It's useless. Everybody who's posting here is quite low, and guess what: pure Melee HR is AMAZING at low levels....
Endgame is just miserable instead.
You will just spend 110k to respec to an Archer build, that's 100% sure. Melee is quite strong in PvP, but still vastly inferior to any other pure melee oriented class like GWF or TR, so really, there's no real reason to build one.
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howitzer001Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 65Arc User
edited February 2014
I'm 60 and recently combat specced fully - I mean all available points into combat to give it a test run. I'm using the following gear with all Rank9 enchants. Mostly Radiant/Dark for offense, and Darks for lifesteal in defensive slots with Perfect Vorpal in weapon enchant.
My initial build was using partial ranged points put into crit severity for my bow. However, I found that the benefits of simple things like 10% run speed made a huge difference in my overall enjoyment of playing melee in both PVP and PVE. I wasn't using ranged nearly as much as I used to and I'm still getting an extra 5% severity from the Dancing Sword companion so it wasn't a huge loss. The 10% to crit, the 17% chance for extra unmitigated weapon strike, and the 10% deflection chance was just too good to pass up and make a big difference in how this plays. All things considered I am spending the majority of my time in melee stance and the only time I switch is for a very fast TAB/TAB to get my stance dance damage bonus for another 5 seconds.
The other reason I'll switch stances is for the use of Rain of Arrows whenever possible which leads me to my next observation playing as full combat spec: You need to use all available AOE abilities (the good ones) to maximize your DPS and shine. I'm still able to rank top 5 overall damage using combat but I had to re-learn how to play my HR.
Abilities used:
AT WILLS: Clear the Ground (AOE) + Rapid Strikes
ENCOUNTERS: Marauder's + Rain of Arrows + Fox's Cunning/Shift
DAILIES: Disrupting Shot + Forest Ghost
CLASS: Aspect of the Pack + Twin Blade Storm OR Twin Blade Storm + Blade Storm/Serpent's (situational)
Obviously you can swap out Marauder's for something else, however, I have found that getting to where you need to be at, or away from, allows me much more mobility to continue dps so I still use it regularly. Popping your Lantern, your damage buff from stance switching, your 15% added melee damage from your feat tree, your 12% damage buff from Twin Blade Storm, your combat advantage buff, and your chance to deal extra damage from 4/4 Grand Warden's and Master of Combat 1/1 means you will do ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS burst damage when you run in there and start swinging. Almost nothing will survive in PVP. In PVE groups you're doing very good AOE damage consistently with the ability to move with nearly infinite stamina, faster run speed, a long range charge, and rain of arrows on your target area as you toggle.
Yes, it is more micro-managing than normal. What I've come to realize though is that even with a full buffrange spec I'm always running in with melee and using Fox's or another cooldown to optimize DPS and rotations. I realize some of you might think me insane for not having Split Shot on my hotbar and using that terribad Electric Shot, instead. I had a hard time forcing myself to click accept for each rank up to 3/3 for it myself! But I have to tell you that while it has a much lower min/max damage it is benefiting from the bonuses you get from the combat tree 15% damage and 10% more crit + Master of Combat, it's faster than using split shot, and it's a 360 degree ability. I was surprised at how effective it was.
Anyway, I just wanted to chime all this in mainly because I disagreed with the poster above me. I think the build is very viable but I think you need to be at a certain gear level to see it start to shine.
Curios because it does not show. How much life steal do you have on that build? I'm hybrid with a tendency to end up in the scrum and life steal has become my primary defense. Also have you looked at Aurora's? Waters is nice but Aurora is one of the few ways to put more move on. That and Dark utils has put me to the point where I no longer use marauder except in those instances where I really need that much movement.
Curios because it does not show. How much life steal do you have on that build? I'm hybrid with a tendency to end up in the scrum and life steal has become my primary defense. Also have you looked at Aurora's? Waters is nice but Aurora is one of the few ways to put more move on. That and Dark utils has put me to the point where I no longer use marauder except in those instances where I really need that much movement.
