Ansalons Ranged Weapon Tier List

[Ansalon]

Overview:

 

To get the most up to date stats (Patch 2.0) i've used a mix of the Official wiki, Fexxtra's Wiki, and ingame stats.

There are certain item synergies I haven't taken account for like the rangers Gunner Passive (20% faster reload), Sharpshooter's garb -20% Reload Time with Arbalest / Arquebus / Crossbow attacks or Blunderbuss weapon modal giving flanked making it must have for Ranged Streetfighter. These types of weapons will be even stronger relatively speaking with these synergies. Eccea Arcane Blaster Pistol is similar to Animancer's Energy Blade that its OP vs moderate/extreme underpenetration but terrible vs normal/overpen targets.

Some of the lower rated weapons can be exceptionally strong in very rare scenarios (for instance vs spirits) but I am mostly rating them for their general usefulness.  Weapons are listed randomly within any Tier. Might change that at some point but it will require some work. I am also comparing weapons at max enchants. I haven't taken into account that some weapons will be very useful early on in the game if they start out with high weapon quality, forgoing the need to upgrade them.

 

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God - Tier 

 

• The Red Hand (Arquebus) - Double Barrel: Fires two shots before reloading, but has a reduced range. Guilty Conscience 2% Damage dealt and received on Kill until Rest (Stacks 20 times). Twin Slugs Knockback target within 4m on scoring Hit. Hands down the most broken item in the game right now. Double Barrel effect is almost doubling your dps by itself and Guilty Conscience stacks up to 40% dmg taken/recived. Very easy to get (12 lock difficulty chest in delvers row) Guilty Conscience buff works for other weapons, so it's possible to stack it up and then swap to another weapon (does reset on rest though).

 

 

 

S - Tier

 

• Dragon's Dowry (Arquebus) - Runelock upgrade: 15% chance for wielder to suffer 15 Burn Damage on launching attack, +30% Damage as Burn. 1 per rest ability: +40 Action Speed for 20 sec, 5 Burn Damage for wielder per 3 sec for 25 sec. 30% Lash dmg and a very powerful active puts this solidly into tier S. Does make you deal dmg to yourself so use with care. 
• Xefa's Empirical Explication (Blunderbuss) -  Multi-Shot: Fires multiple projectiles Transmogrified Shot: +15% Damage as Raw Matter Repulsion: Target knocked back on Crit. +1 Penetration, 15% damage as Slash. -25% Range, +15% Damage. Massive dmg buffs and knockback on crit makes it one of the best ranged 1hs in the game 
• Eccea Arcane Blaster Pistol (Pistol) - deals Raw Damage, Imbued Ammunation deals additional Crush/Corrode Damage & +35% Reload. Bullet Time: 10% chance to reload instantly for a short time. Raw dmg means it is increasingly strong against targets that you would normally underpenetrate (- 25/50/75% dmg) but weak with normal/overpenetration attacks. (Lower dps then a non-unique). Keep it as a backup vs heavily armored targets. 
• The Eye of Wael  (Scepter, Caster stat stick) - Obfuscation 10% chance to become Invisible for 8s on scoring Critical Hit. The Hundred Visions +2 all Illusions Power levels Illusive Spell: 5% chance to cast random Illusion spell on target on scoring Hit. 10% chance to cast random affliction on target on crit. Form Phantasmic: Cast random defensive illusion spell when bloodied. Really strong on Illusion Mages. Decent on Illusion Priest/Ranged Trickster 
• Frostseeker (Warbow) - Garland's Tears: Fires multiple projectiles at slightly reduced damage +10% Damage as Freeze. Garland's Rake: Freeze/Slash Damage AoE at target location on scoring Crit. Garland's Breath Deals 15-30 Freeze damage and paralyzes enemies for 8 second in a cone area. Extremly good dps stats. The on use is abit clunky to use since it requires you to flank if you want to hit multiple enemies without hitting your own guys. 
• Watershaper's Focus (Rod, Caster Stat stick) - +3 water PLs, +3 Frost PLs, 15% chance to cash Crush dmg AoE on hit. Very Strong of Frost/Wind Wizard or Druid. S-Tier Stat Stick if you build around it. 
• Watershaper's Focus (Rod, Ranged auto attack) - +3 water PLs, +3 Frost PLs, 15% chance to cash Crush dmg AoE on hit.  Some pretty wierd mechanics with Ondra's Wrath enchant. Can proc multiple instances of Ondra's Wrath against targets that are bunched up very close together. Combined with effects like Driving Flight and Twinned Shot from Ranger means you can get some absurd bouncing effects getting in the ballpark of 25 full weapon attacks vs 8 clustered up opponents. Seems really strong for solo play where this effect is easier to reproduce, but less useful (but still strong) for party play.
• Kitchen Stove (Blunderbuss) - Hurried -25% reload time. Everything and Anything +5% Damage as Slash, +5% Damage as Crush. Wild Barrage(2/rest):  -20% reload time, Ranged Attacks bounce 2 times, 10% dmg for 15 sec. 10% Combined Lash, reduced reload time and a very strong active. Multi shot proccs on hit effects in AoE (for instance Stunning Surge from Monks).

