Frostseeker build

[LeviGenesis]

Ok so I've really been enjoying my Mortar Monk build so thanks to Boeroer. I wanted to make another build around the frostseeker / red hand. So basically ranged. I like the idea of a pet although I've read mixed reviews (mostly positive from you Boeroer) 

 

I was hoping I could get a similar recommendation for this type of playthrough. Thanks in advance.

[Boeroer]

First of all thanks for the nice feedback.

I haven't used Frostseeker that much - but you need lots of crits for it to be great. A Ranger - in my opinion - is mandatory. Not only because of the increased ACC but also because of Driving Flight which doubles your attempts for a critical hit. Every projectile of Frostseeker can trigger the freeze AoE. So without Driving Flight it's 3 attempts per shot, with Driving Flight it's 6. Hard to beat that. 

I did quite some testing and also found SC Ranger to be viable because of Twinned Shot (=12 attempts). But to be honest I think something like Helwalker/Ranger would be best. Thundering Blows, Enduring Dance + Ranger ACC boosts is great, increased INT via Duality is great (bigger freeze AoE), increased MIG is great for the dmg, it's easy to get refunds for Stunning Surge because of the three projectiles + Driving Flight and so on. Stunning Surge is so good...

I think both Ghost Heart and Arcane Archer can be nice. With Ghost Heart you can drop your animal companion right besides the dude you want to primarily hit (to trigger lots of crits) and don't care if it goes down. Arcane Archer can pull enemies together with Pull of Eora and doesn't get ACC malus with Frostseeker for his normal attacks. Also shooting Fireballs while triggering freeze AoEs is silly but fun. Maybe install a mod which fixes the PEN issues of Arcane Archer... I think I personally would pick Ghost Heart. 

Ranger/Rogue, Ranger/Cipher or Ranger/Devoted (great PENwould also be nice. I only tested those via console and did not do playthroughs with them, so others may have better advice. 

By the way: Avenging Storm procs also off of the freeze AoE hits. An SC Ranger with Twinned Shot and high Arcana (for the scroll) or Heaven's Cacophony helm can deal deadly AoE damage because he can produce so many hit rolls per shot.  

Red Hand is nice with any combination of Rogue, Ranger and Chanter. Chanter because of Sure-Handed Ila. Guns profit twice from it: the recover bonus and reload bonus both get applied. Looks like an oversight but leads to 2*-20% reload time which is neat - combined with the double-shot that's crazy fast arquebus shooting. Of course this also works if another char in the party is a Chanter. Doesn't need to be the user of Red Hand. Imagine a Scout with Gunner, Maia's Armor, Acina's Tricorn and all dmg bonuses of the Rogue + a Chanter with Sure-Handed Ila + Mith Fyr in the party: great reload speed and high dmg bonuses shout be impressive. What I think it best about Red Hand is the vessel destroy. So I can also imagine a Paladin or Priest multiclass using it. For RP purposes. Paladin also has FoD of course which is nice with Arquebuses anyway.

Also here: I never used this weapon for extended durations but mostly did test runs with it and switch to it against vessel (where it rules). So again others may have better ideas from whole playthroughs with it. 

[Kaylon]

The Red Hand is perfect for Maia Rua, you don't need to make a special build for it...

For Frostseeker the ranger is mandatory (accuracy+bounce). I don't recommend SC because Twinned Shots is expensive and you can't use it many times (unless you're using the mod from Nexus which changed Twinned Shots to restore Bond on crits). If you want to have a pet I recommend Ascendant/Arcane Archer which has great buffs/CCs and can keep the pet alive. If you don't want to bother with a pet then Ghost Heart/Helwalker - adds accuracy, dmg, speed, 2 strong pets and also can stun at will. The rogue/ranger can also deal great damage (sneak attack/deathblows apply to the AoE) but requires buffs/CCs from the party in order to be effective.