| Welcome to The Knights of the Old Republic DDO Guild Forums. The Knights of the Old Republic are a small guild on the Thelanis server. We are good people that are fun to talk to and run quests with. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Archane Archer 101 | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 20 2012, 04:16 PM (269 Views) | |
| Bowana | Jan 20 2012, 04:16 PM Post #1 |
|
The Grandmaster
![]()
|
Races and Classes Elf: there is an inherent synergy between the elf and the AA. This combo shouldn’t be overlooked in passing. Give it serious thought. The elf gets enhancements to their bow use which become handy in ranged combat. They receive racial bonuses to hit with the longbow when you range, and the scimitar, rapier, or longsword for your melee. They get a racial bonus to damage on longbows, longswords, rapiers, and scimitars. Further, the ranger class allows you to access the AA line faster (lvl 6) than just being an elven AA (lvl 8). While the other classes and races provide benefits to consider for an AA, there simply isn't a more powerful AA than an elven AA. Add in the elven dex enhancements and spot enhancements, and you get a rather potent mix. Human: the extra feat allows you to take the required feats (more on those later) while getting early access to feats like Toughness. Further, you do not suffer the negative to constitution. Dwarf: extra constitution is a nice bonus, while the negative to charisma really doesn’t hurt anyone (except those looking at you). Also allows further access to the toughness enhancement line due to the dwarven constitution enhancements. Halfling: no negative to constitution, but a negative to strength. If you’re going ranger (which I suggest), this hurts your damage due to bow strength. Warforged: bonus to constitution, while taking a hit to charisma and wisdom. This wisdom hit, while slightly painful, is not truly detrimental. Drow: Similar to the elf, but without the enhancements to the bow. If your choice is between Drow or Elf, go elf. Half-Orc: Full disclosure, I have not rolled a h-orc yet. I’m waiting to level another character to 20 before I roll one. However, I can make a few observations here. The h-orc is a boon to tempest builds. It also helps AAs during their melee times. The Orcish fury, the melee damage boost enhancement are both quite useful for that portion of the AA. However, other than the str bonuses and melee weapon bonuses, this race does not really lend itself to the AA. I may be wrong, and you’re welcome to state so (and why please, I like learning this stuff too) in the replies below. Half-Elf : I’ve taken the time to learn more about the h-elf before posting an addendum here for this race. That having been said, I’m learning to like it more and more. Mostly because of the dilatant lines. These are going to be changing (from what I can see here) shortly, and these are giving more reason to like it. That having been said, the h-elf is a viable option for an AA, much like humans are. They do not receive the bonus to dex that the elf gets, but they do get a better con score, and more opportunity for hit points through the human adaptability lines. So on to the best dilatant lines. Don’t take the ranger dilatant. You get all these options anyway, and the note tells you not to regardless. The barbarian and paladin lines are interesting, and worth considering. But I believe them to be sub-par for the AA. I don’t believe that the fighter dilatant line will be of much use to the ranger for a few reasons: 1) with the dex bonus you have, you won’t be wearing armor, you’ll be wearing outfits or robes and 2) you don’t use stunning blow/trip/sunder as an AA. The Cleric/FvS dilatants offer quite a bit in the way of self-healing, especially if you take them to their fullest, allowing 95% success on heal scrolls, without UMD. And that’s big. Add to that the fact that starting with the necessary wisdom is much more likely, and this makes a powerful reason to go h-elf. Similarly, for those interested in AC on an AA, the monk dilatant will permit up to an additional 5 AC based on your wisdom score, without the need of splashing monk, meaning that you can go pure ranger, and get the main reason people add monk to their build. The rogue dilatant will add significant damage while in SA range, and will add possibilities for the dex enhancement lines. Finally, the arcane caster dilatants (wizard and sorcerer) will be nice for those wanting to unlock the ability to use scrolls for their benefit (like GH, stoneskin, etc.) Ultimately, one should look carefully at what dilatant lines are open to them, and what they want to invest in it. You’ll have to balance the choice with the enhancements you want to take. Class-wise, if you’re serious about ranged combat, ranger is the way to go. At first level, you receive the feat Bow Strength, which adds your strength modifier to your ranged damage. Further, you get many of the important bow feats (such as precise shot, improved precise shot, multishot, and rapid shot) for free, while also receiving the two weapon fighting feats that you’ll (hopefully) fall back on in combat situations. However, fighter, wizard, and sorcerer are not unheard of classes for the AA. For many casters, AA can provide additional non-sp damage during combat where there is a desire to save sp. The fighter kensai enhancement can provide some real benefit as well, though I will not go into it here. |
![]() |
|
| Bowana | Jan 20 2012, 04:16 PM Post #2 |
|
The Grandmaster
![]()
|