 

A - Tier

 

• Spearcaster (Arbalest) - Forceful Impact: 50% chance to Knockback and Daze target on Hit Elemental Bolts +5 Ranged Accuracy (Increases with Arcana skill, 0,5 Accuracy/point), +3% Damage as Burn, +3% Damage as Corrode, +3% Damage as Freeze, +3% Damage as Shock. Pinning 20% chance to Immobilize target on scoring Hit. Combined 12% lash effect and additional accuracy with arcana skill gives this crossbow very high dps. You have to invest heavily into arcana to make it worthwhile forgoing other useful active skills like athleticism, so if you are not planning on making the wielder a scroll user it is probably not worth picking. 
• The Eye of Wael Obfuscation (Scepter, Martial) - 10% chance to become Invisible for 8s on scoring Critical Hit. Illusive Spell: 5% chance to cast random Illusion spell on target on scoring Hit. 10% chance to cast random affliction on target on crit. Form Phantasmic: Cast random defensive illusion spell when bloodied. 
• A Whale of a Wand (Wand, Caster stat stick)  - Beasts Imagined: Hits with this weapon have an 5% chance to cast Form of the Helpless Beast on their target Sea Stories: Spell Hits have a 5% chance to Charm targets. Fantastic Friends Summons a pair of drakes to fight for the caster. Tall Tales 5% chance to cast Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights on target. Useful stat stick for casters. Sea Stories proc is very nice with AoE spells. Ok proccs and a very strong active summon ability. 
• Fleetbreaker (Arbalest) - +8 accuracy. 30% miss to graze. Can be enchanted with either +4 accuracy, +1 pen, 10% dmg against targets 8 or more meters away or +8 accuracy, +2 pen, 20% dmg against targets 4m or closer. The 4m or closer is probably strongest since in a lot of fights (except for some bossfights with massive aoe) you want to keep your party close to hit with AoE heals/buffs. Probably B/C-Tier if going with the 4m or further away enchant 
• Fire in the Hole (Blunderbuss) - Basic attacks deal best of Pierce or Slash Damage in small Radius- Ranged attacks bounce +1 times, -15% damage, +15% reload time. Ranged attack bouncing is very strong but has pretty strong penalty to make up for that. Multi shot proccs on hit effects in AoE (for instance Stunning Surge from Monks).
• Scordeo's Trophy (Pistol) - Obliterating Crit +25% Crit damage. Opening Barrage Scoring Hits with this weapon grants a stacking -5 Recovery time for 30.0 sec. I think going for the melee/ranged synergy for the alternative enchants is too much of a hassle and not powerful enough. The reduced recovery time stacks infinitely but the stacks fall off one at a time when their 30 sec are up. I havent done much testing but its possible that you can make a very good one handed style ranged build with this weapon. Apparently you can get multiple stacks from AoE effects. This means the weapon by itself much stronger, and the synergy between the ranged/melee weapon is also stronger. Might be deserving of Tier S.
• Essence Interrupter (Hunting bow) - Experimental Souls: Critical Hits with this weapon transfer experimental soul energy into the target, morphing them into a sentient creature when the target dies. Soul Diplomacy Modifies Experimental Souls effect: now creatures are always allies. Charged Copper: Deals Best of Pierce/Shock. Either +5% Damage as Shock or 5% as Burn(Increases with Metaphysics). After some quick testing the proc seems very terrible. The summons lasts for about 20 seconds. It can proc pets (maybe they give you pet buffs?, but they don't do anything in combat), young boars or some lower lvl mobs. I only tried it in the tavern The Hole, so the spawns might scale with enemy levels making it stronger. The summons scales with creature level making the summon effect very powerful.

