Vicious arrow!

Headshot_XD - Sanctuary
Headshot_XD - Sanctuary Posts: 52 Arc User
edited July 2009 in Archer
Is it just me or is Vicious arrow really useful. I like to use it as an opener (especially on earth mobs) then I use frost arrow, normal, knockback and then the mob is usually dead before they touch me.

I wanna level it more but a lot of people say it's worthless b:surrenderb:sad
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
There can be only one Lord of the Elves
And he does NOT SHARE POWER!!!!
Post edited by Headshot_XD - Sanctuary on

Comments

  • Randoms - Dreamweaver
    Randoms - Dreamweaver Posts: 305 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Its worthless really. I usually forget that I have DoT skills. Somewhere was stated that it has low damage compared with other skills and high mp costs too if I remember corectly, also DoT isnt really archer type of attack, latter you`ll kill mobs in 5 sec, DoT is 15 sec, so 2/3 attack wont even hit mob.
    I kill things b:victory
  • Annor - Heavens Tear
    Annor - Heavens Tear Posts: 330 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Headshot_XD - Sanctuary wrote: »

    I wanna level it more but a lot of people say it's worthless b:surrenderb:sad


    Trust the numbers, a lot of people are right b:sin

    To elaborate: the damage is too low, as an opener its weaker than frost arrow (it does make a difference which is used first). The mana cost while not high in isolation, will definately add up when killing mobs for extended periods of time.
    Meek with words, abrupt with arrows.
  • StormHydra - Sanctuary
    StormHydra - Sanctuary Posts: 2,221 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    If vicious/serrated arrow is actually left for the entire 15 seconds, its actually pretty good, but leaving it for 15 seconds basically means lost of frost+running. And thats pretty dumb.
    If you actually are going to use vicious arrow-DONT. It will be a waste. Use serrated arrow instead. Serrated arrow is phys attack (meaning it does good damage on everything) and does more damage that vicious arrow.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    |Active: Coalescence - Lost City, Wizard|
    |Inactive: StormHydra - Sanctuary, Archer|
    |Call of Duty: Black Ops|League of Legends|Forsaken World|Perfect World International|The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|
  • Lunnark - Sanctuary
    Lunnark - Sanctuary Posts: 325 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Although Vicious Arrow and Serrated Arrow are different skills, they have both (in equal proportions) the same (un)usability because they are both DoT. Leveling them until you get the spare SP late game is in most archers' opinion an inefficient thing to do !
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Agilaz - Dreamweaver
    Agilaz - Dreamweaver Posts: 37 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I usually only use them on bosses or elite mobs which take longer to kill because they do some extra damage while I shoot the mobs with the regular attacks. XD
    Other than that I never use these skills. (I didn't lvl them though)

    But really, don't lvl it. You'll soon barely have enough coins and spirit to lvl the more important skills so it would be a waste to lvl Serrated and/or Vicious Arrow now. (imo) If you have spirit points to spare you can invest them into one of these skills but I predict that you will struggle for spirit points in the upcoming lvls. You'll have to choose wisely what you lvl immediately and what a later time.

    But I agree with one of the above commenters. IF one of those skills, Serrated Arrow would be a better choice than Vicious Arrow because it does more and phys dmg.
  • Elenacostel - Heavens Tear
    Elenacostel - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,822 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I had leveled both Vicious Arrow and Poison Arrow; I was a DoT archer until my 60s.

    The Frost Arrow / Knockback is a better and more efficient combo. DoT is not the way to go.
  • StormHydra - Sanctuary
    StormHydra - Sanctuary Posts: 2,221 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    Yeah DoT skills are great on bosses, or elite mobs that take ages to kill.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    |Active: Coalescence - Lost City, Wizard|
    |Inactive: StormHydra - Sanctuary, Archer|
    |Call of Duty: Black Ops|League of Legends|Forsaken World|Perfect World International|The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|
  • DarkSniper - Lost City
    DarkSniper - Lost City Posts: 1,830 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    I have DoT skills?
    The only way to win is to quit. b:bye
  • Quilue - Sanctuary
    Quilue - Sanctuary Posts: 5,787 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    but but even at lvl 10 the total damage dealt by the DoTs i can deal in at most 2 hits...making it inefficient because i can squeeze out an extra hit during its cast time anyway.

