Best bow user?

[Pedro_ABB]

i'm playing deadfire for ps4 and i want to create an archer build. What is the best bow user in the game for single target dmg? Ranger single class, Rogue singe class? Scout? And which sub class would be better for this dps role? Initially I thought of creating a  AA and multiclass with assassin and open combat with stealth fire ball. But it seems that AA still has the problem of spell penetration. Perhaps Sharpshooter with assassin is better? Or just Sharpshooter? Any tip is welcome  

[thelee]

depends on what exactly you want out of an archer build.

i would personally say that single-class sharpshooter is great, but you have to be willing to melee a bit. pick up hunter's talon, hunter's fang upgrade and dual-wield some melee weapons in one weapon slot. when you enter a new area, spend the first few encounters just using up all your bond on hunter's talon/fang-ing the most common enemy type for the area, burning self-empower points to replenish resource as needed, until you get to 18-20 stacks. (technically, with a save/load cycle there's no cap on the stacks, but i think that's too exploitive.) couple that with stalker's link on your pet, marked prey, and survival of the fittest you can get up to a whopping +50 accuracy bonus against an enemy type (plus an additional +20% damage from hunter's fang). couple that with Stunning Shots on a fast weapon like a modal-ed hunting bow and you can virtually stunlock enemies (especially with driving flight to get +1 bounce with projectiles). the sharpshooter gives you additional hit->crit to help out with even more crit, add in being a hearth orlan for add'l hit->crit on anything your pet is attacking.

[Boeroer]

Scout with St. Omaku's Mercy or Veilpiercer is maybe one of the best in terms of dps. You want very high ACC and some crit conversion + Driving Flight in order to trigger the 0 recovery enchantments as often as possible.

Barbarian/Ranger with Frenzy/Bloodlust/Bloodthirst or single class Ranger are also not bad with both of those bows.

Paladin/Ranger or Paladin/Rogue can also be great: good mix of sturdyness yet good damage.

But I think overall what you're looking for is a Scout.

Essence Interrupter and Aamina's Legacy are also very good bows by the way. They are better against enemies with high defenses or pierce/slash resistances (without the modal) while the first two I mentioned shine against low defense mobs. The modal of Hunting Bows can be pretty great against low defense mobs as well though.

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

For Hunter's Fang etc. you can also use a melee weapon in the main hand and Blunderbuss in offhand and gain a lot of stacks with one single shot. 

So no need to go melee.

Hunter's Fang stacks are very nice to have for St. Omaku's Mercy/Veilpiercer.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Boeroer

[Powerotti]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

Scout with St. Omaku's Mercy or Veilpiercer is maybe one of the best in terms of dps. You want very high ACC and some crit conversion + Driving Flight in order to trigger the 0 recovery enchantments as often as possible.

Barbarian/Ranger with Frenzy/Bloodlust/Bloodthirst or single class Ranger are also not bad with both of those bows.

Paladin/Ranger or Paladin/Rogue can also be great: good mix of sturdyness yet good damage.

But I think overall what you're looking for is a Scout.

With higher ACC hit-to-crit impact is almost irrelevant but you can use potion of perfect aim for h-t-c and potion of spatial alacrity for action speed

i'd use sharpshooter/hellwalker (high might, enduring dance, lashes [turning wheel only with community patch but lightning stikes works fine on unmoded game], stunning surge) or sharpshooter/cipher (borrowed instinct, fast focus generation, takedown/desintegration combo, amplified wave + animal companion).

BUT how skipping recovery of these bows works in turn based mode? Or can you play RTwP on PS4?

[Pedro_ABB]

Thanks for the feedback.

is the Heart Seeker ability any good? 

[Powerotti]

If you want to waste 4 guile and enfeeble your teammates it is invaluable

[Madscientist]

WOW, I would never expect that you suggest barbarien/ranger for a ranged character, Boeroer.

I thought that barbarien + ranged weapon is one of the really bad ideas in this game because lots of barbarien stuff is melee only. Barbariens are good in melee AoE damage, for other things it should be possible to find a better char. Some useful barbarien stuff triggers only on kill and without carnage or even heart of fury it seems hard to get many kills in short time.

[UltimaLuminaire]

55 minutes ago, Madscientist said:

WOW, I would never expect that you suggest barbarien/ranger for a ranged character, Boeroer.

I thought that barbarien + ranged weapon is one of the really bad ideas in this game because lots of barbarien stuff is melee only. Barbariens are good in melee AoE damage, for other things it should be possible to find a better char. Some useful barbarien stuff triggers only on kill and without carnage or even heart of fury it seems hard to get many kills in short time.

