Best Ranged Dps Class?

[Otis0310]

I was thinking of playing a ranged DPS, a character that would sit in the back lines with an arbalest or aquabus.

 

However I was also wanting a character with some interesting abilities so, after trying the Rogue on for size I decided that their abilities are not all that great.

 

I was thinking of the Wizard, but I want a weapon with a bit more bang than an implement.  Also there is the whole problem with the grimoire and needing to either switch them or copy them.

 

I was also thinking about the Druid, and while the shapeshifting thing is cool, since I want to stay away from the front lines (not always possible), I don't think it will help much in most fights.  Also I do not know how their spells compare to the Wizard's.

 

The only other one is the Ranger, but too many of their abilities seem tied to their animal companion.

 

The rest seem to either focus on melee combat or buffing.

 

So can anyone offer a suggestion for a good build?

 

I have of course decided to go for the Wood Elf for obvious reasons.

[Sergius64]

Ranger is decent, but like the rogue it's pretty much single target. The difference between the two is the fact that Rangers get much better reload speed with Swift Aim modular ability. So they end up being better with rifles and crossbow variants over the Rogue who ends up getting more leeway with bows.

[Nobear]

I was thinking of playing a ranged DPS, a character that would sit in the back lines with an arbalest or aquabus.

 

However I was also wanting a character with some interesting abilities so, after trying the Rogue on for size I decided that their abilities are not all that great.

 

I was thinking of the Wizard, but I want a weapon with a bit more bang than an implement.  Also there is the whole problem with the grimoire and needing to either switch them or copy them.

 

I was also thinking about the Druid, and while the shapeshifting thing is cool, since I want to stay away from the front lines (not always possible), I don't think it will help much in most fights.  Also I do not know how their spells compare to the Wizard's.

 

The only other one is the Ranger, but too many of their abilities seem tied to their animal companion.

 

The rest seem to either focus on melee combat or buffing.

 

So can anyone offer a suggestion for a good build?

 

I have of course decided to go for the Wood Elf for obvious reasons.

 

This game is very flexible, for example in making a lot of classes viable at ranged. Ones you haven't considered are paladin, chanter and cipher. If I had to pick one, I'd choose cipher out of the three. Very interesting (some overpowered) abilities that you have to choose from as you level, but you don't have the grimoire limitation. If you like the idea, I could give more specific advice.

[Otis0310]

I don't like the paladin because I  think most of their auras best suit front line fighters.  I also played the game up to the poin that you get a chanter, and to be honest, he does not seem particularly great.

 

What I want is a char that would be great with a big ranged weapon, but also have some decent abilities that can help against mobs.  I noticed as a rogue that I was powerful against one or two foes.   However, against a mob I was getting whiped out becuase of my lack of AOEs, and Aloth's were not enough.

 

A cipher might do, I know little about that class. In fact it is about the only ranged class I never looked into much. 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

 

Best ranged DPS? Cipher. Overall.

 

But if you want to just be a martial ranged DPS, the Ranger is likely to be it with his abilities & attacks for single target DPS. This is still great, because it means taking out a caster super fast, or specific enemy that is going to cause you issues. If you feel you want AOE ranged DPS, then look to the Wizard, Druid and even Priest (to a lesser extent, and really not until higher levels). Wizards and Druids have the better AOE spells that do damage in general early on and later. If you want up close AOE DPS, a Barbarian can be rigged up for that.

 

But for pure martial ranged DPS versus one target, the Ranger likely will nail it down. If you want a combination of ranged & "other" then the Cipher really is going to have huge DPS. And if you want a mix of things, the Rogue can be tweaked nicely to be a ranged DPS with good melee too, plus evasive abilities to get around and be utility on top of it.

 

Regardless of where you go with it, any character class will work, just focus on what it takes to get higher DPS. You could use slow powerful guns with high damage reduction and focus on making them faster. Or you could focus on faster shots and higher accuracies, to allow for more potential criticals, which increases average damage more. I've played through a few times now and frankly found the guns with damage reduction (even with gunner and chanter with reload song) to be slow and annoying even still. Played through with war bows with high accuracy and it was quite a difference to me, faster, more shots, with high accuracy, more criticals, it was more impressive I found.

 

So for me, just take whatever class you want, focus on using a Warbow basically and enchant the heck out of it. Get talents that grant you more accuracy and/or speed. Max your Dex and Might. Avoid recovery inducing armors (enchant some clothing (0%) for DR). Wood elf (free accuracy bonus), marksman, weapon specialization that includes warbow for more accuracy, and go from there.

