Scout or Pure Ranger for DPS Bow Ranger? [Veteran]

[iAmburn]

I want to play to a Bow + Bear Companion DPS Ranger.  I like the idea of being a "stealthy" sniper using Bear to setup Sneak Attacks, but does Rogue(Assassin) offer enough value to offset going Pure Ranger? Difficulty is only Veteran, but I want to make sure its at least viable.

Also, does the Hit to Crit from Sharpshooter offer enough value to compensate for the Recovery Time loss? I plan on maxing Dex, if that helps.

 

Scout would be Assassin/Sharpshooter or Assassin/[NS]Ranger 

Ranger would by Sharpshooter or No Subclass

 

 

Any thoughts? Thanks guys!

 

[Frostoad]

I hope that by sniper you mean point blank shooter, cuz backstab (main assassination selling point) only works for short range attacks (2m).

[Eraflure]

Scout works fine, you can easily set up sneak attacks and predator sense by yourself. Probably stronger than pure ranger since the ranger's PL 8 and 9 are fairly lacking. All unique war bows are extremely strong with crit builds, but hit -> crit conversion gets weaker the more accuracy you have, and rangers already have very good accuracy. I'd just go pure ranger or ghost heart and drop dex for more perception, but it really isn't that important. Assassin/Sharpshooter will deal a lot of sustained, single target dps with fantastic mobility.

[evilcat]

Assasin relias on backstabs which is <2m, and it uses only primary weapon, which implies either rifle or swaping weapons.

Turning invisible is a lot of micro. Would not recommend that.

 

I had Maia as Scout. This is reliable combo since both pet and ranger now have sneak attacks. And you can easly apply it.

Spamming devastating blow is resonable effective.

Sharpshooter is worth it since guns have low recovery, only reload matters.

No subclass in rogue for scout.

[Myrtillo]

Pure ranger is viable in veteran, but it is not optimal (as mentionned, PL 8 and 9 of the ranger are really lacking. Shadowed Hunters is cool for rp purposes but that's about it, and ranger abilities do not benefit that much from the +3 power levels you would get).

 

Assassin will increase your damage output greatly, almost every attack from stealth will be a (enhanced) crit, and sneak attack is super easy to trigger.

Not only it is viable, it is way more efficient than single class ranger.

 

Just don't take backstab as you will not have any use for it, but the passive of assassin will trigger without issue from range.

Edited May 27, 2018 by Myrtillo

[Crucis]

I want to play to a Bow + Bear Companion DPS Ranger.  I like the idea of being a "stealthy" sniper using Bear to setup Sneak Attacks, but does Rogue(Assassin) offer enough value to offset going Pure Ranger? Difficulty is only Veteran, but I want to make sure its at least viable.

 

Also, does the Hit to Crit from Sharpshooter offer enough value to compensate for the Recovery Time loss? I plan on maxing Dex, if that helps.

 

Scout would be Assassin/Sharpshooter or Assassin/[NS]Ranger 

Ranger would by Sharpshooter or No Subclass

 

 

Any thoughts? Thanks guys!

 

I haven't played an assassin, but from what I've seen in youtube videos and in discussions here, assassins are more about the single massive strike than they are about DPS as a constant stream of good damage.  So, it doesn't seem like the Assassin subclass would be a good fit for a ranger multiclass.  Ditto for Streetfighter.  Don't really know about a Trickster.  I tend to think that if you want to play a Scout, a no-subclass rogue would likely be best with your ranger (be it also no-subclass or a sharpshooter).

[Lavitage]

Backstab only works at 2m range but assassinate works at any range. Assassin on ranged character is very good.

[Braven]

Multiclassing will be more powerful since animal companions scale the same either way and you will get more abilities and total powersource that way. Also, as others have said, most high level abilities are not worth it.

 

For rogue/ranger, assassin is the best subclass option. The downside isn’t as bad at range. You may want to combo backstabs with wounding shot, since that ability works best with high damage attacks.

 

The only rogue activated ability you need is smoke bomb. Ranger has a “escape” like ability later on that can be used to get out of range.

 

I wouldn’t worry much about crits. Ranger has tons of accuracy and crits now only provide +25% damage modifer; it is not as powerful as in POE1. Personally, I don’t think sharpshooter is worth it.

Edited May 27, 2018 by Braven

[Myrtillo]

Multiclassing will be more powerful since animal companions scale the same either way and you will get more abilities and total powersource that way. Also, as others have said, most high level abilities are not worth it.

 

That said, rogue is kind of suboptimal for a bow character. You can’t personally set up flanks, backstab requires being close and ranger already gets a better version of rogue’s escape. Sneak attack only provides a 30% boost and has requirements that must be met. Riposte is out, streetfighter doesn’t work, slippery mind won’t trigger, etc.

 

Basically, to make rogue work, you need to get close, backstab, escape/invisible, and either backstab again, or move out of range. If you don’t want to go through that trouble than pure ranger is better.

 

Keep in mind that pets are less tanky than before. They can’t really take many hits.

 

A lot of wrong info here.

 

Sneak attack provides 30% at lvl 1 but scales with PL. For a multiclassed character it ends up at +60% without PL bonus. This is not taking deathblows into account for a potential +110%.

Riposte is not very potent even on characters designed for it anyways.

Streetfighter is not meant for ranged (unless you use the blunderbuss modal), and anyways his intention is to get Assassin.

Ranged cannot indeed flank by themselves, but his companion can flank. And anyways, flanking is very unessecary to trigger sneak attack or even deathblows, given the huge amount of affliction that a rogue can cause. Not even counting the party.

 

Backstab indeed works only when <2 m, but there is absolutely no need to take backstab. The assassin passive will trigger from every ability and attack from stealth, no matter the range.

 

The combo Assassin/Ranger is very potent, and not micro intensive.

Edited May 27, 2018 by Myrtillo