Nah, you just haven't been around long enough. Basically, the Barbarian's melee passives and abilities are not strong enough to outweight the power of their other abilities. The action speed modifiers are more useful for most builds than any of the Barbarian's melee abilities. Carnage in particular is looked down upon for having low damage output and less cheese than in PoE1 due to being smaller in AoE size and having no compatibility with most unique weapon abilities.

As for Heart of Fury, it works with ranged weapons, as does Barbaric Blow. If you dual wield pistols, you can fire the first pistol and then bypass the reload by using HoF or Barbaric Blow to fire twice. With certain builds, this can lead to a lot of action speed. You do not have access to HoF if you don't solo class, though, and the benefits of getting another class for higher damage modifiers is often more important than a costly HoF if that's all you're going for.

Edited February 24, 2020 by UltimaLuminaire
Clarification and addendum

[Pedro_ABB]

What about a geomancer archer, with Merciless Gaze, Citzal's Martial Power  and Substantial Phantom? 

[thelee]

3 hours ago, Powerotti said:

If you want to waste 4 guile and enfeeble your teammates it is invaluable

i don't think it's that hard to aim it right.

 

2 hours ago, Pedro_ABB said:

What about a geomancer archer, with Merciless Gaze, Citzal's Martial Power  and Substantial Phantom? 

imo there's not much of a point of being a geomancer is you're going to cast something like martial power and remove most of the benefit of being part wizard (i think citzal's martial power can be a bit of a trap if used poorly). i'm sure there's some yummy stuff you could do with the phantoms though.

[Boeroer]

Geomancers can be awesome with blunderbusses (in combo with Combusting Wounds), but not with bows in my opinion.

I suggested Barbarian/Ranger in this case because not only are the speed buffs great for everything, but also Blood Thirst synergizes very well with the St. Omaku's Mercy/Veilpiercer enchantments that set recovery to 0 on crit (50% of times). This happens a lot with Driving Flight and high ACC already and you kill quickly - and then get another 0 recovery instance. Also Intimidating Presence can be very cool later in the game in addition to Wild Sprint and Leap for mobility.

I tried it with Berserker/Sharpshooter once and it was powerful und more importantly fun. No idea about turn based though where speed/recovery buffs don't matter as much.

[Kaylon]

Bows benefit a lot from very high accuracy, either to compensate Swift Shots penalty (hunting bows) or to trigger procs (war bows). The combo with the highest accuracy in the game is the cipher/ranger. The cipher provides the best accuracy in the game (Borrowed Instincts + Tactical Meld) as well as debuffs (Eyestrike/Phantom Foes + Psychovampiric Shield) and as an ascendant you can benefit almost all the time from 40% dmg bonus (Ascended + Biting Whip). Last but not least, the cipher has very good synergy with the pet which can become a much better tank/damage dealer, without mentioning CCs and Disintegration . VS multiple enemies the best bow is clearly Frostseeker which can proc the AoE up to 6 times/shot with Driving Flight for incredible AoE dps (you can use the Ring of Clenched Muscle to apply for multiple easy debuffs). VS single targets the best dps bow overall is the Essence Interrupter because of its shock damage (which ensures easy penetration almost always) coupled with Swift Shots. Also as an archer you should absolutely invest in Arcana and use scrolls of Avenging Storm for mass destruction.

[Boeroer]

Avenging Storm is absolute mayhem with high ACC and Frostseeker: the freeze-AoE on crit also procs Avenging Storms.

You can also use Heavens Cacophony for Avenging Storm if you don't want to use scrolls.

By the way: another good reason for Cipher/Ranger is that Takedown Combo doubles the damage of Soul Ignition or Disintegrate ticks without getting removed. That's a +100% dmg increase for your DoT(s).

[marikoss]

On 2/26/2020 at 4:19 PM, Kaylon said:

Bows benefit a lot from very high accuracy, either to compensate Swift Shots penalty (hunting bows) or to trigger procs (war bows). The combo with the highest accuracy in the game is the cipher/ranger. The cipher provides the best accuracy in the game (Borrowed Instincts + Tactical Meld) as well as debuffs (Eyestrike/Phantom Foes + Psychovampiric Shield) and as an ascendant you can benefit almost all the time from 40% dmg bonus (Ascended + Biting Whip). Last but not least, the cipher has very good synergy with the pet which can become a much better tank/damage dealer, without mentioning CCs and Disintegration . VS multiple enemies the best bow is clearly Frostseeker which can proc the AoE up to 6 times/shot with Driving Flight for incredible AoE dps (you can use the Ring of Clenched Muscle to apply for multiple easy debuffs). VS single targets the best dps bow overall is the Essence Interrupter because of its shock damage (which ensures easy penetration almost always) coupled with Swift Shots. Also as an archer you should absolutely invest in Arcana and use scrolls of Avenging Storm for mass destruction.