 

Very best,

[Otis0310]

Okay, my concept is to go for a ranged dps with guns or bows, whichever works best.  I like the high damage of the arquebus and I am hoping that the reload perk will make it faster so I won't have problems with "down time" so to speak.

 

However, as I said, I want to make certain I have some AOEs too.  Although they might not be a problem if the guns work fast enough.  As Malveaux said, they can take down single targets fast.  However, what happens if I am faced with half a dozen guys.  I have found that if I focus too much on "weapon only" abilities then I will have problems with larger numbers because I am not very good against multiple targets.  Of course I was using armor, does it really make that much of a difference?

 

Anyways, I am looking for a versatile ranged dps.  Something which has a balance between AOEs and single attacks.  I am not worried about melee dps, mainly because of the way the combat works. It seems more logical to have two or three ranged dps characters and have the front row guys simply keep them occupied.  If there was a threat system a melee DPS might be more practical but as it is, I think any character without high armour and shield would get ripped apart in the front lines, which rules out most DPS right there.

[Nobear]

I don't like the paladin because I  think most of their auras best suit front line fighters.  I also played the game up to the poin that you get a chanter, and to be honest, he does not seem particularly great.

 

What I want is a char that would be great with a big ranged weapon, but also have some decent abilities that can help against mobs.  I noticed as a rogue that I was powerful against one or two foes.   However, against a mob I was getting whiped out becuase of my lack of AOEs, and Aloth's were not enough.

 

A cipher might do, I know little about that class. In fact it is about the only ranged class I never looked into much. 

 

First, a paladin's Zealous Focus aura grants accuracy, and with enough Int you can cover your whole party, but if you don't like them that's fine. They are not my favorite ranged for other reasons, and because ciphers...

 

Ciphers... I don't know where their awesome ends. Mine has Penetrating Shot to make great use of a Blunderbuss, but other big guns will work great without that talent. All ciphers start with an ability called Soul Whip, which gives a solid 20% boost to damage (40% with a talent), and allows you to gain Focus which you use for your mental powers. You have some Focus all the time, with which you start each encounter, and you gain more as a % of damage you deal by shooting stuff. As you level, your Focus pool and starting Focus grow, so that you can start off an encounter with any mental power except possibly the highest tier.

 

These powers are amazing. One you can get starting at level 3 that paralyzes your target and makes enemies around him stuck. It's one of the best CC spells in the game, and Paralyze also serves as a huge DPS boost for your whole party by lowering the target's defenses by a large amount. You can also pick powers to charm or dominate a foe, and there's one you can pick starting at level 9 that lets you control the mind of everyone in a large area. I haven't had success with this, because its area is so large, and my cipher's accuracy is so high, that literally every enemy gets controlled, and then they all break control and we're back where we were before, but some people swear by it. (That's a side question of mine BTW: any tips on making effective use of Ringleader?)

 

Ok in addition to that, starting at level 5, a cipher can choose a completely OP damaging power called Ectopsychic Echo. It's a Foe-only beam spell with tremendous DPS, that you target an ally with, and it melts everything in its path. I like to have one my my tanks use a figurine toward the start of the fight, to drop a summon right behind the enemy line, use Ectopsychic Echo on it, and make the summon walk around so the beam sprays all the enemies dead. If that doesn't sound ridiculous enough, you can continue to shoot (and gain Focus) while you have the beam going, so I like to have my party focus fire an enemy far from the beam's current path to really speed up clearing the room.

 

On top of that, there are powers that steal very significant attributes from enemies to buff your cipher, increasing her survivability and/or accuracy while making the enemy an easy target. There's also one that stacks with these and gives you another 20 accuracy while attacking the same target as one of your teammates. You just pile awesome on top of awesome. I can't recommend the class enough.

 

Keep in mind there's a cipher companion. What I did is made my main a (tank/support) paladin, because your main character only gets special bonuses if its a paladin or a priest based on your reputations, which doesn't apply to the same classes as companions or adventurers. In the first town's inn, I hired some placeholder adventurers which I replaced with companions as I went. You can make hired adventurers more optimal than companions, mind you, I just enjoy companions for their dialogue and banter. The cipher companion is the last companion you'll come across (mid Act 2), but there's nothing wrong with hiring a placeholder or just making a custom team if you prefer that.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Nobear

[Otis0310]

The cypher, Grieving Mother is it?

 

Can you not just adventure over to the village she is in and pick her up earlier?  Or would that be suicide because of high level battles?

 

I remember getting all the way to the ranger once and there were three left to get.  A druid, a paladin and the cypher.  I could have sworn the way it was going the Paladin would have been last because you have to do a quest before she shows up.

