U36 AA Changes

[Dielzen]

With the upcoming fix to AA, what's the best way to go with my Monkcher now?

1. 15/5 with Rog Mechanic capped out using only Shuri?
2. Stay with the standard AA tree and switch to bows for Manyshot and skip out on the imbues?
3. Stay the standard route with Bow full time, switching to Shuri only for 10k?
4. Some other route?

I'm also worried that going any bow/shuri hybrid route I'll forget to turn on my imbue half the time, so if one of these routes is almost as good but doesn't require constant Imbue activation, that'd be great.

[Dielzen]

Well, the good news is it seems that the AA Imbues won't toggle off when using a Shuri, so that makes the standard approach a little better, and prolly still the best DPS option.

[pappo]

Well, the good news is it seems that the AA Imbues won't toggle off when using a Shuri, so that makes the standard approach a little better, and prolly still the best DPS option.

That's not what I read in the U36 changes.

Arcane Archer
With U36, the following changes are being made to Arcane Archer (both Elf and Ranger):

[*]Arcane Archer Imbue toggles will only grant their effects while wielding a Longbow or Shortbow.[*]Arcane Archers must have a Longbow or Shortbow equipped to toggle on the Imbues from that tree. Equipping something other than a Longbow or Shortbow in your main hand will cause Arcane Archer Imbues to toggle off.


For a very long time now, it's been possible to use Arcane Archer toggles with weapons that aren't bows. These abilities, by their wording, are only meant to work with Bows, but there are currently ways of getting around that and applying those effects to other weapons. The pass to Rangers circa Update 28 put some changes in place to stop this that were ultimately unsuccessful. We are interested in creating better balance between Bows, Crossbows, and other forms of ranged combat in the long term. In order to make that balance work, we need to finally fix Arcane Archer to work as it is intended to.

[unbongwah]

That's not what I read in the U36 changes.

Read further down into the thread:

Based on feedback in this thread, we've altered the Arcane Archer fix in a way that acts closer to Swashbuckling.

• You must be carrying a Longbow or Shortbow to toggle Arcane Archer imbues on.
• Once they are on, you may freely swap things in your main hands; while you have a Longbow or Shortbow in your hands, you will have the Imbue effects. If you have anything other than those things in your hands, the effects will disappear (without turning off the toggles) until you return a Longbow or Shortbow to your hands.

[pappo]

Read further down into the thread:

I still do not see how imbues will remain on my shuriken rngr/monk build. I have been using the imbues to get paralyzing, terror, smiting etc.. on my shurikens.
The way I read it, is that as soon as I put the shuriken in my hand, the imbue is removed.

[unbongwah]

Yes, devs are finally fixing the long-standing imbue bugs; which means yes, shuriken and other ranged builds which took advantage of those bugs are going to take a DPS hit.

But I think you're misreading the OP's concerns that you replied to. The way it was originally stated, imbues would be disabled when you swapped out a bow, which meant you would have to re-enable it after you switched back to a bow, which would've been a PITA. Devs are changing that so the imbue stays active when you swap gear, but it will only apply to bows. Hence OP's earlier comments:

I'm also worried that going any bow/shuri hybrid route I'll forget to turn on my imbue half the time, so if one of these routes is almost as good but doesn't require constant Imbue activation, that'd be great.

Well, the good news is it seems that the AA Imbues won't toggle off when using a Shuri, so that makes the standard approach a little better, and prolly still the best DPS option.

[pappo]

Yes, devs are finally fixing the long-standing imbue bugs; which means yes, shuriken and other ranged builds which took advantage of those bugs are going to take a DPS hit.

But I think you're misreading the OP's concerns that you replied to. The way it was originally stated, imbues would be disabled when you swapped out a bow, which meant you would have to re-enable it after you switched back to a bow, which would've been a PITA. Devs are changing that so the imbue stays active when you swap gear, but it will only apply to bows. Hence OP's earlier comments:

I guess I see where you are coming from. I was just saying I was going to miss the loss of the CC from paralyzing / terror imbues working on my shuriken when U36 is employed. I know it was an exploit, but it did make monkchers very formidable and fun to play.
I understand that the imbues now will not toggle off when I change to shuriken but they just will not work on the shuriken.

[Maelodic]

I think a monkcher is still an all around solid option. Still can get paralyzing arrows and have them work well.

Ninja throwers still work REALLY well though - I never played one with imbues and they were still ridiculously powerful.

[pappo]

I think a monkcher is still an all around solid option. Still can get paralyzing arrows and have them work well.

Ninja throwers still work REALLY well though - I never played one with imbues and they were still ridiculously powerful.

I agree. I removed all the AA enhancements from my lvl 16 monkcher and ran around GH doing slayers. It is still powerful and will be even more so when I get Fury of the Wild Adrenaline in Epics.

[Selvera]

I agree. I removed all the AA enhancements from my lvl 16 monkcher and ran around GH doing slayers. It is still powerful and will be even more so when I get Fury of the Wild Adrenaline in Epics.

I hate to be that girl, but running around GH doing slayers at level 16 isn't a good judge of power for a character these days. Slayers are by default normal difficulty, and gianthold quests are level 13-14 on normal.

My main is now a ninja-shuriken build and I never planned to use exploits with it (so I'm not). I did a couple of the gianthold quests on R1 at level 14 wearing mostly level 8 gear (slavelords) and I found it quite acceptable in the damage output department (also acceptable defenses). This makes me hopeful as the build is supposed to gain a lot of power in epic levels.

Munchers and Shuriken builds should still be in a fine spot without exploits, and the devs have said that "we'd like to see how they fare after this update and see if we need to make further tweaks". And that it's part of letting different ranged-types have different bonuses.

After this fix, I'm imagining the balance to be something like:
Bows: (strengths) Manyshot and Imbues; (weaknesses) slow passive attackspeed
Repeaters: (strengths) Endless Fusillade and Rune arms; (weaknesses) Doubleshot penalty
Shuriken: (strengths) 10k stars and fast attack speed; (weaknesses) no access to the stronger oh-hit damage sources (still have access to venomed blades and poison stance or henshin stance)

[Saekee]

i am guessing here:
red-named dps you still want a fury sniper shot on the bow during manyshot etc.
shurikens for trash--CC can be also through crippling/tendon slicing/AoE offhand, so mix-and-match Razorend, DunRobar with tendon slice (both last 1 minute old school), shimmering arrowhead, ToEE fully upgraded for heroics too and stars of day (with aoe) and Celestia. Razorend is the easiest to get.

[Jasparion]

Well, the good news is it seems that the AA Imbues won't toggle off when using a Shuri, so that makes the standard approach a little better, and prolly still the best DPS option.

The imbues will not work unless you have a longbow or shortbow equipped.

Whether you need to toggle them on or off is a different matter. The effects of the imbues simply wont be applied.

Well, that is how it is being coded in theory. In practice, time will tell.