Maia Rua to multi or not to multi?

[Boeroer]

Sure, but that's a glitch. And there's no merit in using glitches.

 

In PoE you could cancel recovery and reload completely when switching at the right time. Even worked with melee weapons and spells. Never used that as well.

[Yenkaz]

When my MC was a mixed crowd controller and nuker I went Scout because the enemies were *always* under at least one negative effect so sneak attacks were the norm. Might go geomancer in a second game if I want for crowd control. Single-classed rangers just don't have enough stuff to justify it.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Yenkaz

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

The pro move is definitely Geomancer Maia.

 

She barely even has to take any wizard skills, she can just use grimoires to cast almost as well as Aloth while also having excellent ranged damage. If she uses Llengrath's Martial Masteries she can self-buff herself for huge potency with weapons, and if you need debuffs, she can swap in a Grimoire of Disruption for all the essentials (expose vulnerabilities, etc.) 

 

Plus, she can then bind Blightheart *as a wizard* for bonus corrosive damage to everything. 

[Yenkaz]

Plus, she can then bind Blightheart *as a wizard* for bonus corrosive damage to everything. 

 

That blasted gun sound after combat is annoying as hel though.

[Thormind]

Geomancer, Combusting Wounds + 8 Blunderbusses (Quick Switch + Arms Bearer + the Leather Armor that gives you +1 Weapon Set).

 

Driving Flight + Missiles...

 

It's good, but a ton of micro.

 

You dont really need to have the 8 blunder. Im only using an arquebus main weapon and scepter as 2nd (for slash/cruch dmg). As soon as i find a ranged 2H wpn that can do those 2 types of dmg ill trade it for the scepter. Even on POTD the game isnt hard enough for the need to micro that much. Plus as a Geo you are normally really tight on points if you want the good pet passives. For  Maia IMO the ones boosting pet dmg are mandatory since the bird can do decent dps with them.

[Boeroer]

Well, the idea is to produce 8x4=32 hits on the targets that suffer from Combusting Wounds in order to get 32 instances of CW's burn DoT going. Since CW is an AoE you don't want to pump all the pellets into one enemy (which would be overkill in most cases). Now also use Driving Flight for even more hits (best case 64).

 

Can't see how to do that with an arquebus. The bow of Frosty the Snowman might work well, too (with all those hits it produces).

 

I'm still waiting for an AI scripting option that lets you switch weapons. It's just too tedious to do it manually.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Boeroer

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

AI scripted weapon switching is in the beta patch, though it could use further development and conditionals etc.

[Boeroer]

Cool!

[Lampros]

AI scripted weapon switching is in the beta patch, though it could use further development and conditionals etc.

 

Is this live now?

[Verde]

I generally go with Scout.

Mostly for Devastating Blow and sneak attack.

But Dirty Fighting, Deep Wounds, Deathblows is nice bonus.

This.

[Ploughed Jester]

Arise! The call of the dreaded necropost beckons!

Seriously considering Geomancer here.

Sure there's ways to do a lot of micro, but specing her for arquebus with Red Hand (2 shots) and Essential Phantom seems a pretty relaxed way to wreck shop on autofire. With Aloth casting Combusting Wounds and my cipher rogue main dropping Recall Agony, the phantom can double shot away, while Maia Maybe does the same or Maybe cycles blunderbusses as Boeroer so expertly pointed out, And there's plenty of points to go around. Things like Merciless Gaze and C(r)itzal's Martial Power are the Icing on the cake and you aren't losing much dropping the final 2 tiers of Ranger.

Plus, you get a full backup caster if you want. Grimoires can do a lot on their own. Sure her base int of 10 means no extended duration or aoe size, but spare spells are spare spells and with only a few chosen spells, a good grimoire can always be put to good use.

[Porkchopsandwiches247]

Scout+Ranger with the Red Hand melts everything with very little micro. Im shocked it hasnt been mentioned yet in the thread from what I can see.

With 2 shots per reload+her reload passives, she’ll be firing that off constantly and can just erase enemies from the fight at the start.

The raw damage and constant interrupts she does in this setup simply outweighs any versatility she gets from Geomancer or pure Ranger in my opinion. And its not even like a ranged Rogue lacks utility. Arterial Strike on a melee enemy at range can obliterate them.

Edit: I didnt realize how old the thread was lol

Edited February 1, 2022 by Porkchopsandwiches247

[Viryu]

I did a full playthrough with her in my party as a Blood Mage and her being a pure Ranger. Damage output with Red Hand was satisfying, but that's it. It's good for mega bosses I guess, since that's relying on endurance, but it's just a tiny friction of game. I was honestly regretting I didn't make her a geomancer, it would have made the party more interesting. She could work as a secondary mage, or buff herserf beyond belief with wizard buffs, she'd just need proper AI setup. Extra accuracy and crits, phantoms, etc. Late game I wasn't even using those last tier Ranger skills anyway.

[Kaylon]

Ranger/rogue with the Red Hand is the most efficient build indeed. Geomancer can be fun sometimes if you like micro, but it's less effective against high level enemies.

[Boeroer]

Tbf the first posts all voted for Scout iirc. Arquebus is an obvious choice for Maia - so I think one would settle with the Red Hand quite naturally (because Dragon's Dowry is expensive as hell - too expensive to just casually buy it before you will discover the Red Hand imo). 

I mean the Red Hand is not only dealing fantastic dps compared to other arquebuses, it also negates some problems arquebus users might have with certain pierce immune vessels. 

But after all - Scout with Red Hand is also pretty boring imo. It's just shooting 24/7 with the occasional escape or Evasive Roll. But in some cases that may be exactly what you need. It's easy to set up Maia-Scout+Red Hand with custom AI. So if you want an automated party member to cut down on party micromanagement it's an ideal companion build I would say.