Pure Artificer at Cap - XBow type for DPS

[Macenzie]

Sorry, this is probably going to be a dumb question, especially for people that know how Artificers work.

I have an old Warforged Artificer character, currently sitting at level 25. He's got two Ranger Past lives and a low number of ETR's if that helps to know. I want to get him to cap and do some raiding. The plan is to be ranged with buffs, rather than melee or caster. It's been about a year since I played him, he was amazing through heroics, but that slowed right up in Epics, possibly I swapped XBow types to equip whatever Epic XBow I had in the bank.

So for playing at cap, I am confused about which crossbow type I should be using for best DPS, or should I just be Inquisitive? Personally I would prefer not to be Inquisitive, I have another character I can do that on and could optimise some multiclass around it there. Or is Inquisitive the way to go for DPS even on a pure Arti?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Qrvar]

I'm not an expert on Artis at all, but I can comment that the initial slowdown in epics in normal, because to hold your own in epics you need:
- Appropriate gear, at minimum, the Borderlands set at 21 and an endgame set / sets with relevant set bonuses
- For endgame - a leveled-up minor artifact and sentient weapon with relevant sentient sets

So it's not all about the build, and 90% of heroic abilities are kind of useless vs epic ones. Hunt's End from Shiradi tends to be the 'win button' for ranged toons.

 

[magaiti]

Pure Arti are meant to use Repeating Crossbows. Make sure to take Expanded Clip (epic feat).
Great Crossbows are only good with Rogue Mechanic.
Light/heavy non-repeating crossbows are only good with Inquisitive.

 

[FaceDancer]

Heavy repeater or light repeater (I prefer light, but that's mostly a race quibble). Heavy does slightly more damage, light fires slightly faster. It's mostly just a wash... mostly...

https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Repeating_Heavy_Crossbows

 

[Macenzie]

Thanks very much, I will see how I get on with a Heavy Repeater (with expanded clip).

Thanks all for being polite, I am more of a melee person normally...

 

[Green_Draconis]

Pure Arti are meant to use Repeating Crossbows. Make sure to take Expanded Clip (epic feat).
Great Crossbows are only good with Rogue Mechanic.
Light/heavy non-repeating crossbows are only good with Inquisitive.

I’ve seen/heard non-rogue who swap to great crossbow for endless fusillade. I believe the total number of bolts per fusillade may be the same, about 40, so the knockdown and potential damage may be worth considering.