Sagittarius - Archer

legendarylycan

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Sagittarius

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Marksman
Level 6: Coordinated
Level 9: Shooter
Level 12: Agile
Level 15: Brilliant
Level 18: Acrobat
Level 21: Accurate

Powers:
Level 1: Strafe
Level 1: Straight Shot (Rank 2, Split the Arrow)
Level 6: Hunter's Instinct
Level 8: Storm of Arrows (Rank 2, Achilles' Heel)
Level 11: Quarry (Rank 2, Fair Game)
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Explosive Arrow (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Concentration
Level 23: Ego Surge (Nimble Mind)
Level 26: Masterful Dodge
Level 29: Fluidity (Rank 2, Flowing Like the River)
Level 32: Snap Shot (Rank 2, Finish Him)
Level 35:
Level 38:

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Acrobatics
Level 35: Chain Swinging

Specializations:
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
Dexterity: Power Swell (2/2)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Avenger: Anguish (2/2)
Avenger: Round 'em Up (3/3)
Avenger: Surprise Attack (2/2)
Avenger: Preemptive Strike (3/3)
Guardian: Make It Count (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

so, having gone through a good portion of Arrow's first season on netflix, i'm suddenly struck by the urge to make an archer (even though i won't actually be able to make it for another 4 days at best, since i still need the last 2 pieces of aurum heirloom gear and those happen to be the 100K apiece questionite ones) - using xcelsior's hunter-ranger as a base and trimming out the melee parts to replace with archery parts, i get this cobbled-together build that i put about 10 minute's work in while half-tired...i'm sure i will need to make many changes to it, particularly with some of the advantages

(yes, i named him after the latin word for archer...my imagination is super awesome)​​

flowcyto

Tweaking the base build a bit in places:

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Marksman
Level 6: Negotiator
Level 9: Quick Recovery
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Acrobat
Level 18: Coordinated
Level 21: Covert Ops Training

Powers:
Level 1: Strafe
Level 1: Straight Shot (Rank 2, Split the Arrow)
Level 6: Hunter's Instinct
Level 8: Concentration
Level 11: Quarry (Rank 2, Fair Game)
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Storm of Arrows (Rank 2, Achilles' Heel)
Level 20: Explosive Arrow (Where's the Kaboom?)
Level 23: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
Level 26: Masterful Dodge
Level 29: Parry (Rank 2)
Level 32: Sonic Arrow (Rank 2, Deadly Dissonance)
Level 35: Evasive Maneuvers (Sleight of Mind)
Level 38: Resurgence (Rank 2)

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Acrobatics
Level 35: Chain Swinging

Specializations:
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
Dexterity: Power Swell (2/2)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (2/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

4 adv points leftover for w/e.

Not too many changes here. Guardicator is prob better overall for this, though Overseer could work for Trapped if ur using Storm of Arrows often to proc the root (at the cost of some defense and offense). Avenger could still work- again if ur using SoA enough for RA, though Guardicator is more convenient overall.

Since SoA won't be up as often w/ the CDR nerf, I gave ya Sonic Arrow for another spam-able AoE, and it can also replace Snap Shot on single-targets just fine. It can also AoE stun on full-charge. You also want the WtK adv on Explosive Arrow- that's the main reason to take it (it gives the dmg of a charged power for just a tap, on a 2.5-43 sec icd).

Make It Count's bonuses are small and are in the earliest/passive layer on dmg bonuses, so I'd always avoid that spec option in Guardian. Also got rid of Fluidity- giving up the large dmgRes bonus of a normal block isn't worth a smaller dodge/avoid boost, imo.

legendarylycan

i wanted to try something besides the usual guardicator loop - that's why i had avenger; plus, with avenger's Surprise Attack and Preemptive Strike, my idea was to use Straight Shot on a tough enemy, hopefully killing it outright with a crit thanks to all the severity i should have between having dex as a superstat, Deadly Aim in the dex tree and Ruthless in guardian, plus whatever i get from gear

if i don't manage to kill my target in a single hit, i should at least take out a good chunk of health that another power can deal with, especially with Preemptive Strike kicking in at that point - at least, that's what it looks like on paper; it may not actually work that way ingame because cryptic cannot math like normal people

i also want to keep SoA at level 8, even if it has a lengthy CD; leveling without an AoE is a pain in the **** so i want one ASAP...and toggle forms never seem to add much to any build i have them in, so i shouldn't need it that early​​

flowcyto

Toggles are great, but only as you gear up and they give you much more energy and +dmg_heal. At the low levels that aren't as notable, yeah.. though I'd still have one at least by mid levels.
The Avenger thing can work, if ya dun mind the hit to Defense vs. Guardicator.

