Thoughts on Dark Hunter

[Melkazar]

I am enjoying the Dark Hunter; it save the one level of rogue that I took on my main ranger rather nicely.

Only thing I hate is the admixtures for healing. Targeting is wonky. Might be useful for groups of undead but for self healing, especially in the middle of a fight, they are atrocious.

Any chance of getting a choice of regular heals?

[mbartol]

Targeting yourself should make you break it on your own boot. This way you can still use it when feather-falling or standing close to a door.

[yfernbottom]

I am enjoying the Dark Hunter; it save the one level of rogue that I took on my main ranger rather nicely.

Only thing I hate is the admixtures for healing. Targeting is wonky. Might be useful for groups of undead but for self healing, especially in the middle of a fight, they are atrocious.

Any chance of getting a choice of regular heals?

I don't like using admixtures either. One of the things I dislike about Alchemist, and if I am playing a WF Artificer I rarely memorize any of those spells.

That said, Dark Hunter gets four levels so them (compared to three spells rangers get in the cure line) and they can be used to AoE heal, so in theory once you get used to the wonky targeting a DH is a stronger healer than a baseline Ranger.

[Firebreed]

That said, Dark Hunter gets four levels so them (compared to three spells rangers get in the cure line) and they can be used to AoE heal, so in theory once you get used to the wonky targeting a DH is a stronger healer than a baseline Ranger.

Relevant thread I started yesterday, would like everyone's opinion on the matter.

[CSQ]

The admixtures change seems weird to me. I guess it's a way to AoE heal your wolf too, but it seems like it feels unnecessary, unsupported by the flavor (I suppose maybe you could pretend it's like rogue-ish alchemy or something but still it doesn't mesh with any of the class enhancements) and, given the way that admixtures are somewhat dubious in targeting and hit boxes, it feels bad. I still wish there was an option to floor smash curative admixtures centered on yourself so you don't have to waste so many mixtures flung into the ether, tumbling end over end to a distant wall or floor, or zooming towards a random skeleton about to have as bad a day as you are while your hitpoints creep down towards zero.

[yfernbottom]

I still wish there was an option to floor smash curative admixtures centered on yourself so you don't have to waste so many mixtures flung into the ether, tumbling end over end to a distant wall or floor, or zooming towards a random skeleton about to have as bad a day as you are while your hitpoints creep down towards zero.

If there was some way to reliably target yourself, that would be a vast improvement. As it stands, you really can't rely on them for anything save topping off between fights. If you absolutely need one of those things to land to make it through fight, it's basically a coin toss as to whether you'll make it.

[LightBear]

If there was some way to reliably target yourself, that would be a vast improvement. As it stands, you really can't rely on them for anything save topping off between fights. If you absolutely need one of those things to land to make it through fight, it's basically a coin toss as to whether you'll make it.

F1 helps the targeting problem, the thing that fails often is a hard surface for the vial to break upon.
Often you'll just throw em through the floor, wall or whatever and no collision happens what so ever.

[Bjond]

Overall, DH is a big thumbs up from me. The "bad" stuff is in areas that don't matter and the "good" stuff is free.

If there was some way to reliably target yourself

How about target ANYTHING. The reason I don't use Alchemist is that throwing potions doesn't work. Target tank. Heal. O M G .. INTERCEPTION by jumping melee. No, not TOUCHDOWN! Dead tank. Y'all have already covered the self-target bugs.

The whole "throwing potions" thing is one of those "cool story bro" abilities that sound interesting when talking about it, but end up imbecilically bad in game. Fortunately, DH heal strength is the same as Ranger. It's nicer and faster than typing "I'd heal you if I could", but not by much. The one spot where I miss having even an ultra-weak heal is for unconscious players. The undying augments are becoming common and thus so is orange-bar syndrome. Even a teeny tiny heal can stand someone up, which can be pretty handy.

Tempest & DWS T5 are so much stronger that DH T5 has no place in game. There is a TON of room there for improvements that could make it competitive: eg. change the critical selector from +1 range/multiplier to +2 range/multiplier. Now there's a serious build quandary. As it stands, it's a fluffy punt. AP goes in Tempest or DWS. DH is second or third, for sneak dice. The bleed is well, a bleed. Half the game is immune. It will be used only if there's no other imbue or when taken as a stepping stone to more sneak attack.

OTH, having a full-BAB trapper in the base class is fantastic. I suspect 6 DH will replace 6 Ranger in every non-AA ranged build. The only reason to run non-DH ranger is if you're going to be pure Tempest and want evasion over trapping. IMHO, splashing 2 monk or 2 rogue for that with 18 DH is better. So, despite the faults, I see DH as replacing 90% or more of all builds that once used Ranger. The power gain is just a few sneak attack. Utility gain is huge (trapping). So, not unbalancing for combat and not enough to demand TR+20 rebuilds. But, as folks TR, I expect non-DH ranger to die out.

[captain1z]

I am enjoying the Dark Hunter; it save the one level of rogue that I took on my main ranger rather nicely.

Only thing I hate is the admixtures for healing. Targeting is wonky. Might be useful for groups of undead but for self healing, especially in the middle of a fight, they are atrocious.

Any chance of getting a choice of regular heals?

Im enjoying Dark Hunter as well. The investment in intelligence hurts a bit but you manage.

The pet is pretty useless.

As for admixture, theow it against a nearby wall, target the enemy your fighting or look at the floor really quick. Its tricky but "group heals on a ranger" are kind of worth it.

I wonder what happens if you turn that arc thing metamagic off on it. Im gonna try and see if if helps at all.