Doing a DH for next life, need suggestions

[SilentRunning]

So as it says in the title I'm going to be doing a DH ranger for my next life on one of my current toons.

I'd like to keep it pure, maybe using universal trees to beef it up some.

So far I have that it will be a Tabaxi, but not much else. I want to use Tabaxi for the no damage on landing enhancement. My current one is a 2nd life SF Paladin, so I'll have a PL for Paladin and Tabaxi. 1st life was a Shadar Kai Warlock

I'd like it to remain as stealthy as possible but I am open to other suggestions.

[C-Dog]

Ranged or melee?

If Melee, it's been suggested that a DH would make a great Tempest, so grab any Tempest build and go with that. Stealthy + a Dex build is a natural combo. (Adding some Rogue in for Assassinate would be a natural combo if you were open to multiclass, just sayin'.)

Similar w/ Ranged, but remember DH Assassinate bonuses are melee-only. SA still works.

Either way, if you want to Trap you'll want to start with a high Int and maintain that via gearing (or just make it an Int build, that works too, but differently).

Here are some more theory-crafting thoughts: https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...=1#post6565106

[Scrag]

I'd like to keep it pure, maybe using universal trees to beef it up some.

The one thing I have seen consistent is assassinate bonuses between falconry and dh. You get 3 assassinate bonus from dh, and 3 from falconry. Both have a bunch of things that benefit from +assassinate, and its all wis based, + trance, + wis tohit/dam

I am aiming for:
27 Falconry
11 Deepwood Stalker
38 in DH

That leaves 4 ap, but I am unsure what I want to spend them on.

[Tilomere]

2 blight wolf druid 17 dh ranger 1 barb elf

2 druid gives spike growth/entangle does double/negative damage
Elf gives entangle racial SLA = up to level 32 base caster level = character lvl

Get metamagics and spell focus

Run to end of map just chain casting entangle and spike growth, toss DH trap at reapers (not sure if it works), add some melee dps on boss. Add barb lvl in when your spells are set up for even faster run speed.

Over time entangle will hit for 15d4 per caster level, or about twice as hard as meteor?

[Scrag]

2 blight wolf druid 17 dh ranger 1 barb elf

2 druid gives spike growth/entangle does double/negative damage
Elf gives entangle racial SLA = up to level 32 base caster level = character lvl

Get metamagics and spell focus

Run to end of map just chain casting entangle and spike growth, toss DH trap at reapers (not sure if it works), add some melee dps on boss. Add barb lvl in when your spells are set up for even faster run speed.

Over time entangle will hit for 15d4 per caster level, or about twice as hard as meteor?

WOW I _LIKE_ this!

update: Taking both points results in a total of 2d4 per caster level piercing damage and 1d4 per caster level negative.

Per tick, you are doing 3d4 damage per level. At even low levels, say 6, you are looking at 18d4 damage per tick for both enhancements, as elf, enhanceable with force and negative spellpower (both of which you need for a blight caster anyway)

[Scrag]

I tested this (level 4, 2 druid, 2 dh)

(Combat): Spell Crit! Your Entangle has greater effect!
(Combat): You hit Syndicate Muscle for 33 points of negative damage.

My average negative damage per tick at 4 with straight starter gear is ~14, with crits in the 30s. As best I can tell, this is amplified by negative spell power.

I will be doing this. Unfortunately its bugged:

You have multiple effects granting a Condition bonus to Condition Bool saying player is standing in magical plant effect that do not stack. ( Stand with Nature and Stand with Nature )

I haven't figured out if stand with nature is doing the ticks, or entangle, or if i am just casting 2 stand with natures and they dont overlap. If I had spike growth I could check.

There is no indicator of the 2d4 piercing damage. If it is doing 4d4 damage, it is still way over that with the average of ~14 negative damage.

[Pretty_Good_Old_One]

I tested this (level 4, 2 druid, 2 dh)

(Combat): Spell Crit! Your Entangle has greater effect!
(Combat): You hit Syndicate Muscle for 33 points of negative damage.

My average negative damage per tick at 4 with straight starter gear is ~14, with crits in the 30s. As best I can tell, this is amplified by negative spell power.

I will be doing this. Unfortunately its bugged:

You have multiple effects granting a Condition bonus to Condition Bool saying player is standing in magical plant effect that do not stack. ( Stand with Nature and Stand with Nature )

I haven't figured out if stand with nature is doing the ticks, or entangle, or if i am just casting 2 stand with natures and they dont overlap. If I had spike growth I could check.

There is no indicator of the 2d4 piercing damage. If it is doing 4d4 damage, it is still way over that with the average of ~14 negative damage.

