White Feather Sniper: A DPS and CC focused full time ranged pure ranger

[Garix]

In my opinion, the deepwood stalker tier 5s are the one to choose if you want consistent dps, while the arcane archer tier 5s are the one to choose if you want burst dps. The difference between them is more in the playstyle you are going for, rather than raw power. I think that playstyle choice also determines the optimal destiny – fury with AA tier 5s for max burst dps, DWS tier 5s in divine crusader or dreadnaught for consistent dps.

From a personal point of view as a (more or less) dedicated soloer: DWS + Fury covers the bases nicely. Sustained DPS during the main part of a quest with the burst from FotW for the end bosses. Will have a play with Divine Crusader once I hit 30 and ETR back down to 20 again. At the moment I'm giggling to much when I come up against a end boss and it's dead before the manyshot is up

[CThruTheEgo]

From a personal point of view as a (more or less) dedicated soloer: DWS + Fury covers the bases nicely. Sustained DPS during the main part of a quest with the burst from FotW for the end bosses.

I can understand that. I should qualify my statement by saying my opinion is based solely on endgame. I've never played a full time archer during leveling, either heroic or epic.

[jakeelala]

I have not confirmed this, but it should since the DC description states "enchantment spell bonuses." I included past life wiz, and past life bard, in the (near) max breakdown I posted in this thread.

Love your builds, I've been theory-crafting a Monk splashed version of this for Shurikens since the extra proc rate would make the CC in some ways more effective since December. Also, I'm partial to Shurikens or Hybrids and don't love pure Rangers/Full Time bows.

Definitely will steal some ideas from here to round out the build/save time!

Also, what about PK arrows instead of Paralyzing?

[Garix]

I can understand that. I should qualify my statement by saying my opinion is based solely on endgame. I've never played a full time archer during leveling, either heroic or epic.

It helps if you're a masochist

[CThruTheEgo]

Love your builds, I've been theory-crafting a Monk splashed version of this for Shurikens since the extra proc rate would make the CC in some ways more effective since December. Also, I'm partial to Shurikens or Hybrids and don't love pure Rangers/Full Time bows.

Thanks. Yeah I'm not much interested in a shuriken build, so I understand. Actually, I wasn't even interested in a full time bow user before I started contemplating this build.

Definitely will steal some ideas from here to round out the build/save time!

Good!

Also, what about PK arrows instead of Paralyzing?

My initial intention with this build was to provide CC in LE content. Terror arrows would do that by making them run away due to the fear effect, but nobody likes chasing after mobs. I'd rather they stay in place and para arrows accomplishes that perfectly.

The phantasmal killer portion of terror arrows only procs on a vorpal. You would be able to make better use of that on a shuriken build with a higher rate of attack, but I wouldn't want it on a bow user. It also requires the mob to fail 2 saves - will then fort - for the instakill to work. From asking around the forums (and my own in-game experience since then), a 72 enchantment DC should be no fail in LE, but I don't know about fort saves. Those are generally higher on most mobs anyway, so you'd want to push your DC up higher, but I don't know by how much. I have heard assassins talking about needing upper 90s or even low 100s for no fail assassinate (which is also a fort save) in LE. Plus, I honestly don't know how the DC for the PK portion of terror arrows works. Does it use the same save as the fear portion (20 + wis mod + enchantment bonuses)? Or does it have a different base DC formula? Is it boosted by illusion bonuses instead of enchantment? If that is the case, then you have another spell school to worry about building for. So overall, I don't know enough about terror arrows to speak of their viability, and they don't really fit my goals anyway.

[jakeelala]

My initial intention with this build was to provide CC in LE content. Terror arrows would do that by making them run away due to the fear effect, but nobody likes chasing after mobs. I'd rather they stay in place and para arrows accomplishes that perfectly.

