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[PC] [PVE] HR Stromwarden Archery DPS Build
Intro:
My main propose is to share my experience and idea of an alterative Archery Build which is quite rare to see. I found 2 interested builds was published by ‘Iirithiel’ in this forum and ‘Bloodtalons’ in MMO as shown in the following link:‘Iirithiel’ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/neverwinter#/discussion/1214188/stormwarden-archery-crit-build/p1
‘Bloodtalons’ http://mmominds.com/2017/07/02/bloodtalons-pve-archer-hr-dps-build/
I decided to share my build because it is a bit different from both. I am not going to make any comparison with any others builds. It is only alternative information for anyone who are interested on Archery build.
The information below show my logic, idea and experience with current setup and gear as well as wish list (in ‘magenta text') of my Character. I am not going to go in depth with technical and calculation. I just see its result on the practical playing either solo or group playing. Anyhow , I am open for any comment
I tweaked it over the time and it is still working well with ‘My Play Style’ up to now.Important! I created this build according to my play style, pls see details below. You could use my build as an idea or based in order to tweak it according to your way of play. To copy build and play differently may not give a good result. Last by not least, I am not a native English speaker, so please accept my apologies in advance on my English writing.
Philosophy and My Play Style:
It is the key important of the way I set up this build.I. Attack from far site and avoid direct flight
80’ or more is an ideal range, I would like to start dealing with foe. 40' is also range when need to fight close to pack.Melee is not my option at all.
When solo, most foe should be nearly to die or die when it come close to me. Set up trap by encounter power is done around me before approach the fight.
When party, I stayed far from the foe to keep advantage on range damage,
II. At Will is the main DPS with combination of Encounter and Daily in term of supporting and giving survivability
I has a strong At Will single target damage, Aimed Shot (AS) and nice AOE At Will, Electric Shot (ES), which are perfectly fit for both situation with no cooldown.The Encounter Power like Rain of Arrow (RoA) and Split the Sky (StS) provide a decent damage but both have difficulty when using. RoA will not work if foe move out of the area or it is landed on an empty area. StS provide strong AOE damage but it take too long casting time which is often interrupted.
Daily is used mainly for survivability or strategical purpose.
Race: Sun Elf
Race is up to you what would you like to play with.Elf is always looking good as an Archer for me. I picked Sun Elf just because I would like to play this race, that’s it!
If you like to gain most benefit from race and like to go for Elf, I would recommend Wood Elf, +2 Dex, +2 Wis, increase chance to Crit Strike by 1%, and 10% resistance to effects slow your movement.
Alternative, imo, is Drow, Menzoberranzan Renegade, Human, Dragonborn and Half-Orc.
Paragon Path: Stormwarden
I joined the game in Mod 2 before introducing of Pathfinder Path. So, only Stormwarden is available when I started. However, I think this path is fit the most for myself. I like the combination of Electric Shot, Split the Sky and Twin-Blade StormNote: I could not provide any information of pathfinder because I focus only on it and I like to reach the possible max. ability by this build.
Primary Ability: Dexterity and Wisdom
Dexterity for Damage Bonus and Wisdom for Crit ChanceFocus Stat:
Resistant Ignore - up to 60% and 85% for ChultCritical Chance - must guarantee at 100% when fight
Critical Severity - as high as possible
Source 75% (based) / 12% (Boons) / 50% (Vorpal) / Pet (Cambion Magus, Erinyes of Belial, Dancing Blade etc.)
Power - as high as possible after fulfilling RI and Crit Chance
Other Interested Stat:
Max Hit Point - High enough to make you will not die in single shot atk
Combat Advantage - 1,100 – 1,200
Life Steal Chance - 6 - 8%
Recovery - around 2,000 – 3,000
1
Comments
Heroic Feat:
Predatory Action (1) - Need point to spend, using daily many situation so nice to have a bit higher damageWeapon Mastery (3) - Crit Chance is a must! need 100% in combat
Toughness (3) - Higher HP means more chance to survive
Swift Footwork (5) - Better to have, many situation lead me to do close fight
Battlewise - I don't see different when having them, so I ignore it in latest set up
Agile Combatant - I saw an idea of ‘Bloodtalon’ to get benefit on this feat by swapping to melee and back to range again but I am too lazy to do it.
