Georgiahusker
Member
I have a question about your experience with inquisitive. Would you say imbue dice or sneak attack dice are better for high endgame reaper? Any other epic strike good ? Perhaps shadowdancer’s epic aoe strike ?
Analysis of the Elven Ranger
- Thread starter Marshal_Lannes
- Start date
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
Because of the way inquisitive fires, I found single-target epic strikes to be lackluster. It's hard to go from a high rate of fire to switching over and pressing a single button on a target that isn't a boss. I'd go for a ranged AOE strike, although even then, I'm not sure how often you are going to want to break your machine gun shooting routine. Pre-nerfs I actually like Carrion Swarm or Orchid Blossom. Now...not a ton of sexy options.
Sneak Attack dice are better unless you are pushing mid-30s to 40 imbues. But be warned, inquisitive doesn't carry over great into high-reaper. DPS falls off noticeably. The Alchemist version was the only one I felt I'd like to stick with.
Sneak Attack dice are better unless you are pushing mid-30s to 40 imbues. But be warned, inquisitive doesn't carry over great into high-reaper. DPS falls off noticeably. The Alchemist version was the only one I felt I'd like to stick with.
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
We have a new Elf!
Since we have a new Elf race, the Eladrin, in the game I decided to roll up a new archer. I've never played a pure Dark Hunter and figured this is as good a time as any to try it out and see how it (well Deep Woods Sniper and DH) compares against Horizon Walker. I can already tell it will have far fewer defenses but let's see how it plays.
First, the racial cosmetics - Eladrin has the most customization of any race in DDO. Being the newest, that makes sense, and I'm glad the game is upping our creative choices. Eladrin allowed me to make a magical-looking Elf and, when combined with the Lotus Mail from Feywild, it's incredibly thematic. The mail even matches one of the auburn hair cosmetic leaves you can apply. That can't be by accident. Slick attention to detail. If you like making High Fantasy Elves, Eladrin is the pick for you.
The first tier of the Eladrin racial tree is excellent. It works especially well with Dark Hunter because we can trap and several of these go right to that. Everything is useful here. Nothing is Hidden is one of the best QoL skills a trapper can have in the game. Keen Senses gives us the trifecta of skills bumps (and also 3 DCs if one were going Horizon Walker). Arcane Fluidity, not useful for us here but certainly for some builds. Fey Step Autumn is really good for a Dark Hunter. Like really, really good. What does it do? You phase forward then have 3d6 Sneak Attack dice - plus one every 3 character levels! That is incredible. Step Through the Fade increases our usage so we have 5 Fey Steps between rests. That's five times you can pretty much wipe out a room.
Elves like Wolves, right?
I'm not sure how well wolves pair with Elves (I don't think there are any wolves in the Feywild), but we get one. I have a base wolf (I'm level 5 now) and one druid past life. I have the two L5 pet items equipped (Fangs of the Wild Hunt and the pet armor). The wolf is surprisingly useful. It usually survives in R1, it will get killed in instances like Home of Memory when there is a drop-down to the water fountain and scorpions swarm it. But generally, it stayed alive. It also died in Irestone. Other than that though it could take hits, even standing up to Reapers before I killed them. It doesn't get many kills, we are talking under 5 each quest, but it does allow you to get sneak attacks from time to time.
The low-hanging SA die from DWS and DH make this a decent (for a bow) leveling build from 3 to 5. I didn't feel any quest pushing back. Quests like Irestone and Where There's Smoke were glorious fun. Various terrain heights and mobs that don't require being near them to be "triggered" allow for shooting across the map. I am so bummed DDO doesn't design quests like this anymore. It almost feels like you're an archer in a tactical RPG. I'm also really beefy for an Elf, I have 304 HPs in R1 at level 5.
Since we have a new Elf race, the Eladrin, in the game I decided to roll up a new archer. I've never played a pure Dark Hunter and figured this is as good a time as any to try it out and see how it (well Deep Woods Sniper and DH) compares against Horizon Walker. I can already tell it will have far fewer defenses but let's see how it plays.
