Dex Scimitar Tempest

[C-Dog]

• Maximize vs Empowered Healing - I really value the ability to be a highly effective single target healer, and I've kept tanks and whole parties up on high reaper content and in raids. He can burn through SP, but have an Epic Ring of Spell Storing, and SP pots.

This is an important detail, and one that few enjoy. Without that reserve of ~1,000 Spell Points (on average), Maximized Healing is not nearly as attractive as a full-time plan.

(@ newer players - the Heroic version of this ring is a rare drop from rare spawns, which then requires an extremely rare Scroll, Shard and Seal to craft the Epic version. Several factors more rare than a Jibbers Blade, and the drop locations far less accessible, if that gives you any sense of it.)

[Ganak]

Minor tweaks...


Looking for explicit feedback on my twists which are:

Twists:
Martial Hymn
Critical Damage
A Dance of Flowers
Unearthly Reactions
First Harmonic Chord


In particular, Critical Damage as my T3.

Balanced Attacks is tempting.

Balanced Attacks: Passive You gain a +[2/4/6] Primal bonus to Attack as long as you are shapeshifted into an animal form, wielding two weapons, or unarmed. Rank 3: Knock down enemies for 2 seconds on vorpal hit. Enemies knocked down by this effect are helpless.

I don't have any problems with to hit on high reaper, but the vorpal knockdown (and helpless) on a 20 is tempting. Why Critical Damage? Because I crit a lot with scimitars, but the x2 modifier mitigates the benefit.

[Question2005]

Some questions :

-How do you clear mobs fast when you have no AOE before you get dance of death?

-What did you use to bypass incorporeal at low levels before the book of spirits was added to the game?

-What weapons did you use for level 4+, since it doesnt look like there any good named scimitars at low levels?

-What did you use for oozes/rust monsters or to bypass bludgeoning DR?

-If you couldnt take completionist, what would you take instead?

-How do you heal effectively if you dont have extremely rare items like the ring of spell storing?

[Ganak]

Thanks Questions for the questions

-How do you clear mobs fast when you have no AOE before you get dance of death?

DOD has a cooldown of 15 seconds and and active time of 10 seconds, so for the 5 seconds when it's not running you do damage to just a single target. Not a big deal because after the initial blitzkrieg you are just putting mobs out of their misery

-What did you use to bypass incorporeal at low levels before the book of spirits was added to the game?

I've got ghost touch random loot and named items at various levels. Nothing specific comes to mind, but be active in collecting such items as it's essential to bypass incorporeal.

-What weapons did you use for level 4+, since it doesnt look like there any good named scimitars at low levels?

I have a bunch of random loot vorpal weapons at various levels through level 20. Easy to find these on the AH. The Ravenloft Barovian scimitar at level 10 is one to get.

-What did you use for oozes/rust monsters or to bypass bludgeoning DR?

Muckbanes at lower levels, Muckdooms at level 7, and bow/arrows further beyond that. The rare time I pull out a bow. For bludgeoning DR, I'll admit I'm lazy and haven't pursued anything, though if I did I'd look at named light maces.

-If you couldn't take completionist, what would you take instead?

I'd fill out the dodge, mobility, spring attack tree perhaps. Or maybe Weapon Focus: Slash. Mental Toughness is another option if you were to value having a lot of spell points.

-How do you heal effectively if you dont have extremely rare items like the ring of spell storing?

Take Empowered Healing over Maximize, and don't take Quicken to make the SP last.

[Question2005]

I meant, how do you clear mobs fast before you get dance of death? It doesnt look like there any good options.

I did try spring attack but it feels very gimmicky. The damage is pathetic and just tickles the mobs, and it doesnt work like dire charge so you end up having to waste time repositioning yourself after the spring anyway, which defeats the point of using it to get into melee range quickly. Not worth a feat slot at all.

