[CLASS BUILD] Riptide & The Pit Fright (dps & offtank melee ranger double team supreme)

[draego]

 

Grieving Mother for flanking spell (if going with heavy survival skill)

Not really needed imo. It's very easy to achieve that on your own with the help of your animal companion. Micro intesive, yes, but one of the main benefits for going into melee range as a ranger. The rest of your post is very valid.

 

 

I agree i usually go more micro intensive also but i like mixing up companions for their quest so trying to find some synergy but you are correct.

[QuiteGoneJin]

 

Grieving Mother for flanking spell (if going with heavy survival skill)

Not really needed imo. It's very easy to achieve that on your own with the help of your animal companion. Micro intesive, yes, but one of the main benefits for going into melee range as a ranger. The rest of your post is very valid.

 

As for the animal companion (max dps): either wolf (single target dps) or stag (aoe dps) - the rest sucks. True story.

 

Meaning what? Sometimes I feel like I don't understand flanking as well as I should, I thought it was totally based on targets engaging with enemy. 

[draego]

 

 

Grieving Mother for flanking spell (if going with heavy survival skill)

Not really needed imo. It's very easy to achieve that on your own with the help of your animal companion. Micro intesive, yes, but one of the main benefits for going into melee range as a ranger. The rest of your post is very valid.

 

As for the animal companion (max dps): either wolf (single target dps) or stag (aoe dps) - the rest sucks. True story.

 

Meaning what? Sometimes I feel like I don't understand flanking as well as I should, I thought it was totally based on targets engaging with enemy. 

 

 

Flanked status is applied to enemy when you attack an enemy on the opposite side your companion or animal or summon is. So this takes you positioning either your main or animal in the right position to get the status affect against an enemy and since you have reasons as melee ranger to stick together like stalkers link and torc and defensive talents like  Defensive Bond it makes since to attempt this. not to mention its a nice debuff. Cipher has power to basically make every enemies have flanked status without having to position. Also flaking triggers your animal companions sneak attack talent Merciless Companion. So this makes your build more micro intensive even more than ranged ranger which is fun for me but not everyone. 

Edited March 5, 2017 by draego

[L4wlight]

 

 

 

Grieving Mother for flanking spell (if going with heavy survival skill)

Not really needed imo. It's very easy to achieve that on your own with the help of your animal companion. Micro intesive, yes, but one of the main benefits for going into melee range as a ranger. The rest of your post is very valid.

 

As for the animal companion (max dps): either wolf (single target dps) or stag (aoe dps) - the rest sucks. True story.

 

Meaning what? Sometimes I feel like I don't understand flanking as well as I should, I thought it was totally based on targets engaging with enemy. 

 

 

Flanked status is applied to enemy when you attack an enemy on the opposite side your companion or animal or summon is. So this takes you positioning either your main or animal in the right position to get the status affect against an enemy and since you have reasons as melee ranger to stick together like stalkers link and torc and defensive talents like  Defensive Bond it makes since to attempt this. not to mention its a nice debuff. Cipher has power to basically make every enemies have flanked status without having to position. Also flaking triggers your animal companions sneak attack talent Merciless Companion. So this makes your build more micro intensive even more than ranged ranger which is fun for me but not everyone. 

 

In other words you constantly want to keep a corner of 90 to 180 degrees between your ranger and his animal companion while attacking the same target.

[QuiteGoneJin]

Oooh opposite sides, tyty. 

[draego]

I also use my ranger as a flanking single target dps if possible. You can also go sword and board which and on potd no one would blame you, as Boeroer like to point out, can be fine off tank and even nice dps build with Badgradr's Barricade (nice proc effect) and since you are flanking enemies, have good starting accuracy, stunning shots and maybe stuck affect with ranger talent you can proc lots of crits. I like rangers diversity of builds so ranged, tanks, melee. I know others can do it as well or better but love me some rangers. 

 

This is also why i didnt like the first subclass for ranger in POE2. not having my pet would suck but there will be two other subclasses. Here is to hoping one of them is either melee or pet oriented or both if possible. 