First, the racial cosmetics - Eladrin has the most customization of any race in DDO. Being the newest, that makes sense, and I'm glad the game is upping our creative choices. Eladrin allowed me to make a magical-looking Elf and, when combined with the Lotus Mail from Feywild, it's incredibly thematic. The mail even matches one of the auburn hair cosmetic leaves you can apply. That can't be by accident. Slick attention to detail. If you like making High Fantasy Elves, Eladrin is the pick for you.
The first tier of the Eladrin racial tree is excellent. It works especially well with Dark Hunter because we can trap and several of these go right to that. Everything is useful here. Nothing is Hidden is one of the best QoL skills a trapper can have in the game. Keen Senses gives us the trifecta of skills bumps (and also 3 DCs if one were going Horizon Walker). Arcane Fluidity, not useful for us here but certainly for some builds. Fey Step Autumn is really good for a Dark Hunter. Like really, really good. What does it do? You phase forward then have 3d6 Sneak Attack dice - plus one every 3 character levels! That is incredible. Step Through the Fade increases our usage so we have 5 Fey Steps between rests. That's five times you can pretty much wipe out a room.
Elves like Wolves, right?
I'm not sure how well wolves pair with Elves (I don't think there are any wolves in the Feywild), but we get one. I have a base wolf (I'm level 5 now) and one druid past life. I have the two L5 pet items equipped (Fangs of the Wild Hunt and the pet armor). The wolf is surprisingly useful. It usually survives in R1, it will get killed in instances like Home of Memory when there is a drop-down to the water fountain and scorpions swarm it. But generally, it stayed alive. It also died in Irestone. Other than that though it could take hits, even standing up to Reapers before I killed them. It doesn't get many kills, we are talking under 5 each quest, but it does allow you to get sneak attacks from time to time.
The low-hanging SA die from DWS and DH make this a decent (for a bow) leveling build from 3 to 5. I didn't feel any quest pushing back. Quests like Irestone and Where There's Smoke were glorious fun. Various terrain heights and mobs that don't require being near them to be "triggered" allow for shooting across the map. I am so bummed DDO doesn't design quests like this anymore. It almost feels like you're an archer in a tactical RPG. I'm also really beefy for an Elf, I have 304 HPs in R1 at level 5.
Fisto Mk I
Well-known member
It's why i say all time that this ability is OP as hell, not just very good. And all i hear as answer "but but but it's only 5 times per rest", lol. ?
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
Running Frosty Reception today, I triggered Fey Step then hit Manyshot and wiped out the Shambling Mound end boss doing over 800 damage. And this is one of the few abilities that keeps scaling up since it's based on your level with no cap. I read some of the player feedback on Eladarin when it was on Lamania and many were complaining it didn't have Arcane Archer. I wonder if they even played the tree to see what it can do instead of what it can't.
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
Devastating Shot
We should take a few minutes to talk about Devastating Shot. It's good. Very good. Maybe great. Far superior to Scattershot from the Horizon Walker tree. Scattershot is tied to Manyshot charges and does significantly less damage than Devastating Shot. In conjunction with Unwavering Ardency, Devastating Shot is noticeably your best ability when you start using at level 14. At this point, we have also built up enough sneak attack dice that gameplay feels fantastic. We also continue to be a stout ranger with over 1000 HPs at Level 15. I can recall that when I started my journey as an Elven ranger I didn't have 1000 HPs at level 20 going into Epics. Have I underrated the Deepwoods Sniper tree?
Synergy isn't perfect between Dark Hunter and DWS - for example, DH wants you in Medium Armor and DWS wants you in light armor. The mass effect is that we lose evasion from regular ranger and don't get the benefits of Medium armor trap saves from DH since we are in light armor. And while I could wear medium armor, the DWS HP boosts are tied to light armor and the Wallwatch Sharn set only has light and cloth armor options. Not using Wallwatch for L15-20 so you can be in Medium armor isn't much of a choice. Effectively this means we won't get evasion until we pick it up from Shadowdancer in Epics. Honestly, this hasn't been a big deal, but it is something to be aware of.