You can just use the t2 pvp set for a flat 15% movement speed set bonus. It does not have much power but you can make it up easily with enchantments. Want even more movement speed? Get forestwalk in nature tree which gives you another 10% speed whenever you use a buff.
And with 10% movement speed from expert skirmisher in combat tree, you can run as fast a regular mount. lol
I ran Predator for a long time. Likely why I am less disappointed in the new PVP rules than some. I already know I can score kills in Predator. Actually it was my first T2 set. Boosted darks in utils and Aurora makes me fast enough in my current build and still more aggregate power than you can get out of Predator. Part of that is play style. I do not hang back as far as a lot of pure-range builds so I can usually dash in and burst. Looked at skirmisher but I would lose prime and lots of encounters is part of my stack. Everyone complains about RoS but it is a dot with infinite targets. Add concentration and you become the critpocalapse. So I took full ranged for the extra crit. Points wise it means that I can build for less crit and more power across the board.
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howitzer001Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 65Arc User
Curios because it does not show. How much life steal do you have on that build? I'm hybrid with a tendency to end up in the scrum and life steal has become my primary defense. Also have you looked at Aurora's? Waters is nice but Aurora is one of the few ways to put more move on. That and Dark utils has put me to the point where I no longer use marauder except in those instances where I really need that much movement.
I do have Aurora's in my inventory and swap it out when I feel like it. I'm currently at 12% lifesteal and 4% regen. Right now without forestwalk I'm at 21% run speed in melee stance with Aurora equipped.
I ran Predator for a long time. Likely why I am less disappointed in the new PVP rules than some. I already know I can score kills in Predator. Actually it was my first T2 set. Boosted darks in utils and Aurora makes me fast enough in my current build and still more aggregate power than you can get out of Predator. Part of that is play style. I do not hang back as far as a lot of pure-range builds so I can usually dash in and burst. Looked at skirmisher but I would lose prime and lots of encounters is part of my stack. Everyone complains about RoS but it is a dot with infinite targets. Add concentration and you become the critpocalapse. So I took full ranged for the extra crit. Points wise it means that I can build for less crit and more power across the board.
I would be curious to know how Aurora's makes you faster than the master predator set. Aurora's provides the movement stat, but it diminishes very fast and the stat will not come close to matching 15%. I run full combat and am hitting 30%+ run speed with master predator+utility slots+combat feat. Run speed like that is a pretty big deal for my playstyle because it allows me to control the range I want to be at against pretty much any class.
Mindflayer - Exodus
Daria - Dwarf Sentinel GWF (mistaken for Halfling a lot)
Karia (aka "The Pug") - Human Combat HR
Kayd - Human Conqueror GF - Retired
I'm using a pvp meele HR in pve all the time.
You can agro and tank well enough and outdps stupid pug CWs all the time. But you will never outdps a good proper CW, they will be able to do up to double your damage.
My next step would be trying perfect lightning, it might be a very good choice, or at least it seems so on paper especially with the coming new pvp sets.
I am making a ranger right now, and decided to try pure melee for the lulz and since my ranger's name is Pazzo (crazy in italian). Anyone tried pure melee, or think it may be viable?
The problem with this comment is there is no such thing as a pure melee/ranged HR. You are both. The sooner more players realize this and start using all of their class' assets, the better. That being said, as a PvP oriented combat specced HR, I find that combat does very well. It provides good mitigation, good stamina regen, excellent burst damage, and excellent mobility. If you're looking to exclusively do dungeons, it's still viable, but doesn't provide the same kind of sustained aoe dps an archery build would. It is viable though, but requires a more dynamic style of play. I.E. a lot of stance switching.
Try this setup for PvE, it's what I use when running dungeons for gear.