I took empower healing + quicken with rejuc cocoon in epics, but i have to say that i dont see how you are healing people effectively. The main issue with any melee class trying to heal is that they are limited to touch range for spells. When a ranged/caster gets low on hp, they are going to start bunny hopping all over the place while being chased by mobs, are you really going to stop dpsing a boss/champ/reaper to chase them and try to heal them, while constantly getting the "target is out of range" message? Thats not a realistic option really. At best, its useful to self heal yourself while doing non-reaper content in epics.

How are you getting dex to damage with stuff like muckbane, which are not light weapons? You use bows to kill oozes in epics? How does that work? Do you just toggle EDF off for every ooze and pull out your bow, then toggle it back on?

You dont use anything to bypass bludgeoning DR? Is this the norm? Because bludgeoning DR in legendary content is going to drop your damage per hit to nearly nothing.

Shadow dancer : You dont take pierce the gloom? Is it not a big increase in DPS when doing legendary content since the mobs have very high AC there?

I got to level 25 and i have to say that im very dissapointed in TWF in general.

Main issues that I found :

-DPS is awful till you get to level 11 for 90% off hand strike.

-You clear mobs very slowly before you can get dance of death, and dance of death is not impressive now that THF gets permanent strikethrough The 5 second gap is a lot more significant than on paper unless you are stopping before every encounter to ensure that you have it up (this is obviously not a realistic option, nobody is going to wait for you). Even when using drow scimitars from level 21, clearing mobs is very inconsistent because you need constant crits to kill them fast as your regular damage is very low. Sometimes you get a string of 19-20 rolls and a mob drops instantly, but usually, you have to sit there for a few seconds DPSing a mob for them to die.

-THF massively outdpses TWF for both ST and AOE due to having 3x the attribute damage modifier which TWF does not get. Im surprised you did not mention this. Even THF paladins outdps me in heroics, let alone druid bears.

-A large portion of your damage is linked to your sneak attack dice, which you do not get against mobs immune to sneak attack like undead and when leveling in heroics where you usually have all the aggro (exposing strike is not AOE unfortunately). It looks like shadow dancer lets you remove the sneak immunity on vorpals at least, but thats not an option if you are in heroics or leveling another ED.

-Leveling from level 1 is awful, the bonuses that wood elves get dont make up for it. I totally forgot that iconic aasimar was an option to start with dance of death and greater TWF.

Biggest issue is that I cant find any reason to do a TWF ranger now. THF blows TWF out of the water with the 3x attribute mod and theres even a new epic past life stance that buffs THF damage, but doesnt increase TWF's damage at all. TWF ranger seems like a build that is only useful in optimal conditions at cap : when a tank has aggro and you can just stand there attacking with sneak attack dice. When you are leveling 1-29 and fighting stuff immune to sneak attack, its awful.

[glassesjr]

I meant, how do you clear mobs fast before you get dance of death? It doesnt look like there any good options.

I did try spring attack but it feels very gimmicky. The damage is pathetic and just tickles the mobs, and it doesnt work like dire charge so you end up having to waste time repositioning yourself after the spring anyway, which defeats the point of using it to get into melee range quickly. Not worth a feat slot at all.

I took empower healing + quicken with rejuc cocoon in epics, but i have to say that i dont see how you are healing people effectively. The main issue with any melee class trying to heal is that they are limited to touch range for spells. When a ranged/caster gets low on hp, they are going to start bunny hopping all over the place while being chased by mobs, are you really going to stop dpsing a boss/champ/reaper to chase them and try to heal them, while constantly getting the "target is out of range" message? Thats not a realistic option really. At best, its useful to self heal yourself while doing non-reaper content in epics.

How are you getting dex to damage with stuff like muckbane, which are not light weapons? You use bows to kill oozes in epics? How does that work? Do you just toggle EDF off for every ooze and pull out your bow, then toggle it back on?

You dont use anything to bypass bludgeoning DR? Is this the norm? Because bludgeoning DR in legendary content is going to drop your damage per hit to nearly nothing.

Shadow dancer : You dont take pierce the gloom? Is it not a big increase in DPS when doing legendary content since the mobs have very high AC there?

I got to level 25 and i have to say that im very dissapointed in TWF in general.