The other loss I feel is no Misty Step. Misty Step is an incredible defensive boost. Feystep can function as a mini-Misty step in a pinch but it's tied to charges and really more for DPS. That said, tier 5 of DWS is great, you want everything, even if it is an old tree so everything costs 2 APs instead of 1.
There are significant differences, noticeable that will be apparent when playing between a Horizon Walker-based character and a DWS-based character. Part of the reason for using Rogue levels with HW was to get sneak dice. Dark Hunter solves this with pure ranger.
We should take a few minutes to talk about Devastating Shot. It's good. Very good. Maybe great. Far superior to Scattershot from the Horizon Walker tree. Scattershot is tied to Manyshot charges and does significantly less damage than Devastating Shot. In conjunction with Unwavering Ardency, Devastating Shot is noticeably your best ability when you start using at level 14. At this point, we have also built up enough sneak attack dice that gameplay feels fantastic. We also continue to be a stout ranger with over 1000 HPs at Level 15. I can recall that when I started my journey as an Elven ranger I didn't have 1000 HPs at level 20 going into Epics. Have I underrated the Deepwoods Sniper tree?
Synergy isn't perfect between Dark Hunter and DWS - for example, DH wants you in Medium Armor and DWS wants you in light armor. The mass effect is that we lose evasion from regular ranger and don't get the benefits of Medium armor trap saves from DH since we are in light armor. And while I could wear medium armor, the DWS HP boosts are tied to light armor and the Wallwatch Sharn set only has light and cloth armor options. Not using Wallwatch for L15-20 so you can be in Medium armor isn't much of a choice. Effectively this means we won't get evasion until we pick it up from Shadowdancer in Epics. Honestly, this hasn't been a big deal, but it is something to be aware of.
The other loss I feel is no Misty Step. Misty Step is an incredible defensive boost. Feystep can function as a mini-Misty step in a pinch but it's tied to charges and really more for DPS. That said, tier 5 of DWS is great, you want everything, even if it is an old tree so everything costs 2 APs instead of 1.
There are significant differences, noticeable that will be apparent when playing between a Horizon Walker-based character and a DWS-based character. Part of the reason for using Rogue levels with HW was to get sneak dice. Dark Hunter solves this with pure ranger.
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
Epic Destiny Implications of Dark Hunter
One of the debates I, and maybe you, have internally is whether or not Horizon Walker is too good to give up by going Dark Hunter. Now into Epics, I've noticed some rather large strategic benefits you gain by going DH; mainly because you get another offensive destiny tree.
Horizon Walker, when taken as a 11+ Rogue MC, means you have zero healing in heroics. Scrolls aren't viable heals in 2024 so let's not go there. That means you need to take the Primal tree and get Cocoon and invest in Reborn in Fire. With Dark Hunter, since I have my critical heal flask, I can Shadowdancer, Shiradi, and Fatesinger. Most archers are going to take SD and Shiradi, so it comes down to Fatesinger vs Primal and Fatesinger comes out far ahead because Pluck the Strings becomes our primary Epic Strike. Pure Ranger also has a healing via spell but it doesn't have the SA dice or trapping that Dark Hunter gives without MCing.
Why is Pluck the Strings the Epic Strike you want to use? It functions as an instakill, at least it has from L20 to 24. You also have a dazzling array of attacks now that are all really good. Hunt's End isn't an Epic Strike, so both it can (HE is doing 8k-12K for me at L23) delete mobs and so can Pluck the String. We have two AOE attacks, Arrow of Discord (also not an ES) and Devastating Shot. And we have Manyshot still! I don't even miss the loss of 2 MS charges from HW because I'm not reliant on MS with this arsenal. These arrows in my bag are so good I don't even use Sniper Shot anymore. If I'm serious about pushing DPS and using Fey Step, or coming out of invisibility, or hitting haste boost the damage output can be quite devastating.
