Binding Arrow vs Constricting Arrow

wdj40 · October 2015

Some damage numbers for you all

Constricting Arrow with AotS and Agile Combatant after a stance change :
Critical 19538 + 17087x4 = 87886
Critical 18851 + 16168x4 = 83523
Critical 19810 + 18230x4 = 92730
Non-Crit 8530 + 7498x4 = 38522
Non-Crit 7541 + 7759x4 = 38577
Non-Crit 7370 + 7768x4 = 38442

Constricting Arrow without AotS or Agile Combatant, no stance change :
Critical 14833 + 13116x4 = 67297
Critical 12794 + 11801x4 = 59998
Critical 13061 + 13267x4 = 66129
Non-Crit 5231 + 5344x4 = 21376
Non-Crit 6186 + 5264x4 = 27242
Non-Crit 5400 + 5398x4 = 26992

Binding Shot with AotS and Agile Combatant after a stance change :
Critical 21053 + 16101x4 = 85457
Critical 24325 + 18923x4 = 100,017
Critical 20821 + 15716x4 = 83685
Non-Crit 7686 + 6532x4 = 33814
Non-Crit 8297 + 5737x4 = 31245
Non-Crit 7883 + 6395x4 = 33463

Binding Shot without AotS and Agile Combatant, no stance change :
Critical 12846 + 11521x4 = 58930
Critical 13049 + 12847x4 = 64437
Critical 12540 + 13612x4 = 66988
Non-Crit 5282 + 4899x4 = 24878
Non-Crit 5903 + 4737x4 = 24851
Non-Crit 5716 + 4911x4 = 25360

My personal preference is Binding Arrow... as the Oak Skin side of it gives you healing and just over 10% Damage Resist, it is also a little faster to fire off and hits more consistently, for some reason Binding Arrow seems to Crit way more for me.

Constricting Arrow is still very good though

wdj40 · October 2015

Another note, Master Trapper gives off 6 ticks worth of damage when activated instead of the usual 4

armwald · October 2015

If your control bonus is high enough does it effect the damage ie give you an extra tick

What are the numbers on the melee side of the encounter ? sorry I see they are the bottom stat

wdj40 · October 2015

armwald said:
If your control bonus is high enough does it effect the damage ie give you an extra tick

What are the numbers on the melee side of the encounter ? sorry I see they are the bottom stat

To be honest I`m not sure as I do not have a lot of Control Bonus yet... Some of my Artefacts have a little but no major numbers to test out. Thing is Control Bonus is over-written anyway when Master Trapper activates (which is every 10 seconds pretty much).

I did not test any Melee Encounters in the above numbers dude. The melee version of Binding Arrow is a buff anyway so no outgoing damage, the melee version of Constricting Arrow (Steel Breeze) does a little bit of damage but its not really used for damage purposes anyway, I think people use it mainly for the Stamina gain which is pretty decent.

With my original post I just wanted to show some numbers I had worked out so people can decide what skill they would rather use... Constricting Arrow and Binding Shot seem to do similar damage numbers... CA can hit a couple more enemies but only when they are really close to the point of origin, BA can hit 2 enemies but at a much larger distance for the same damage each.

Weirdly CA can crit on a 2nd or 3rd enemy even if the original attack did not crit. BA crits more consistently for me and hits a little harder... If you hit 2 enemies with BA they both take the same damage either crit or non-crit.

crimsonlightning · November 2015

Constricting is slower to fire and has a higher damage variance and therefore lower critical rate. From the view of a shooter it's more of a support power that'll may be more useful to a group than to a Ranger.

That's just my assessment.

alliera7311 · November 2015

CA is better than BA. I JUST put to the test. BA got some nice things about it. Fires a tad faster and isnt interrupted as much. Damage is lower however not much but then you have to consider steel brezze vs oak skin.

wdj40 · November 2015

Yeah each person has their own preference and cannot really go wrong with either CA or BA

I love Oak Skin though, just over 10% Damage resist is pretty big to a HR as DR is only usually around the 12% mark and the healing means a lot less potion usage. I did some numbers on Oak Skin in a different thread on here.

Steel Breeze is ok for damage, nothing major. I think the only reason to prefer this over Oak Skin is if you do not have Slashers Mark set as a Daily. If you have Slashers Mark and high AP and Stamina gain (mine is pretty large from reinforced rings etc) you do not really need the Stamina from Steel Breeze.

Over the course of playing I do not see any major differences in end of dungeon damage numbers using either CA or BA in the Trapper rotation.

davidagaldo · November 2015

wdj40 said:
Yeah each person has their own preference and cannot really go wrong with either CA or BA

I love Oak Skin though, just over 10% Damage resist is pretty big to a HR as DR is only usually around the 12% mark and the healing means a lot less potion usage. I did some numbers on Oak Skin in a different thread on here.

Steel Breeze is ok for damage, nothing major. I think the only reason to prefer this over Oak Skin is if you do not have Slashers Mark set as a Daily. If you have Slashers Mark and high AP and Stamina gain (mine is pretty large from reinforced rings etc) you do not really need the Stamina from Steel Breeze.

Over the course of playing I do not see any major differences in end of dungeon damage numbers using either CA or BA in the Trapper rotation.

If you want a real fast rotation, and I will use it to keep the enemy shivering, use both CA, BA, with HS. I will run this if there is another HR using FC(PvE).

wdj40 · November 2015

I could not drop Fox`s Shift personally... its just too good for a Trapper, then the free dodge from Fox`s Cunning just sweetens the deal

Also Fox`s Shift leaves you in the perfect spot 95% of the time amongst the enemies where a Hindering Strike is a perfect follow up, AoE strong root attack yes please lol, which also hits in a 360 degree circle as well, sweet as you can retreat and still hit all the enemies around you.

davidagaldo · November 2015

I don't abandon it if I am the only HR, but I play the role of filling the root/stun gaps so the enemy does not move when grouped. Besides, I am usually the strongest to weather a few hits, if I am hit.

j0kerspsycho · November 2015

I could never get into BA, felt like I was missing something in my rotation. And for dungeons seismic everything to one spot and CA + hindering and nothing moves.

Binding Arrow vs Constricting Arrow

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