    DoTs fail compared to other archer attacks because they do not crit.
    Elena Costel: I wash my hands of this affair.
    Legerity: *drags you back* *stains your hands with said affair*
    Elena Costel: Noooo... I don't want to have a dirty affair with Lady Legerity...
    Qui: b:dirty
  • Koltrast - Sanctuary
    Koltrast - Sanctuary Posts: 93 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    Quilue - Sanctuary wrote: »
    but but even at lvl 10 the total damage dealt by the DoTs i can deal in at most 2 hits...making it inefficient because i can squeeze out an extra hit during its cast time anyway.

    On bosses though, unless your tank is very much higher than you or you are already very high level, you don't want to deal full damage or you'll just steal aggro and cause a party wipe.

    I died twice doing my 20/20/20 (ie, I was lvl 67) after pulling aggro off a lvl 84 veno and her herc, and I'm far too squishy yet to tank any of those mobs. It wasn't more than 5 levels ago I caused a wipe at Qingzi (fb 29!!) after stealing aggro off a lvl 75 bm, using a 2* bow some levels below me. I took Silver Frost off an over 80 barb, although he managed to get him back when I threw wings of grace and flat out stopped shooting, but I was lucky to survive that one. I could tell a million of these stories, although with practise, I am getting much better at avoiding it.

    Throwing DOT's in every now and then does, as you say, slow your damage down, but that's a good thing in some situations. Plus it's about the only use for Stormrage Eagleon I've found.

    They aren't any much help in general PVE though, for sure.

    (and having just realised your level, you know all this :) Just remember how it was for you back at lower levels, when you could dish out a whole lot of damage already, but no way in hell had good enough gear yet to take it, and often the party tank is fairly even level with me and even easier to steal off.)
  • Annor - Heavens Tear
    Annor - Heavens Tear Posts: 330 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    The argument that you should spend mana to do less damage to not pull aggro seems to me... silly. You can stop attacking for a little without spending any mana... and that ability (to not attack) you have from level 1, it doesnt cost any spirit or coin to train.
    Meek with words, abrupt with arrows.
  • Koltrast - Sanctuary
    Koltrast - Sanctuary Posts: 93 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    Yes, of course you're right, I do mostly just break off shooting if I crit too much, or feel like I'm hitting too hard, but I guess I feel kind of dumb standing not shooting at all, while the rest of the crew are beating up something.

    For me it's less that the skills are all that useful, it's me making a use for them that entertains me, and this is a game, after all. None of my DOT's are levelled past 1, fwiw.

    I got nothing much else to use the mana on if i'm standing there shooting at a boss for 15 minutes anyway (and it certainly takes a bunch of us my level at least that long to kill Silver Frost.) It's not like I can one shot any of this stuff even sparked and with a lucky crit, and if I don't one shot them and instead steal them, I'm toast a second later and so's everyone else a second after that. I can't barrage or tank at most bosses yet, because they actually can one shot me still, so even charmed or with a cleric on me or both, it's a pretty short trip.

    So the mana just sits there unused, I may as well make some sparklies with it now and then.
  • chrystie
    chrystie Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    Personally, if I had the extra mp lying around, I'd hold onto it just incase something undesirable happens and you need to e.g. save the cleric, put up a shield, knockback etc. There're other ways to not steal aggro too, if you don't like standing doing nothing, such as taking off your rings, not using Blazing Arrow, shooting from close range/air to ground if possible.

    Most of the time I tend to forget I have DOTs though maybe the only time I find them vaguely useful is if you're fighting someone like Soul Hunter (that WB near Village of the Lost?) who stuns/slows your attacks every other second or so. b:embarrass
  • Kusider - Heavens Tear
    Kusider - Heavens Tear Posts: 68 Arc User
    edited July 2009
    With a good barb, you should be able to let loose anyway.

    I probably haven't used a DoT since the one and only time I tried out Stormrage.

    Using vicious or serrated at Lv1 now is like a bad joke. Right now, one single attack is more than the DoT using either of them at least three times.

Categories