 

 

 

 

B - Tier

 

• Blightheart (Arquebus) - Living Wood: 20% chance to cast Corrode Damage cone AoE from self and Hobble target on attack. Additional effects based on Class/soulbound level. Soulbound only upgrading to superb holds it back. Very useful early game because you can get it early and its easy to get max soulbound level.
• Aamiina's Legacy (Hunting Bow) - 15% dmg as crush, 5% dmg as slash. Grants Precision Impact (5% chance to daze, 10% if wielder is dwarf). Grants Warning of Blue Water (1/rest). AoE Resolute/Shaken(Rank 2/1 Inspiration/Affliction). 20% Lash dmg makes it a decent choice for dps. 
• Hand Mortar - Deals best of Slash and Pierce in small AoE. Point Blank +20% Ranged Damage at ranges below 2.5. The damage is addative not multiplicative making it not that strong of an effect. Can make it work on a ranged rogue with Backstab passive but otherwise not very good. Multi Shot effect proccs on hit effect in AoE (like Stunning Surge for Monks).

 

C - Tier

 

 

• Thundercrack Pistol (Pistol) - Veil Piercing (50% dmg vs spirits), 15% dmg as Shock, Paralyze target for 2s on crit, Storm Rune Shot (1/rest) Pulsing AoE shock dmg. Very strong vs spirits. 15% Lash makes it ok.  
• Current's Rush (Scepter, Beast of Winter)- 1% hit to crit every 1s (resets on crit), 20% chance to AoE crush/Immobilize on crit. +10% crit dmg. Havent tested but unless the AoE is absolutely massive this scepter doesn't seem that useful. You even get it so late in the game (Beast of Winter) that you should have picked up multiple strong options before then. 
• Veilpiercer (Warbow) - 10% dmg as Raw, Veil Piercing (bonus dmg vs spirits),15 accuracy vs spirits. 50% chance to recover immidietaly on crit.  -10% duration of beneficial effecs on hit. Grants Purging Volley (1/rest) Removes all hostile and beneficial effects in an AoE. 10% dmg as Raw and 50% chance to recover immediately on crit is decent for dmg. Veil Piercing makes it great vs spirits. 
• Saint Omaku's Mercy (Warbow) - -10% action speed, 5% dmg (Increases with survival skill, 0,5% per point), +1 pen. Resotre +10 health to nearby allies on Kill (Increases with Religion). 50% chance to recover immediatly on crit. Saints Grace (10m Aura). +15% action speed (increases as wielder loses health, Scales UP to 15%, starts at 0%). At 20 survival its only 15% dmg. 50% chance to recover immediately on crit is nice. Action speed as wearer loses health is pretty meh since it seems to be inversely proportional to the health you have (so 15% action speed at 0 health, 0% at max health) 

 

D - Tier

 

 

• Three Bells Through (Arquebus)  - Unstoppable Shot: Reduced base Damage (Only 50%), Attacks in a line (mxximum 3 targets), +1 Penetration. 10% dmg. Attacks interrupt on crit. Reduced base dmg makes it terrible for single target dps and attacking 3 targets in a line is awkward. Cone is very small. 
• Amira's Wing (Rod) - +15 defenses vs wind attacks, +1 Wind PL. 5% chance to interrupt and prone on hit. Grants Hylean Squall (1/rest,) AoE crush, -65% stride for 10s, 4m push. Grants Wilting Wind (1/rest, PL 8 Wizard spell!) AoE raw dmg, Weakend for 12s. The weapon itself is pretty terrible but beeing able to cast Wilting Wind (1/rest) is very nice. 
• Rod of the Deep Hunter (Rod) - -1 Deflection & +3% recovery time for 45s on hit (stacks, doesnt include grazes). Grants Crashing Surf (1/rest) AoE Crush and knock prone. Requires to flank to not hit allies. The proc takes way too long to stack up and would only be useful against bosses.  
• Amaliorra (Scepter) - +10 accuracy vs vessels. Frighten attack on Kith/Wilder on crit. Grants Claim the Husk (1/rest) Dominates a Vessel. Pretty terrible unless fighting Vessels. 
• Keybreaker Scepter (Scepter) - +10 defenses except for deflection for 30s on scoring kill with keybreaker. Frighten Kith on crit. Misotheist (5m Aura) 20% chance to Reflect Punishment/Condemnation attacks. Pretty weak. 