At-wills
Rapid shot/strike
Split shot/strike. Encounters
Commanding Shot/Stag Heart or Fox's Cunning/Fox Shift
Rain of Arrows/Rain of Blades
Constricting Arrow/Steel Breeze Daily Powers
Disruptive Shot
Forest Ghost Class Features
Stormstep Action
Twin-blade Storm or Aspect of the Pack
Basically, you'll want to use every aspect of this setup to deal damage. Between stormstep action and the agile hunter feat, you will have a lot of cooldown reduction. You'll want to open up by applying the commanding shot debuff to the priority target, drop rain of arrows, then move in and get rain of blades on them. Also note all of these abilities can be used while in melee range as well, so re-applying them isn't an issue. Another thing to point out is you still have a lot of aoe capability, just not over the same wide area an archer will. Once you get your debuffs up, make sure you use stag heart since it buffs you and your nearby teammates as well. Start going crazy with steel breeze and split strike. Rapid strike if you are focusing on one target. Because of stormstep action and agile hunter, you'll be able to use rain of arrows again quite quickly. Re-apply it and your bleed every chance you get. After you get your initial combo off you want to start using disruptive shot whenever possible for extra damage, but mainly for the 3 seconds cooldown reduction. This seems like a lot, but if you practice getting your combo off as quickly as you can on target dummies or while solo questing you'll get the hang of it quickly.
TL;DR Use all of your ranged abilities as quickly as you can then switch to melee and use all of those abilities as quickly as you can. Just keep repeating the process.
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zsotheMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 4Arc User
edited February 2014
I think they are pretty good. Have been maining one for the past little while. Just focus on defensive stats and you'll be fine.
Comments
Endgame is just miserable instead.
You will just spend 110k to respec to an Archer build, that's 100% sure. Melee is quite strong in PvP, but still vastly inferior to any other pure melee oriented class like GWF or TR, so really, there's no real reason to build one.
My initial build was using partial ranged points put into crit severity for my bow. However, I found that the benefits of simple things like 10% run speed made a huge difference in my overall enjoyment of playing melee in both PVP and PVE. I wasn't using ranged nearly as much as I used to and I'm still getting an extra 5% severity from the Dancing Sword companion so it wasn't a huge loss. The 10% to crit, the 17% chance for extra unmitigated weapon strike, and the 10% deflection chance was just too good to pass up and make a big difference in how this plays. All things considered I am spending the majority of my time in melee stance and the only time I switch is for a very fast TAB/TAB to get my stance dance damage bonus for another 5 seconds.
The other reason I'll switch stances is for the use of Rain of Arrows whenever possible which leads me to my next observation playing as full combat spec: You need to use all available AOE abilities (the good ones) to maximize your DPS and shine. I'm still able to rank top 5 overall damage using combat but I had to re-learn how to play my HR.
Abilities used:
AT WILLS: Clear the Ground (AOE) + Rapid Strikes
ENCOUNTERS: Marauder's + Rain of Arrows + Fox's Cunning/Shift
DAILIES: Disrupting Shot + Forest Ghost
CLASS: Aspect of the Pack + Twin Blade Storm OR Twin Blade Storm + Blade Storm/Serpent's (situational)
Obviously you can swap out Marauder's for something else, however, I have found that getting to where you need to be at, or away from, allows me much more mobility to continue dps so I still use it regularly. Popping your Lantern, your damage buff from stance switching, your 15% added melee damage from your feat tree, your 12% damage buff from Twin Blade Storm, your combat advantage buff, and your chance to deal extra damage from 4/4 Grand Warden's and Master of Combat 1/1 means you will do ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS burst damage when you run in there and start swinging. Almost nothing will survive in PVP. In PVE groups you're doing very good AOE damage consistently with the ability to move with nearly infinite stamina, faster run speed, a long range charge, and rain of arrows on your target area as you toggle.
Yes, it is more micro-managing than normal. What I've come to realize though is that even with a full buffrange spec I'm always running in with melee and using Fox's or another cooldown to optimize DPS and rotations. I realize some of you might think me insane for not having Split Shot on my hotbar and using that terribad Electric Shot, instead. I had a hard time forcing myself to click accept for each rank up to 3/3 for it myself! But I have to tell you that while it has a much lower min/max damage it is benefiting from the bonuses you get from the combat tree 15% damage and 10% more crit + Master of Combat, it's faster than using split shot, and it's a 360 degree ability. I was surprised at how effective it was.