The phantasmal killer portion of terror arrows only procs on a vorpal. You would be able to make better use of that on a shuriken build with a higher rate of attack, but I wouldn't want it on a bow user. It also requires the mob to fail 2 saves - will then fort - for the instakill to work. From asking around the forums (and my own in-game experience since then), a 72 enchantment DC should be no fail in LE, but I don't know about fort saves. Those are generally higher on most mobs anyway, so you'd want to push your DC up higher, but I don't know by how much. I have heard assassins talking about needing upper 90s or even low 100s for no fail assassinate (which is also a fort save) in LE. Plus, I honestly don't know how the DC for the PK portion of terror arrows works. Does it use the same save as the fear portion (20 + wis mod + enchantment bonuses)? Or does it have a different base DC formula? Is it boosted by illusion bonuses instead of enchantment? If that is the case, then you have another spell school to worry about building for. So overall, I don't know enough about terror arrows to speak of their viability, and they don't really fit my goals anyway.

Good thoughts on PK, I forgot it's a double save.

One last word on Shuriken though, you could actually have the identical build, but with 10k and about 2-2.5x the missile firing rate on a shuriken version, and with Tier 4 Monk stances for another 4 Wisdom (+2 DC). Also, all that Wisdom would make your 10k really boosty on the Ranged Power part. I totally understand if you don't like Shuriken builds much, but I'm actually thinking my current 14 Monk/6 Ranger shuri/bow hybrid I run could do this build with just some enhancement and feat changes pretty easily. I already run around with about 51 Wisdom (+14 Item and only +2 Insight so that could go up a bit). I just need to swap in SF Enchant for the Twist. I also would probably continue to run in FoTW since the DPS is so superior to any other Destiny with Slayer or Sniper Shot. Thats 3 less DC from ED, so I would be down 1 DC.

However, being able to Paralyze a line of mobs and take them all out with an Adrenaline + Active Attack is sort of really interesting. It also makes a huge difference for Red/Purple named DPS. Although, with a bow, you don't regen adrenalines as fast, so I understand the trade off is different.

In any case, cool stuff! Think I might give a respec a try!

[jakeelala]

Oh, and FoTW actually provides +2 Wisdom while raged (Acute Instincts + Primal Scream or a Rage pot) so actually the DC works out pretty evenly.

[jakeelala]

Oh and finally, I prefer Scion of Shadowfell as my legendary feat on my chucker, and would stick with that on a Shuriken version of this build. 1d6 Postive healing when you throw ~4-5 Shuriken a Second is good for about 80HP a second of healing with some pally past lives and some HAMP gear. Currently I run raids and LE content and am almost ready to slot out Cocoon as SoS provides so much consistent incoming healing. Even for a bow build you might consider it, since you won't lose any DC's. Though the Electric damage proc is nice synergy with Elemental arrows for Spell Power.

[Smashcow]

I'm thinking of TRing into this build after our chance meeting in EE devils details the other day but had a question. What's the purpose of the quicken feat? Just uninterruptable cure serious? I was thinking of swapping if for past life wizard for a little better paralyzing arrow.

[Garix]

As I was trying to figure out where I was going wrong (my Acid spellpower is under half your Electricity one the moment) and noticed this glaring, glaring error.

Your spellpower totals are way, way off what you can get.

You've listed 23 ranks for Electric and Force spell power.

Both are powered by the spellcraft feat. Cross-class for Rangers so you're limited to 11.5 (11 really).

That's a whole 2% (approx) loss of dps.

I think the sky may of fallen.

Or I may just be bored waiting for the servers to come back up.

[CThruTheEgo]

One last word on Shuriken though, you could actually have the identical build, but with 10k and about 2-2.5x the missile firing rate on a shuriken version, and with Tier 4 Monk stances for another 4 Wisdom (+2 DC). Also, all that Wisdom would make your 10k really boosty on the Ranged Power part. I totally understand if you don't like Shuriken builds much

When theorycrafting this build, the possibility of a shuriken build and its advantages did occur to me, but it just wasn't what I wanted. I was enjoying the ranged aspect on my tempest (Divine Cuisinart in my sig) and wanted to try a full time bow user as well as the ranged capstones. I am glad to see someone adapting these build concepts to fit their own goals though. If you do try it, I'd be interested to know how it works out.

