range dps build?

[s002wjh]

new to the game, seem all the build are pretty old before patch and white watch.

currently what class is good for range dps?  cipher, ranger etc etc?  also what weapons for that class, guns/bow etc?  thanks

[Nobear]

Welcome!

 

A few people have asked similar questions lately. This thread is recent and discusses cipher builds for 2.0 and TWM (The White March). This is a summary of my thoughts on cipher stats for 2.0/TWM.

 

For a ranger, I'd probably max Mig/Dex/Per, but unlike cipher, rangers don't need Int so much. I might even dump Int and put the leftover points in Con/Res. This is unless Wounding Shot has been changed so its DPS remains constant instead of going down with more Int. Does anyone know if Wounding Shot (and other DoTs) finally have constant DPS as a function of Int, instead of constant total damage?

 

In any case, ciphers remain strong and popular. They were OP in early game versions, but got tuned to a more reasonable (but still powerful) level long before 2.0. Not much has changed for them in 2.0, aside from Perception granting Accuracy and thus being more valuable for all ranged classes. For ciphers, bows vs guns is mostly a matter of personal preference. The first thread I linked goes into more detail, but the short answer is you can be strong whichever weapon type you choose, as long as your talents reflect this choice (e.g. appropriate weapon focus, Gunner for guns obviously, Penetrating Shot for Blunderbuss or Hunting Bow).

 

Rangers were generally considered relatively weak before, but compared to ciphers, they got significantly improved in 2.0. Not only are their pets stronger and scale better, but they also got a new modal that shoots two arrows instead of one (which cannot be used with guns). While I haven't done the math to see if there's a clear winner in weapon types for hunters now, my money would be on bows probably pulling ahead in overall DPS due to this new modal compared to the other two modals. Wounding Shot would do more DPS with guns, but that's only two shots per encounter, and I'd be surprised if it was enough to make up for not being able to shoot twice, even for relatively short encounters.

 

Keep in mind, the above paragraph about rangers is largely speculative, as I have not actually tested the changes myself, I only know that they look good on paper. I'm more familiar with ciphers in general, so I'll defer to whomever has actually played rangers in 2.0.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Nobear

[lameover]

There are two types of rangers, the ones who use pet just for tanking\distracting enemies and the ones, who use pet as main DD.

Here is much pet's abilities that works good with high INT, like Predator's Sense and Wounding Shot. Merciless Companion and Borresaine.

I'm now playing 10-8-20-19-18-3 Ranger and it's fun...well, if your pet doesn't die in first seconds of combat

Edited September 9, 2015 by lameover

[Elric Galad]

Hi,

 

Here is the build I plan for my ranger 2.0. She is now level 6 and she is wonderful.

Wolf pet with Resilient talent is a decent offtank in PotD, especially because of infinite health, and deals good damage. In 2.0, Pets were indeed greatly buffed.

Ranger herself is an excellent sniper with Wounding Shots and an arbalest. I plan to switch to bows later.

 

Race : Wood Elf. This build is also quite compatible with Sagani, in spite of less optimized stats and less universal racial bonus.

 

Stat (not fully min maxed) : 

Mig 19

Con 8

Dex 19

Per 16

Int 10

Res 6

 

Pet : Wolf. It does 14% more damage than other pets due to better base damages. This might not be so impressive, but keep in mind that base damages are multiplicative modifier, not additive. (Antelope seems nice too for its +7 all defense.)

 

Level 1 : Wounding Shot (for damages and to trigger Predator's Sense and Merciless Companion pet bonus.)

Level 2 : Resilient Companion. Good enough to have your pet as an off-tank in PotD.

Level 3 : Predator's Sense. Crazy if you can apply a DoT. My plan is to have a melee character with Tidefall, and wounding shots or druid's swarm as backups.

Level 4 : Vicious companion. Good damage now with 3DR Bypass added by 2.0 !

Level 5 : Stalker's Link. 10 accuracy is always nice.

Level 6 : Marksman. 5 accuracy is always nice. Weapon focus is better, but I want to keep using my arbalest for now and specialize in bows later. I want to try to avoid respec.

