Archery/?

[Lord_Infinity]

What would be a great secondary for archery and is the lethal damage of the set still highly resisted ?

[Rhymere]

Tactical arrow is butter

[ZorkNemesis]

Lethal is pretty resisted by most everything late game but it's not gamebreakingly resisted.  I have two Archery Blasters at 50 and neither of them have much trouble knocking down bad guys and good guys alike.

 

The two Archery Blasters I built, one is /Energy, the other is /Plant.  /Energy is nice for Boost Range and the fairly fast animations of Archery let me shoot things from another time zone.  /Plant gives me a strong control option with Vines to prevent things from escaping Rain of Arrows, plus Toxins helps the Lethal damage issue by adding Toxic damage (however the bonus damage can't be boosted giving more power to Build Up in general and due to how RoA works Toxins does nothing for RoA).

 

I hear /TacArrow is a strong secondary for Archery and I imagine /Devices is pretty good too if you want to keep your distance.

[Frozen Burn]

I have /Devices and /Tactical Arrow.  Both are awesome!  And I have no issues late game.  

 

My /Devices i build for max recharge and Acc/ToHit - she's squishie as hell, but highly deadly.  Double gun drones perma - 3 of them when speed boosted, ageless, or etc. 

My /TA is sturdier and I will solo +4x8 incarnate content with it.  

[MonteCarla]

I think I saw an analysis of resistances by damage type for enemy groups on the old forums, and Lethal came out worst, doing around 92% of the damage of other damage types.

Which isn't that big a deal really.

 

My Archery/Tactical Arrow Blaster blasted with the best of them (to within 8% anyway 🙂)

 

And Carnies are vulnerable to Lethal, the entire group has -20% Lethal Resist.

[tidge]

I get a kick out of playing my Archery/Tactical Arrow. In the "design space" of the final build I found it fun to have a blaster that very naturally allowed for conventional power slotting (with sets) and for %procs... It was an unusual circumstance (for me) because of the lack of melee attacks.

[bAss_ackwards]

TA/Nin is nice. The crits from out of stealth don't require any extra animation time, and from stealth you do extra damage. Helps make that Lethal damage go further.

[Ringo]

I went Archery/Ice.  I don't remember why, off the top of my head, but I do remember looking for a good pairing with my first Archery blaster and something about Ice made me think

 

"Oh this is gonna be cool"

[icehero]

On 2/22/2024 at 1:56 AM, Frozen Burn said:

I have /Devices and /Tactical Arrow.  Both are awesome!  And I have no issues late game.  

 

My /Devices i build for max recharge and Acc/ToHit - she's squishie as hell, but highly deadly.  Double gun drones perma - 3 of them when speed boosted, ageless, or etc. 

My /TA is sturdier and I will solo +4x8 incarnate content with it.  

Would you share your Arch/TA build?

[Frozen Burn]

On 3/4/2024 at 1:58 PM, icehero said:

Would you share your Arch/TA build?

 

Here you go...

 

@icehero

I decided to redo the build to take powers earlier and change up from Resistance-based to Defense-based.  Here is what I'm running with now....

 

Deadly Nock - Blaster (Archery - Tactical Arrow).mbd

 

Edited March 5 by Frozen Burn
Updating with new build.

[Akki]

On 3/3/2024 at 8:40 PM, bAss_ackwards said:

TA/Nin is nice. The crits from out of stealth don't require any extra animation time, and from stealth you do extra damage. Helps make that Lethal damage go further.

That sounds exactly like what I am trying to build. Mind sharing with the rest of us?

[bAss_ackwards]

21 hours ago, Akki said:

That sounds exactly like what I am trying to build. Mind sharing with the rest of us?

Sure I can share when I get home. Though my builds are not the norm. I like challenging myself to build durable characters. 😆

[bAss_ackwards]

On 3/15/2024 at 7:48 PM, Akki said:

That sounds exactly like what I am trying to build. Mind sharing with the rest of us?

I forgot to share it yesterday, but here you go today! 😅

 

Sneak-Attack - Blaster (Archery - Ninja Training)-04.mbd

Edited March 18 by bAss_ackwards

[Riggsiron]

Question from a noobie - Snap Shot or Aimed Shot?

Looking at various posted builds I can find and it seems pretty split. 

 

Still learning a lot, seems like having 2 tier 1 attacks is a waste, (good at level 2 maybe but not after), is there a big difference in damage vs recharge time favoring one or the other?

 

**edit

So it looks like after some quick testing Snap shot has a base recharge of 2 seconds, 8.5 damage. Aimed shot is 6 seconds and 13.5 damage.