legendarylycan

well, 20 is exactly mid-level so i think that works for me...even so, i never notice that much of a damage bonus between no stacks and 8 stacks of any form; i suppose it's far more noticeable when the stat it scales off is at high levels, which would necessitate either rank 7+ mods or justice gear (or a supercharged AoPM)

i can always partially mitigate the loss of the loop by grabbing a heroic gear piece with the high defense and sticking a defense mod in it - that'll at least give me decently high offense though TBD

and a related question - at what score does ego's damage bonus start to hit DR to the point you should start focusing on other areas if it isn't a super stat?

and concerning stat mods, i was planning on going 3/2/1 dex/con/int; this a good slot configuration or would con/dex/int be better, or int/dex/con or even int/con/dex? (this is figuring without onslaught gear, which would give me extra slots to play around with)​​

flowcyto

If ya mean Ego's innate additive ranged dmg, then that soft-caps at 70. Even then, its not often worth it to get to that soft-cap for a FF build if Ego isn't SS'd. As a dps-centered FF, you'll have high passive dmg bonuses already by max lvl stat standards, so the additive bonus from non-SS'd Ego is going to give much weaker return. Also, taking points into Ego comes at the cost of putting them in ur SS"s, which boosts ur Passive, toggle (for Int SS), and give other bonuses.

Quarry + Int already should get ur Ego to/past 70 by high-level anyways, thanks to Audacity, so I wouldn't worry about that yet. I'd first worry if ur having losta energy issues at high level still.

As to stat mods: ur best stat here is Int due to Quarry and Concentration. I prob wouldn't gear much Dex outside of the +80 from PSS, Dex Mastery, and talents. How much Con ya want just depends on what sort of maxHP range you want to shoot for.

legendarylycan

well, considering i should have a somewhat high dodge and avoidance from whatever sources, i'd ideally like to aim for 7K HP once hitting level 40 and starting to gear up - more or less depending on how the build performs during leveling

so i should be looking at 3/2/1/ int/con/dex then? or maybe just leave out dex entirely until i get onslaught gear and just toss a single rank 5 dex bit in there - in which case i'd have either 4/2 int/con or 3/3 each

and speaking of onslaught gear, exactly how good are the sniper/melee ones i forgot the name of gloves? the description only says they boost ranged and melee powers, but not by how much​​

flowcyto

1 Dex primary mod should be okay. I'd just be watching out for how much ya get into crit%'s DR if ur slotting. Its easier for Dex PSS users that also gear crit rating on offensive gear to get high into that DR. If ya slot a low-rank Dex, like R4 (easy/cheap to unslot), in that last slot of primary gear and only notice ur crit% go up by like 1-1.5% (or less), then I'd prob forget about it.

legendarylycan

so basically, when deciding on something for the offensive slot, i should probably go for severity rather than crit rating? (and maybe get severity on the offensive gear itself, though 4.whatever% isn't really all that much)

EDIT: also, what kind of devices would compliment an archer (being so many have been changed lately, a lot of the formerly non-useful ones have become far more useful)?

i believe there's an archery-themed bloodmoon device (but don't quote me on that), so i'll be going after that one at the very least​​

flowcyto

I would not gear for severity rating if you choose Dex Mastery. Its added severity puts you into severity%'s DR pretty handily. Dex Mastery dps users can either double up on crit rating (though ur prob very high into crit%'s DR by then), get crit rating and bonus heal (my suggestion for those FFs that have a good self-heal power), or mix crit w/ offense (not great if ur using Ward/Guardicator or RA for lotsa offense that way; otherwise its okay). Ofc, if ya have a Depleted Uranium Core and are willing to use it on this toon, then go ahead and slot that, but I assume that's not the case.