 

Edit:

 

Moved Kitchen Stove into tier S, Fire in the Hole to Tier A and Hand Mortar into Tier B after learning that Multi Shot effect proccs on hit effect in AoE (like Stunning Surge for Monks).

Moved Essence Interrupter into Tier A, due to the summon effect beeing way more powerful then my initial assessment.

Added Watershaper's Focus alternative usage (Ranged dps) as a different classification.

Edited August 16, 2018 by Ansalon

[thundercleese]

The Red Hand also has the Double Tap upgrade which kills all vessels (including pierce immune) that aren't "top tier". This means the lesser Constructs, standard Fampyrs (like the ones on the island to the East of Neketaka), Rotghasts (though not the higher level spitting ones), skeleton warriors/sorcerers/marksmen (though not the risen mages/armsmen/champions etc.), revenants and luminous revenants, etc. etc.

 

Also the knockback is bugged (or at least it was in 1.2, haven't tested again in 2.0) and works even at full range.

 

Finally, both the above work with driving flight, though for Double Tap it needs to pierce on to the same target on both shots.

 

Overall an insanely powerful weapon.

[Clerith]

The spells granted by Amira's Wing work with melee damage bonuses. That means you can see some 200+ damage Wilting Winds, iirc. It's a gimmick build, but can be used as a secondary/stealth opener weapon by a Rogue.

[Malkoy]

I would bump Hand Mortar (A) and Fire in the Hole(S) into the list as only AoE Ranged Weapons that also apply on-hit effects.

 

I dare you to try present me with the class that can dish out more damage per second than Streetfighter+Blunderbuss Modal+20int+<any other class> with one or both of the above

 

#The Howitzer

 

#The Holy Hand Grenadier

[thundercleese]

I would bump Hand Mortar (A) and Fire in the Hole(S) into the list as only AoE Ranged Weapons that also apply on-hit effects.

 

I dare you to try present me with the class that can dish out more damage per second than Streetfighter+Blunderbuss Modal+20int+<any other class> with one or both of the above

 

#The Howitzer

 

#The Holy Hand Grenadier

Pure Barbarian (probably Berzerker for the +2 PEN even if you miss out on the hit to crit). Pull of Eora + Spirit Tornado + Heart of Fury.  Modal and/or Avenging Storm for bonus points. Granted you can only use two HoF without having to use an empower point. Streetfighter would be more consistent but if you can pull everything in then this will win hands down.

 

You could take Blood Storm for the bleed but I like ST because if anything survives the first HoF, they will be cowering at your feet giving you time to reload and finish them off.

Edited August 12, 2018 by thundercleese

[Malkoy]

I will have to test it out, since I usually skip on Barbs due to their Melee only (kind-of) nature and poor default accuracy.

 

I am always ready to be impressed by other classes than Wizards, Paladins and Rogues for damage:)

Edited August 12, 2018 by Malkoy

[Boeroer]

The Red Hand is god tier while Hand Mortar and Fire in the Hole are not although they apply all an-hit effects from abilities in an AoE (Stunning Surge, Toxic Strike, you name it)? Red Hand is god tier because it shoots two times while Watershaper's Focus does basically the same but in an AoE, almost guaranteeing Ondra's Wrath which gets all weapon bonuses?

 

I take it you didn't actually use those weapons? As with the one-handed weapon list those lists are rather pointless if you go by wiki/game descriptions instead of actual game experience.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Boeroer

[thundercleese]

I will have to test it out, since I usually skip on Barbs due to their Melee only (kind-of) nature and poor default accuracy.

 

I am always ready to be impressed by other classes than Wizards, Paladins and Rogues for damage:)

IIRC all classes have the same base accuracy, and same accuracy per level. PoE1 they had different base ACC.

 

Barbs also get Lion's Sprint, which is bugged and gives you +15 accuracy until end of combat (supposed to be just your next attack). After they fix it it'll be interesting to see if the accuracy will apply to all targets hit with HoF.

 

The Red Hand is god tier while Hand Mortar and Fire in the Hole are not although they apply all an-hit effects from abilities in an AoE (Stunning Surge, Toxic Strike, you name it)? Red Hand is god tier because it shoots two times while Watershaper's Focus does basically the same but in an AoE, almost guaranteeing Ondra's Wrath which gets all weapon bonuses?