Main issues that I found :

-DPS is awful till you get to level 11 for 90% off hand strike.

-You clear mobs very slowly before you can get dance of death, and dance of death is not impressive now that THF gets permanent strikethrough The 5 second gap is a lot more significant than on paper unless you are stopping before every encounter to ensure that you have it up (this is obviously not a realistic option, nobody is going to wait for you). Even when using drow scimitars from level 21, clearing mobs is very inconsistent because you need constant crits to kill them fast as your regular damage is very low. Sometimes you get a string of 19-20 rolls and a mob drops instantly, but usually, you have to sit there for a few seconds DPSing a mob for them to die.

-THF massively outdpses TWF for both ST and AOE due to having 3x the attribute damage modifier which TWF does not get. Im surprised you did not mention this. Even THF paladins outdps me in heroics, let alone druid bears.

-A large portion of your damage is linked to your sneak attack dice, which you do not get against mobs immune to sneak attack like undead and when leveling in heroics where you usually have all the aggro (exposing strike is not AOE unfortunately). It looks like shadow dancer lets you remove the sneak immunity on vorpals at least, but thats not an option if you are in heroics or leveling another ED.

-Leveling from level 1 is awful, the bonuses that wood elves get dont make up for it. I totally forgot that iconic aasimar was an option to start with dance of death and greater TWF.

Biggest issue is that I cant find any reason to do a TWF ranger now. THF blows TWF out of the water with the 3x attribute mod and theres even a new epic past life stance that buffs THF damage, but doesnt increase TWF's damage at all. TWF ranger seems like a build that is only useful in optimal conditions at cap : when a tank has aggro and you can just stand there attacking with sneak attack dice. When you are leveling 1-29 and fighting stuff immune to sneak attack, its awful.

I don't blame you for hating leveling as a Dex based Tempest, it is partly why I am working on a STR one at the moment. If you ever want to take another stab at it, you could try a build the same or similar as to what I am doing now.

I am just level 8 currently, but single target DPS isn't bad at all (Nightforge Blades with the Knights Training feat are really good leveling weapons) and the build should do a lot of AoE DPS at Level 12 which I am looking forward to.

Good thing about the STR build is DPS will be a lot higher and you can use whatever weapons you want and leveling will be a lot smoother. I went THF till LV 6 to make the really early leveling less painful and then went full TWF. The Dex build seems really defensive and maybe at real high lv's it can do okay, but it isn't something I am interested in working on.

The only thing I am considering to do maybe is to not take Mobility and Spring Attack and instead take Improved Critical Bludgeon for when I am using War Hammers which benefit from the KT feat. Other feat could be Quicken/Mental Toughness/Toughness?

STR Tempest
Ranger 20
True Neutral Half-Orc


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 20. . . .+2. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 12. . . .+2. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . .+2. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 12. . . .+2. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+2. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . .6. . . .+2. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Heal. . . 2. 2. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Search. . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Spot. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Swim. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Jump. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 1½ .5½
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .28. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8


Feats

.1. . . . : Stunning Blow (Use THF till level 6 then swap to Stunning Blow)
.3. . . . : Precision
.6. . . . : Knight's Training
.9. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
12. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
15. . . . : Dodge
18. . . . : Mobility
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Spring Attack
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Reflexes
28 Destiny: First Blood
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane

.1 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
.5 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
10 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
15 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Aberration
20 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Elemental


Spells

1. Ram's Might (4), Merfolk's Blessing (6), Jump (14), Resist Energy (18)
2. Barkskin (8), Cure Light Wounds (10), Protection from Energy (16), Summon Nature's Ally II (19)
3. Cure Moderate Wounds (11), Wild Instincts (12), Remove Disease (19), Neutralize Poison (19)
4. Cure Serious Wounds (14), Freedom of Movement (15), Summon Nature's Ally IV (19), Animal Growth (20)

Enhancements (80 AP)

Tempest (46 AP)

• Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows, Whirlwind, Dervish
  1. Improved Reaction I, Improved Defense III, Whirling Blades
  2. Improved Parry III, Improved Dodge I, Whirling Blades, Haste Boost III
  3. Storm Dancer, Improved Mobility I, Critical Mastery III, Whirling Blades
  4. Storm Tempest, The Growing Storm III, Whirling Blades
  5. Dual Perfection, Cuts: A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III

Deepwood Stalker (26 AP)

• Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Exposing Strike
  1. Favored Defense III, Stealthy III, Tendon Cut I
  2. Survivalist, Melee/Range Power Boost III
  3. Survivalist, Thrill of the Hunt III, Favored Hunter III
  4. Killer III

Harper Agent (8 AP)

• Agent of Good I
  1. Harper Enchantment, Traveler's Toughness III
  2. Know the Angles II

[Ganak]

Biggest issue is that I cant find any reason to do a TWF ranger now.

If the goal is to achieve the utmost min/max (which is truly a fine goal), well going THF makes a lot of sense now, at this moment in time.


Look, I've been around, and I'd say THF has been subpar more often than it's been optimal, and happy to see it have it's day in the sun. What you can count on is the meta will change...and change...and change.


My style is I don't chase the meta, preferring to pick a concept I like and then min-max within the concept. I enjoy creating awesome characters that are not cookie cutter, and curb stomping tough content. The keyword is enjoy, and to each their own in that regard.




Now, all that said, my skinny wood elf mops the floor with many a THF, because the true, unchanging meta in this game is Player > Build.

[Question2005]

I don't blame you for hating leveling as a Dex based Tempest, it is partly why I am working on a STR one at the moment. If you ever want to take another stab at it, you could try a build the same or similar as to what I am doing now.

I am just level 8 currently, but single target DPS isn't bad at all (Nightforge Blades with the Knights Training feat are really good leveling weapons) and the build should do a lot of AoE DPS at Level 12 which I am looking forward to.

Good thing about the STR build is DPS will be a lot higher and you can use whatever weapons you want and leveling will be a lot smoother. I went THF till LV 6 to make the really early leveling less painful and then went full TWF. The Dex build seems really defensive and maybe at real high lv's it can do okay, but it isn't something I am interested in working on.

The only thing I am considering to do maybe is to not take Mobility and Spring Attack and instead take Improved Critical Bludgeon for when I am using War Hammers which benefit from the KT feat. Other feat could be Quicken/Mental Toughness/Toughness?

STR Tempest
Ranger 20
True Neutral Half-Orc


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 20. . . .+2. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 12. . . .+2. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 16. . . .+2. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 12. . . .+2. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+2. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . .6. . . .+2. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Heal. . . 2. 2. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Search. . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Spot. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Swim. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Jump. . . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 1½ .5½
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .28. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8


Feats

.1. . . . : Stunning Blow (Use THF till level 6 then swap to Stunning Blow)
.3. . . . : Precision
.6. . . . : Knight's Training
.9. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
12. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
15. . . . : Dodge
18. . . . : Mobility
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Spring Attack
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Reflexes
28 Destiny: First Blood
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane

.1 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
.5 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
10 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
15 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Aberration
20 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Elemental


Spells

1. Ram's Might (4), Merfolk's Blessing (6), Jump (14), Resist Energy (18)
2. Barkskin (8), Cure Light Wounds (10), Protection from Energy (16), Summon Nature's Ally II (19)
3. Cure Moderate Wounds (11), Wild Instincts (12), Remove Disease (19), Neutralize Poison (19)
4. Cure Serious Wounds (14), Freedom of Movement (15), Summon Nature's Ally IV (19), Animal Growth (20)

Enhancements (80 AP)

Tempest (46 AP)

• Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows, Whirlwind, Dervish
  1. Improved Reaction I, Improved Defense III, Whirling Blades
  2. Improved Parry III, Improved Dodge I, Whirling Blades, Haste Boost III
  3. Storm Dancer, Improved Mobility I, Critical Mastery III, Whirling Blades
  4. Storm Tempest, The Growing Storm III, Whirling Blades
  5. Dual Perfection, Cuts: A Thousand Cuts III, Whirling Blades, Dance of Death III

Deepwood Stalker (26 AP)

• Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Exposing Strike
  1. Favored Defense III, Stealthy III, Tendon Cut I
  2. Survivalist, Melee/Range Power Boost III
  3. Survivalist, Thrill of the Hunt III, Favored Hunter III
  4. Killer III

Harper Agent (8 AP)

• Agent of Good I
  1. Harper Enchantment, Traveler's Toughness III
  2. Know the Angles II

Im confused as to how str is supposed to be better for tempest...its a lot harder to gear for str + dex when you can just stack dex for no fail reflex saves easily.