Edited March 5, 2017 by draego

[QuiteGoneJin]

So Bo (Boeroer), nothing you'd update? Where would you add stunning shots, and what companions (story) would you like for this build?

 

 

And um, how was your day? 

[JerekKruger]

I noticed this graph is off now, at least in regards to gloves of manip at the bed and stalkers torc near wolves in the vale. relevant because it used to be the earliers torc you could get for builds like this.

 

Yeah, Obsidian seem to have changed things up in one of their more recent patches. Regarding the Gloves of Manipulation I found a pair in the Copperlane Catacombs on day 8. I haven't tested to make sure they always appear on day 8, but at the very least they should always be in that loot pool at some point.

[Boeroer]

So Bo (Boeroer), nothing you'd update? Where would you add stunning shots, and what companions (story) would you like for this build?

I'd have to sit down and think about it. At the moment I'm quite busy so I don't know when I find the time for it.

 

 

And um, how was your day? 

It was ok - I digged a 40 meter trench for a site power supply (building a house atm) and now I feel happy but worn out.

[Raven Darkholme]

In maxquests Attack Speed calculator Swift Aim doesn't increase melee Attack Speed, but unless I'm confused it actually does, right?

[Boeroer]

Yes, it does. Vicious Aim only works ranged though.

[Yonto]

Not really sure the big Bo' would notice a reply in a post old like this, but worth the try. I'm about to start a run with this kind of build, planning to port it to deadfire. Since time passed by since when this was originally posted I was wondering if there's something to change.

 

I am playing on hard, so no need for min maxing in my case - I'll probably pick aumaua and the lion companion even if it sucks, but I just think that will work better visually in the deadfire.

 

Thanks to anyone who'll have the chance to reply!

[Boeroer]

Hi!

 

In Deadfire Predator's Sense and Merciless + Vicious Companion are still in (playing the beta right now). I can't say if there will be a wounding great sword though.

 

Rangers in Deadfire seem to have lost some melee capability, but you can now multiclass - and a class combination of ranger + rogue seems to be very fitting for this PoE1 build. Because the rogue has some abilites now that grant everlasting wounding effects (targets bleeds out until encounter ends). So that would trigger Predator's Sense all the time as well without having a special weapon like Tidefall.

 

A special subclass of rogue is the Stalker - he gets bonuses when he and his pet fight near to each other - perfect fit. For therogue subclass I'd go with Streetfighter I guess. It's a good class if you want to offtank a bit and get some beatings every now and then (gets stronger then).

 

Not much has changed with this build since I wrote about it. There are some new items and maybe also a few talents, but the core of the build is still viable and unchanged. So - have fun playing!

Edited November 22, 2017 by Boeroer

[draego]

Hi!

 

In Deadfire Predator's Sense and Merciless + Vicious Companion are still in (playing the beta right now). I can't say if there will be a wounding great sword though.

 

Rangers in Deadfire seem to have lost some melee capability, but you can now multiclass - and a class combination of ranger + rogue seems to be very fitting for this PoE1 build. Because the rogue has some abilites now that grant everlasting wounding effects (targets bleeds out until encounter ends). So that would trigger Predator's Sense all the time as well without having a special weapon like Tidefall.

 

A special subclass of rogue is the Stalker - he gets bonuses when he and his pet fight near to each other - perfect fit. For therogue subclass I'd go with Streetfighter I guess. It's a good class if you want to offtank a bit and get some beatings every now and then (gets stronger then).

 

Not much has changed with this build since I wrote about it. There are some new items and maybe also a few talents, but the core of the build is still viable and unchanged. So - have fun playing!

 

Battle axe  in deadfire now does bleed with proficiency proc predator's sense. So no not greatsword but there could be uniques you never know.

[Yonto]

Hello Boeroer!

 

Thanks for the reply, always helpful. Yeah, I saw the stalker subclass and that’s what got my the idea to try something like that.

 

Having a look around I found your skaen priest build and I love that too. Probably gonna play a couple of hours on both and then decide which one to finish.

 

If there’s anything to change there, feel free to jump in.

 

I know that at the moment the poe2 priest is a bit underwhelming, but I confide they are gonna address that. I’m not sure if it would be a good idea to multiclass in the sequel or not, since the skaen priest is a mini multiclass already and I can’t seem to imagine a good match for it.