Pluck the String opens up all of this. Primarily because it is both effective and has synergy with our other attacks. Too often I've found that EDs have conflicting Epic Strikes that builds would like to use in different trees. We have no such constraints here. How this will work in Legendary Reaper remains to be seen but during leveling in Epics, the combination is loads of fun.
One of the debates I, and maybe you, have internally is whether or not Horizon Walker is too good to give up by going Dark Hunter. Now into Epics, I've noticed some rather large strategic benefits you gain by going DH; mainly because you get another offensive destiny tree.
Horizon Walker, when taken as a 11+ Rogue MC, means you have zero healing in heroics. Scrolls aren't viable heals in 2024 so let's not go there. That means you need to take the Primal tree and get Cocoon and invest in Reborn in Fire. With Dark Hunter, since I have my critical heal flask, I can Shadowdancer, Shiradi, and Fatesinger. Most archers are going to take SD and Shiradi, so it comes down to Fatesinger vs Primal and Fatesinger comes out far ahead because Pluck the Strings becomes our primary Epic Strike. Pure Ranger also has a healing via spell but it doesn't have the SA dice or trapping that Dark Hunter gives without MCing.
Why is Pluck the Strings the Epic Strike you want to use? It functions as an instakill, at least it has from L20 to 24. You also have a dazzling array of attacks now that are all really good. Hunt's End isn't an Epic Strike, so both it can (HE is doing 8k-12K for me at L23) delete mobs and so can Pluck the String. We have two AOE attacks, Arrow of Discord (also not an ES) and Devastating Shot. And we have Manyshot still! I don't even miss the loss of 2 MS charges from HW because I'm not reliant on MS with this arsenal. These arrows in my bag are so good I don't even use Sniper Shot anymore. If I'm serious about pushing DPS and using Fey Step, or coming out of invisibility, or hitting haste boost the damage output can be quite devastating.
Pluck the String opens up all of this. Primarily because it is both effective and has synergy with our other attacks. Too often I've found that EDs have conflicting Epic Strikes that builds would like to use in different trees. We have no such constraints here. How this will work in Legendary Reaper remains to be seen but during leveling in Epics, the combination is loads of fun.
Spook
Ghostly Troll
Depends what content you run - speed running R10 sure OP due to high uptime. Hour long push raids is meh due to low uptime - this is why these sorts of abilities need to recharge so can be balanced across all content.
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
Inferno Shot and Low Levels
I'm in the process of putting together an AOE-heavy Horizon Walker build. We will eventually end up 11 Rogue/6 Ranger/3 Paladin. It's worthwhile to lay down some choices at low levels that will make playing a longbow enjoyable. The key is Inferno Shot from T2 of the Arcane Archer tree. IS wipes out the groups of kobalds you'll be facing in much of this content making leveling far more fluid and fun.
We start out Rogue (Wood Elf) for the skill points taking Point Blank Shot as the standard choice for ranged builds. Then are going...
2-3 Ranger - we want to unlock T2 in AA asap for Inferno shot so our next two levels are in ranger. Level 3 feat is Precision. Precision melts low-level Reapers.
4 Rogue - Grabbing evasion.
5-8 Ranger - Making a beeline to Manyshot/Scattershot. If you've been following, Scattershot isn't nearly as good as Devastating Shot, but for this build, we are going HW and getting Exalted Shot from Paladin to try so we won't have Devastating Shot.
9 Paladin - Brings our BAB up to 8 for IC Ranged.
10 Rogue - Polish up our Disable skill
11-12 Paladin - Getting up to T3 in KotC.
13+ Rogue - Sneak attack die.
Levels 3 through 6 feel rather nice. IS removes most of the problems longbows had, needing to pew pew each kobald or spider you see. Not anymore. For imbues, we are taking Paladin because it will have a better imbue in Legendary since it's not spellpower based. However, for the moment our spellpower imbues from AA are quite good. I take acid then fire but this can be altered to whatever named spellpower item you want to wear.