Can't tell ya about devices much, as I rarely use them myself.

legendarylycan

probably not a good idea anymore considering quite a few devices can make or break a battle now that most have manageable cooldowns

and i did have one DUC that i got as a lucky drop from warlord two weeks ago, but i gave that to hammerfang...and it doesn't seem to do jack squat, even against targets that have resistance to decrease

well, i guess i'll end up going for bonus healing, offense and...probably CD reduction for the utility slot, unless archery powers are energy hogs​​

flowcyto

The main energy eater is prob gonna be Explosive Arrow taps. It's Archery's best power for adding dps to make it more competitive, but it is also kinda pricey to regularly rotate it in.

legendarylycan

well, power swell should help a bit with that, since i don't think i'll ever be opening with explosive arrow

anyway, here's the revised build:

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Sagittarius

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Marksman
Level 6: Negotiator
Level 9: Quick Recovery
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Acrobat
Level 18: Coordinated
Level 21: Accurate

Powers:
Level 1: Strafe
Level 1: Straight Shot (Rank 2, Split the Arrow)
Level 6: Hunter's Instinct
Level 8: Storm of Arrows (Rank 2, Achilles' Heel)
Level 11: Quarry (Rank 2, Fair Game)
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Explosive Arrow (Rank 2, Where's the Kaboom?)
Level 20: Concentration
Level 23: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
Level 26: Masterful Dodge
Level 29: Parry (Rank 2)
Level 32: Sonic Arrow (Rank 2, Deadly Dissonance)
Level 35: Evasive Maneuvers (Sleight of Mind)
Level 38: Resurgence (Rank 2)

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Acrobatics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Chain Swinging

Specializations:
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
Dexterity: Power Swell (2/2)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Avenger: Anguish (2/2)
Avenger: Round 'em Up (3/3)
Avenger: Surprise Attack (2/2)
Avenger: Preemptive Strike (3/3)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

planned gear:

Heroic Breastplate of Defense w/ 2 Con Mods & Impact Prism
Heroic Gloves of Offense w/ 1 Int Mod, 1 Dex Mod & Sentinel's Brooch (i think this is the bonus healing one)
Heroic Helmet of Utility w/ 2 Int Mods & Impact Prism​​

flowcyto

Looks pretty good overall, given the stipulations. All that's really left, imo, is again just to see how energy works out in the lvl 40 gear ya want- which is prob best to fiddle with on the PTS if ur moving mods around often in that gear.

judgeb0t

I did something very similar for Lady Valentine.

I just took Straight Shot and Storm of Arrows, and stack on Active Offensives, and "on next attack" modifiers. I found I didn't need as many "oh noes" buttons, which made the room. For energy unlock I use MSA, because I have so many cool downs, including the one on Storm of Arrows that there is always something coming off of CD.

PowerHouse   (Link to this build)

Name: Lil' Red Rider 4

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Marksman
Level 6: Negotiator
Level 9: Quick Recovery
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Acrobat
Level 18: Coordinated
Level 21: Accurate

Powers:
Level 1: Strafe
Level 1: Straight Shot (Rank 2, Split the Arrow)
Level 6: Quarry (Rank 2, Fair Game)
Level 8: Storm of Arrows (Rank 2, Achilles' Heel)
Level 11: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 14: Concentration
Level 17: Parry (Rank 2)
Level 20: Evasive Maneuvers (Sleight of Mind)
Level 23: Intensity (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
Level 29: Lock N Load (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Toxic Nanites (Rank 2)
Level 35: Sonic Device (Rank 2, Deafening Dissolution)
Level 38: Resurgence

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Heroic Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Athletics

Specializations:
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
Dexterity: Power Swell (2/2)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Avenger: Ruthless (1/2)
Avenger: Anguish (2/2)
Avenger: Round 'em Up (3/3)
Avenger: Surprise Attack (2/2)
Avenger: Offensive Expertise (2/2)
Brawler: The Glory of Battle (3/3)
Brawler: Ruthless (2/2)
Brawler: Finishing Blow (3/3)
Brawler: Offensive Expertise (2/2)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

xcelsior41

Yay, my HR build was used as inspiration