I dont get why you are giving up mark of the hunted for KTA either. And I think you also gave up something in the tempest tree to get the AP for that.

[Question2005]

If the goal is to achieve the utmost min/max (which is truly a fine goal), well going THF makes a lot of sense now, at this moment in time.


Look, I've been around, and I'd say THF has been subpar more often than it's been optimal, and happy to see it have it's day in the sun. What you can count on is the meta will change...and change...and change.


My style is I don't chase the meta, preferring to pick a concept I like and then min-max within the concept. I enjoy creating awesome characters that are not cookie cutter, and curb stomping tough content. The keyword is enjoy, and to each their own in that regard.




Now, all that said, my skinny wood elf mops the floor with many a THF, because the true, unchanging meta in this game is Player > Build.

Point is, when i started following your build, i got the wrong impression about it. After I tried leveling it from 1-30, i realised its got a lot of issues that would be easily solved by simply using aasimar scourge (which also gets favored enemy : undead for free).

With aasimar scourge, its probably the best way to get ranger lives at the moment since bow is still weak. Unfortunately, DPS on TWF is really sub par now compared to any half decent THF build.

I ran with night shard/vulkoor's edge and im thinking that for most content at cap, a LGS dust scimitar in the offhand is actually the optimal choice. Dust stacks with vul on hit and many people have raid weapons that provide vul on hit these days, and almost nobody runs with LGS dust weapons at cap. TWF is the only combat style that can afford to do so without gimping their main hand damage which is why people run their fancy 7w weapons at cap instead of LGS dust. Fact is, TWF ranger isnt going to be anywhere near top DPS, what with THF, inquis and thrower builds these days, so you may as well fill a niche that nobody else can and help debuff the boss with dust. Everyone will love you when they realise they are doing 2x damage to a boss compared to before. As a bonus, you can start using dust at 26 when you are doing r1 stuff for exp.

[pSINNa]

saved for later

[Taxidiotis]

Unfortunately, DPS on TWF is really sub par now compared to any half decent THF build.

I ran with night shard/vulkoor's edge and im thinking that for most content at cap, a LGS dust scimitar in the offhand is actually the optimal choice. Dust stacks with vul on hit and many people have raid weapons that provide vul on hit these days, and almost nobody runs with LGS dust weapons at cap. TWF is the only combat style that can afford to do so without gimping their main hand damage which is why people run their fancy 7w weapons at cap instead of LGS dust. Fact is, TWF ranger isnt going to be anywhere near top DPS, what with THF, inquis and thrower builds these days, so you may as well fill a niche that nobody else can and help debuff the boss with dust. Everyone will love you when they realise they are doing 2x damage to a boss compared to before. As a bonus, you can start using dust at 26 when you are doing r1 stuff for exp.

True, tempests' DPS are somewhat below the THFs of DDO...but...tempests get waaaaay more faster strikes than THF. THF get captivating DPS goggles; big, slow crit dmg numbers. Tempests will literally lag the instance with the amount of fast strikes with moderate front number dmg (along with SA to boot); and the utility of having 2x weps vs 1x wep is far superior as you noted; Dust + Vuln. Aasimar also supplies some Vuln in tree, at least enough to keep from deteriorating once applied; leaving a tempest to have a beater + Dust. I believe Scourge is a trap that may seem nice, but practically inferior to Aasimar.

My sexy dexy tempest is well over 20k DPS (dare I say close to 25k?) and can sustain that output with modest defenses (and a mommy-copter in high reapers). The THFs I've seen have big crits, but are dead a lot (i.e. do no DPS at all).