 

Anyways, that cypher looks like an infinite way of awesome.  I think I'll try it out.  Also, I was wondering, out of the main companions (I also like the banter) which ones would you suggest I use as front line fighters?  Is the priest or druid a valid choice, because I think I need more than just the fighter and paladin and I honestly doubt that a ranger or wizard will do the job and the chanter seems to go down fast as well.

[Boeroer]

You have to complete the Old-Watcher-Quest in Caed Nua in order to reach the Grieving Mother in Dyrford Village. There are no fights involved after Caed Nua. If you feel the need for a third frontliner or "Offtank" behind Eder and Pallegina you can take Kana Rua and equip him with a shield. The good thing about chanters is that their chanting isn't affected by recovery penalties or low dex. Chanters make good tanks (I'm having one in PotD and it works great) because they provide constant endurance regeneration like a fighter (for the whole party, but slower) which can even be supported by a regeneration item like the trollhide belt or similar. AND they can summon even more tanks later on (Ogres) which helps a lot when you get swarmed. But to be honest: if you don't play PotD then most fights will be over before the chanter can fire off an invocation. Still his chants are good - especially if you want to use some ranged weapons. So imagine a ranger gunner with swift aim, a speed-enchanted weapon like hold wall and the reload-chant from your offtank...

Ciphers are awesome. I use two ranged ciphers (aedrins wrecker & lead spitter) with ectopsychic echo and combine it with my pc (melee dual saber rogue) who wears boots of speed and is a fast runner. My tactic: send in the chanter-tank, let the enemy mob surround him. Meanwhile cast ectopsychic echo with both ciphers, targeting my rogue, who starts running behind the lines (items and talents with +defense when disengaging like graceful retreat or escape help a lot) and then moves around a bit while all the enemies go "pop". Also works great on bosses: just make sure to debuff them before with a blinding strike or mental binding or whatever. The beam still checks accurracy vs. defense. So bosses usually produce a lot of misses if not debuffed. Most fights are over in lets say 10 seconds...

Edited July 16, 2015 by Boeroer

[Sergius64]

Okay, my concept is to go for a ranged dps with guns or bows, whichever works best.  I like the high damage of the arquebus and I am hoping that the reload perk will make it faster so I won't have problems with "down time" so to speak.

 

You'll need a lot more then that Gunner talent (20% reload speed). Rangers get Swift Aim Modal (20% recovery speed bonus, 50% reload speed bonus). Chanters get a phrase that gives another (20% recovery speed bonus, 20% reload speed bonus). It'll also help if you keep them unarmored, though that's just with the recovery speed.

 

My party has 3 rangers and 1 chanter singing that song, they're pretty good at mowing things down 1 by 1. Casters often go down in 1 volley. They're even better when I can get their pets attacking their target.

 

In order to deal with large group I really have to use chokepoints with my tanks or keep everyone but tanks back in order to get the mobs to concentrate on the tanks.

 

Biggest problem I've had so far were groups with Ogre Druids, those guys do painful AoE that goes through armor and take forever to die.

[Otis0310]

Cool, thanks.

 

Assuming I want to play a cypher, what stats would be good for my build?

[bigwillystyle]

For my cipher, I ran max dex, might, int.  Dumped per and con and put the rest in resolve (14ish).  

 

I use War Bow / Cloudpiercer which is great for a Cipher.  When your jolting touch procs with +40% soul whip damage its awesome for focus & damage

[Raven Darkholme]

Cipher is the best ranged dps, yes.

But if you play PotD bows are a must, bwcause of more reliable focus build. Warbows have similar dps to guns, hunting bows have the best (late game) unique.

[Boeroer]

For my cipher, I ran max dex, might, int.  Dumped per and con and put the rest in resolve (14ish).  

Exactly my stats.

 

War bows are also good. But I think a cipher will work nicely with every ranged weapon (even on PotD) because there are some really good uniques in every weapon group. Wendgär for example is a really nice superb crossbow. Then there is Persistence, a nice hunting bow that you can get very early at lvl 4 of the Endless Paths. Later you can change that to Lenas Er, a superb rending hunting bow. Combine the faster (but weaker) weapons with Vulnarable Shot. Pistols are also very nice. So basically you can't go terribly wrong if you just pick the coolest looking. ) I like arbalests because of the nice range and the huge damage - and they are not superslow. I use Aedrin's Wrecker and Lead Spitter on PotD and have no problems with focus generation. Most of the time it stays around 50 while I shoot and cast. Most fights are over after 10-15 seconds anyway...