 

I take it you didn't actually use those weapons? As with the one-handed weapon list those lists are rather pointless if you go by wiki/game descriptions instead of actual game experience.

Yeah, kind of a bad idea to rate things that you haven't properly used.

Edited August 12, 2018 by thundercleese

[Malkoy]

The Red Hand is god tier while Hand Mortar and Fire in the Hole are not although they apply all an-hit effects from abilities in an AoE (Stunning Surge, Toxic Strike, you name it)? Red Hand is god tier because it shoots two times while Watershaper's Focus does basically the same but in an AoE, almost guaranteeing Ondra's Wrath which gets all weapon bonuses?

 

I take it you didn't actually use those weapons? As with the one-handed weapon list those lists are rather pointless if you go by wiki/game descriptions instead of actual game experience.

 

FYI: I think Fire in the Hole has same issue with bounces as Watershaper's Focus you've mentioned in your The Deep Leap guide. I was able to wipe of half a ship (lvl 15) because of enemies being clustered together in one shot as Streetfighter/Ascendant.

 

I was excited to try Red Hand on Maia, +40% damage taken doesn't stack well with her armor: low armor rating attracts enemies, no bueno with reduced range. What was happening to Maia can be only described as Bukakke

 

Red Hand is great for single target damage for heavily armored characters, who don't draw aggro and have a sizable recovery bar. I'd day, you can get to over 200% weapon dps increase with Patinated Plate

[mant2si]

Please be more specific which builds you use to rate weapon: Scorde, Fire in The Hole, Kitchen Stove those all can overcome The Red Hand  in DPS ... and Amaliorra on TIER D

Edited August 12, 2018 by mant2si

[Ansalon]

I would bump Hand Mortar (A) and Fire in the Hole(S) into the list as only AoE Ranged Weapons that also apply on-hit effects.

 

I dare you to try present me with the class that can dish out more damage per second than Streetfighter+Blunderbuss Modal+20int+<any other class> with one or both of the above

 

#The Howitzer

 

#The Holy Hand Grenadier

I did point out in the Overview that synergies like Streetfighter  with blunderbusses will make certain weapons stronger. Xefa's and Kitchen Stove are still gonna be comparetively stronger even with those synergies accounted for.

[Ansalon]

The Red Hand is god tier while Hand Mortar and Fire in the Hole are not although they apply all an-hit effects from abilities in an AoE (Stunning Surge, Toxic Strike, you name it)? Red Hand is god tier because it shoots two times while Watershaper's Focus does basically the same but in an AoE, almost guaranteeing Ondra's Wrath which gets all weapon bonuses?

 

I take it you didn't actually use those weapons? As with the one-handed weapon list those lists are rather pointless if you go by wiki/game descriptions instead of actual game experience.

Ive actually run tests on Watershapers Focus and I was planning to add a side note. The crazy synergy only happens with Driving Flight/Twinned Shot against mobs super clustered up (about the same size of a sparkcracker AoE) Very unreliable and inconsistent only working with a Power Level 8 ability. Pretty damn OP if you do line it up though. I wasn't aware of Hand Mortar and Fire in the Hole I will run some tests on them when I get the chance. Obviously I don't have time to run multiple exentsive tests on every single weapon in the game. Thats why you have an edit function so I can get feedback and edit the list. And if you bothered to actually read this guide you would see that this is up to date for 2.0. I will probably edit the values in my other guides when I have the time but it's a lot of work. The Tier List in and of itself on those guides is gonna be unchanged because the changes are nerfs accross the board, and I have taken that into account when i wrote the guides just didn't always have up to date numbers because I was writing some of them as the patch came out.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Ansalon

[Ansalon]

The post editor bugs out and cuts off half my post even when using Full editor. Need to find a workaround for that if im gonna be able to update the post.

[Ansalon]

Please be more specific which builds you use to rate weapon: Scorde, Fire in The Hole, Kitchen Stove those all can overcome The Red Hand  in DPS ... and Amaliorra on TIER D

Why do you  think Amaliorra is good? Even with the alternative enchants it seems pretty useless to me except against Vessels.

