed blades, Thief Acrobat is somewhat recommended for extra movement speed with 3 points but it's a users preference one, mechanic honestly doesn't have much for repeating heavy crossbow users with this much of a split, especially for heroics only. Tempest for sprint boost is an option, as is additional points in deepwood stalker for aimed shot/killer/sneak shot/hamstring.

10. At level 20, you can go into epics just fine with the build in Dreadnought, but it's really not designed for epics so don't respond to this in two weeks with "You suck, your epics build wasn't as awesome as you made it out to be!" because this is a heroic build, it just can also function in epics if need be.

[Blastyswa]

My understanding, and I'd be happy to be corrected here, is that doing optionals/disabling traps/breakables in a quest does not impact the rxp. And if I am not mistaken then there is no particular point in spending the time on non-productive parts of quests. I find it confusing to know how rxp actually works since statements by the devs have been demonstrated to be inaccurate a number of times.

Optionals do not, disabling traps/breakables/conquest/secret doors/deaths/reentries do. Think of it as the same as normal xp, except the values for all optionals are set to 0.

[Niminae]

After the input and critique, and thank you all for all of it, I've come up with a second iteration. The goal is the same: A ranged build with enough damage output to solo (or contribute in a group) low level reapers all the way until a TR/RTR. The path to the goal is a bit different.

Artificer 2 gives light and heavy repeater proficiency, trapping skills, and the same access to low level Arti scrolls (Especially: Conjure Bolts, Flame Arrow, Insightful Strikes) that the HElf Arti Dilli granted. It does not seem to push back the feat selection by much at all, due to the auto-granted feats that come with Artificer, even though this build doesn't take Artificer to 4th level and the first Artificer Bonus Feat (and is Endless Fusillade worthwhile at all, considering that it requires Arti 4 and that seems to be a poor option for a repeater build?). Gnome gives access to +2 Int in the racial tree, a significant amount of UMD skill, Wand and Scroll Mastery, plus a potential +6 To Hit and Damage with light repeaters.

Repeater_Kensai_Gnome
18/2 Fighter/Artificer
True Neutral Gnome


Level Order

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


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . .6. . . .+5. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . 16. . . .+5. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 16. . . .+5. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 20. . . .+5. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+5. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . .8. . . .+5. . .


Skills
. . . . . A .A. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F. F
. . . . . 1 .2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Spot. . . 4 .1. 1. ½. 1. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 22
UMD . . . 4 .1. ½. 1. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 22
Disable . 4 .1. 1. 1. 1. ½. ½. 1. 1. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. ½. 21
Open Lo . 4 .1. . .½ .½ .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .21
Search. . 4 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. ½. ½. ½. 1. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 21
Balance . . .2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .½ .½ .½ .½ .1½. 5½
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .20 .9. 7. 8. 8. 8. 8. 9. 9. 9. 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12
. . . . .36 .9. 7. 8. 8. 8. 8. 9. 9. 9. 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12


Feats

.1. . . . : Point Blank Shot
.3. . . . : Rapid Shot
.3 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Ranged
.4 Fighter: Weapon Focus: Thrown
.6. . . . : Weapon Specialization: Ranged
.6 Fighter: Precision
.8 Fighter: Precise Shot
.9. . . . : Power Critical
10 Fighter: Improved Critical: Ranged
12. . . . : Greater Weapon Focus: Ranged
12 Fighter: Improved Precise Shot
14 Fighter: Greater Weapon Specialization: Ranged
15. . . . : Heavy Armor Master
16 Fighter: Weapon Specialization: Thrown
18. . . . : Superior Weapon Focus: Ranged
18 Fighter: Greater Weapon Specialization: Thrown
20 Fighter: Greater Weapon Focus: Thrown


Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (35 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Crossbows, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought, Power Surge, One Cut
  1. Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Exotic Weapon Mastery, Attack Boost III
  2. Weapon Group Specialization
  3. Critical Mastery III, Weapon Group Specialization, Shattering Shot III
  4. Weapon Group Specialization, Liquid Courage
  5. Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Deadly Shot, Keen Edge

Harper Agent (27 AP)

• Agent of Good I, Intelligence, Agent of Good II
  1. Harper Enchantment, Awareness III
  2. Know the Angles III
  3. Highly Skilled III, Know Your Foe: Monstrous Humanoid, Versatile Adept III, Strategic Combat, Intelligence
  4. Versatile Adept III

Gnome (18 AP)

• Gnomish Perserverance, Intelligence, Gnomish Perserverance II, Intelligence II, Retain Scroll Essence
  1. Wand and Scroll Mastery II, Gnomish Weapon Training
  2. Color Spray III, Gnomish Weapon Training
  3. Gnomish Weapon Training
  4. Gnomish Weapon Training