Ranger + Roguer Frostseeker

[stollane.cg]

Hi, gang!

Assassin and Sharpshooter with a Frostseeker is good? I'd like some tips on how I can make this character. 

[Elric Galad]

Confounding Blind is devastating with Frost Seeker. Foe deflection will go down so fast (3 times per shots plus up to 3 times due to AoE from crits) and this will trigger even more AoE crits. 

Other than that, max accuracy and crit chances by all means necessary. 

Assassin subclass does not provides tremendous benefits to this build though. 

[stollane.cg]

2 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

Confounding Blind is devastating with Frost Seeker. Foe deflection will go down so fast (3 times per shots plus up to 3 times due to AoE from crits) and this will trigger even more AoE crits. 

Other than that, max accuracy and crit chances by all means necessary. 

Assassin subclass does not provides tremendous benefits to this build though. 

What subclass would be good?

[Elric Galad]

1 hour ago, stollane.cg said:

What subclass would be good?

I would say none provide an any critical benefit. 

Streefighter is decent if you have someone that can inflict Distracted. But annoying without. 

Trickster is a good generalist. It does not bring anything synergetic, but it opens some possibilities.

Debonaire is okay if you really plan to avoid melee. 

[Boeroer]

You can use Sharpshooter - but I consider it to be one of the weaker Ranger subclasses. The recovery penatly is hard to compansate with that little crit conversion.

Assassin doesn't work well with Frostseeker because it is is multiprojectile weapon and as soon as the first projectile hits the invisibility is lifted and the assasinate bonus will be gone. Projectile 2 and three and the AoE on crit will get nothing from Assassin.

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One of the strongest class combos for Frostseeker is Arcane Archer/Ascendant. Or Ghost Heart/Ascendant if you don't like having the animal companion around all the time. 

Reason is the highest potential accuracy in the game (Ranger passives + Imbue Shots + Arcana + Borrowed Instinct + Tactical Meld) paired with the Ascendant's Soul Whip and its dmg bonus which doesn't turn off when focus is full (like it does with the other cipher subclasses) but instead does even more weapon damage. And you get all the nice Cipher spells on top of that. For example Pain Block on a bear companion with Resilient Companion makes for a pretty good offtank - contrary to most other approaches to let the animal companion tank. 

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A more obsucre but also good combo is Ghost Heart/Mage Slayer. The Frostseeker Bow creates a hidden melee attack roll when its projectiles critically hit. That hidden melee attack does no damage but triggers the AoE the bow does. This hidden melee attack does work with the Mage Slayer's Spell Disruption. Since Forstseeker has multiple projectiles you can shut down a caster pretty quickly - which an be very valuable. Also works with Arcane Archer of course but it just feels so wrong thematically.  Mageslayer also brings more action speed via Frenzy and Bloodlust, either stagger on hit (Spirit Frenzy) or raw DoT on crit (Blood Frenzy), Barbaric Smash as a good finisher (can be cost free if it kills) and crit conversion and high dmg against near death enemies with Bloody Slaughter.  

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Another good combination is Arcane Archer/Helwalker. In the unmodded game Turning Wheel will not work with ranged weapons (Lightning Strikes does), but the increased INT of Duality of Mortal Presence will enlarge the AoE of the bow, Eternal Dance of Death will give you +12 accuracy, up to +15 MIG and +2 PEN (Helwalker passive at 10 wounds + Thunderous Blows) do help with the damage of course. You also get a good summoning option on top of the animal companion (Dichotomous Soul).

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Yet another good option is Devoted/Arcane Archer or Ghost Heart. With Penetrating Strike you get awesome +5 PEN wit your warbow shots, could even get +6 if you use a Sharpshooter and get close (I don't recommend that though). Better crit dmg and then some of the other Fighter goodies like more accuracy and so on.

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Streetfighter + Frrostseeker could be unlocked with a Chanter (most likely Trobadour) as second class. As phrases it would be Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr + Sure-Handed Ila and you would use the phrases to summon upgraded Whisps which you target at yourself. Those hits will distract you and unlock the Streetfighter's passive -50% recovery time and bonus Sneak Attack damage. It's a little cheesy but works very well. However it doesn't have the best accuracy. If you let the Whisps shoot you enough you can become bloodied which then unlocks the next stage of the Streetfighter which results in a lot more critical damage. If you take human as race this will also unlock Fighting Spirit (+ accuracy, +dmg).

Another way to use a Streetfigher with Frostseeker is to pick Berserker as second class and let the self damage of Frenzy get you to the bloodied state - unlocks Streetfigher passive. This combo is shooting very fast but also doesn't have the best accuracy.

