[2.2] Poor Mans Guide to Bows - 114K DPS and Atziri on a 5L

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shahmat1972 wrote:

How high have you taken this is maps? Any you stay away from?

Terrace boss is incredibly hard - if not impossible - for bow rangers.

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darkjoy wrote:

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lussiano wrote:

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darkjoy wrote:

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He uses the support gem.

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Thank you. But that leads to another question: is Pierce worth it without a Drillneck? That gem slot could be used by Added Fire, for example.

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Without a Drillneck? It feels good without a Drillneck, I just switched from Chain to Pierce in a 4 link and I'm already liking the Peirce much more. Chain is really fun and I think it's better than Pierce when you're leveling up, but once your character hits a certain point then Pierce really shines. At least this has been my experience so far with the build, I'm 87 and switched to Pierce @85. The goal is of course to get a Drillneck and try it out. I'm using this in the meantime:

Drillneck is very much a nice to have. And it is no good if you want to run chain instead of pierce. You should also probably take the pierce nodes on the tree so that your single target attack gains benefit from the increase damage.

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Tuck359 wrote:

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I have another Drillneck question. If you have a Drillneck does Pierce become a must include support gem for both Frenzy as well as LA maybe as a 5th socket over Weapon Elemental Damage? I'm just trying to maximize the dps and wasn't 100% sure what was the best 5th support gem


Also I have another question: After you get Lioneye's is Ice Golem still the best or does Flame Golem's 30% damage outweigh it. I was just wondering since you dont get the bonus from accuracy anymore.

It is not a must, but you should probably take the pierce nodes on the tree, otherwise drillneck offers you little benefit on your single target.

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ben_hure wrote:

Hey AngryCustard,

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first off, great guide! I enjoy the way you write, keeping it simple and compelling.

I am following Neversinks guide for a TS ranger, but always loved LA more. So I decided to take the stuff I like from both guides and make a hybrid - especially as both trees are quite similar.

I am on a budget (around 1ex so far), obviously, otherwise I wouldn't bother with a thread for poor men.

I have a 5l chest and a Lioneyes. Plan is to get a Daresso (5l) and then going for the LA setup.

I did not understand whether to use Pierce or Chain though. In your "set-up" category, you are using chain, but in your skill analysis you say that Pierce is way better.

So what to choose?
LA - GMP - Pierce/Chain - PPaD - WED

Basically Pierce is going to offer you a much higher DPS as it doesn't have a negative multiplier, it is also going to 'proc' more hits if you pierce a group of mobs you will get more hits out of your LA than with chain. That said if you are playing on a potato, or you're in a party you should probably consider chain. The reason I say chain for party play is that if you use pierce you will off screen a lot of mobs and that means your party will suffer XP wise(you'll be fine just not them). So I use chain because it limits my range. It can also shoot around corners and requires zero brain power to kill mobs of enemies.

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shahmat1972 wrote:

How high have you taken this is maps? Any you stay away from?

I have only done 78 maps on this character, not because it can't go higher, but because pre 2.0.3 I never had an 79 maps. I have been able to do every boss I have come across so far easily. Including Orchard boss and Terrace boss. I have reached 91 on my ranger so I am putting my focus into a CoC build currently, but I should record some game play in high level maps for people.

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lussiano wrote:

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shahmat1972 wrote:

How high have you taken this is maps? Any you stay away from?

Terrace boss is incredibly hard - if not impossible - for bow rangers.

Gonna be honest, if you use an Atziri flask and stand at the edge of the screen this boss isn't an issue at all. Orchard boss is more troublesome.

What about Added Fire as the fifth gem, instead of pierce or chain?

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lussiano wrote:

What about Added Fire as the fifth gem, instead of pierce or chain?

You're only going to get one set of hits. So your paper DPS will look strong, but in reality each set of arrows you fire off will only hit once, with pierce it can hit many many times, with chain it can hit three times per arrow. So over all you end up with WAY WAY more DPS with chain/pierce.

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lussiano wrote:

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shahmat1972 wrote:

How high have you taken this is maps? Any you stay away from?

Terrace boss is incredibly hard - if not impossible - for bow rangers.

I've never had a problem with it with a 275 pDPS crit Harbinger back when Warbands started. Dunno why people say it's impossible.

Also, Split Arrow is probably the best choice for pack clearing at the moment. The only skill that can come close is probably Lightning Arrow, and that comes with a price. Huge mana cost.

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returnofsnow wrote:

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lussiano wrote:

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shahmat1972 wrote:

How high have you taken this is maps? Any you stay away from?

Terrace boss is incredibly hard - if not impossible - for bow rangers.

I've never had a problem with it with a 275 pDPS crit Harbinger back when Warbands started. Dunno why people say it's impossible.

Also, Split Arrow is probably the best choice for pack clearing at the moment. The only skill that can come close is probably Lightning Arrow, and that comes with a price. Huge mana cost.

Split arrow is pox.

"no, u"

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skuadak wrote:

"no, u"

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SA4life

I don't get why people like split arrow. First of all it has a low DPS multiplier. Secondly it has no AOE effect like Lightning Arrow/Ice Shot. So you need to link it with chain to actually make it hit the entire back, pierce won't work. It is also visually unappealing. So yeah, low damage, annoying to use and boring.

I can't comvince you to like it, but trust me its AoE is just fine and you don't need chain to use it. My profile is open if you wanna look SA setup without chani. (Basicaly like with chain, but there's no chain)

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skuadak wrote:

I can't convince you to like it, but trust me its AoE is just fine and you don't need chain to use it. My profile is open if you wanna look SA setup without chain. (Basically like with chain, but there's no chain)

I have taken a look at your setup. First off... That bow is incredible. Secondly you're running your split arrow on a 6L... Thirdly it only has direct damage, and you have no pierce. Meaning that you only hit whatever is standing in the way of your arrows and nothing more. You'll probably hit them for a metric shit down of damage. But there is no secondary hit other than herald of ash. I whole heartedly believe your clear speed would be significantly improved by adding either pierce or chain to your current setup, and then further improved by changing to either ice shot GMP/LMP or Lightning Arrow. Your Tooltip DPS will drop but your actual DPS and clear speed will go up... a lot.

Currently in order for you to clear a pack you have to keep shooting till every monster has been hit by your initial hits as you don't have any secondary. If you add chain/pierce you get secondary hits, changing to lightning arrow you then get secondary hits on each of your other hits, and with Ice shot you get AOE explosions per hit. ~shrugs~ I'd rather fire one shot into a pack and watch as the arrows bounce around and cause multiple hits, while I'm moving onto the next pack, than stand there mindlessly spamming split arrows to finally get that last straggler.