Hi, can you provide a little more info on this build (arcane archer/cipher)? Stats, items, race etc. Thank you in advance.

[Kaylon]

On 3/6/2020 at 10:22 AM, marikoss said:

Hi, can you provide a little more info on this build (arcane archer/cipher)? Stats, items, race etc. Thank you in advance.

I recommend you ascendant/ghost heart with bear pet (the pet can become a burden sometimes). Elf with 19mig/dex/per, 15int, 3con/res (if you feel confident) or 19per,15mig/dex/int, 11con,3res if you want to be a little sturdier and background Scientist/Mystic/Scholar. For bows you have Frostseeker (main weapon) and Essence Interrupter (second weapon). (Veil Piercer and Aamina's Legacy are also worth mentioning because they can give better results in some fights. ) For the rest:

- armor - High Harbinger Robes/Fleshmender/Changeling's Mantle

- head - Acina's Tricorn/Thaos' Headdress (Horns of the Aurochs*)

- neck - Torc of the Falcon's Eyes/Charm of Bones/Elewys' Locket

- back - Three Trolls Stiched (Rekvu's Scoarched Cloak*)

- rings - Ring of the Marksman + Ring of Prosperity's Fortune/Chameleon's Ring

- belt - Sash of Judgement (Belt of Magran's Chosen*)

- boots - Boots of the Stone/Footprints of Ahu Taka

- pet - Harley

* Using Frostseeker will summon very often a fire elemental if you wear the Belt of Magran's Chosen. If you have Rekvu's Cloak activated the elemental will heal you instead and also give you another 10% cold dmg (Horns of the Auroch). The fire elemental can be used also to buff yourself (Borrowed Instinct, Body Attunement, Wild Leech...)

For skills pick metaphysics (For Essence Interrupter) and arcana (for Avenging Storm).

For abilities Eyestrike+Marked Prey, Lingering Echoes, Fast Runner, Marksman, Biting Whip, Two Handed Style, Phantom Foes, Hammering Thoughts, Evasive Roll, Marked for the Hunt, Psychovampiric Shield, Pain Block, Protective Companion, Stalker's Link, Resilient Companion, Driving Flight, Borrowed Instinct, Tough, Tactical Meld, The Empty Soul, Survival of the Fittest, Improved Critical, Disintegration, Echoing Horror, Evasive Fire,  Ancestor's Memory.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Kaylon

[Boeroer]

1 hour ago, Kaylon said:

If you have Rekvu's Cloak activated the elemental will heal you instead and also give you another 10% cold dmg (Horns of the Auroch).

Whaaa - sweet. Why didn't I think about that yet?

[marikoss]

12 hours ago, Kaylon said:

I recommend you ascendant/ghost heart with bear pet (the pet can become a burden sometimes). Elf with 19mig/dex/per, 15int, 3con/res (if you feel confident) or 19per,15mig/dex/int, 11con,3res if you want to be a little sturdier and background Scientist/Mystic/Scholar. For bows you have Frostseeker (main weapon) and Essence Interrupter (second weapon). (Veil Piercer and Aamina's Legacy are also worth mentioning because they can give better results in some fights. ) For the rest:

- armor - High Harbinger Robes/Fleshmender/Changeling's Mantle

- head - Acina's Tricorn/Thaos' Headdress (Horns of the Aurochs*)

- neck - Torc of the Falcon's Eyes/Charm of Bones/Elewys' Locket

- back - Three Trolls Stiched (Rekvu's Scoarched Cloak*)

- rings - Ring of the Marksman + Ring of Prosperity's Fortune/Chameleon's Ring

- belt - Sash of Judgement (Belt of Magran's Chosen*)

- boots - Boots of the Stone/Footprints of Ahu Taka

- pet - Harley

* Using Frostseeker will summon very often a fire elemental if you wear the Belt of Magran's Chosen. If you have Rekvu's Cloak activated the elemental will heal you instead and also give you another 10% cold dmg (Horns of the Auroch). The fire elemental can be used also to buff yourself (Borrowed Instinct, Body Attunement, Wild Leech...)