 

Keep in mind that you can also use very slow guns like arquebuses or blunderbusses effectively together with the Quick Switch talent. You can fire, switch, fire, switch and so on. That burst generates a tremendous amount of focus and damage at the beginning of the fight. Best used together with Island Amaua (third weapon set) and the talent Arms Bearer. Then you get four weapon slots which you can switch untill you have to reload. That's quite devastating and works with every class.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Boeroer

[Otis0310]

Wouldn't mininimizing con have large problems, after all the fighters at the front won't protect you from archers.  In which case you could be down in one shot.  Although resolution is important because of interrupts, I can understand that.

[gkathellar]

It depends. Rogues can nova harder than anyone, but need a lot of help to keep their damage spike going. Rangers have better accuracy than anyone, have a lot of abilities that let them deal damage constantly, and need surprisingly little support. Ciphers have the best CC and can target defenses other than Deflection most easily, but they can end up neutered if their opening hit misses, and they can have a harder time in lengthy fights unless well-managed.

 

Honorable mention goes to Chanter (only decent DPS, but improves the rest of your back line), and Bleak Walker Paladin (dat spike damage, yo).

[gkathellar]

It depends. Rogues can nova harder than anyone, but need a lot of help to keep their damage spike going. Rangers have better accuracy than anyone, have a lot of abilities that let them deal damage constantly, and need surprisingly little support. Ciphers have the best CC and can target defenses other than Deflection most easily, but they can end up neutered if their opening hit misses, and they can have a harder time in lengthy fights unless well-managed.

 

Honorable mention goes to Chanter (only decent DPS, but improves the rest of your back line), and Bleak Walker Paladin (dat spike damage, yo).

[Nobear]

The cypher, Grieving Mother is it?

 

Can you not just adventure over to the village she is in and pick her up earlier?  Or would that be suicide because of high level battles?

 

I remember getting all the way to the ranger once and there were three left to get.  A druid, a paladin and the cypher.  I could have sworn the way it was going the Paladin would have been last because you have to do a quest before she shows up.

 

Anyways, that cypher looks like an infinite way of awesome.  I think I'll try it out.  Also, I was wondering, out of the main companions (I also like the banter) which ones would you suggest I use as front line fighters?  Is the priest or druid a valid choice, because I think I need more than just the fighter and paladin and I honestly doubt that a ranger or wizard will do the job and the chanter seems to go down fast as well.

 

I don't know off the top of my head if you could avoid fights on your way to Dyrwood Village, or how hard they'd be at lower level, but I have heard of people rushing it before the game got the option to disable auto-leveling of companions. I just hired a placeholder and took my time, but try whatever you like. If you're going to hire adventurers either to be permanent or placeholders, it's best to do it ASAP when you hit Gilded Vale and are still level 2, and can hire cheap level 1 adventurers who won't be too far behind the rest of your party's level in the long run.

 

You definitely don't need more than two tanks in this game, even on PoTD. Some players even argue that you only need one, but I prefer two because I find it much easier to keep battles consistently smooth and controlled that way. There will be exceptions (like fights with Shadows that love to teleport to your back row), but more tanks definitely won't help with these exceptions. The key to dealing with them I've found is to CC and focus fire the offender. Moving your tanks around to chase one guy will just make more of a mess than it cleans. So I've been golden on PoTD with my main character as a paladin tank and Eder as the other tank. You could take Pallegina if you want a different class for your main, but making your main a paladin gives you a huge edge over what you'd have with Pallegina (Faith and Conviction bonuses based on reputation mean up to +6/12/12/12 to your defenses over what they could be with Pallegina). Plus her order doesn't have any unique talents, where if your main is a paladin tank, choosing either Darkozzi or Shieldbearer would give you even more of an edge. Up to you, though, I'm just letting you know what's optimal.

 

So in my party I have a custom formation with the two tanks up front spaced two spaces apart, and four ranged clustered up across two rows with two spaces between them and the tanks. You can also hold down the right mouse button on the ground where you want your party to go, and move it around to rotate it when you want fine tune your positioning. Ambushes are rare in this game, and even with these you can reload if you trigger one and have started in a bad position. Having some Stealth on all your party members, especially your front row, can also help allow you to reliably place your party in the most safe/effective position at the start of combat.

 

So imagine a ranger gunner with swift aim, a speed-enchanted weapon like hold wall and the reload-chant from your offtank...

