DPS Discrepancy between Bow Ranger and (Fire) Witch

Sorry if there is already a topic like this, i did not find any.

So I started with a friend from the beginning, me as a bow ranger and he as a witch which he wanted to build as a pure fire witch.

One thing I noticed very early on is that because of my fast projectiles I mostly kill the enemies before his spells hit. This gap increased over the levels up to the point that now with level 36 I do 800 DPS with burning arrow and supports gems + aura (up to 1200DPS through Point Blank keystone) whereas with fireball and such he only does around 400 DPS. Firestorm is a bit better, but he has not found many support gems for it. Even my level 52 witch does only around 500 DPS with fireball but at least around 2000DPS with firestorm + support gems.

Needless to say it is quite boring for him so he leveled ahead and now 5 levels above me he still does not do nearly the same amount of damage. He is using the same passive skill routes as my level 52 witch.

So the magic question is: Known problem or not or not a problem at all?

Are you pure glass cannon? I'm only getting about 100-150dps at 30th level as a bow duelist with defensive passives.

Known, but intended: spells don't usually come out ahead in their initial damage-per-second results.
Their advantages come from getting to ignore accuracy/evasion rolls and - more importantly - from the elemental status effects (burning, freeze, chill, and shock).

Also, keep in mind that all projectiles (when you use multi projectile) can hit one enemy and with arrows only one hits. Totems can also greatly increase a casters dmg output. The items you both find also greatly affect your dmg output so you cant really draw any conclusions from just two characters.

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Blacknsilver wrote:

Are you pure glass cannon? I'm only getting about 100-150dps at 30th level as a bow duelist with defensive passives.

For now, yes. I tend to go fully on DPS while later I build the defense. Died only 8 times up to now and mostly because I was distracted. You have to play a little careful and have a good reaction time, though.

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Skivverus wrote:

Known, but intended: spells don't usually come out ahead in their initial damage-per-second results.
Their advantages come from getting to ignore accuracy/evasion rolls and - more importantly - from the elemental status effects (burning, freeze, chill, and shock).

That raises the question what good does it do if the targets are all dead before they hit ;)

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doemaarwat wrote:

Also, keep in mind that all projectiles (when you use multi projectile) can hit one enemy and with arrows only one hits. Totems can also greatly increase a casters dmg output. The items you both find also greatly affect your dmg output so you cant really draw any conclusions from just two characters.

Actually I noticed the same when playing with another friend. My bow ranger just got stronger and stronger very fast. Yes, I don't do much area damage but since I mostly one shot everything who cares ;) I am sure this will change on the later levels (never reached them with a bow ranger yet) but it makes playing with others quite boring for them. Granted, I should probably test this with > 10 bow rangers to get a proper result, but that's why I made this post to ask others.

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Skivverus wrote:

Known, but intended: spells don't usually come out ahead in their initial damage-per-second results.
Their advantages come from getting to ignore accuracy/evasion rolls and - more importantly - from the elemental status effects (burning, freeze, chill, and shock).

Isn't accuracy already included in the DPS calculation?
Also, elemental status effects are easy to come by with bow skiils.

The OP is getting quite good DPS with fire arrow for their level. The discrepency could be a build/gear issue rather than a fundamental disparity between casters and archers?

Edit:

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Schmackbolzen wrote:

I don't do much area damage but since I mostly one shot everything who cares ;)

The single target vs AoE skills may be the crux of the matter. At higher levels with more enemies to deal with the situation may even out somewhat?

Can you post the two builds and equipment for the sake of comparison?

Its hard to make an accurate comparison when so much is unknown.

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indczn wrote:

Can you post the two builds and equipment for the sake of comparison?

Its hard to make an accurate comparison when so much is unknown.

Here it comes:

Skilltree: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAQIAA8XgawbARM8I23LXEmgPxxSDK5MWsGJ3J3mkDTMZhcJFtVD5SKVcsEm2H21VZA5rXKQcQl1HdkdexIRxaiLrvHPvG9yCee3uiUtaQYlpfpaLga1WjJ8LapmR8WCaaesopJhN4qnumV2reHEcrT2Gh7N4Xsq3CAsJuKQlXcRDEMnNqGFv1UmOgdjdRc3ZEmIN4CAnKe8eEl_wrtWS9HXTkw==

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My said friend will post his stuff too, he just doesn't speak english so don't bother asking him ;)

Skilltree: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAQMABExkwwcmypYLCtJZFgm_0iF52nohnXQyMr1m1jLquew268VUOtyqFT-eX01JRzicTTO-q1XIbMBWJRf_YhIaFmURcrVlpIcJZsc123cAFgl8hsoZf6rIHoKqKcSDhhvahnOLD5YcZWqYVKpkmS1ht7EoYKOx29P2uPV_7b0hu1bAcPSWwwcy58YhEwLLQR0RzcpmY83aqMbZm6gS2zMiuO3XuXj1ObqP-JMbnPxzusL9mG3T

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I'm impressed your ranger is getting by with zero defensive passives (well, except one unavoidable evasion passive)... no wonder your DPS is good :P