 

By the way I just want to hank you for your efforts on this forums. You are truly a great memyof this community. I saw on the deadfire forums - these are my first posts, but I lurked around for a while - that you are not that happy with how things are shaping for that.

 

I hope the game develops in a better direction, so we don’t lose you here!

 

Cheers!

[Boeroer]

Hi again and thank you.

 

Three of my four biggest bummers of the beta already got adressed:

 

- Penetration will get a more granular effect

- Some universal talents will return

- Priests will not be restricted in spell choice anymore - but instead get bonus spells for their chosen deity. That's kind of a double-buff.

 

Which only leaves the overly long casting times on most spells (especially on summoned weapons this is bad). But maybe they first want to check how those compare once the melee-recovery-bug got patched: atm one handers all have 1 sec of recovery only. But only the light weapon should have that, not hammers/swords and so on. those are supposed to have 3 seconds of recovery. They will patch that - and maybe then the spells don't feel as sluggish anymore in comparison.

 

So for my taste it's going into the right direction.

 

And to be fair: there are also lots of cool new things in the Deadfire beta. The thing is: I will not comment as much about the things that I'm ok with but rather write something when I want it to be changed because I don't think it's good. I guess devs only have limited time and attention and I don't want to clutter the beta forums with stuff like "xyz is ok, so leave it in".

Edited November 23, 2017 by Boeroer

[Yonto]

Yeah I understand. It’s better to be vocal about what do you think should be improved instead of wasting thei attention. Great, thanks again. Having a lot of fun with the skaen priest, I’ll go through it with him. Not sure about multiclassincg possibilities in the future but I’ll worry about that then.

[hansvedic]

Okay, quick question.

 

Does Stunning Shots count as an ability for the purposes of the accuracy boost for abilities like Knock Down?

 

EDIT: Also, does Stunning Shots still not benefit from weapon accuracy bonuses and talents such as a dagger's +5 accuracy, a superb weapon's +12 accuracy, and talents like Weapon Focus?

 

EDIT 2: I guess my basic question is the following -- what accuracy boosts does Stunning Shots benefit from (e.g. talents, marking/coordinating, etc.)?

Edited March 11, 2018 by hansvedic

[Boeroer]

As far as I know it uses the same accuracy as all the other "attached" CC effects like prone from Knockdown for example.

 

That means your universal accuracy (starting value +3/level) + weapon accuracy + buffs. No bonus from one handed use.

 

If weapons' acc doesn't work that would be new for me. In case of fists I knew, but I thought all other weapons would use their ACC bonus for the fortitude roll.

 

Maybe Stunning Shots is different because it's pretty strong to begin with. I can check later in game.

Edited March 11, 2018 by Boeroer

[Boeroer]

So, did a test and compared Knockdown to Stunning Shots:

• with Knockdown it's as I said: you get all the bonuses for the fortitude roll, including weapon's acc bonus. But the acc bonus of single weapon use (+12) does not apply. ALso fists' accuracy bonus does not work, but that is the case for all special attacks with fists.
   
• Stunning Shots: this seems to be very quirky and different. It's basically as you said.
  • It does not profit from:
    • +5 accuracy bonus of spears/daggers etc.
    • weapons' quality bonus (+4 fine, +8 exceptional)
    • the initial attack's special accuracy bonuses (e.g. Accurate Wounding Shots' +10 ACC)
    • one handed style
    • weapon focus
  • it does profit from:
    • ​​non-weapon connected acc buffs like Stalker's Link, Devotions, Inspired Radiance and so on
    • it gets +1ACC/level - even when only doing auto-attacks

 

So basically it's your universal ACC (starting value + 3/level) + 1/level + buffs.
I didn't test fists' acc bonus with Stunning Shots (maybe that's what I'll do next...).