 

I was really liking this on Sagani until I discovered how much more OP my party was with a cipher in place of a ranger lol. I still run with a gunner chanter though. He is probably my most expendable member, but the fact he speeds up himself and my three other ranged is nice. My other members are a gunner priest and a CC + Minor Blights wizard. Also, sorry to break it to you, but the speed enchant on weapons currently doesn't work. It's a known bug. All other speed sources work, AFAIK.

 

 

Okay, my concept is to go for a ranged dps with guns or bows, whichever works best.  I like the high damage of the arquebus and I am hoping that the reload perk will make it faster so I won't have problems with "down time" so to speak.

 

You'll need a lot more then that Gunner talent (20% reload speed). Rangers get Swift Aim Modal (20% recovery speed bonus, 50% reload speed bonus). Chanters get a phrase that gives another (20% recovery speed bonus, 20% reload speed bonus). It'll also help if you keep them unarmored, though that's just with the recovery speed.

 

My cipher is using the Lead Splitter Blunderbuss and is built for it. Her talents are Biting Whip, Draining Whip, Gunner, Penetrating Shot, WF Ruffian, and Marskman. I do run with a ranged chanter with that chant, as I mentioned. I personally find the huge bursts of damage and focus I deal to be very satisfying. Others prefer more steady focus gains in smaller increments. One way isn't necessarily superior to the other. I just love the feeling of when my focus suddenly goes through the roof and I can use, say, three potent mental powers in a row. To each his own.

 

Wouldn't mininimizing con have large problems, after all the fighters at the front won't protect you from archers.  In which case you could be down in one shot.  Although resolution is important because of interrupts, I can understand that.

 

In practice, more or less Con will rarely make a significant difference in the survivability of a backrow character, compared to the benefit of other stats. As you've noted, for instance, after the essential stats for DPS, focus gain, area, and duration, Resolve is good so you can avoid interrupts when you do get targeted, plus a bit of deflection so you won't be crit as often. Also, there are other ways to protect your backrow characters in the minority of cases where they actually need it. The cipher herself can usually just paralyze whoever is giving her (or anyone else) trouble. On top of that, you will gain access to various powers that drain enemy stats to boost your own. These include boosts to your DR or defenses, among other things. Also, if you're running with a healer/buffer like a priest or druid in your party, there's more protection for you.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Nobear

[evilcat]

Cipher is very pleasant ranged dps, but this is half caster class, and more power comes from spells than from pewpewing. 

For pure pewpew fun Ranger have is more focused, and more martial ranged than caster. 

[Gs11]

Dont wanne start new topic and make trush, so I'll write here  in subject of ranger.

 

My question is:

- does Swift Aim  increase  speed for ranged weapons or mayble only  meele weapon attack?couse in some definitions are " attack speed",sometimes "rate of fire", or "attack speed with meele weapon"... i get confused

 

Rate of Fire= Attack speed of ranged weapon is that right?

 

so when I'm have (from wiki)  definition about Swift Aim "has effect::x1.2 Attack Speed

x1.5 Reload Speed    and directly from game tooltip "The Ranger get into a speedy and fluid offensive rythm, reducing Accuracy but increasing Fire Rate and reload time with ranged weapon and Attack Rate with meele weapons"?

 

so it means that attack speed is increased for ranged weapon so do meele+ reload time for ranged weapon ( bow not included, don relod time yes?)?

[KDubya]

Dont wanne start new topic and make trush, so I'll write here  in subject of ranger.

 

My question is:

- does Swift Aim  increase  speed for ranged weapons or mayble only  meele weapon attack?couse in some definitions are " attack speed",sometimes "rate of fire", or "attack speed with meele weapon"... i get confused

 

Rate of Fire= Attack speed of ranged weapon is that right?

 

so when I'm have (from wiki)  definition about Swift Aim "has effect::x1.2 Attack Speed

x1.5 Reload Speed    and directly from game tooltip "The Ranger get into a speedy and fluid offensive rythm, reducing Accuracy but increasing Fire Rate and reload time with ranged weapon and Attack Rate with meele weapons"?

 

so it means that attack speed is increased for ranged weapon so do meele+ reload time for ranged weapon ( bow not included, don relod time yes?)?

 

With Swift Aim all of your attacks get a 20% increase to attack speed. This includes melee attacks, bows, crossbows, and guns. The 50% faster reload speed helps you with crossbows, arbalests and all of the guns. Bows do not have a reload so they do not benefit.

 

The other modal Vicious Aim only works with ranged weapons. +20% damage, -20% speed and +10 accuracy.

 

For me I take Swift Aim if I'm going for crossbows and Vicious Aim if I am going for bows.