Endless Assault (3) - Always nice to have extra damage on Encounter
Nature's Enhancement - Up to now, I could not see any benefit of deflect
Lucky Skirmisher - as same as above
Scoundrel Training (2) - Actually, I would like to have 3 but my point is limited, then I can score only 2 and put 3 in ‘Disciple of Dexterity”.
Disciple of Dexterity (3) - increase bonus damage is a must
Extra Action - Daily is not regularly use, so no need for more AP gain.
Note: If I choose Human, I would put additional 3 on Predatory Action (3) and Scoundrel Training (3)
Paragon Feat – Archery:
Ghostwalker (5) - faster stamina recover is nicer (higher survivability) than AP gain from ‘Keen Eye’Keen Eye - see above
Broadhead Arrow (5) - Crit is a must to have
Stormcaller's Arrow (5) - I like this encounter in term of damage but it is difficult when using. So, if I cast it only once and get it longer time until most mob die, it would be most benefit.
Hasty Retreat (5) - for survivability reason, I need it
Longshot (5) - extra damage is always nice to have
Unflinching Aim (5) - more damage for range and reducing recharge time when using Aimed Shot, it is nice
Bottomless Quiver - Encounter is mostly come back when I need, not necessary for shorter cooldown
Rising Focus (5) - whenever relating to Crit, pick them
Stillness of the Forest (5) - Any benefit from long range damage are fit for my play style
Predator (1) - +50% damage increasing on ‘Prey’. This is a must!
Elemental Evil Boons:
Wave of ForceHeart of Stone
Searing Aggression
Gale of Retribution
Sharandar Boons:
Dark Fey HunterFey Precision
Elven Fortitude
Elven Ferocity
Elvish Fury
Dread Ring Boons:
Conjurer’s GambitEvoker's Thirst
Forbidden Piercing
Shadowtouch
Rampaging Madness
Icewind Dale Boons:
Weathering the StormRefreshing Chill
Sleet Skills
Cold Shoulder
Avalanche
Tyranny of Dragons Boons:
Dragon’s ClawsDragon’s Gaze
Draconic Armorbreaker
Dragon’s Greed
Dragon’s Fury (3)
Underdark Boons:
Primordial MightPrimordial Focus
Drow Ambush Tactics
Dwarven Footing
Abyssal Strikes
The Maze Engine Boons:
Abyssal SiphoningDemonic Influence Thinking to change for ‘Demonic Resilience’
Demonic Swiftness
Baphomet’s Might
Storm King’s Thunder Boons:
Cold HeartedHardy Constitution
Icy Wrath
Vengeful Heat
Chill of Winter
The Cloaked Ascendancy Boons:
Aura of DespairFiery Frenzy
Fey Briars
Aberrant Power
Jungles of Chult Boons:
Beast's BurdenTyrant's Terror
Overgrown
Lingering Curse
Gear:
Head - Vivified Trailblazer's Raid HoodArmor - Vivified Trailblazer's Raid Coat
Arm - Vivified Trailblazer's Raid Bracers [current: Cambist's Gauntlets]
Feet - Vivified Trailblazer's Raid Gaiters
Main / Off-hand - Trailblazer’s Set / Aboleth Set / Brightsilver Set [Teak Aqaws / Wootz Kilij]
I got Trailblazer's set but it not yet refine to the Legendary one, need some more orange mark. So, I work with Chult set brought from AH.
I started to get also Aboleth one. Anyhow, I also see the potential benefit of Mirage set that the Illusion may help to delay an incoming foe.