I'm thinking of TRing into this build after our chance meeting in EE devils details the other day but had a question. What's the purpose of the quicken feat? Just uninterruptable cure serious? I was thinking of swapping if for past life wizard for a little better paralyzing arrow.

Yes, quicken is for cure serious and cure mod wounds. I don't twist cocoon on this build and get by just fine without it, but that does make quicken pretty much a necessity (imo) to ensure healing when I need it most.

If you wanted to twist cocoon, then you don't need quicken. Cocoon is affected by quicken but is also uninterruptible (I think) so isn't necessary. You could also drop weapon focus ranged to take past life wiz. Weapon focus only provides 2 ranged power, so it's not a huge loss.

As I was trying to figure out where I was going wrong (my Acid spellpower is under half your Electricity one the moment) and noticed this glaring, glaring error.

Your spellpower totals are way, way off what you can get.

You've listed 23 ranks for Electric and Force spell power.

Both are powered by the spellcraft feat. Cross-class for Rangers so you're limited to 11.5 (11 really).

That's a whole 2% (approx) loss of dps.

I think the sky may of fallen.

Or I may just be bored waiting for the servers to come back up.

Good catch. Thank you. When I make new builds, I often copy/paste from my other builds, particularly the template or breakdowns, to save myself some time. So these kind of errors can happen. Thanks for pointing it out.

[giftie]

Plus, I honestly don't know how the DC for the PK portion of terror arrows works. Does it use the same save as the fear portion (20 + wis mod + enchantment bonuses)? Or does it have a different base DC formula?

Guildie tested this, and came to the conclusion that the actual PK effect is a very low, static DC, most likely 36 like the weapon effect.

[CThruTheEgo]

Guildie tested this, and came to the conclusion that the actual PK effect is a very low, static DC, most likely 36 like the weapon effect.

Do you know if that testing was done after the revamp? If before, it might require testing again since the DCs of the other abilities got a change. If after, well, that's pretty weak.

[giftie]

Do you know if that testing was done after the revamp? If before, it might require testing again since the DCs of the other abilities got a change. If after, well, that's pretty weak.

Yes, this was yesterday.

[Arlathen]

Paralysing Arrow DC

Just thought I'd put this down as a helpful reference - I've personally worked on getting to a DC74 Paralysing Arrow on my Tempest/DWS/AA Versatility build. I'm still working out the kinks hence no thread, but thought you might find this useful:

Wisdom
18 Base
07 Level Ups
07 Tome
02 Enhancement
15 Item: Enhancement (Random Loot)
07 Item: Insight (LegGS Tier 2 on Bow)
02 Item: Exceptional (LegGS Tier 3 on Bow)
02 Item: Quality (Epic Halcyonia)
02 Item: Spooky Augment
02 Yugoloth Potion
06 Destiny (My build uses Divine Crusader full time)
04 Guild & Remnant Potion
= 74 Wisdom
= +32 Mod

DC Calculation
20 Base
32 Wisdom
01 Terror Arrows
01 Paralyzing Arrows
01 Banishment Arrows
01 Smiting Arrows
01 Feat - SF: Enchantment
01 Feat - GSF: Enchantment
02 Feat - Scion of Air
03 ED: Enchantment Specialist
06 Item: Equipment - Legendary Brazenband Ring or Random Loot
02 Item: Insight - Leathers of the Celestial Sage or Random Loot
02 Item: Augment
01 Guild: Archwizard
Total DC = 74

Things I wish I could have but can't fit in....

Wisdom
04 Great Wisdom Feats - No way I can sacrifice Epic Feat slots for these!
05 Wisdom Twists - Not a chance of fitting these in!
02 Acute Instincts - This is really a stretch to take this.. +1 Wisdom over a standard Wisdom twist and will need to keep Rage pots handy...