 

So for level 1 snap shot is better - but I guess as you level and get more powers, the fast recharge time doesnt matter as you will be cycling through more higher/better powers - making aimed shot better? Or are there 'procs' I still have to learn about where rapid hits are overall better?

 

Thanks in advance

Edited March 18 by Riggsiron

[Frozen Burn]

10 minutes ago, Riggsiron said:

Question from a noobie - Snap Shot or Aimed Shot?

Looking at various posted builds I can find and it seems pretty split. 

 

Still learning a lot, seems like having 2 tier 1 attacks is a waste, (good at level 2 maybe but not after), is there a big difference in damage vs recharge time favoring one or the other?

 

You are right, you will hear a millions different ideologies on this.  Here's one you may not hear much, but I swear by....

 

I always take my T1 and T2 primary and T1 secondary for defiance.  When you're mezzed, you can still use all 3 of these.  Many will skip 1 or 2 of these, but I can't tell you how many times having all three saved my life when I mezzed and had no breakfrees or other means of defending myself.  Even in end-game and hard-modes when mobs can overcome Clarion, having these help.  And depending on powersets / build, I typically will use at least 2 of them in an attack chain - even at end game content.  Also, many times, that T1 secondary is an immob which can be useful to help keep an EB/AV still when you're light on controls for the team.  Plus, those immobs usually do more damage than your T1 primary and can be worth slotting up.

 

So short answer to your question - I say take both!  

 

But build and play how you want.   🙂  

 

[Akki]

1 hour ago, bAss_ackwards said:

I forgot to share it yesterday, but here you go today! 😅

 

Sneak-Attack - Blaster (Archery - Ninja Training)-04.mbd 46.23 kB · 0 downloads

Awesome! These defenses are on point! Thanks for sharing.

 

33 minutes ago, Riggsiron said:

Question from a noobie - Snap Shot or Aimed Shot?

Looking at various posted builds I can find and it seems pretty split. 

 

Still learning a lot, seems like having 2 tier 1 attacks is a waste, (good at level 2 maybe but not after), is there a big difference in damage vs recharge time favoring one or the other?

I tend to side with @Frozen Burn on this. I prefer to have both. In the event I can only fit 1 power in my build, I pick the one with the fastest recharge and put the +status resist blaster IO in it. More chances to proc and could help alleviate the issue that caused you to use defiance in the first place.

[Riggsiron]

Thanks both for the answers!

 

Other question....will that mean losing out on a better high level power later? or do you have enough that its not like you need every one on the list or whatever it works out to?

Edited March 18 by Riggsiron

[bAss_ackwards]

24 minutes ago, Akki said:

Awesome! These defenses are on point! Thanks for sharing.

Very welcome! Vengeance is there to push +Def further, but hopefully you're on a team where you won't have to use that often. Also being able to dive into crowds to get even more +Def and +Regen. Some decent +Res and +HP so you don't fold like a paper cup if something does go through (more like a double layered carboard cup!)

 

Can probably get rid of Acrobatics once you get Clarion Core Epiphany, but it is nice to have as you level up to 50 and towards that Incarnate ability.

[Akki]

27 minutes ago, Riggsiron said:

Thanks both for the answers!

 

Other question....will that mean losing out on a better high level power later? or do you have enough that its not like you need every one on the list or whatever it works out to?

You only get 24 powers from leveling. Every power you take is a choice that excludes one other power you could have taken. So potentially but not necessarily. You might opt to not take a primary, secondary, ancillary, or pool power to take both T1 powers. Else you might just have room from not wanting to take X power in your primary/secondary.

 

7 minutes ago, bAss_ackwards said:

Very welcome! Vengeance is there to push +Def further, but hopefully you're on a team where you won't have to use that often. Also being able to dive into crowds to get even more +Def and +Regen. Some decent +Res and +HP so you don't fold like a paper cup if something does go through (more like a double layered carboard cup!)

 

Can probably get rid of Acrobatics once you get Clarion Core Epiphany, but it is nice to have as you level up to 50 and towards that Incarnate ability.

Luckily I already have a 50 Arch/Nin that just needs some love. I am playing around with some slots and thematic powers I want specifically for this build. But this is such a fantastic base to work from it has saved me a fair bit of time.

Edited March 18 by Akki

[Hjarki]

If you want to play an 'archer' Blaster, you're normally better off with Tactical Arrow rather than Archery. Archery as a blast set only really has one good spot: Explosive Arrow. 