Brightsilver Set is also interesting to have if you are going to party with the one who have the same set.
Artifact power / class - Electric Shot / Twin Blade Storm
I also consider using Aimed Shot but I thought the combination of Electric Shot with Twin Blade storm is very attracted me.
Shirt - Shirt of the Chultan Merchant [Gemmed Exquisite Elemental Shirt]
Pants - Pants of the Chultan Merchant [Gemmed Exquisite Elemental Pants]
Rings: - Ring of Rising Precision +5, Ring of Sudden Lifesteal +4
Could consider Ring of Sudden Precision, Ring of Brutality, Ring of Rising Power, Ring of Rising Lifesteal, Greater Ostorian Ring of Dod
Artifact Set - Lostmauth's Hoard Set
Demon Lords' Immortality Set is optional but I think Lostmauth give me a foreseen benefit.
Artifact - Lostmauth's Horn of Blasting, Lantern of Revelation, Manticore Talon, Sigil of the Controller [Sigil of the Hunter]
Reinforcement - Major Critical Strike Armor Kit, Major Power Armor Kit, Greater Everfrost Resist Armor Kit
Major Stamina Regeneration Jewel, Major Action Point Gain Jewel
Armor Enchantment Soulforged
Interested to test Bloodtheft and Fireburst if my surviability is not an issued.
Weapon Enchantment Vorpal
I look mainly for crit and physical damage Vorpal is my answer comparing with Dread.
I also interested to test Flaming (it is the most physical damage provide as I heard) if I could get enough Crit Chance. Bilethorn and Lightning are also in my mind.
Offence Enchantment Demonic, Brutal, Radiant, Azure, Savage
Defense Enchantment Savage, Brutal, Dragonic
Utility Enchantment Fey Blessing, Quatermaster's, Dragon's Hoard, Dark
Companion:
Ideal - Young Yeti [Earth Archon], Air Archon, Fire Archon, Erinyes of Belial, Cambion MagusCurrent - Young Yeti, Damaran Shepherd, Dog, Dwarven Battlerager, Lightfoot Thief
I wish to have 2-3 Archon in the active list. I am not yet decide between Young Yeti or Earth Archon. I do need a tank pet during solo. Young Yeti is so nice to be a tank with, especially, 3 offence slots comparing with 3 defenses slot of Earth Archon. For Party, I need to have a range attack pet to boost up a bit dps. Currently, with Young Yeti, if I stay so far away from foe, I will see my Young Yeti is just standing steady right beside me
Because of I need more crit severity, Erinyes of Belial and Cambion Magus are on my dream list. Anyhow, It is too expensive to get it.
Mount
Imperial Rage Drake (+4000 Crit Str) or Arcane Whirlwind (+4000 Power) or Black Ice Warhorse (+4000 Power)One of them are my dream list
Insignia Bonus - Barbarian's Revelry, Vampire's Craving, Magistrate's Patience, Protector's Camaraderie, Cavalry's Warning)
Alternative Assassin's Covenant, Barbarian's Revelry, Vampire's Craving
Note: I try lots of post and realise that ' Your comment will appear after approve'.
At Will:
Electric Shot (ES) and Aimed Shot (AS) permanently!Just simple concept for me on At Will. If less than or equal to 2 foes, I used Aimed Shot. If more than 2 foes, I go for Electric Shot.
Why does not go for Rapid Shot or Split Shot?
First, I like to have one At Will for single target and another one for AoE and I need good combination for any situation. Let’s see it Pros and Cons.
Single Target
Rapid Shot - Lower damage / Pretty fast attack
Aimed Shot - Very high damage / Slow
AoE
Split Shot - Higher damage / Can be fast with less damage or Slow with high damage
Electric Shot - Lower damage / Fast attack and no terrain obstacle
Look at AoE At Will first. Split Shot, I found the big problem when party and even in solo. When party, if you try to aimed the split shot for most damage, you will see all foe gone by your partner most of the time. If you not aimed it and just blasting the split shot, you will get highest number of kill but less damage outcome. When Solo, I found the difficulties to do the 2nd shot of Split Shot as well as it is difficult to get a good damage.