For skills pick metaphysics (For Essence Interrupter) and arcana (for Avenging Storm).

For abilities Eyestrike+Marked Prey, Lingering Echoes, Fast Runner, Marksman, Biting Whip, Two Handed Style, Phantom Foes, Hammering Thoughts, Evasive Roll, Marked for the Hunt, Psychovampiric Shield, Pain Block, Protective Companion, Stalker's Link, Resilient Companion, Driving Flight, Borrowed Instinct, Tough, Tactical Meld, The Empty Soul, Survival of the Fittest, Improved Critical, Disintegration, Echoing Horror, Evasive Fire,  Ancestor's Memory.

Thanks for the help, I will try this build

[Lampros]

On 3/7/2020 at 11:21 AM, Kaylon said:

I recommend you ascendant/ghost heart with bear pet (the pet can become a burden sometimes). Elf with 19mig/dex/per, 15int, 3con/res (if you feel confident) or 19per,15mig/dex/int, 11con,3res if you want to be a little sturdier and background Scientist/Mystic/Scholar. For bows you have Frostseeker (main weapon) and Essence Interrupter (second weapon). (Veil Piercer and Aamina's Legacy are also worth mentioning because they can give better results in some fights. ) For the rest:

- armor - High Harbinger Robes/Fleshmender/Changeling's Mantle

- head - Acina's Tricorn/Thaos' Headdress (Horns of the Aurochs*)

- neck - Torc of the Falcon's Eyes/Charm of Bones/Elewys' Locket

- back - Three Trolls Stiched (Rekvu's Scoarched Cloak*)

- rings - Ring of the Marksman + Ring of Prosperity's Fortune/Chameleon's Ring

- belt - Sash of Judgement (Belt of Magran's Chosen*)

- boots - Boots of the Stone/Footprints of Ahu Taka

- pet - Harley

* Using Frostseeker will summon very often a fire elemental if you wear the Belt of Magran's Chosen. If you have Rekvu's Cloak activated the elemental will heal you instead and also give you another 10% cold dmg (Horns of the Auroch). The fire elemental can be used also to buff yourself (Borrowed Instinct, Body Attunement, Wild Leech...)

For skills pick metaphysics (For Essence Interrupter) and arcana (for Avenging Storm).

For abilities Eyestrike+Marked Prey, Lingering Echoes, Fast Runner, Marksman, Biting Whip, Two Handed Style, Phantom Foes, Hammering Thoughts, Evasive Roll, Marked for the Hunt, Psychovampiric Shield, Pain Block, Protective Companion, Stalker's Link, Resilient Companion, Driving Flight, Borrowed Instinct, Tough, Tactical Meld, The Empty Soul, Survival of the Fittest, Improved Critical, Disintegration, Echoing Horror, Evasive Fire,  Ancestor's Memory.

Perfect for my purposes!

[dgray62]

On 3/7/2020 at 8:21 AM, Kaylon said:

I recommend you ascendant/ghost heart with bear pet (the pet can become a burden sometimes). Elf with 19mig/dex/per, 15int, 3con/res (if you feel confident) or 19per,15mig/dex/int, 11con,3res if you want to be a little sturdier and background Scientist/Mystic/Scholar. For bows you have Frostseeker (main weapon) and Essence Interrupter (second weapon). (Veil Piercer and Aamina's Legacy are also worth mentioning because they can give better results in some fights. )

Kaylon, what food do you think would be best for this build? Captain's Banquet for the immunities, action speed and extra damage from cipher spells? Or hot razor skewers for the extra STR, weapon PEN and power level?

[Kaylon]

11 hours ago, dgray62 said:

Kaylon, what food do you think would be best for this build? Captain's Banquet for the immunities, action speed and extra damage from cipher spells? Or hot razor skewers for the extra STR, weapon PEN and power level?

Both are good, but overall I would say Captain's Banquet is more useful because the extra speed/immunities are always good and you can switch to Essence Interrupter against enemies with high armor.

[AndreaColombo]

Where do you find the Torc of the Falcon's Eyes in Deadfire?

[Kaylon]

37 minutes ago, AndreaColombo said:

Where do you find the Torc of the Falcon's Eyes in Deadfire?

It's random treasure...

[AndreaColombo]

Of course

Guess I'll have to use the Unity Console to make it less random, then...

[dgray62]

Thanks for the advice, Kaylon. I didn't even realize that Torc of the Falcon's Eyes is available in Deadfire. I don't think I've ever received it as random loot. Guess it's truly random!