 

Despite the weirdness it's not that far below you initial roll because of the +1/level, especially when doing auto-attacks. The higher the weapon bonus (trough enchantment and Weapon Focus) the bigger the difference obviously, BUT since the fortitude roll that leads to stun itself only has to graze in order to apply stunned it's totally ok. The initial attack roll has to hit or crit in order to trigger the fortitude roll, so it makes sense that this roll is done with higher accary - or in other words that the stun roll is done with lower accuracy. Because of this mechanic you can say that if deflection and fortitude of an enemy are roughly the same, then a hit/crit with the initial attack roll will nearly always lead to a stun (because ACC is not that much lower and grazes also apply it).

 

I hope that shed some light. It did for me.

Edited March 11, 2018 by Boeroer

[hansvedic]

So, did a test and compared Knockdown to Stunning Shots:

• with Knockdown it's as I said: you get all the bonuses for the fortitude roll, including weapon's acc bonus. But the acc bonus of single weapon use (+12) does not apply. ALso fists' accuracy bonus does not work, but that is the case for all special attacks with fists.

   

• Stunning Shots: this seems to be very quirky and different. It's basically as you said.
  • It does not profit from:
    • +5 accuracy bonus of spears/daggers etc.
    • weapons' quality bonus (+4 fine, +8 exceptional)
    • the initial attack's special accuracy bonuses (e.g. Accurate Wounding Shots' +10 ACC)
    • one handed style
    • weapon focus
  • it does profit from:
    • ​​non-weapon connected acc buffs like Stalker's Link, Devotions, Inspired Radiance and so on
    • it gets +1ACC/level - even when only doing auto-attacks

 

So basically it's your universal ACC (starting value + 3/level) + 1/level + buffs.

I didn't test fists' acc bonus with Stunning Shots (maybe that's what I'll do next...).

 

Despite the weirdness it's not that far below you initial roll because of the +1/level, especially when doing auto-attacks. The higher the weapon bonus (trough enchantment and Weapon Focus) the bigger the difference obviously, BUT since the fortitude roll that leads to stun itself only has to graze in order to apply stunned it's totally ok. The initial attack roll has to hit or crit in order to trigger the fortitude roll, so it makes sense that this roll is done with higher accary - or in other words that the stun roll is done with lower accuracy. Because of this mechanic you can say that if deflection and fortitude of an enemy are roughly the same, then a hit/crit with the initial attack roll will nearly always lead to a stun (because ACC is not that much lower and grazes also apply it).

 

I hope that shed some light. It did for me.

Awesome. So, the human's accuracy bonus and Swift Aim's detriment would affect Stunning Shots, if I understand correctly.

 

Also, I've been thinking about doing a "Tarzan" build for awhile now. Hide Armor, fists only (except for crush immune enemies), and stunning everyone in sight.

 

 

EDIT: After some calculations and considerations, I have come to decide on sabres (end-game use of Purgatory (leg. and Helwax Molded)) as the optimal dual-wield weapon for a melee ranger. While fists are faster, and thus are better at stunning, sabres, especially with annihilation, do a good deal of damage, especially on a crit, and a melee ranger with high perception WILL crit a good deal, even on PotD. With a priest using Devotions of the Faithful (and Dire Blessing for tough fights), we will hit often, and a good portion of those hits will be converted crits in addition to when crits are scored regularly.

 

I'm also thinking about not getting Swift Aim; instead, I plan to aim for Gwisk Glas as the endgame armor. With Gauntlets of Swift Action, Two-Weapon Style, and durgan-refined armor (Gwisk Glas) and weapons (Purgatory made legendary, durgan-refined and duplicated), I can reach 0 recovery without Swift Aim and still have decent damage reduction (9).  Add on the Executioner's Hood, and I can frighten enemies and get even more accuracy when an enemy misses me (won't necessarily happen often, but still...). Get Kana to use the DR reduction invocation and Aloth to use Expose Vulnerabilities, and go to town on even relatively high slash DR enemies.

 

In addition, Weapon Focus: Ruffian allows for more flexibility in terms of weapons than Novice's Suffering. Stilettos in particular can serve as backup weapons, especially with Flick of the Wrist. Finally, Flick of the Wrist also allows for the competent use of Drawn in Spring for high-slash-dr fights.