[mant2si]

 

Please be more specific which builds you use to rate weapon: Scorde, Fire in The Hole, Kitchen Stove those all can overcome The Red Hand  in DPS ... and Amaliorra on TIER D

Why do you  think Amaliorra is good? Even with the alternative enchants it seems pretty useless to me except against Vessels.

 

Amaliorra give you accuracy for all your attack vs Vessel, currently  the hardest fights in the game Fampyrs/Ukaizo has a lot of Vessels, give this weapon to your wizard/priest and your spells will do ~+50% more damage

Edited August 12, 2018 by mant2si

[Ansalon]

 

 

Please be more specific which builds you use to rate weapon: Scorde, Fire in The Hole, Kitchen Stove those all can overcome The Red Hand  in DPS ... and Amaliorra on TIER D

Why do you  think Amaliorra is good? Even with the alternative enchants it seems pretty useless to me except against Vessels.

 

Amaliorra give you accuracy for all your attack vs Vessel, currently  the hardest fights in the game Fampyrs/Ukaizo has a lot of Vessels, give this weapon to your wizard/priest and your spells will do ~+50% more damage

 

I totally agree with you that its really good against spirits. However it is absolute balls in every fight that isn't against spirits. Therefore I pointed out in the weapon description that it is good against spirits, and terrible in other cases.

[Kaylon]

Aamiina's Legacy (and probably Essence Interrupter too) should be in the god tier with the Red Hand. Dual damage, no blunted criticals, no reduced range, with 20%lash it hits almost as hard as the Red Hand and Rapid Shot allows to easily attack under 2s... Rapid Shot penalty is less harsh than for pistols because hunting bows have +5 accuracy bonus (hunting bow with Rapid Shot has only 5 less accuracy than an arquebus). The only drawback is the penetration, but with the right choices you can overcome it rather easily.

[Boeroer]

The post editor bugs out and cuts off half my post even when using Full editor. Need to find a workaround for that if im gonna be able to update the post.

Yes, please watch out when editing long posts. It also might happen that you edit something and on saving half of your post gets capped off. Best to write lengthy posts with lots of edits to come with some text tool and then just copy&paste it here.

[Ansalon]

Aamiina's Legacy (and probably Essence Interrupter too) should be in the god tier with the Red Hand. Dual damage, no blunted criticals, no reduced range, with 20%lash it hits almost as hard as the Red Hand and Rapid Shot allows to easily attack under 2s... Rapid Shot penalty is less harsh than for pistols because hunting bows have +5 accuracy bonus (hunting bow with Rapid Shot has only 5 less accuracy than an arquebus). The only drawback is the penetration, but with the right choices you can overcome it rather easily.

 

You don't take into account the fact that the base damage for Arquebus is much higher. You mention a lot of the weapon effects of Hunting Bow but if you compare a normal Arquebus next to a Hunting bow thoughs effects are balanced around having different recovery, base dmg, penetration, modals etc.It's simpler to just look at what additional modifiers the weapons of themselves get, to get a comparison on the relative strength of the weapons. Basically  the total theoretical dmg output of Red Hand is gonna roughly double that of Essence Interrupter if you have a lot of Guilty Conscience stack.  If you compare it to a standard Arquebus it attacks twice (bit less then doubling its dps, due to having two attack animations), then another 40% from max stacked Guilty Conscience.

 

Essence Interrupter gets a 20% Lash effect, which is multiplicative dmg, making it decent. This is obviously simplified and won't translate 100% into game but its close enough to see the massive disparity. Got some feedback on the summon for Essence Interrupter on reddit and it was better then my initial assumption (summoned creature does scale with enemy level), so Im planning to move it into B - Tier atleast but my post seems to be bugged atm.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Ansalon

[Boeroer]

Watershaper's Focus does two attacks with one shot (kind of Red Hand which does two shots with 0 recovery in between). Since the jump also works with Blast this weapon already does more dps than the Red Hand once used on mobs. Ondra's Wrath (which triggers often enough on groups of enemies without Driving Flight because of double Blast) is just a great bonus on top.

 

Essence Interruptor is obviously one of the most powerful weapons in the game. I mean if you don't judge power solely on dps. Marking all foes which then can be killed by anybody and turn them into friendly creatures makes most fights with adds trivial. Summons are very powerful: destraction, decoy, a bit of damage, body-blocking. They are like a long lasting hard CC effect. Especially if there is not limit on the number of summons.