DC
02 Feat - Scion of Feywild - My own build theme dictates Scion of Air
01 Feat - Epic Spell Focus - Ranger's don't qualify for level 6 spells, so can't take this...
02 Item: Quality - Epic Increased Potential - Can't juggle an Orb and a Bow at the same time!
01 Item: Quality - Gauntlets of the Arcane Soldier - Just can't fit this into a reasonable gear setup, with the other mods it has
01 Item: Profane - Thunderforged Armour is in the bank in preference of Leathers of Celestial Sage

But if you went absolutely nuts, hair-brained, no-holds-barred max DC.... could potentially hit DC83 Paralysing Arrows ?(and have a Will save worth a **** on a Ranger )

[CThruTheEgo]

Paralysing Arrow DC

Good resource. You've got a few sources I didn't consider in my breakdown here. Just as a fun thought experiment, let's see what absolute maximum would be.

Wisdom
18 Base
07 Level Ups
07 Tome
04 Enhancement
01 Human versatility wisdom
02 Feat: Completionist
15 Item: Enhancement (Random Loot)
07 Item: Insight (LegGS Tier 2 on Bow)
02 Item: Exceptional (LegGS Tier 3 on Bow)
02 Item: Quality (Epic Halcyonia)
02 Item: Spooky Augment
02 Item: Profane (Epic Litany of the Dead)
02 Yugoloth Potion
06 Destiny (Exalted Angel)
02 Guild
02 Remnant Potion
02 Twist of Fate: Acute Instincts
01 Twist of Fate: Shiradi Champion wisdom
01 Twist of Fate: Primal Avatar wisdom
01 Twist of Fate: Grandmaster of Flowers wisdom
04 Great Wisdom Feats
= 90 Wisdom
= +40 Mod

DC Calculation
20 Base
40 Wisdom
01 Terror Arrows
01 Paralyzing Arrows
01 Banishment Arrows
01 Smiting Arrows
01 Feat - SF: Enchantment
01 Feat - GSF: Enchantment
04 Feat - Scion of the Feywild
01 Feat - Past life: Arcane Initiate (wizard)
01 Feat - Past life: Bardic Dilettante (bard)
03 Twist of Fate: Enchantment Specialist
03 Transcendental Magic - Exalted Angel core 5
06 Item: Equipment - Legendary Brazenband Ring or Random Loot
02 Item: Insight - Random Loot
01 Item: Profane - Thunderforged Armour
02 Item: Augment
01 Item: Quality - Gauntlets of the Arcane Soldier
01 Guild: Archwizard
Total DC = 91
01 Angelic Form +2 wisdom, 2 min duration, 5 min cooldown
Total DC = 92 for 2 out of every 5 minutes

Definitely a non-optimal build, gimped in so many ways, but that appears to be max.

[giftie]

02 Twist of Fate: Acute Instincts
01 Twist of Fate: Shiradi Champion wisdom
01 Twist of Fate: Primal Avatar wisdom
01 Twist of Fate: Grandmaster of Flowers wisdom
01 Twist of Fate: Exalted Angel wisdom

03 ED: Enchantment Specialist

6 twists?

Does Transcendental Magic count toward Paralyzing Arrows DC?

[CThruTheEgo]

6 twists?

Doh! Good catch. Dropped the exalted angel wisdom twist and picked up human versatility wisdom to keep an even 90 wis. Had to drop elf enchantment lore to do this.

Does Transcendental Magic count toward Paralyzing Arrows DC?

I would assume so. Changed the ED to exalted angel and max DC appears to be 91.

[Arlathen]

I would assume so. Changed the ED to exalted angel and max DC appears to be 91.

A Ranger with wings.

Somewhere, a Favoured Soul just turned over in its grave.

The thought of it...

[Nightmanis]

Doh! Good catch. Dropped the exalted angel wisdom twist and picked up human versatility wisdom to keep an even 90 wis. Had to drop elf enchantment lore to do this.



I would assume so. Changed the ED to exalted angel and max DC appears to be 91.

Looking at the wiki, apparently angel form also gives +2 wisdom.