Best ranged damage auto attacker?

[Griffonheart]

12 hours ago, The Berathian said:

It does. And the cipher has a number of dots available, and this makes certain pet damage skills quite good where the pet gets bonuses from attacking something with a dot. 

 

Summon pet on attack mode, debuff and DoTs its opponents, got it. Looks like Beguiler and Psion are both viable options. Thx for the tips!

[The Berathian]

2 hours ago, Griffonheart said:

Summon pet on attack mode, debuff and DoTs its opponents, got it. Looks like Beguiler and Psion are both viable options. Thx for the tips!

Psion isn't wholly terrible, but has focus issues. Beguiler can gain focus just by casting spells. 

[Boeroer]

1 hour ago, The Berathian said:

Psion isn't wholly terrible, but has focus issues. Beguiler can gain focus just by casting spells. 

Generally speaking Psion is excellent because it doesn't rely on anything else than time to gain focus (like a Chanter) - which can be a big advantage against enemies that are tough to hit and/or if there aren't a lot of enemies to begin with. A Beguiler only can generate focus via Deception spells if there's enough enemies to hit.  

But in this "ranged auto-attacker" case I agree that a Psion will def. fall behind a Beguiler or Ascendant in most encounters. Mainly because a ranged auto-attacker's main purpose it to deal weapon damage and a Psion doesn't profit from that nor does he contribute to that. Beguiler as well as Ascendant are better suited to synergize with a ranged weapon attacker because they gain focus from that weapon damage (which you wanna deal in the first place) and do additional damage via Soul Whip. Beguiler can get additional focus from Deceptions (but also has to cast stuff or else: why bring a Beguiler?), but this takes away time for shooting your weapon (which was supposed to be your priority). Ascendant gains more focus from weapon damage so can ascend more quickyl - and when ascended has increased Soul Whip damage. So an Ascendat can actually contribute to ranged damage even without casting a single spell. Of course you want cast some spells (like Borrowed Instincts and Tactical Meld) - but even if you don't it's not a moot class combo. 

That's why I personally think that if you go for Ranger/Cipher in order to build a ranged (auto) attacker you should pick Ascendant. 

Psion is awesome for certain builds (mostly Psion/Caster of any kind) but in this case it wouldn't be my pick.   

[The Mole]

5 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Generally speaking Psion is excellent because it doesn't rely on anything else than time to gain focus (like a Chanter) - which can be a big advantage against enemies that are tough to hit and/or if there aren't a lot of enemies to begin with. A Beguiler only can generate focus via Deception spells if there's enough enemies to hit.  

But in this "ranged auto-attacker" case I agree that a Psion will def. fall behind a Beguiler or Ascendant in most encounters. Mainly because a ranged auto-attacker's main purpose it to deal weapon damage and a Psion doesn't profit from that nor does he contribute to that. Beguiler as well as Ascendant are better suited to synergize with a ranged weapon attacker because they gain focus from that weapon damage (which you wanna deal in the first place) and do additional damage via Soul Whip. Beguiler can get additional focus from Deceptions (but also has to cast stuff or else: why bring a Beguiler?), but this takes away time for shooting your weapon (which was supposed to be your priority). Ascendant gains more focus from weapon damage so can ascend more quickyl - and when ascended has increased Soul Whip damage. So an Ascendat can actually contribute to ranged damage even without casting a single spell. Of course you want cast some spells (like Borrowed Instincts and Tactical Meld) - but even if you don't it's not a moot class combo. 

That's why I personally think that if you go for Ranger/Cipher in order to build a ranged (auto) attacker you should pick Ascendant. 

Psion is awesome for certain builds (mostly Psion/Caster of any kind) but in this case it wouldn't be my pick.   

how much bonus damage does ascendant give, character creation doesn't tell you

[Boeroer]

It's +20% damage on top of Soul Whip which doesn't turn off at max focus like with other ciphers. Not wild - but the only Cipher who not only retains bonus damage when at full focus but even gets an additonal one. In this special case it might be even a good idea to pick Biting Whip over Draining Whip. With Community Patch I would totally recommend it. 

Edited May 6, 2021 by Boeroer