Questions about Range, PLs and other builds

[ProllyDidItWrong]

Wad'up Hivemind?

Wondering what the consensus is on which PLs are useful for ranged and inquisitive type characters?

I mainly play one of 3 builds; Stealthy Ranger/Rogue with Trap skills, Arti/Ranger/Rogue Inquisitive or Strimtoms Acid Arrow
I have: 3x Ranger, 3x Rogue, 3x Elf, 3x Halfling, 3x Shadar Kia and 3x Epic Doubleshot, Fortification and PoLaD so far.

I'm looking at Fighter and Monk and wondering if the +2 to Hit and Dam stacks with my +2 Ranged Damage from my Ranger PL?

Im starting to run out of ideas for my next life with this toon - Im not going for any completionist badges except for maybe Racial...

Could it be that my Ranged toon is finally ready for end game? Should I start a Melee slot?
Am I missing another type of ranged playstyle? Like a Monkcher? I dont know how to build one....

Thanks for reading
Sorry for rambling

 

[FuzzyDuck81]

Past lives all stack with each other so monk & fighter will definitely be beneficial. Racial past lives are great as the extra APs can open up entire new build possibilities especially for an archer character to eat up the cost of opening the arcane archer tree - at that point with the universal trees too it's far more a matter of what class features you particularly fancy adding into the mix.

 

[Mickeymouse]

all you really need is 3 ranger and 3 monk.
EPL: Doubleshot and Enchant Weapon.

rest is gravy. PDK is great for sprint boost.

 

[Bjond]

all you really need is 3 ranger and 3 monk.
EPL: Doubleshot and Enchant Weapon.

You can kinda skip ranger for thrower builds (it only helps bow & xbow). Most of the lines that include the words "ranged weapons" in them do NOT apply to thrown (kinda like when it says melee it does not include unarmed/wraps). However, there are exceptions, like Shiradi's T5 19-20 ranged weapon critical multiplier also applies to thrown. IIRC, it didn't used to work for thrown, but checked recently and now it does -- 'dunno when it was changed but the text was not updated.

However, I wouldn't skip ranger unless you're planning on leaving your thrower parked at cap. My thrower plays as INQ sub-29 and ranger helps a lot there. If I ever make a bow build, I'd probably end up doing the same sub-29 INQ leveling, but only after checking bow for leveling. I've heard it's pretty bad, but not done it myself. Thrower is unplayable bad sub-29. INQ is (imho) an absolute top performer sub-29 then immediately drops to 50% (at best) of a good thrower or bow build.

 

[droid327]

If you play Acid Arrow then you'll want Deep Gnome

Warlock/DG is also useful for MRR

 

[seph1roth5]

Best would be to go for class completionist. That will help all lives. Then maybe think about going for racial completionist for long-term, getting epics along the way.

 

[ProllyDidItWrong]

Thanks
I just TR'ed last night and planning on tacking on 10 levels of monk at the end of my 2 Art/ 8 Ranger inquisitive build. At the rate that I play this will keep me busy for another 3 months to get 3 Monk PLs. see ya then.

me

 

[Aeromach]

Wow... I can't believe someone skips over Monk class?

IMHO PRR from PDK and Divine EPLF (passive) [ie Brace +1 saves] is useful for almost any build.

 

[Bjond]

Wow... I can't believe someone skips over Monk class?

Heh, I can. It's a great class, but re-gearing to actually "play the class" on each heroic life is an absurd proposition. This is where things like INQ truly shine: carrying whatever random class you need to the TR finish line without requiring ANY re-gearing.

I just wish there was an equally nice "caster" style carry. It's pretty easy to make a melee carry and INQ has ranged covered. There's no caster carry; SSG truly shot nothing but air when they made Feydark Illusionist. It badly needs it's own spellbook.

 

[Falkor]

IMO the basic threshold for ranged that wants to get the best DPS.

Ranger x3 = +6 to ranged damage (not thrown)
Monk x3 = +3 to all damage
Rogue x3 = +3 to sneak damage
Dark Hunter x3 = +3 to sneak damage

For epic past lives
Doubleshot = +9% doubleshot + HPS
Enchant Weapon = +3 to weapon enhancement bonus + 3% energy resists

It makes sense to double up on iconic past lives while getting heroic past lives. Dead dps does zero dps, the variety of past lives that boost defenses go a long way. And its a no brainer that heroic and racial completionists give stat boosts which helps in every way.

Those are different discussions. But stacking heroic and iconic past lives is smart and effective. It's also faster to level from 15-30 than 1-2o. I don't know why more people don't do this, but whatever. Some people like making half the effort for twice the reward.

It's true that Inq makes for great heroic / racial leveling because it can be slapped onto pretty much any class split. I've done plenty, and think its also a solid option for DPS at end game. Min max'ers won't pick it, but that's a different discussion. Some people play for fun.