This is the reason why I permanently use only combination of ES and AS. The combination of one slow heavy single damage AS and fast lower AoE damage ES seem very perfect for me, Yin and Yang Philosophy
Note: During leveling, I used combination of Rapid Shot and Split Shot in the beginning, then Rapid Shot and Aimed Shot and finally, Electric Shot and Aimed Shot.
Encounter:
I select the combination of Encounter up to situation amongLongstrider's Shot (LS) / Thorn Ward (TW) / Rain of Arrows (RoA) / Split the Sky (StS)
Could consider also Marauder's Escape (especially in the leveling period), Cordon of Arrows (rarely use now)
Most of combination I used are including with
Longstrider's Shot (LS) / Rain of Arrows (RoA) / Split the Sky (StS)
I found this is universal set up that could be used most of the situation. When solo, I start with StS and then RoA around me and shoot LS to the mob and continue with Electric Shot or Aimed Shot up to number of foe. If the foe rush me, they will found the trap and die. If not, I also have Seismic Shot (SS) to end them and/or blasting form Lostmauth’s horn to push them away to give me a time for next atk or shift back and do AS or ES.
Longstrider's Shot (LS) / Rain of Arrows (RoA) / Thorn Ward (TW)
Longstrider's Shot (LS) / Thorn Ward (TW) / Split the Sky (StS)
These two combinations is a dps/buff/debuff purpose of me and with this one I have to go closer to the foe because Thorn Ward’s range is just only 40’. A different use of both is, if foe keep moving, the first one is not good, so I use the second one instead.
For practical example, in SVA, when you need to come closer to the team. Both set ups are quite fit. Anyhow, I tend to use the first option more for higher damage. You buff all team and its companion with LS and debuff foe with TW. It is good for team.
Note: For SVA, I have totally 3 set up that I still keep testing which one is the best. Two set up as mention above and another set up for Longstrider's Shot (LS) / Rain of Arrows (RoA) / Split the Sky (StS) where I stand for 80’ away from group. The problem of this set up is my active pet, Young Yeti. As usual, when I am standing so far like 70’-80’, as mention before, my Yeti is just standing right beside me. Any advantage from its damage and bonus, ‘On Damage Taken 10% chance to become blood thirsty, increasing damage dealt by 10%.’ are not there.
Thorn Ward (TW) / Rain of Arrows (RoA) / Split the Sky (StS)
This is the set up since the beginning when leveling. It is working well before you could get LS. If I have the survival issue, I could change Thorn Ward to Marauder’s Escape. But many time I found that MS could not help me out of the foe’s atk, so put most of the time TW.
Anyhow, this set up I still use in Tiamat fight when start the fight with Summoner, Severin and protecting Clerics because I am many time too close to use LS. But when Tiamat come, I switch TW to LS and switch it back when protect Clerics.
Cordon of Arrows (CoA) / Rain of Arrows (RoA) / Split the Sky (StS)
When solo or party, using CoA (around Tank) to group the foe together and follow with RoA, it provide huge damage and ensuring that RoA will land on the foe. I use the rotation of CoA, RoA, CoA, StS, CoA, RoA … sometimes in party but now I do not use it much except solo in some specific area. I though working with LS is somehow more profit for group party than using CoA.
