Ranger question: at-will powers

tacopewpew

So I am level 39 and I am wondering what I am going to do with the next 10 or so of my points and I was wondering if people like Electric Shot. Like does Electric Shot replace Split Shot is basically what I am asking.

I was also wondering if people think Rapid Shot is pretty much completely useless. Like why not just do a single tap on Split Shot rather than using Rapid Shot other than laziness.

Sorry if this has been discussed a thousand times before.

obsidiancran3

If you focus on shooting you put no points in Electric Shot (& regardless of build I advise no points in Hawk Eye/Shot), combat and hybrid builds can get use from Electric.

Rapid Shot is very useful, because it also has a very small cc effect that will slow enemy attacks/movement and frankly you don't always want to shoot Split because you don't always want to pull a second mob of enemies into your fight, or you want single target because you are on boss (like in Idris for eg).

elminster

I went over this really well once already in fact. Hold on, lemme track it down ...

EDIT: here you go

The first part is more in relation to Split Shot and the original topic, but the rest of it goes into good detail for ya as to the various at-wills we have available for Archery builds and why to consider them.

masterjewstar

I like es its not bad it does roughly half the damage of rapid shot at half speed but hits aoe on target 5 mobs all for the same damage in 10/20/30' per level and it has clear the ground again same thing just 15' melee range centered around you but faster than ES same at speed as rapid shot.

You can use split shot and es together alternatively better than rapid split shot it won't replace splitshot for damage but it doesn't have to.

Edit: Yeah I agree, it hits less on single target to each their own though.

I was there too and I didn't like it there either but after using it for 6 days I began to feel its worth it sometimes. The thing about preview is that it's not a reality of the game anything could have been changed at any point in time. It doesn't draw aggro because none of them care they're being hit and this is true for every build.

Clear the ground and split strike is confusing for mobs and probably some players too.

obsidiancran3

I ran ES/Split when leveling on preview (I tried everything I could on preview during playtest) and ES was pointless, whenever I wanted multi-target Split was better and Rapid is better for single target. For builds revolving around Serpent this is not necessarily true as I mentioned previously.

tacopewpew

awesome, thanks!

shadow5930

Speaking as the token Combat HR

ES is great for clear the ground. Fast, PBAoE move. It has a bit of range on it, I've been able to stand outside of red patch and still hit stuff with it too. While it may not necessarily be as strong as the other moves, it's faster. When I'm seeking proc's for my damage output, rather than relying on just the at-will, fast == superior.

I run with bladestorm and I use combat mastery. Both of which do unmitigatable damage. Add in the damage the attack itself is doing and it adds up fast. I currently have a lesser terror, however I'd probably switch to lightning.. if I had the AD. I want massive area damage and lightning fits right in with that concept.


Edit: Forgot, my backup is aimed shot. If I'm at range, then I aimed shot. if I start getting hit, I flip to melee stance and rush em. If it's a HUGE pile up on a point, I'll rush in, try to prone the healer, ME out and I'll use ES then. It helps with burning rogues out of stealth. Otherwise if I chase rogues, then it's hop + melee for AoE output.