 

This is the tested part of the build. Now my future (and untested ^^ ) picks :

 

Level 7 : Driving Flight. Baby carnage. Also good for per-hit effects like disorienting.

Level 8 : Merciless Companions. Now your party start to have enough debuff to turn your pet in a baby rogue.

Level 9 : Binding roots. I think it is the longest crowd control of the game (30s), basically take a melee out of combat. And even Thaos has melee guards ^^. Fast cast is also nice for action economy.

Level 10 : Penetrating Shot. Time to switch to bows. Or maybe blunderbuss just for 1 level ?

Level 11 : Stunning Shots. Time to switch to bows. Even better with Twinned Arrows and hunting bow.

Level 12 : Weapon focus peasant. For Lenas Er. And the backup hatchet ^^. Or maybe Adventurer.

Level 13 : Twinned Arrows. A bit less than x2 damages. Also almost x2 chances to stun.

Level 14 : Apprentice's sneak attack. For even more DPS.

 

Armor : Light one. Maybe with a bit of DR and good unique effect like Gwisk Glas, or just Berathian Robes.  

 

Weapon of choice : Probably Lenas Er. Good attack speed which synergizes well with Stunning shots, DR Bypass and disorienting effect.

Disorienting seems nice for debuff and synergize well with Driving Flight.

Does anyone know if disorienting stacks with itself on multiple hit or stack with spells ?

 

I will also build the soulbound bow too. It certainly has some good per rest abilities to unlock, even if I think Lenas Er has more consistent bonus, especially because it can be buffed by * some special material *.

But you don't need to choose your weapon focus for Soulbound Weapons, so I'll pick Peasant anyway.

 

 

I think I managed to plan all the DPS abilities / talents I wanted and still having enough available for Crowd Control and Resilient Pet.
That was my idea and I hope it will work very well !

 

 

If someone has any suggestions, they are welcome. I will update when it will be fully tested.

[s002wjh]

so base on recent patch ranger is no longer weak? compare to cipher or other range dps class, which one has more dps and variety?

[KDubya]

so base on recent patch ranger is no longer weak? compare to cipher or other range dps class, which one has more dps and variety?

 

 

Neither is weak, both are fun but their playstyle are very different.

 

The Cipher gets great damage buffs of +40% which they use to fuel their focus which powers their spells. Everything is per encounter, as long as you can do damage you can cast until everything is dead. They can engage safely from range with bows or guns, from the second row with a staff or pike, or even run into melee range. This can all change with a simple weapon switch. Very versatile. Their spells do good damage and have some of the best crowd control available. With re-spec you can try out different spells and see what you like for a small cost in gold.

 

Rangers do great single target damage from range and get a pet that is much more useful now. You can take talents and abilities to make your pet better or you can treat him as the fire and forget cruise missile that he is. I figure the pet will die and in fact that is his job. Now the pet survives longer, does better damage and with a Lay on Hands can last much longer. This lets you take more talents and abilities that make you a better sniper. When the pet dies you get -10 accuracy, with the new Perception you probably have +8-10 accuracy so you are about as accurate after the pet is dead as you were before with the pet alive.

 

Give the Ranger the Hold the Wall Arbalest from Guilded Vale with the now functioning +20% speed enchant, upgrade as needed to fine>exceptional, maybe slap on a lash and you have a good weapon for the game. Grab the swift Aim modal, and anything that increases your accuracy or firing/reload rate. It hits hard enough that you won't need the damage penetrating modal that bow users need to get past DR. 

[Ymarsakar]

The ranger is very good at pulling enemies, because they can stealth in or they can shoot at extremely long distances, preventing some mob groups from seeing the ranger or the target he hits. The roots and the wounded shot makes pulling easier and does not expend many per rest abilities.

 

The pet is a little bit of micro, but it's manageable given the new party AI s.

 

The ranger has the most reliable single target CC with stun on hit/crit at level 11, against targets pet is attacking. That's like having 30 extra accuracy right there.

 

The ranger and the pet was horribly broken in 1.0 Many abilities didn't even work right. The pets died really fast due to low DR. So they've been rebalanced, yes, and certain broken mechanics have been redesigned to make it more smooth and efficient.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Ymarsakar