 

Putting EI in a lower tier than Red Hand which can't do more than just killing single targets is not objective when you really want to judge power and usefulness and not simply make a "dps tier" list.

 

And also here the core of the problem is: you didn't really use it - so the "real" usefulness evades you. Descriptions only can tell you so much about a weapon. You have to use it to be able to judge it objectively. Or discuss/read about such things and update your list accordingly.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Boeroer

[1TTFFSSE]

Wanderer Helwalker  could outdps a streetfighter blunderbuss streetfighter potentially but on a Wanderer you don't need to restrict yourself to a blunderbuss you can use Watershaper's, The Red Hand Hand or even any melee two handed or two-weapon style weapon with instruments of pain. Yeah aoe bleed from blunderbusses would be great for mobs for for boss single target damage Wanderer can pull the most from attacking with Red Hand. 

[Ansalon]

Watershaper's Focus does two attacks with one shot (kind of Red Hand which does two shots with 0 recovery in between). Since the jump also works with Blast this weapon already does more dps than the Red Hand once used on mobs. Ondra's Wrath (which triggers often enough on groups of enemies without Driving Flight because of double Blast) is just a great bonus on top.

 

Essence Interruptor is obviously one of the most powerful weapons in the game. I mean if you don't judge power solely on dps. Marking all foes which then can be killed by anybody and turn them into friendly creatures makes most fights with adds trivial. Summons are very powerful: destraction, decoy, a bit of damage, body-blocking. They are like a long lasting hard CC effect. Especially if there is not limit on the number of summons.

 

Putting EI in a lower tier than Red Hand which can't do more than just killing single targets is not objective when you really want to judge power and usefulness and not simply make a "dps tier" list.

 

And also here the core of the problem is: you didn't really use it - so the "real" usefulness evades you. Descriptions only can tell you so much about a weapon. You have to use it to be able to judge it objectively. Or discuss/read about such things and update your list accordingly.

I did run a limited test on Essence Interrupter and made a qualifier on my opinion. It's a weapon that has been fairly recently been added to the game and I haven't had time to use it in a playthrough. My assumption (that summons didn't scale with creature level) was wrong, which means I have to now reassess it. I'm still sceptical about the claim that it is one of the best weapons in the game though. I hadn't considered Watershapers Focus as a dps weapon only as a stat stick.I did run some tests on Watershapers Focus and did make some quick notes on it for the reddit discussion, but as I mentioned earlier this post seems abit buggy so I haven't been able to update it. My general impression that its probably very strong for soloplay but I'm abit uncertain about how well the proc will work outside of using Driving Flight/Twinned Shot in party play. 15% corrode lash (15% corrode and Ondra's Wrath are mutually exclusive) and +1 bounce definitely makes it a good weapon on its own for group play. Without more testing it's hard for me to make a judgment call on how good the proc is for party play.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Ansalon

[Kaylon]

 

Aamiina's Legacy (and probably Essence Interrupter too) should be in the god tier with the Red Hand. Dual damage, no blunted criticals, no reduced range, with 20%lash it hits almost as hard as the Red Hand and Rapid Shot allows to easily attack under 2s... Rapid Shot penalty is less harsh than for pistols because hunting bows have +5 accuracy bonus (hunting bow with Rapid Shot has only 5 less accuracy than an arquebus). The only drawback is the penetration, but with the right choices you can overcome it rather easily.

 

You don't take into account the fact that the base damage for Arquebus is much higher. You mention a lot of the weapon effects of Hunting Bow but if you compare a normal Arquebus next to a Hunting bow thoughs effects are balanced around having different recovery, base dmg, penetration, modals etc.It's simpler to just look at what additional modifiers the weapons of themselves get, to get a comparison on the relative strength of the weapons. Basically  the total theoretical dmg output of Red Hand is gonna roughly double that of Essence Interrupter if you have a lot of Guilty Conscience stack.  If you compare it to a standard Arquebus it attacks twice (bit less then doubling its dps, due to having two attack animations), then another 40% from max stacked Guilty Conscience.

 

Essence Interrupter gets a 20% Lash effect, which is multiplicative dmg, making it decent. This is obviously simplified and won't translate 100% into game but its close enough to see the massive disparity. Got some feedback on the summon for Essence Interrupter on reddit and it was better then my initial assumption (summoned creature does scale with enemy level), so Im planning to move it into B - Tier atleast but my post seems to be bugged atm.