Daily:
Seismic Shot (SS) / Forest Meditation (FM) or Seismic Shot (SS) / Forest Ghost (FG)
Class Feature:
Aspect of the Falcon / Twin-Blade Storm (Regularly using)
or
Aspect of the Falcon / Seeker's Vengeance (When less than 2 foes fighting especially boss fight)
Many thanks! for the reader who read my post till the end
Companions
A criticism I have heard a lot for archery is how one gets swarmed very quickly by mobs and thus removing all the distance bonuses. So when in parties I went for the owl and war dog threat reduction companions (as well as max battlewise feat), these do make a big difference, if I don't have these then it feels that all I am doing is running for my life most of the time. I also think that the high hawk should be a must for the archery path. Another issue you mentioned, when one is standing really far away the bondings will not proc because your companion does not enter combat, I have found that the netherese arcanist is useful here because it will proc your bondings at the max distance (the companion also comes with 2 offense slots). As for soloing, having the threat reduction companions is clearly not the best (although the owl makes for a good tank), but one should normally have enough dps for soloing, the main issue is surviving, which leads to the next thing.
Encounters
Marauders escape is almost a mandatory encounter for me. As was mentioned in the guide, the main dps will be generated with our at wills, so we need to ensure that we keep our distance at all times. Longstriders is also mandatory for me, for both solo and party use, this is an amazing encounter to have. For the third one has a big choice and they are all pretty in my opinion, rain of arrows, thorn ward, cordon of arrows, use whichever one you like the most, if you are really into optimizing, then one should switch to the one that is best for the different fight scenarios. Even the pathfinder path is viable because the ambush encounter along with forest ghost and marauders makes you a fairly stealthy class and provides one with the best survivability, I use this for the final crocodile boss and other really tough solo bosses at times.
Weapons and enchantments
I also went for the mirage, the decoy it provides you really make a big difference in surviving, the more time the mob spends on the mirages the more time you keep your distance and shoot the mob down. I also think one should go with vorpal, getting high critical chance is the easiest for archery and the majority of your dps is not coming from encounters. For armour enchant I like barkshield, one generally is not hit a lot in parties so this is useful to surviving the occasional big hits, the same applies to solo, try not to get hit a lot and barkshield is your best friend for the occasional hits.
Finally I want to address the issue that one sees regarding archery, the naysayers will say don't play archery because X path does Y% more damage, and they are probably right, however here are some of the reasons why I think playing archery should be considered a viable option.
- Immersion, I am 100% dead serious here. Be completely honest with yourselves, how many picked the hunter ranger class at the start because they had the intention to endlessly spam 6 encounter powers standing right next to the enemy. Many picked this class because they wanted to use their bow and shoot arrows from a distance from it, this is what the archery path is. The first principles reason to playing any game (ask yourself why are you playing this game) should always override the raw number crunching of the current meta.
- Support, longstrider is a decent damage boost for parties, it requires distance to proc so archery is meant for this encounter. There is also another guide I have seen online that is a full on support archer build, well worth looking at for those interested.
- Unorthodox play, for those that like playing differently to whatever the "you must do this" meta dictates, then archery is for you
- You are NOT that squishy, I have heard it a lot that archery is too squishy, I was way below the recommended IL to do Chult, I tried with both trapper and archery and I found that with time that archery provided me with higher survivability, what you lack in crowd control you make up with the correct use of escapes and keeping the distance. As for party play, if you go for the threat reduction build you will normally be the safest member in the party from harm.
‘Hunting Hawk’, I though you mean this for your ‘High Hawk’, Damage bonus increases as the range increases with a maximum of +7% bonus damage at 100'. I also considered this pet. I do not sure how could I get maximum damage of 7% at 100’. How could I can shoot at 100’ with max. ‘Aspect of the Falcon’, I will get at 80’ + 3’ + 3’ + 3’ + 3’ = 94’.