APs are going to be tight, as always in these ranger splits, I'm going up in HW because its a great DPS tree, and then we will be going up through Knight of the Chalice to get Exalted Shot. An interesting thought experiment is a variation here that doesn't use HW or Rogue and goes 14 Paladin and 6 Ranger. This would use Holy Sword and Devastating shot. More HPs, less dodge. Saving throws might be a wash. We lose our trapping abilities though and have no evasion until epics. This could be a Medium armor-wearing archer since DWS wants us in medium armor. Might even have points to get the Sacred Defense stance.
I'm in the process of putting together an AOE-heavy Horizon Walker build. We will eventually end up 11 Rogue/6 Ranger/3 Paladin. It's worthwhile to lay down some choices at low levels that will make playing a longbow enjoyable. The key is Inferno Shot from T2 of the Arcane Archer tree. IS wipes out the groups of kobalds you'll be facing in much of this content making leveling far more fluid and fun.
We start out Rogue (Wood Elf) for the skill points taking Point Blank Shot as the standard choice for ranged builds. Then are going...
2-3 Ranger - we want to unlock T2 in AA asap for Inferno shot so our next two levels are in ranger. Level 3 feat is Precision. Precision melts low-level Reapers.
4 Rogue - Grabbing evasion.
5-8 Ranger - Making a beeline to Manyshot/Scattershot. If you've been following, Scattershot isn't nearly as good as Devastating Shot, but for this build, we are going HW and getting Exalted Shot from Paladin to try so we won't have Devastating Shot.
9 Paladin - Brings our BAB up to 8 for IC Ranged.
10 Rogue - Polish up our Disable skill
11-12 Paladin - Getting up to T3 in KotC.
13+ Rogue - Sneak attack die.
Levels 3 through 6 feel rather nice. IS removes most of the problems longbows had, needing to pew pew each kobald or spider you see. Not anymore. For imbues, we are taking Paladin because it will have a better imbue in Legendary since it's not spellpower based. However, for the moment our spellpower imbues from AA are quite good. I take acid then fire but this can be altered to whatever named spellpower item you want to wear.
APs are going to be tight, as always in these ranger splits, I'm going up in HW because its a great DPS tree, and then we will be going up through Knight of the Chalice to get Exalted Shot. An interesting thought experiment is a variation here that doesn't use HW or Rogue and goes 14 Paladin and 6 Ranger. This would use Holy Sword and Devastating shot. More HPs, less dodge. Saving throws might be a wash. We lose our trapping abilities though and have no evasion until epics. This could be a Medium armor-wearing archer since DWS wants us in medium armor. Might even have points to get the Sacred Defense stance.
Oliphant
Well-known member
Wondering if Zeal would be better than Holy Sword for the 14 Paladin. Can you take full advantage of Holy Sword +1 Competence Bonus to Critical Threat Range and Critical Damage Multiplier? I guess that's the idea of no HW or rogue. Is that better than getting it from trees for 1 AP and getting 10% DS from Zeal?
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
I'd have to AI the math - Holy Sword would only be giving +1 critical threat range since in this scenario we'd be going T5 in DWS and Heavy Draw gives us the critical multiplier. Zeal could end up being better.
svenofnein
Well-known member
Been enjoying the write up this morning over coffee - thought the link would be like from last 2022 or something, was surprised to see it go back to 2016 - ha.
What would be your go to leveling ranger build today, R1-R4 range, only farming reaper points for a bit at cap then back on the TR train? Longbow would be my preferred build; however, read way too much about how awful it was to level so decided to build up some lives first (and get some experience). I'm about a year back in and just finished my 20th life - time to run a longbow. Thanks in advance for any suggestion.
What would be your go to leveling ranger build today, R1-R4 range, only farming reaper points for a bit at cap then back on the TR train? Longbow would be my preferred build; however, read way too much about how awful it was to level so decided to build up some lives first (and get some experience). I'm about a year back in and just finished my 20th life - time to run a longbow. Thanks in advance for any suggestion.