Note that all combos without Ranger will lack the ability Driving Flight - which is very good in combination with Frostseeker. I'd say it is too good to pass on it.  

  

 

[stollane.cg]

45 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

You can use Sharpshooter - but I consider it to be one of the weaker Ranger subclasses. The recovery penatly is hard to compansate with that little crit conversion.

Assassin doesn't work well with Frostseeker because it is is multiprojectile weapon and as soon as the first projectile hits the invisibility is lifted and the assasinate bonus will be gone. Projectile 2 and three and the AoE on crit will get nothing from Assassin.

---

One of the strongest class combos for Frostseeker is Arcane Archer/Ascendant. Or Ghost Heart/Ascendant if you don't like having the animal companion around all the time. 

Reason is the highest potential accuracy in the game (Ranger passives + Imbue Shots + Arcana + Borrowed Instinct + Tactical Meld) paired with the Ascendant's Soul Whip and its dmg bonus which doesn't turn off when focus is full (like it does with the other cipher subclasses) but instead does even more weapon damage. And you get all the nice Cipher spells on top of that. For example Pain Block on a bear companion with Resilient Companion makes for a pretty good offtank - contrary to most other approaches to let the animal companion tank. 

---

A more obsucre but also good combo is Ghost Heart/Mage Slayer. The Frostseeker Bow creates a hidden melee attack roll when its projectiles critically hit. That hidden melee attack does no damage but triggers the AoE the bow does. This hidden melee attack does work with the Mage Slayer's Spell Disruption. Since Forstseeker has multiple projectiles you can shut down a caster pretty quickly - which an be very valuable. Also works with Arcane Archer of course but it just feels so wrong thematically.  Mageslayer also brings more action speed via Frenzy and Bloodlust, either stagger on hit (Spirit Frenzy) or raw DoT on crit (Blood Frenzy), Barbaric Smash as a good finisher (can be cost free if it kills) and crit conversion and high dmg against near death enemies with Bloody Slaughter.  

---

Another good combination is Arcane Archer/Helwalker. In the unmodded game Turning Wheel will not work with ranged weapons (Lightning Strikes does), but the increased INT of Duality of Mortal Presence will enlarge the AoE of the bow, Eternal Dance of Death will give you +12 accuracy, up to +15 MIG and +2 PEN (Helwalker passive at 10 wounds + Thunderous Blows) do help with the damage of course. You also get a good summoning option on top of the animal companion (Dichotomous Soul).

---

Yet another good option is Devoted/Arcane Archer or Ghost Heart. With Penetrating Strike you get awesome +5 PEN wit your warbow shots, could even get +6 if you use a Sharpshooter and get close (I don't recommend that though). Better crit dmg and then some of the other Fighter goodies like more accuracy and so on.

---

Streetfighter + Frrostseeker could be unlocked with a Chanter (most likely Trobadour) as second class. As phrases it would be Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr + Sure-Handed Ila and you would use the phrases to summon upgraded Whisps which you target at yourself. Those hits will distract you and unlock the Streetfighter's passive -50% recovery time and bonus Sneak Attack damage. It's a little cheesy but works very well. However it doesn't have the best accuracy. If you let the Whisps shoot you enough you can become bloodied which then unlocks the next stage of the Streetfighter which results in a lot more critical damage. If you take human as race this will also unlock Fighting Spirit (+ accuracy, +dmg).

Another way to use a Streetfigher with Frostseeker is to pick Berserker as second class and let the self damage of Frenzy get you to the bloodied state - unlocks Streetfigher passive. This combo is shooting very fast but also doesn't have the best accuracy.

Note that all combos without Ranger will lack the ability Driving Flight - which is very good in combination with Frostseeker. I'd say it is too good to pass on it.  

  

 

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to create a Devoted/Ghost Heart looks cool.

[Shai Hulud]

7 hours ago, stollane.cg said:

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to create a Devoted/Ghost Heart looks cool.

I posted this in another thread, but it could be helpful to you with controlling the ghost heart with less micromanagement. These script blocks will keep your animal companion summoned if it dies, priority attack things you mark as prey, and auto-target your character at whatever your animal companion is attacking so you can benefit from stalker's link (and flanked if someone else is attacking it).

The top two blocks summon your companion if you don't have one or he falls unconscious, and they summon the companion near a marked prey if possible. The last block has your character attack whatever the animal is attacking. You can't script the animal himself so I find rangers are easiest to control if you script the person and control the animal. Though the animal should auto-attack the marked prey after being summoned near it (provided its AI isn't turned off), so you probably won't have to do anything besides maybe retarget him to priority targets now and then. It says "being attacked by my animal companion" in the priority block btw. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Shai Hulud