I would like to get opinions on which is the best ranged build now when comparing Inquis vs Repeater vs Great Xbow for post update 66 play at difficulty R1 to R4. If it depends on leveling vs end game build, then feel free to advise on that as well. I'm not interested in Archer builds as they are too slow for my taste even with small AOE now available.
Ranged all xbow builds post Update 66
- Thread starter DDO Noob
- Start date
AbyssalMage
Well-known member
IMO Repeater will remain king at lower levels. At level 7 with Threnal X-bow Inquisitive becomes master and only gets better at separating itself from the other X-bow builds.
Great X-bow had its "15 minutes of fame" before inquisitive was released.
Great X-bow had its "15 minutes of fame" before inquisitive was released.
droid327
Well-known member
Inqui is still good for leveling, but its going to need IPS for AOE, and its much better in Heroic than Epic, since Doubleshot is more important after 20
RXB has the two multihit AOEs now, and Expanded Clip for Epic. It also suffers from Doubleshot penalty more and more as you get closer to cap, though, but with its high ROF it gets more value out of imbues and Shiradi mantle
GXB may have a niche now in Epic with AOE shots with some kinda funky build like 18 Rogue 2 Pal or 11 Rogue 5 Dlord 4 Arti, but I'll need to test it on Lama next time its open, because that might also be junk.
RXB has the two multihit AOEs now, and Expanded Clip for Epic. It also suffers from Doubleshot penalty more and more as you get closer to cap, though, but with its high ROF it gets more value out of imbues and Shiradi mantle
GXB may have a niche now in Epic with AOE shots with some kinda funky build like 18 Rogue 2 Pal or 11 Rogue 5 Dlord 4 Arti, but I'll need to test it on Lama next time its open, because that might also be junk.
Mickeymouse
Well-known member
this. til lvl15+ then inq is better even for full artis due to imbues. also.. here is a tip for anyone leveling around, without the goal of endgame, as one of these builds. go at least 6 arti. I see so many builds just going round and round with 2-4 artis.. smh.
Col Kurtz
Well-known member
Arti is prob better..but i'm trying a Bard/inquis cha to damage/w a heavy, r now... (iconic thievling for sonic imbue) if have it..I just running regular version
repeater was better at low lvl's when i did arti's, but this build started shining at lvl10 with bavarian and enhance trees starting to fill
+Bard buffs...spells n heals n fascinate, oh my
doubt it'd be too OP in epic? but it's not a total gimp
repeater was better at low lvl's when i did arti's, but this build started shining at lvl10 with bavarian and enhance trees starting to fill
+Bard buffs...spells n heals n fascinate, oh my
doubt it'd be too OP in epic? but it's not a total gimp
droid327
Well-known member
2 Arti is all thats really worthwhile in 18/2 Inqui splits, for Rune Arm use. You only have 27 points after 41 Inqui 12 Harper, and you'd probably want to spend those in whatever class you're taking 18 levels in.
You can make an argument now for /3 Arti, to get the AOE shot in BE...but if you're going up to T4 BE, thats all your extra AP, and at that point you might as well just go 20 Arti.
I'm keen to know what is significant for going at least 6 arti.
Mickeymouse
Well-known member
well.. thats just wrong. see below.
1. You get your megaburst (fussilade) at lvl 7 instead of 12. This should cut most quest times in half, need I say more?.
2. You can afford it AP wise, since all you need is 6 AP into Harper. https://ddowiki.com/page/Personal_Augmentation:_Insightful_Damage
This will lead you 1.5 levels ahead of any other lower lvl arti split throughout leveling.
So your optimal ranged build would be 6 plus levels in artifact, but go full Inquis tree? BE seems stronger now with the 2 AoE and 12 levels of arti will give Expanded Clip. Just trying to understand why Inquis is considered the better tree at later leveling and end game. Is it that you believe that extra imbue dice alone will outweigh greater rate of fire of repeaters? Do you have a rough breakdown of what your prefered xbow build?
Mickeymouse
Well-known member
Inq is arguably stronger at 15+. definitely; as in no competition at lvl 18+ due to imbues and tier 4 inq.
also, expanded clip is an endgame feat, both combat archery and Overwhelming Critical are better pick ups -- even for artis.
my opinion on endgame Inq vs arti.
Arti got better solo red named dps, HP potential, self heal, some extra group utility via spells, oh.. should mention higher prr/mmr potential, more boosts...
Inq got waaay better group DPS including red named, trash DPS, dodge potential (95% dodge every 2 min, 45% w meld), more fort bypass.
Serasam
Member
6 arti gets the intelligence to damage spell which will save 4 AP in the Harper tree. It is short duration with only 6 caster levels. I put it next to KtA on my hotbar.
Another thing to remember with any arti levels is to take Conjure Bolts on level up. Inscribing the scroll Conjure Bolts from a vendor to your spell book locks the spell in your spellbook at caster level 1. Yep, another long standing bug
Have fun!