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
Glad you enjoyed the journey. I did completionist on bows with this build so you can look back over the original thread and browse some of the non-longbow versions. If you want to go longbow I'd say either 20 Dark Hunter, going T5 in Deep Woods Stalker, or a version of what I'm doing now which is 11 Rogue/6 Ranger/2 Paladin. A common variation of that is 12 Rogue/6 Ranger/2 Warlock. If you're farming reaper points I assume you are running R10s at cap. In that case, sneak attack is far more important than imbues and I've found Horizon Walker has so much more defensive bonuses from dodge and misty step.
The post above goes into detail with Inferno Shot which you should use early levels. You'll hit a wall in Feywild, it's like hitting a heavy bag. IoD is also going to resist you if you are doing it solo. Mobs rush you relentlessly and Inferno Shot is no longer up to the task in stopping them. If you have a Spectral Bow or Cheap Shot then things pick up again 8-12. After that, the best of Horizon Walker or Deep Woods Stalker is kicking in. If you have Unwavering Ardency, devastating shot is remarkable. Leveling in Epics you will often be dominating. Fairly common for me to lead non-sorcerer kill counts all the way up to Legendary. Make sure you do some explorer zones where the mobs don't have to be up on you to activate (Orchard, Ravenloft, Feywild for instance over Saltmarsh or IoD). DDO almost becomes a hunting simulation as you can snipe mobs from across the map. It's incredible fun.
As for being awful to level, it depends what your goal is. Are you trying to get through a life as fast as possible or do you want to play and enjoy the class? I've never felt longbow was awful, I have felt at times, when you can't get a group that some content is annoying (Dread, Feywild) but those are small parts of the journey to Legendary and in my opinion bow gives you plenty of highlights.
The post above goes into detail with Inferno Shot which you should use early levels. You'll hit a wall in Feywild, it's like hitting a heavy bag. IoD is also going to resist you if you are doing it solo. Mobs rush you relentlessly and Inferno Shot is no longer up to the task in stopping them. If you have a Spectral Bow or Cheap Shot then things pick up again 8-12. After that, the best of Horizon Walker or Deep Woods Stalker is kicking in. If you have Unwavering Ardency, devastating shot is remarkable. Leveling in Epics you will often be dominating. Fairly common for me to lead non-sorcerer kill counts all the way up to Legendary. Make sure you do some explorer zones where the mobs don't have to be up on you to activate (Orchard, Ravenloft, Feywild for instance over Saltmarsh or IoD). DDO almost becomes a hunting simulation as you can snipe mobs from across the map. It's incredible fun.
As for being awful to level, it depends what your goal is. Are you trying to get through a life as fast as possible or do you want to play and enjoy the class? I've never felt longbow was awful, I have felt at times, when you can't get a group that some content is annoying (Dread, Feywild) but those are small parts of the journey to Legendary and in my opinion bow gives you plenty of highlights.
I like your post. But I gotta say, bow are in a HORRIBLE spot right now, is not even funny. they lack doubleshot range power sources and have one of the worst attack speeds of any range physical type of weapon. is just not good enough. best bow builds don't focus at all in imbues or SA. You get what you can, but your focus should be in active skills critical threat and damage multiplier range power and doubleshot. and even then its lag behind crossbows, shurikens and throwing daggers... bows need some love fast
svenofnein
Well-known member
Re-read again this morning and tried to work everything into a build -
What are you working toward with the 3 levels of Pally? Divine Sacrifice attack?
Have you looked at the monk revamp and any thoughts on whether it leans toward making a decent bow build or not? Probably need to give them 6 months to actually get it working right first I guess.
Cheers.
Deamon81
Well-known member
Thats what Horizon Walker build did. High crits up to 100k at endgame
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
3 Paladin is for Exalted Smite, +2 to hit and an imbue die. I have not looked at the changes in the new monk in relation to archery. I've run several monk and cloth armor builds, but don't find monk better than rogue considering you lose sneak attack die and trapping. If something has been added that is worth that trade off it certainly bears looking at.