Not sure what server you are on, but most TWFs on G-Land have dust and/or vuln. Tempests should have as many as 6-8 golf clubs to swap between in any given quest/raid, depending on the situation; all for the utility.

Granted, tempests do not fully shine until cap, due to the awesome cap gear. H. and E. leveling gear is kinda crapola, but cap gear is god-like for tempests if you want to min/max a twf in general. Inquis and throwers are a scourge on DDO because they kite everything around, leaving any melee DPS running around all goofy-pants while the field is scattered with mob. But.. DDO is a free-market society...stop running with the little f@#^&s! Tempests need control of the field to be effective.

If you're running with Vulks / Niteshard, your gear may be outdated, which is why you are not satisfied with your tempest. I retired my Vulks / Niteshard once Sharn came out. Again, all due respect to OP, I do not believe OP's build is optimized for DPS output that you may be looking for. Slot all the gear that supplies every DPS source; dblstr, deadly, seeker, SA, KTA, etc...then worry about auxiliary defenses.

[Ganak]

This is a draft of my Feywild gear set.

I find that Assassinate functions in shadowdancer work very well for me in end game content, so the new VOD bracers work well, setting up having the Mantle set bonus. I was surprised at slotting the boots which only really doing for the dodge bonus. Tried to make a 7 piece Spring set work, but too many gaps and cannot get away from the family set bonuses. With this setup, the most obvious hole to me is insightful PRR, but overall I achieve most of what I look for as outlined at the bottom. I like having true seeing on an item, but just have to whip scrolls to compensate. Overall I am satisfied with this setup.



ARMOR* - Wildcard - Fort 214, PRR 54, HAMP 85, FALSE LIFE 81 - FAMILY
GOGGLE - Collective Sight - CON 21, INS CON 10, QUA RESIST 4, DECEP 18
HELM - Crown of Butterflies - HAMP 15, MELEE POWER 10, MRR 54, Winged Allure - SPRING
NECKLACE* - Family's Blessing - QUA ASSASS 2, INS FORT BYPASS 16, Deadly 17, DS 24 - FAMILY
TRINKET - Heart of Suulomades - QUA CON 5, RESIST 18, Fire absorb 31, Evil Absorb 31 - MANTLE
CLOAK - Cloak of Balance - FOM, INS SEEKER 10, PARRY 10, QUA DEX 5
BELT - Black Dragonscale - FORT BYPASS 33, Relentless Fury, ACID RESIST 81 - SPRING
RING - Celestial Ruby - STUN 23, ACCURACY 33, DEX 21, GHOSTLY
GLOVES* - Hammerfist - INS DOUBLESTRIKE 11, CCI, INS DEADLY 8, SEEKER 21 - FAMILY
BOOTS - Wind Riders - FOM, DODGE 21, Whirlwind Ward, SPEED 30 - AUTUMN
RING2 - Rockslide Ring - INS DEX 10, INS COMBAT MASTERY 9, Earthen guard - SPRING
BRACERS - Devilscale Bracers - IMP DEC, ASSASS 10, INS ASS 4, DECEP 18 - MANTLE


SET BONUS

FAMILY - +15% Artifact Doublestrike, +25 Artifact Melee Power, +15% Artifact damage vs Helpless, +10% Artifact Fortification Bypass

Eminence of Spring:
2 Pieces Equipped: +10% Artifact bonus to Missle Deflection
3 Pieces Equipped: +15% Artifact bonus to Helpless

MANTLE - +3 SA Die, +10% Artifact Doublestrike , +20 Artifact PRR/MRR


DEX - Celestial Ruby
INS DEX - Rockslide Ring
QUA DEX - Cloak of Balance

CON - Collective Sight
INS CON - Collective Sight
QUA CON - Heart of Suulomades

FORT - Wildcard
FALSE LIFE - Wildcard
HAMP - Wildcard
HAMP EQUIP - Crown of Butterflies