Arti is the strongest leveling build, using repeaters, because you get fusilade early, and then you get 2 Ranged AOE attaciks one by level 6 and one at level 12 that fire per bolt you shoot, not per attack. Once you learn the AOE range its by far the best way to clear trash as a ranged character. Arti and to some degree inquis used to be about using fusilade to clear groups, and then shrine when needed. Artis now, with the new aoes, wont use all their fuislades in a quest
At end game, I have a 20 Arti shooter, using a repeater and a G-XBow. When fusilade is available you use the Gxbow, When its off timer, switch to the repeater, and you can use all your special attacks that you have, and within 1-2 seconds, Fusilade is ready again. It is not earth shattering damage. On this ship my guy has about 280 Ranged Power and 70DS, but he also only has 4 EPL and 2 Racial Pastlives. A few heroic, but not Compleionist. But built right, at Cap he has about 2600 Health in town, and if needed he could switch trees and help with the Damage Reduction Bubble enhancement. It does take a 2nd Sentient Gem weapon for the Great X bow, but your damage goes up significantly when using the Great vs the Repeater during Fusilade
At end game, I have a 20 Arti shooter, using a repeater and a G-XBow. When fusilade is available you use the Gxbow, When its off timer, switch to the repeater, and you can use all your special attacks that you have, and within 1-2 seconds, Fusilade is ready again. It is not earth shattering damage. On this ship my guy has about 280 Ranged Power and 70DS, but he also only has 4 EPL and 2 Racial Pastlives. A few heroic, but not Compleionist. But built right, at Cap he has about 2600 Health in town, and if needed he could switch trees and help with the Damage Reduction Bubble enhancement. It does take a 2nd Sentient Gem weapon for the Great X bow, but your damage goes up significantly when using the Great vs the Repeater during Fusilade
Interesting idea to switch between Repeater and Gxbow. I'll look into this. For epic destinies I imagine that you use Shiradi for its mantle. What other destinies do you use for your build and what do you use for your Epic Strike?
I have 35 points in the shiradi tree, and yes, I use the mantle.
I have 6 points in the SD tree, mostly for the threat reduction and the DD
I have 23 Points in Dreadknought, extra action boosts and damage for the most part.
For my epic strike, I use the shriadi pin, and the Dreadknought Dire Shot. With Fusilade running, the only "special attacks" i use are Huntsend and the Dire shot. When Fusilade isn't going, I have the 2 arti AOE attacks, and Pin and the Caustic Shot.
Depending on your objectives, there are probably better ED's, but with few lives, those were the ones I chose. I have a very similar build idea but it was 12/6/2 Arti/Fighter/Rogue but it was to squishy, so 20 Arti is a much better way to build, as you can get all the ranged feats you need, and still pick up the Single Weapon Fighting line for extra HP.
I wear a simple gear set up, Wallwatch, 5PC IOD, and 4 PC Winter. This is not a min/max build, the gear set i put together in about 5 minutes, and wanted something simple. I have 2 pieces of Raid gear, the Wallwatch Helm, and the Hunting Horn trinket from Skelly Raid. Both pieces could be switched out to non raid pieces without losing much.
Artificer is in a good place, both in heroic and in end game. Its not the best ranged damage out there, but if you think about the fact that soul stones do 0's of damage, then this is a good build for low life players.
I have 6 points in the SD tree, mostly for the threat reduction and the DD
I have 23 Points in Dreadknought, extra action boosts and damage for the most part.
For my epic strike, I use the shriadi pin, and the Dreadknought Dire Shot. With Fusilade running, the only "special attacks" i use are Huntsend and the Dire shot. When Fusilade isn't going, I have the 2 arti AOE attacks, and Pin and the Caustic Shot.
Depending on your objectives, there are probably better ED's, but with few lives, those were the ones I chose. I have a very similar build idea but it was 12/6/2 Arti/Fighter/Rogue but it was to squishy, so 20 Arti is a much better way to build, as you can get all the ranged feats you need, and still pick up the Single Weapon Fighting line for extra HP.
I wear a simple gear set up, Wallwatch, 5PC IOD, and 4 PC Winter. This is not a min/max build, the gear set i put together in about 5 minutes, and wanted something simple. I have 2 pieces of Raid gear, the Wallwatch Helm, and the Hunting Horn trinket from Skelly Raid. Both pieces could be switched out to non raid pieces without losing much.
Artificer is in a good place, both in heroic and in end game. Its not the best ranged damage out there, but if you think about the fact that soul stones do 0's of damage, then this is a good build for low life players.
droid327
Well-known member
Eh I think you're over valuing fusillade in low heroic content...it's mostly wasted on overkill since there's not really high mob density or tough boss mobs
And I've done 8 Harper before and it's super annoying relying on Insightful Damage with <~12 min duration, it'll always expire mid quest and you won't realize it till you notice your damage sucks
Plus those main class levels are usually worth something too - getting Death Aura and imbue dice sooner, or SA dice from rogue, etc
You mention Death Aura, so does that mean you favour a Wizard Inquis build? Also, do you think more imbue dice or more SA dice should be prioritised?
Stoner81
Well-known member
I'd say Imbue Dice since they scale better with Ranged Power and the damage is always there from it without having to meet Sneak Attack criteria.
Stoner81.
Mickeymouse
Well-known member
Plenty of q´s with high mob density. IoD chain, deleras, P sides, J sides, every q with splitting oozes in em, TOEE 1-2, WPM, von3-4, threnal, half of the q´s in 3bc.
click one thing every now and then isn´t a strain on gameplay. not like artis got tons of buffs to juggle. also most quests are sub 6 min on low R.
I played alot of leveling builds and endgame builds and endgame builds aren´t exactly fun to level.
TavernBrawler
Well-known member
Ranged DPS is a waste of spot in end-game and would get automatically declined for high reaper quests or raids. For levelling, there is Ottos box.
You may have missed it, but I did state in my original post that I wanted opinions on xbow ranged builds for difficulty R1 to R4. However, I am genuinely curious as to why you think ranged DPS is a waste and would get declined in high reaper quests. I have never played high reaper and would be interested to hear your thoughts on why you think ranged builds are no good in groups for that difficulty.