Longbow Horizon Walker is a high ceiling build that can be outstanding in high-reaper legendary groups and raids. Not everyone can bring it out or is willing to put in the practice. It's not a beginning build to get the most out of it, which as you point out, can reach some soaring heights. New feats like Patience and Trick Shot give Longbow serious Alpha strike. And while Hunt's End doesn't deliver the S tier hits it used to combos, not being epic strike means you have two heavy damage strikes plus at least 3 AOE attacks. Now factor in all the CC you're doing with Salt on your bow and the myriad of debilitating effects Shiradi lays down.
Deamon81
Well-known member
Well yes the Horizon Walker is not an easy build and we tried different ways. My First was 17Rog/3Rng and and you can see very high crits all around and with 5 Manyshots (+1 via Filligees) it works very good. Destiny is a mix of Shiradi/Showdancer and Leg Dreadnought
A friend tries a bit more mixed, so he uses 11Rng/9Rog which was a bit more effective
Marshal_Lannes
Well-known member
DDO Teaches Players Bad Kiting Habits
Some thoughts on ranged combat and how DDO, in a way, trains people to play ranged combat poorly. Everyone has been in a raid or legendary reaper quest where a ranged character is kiting mobs all over before someone in the group tells them, nicely or otherwise, to stop kiting. Did you ever wonder how that person learned to play that way? DDO taught them.
If you are playing a longbow archer in mid-level DDO quests, either solo or in a small group, the game has trained you to kite mobs because of the lack of CC bow builds have in heroics and the way mobs aggressively swarm at X2 speed, any ranged agro. Archers get plenty of CC in epics. By the time I'm running R10, if I'm not outright killing trash I can slow them down to a crawl with a myriad of debilitating status effects. Contrast this to a L9 character in Isle of Dread. You have nothing, literally nothing, to mitigate how mobs come at you. Your only recourse is to kite them. In the majority of quests you are fighting in close rooms, you can't even position yourself to shoot without moving. And that's key - because since the nerfs to Improved Precise Shot, DDO basically wants you in Archer's Focus. Archer's Focus only stacks up when you are stationary. See the issue?
By this time, your AOE attacks are only stopping the mobs if you critical on Scattershot. Inferno Shot no longer kills groups of mobs because monster HPs have progressed beyond the damage you're doing with it. With lackluster AOE at this stage, and no CC, what is an archer going to do but kite? DDO imprints this on players' muscle memory. Those bad habits that turn up later in the game have been learned because players are adapting to the tactical situation DDO has put them in. You notice crossbow users rarely have to kite because the machine gun rate of fire from crossbows and doubleshot cut down mobs before they reach the player, removing the problem with overwhelming DPS.
Some thoughts on ranged combat and how DDO, in a way, trains people to play ranged combat poorly. Everyone has been in a raid or legendary reaper quest where a ranged character is kiting mobs all over before someone in the group tells them, nicely or otherwise, to stop kiting. Did you ever wonder how that person learned to play that way? DDO taught them.
If you are playing a longbow archer in mid-level DDO quests, either solo or in a small group, the game has trained you to kite mobs because of the lack of CC bow builds have in heroics and the way mobs aggressively swarm at X2 speed, any ranged agro. Archers get plenty of CC in epics. By the time I'm running R10, if I'm not outright killing trash I can slow them down to a crawl with a myriad of debilitating status effects. Contrast this to a L9 character in Isle of Dread. You have nothing, literally nothing, to mitigate how mobs come at you. Your only recourse is to kite them. In the majority of quests you are fighting in close rooms, you can't even position yourself to shoot without moving. And that's key - because since the nerfs to Improved Precise Shot, DDO basically wants you in Archer's Focus. Archer's Focus only stacks up when you are stationary. See the issue?
By this time, your AOE attacks are only stopping the mobs if you critical on Scattershot. Inferno Shot no longer kills groups of mobs because monster HPs have progressed beyond the damage you're doing with it. With lackluster AOE at this stage, and no CC, what is an archer going to do but kite? DDO imprints this on players' muscle memory. Those bad habits that turn up later in the game have been learned because players are adapting to the tactical situation DDO has put them in. You notice crossbow users rarely have to kite because the machine gun rate of fire from crossbows and doubleshot cut down mobs before they reach the player, removing the problem with overwhelming DPS.