suggestions for hr newbie

jojo

hi, i want to get some loadouts for my hr on the upcoming black friday event. i've only been using a pf trapper loadout yet but i heard that combat got a nice boost with the changes to piercing dmg. i'm absolutely clueless about combat or archer builds though. so i'd greatly appreciate some suggestions for a single target and an aoe loadout.

rjc9000

Protip: Don't pick Archer unless you enjoy masochism, constantly running away, and jokes about the "usefulness" of Archer.

Other than that, Trapper and Combat do decently well enough in both singletarget and AoE that you can practically interchange them.

I hear Combat HR shines more at endgame due to having better burst DPS potential (in a metagame where the goal is to kill a boss in a few seconds), in addition to endgame HRs having the gear needed to make up for losing Crit out of Skirmisher's Gambit.

jojo

so since i already have a pf trapper loadout. should i go for a sw combat loadout for aoe and a pf combat loadout for single target? could you advise any builds/ guides?

wizardlvl80

I would suggest PF Combat. Forget SW. Why? Because SW doesn't offer anything good now except for Throw Caution/STS. Pathfinder gives you Careful Attack which will proc weapon enchantments soon (massive boost to dps) and is great damage tool for bosses. You also get a good daily in form of Slashers Mark. Since nerf to Bladestorm, SW build is far more less popular.

I can confirm what @rjc9000 said - combat is really better one for DPS in endgame. Trapper is more dynamic to play but now with mod12b changes and fix to Feytouched enchantment I think Combat will be far more better (now they're kind of on par with each other).

If you want to go for a buffing loadout. I would suggest getting trapper/archery hybrid and experiment with Thorn Ward, Commanding Shot, Longstriders, Aimed Shot, Aspect of the Falcon, Biding Arrow etc. We can buff really good with our powers. The minus of our buffing is that our best buff (Longstriders) is distance related and new content (especially boss fights) penalises our for keeping the distance, or it's really hard to do so.

- Drufi constant moving makes LS hard to land
- Dragon Turtle aoe attacks make it hard to use LS
- MSP 2nd boss fight platform is to small to use LS
- Orcus (tong) fight kind of requires people to stay near him
- Withers in TONG also requires to stay close
- Ras Nsi platform is way to risky to try LS shot, you can easily fall down and you waste too much time for positioning.

jojo

@wizardlvl80#5963 which atwill should i use for aoe as a pf combat? can split strike keep up with the dmg of clear the ground?

wizardlvl80

I would say go Split Strike all the way (of course with artifact boost). CtG is cool because of 360 range and the bad thing about SS is that you have to aim it but it's quick to proc and it also gives you stamina. Also, if you go Pathfinder, then SS is our only viable option.

jojo

tyvm @rjc9000 @wizardlvl80#5963 can't wait to experiment with new rotations now ^-^