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Swift Fire Pure Archery Build - A Complete and Up-to-Date Build for Mod 15
DISCONTINUED: The Swift Fire Pure Archery Build is out of date due to the dramatic class changes that occurred in Mod 16. Please see my latest archery build at http://bit.ly/YarrowsUtterlyArchery.
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In regards to this guide, I can offer some feedback on rotations I find useful. I find for boss dps: cordon of arrows (procs prey), rain of arrows (procs the 3 x damage buff), then commanding shot for the power hitter. Sprinkle in distracting shot to proc the mount buffs, artifact power, and aimed shot to lessen the recharge time.
Tiamat swap out commanding shot for split the sky because I agree with a previous post you wrote, the result is amazing.
The reason I don’t toss longstrider in is because of the need to be far back and it is a buff power. Very very useful for buff builds but this is a dps build so it lessens your individual dps in my experience.
Gear I think we should try to keep close to the team and bad guys. We get so much from them that staying at far distance is still broken imo. So offensive action is fine but I go with shadowstalker to get the buff.
Again, thanks for taking the time to write this stuff.
Just keep in mind with Shadowstalker that with two of the same rank rings, the buffs will not stack. So ideally you would get a +4 and a +5, but the +5 is a tad hard to get. So while working on that, an Offensive Action ring can be a good placeholder.
Longstriders is definitely for buffing and it's great for that but requires being at 30 foot range. It buffs your own powers too, so if you follow it immediately with something like Rain of Arrows, that +40% damage buff is going to make RoA really hard hitting. But there are certainly other options for rotations to choose from. And I like your idea of closing in a tad to just 25 feet to take advantage of Shadowstalker, which if in a purely DPS role could make some sense if the party already has enough buffs. My co-author and I may add some more rotations and other details in a future update of the guide, perhaps around Mod 16.
Again, I really appreciate your feedback and we'll take it into consideration when we make our next round of updates.
One other thing I forgot to mention was the companion issue with staying at range. Any tips for all the new archers to keep the blasted things tied to the bad guys and not running back and forth in an infuriating game of fetch as you stay at range?
In Neverwinter, companions have historically been a big issue for archers, mostly when in parties where a tank is able to hold aggro. Just to quickly recap on the problem: When an archer would try to maximize their ranged damage bonus in a party by firing from extreme range, typically companions would not engage in the fight and as a result bonding stones would not proc. But in Mod 15, this was addressed with a feat change (Stillness of the Forest) so that great range is no longer required by archers.
Now as of Mod 15, an archer can simply fire from just about anywhere and they can also build damage just by staying in place. So in the current version of this build, we decided to recommend firing from 30 feet away while in a party. Why 30 feet? There are several reasons:
- If running Longstriders shot, then you need to be at least 30 feet away from the target for the buff from LSS to proc.
- But ideally you should also be no more 30 feet away in order to benefit from most party buffs (which will increase your DPS and survivability). So 30 feet is kind of a sweet spot to stand at.
- Now if running Aspect of the Falcon, you will also do +1% damage for every 5 feet you are from the target. So at 30 feet, that's a +6% damage bonus. Nice!
- And at 30 feet from the target, you will be close enough that your companion will still engage in the fight and bonding stones will proc, thus giving you increased power and crit chance.
- You also need to be within 25 feet of your companion or another ally in order to benefit from Aspect of the Pack's Combat Advantage. So when standing 30 feet from a target, you should very likely be within 25 feet an ally/companion who is on the same side of that target. And this means not only increased damage due to CA, but CA also adds to your critical severity on crit strikes.
The companion piece is a very important element of the overall strategy. And even when soloing, your companion will be there with you as a very helpful ally to fight along side you. Mobs will close in quickly when you are soloing, but in their effort to do so, they will be moving thru the killing zone you have established. You will use a kiting technique as part of the strategy. Think of the mob as the kite and their attraction to you as the string. Your AoEs will be the killing zone and you will keep leading them thru it. Your companion will be nipping at their heels. And you'll use Electronic Shot or other attacks to finish them off. It is pretty efficient.It seems clear to me that this build/guide will become obsolete upon the release of Mod 16. I wish I could update it, but Mod 16 is such a radical change for this game, that an all new build will be required.
Elven Archer deserves a lot of credit for originally encouraging me to publish my earlier hybrid archery build and then kindly hosting it on the PVE Archery tab of his current guide on MMOminds. This pure archery build came about later and it all goes back to that hybrid one.
But no regrets. It was a fun writing. And this is also not a farewell speech.
I just think given how much there is to learn in Mod 16, I plan to focus on just playing the game for a while... but you can definitely bet I will be tinkering around. So not saying I won't ever do another guide, but like most of you, there is going to be a learning curve to overcome.
I do anticipate a new HR guide coming from Elven Archer. Most of you are already familiar with his current guide on MMOminds. I think we can expect a very good Mod 16 guide from him as well. Don't expect this right away, LOL!
I'm honestly pretty excited about Mod 16 and I think it is going to be a lot of fun! HRs seem to be shaping up as an extremely competitive DPS class. I look forward to exploring all the new possibilities for Hunter Ranger.