This is what I have been playing! Elf Dark Hunter/Blight Caster is a lot of fun for leveling. I have been trying different level combinations, but it is fun with the elf entangle SLA.

The entangle works really well with the negative damage and some negative items. The damage has seemed a tiny bit high, but I thought it was just good luck. 3 BC/4 DH can throw out a level 9 entangle with 9d4 damage. Not earth shaking, but with a little negative equipment I was doing close to 35 damage every 2 seconds to everyone around me for 10sp. It doesn't seem to allow overlapping damage, but it is not a lot of spell points to throw a couple and run between them. It does heal enemy undead, so there are drawbacks.

Falconry is a lot of fun with the wolf. I definitely am having good luck with imbue wolf + falcon attack. Sneak in - send wolf against 1 target, falcon a second, entangle, fight is fun. Not the most powerful, but feels above level powerful at mid heroic.

I am leaning toward 8 DH to get spike growth, and then 2 BC to get all the enhancements for 2d4 spike plus 1d4 negative per level. I have been playing a level 5 BC, and maximized enhanced spike growth is crazy. Nothing lasts more than a couple seconds, even on elite. It chews through spell points, but there are multiple buy downs on maximize in BC and seasons herald. An 8DH, 2BC could spam spike growth on top of the imbue attack.

It just feels fun getting so much damage out of spike growth with a ranger with just a little druid added in. Healing is a pain with admixture, but you can take a lot of things out before you take much damge. I am leaning towards ending up with Elf 18 DH, 2 BC... but it might be worth giving up the lvl 18 core DH to take BC to 6 for death eater, thorn kin, and seasons herald levels, and maybe add in some barbarian for speed. Lots of combos, with the elf entangle and nature lore abilities allowing some synergy across the classes. That said, I want to do some 18d20 assassinates.

None of it probably scales well to reaper or endgame, but lots of fun so far in heroic elite.

[Scrag]

I am leaning toward 8 DH to get spike growth, and then 2 BC to get all the enhancements for 2d4 spike plus 1d4 negative per level....

It just feels fun getting so much damage out of spike growth with a ranger with just a little druid added in. Healing is a pain with admixture, but you can take a lot of things out before you take much damge. I am leaning towards ending up with Elf 18 DH, 2 BC... but it might be worth giving up the lvl 18 core DH to take BC to 6 for death eater, thorn kin, and seasons herald levels, and maybe add in some barbarian for speed. Lots of combos, with the elf entangle and nature lore abilities allowing some synergy across the classes. That said, I want to do some 18d20 assassinates.

None of it probably scales well to reaper or endgame, but lots of fun so far in heroic elite.

I don't play anything other than heroic elite, so this sounds awesome to me!

Warning, I have rose and defiled, and I am not seeing the 2d4 spike, unless that is only for growth. In either case, I am pretty happy with the entangle damage! Glad to hear 2/18 druid/dh seems to be a good pairing!

[Pretty_Good_Old_One]

I don't play anything other than heroic elite, so this sounds awesome to me!

Warning, I have rose and defiled, and I am not seeing the 2d4 spike, unless that is only for growth. In either case, I am pretty happy with the entangle damage! Glad to hear 2/18 druid/dh seems to be a good pairing!

Yeah, I think the 2d4 is only for spike growth. Entangle just gets the 1d4 negative, spike growth gets the 1d4 negative plus double damage (2d4 spikes). The only drawback with the elf entangle SLA, is once you get spike growth, you tend to use it a lot more than entangle... especially as entangle does not seem to take maximize. It would be fun if they changed it like they did Bless for dark apostate, to take maximize if you are a blight caster. But even without that, adding in those area attacks which scale with ranger level really open up DH play in heroic.

[Aerendil]

Interesting combo with BC. I like Elf anyways as the dragonmark seems to synergize well with DH (with invis), but necrotic entangle with Tempest's DoD will incinerate groups of enemies really well. Shame to lose out on capstone though, but I guess that's the tradeoff.

[Scrag]

Interesting combo with BC. I like Elf anyways as the dragonmark seems to synergize well with DH (with invis), but necrotic entangle with Tempest's DoD will incinerate groups of enemies really well. Shame to lose out on capstone though, but I guess that's the tradeoff.

This is brilliant. Smoke bomb doesnt come till dh 4 20 pts, but elf invis costs 2 points in elf. for a total spend of 6 elf points and a feat you get entangle, and 6 invis uses per rest.

Until you get enough levels to smokebomb, this is a fantastic deal for burst damage against reds, and an efficient, if temporary, way to do it with minimal ap cost.