Being able to play the different classes is a feature and gives the chance to actually learn the class and see its strengths or not. Mixing up playstyles can make the long road to completionists far more enjoyable for some people.

And since monk was mentioned ... If someone is committed to playing RANGED, then they can easily monkcher.

All ranged is slower to level up in comparison to melee and caster and there isn't that much different between INQ and archery. Especially for people who have the past lives. I prefer to level as archer b/c there are advantages, and it's fun to one shot mobs starting from level 1.

It isn't a pain to have gear for some of the different classes. It's ridiculously easy.

If someone is running all these lives, then they have also farmed out points for a shared bank and storage alts, they've looted almost all the basic gear from feywild, ravenloft and or sharn... and if running epic lives, should have borderlands gear and perhaps epic sands and saltmarsh. Epics are easy peasy. Don't farm gear, accumulate it while playing.

Gear is only issue for horders who have to have everything, or newer players who haven't farmed the gear, or if having poor gear management skills. No plan = alot of pain and suffering.

Otherwise a core set of functional gear can easily fit in a single player inventory and bank, with room to spare. Gear isn't the issue.

 

[Stoner81]

I'm looking at Fighter and Monk and wondering if the +2 to Hit and Dam stacks with my +2 Ranged Damage from my Ranger PL?

All past lives stack with each other.

Am I missing another type of ranged playstyle? Like a Monkcher? I dont know how to build one....

Monkchers went the way of the Dodo when 10K Stars and Manyshot got changed (along with various other things), I'm not even sure it's possible to build one now(?) pity really, my Monkcher lives I did were perhaps some of the best fun I have had in DDO.

As for other lives you certainly want lives that give PRR and MRR, free Fortification is nice too. Also all the elemental absorption lives are very hand too. All of these are solid for any build though.

Stoner81.

 

[Ying]

Monkchers went the way of the Dodo when 10K Stars and Manyshot got changed (along with various other things), I'm not even sure it's possible to build one now(?) pity really, my Monkcher lives I did were perhaps some of the best fun I have had in DDO.

Prior to U66's ED revamp using a Monk 12/Ranger 6/Rogue 2 split, swapping from shuri to bow while 10k stars was on cooldown worked well -- if you wanted to gear out a second weapon with 210k sentience and rare filigree. Now it's just Monk 20 shuri all the way.

 

[Stoner81]

Now it's just Monk 20 shuri all the way.

That's not a Monkcher then is it?

Stoner81.

 

[Falkor]

To say that a monkcher build went the way of the dodo when 10k stars was nerfed is reductive reasoning and falls short of the fact that people splash monk with archery builds to this very day.

Monkcher is very much alive. Splashing a level of monk to get mastery of form for the critical multiplier is still a thing. EG, Monkcher.

Not the same iteration with the same type of power as in its glory days, just different and still viable and enjoyable. I miss the 10k stars and multishot. THAT did go the way of the dodo bird. All it did was force adaptation.

The monk splash is also a great way to boost dps for heroic leveling, even when TRing at level 20. It works better for some build approaches than others, yet still powerful and effective.

 

[ProllyDidItWrong]

Yeah gear - gulp!
I have **** for gear. I cannith crafted decent dex/range leveling gear for heroic levels @ 4 , 8 , 12, 16, but my epic and legendary gear is a mess. Im embarrassed to say it but I have ran to level 30 using 8th level slavers/cannith gear cause i haven't really put in any effort to farming or crafting better gear for those levels and i guess I have terrible luck with gear drops because I havent pulled very many good items as I leveled. I really dont like crafting in DDO - which is a shame because in SSG's other game (Lotro) crafting gear and farming mats is very relaxing... comparatively speaking. Plus I dont know how to handle needing gear for multiple stats other than separate gear for each playstyle - and I cant even get gear sorted for one style... snivel snivel
Anyway you all gave me good ideas for moving forward and so I shall... thx

 

[Falkor]

Thornlord, https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Thornlord, is the easiest bow to farm, and pretty strong for heroics. You can get it in the Sands of Menechtarun. ... and since this weapon drops from a wilderness rare ... you can craft it with bronze tokens, and you might already have enough to do this without farming. Bronze tokens drop all over the place in the sands, from mobs, in chests, in the wilderness area .. I think it's one of the easiest ingredients to get. https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Antique_Bronze_Token

Epic Thornlord, https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Epic_Thornlord, is also the best bow for Epic 20 - 29, unless you have some of the raid bows. This is because of its super critical profile. You'll have to use epic crafting, which is pretty easy if you are playing epics. You only need 50 desert sand crystals, which drop in sands quests. No tokens of the twelve required b/c it isn't a raid item. You may already have the ingredients. You can upgrade at the altar next to the tower in the twelve. https://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Crafting

If you have the ravenloft expansion, you get a free longbow at both level 10, and once you get into epics. You can use that bow at level 29. The same npc who gives you the weapons can give you a sentient weapon augment. All for free. ... https://ddowiki.com/page/Barovian_weaponry ... do this every time you get to epics to get the sentient gem. Use that sent gem in your Epic Thornlord.