 

Now to decide between Hearth Orlan for even more hit-to-crit conversion (but less might), and Human (for more might on average, in addition to the temporary bonus to accuracy and damage from Fighting Spirit). I'm leaning towards the Human right now, as hit-to-crit conversion will already be high, and 20 perception, 17 might is probably not as great as 20 might, 17 perception. Also need to decide between the extra accuracy of Mob Justice from siding with the Dozens and the extra crit damage of the Doemenel's talent.

 

EDIT 2: Add in Pallegina or another paladin with a Marking weapon and Coordinated Attacks... so much accuracy...

 

EDIT 3: Nvm... fists appear to be best for damage due to the fact that the base weapon damage of sabers is now 11-16 with a 20% damage boost instead of 13-19 base damage, right? Back to the Tarzan build, it seems.

Edited March 11, 2018 by hansvedic

[jintegrity]

Realize it's not that important on a build this old, but assuming no major changes to this build, Company Captain's Cap would be an upgrade to Tempered Health if you're just there for the defenses and don't care about Bloodthirst.

EDIT: Also, if for some reason you can't spare Shod-in-Faith for the Ranger, you can run Boots of Stability which greatly opens up your options for chest pieces (maybe we get to wear Vengiatta Rugia after all?).

Edited January 10, 2020 by jintegrity

[Scottlameany]

One thing that I didn't expect with this build is how long before you start to see the relevant talents/abilities of the build. I'm only level 3, chronically replaying act 1 on PotD, not worrying about other things like expert and stuff because I'm on a console and apparently solo play isn't worth xbone achievement pts. I was all sad face when my character, the hearth orlan, Maud, and her trusty boar Atchu have discovered they can't even kill the guard on top of Raedric's to get inside and don some robes to start spinning the calendar for gauntlets of accuracy, stealth boots, manipulation gloves, etc.. 

 

Since I didn't read this build was solo viable, I've been storing the story  characters at the Inn. Hopefully just recruiting them doesn't hurt my xp, I can't tell, tbh. 

 

Whew, all that said, I have been following and trying many of the OPs builds and am here to ask: are there any resources on how to get through and snag tidefall. Is it soloable by... anyone?  Thank you! 

[Boeroer]

This character is not meant for solo. The dumped RES on a melee solo character would be a major pain alone. You would get interrupted all the time. Wichts would be your worst nightmare.

The whole game isn't meant for solo play by the way. You can do it but the early game is particularly hard and you have to sneak and cheese often - especially if you have no deep understanding how most mechanics work and what a solo character needs to be successful (like not having a Resolve of 3).

Level 3 is very low for anything, even with a party. Raedrics' guards are hard to beat. However, you can sneak through the sewer gate without having to fight anyone.

You can't kill Cail the Silent early (depends on the definition of "early" but certainly never at lvl 3) with a solo character on PotD - at least not without superb expertise, tons of consumables, the right build and cheesy tactics like wild kiting. And also you'd need 10 mechanics to find Tidefall in the first place - and most solo chars don't put all their skill points into mechanics right away (you could come back after a retrain though).

This build was used as an off-tank and melee damage dealer in a party and it fit that role quite nicely. Mostly because combined Animal Companion's damage + Tidefall damage are pretty great against single targets and the AC takes off some heat of the ranger.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Boeroer

[Scottlameany]

Thank you for replying and clarifying thr limitations, and (begin: defensive posture) I feel like I have sampled some early potd cheese platters (sending Callista in naked to fight Odema, waiting by wolves as Odema stares at you and is bitten to death--the shenanigans in the bear cave with a low level wizard solo, beetles to Maerwald, trolls to the shipment, foes staying on weird parts of the maps when you leave--whew!! End: defensive posture)

Basically, everything I learned and enjoyed and said, 'man, I gotta try this' has been due to people like you, so thanks for setting me straight on this build and replying to my monk questions and thanks for everything. Its awesome to still get tips here for a game that's kinda abandoned. The worst blow for me on this is realizing this only after loving the game, getting it cheap, only to learn stuff like the extra vendor in the compass isn't available to console players. 

I may have to re-spec her out  as a standard potd ranger with whatever dumps are necessary for wounding and uncomplicated bow play and lots of running from my dead boar. I didn't expect to like her this much running alongside the boar. It's adorable.