Feats There are two prerequisite feats for the AA: Point Blank Shot and Weapon Focus: Ranged. The feat Mental Toughness can be used as the third prerequisite for the AA, though it may also be replaced by an enhancement from one of the caster classes: Elven Arcanum I (wizard), Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded I (sorcerer), Wizard Energy of the Scholar I (wizard), Bard Energy of Music I (bard), or the feat Past Life: Arcane Prodigy (sorcerer). For most AA builds, the third feat after PBS and WF:R will be mental toughness, as it is available to rangers at level 6 without splashing an arcane class for the enhancement option. My feat progression suggestion is as follows: lvl 1: Point Blank Shot lvl 3: Weapon Focus: Ranged lvl 6: Mental Toughness lvl 9: Improved Critical: Ranged lvl 12: Toughness lvl 15: Weapon Finesse/Improved Critical: Slashing (for non-finesse characters) lvl 18: Improved Critical: Piercing (for finesse characters)/Power Attack (non-finesse characters) The above gets you the feats you need, the feats you want (Toughness), and the feats you’ll want for the melee you will do (IC: Slashing should you choose to rely on your strength modifier and scimitars/longsowrds, or WF and IC: Piercing should you choose to rely on your dex modifier and rapiers). If you are a ranger, you will receive all the other feats you’ll need for free, if you choose the fighter path, you’ll want to ensure that you get the feats you otherwise would have gotten for free by using your fighter bonus feats for those you can (like IC: Ranged and WF: Ranged) and use the regular feats for those that cannot be selected as fighter feats. If you choose the arcane path, with AA as additional non-sp damage, you’ll obviously want to drop the melee feats for meta-magic feats. But that’s neither here, nor there. Ability Point Distribution Obviously, dexterity is a key ability. It determines how often you’re going to hit with that bow of yours. But DO NOT neglect constitution or strength. I will always recommend a starting constitution of 14. As an elf, I recommend going 14 Str, 14 Con, 10 wis, and the rest into dex. This distribution will give you a solid character regardless of whether you are a 28 point build or 32 point build. 32 point builds can afford to put more into constitution or strength, however. Level up points at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 should go into dex. This will allow a character to get to a dex score in the low to mid 30s, easily, while still having a con score of over 20, and a str score in the mid to high 20s. Wisdom for spells and imbuing will come from levels, items, and enhancements. The exact numbers will vary based on your class and race. By refusing to neglect strength, you allow yourself the melee alternative, either by increasing your to-hit and damage should you choose a non-finesse route, or by increasing your damage with rapiers or shortswords. By keeping an eye on your con score, you ensure that you can take a hit, either while using the bow or in melee combat, without crumbling at the first, second, third, or fourth hit. |
![]() |
|
| Bowana | Jan 20 2012, 04:17 PM Post #3 |
|
The Grandmaster
![]()
|
Combat I CANNOT stress this enough: the most important lesson you will ever learn as an AA is when to put the bow away!! Yes, this is coming from an AA who loves ranged action. Just because you are an AA does not mean that you can ignore melee combat. You will melee. Get used to the idea, and figure out when you need to do that. Now, on to the ranged combat in party. As I view it, the most important role the AA has in a group is to eliminate those high-risk enemies that melee will have trouble getting to: namely casters and clerics that hang out in the back of the fight and cause problems. I say this because the ranger has a wonderful feat: Precise Shot. It allows you to hit one target, and one target only, that is behind a whole mess of other stuff that you don’t want to get angry. Add burst damage from multishot, and a party with an AA should be able to feel comfortable letting the melee beat on the melee, while knowing that the massive damage from fireballs will be focused on the character with the evasion, reflex save, resistances, and hit points to easily survive them while never draining the clerics resources. Once these high-risk enemies have been dealt with, the feat Improved Precise Shot becomes your friend for the melee. By this time, most melee should be firmly attacking your party’s melee, and you shouldn’t be drawing aggro, allowing you to safely deal the dps. However, if multishot is on cooldown, feel free to weapon up and get into the melee. You will likely do more damage this way, and show your party that you’re not a one-trick pony. Kiting: this tactic deserves special mention. When you are soloing, kite away. Feel free. Do it all you want throughout the entire dungeon. In a party, you will not earn any friends. Any kiting should be done towards the melee party members, except for one exception listed below. You kite into your melee so that any intim tank can take the aggro, and so that the melee DPS doesn’t run after you trying to kill in 2 swings what you’re running around the dungeon. As a ranged character, you are better off not having the aggro of something with a big sword while all you wield is a bow. If you do pull aggro, but do not want to kite into the party, switch weapons, get into melee, and end the threat. This allows party members to quickly get to your aid, and dispach the mob quickly. The only time an AA in a party should kite away from the party is when they are doing so to reduce the aggro on melee who are being overwhelmed. Once the party has dealt with the reduced threat, kite into the party again. |
![]() |
|
| Bowana | Jan 20 2012, 04:18 PM Post #4 |
|
The Grandmaster
![]()
|