PRR - Wildcard
INS PRR -
QUA PRR -
ART PRR - MANTLE

MRR - Crown of Butterflies
INS MRR -
QUA MRR -
ART MRR - MANTLE

FORT BYPASS - Black Dragonscale
INS FORT BYPASS - Family's Blessing
ART FORT BYPASS - FAMILY

DEADLY - Family's Blessing
INS DEADLY - Hammerfist
QUA DEADLY -

DOUBLESTRIKE - Family's Blessing
INS DOUBLESTRIKE - Hammerfist
QUA DOUBLESTRIKE -
ART DOUBLESTRIKE - FAMILY

SEEKER - Hammerfist
INS SEEKER - Cloak of Balance
QUA SEEKER -

STUNNING - Celestial Ruby
INS STUNNING - Rockslide Ring
ART STUNNING -

RESIST - Heart of Suulomades
INS RESIST - Cloak of Balance
QUA RESIST - Collective Sight

GHOSTLY - Celestial Ruby
RELENTLESS FURY - Black Dragonscale
CCI - Hammerfist

ACCURACY - Celestial Ruby
INS ACCURACY -
QUA ACCURACY -

DECEPTION - Devilscale Bracers
INS DECEPTION -
IMP DECEPTION - Devilscale Bracers

TRUE SEEING -
PROTECTION -
DODGE - Wind Riders

ASSASS - Devilscale Bracers
INS ASSASS - Devilscale Bracers
QUA ASSASS - Family's Blessing

[Taxidiotis]

Not using Thorn Boots? Shame Shame!
And no Q-Deadly to boot?
RIP INT for KTA
However, this would be an awesome raid gearout for VoD and PN! Nice!

I am contemplating turning SD DEX Tempest into an SD INT Tempest. Any thoughts on that?
So far I can only efficiently get INT to 90; which is the same damage output of having 100 DEX with 70 INT for KTA(current). Could push to 94 INT with the +4 INT augment set bonus, but what a PITA.
The primary focusing being able to use any weapon, not just scimmies. (I believe the raid scimmy will be pretty inferior to the khopesh...if they ever release raid...)

[Carpone]

Gearing for Spring bonuses doesn't net you anything important. You already get 15% helpless from the Sharn set. Missile Deflection is pointless when you already have 2-second deflect arrows.

I also wouldn't run in SD for questing. LD is more optimal. And I wouldn't gear for Assassinate unless I was running an Assassin. Wildwood Wrists are a higher DPS choice thanks to the +13 hit/+20 damage. Aim for slotting the Cruel Cut 3-pc augment set for the 3 SA dice.

Ditching the Suulo bracers, I'd use Family Recruit Sigil for the fort bypass, Cloak of Summer + Titania's Glory + Belt of the Ram for 3pc summer. You'll have a serviceable Trip DC with all that STR.

Lionheart Ring is too good not to use on a melee.

The top Tempest build is going to be dagger based, using Pain+Suffering at level cap, and going 24 AP into VKF rather than DWS. If you've got the AP, definitely go into DWS deep enough for the 3 SA dice and core 3.

INT-based Tempest is totally doable. The only thing you lose out on is Elaborate Parry. Picking up Insightful Reflexes is easy with all of the free Ranger feats. It also makes the Rockslide Ring redundant, which is good because it's a really poor choice. I'd also swap the Celestial Ruby ring for a Ring of Prowess. You'll be taking the Scion of the Ethereal Plane legendary feat.

[FengXian]

Hey,

nice build, I wanna ask for advice: which changes would you make for a non-completionist that doesn't have to be self-sufficient (i.e. I assume could skip quicken/maximize then)?

It would be for a new player I'll be duoing with, I'll be playing a b(e)acon of hope FvS for buffs/heals so that the ranger player can focus entirely on DPS. Would be mainly for heroics E/R1 as of now.

Thanks!

[Ganak]

which changes would you make for a non-completionist that doesn't have to be self-sufficient (i.e. I assume could skip quicken/maximize then)?

Thanks for asking.

Consider Mobility and Spring Attack, as well as Weapon Focus.