This are the easiest and lowest hanging weapons to get without raiding, and just running some quests or bumping around a wilderness zone.

And when it comes to gear, crafting works fine. Plenty of people use the setup you just described. Some will use the wallwatch set from sharn from level 15 - 29. And borderlands gear is the easiest epic items for boosting your stats from lvl 21 and up. There are epic weapons you can easily get in borderlands. I think it's probably the most friendly and easiest way to get gear for epic leveling.

But it's not really much better than cannith crafting, which you already do. I'd just make a lvl 21 set and use it to cap. Except cannith crafted weapons, they cannot be turned sentient. So the epic borderlands bow, or epic thornlord, are the way to go.

All you really need for cannith crafted items ares a dex and con item, and insightful versions of those. Unless you are trapping, then toss in some Int. boom. done.

You can cannith craft some nice longbows too, just do it on a double augment weapon w some combination of red, purple or orange augment slots. You can buy weapon augments in gianthold really cheap with relics that drop in quests. I'd do this just for heroic.

When we have gear sets, its pretty common to see someone have a set at lvl 5, 10, and 15. If they have some epic gear then that gets swapped out at lvl 20 or 21. Then it's to end game and whatever is next. 5 and level 15 sets are pretty common too, just depends on how long someone stays in mid heroics and if they want to bother w gear.

 

[droid327]

To say that a monkcher build went the way of the dodo when 10k stars was nerfed is reductive reasoning and falls short of the fact that people splash monk with archery builds to this very day.

Monkcher is very much alive. Splashing a level of monk to get mastery of form for the critical multiplier is still a thing. EG, Monkcher.

Not the same iteration with the same type of power as in its glory days, just different and still viable and enjoyable. I miss the 10k stars and multishot. THAT did go the way of the dodo bird. All it did was force adaptation.

The monk splash is also a great way to boost dps for heroic leveling, even when TRing at level 20. It works better for some build approaches than others, yet still powerful and effective.

In fairness, /2 monk for stances and Evasion is not really a "monkcher". Archer builds with majority-monk levels no longer offer any great synergy, so in that respect Monkcher is indeed extinct.

You can build still build a 20 Monk archer, but it's probably going to be something like a DEX based HW/Elf AA split, in which case you're just carrying or burying the Monk levels, and not really getting anything from them.

 

[Fisto Mk I]

You can build still build a 20 Monk archer, but it's probably going to be something like a DEX based HW/Elf AA split, in which case you're just carrying or burying the Monk levels, and not really getting anything from them.

...and it anyway bу much worse than shuri-monk, so... 8)

 

[Falkor]

If you are splashing 2 monk then you don't know what you are doing, and honestly don't have much to contribute except bad opinions. You clearly do not understand the build theory that makes this work. I can understand why you think archers suck and am in full support of your never playing archers and inflicting that lack of skill upon others.

Monkcher, as a build style, is still viable ... monk + archer = Monkcher. Splashing a level of monk and some feats to get a x1 crit multipler works very well with archery, and is an obvious choice for people who want to do more damage. It's one of the most important choices to take into consideration when building an archer.

And as a framework, its pretty easy to integrate it into different classes and has some of the most variety in playstyle available in game.

The horizon walker tree is easy to integrate into any class, just like inquisitive. And makes for some really fun variety for playstyle when leveling up. It does take game knowledge, I don't think it's new player friendly. But once you get the basics down, it's got just as many options as inquisitive. For anyone who is on a racial / heroic completionist wheel, having variety is nice.

And if someone wants to invest in elven / helf AA .. then that adds some options too. It's really best to have racial completionist for this, then it's really fun. I don't really recommend this without racial AP, but hey, to each their own.

We aren't talking about shurimonk anyways ... that's a thrower, a different build, play style and conversation. It really doesn't contribute anything to this conversation when OP is asking about archery builds. Stay on target!

Different players have different play goals. Some of us are masochists who want to suffer with an archery playstyle. Stop kink shaming us!

My end-game archer can easily solo end game r6 and is typically top 3 for DPS when pug raiding. My character meets the play goals I have, I love playing him and have since before enhancements existed and AA required feats.

 

[droid327]

If you are splashing 2 monk then you don't know what you are doing, and honestly don't have much to contribute except bad opinions. You clearly do not understand the build theory that makes this work. I can understand why you think archers suck and am in full support of your never playing archers and inflicting that lack of skill upon others.

This sounds like a Rick and Morty copypasta meme lol

if /1 Monk makes you a Monkcher then there's a whole lot of Razorclaw Warlocks and melee Favored Souls out there right now