‘Netherese Arcanist’ – it is a good point, I never look on it. Anyhow, +3% damage is a bit less comparing with other. It is always good for having ‘Marauder's Escape’ in slot, I agree. It just now, I am not working on it on my way of play. I stop using it for long time because I found that many time it could not able to leave me out of the rushing foe, might be I used incorrect timing. Another thing sometime, I do not take care enough when using and I escape to another group of mop
Interesting for Barkshield to test
15% gladiators guile, 5%hasty retreat passive, sheperds devotion, 40% aim shot bonus from weapon. Thats atleast 60 percent constant movespeed buff! And when you do get hit, you get that 25% from hasty retreat and fire a longstrider, it feels like everyone is in slow motion
On the hawk, it can be further upgraded to 10%. HOWEVER, I did either something really stupid or it's not actually working at all, I tried to test the damage boost for various distances from the dummy and I did not notice anything, even worse I removed the hawk and I could still not notice the difference. I will have a try again in a few days, but if anyone here can confirm that hawk is bugged please let me know.
On the subject of threat reduction, I took a different route. My summoned companion is a Shadow Demon. He is also my only Legendary companion, the other four actives are Epic. In active slots I have a couple of archons (Air and Fire) along with a Black Ice Prospector and a Boar. Threat reduction comes in the form of the Prospector. Rather than trying to reduce my threat, I increased the amount generated by my companion. Specifically, the Prospector inscreases this by 25% while also throwing in 5% Damage Reduction against AoE attacks to me for good measure. The Boar gives my Shadow Demon +100% Critical Severity and +2% to me. This combination makes my SD a much bigger threat magnet than me. To help things along, I also have the Warlord's Inspiration Mount Insignia slotted which boosts companion damage by 20%. As the SD is quite keen to attack stuff, I also have Protector's Camaradarie slotted. So, while I may not do the maximum amount of damage all of the time, it does mean I'm rarely the focus of lots of aggro
I am interesting if I could apply your concept on my Yeti, because I like its agro (It is even can agro on Orcus by itself
You'll also note that nobody, not even Kaelac himself back in the day, bothered to mathematically grind out each aggro %. This is because, practically speaking, you basically have aggro or don't, and you know you have aggro or not if enemies are chasing you or not.
One easy and Archer pertinent thing to check would be to see if the -aggro comps change enemy aggro ranges. If they reduce enemy aggro ranges, then it might actually help for getting a few more potshots off while benefiting from the range buffs. If you want more details, Sharp and I were hanging out on preview, and he noticed the Blice Prospector was taking less damage from AoE attacks. If the tooltip was correct (which it wasn't), then the player would take less damage from AoE hits, not the Blice Prospector.
If u are trully were to help archer, try help us think of something that would help archer blend in the meta. Well without giving up our playstyle and mechanics ofcourse. Else we would have been point blank archer like u suggested.
As I did choose the DPS built for my play, my personal experience told me that distance is the most important factor for my DPS and survivability is the main issue for me. I could not withstand much attack. To be close to the foe, it is hard for me to survive in many situations. That is why I came out of that philosophy for keeping myself as high DPS as possible and be benefit the most for team. If I have to or like to play with the pack, the buff/debuff playstyle with lower dps need to be applied. I proof myself (maybe I’m wrong) that I could not get the best dps out when I come close to the foe and I am easily die.
The difficulty thing is I have to know and learn how to play with long distance in each area. What I have to concern when I stay at long distance away from group? Which area that you could not able to play with long distance? Soulforge is the one that I could not miss it up to now, in case out of control.
I would like to give an example for SVA. It is one of the area that recommend to stay in the pack. I am luckily that my guild did a practical learning on it quite a lot. It is allow me to test and realize that I could get my best dps without staying in a pack.
In the first scene, I stay close to the team because I have no space enough to keep separate and servive. So, I work on Electric Shot / Thorn Ward / Rain of Arrows / Split the Sky with acceptable dps and debuff. When boss come, I am stay about 80’ close to the entrance and use Aim shot / Long Strider / Rain of Arrows / Split the Sky to get the best dps I could do. I observed that I got less damage taken and less ice apply on me. By the way, I have to always concentrate if I get the ice apply, I have to run quick to the pack. By this tactics, I could have significant high dps comparing with staying in a pack.
Finally, it will be what is the people perception on the Archery and what are they expectation on our duty in the team?