GEAR There are few bows and weapons that I consider essential for every AA to have. They are as follows: The Silver Bow. Until you get a GS bow, and sometimes even after, this bow is your ultimate weapon against 90% of the mobs in this game. It has an increased base damage. It has an improved crit range, and it’s available at lvl 6. There is no reason for any AA to not have this in their arsenal. It drops from the lvl 9 quest “The Church and the Cult” in House P. The questgiver is up on top of the Golden Wing Inn. It really isn’t a difficult quest. If you don’t have this bow, go get it. Now. I’m not kidding. Stop farming favor or xp and get this bow. Paralyzing bow. This is one of those weapons that makes melee happy, particularly in the lower levels. With improved precise shot, you can immobilize the entire enemy army for the melee to deal with at whim. Switching targets keeps everything stationary until the death comes. You may not deal the final blow, but you’ve just saved the melee and your healer a TON of hassle. Vorpal weapons. If you go weapon finesse, get a pair of vorpal kukri’s or sickles. If you don’t go WF, get one of the aforementioned or longsword, scimitar, or exotic slasher you may have access to. For trash mob melee clean up, there’s few things better than dualing vorpals. They may take some time or money to acquire, but keep working at it. DPS melee weapons. Keep an eye out for holy/elemental burst weapons of your particular stripe with handy effects such as pure good or destruction. Smiting/Banishing. Keep an eye out. These types of bows are normally fairly cheap. Gear The following are some pieces of gear to keep an eye out for, or otherwise work for: Dex/Wis/Con/Str items. Each will be a boon for you. Fortification items. You will not have as much hp as a melee, so preventing critical hits on you is a must. Wizardry robe or item. Have it on before you enter a quest or shrine. Buff up, hit your imbue ability, then switch to your real armor. My 20 ranger, with a base 10 wisdom, has over 500 sp when entering a quest. That’s more than enough for any quest I have yet to run, and I easily use 100 sp on my initial buffing (which empties out the spare sp from my magi robe nicely). Superior Devotion IV or Potency IV. As a ranger, you get up to lvl 4 healing spells. Superior Devotion or Potency IV boosts those by 50% and are rather cheap to get, especially on a weapon or shield that you can equip for healing between battles. Raid Gear includes the Quiver of Alacrity and Wretched Twilight from the Abbott, Tumbleweed from the Hound or ToD rings. |
![]() |
|
| Bowana | Jan 20 2012, 04:19 PM Post #5 |
|
The Grandmaster
![]()
|
Many Tyrs-mates have seen Pynthetica at work. She rarely goes melee for many of the reasons you noted. I'll add some comments to supplement your notes. Gear: In addition to the Silver Longbow, Pynthetica carries bows appropriate to the area, which requires some review of quests before entering. Elemental bows are on hand (which stack nicely with imbued arrows; see below) as is a paralyzing crowd-control bow and the universal +5 Metalline of Pure Good, the Harry Buster needed for The Shroud. Pynthetica carries khopeshes for the rare times she ever melees, which I will admit she doesn't do often. See next. Tactics and Skills and Spells: Pynthetica whacks out her Spot skill, allowing her (with the game rendering up to nearly maximum) to strike death from very, very far away. In places like the Sands, Pynthetica easily solos and has no equal, even against the gnoll sharpshooters. Combine that with the +3 paralyzer bow and she rarely has to heal while dispensing mobs. A ranger without sufficient Spot will find themselves too close to the action. Hide and Move Silently are useful in close-fitting locations such as dungeons and sewers. Pyn rarely solos these purely, often carrying a hireling fighter as a "chew toy," gaining the aggro before Pyn rains death from beyond. Pyn's strength is that she doesn't move until (through Spot) she finds all targets and uses her summoned lion or hireling to get the enemies attention first. Because she holds to this strategy, Pyn rarely puts herself in a place where she can't take down something before they come too close and force her to kite them any significant distance. Manyshot is Pyn's best friend. A simple tactic is: Sneak up, line them up (Improved Precise Shot is on) and shoot. There is no effective limit to how many mobs Pyn has killed in 20 seconds when she takes advantage of a small hallway or door. She is a good beholder killer because Hide is not Invisibility. Rangers in DDO have very useful spells. Energy Resists are most welcome, as is Barkskin and Cure Critical Wounds, enabling Pyn to solo and rebuff and remain durable for some time. The three buffs that Pyn immediately uses when entering any area are: Ram's Might (+2 STR), Longstrider (extra speed) and one of the imbued types. Acid is generally good on all except elementals and clay golems--even if you hit once, it's damage keeps on giving, and is particularly good on tough ones like trolls. Force imbues means never having to carry Ghost Touch weaponry and is helpful against monsters that save against anything else. Explosive imbues rarely seem effective in the game, sadly. Pyn normally has her unlimited Arcane Arrows in use but has collected an assortment of specialty ones. Having Cold Iron and Adamantine arrows (when she's not using her Metalline bow) are good when elemental damage is more important than just bypassing DR. AAs should carry healing wands and, if human, add some points to Human Improved Recovery. |
![]() |
|
| Yaz | Jan 20 2012, 07:08 PM Post #6 |
|
The Purple Mage
![]()
|
Airil agree with most of the advice, Airil does like to talk on third person too ![]() But, even when i have several sets for melee damage if i had to tell when to leave the bow and go for melee my answer would be "hardly ever". Not sure if that situation really worth the feats. Edited by Yaz, Jan 20 2012, 07:08 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Ranger Academy · Next Topic » |






8:03 PM Jul 10