Anyway, I just wanted to chime all this in mainly because I disagreed with the poster above me. I think the build is very viable but I think you need to be at a certain gear level to see it start to shine.
www.fusion-guild.org
Sir Howitzer - GF | Howitzer - HR
You can just use the t2 pvp set for a flat 15% movement speed set bonus. It does not have much power but you can make it up easily with enchantments. Want even more movement speed? Get forestwalk in nature tree which gives you another 10% speed whenever you use a buff.
And with 10% movement speed from expert skirmisher in combat tree, you can run as fast a regular mount. lol
I do have Aurora's in my inventory and swap it out when I feel like it. I'm currently at 12% lifesteal and 4% regen. Right now without forestwalk I'm at 21% run speed in melee stance with Aurora equipped.
www.fusion-guild.org
Sir Howitzer - GF | Howitzer - HR
I would be curious to know how Aurora's makes you faster than the master predator set. Aurora's provides the movement stat, but it diminishes very fast and the stat will not come close to matching 15%. I run full combat and am hitting 30%+ run speed with master predator+utility slots+combat feat. Run speed like that is a pretty big deal for my playstyle because it allows me to control the range I want to be at against pretty much any class.
Daria - Dwarf Sentinel GWF (mistaken for Halfling a lot)
Karia (aka "The Pug") - Human Combat HR
Kayd - Human Conqueror GF - Retired
You can agro and tank well enough and outdps stupid pug CWs all the time. But you will never outdps a good proper CW, they will be able to do up to double your damage.
My next step would be trying perfect lightning, it might be a very good choice, or at least it seems so on paper especially with the coming new pvp sets.
The problem with this comment is there is no such thing as a pure melee/ranged HR. You are both. The sooner more players realize this and start using all of their class' assets, the better. That being said, as a PvP oriented combat specced HR, I find that combat does very well. It provides good mitigation, good stamina regen, excellent burst damage, and excellent mobility. If you're looking to exclusively do dungeons, it's still viable, but doesn't provide the same kind of sustained aoe dps an archery build would. It is viable though, but requires a more dynamic style of play. I.E. a lot of stance switching.
Try this setup for PvE, it's what I use when running dungeons for gear.
At-wills
Rapid shot/strike
Split shot/strike.
Encounters
Commanding Shot/Stag Heart or Fox's Cunning/Fox Shift
Rain of Arrows/Rain of Blades
Constricting Arrow/Steel Breeze
Daily Powers
Disruptive Shot
Forest Ghost
Class Features
Stormstep Action
Twin-blade Storm or Aspect of the Pack
Basically, you'll want to use every aspect of this setup to deal damage. Between stormstep action and the agile hunter feat, you will have a lot of cooldown reduction. You'll want to open up by applying the commanding shot debuff to the priority target, drop rain of arrows, then move in and get rain of blades on them. Also note all of these abilities can be used while in melee range as well, so re-applying them isn't an issue. Another thing to point out is you still have a lot of aoe capability, just not over the same wide area an archer will. Once you get your debuffs up, make sure you use stag heart since it buffs you and your nearby teammates as well. Start going crazy with steel breeze and split strike. Rapid strike if you are focusing on one target. Because of stormstep action and agile hunter, you'll be able to use rain of arrows again quite quickly. Re-apply it and your bleed every chance you get. After you get your initial combo off you want to start using disruptive shot whenever possible for extra damage, but mainly for the 3 seconds cooldown reduction. This seems like a lot, but if you practice getting your combo off as quickly as you can on target dummies or while solo questing you'll get the hang of it quickly.
TL;DR Use all of your ranged abilities as quickly as you can then switch to melee and use all of those abilities as quickly as you can. Just keep repeating the process.