Hey hey, New player - lvl 10ish Ranger - Loving the game a ton. Mostly Solo. Curious about the arrow selection and tactics other rangers are using. I’ve been starting with a charged shot at distance followed by a poison arrow, then a piercing arrow, and then spam. I repeat as able till something is dead. I have been testing using the spread arrow in place of the piercing arrow for when the mobs get in my face. I am wondering if it would be better to start with a charged poison arrow; been trying it but can’t tell if I am doing more or less damage over all that way.
My main question: Anyone know if there any cost benefits to separating the charged arrow from a special arrow or combining them? I know it doesn’t amplify effects but are the effects totally additive?
I apologize if this is being addressed elsewhere. I have searched and mostly found posts related to arrow spam.
There’s another ranger thread where it was noted you lose DPS if you combine charge and Pierce, especially since you’ll have 2 crit chances vs 1 if you split them.
Can’t remember which Ranger thread it was. You’ll find it though
Kewl, I can see how firing two arrows means more crit chances but is that beyond the many arrows we will be firing regardless. I was just looking around for the ranger thread you mentioned and saw that charged shots and ability arrows both add to super charging. I am trying to figure out if it adds both bonuses if you charge an ability arrow - and other things like that.
I start with charged poison, so it will start ticking and you don’t have to charge during combat. Then I like to hit it once more to get an extra orb or two (bonus damage) and then hit it with piercing. Once it reaches you, you can optionally do a teleport to get some distance, and by the time it reaches you a second time the piercing arrow should be ready to mostly finish it off.
If you don’t poison, or wait for the poison to end, then the trap is very useful. Turn away from the mob, toss the trap behind you (easier than tossing in front), and teleport away. Then you can wait for your arrows and charge to come back and basically start the damage rotation from scratch on an enemy that is already injured.
To aim in general, I aim down the arrow straignt at the mob and then in a quick motion I angle the bow up and release. This makes my side-to-side aiming consistent (compared to aiming while angling) and then the distance is just a matter of practice and gut feeling. You can’t really aim vertically except by gut, so don’t overthink that part.
Fun, I hold the bow horizontal - parallel to the ground - and then use the arrow head and shaft to aim. Right now it seems like I get the most damage with a non ability charged shot followed by a quick poison shot but you are right it might be good to get a few more shots at distance.
I hold the bow at 30° from vertical and use the shaft, I’ve been shooting long enough to know instinctively how to compensate for ballistic drop. Sometimes I miss, but it’s only on max distance