 

Blazing Arrow is worse than a T2 power like Gloom (which is admittedly a very strong example of a T2 power). Ranged Shot has the longest activation time of any sniper attack (which is shares with several other similar sniper shots). Aimed Shot is a fairly typical T1 power (in the T2 slot) and Snap Shot is terrible. Lastly, Archery lacks a true ultimate.

 

You could pair it with something like /Electricity and build a primarily melee ST attack chain. You could pair it with Martial to get a pseudo-ultimate in secondary. Or you could just pick something like Tactical Arrow and deal with low damage for thematic reasons.

[Nemu]

5 hours ago, Riggsiron said:

Question from a noobie - Snap Shot or Aimed Shot?

Looking at various posted builds I can find and it seems pretty split. 

 

Still learning a lot, seems like having 2 tier 1 attacks is a waste, (good at level 2 maybe but not after), is there a big difference in damage vs recharge time favoring one or the other?

 

**edit

So it looks like after some quick testing Snap shot has a base recharge of 2 seconds, 8.5 damage. Aimed shot is 6 seconds and 13.5 damage.

 

So for level 1 snap shot is better - but I guess as you level and get more powers, the fast recharge time doesnt matter as you will be cycling through more higher/better powers - making aimed shot better? Or are there 'procs' I still have to learn about where rapid hits are overall better?

 

Thanks in advance

Whether you take 1, 2 or all 3 of the T1/2 powers that you can use when mezzed depends on the build.

 

The practical approach is to look at the recharge vs cast time on the power on a final build. On any build that has decent recharge, that bonus + the recharge enhancement in those individual powers may mean that you can form a seamless attack chain with just 1 or 2 of those picks. If that's the case, then the powers that you don't use are redundant with them being set mules in the best case scenario.

[Frozen Burn]

7 hours ago, Riggsiron said:

Thanks both for the answers!

 

Other question....will that mean losing out on a better high level power later? or do you have enough that its not like you need every one on the list or whatever it works out to?

 

You have enough power slots to choose ALL primary and secondary + 6 pool/epic powers.  If you want more pool/epics, then you have eliminate something from primary or secondary.

 

If you are unfamiliar with a powerset or AT... I suggest take as many of your primary or secondary powers as you can leveling up.  Get used to them and see how they work in your build, attack chain, playstyle, etc.  Then later on in levels, if there is a power(s) you're not keen on for whatever reason, then you can respec out of it/them and opt in for other pools/epics as replacements.  Once you get more familiar with the game and the AT, it's easier to skip things right from the start that you know you won't like.  

[CloudMouse]

If an Arch/ blaster isn't doing it for you - an arch/kin corr will give you the dps you might be looking for. Archery seems to have the fastest activation times across the board so coupled with all that +recharge means you are throwing out heavy hitting lethal attacks super fast. Coupled with scourge? Super fun to play, not at all undercut but lethal resists.

[Riggsiron]

3 hours ago, Frozen Burn said:

 

You have enough power slots to choose ALL primary and secondary + 6 pool/epic powers.  If you want more pool/epics, then you have eliminate something from primary or secondary.

 

If you are unfamiliar with a powerset or AT... I suggest take as many of your primary or secondary powers as you can leveling up.  Get used to them and see how they work in your build, attack chain, playstyle, etc.  Then later on in levels, if there is a power(s) you're not keen on for whatever reason, then you can respec out of it/them and opt in for other pools/epics as replacements.  Once you get more familiar with the game and the AT, it's easier to skip things right from the start that you know you won't like.  

Awesome thanks! 

I was forgetting there are free respecs at certain levels.

 

AM used to other games where points/resources are tight and if you want a good build at later levels you cant waste any picks early on etc.

[bAss_ackwards]

8 hours ago, Hjarki said:

If you want to play an 'archer' Blaster, you're normally better off with Tactical Arrow rather than Archery. Archery as a blast set only really has one good spot: Explosive Arrow. 

 

Blazing Arrow is worse than a T2 power like Gloom (which is admittedly a very strong example of a T2 power). Ranged Shot has the longest activation time of any sniper attack (which is shares with several other similar sniper shots). Aimed Shot is a fairly typical T1 power (in the T2 slot) and Snap Shot is terrible. Lastly, Archery lacks a true ultimate.

 

You could pair it with something like /Electricity and build a primarily melee ST attack chain. You could pair it with Martial to get a pseudo-ultimate in secondary. Or you could just pick something like Tactical Arrow and deal with low damage for thematic reasons.

Yes but... have you heard of the rule of cool? 😎

 

As long as something is not so incredibly far behind the theme, etc. can make a character so much fun to play!