 

Well, then you don't understand very well how it works...

 

The 20% lash damage basically compensates for the lower base damage. The main dmg advantage of the Red Hand is given by Guilty Conscience which can be used by ALL weapons (and by itself it represents overall only a 10-20% dmg increase - depending on your total dmg bonuses). On the other hand Aamiina's Legacy will shoot at least 10% faster (based on the average attack of a double shot with the Red Hand).

 

That means Aamiina's Legacy has 10% lower dps than the Red Hand in the worst scenario and 20% higher dps in the best scenario (if you're using Guilty Conscience with Aamiina's Legacy)

Edited August 12, 2018 by Kaylon

[Ansalon]

 

 

Aamiina's Legacy (and probably Essence Interrupter too) should be in the god tier with the Red Hand. Dual damage, no blunted criticals, no reduced range, with 20%lash it hits almost as hard as the Red Hand and Rapid Shot allows to easily attack under 2s... Rapid Shot penalty is less harsh than for pistols because hunting bows have +5 accuracy bonus (hunting bow with Rapid Shot has only 5 less accuracy than an arquebus). The only drawback is the penetration, but with the right choices you can overcome it rather easily.

 

You don't take into account the fact that the base damage for Arquebus is much higher. You mention a lot of the weapon effects of Hunting Bow but if you compare a normal Arquebus next to a Hunting bow thoughs effects are balanced around having different recovery, base dmg, penetration, modals etc.It's simpler to just look at what additional modifiers the weapons of themselves get, to get a comparison on the relative strength of the weapons. Basically  the total theoretical dmg output of Red Hand is gonna roughly double that of Essence Interrupter if you have a lot of Guilty Conscience stack.  If you compare it to a standard Arquebus it attacks twice (bit less then doubling its dps, due to having two attack animations), then another 40% from max stacked Guilty Conscience.

 

Essence Interrupter gets a 20% Lash effect, which is multiplicative dmg, making it decent. This is obviously simplified and won't translate 100% into game but its close enough to see the massive disparity. Got some feedback on the summon for Essence Interrupter on reddit and it was better then my initial assumption (summoned creature does scale with enemy level), so Im planning to move it into B - Tier atleast but my post seems to be bugged atm.

 

Well, then you don't understand very well how it works...

 

The 20% lash damage basically compensates for the lower base damage. The main dmg advantage of the Red Hand is given by Guilty Conscience which can be used by ALL weapons (and by itself it represents overall only a 10-20% dmg increase - depending on your total dmg bonuses). On the other hand Aamiina's Legacy will shoot at least 10% faster (based on the average attack of a double shot with the Red Hand).

 

That means Aamiina's Legacy has 10% lower dps than the Red Hand in the worst scenario and 20% higher dps in the best scenario (if you're using Guilty Conscience with Aamiina's Legacy)

 

If I understand you correct, you mean that you first stack The Red Hand to max THEN swap to Aaminas Legacy and you retain the buff? That obviously does complicate the calculation, but seems very cumbersome especially since the buff resets on rest. There might be something i'm missing but attacking twice should be a much more powerful effect unless you have insane recovery time compared to a 20% lash. Are you making the case that Hunting Bows are just way better weapons then Arquebus and that compensates for a weaker effect, or that the Lash effect is stronger then shooting twice? It just seems you are only taking into account the positve effects of a Hunting Bow and not the negative effects like lower pen, weapon modal giving a huge accuracy penalty, lower base dmg etc.

The main damage advantage of the Red Hand is the ability to shoot twice, not Guilty Conscience.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Ansalon

[1TTFFSSE]

The Red Hand is the only arquebus because of firing twice that even makes it a good dps weapon of choice particularly on a ranger/x builds because rangers have access to gunner. 

All the other Arquebus weapons are very bad dps wise and even now you are better off dual wielding something like two scepters or scordeo's+thundercrack pistols /scordeo's+xefa's blunderbuss or taking Aamina's Legacy with the fast modal on if you have enough accuracy stacking and penetration for that unique hunting bow. Aamina's Legacy is special because when enchanted it has a +20% damage lash basically and is the strongest single target bow in the game and can keep up with dual weapon setups. This is for single target sustained dps.

 

For aoe use the mortars. 

Edited August 13, 2018 by 1TTFFSSE