BOW USAGE and YOU!! How to achieve more consistant DPS

[syniste]

Well, I can't tell you how many times I've grouped with other assassin's who haven't used their ranged attackes to their full potential... Here's the deal: DPS from Ranged Skills is easily 2x that you will get from just using Shrouded Strike and a mid-level ability such as Cut Throat or Poisoner's Blade - or trying to initiate a HO for 150 pts of damage only to have the chain broken and your power wasted several times a fight. If your ranged skill is lacking, you'll be amazed at how much DPS you're missing.At level 32, I'm using a Sure Shot Bow - but any High-Delay, High-Damage bow will suffice. I have 3 non-gray ranged attack abilities... There's Head Shot (26), Cloaked Barb (29.6), and Deadly Shot. After you soften up the mob with an H.O. and Assassin's Blade / Ebon Blade / etc., I just back up a step, turn on my ranged atk and hit Head Shot - with a 7 second delay on the bow + self haste buff, I usually get off one regular shot + the Head Shot for around 100-200 damage each plus poison procs. Then I hit my Deadly Shot - the 2 shots from that, plus another regular bow attack are good for another couple hundred damage each of the 3 hits plus poison procs. Then, I finish with a fast-casting Cloaked Barb for another 300-400 damage plus procs. All of it takes a surprisingly small amount of time - just going by the skill cast times and having the next skill cached, it's a total of maybe 7 seconds? I don't have the cast times in front of me... so give or take a second or two. Poison also seems to proc more regularly on ranged attacks for some reason... more often than not.It uses much less power and generates consistant DPS for us - our closest relatives are rangers, so there's a reason we get these ranged attacks. After I use those attacks, I turn melee back on and rush in for a couple HO cycles and a Shrouded Strike + [insert stealth attack here]. If the mob is still alive, rinse and repeat.I started noticing the difference while I was in RE fighting Goblins. At level 32 Assassin, I was grouped with a 36 Assassin who was using up all of the non-stackable abilities of ours... Well, I figured since he wasn't using ranged attacks much, I'd mix all of those in instead of relying so heavily on skills like Cut, Ebon Blade, etc. that don't stack. It took me a while to up my somewhat malnurished ranged skill, but once I did, I was surprised at how much damage I was able to sling.Works for solo too - grab a mob with your Back ShotAdd a dash of your latest Snare skillKeep your distance and unload the remaining ranged skills while kiting (You can turn away and run while still using your ranged abilities to fire behind you).If it's still alive, go in for the melee kill with a stun, stealth, backstab combo (unless the poison DoT has proc'd).I've had Yellow Con mobs down to less than 1/2 health with just those 3 ranged skills before I even engage. I've actually killed solo White orcs in Zek on some occasions before they even engage.My suggestion - If you haven't made Ranged Attacks a primary part of you DPS role, try it out for a bit and see what you think. I'm using Carbonite Arrows - purchased in East Freeport for 19c each. That is cheap for the Damage you will be doing. I go through about 2 or 3 stacks of arrows per hour of grouping now and have never had a problem recouping the cost. Just watch your agro =)<p>Message Edited by synister9 on <span class=date_text>01-10-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:29 PM</span>

[frogspawn]

thanks. good post.

[Gli]

Great post.I have recently taken up a bow myself hearing how great we are with them. However I am stuck slowly raising my skillwhile fighting. I usually use head shot and back shot pretty early in the fight and run in since I am often needed doing damage to the mob. So start raising it early so you don't have to raise it later.

[Teriander]

Completely agree that our bow skills are top notch. Only problem with your method, and it's not a big one at all -- the bow is an expensive habit. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> (But I'm addicted)

[syniste]

True ... a bit expensive at times, but with all this talk about parsing going on lately I figured I'd chime in. Any parse of an Assassin's DPS where that assassin wasn't using their range-based abilities, is basically useless. There's all of these people posting about parsing for DPS all of a sudden... who hits harder than whome ... and we're just spike-based DPS blah blah blah... but, from having grouped with other assassins and knowing that most of them hardly use their ranged attacks and WHEN they do it's with some 10c bow that they out-grew like 20 levels ago, I thought I might as well get the word out there that there is DPS Beyond The Blade.

[Dormam]

<DIV>Another thing I have found is that there is a certain distance from the mob in a fight where you can still melee the target and get bow shots off at the same time.  Be aware of the minimum distance you can still use your bow and get used to going back only that far...any farther and you are wasting time.</DIV>

[syniste]

<blockquote><hr>Dormammu wrote:<DIV>Another thing I have found is that there is a certain distance from the mob in a fight where you can still melee the target and get bow shots off at the same time.  Be aware of the minimum distance you can still use your bow and get used to going back only that far...any farther and you are wasting time.</DIV><hr></blockquote>I'll have to check it out to see what makes more sense... If I'm meleeing, then hit ranged, back up and complete the 3 ranged abilities, I usually get off at least 2 maybe 3 regular hits inbetween the abilities with my 7s delay bow (sped up however much % from our haste). Now, the question is, would a couple of 150-200 normal hits with my bow be better, or would the several 20 damage hits from my melee + more chances to proc poison be better... not really sure. I honestly think it doesn't matter that much either way (ASSUMING that your bow is top-notch like you'd want your melee weapons to be - if you're using a green or grey bow, then probably not =b )<p>Message Edited by synister9 on <span class=date_text>01-10-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:31 PM</span>

[KroviusTu]

<DIV>I have a pristine ash long bow equiped presently, and I use it extensively during combat.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When I solo,</DIV> <DIV>I typically open up with Back shot (~250 dmg) and run backwards until Head shot (~150 dmg) fires.  After completing one or two melee combos, I tag the target with Ensnare and run back with a Volley (~200 + ~150 + ~100).  Repeat.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When grouped,</DIV> <DIV>To help maximize my dps, I stay close until Back Shot recharges.  It has the shortest casting time and it does well enough damage to be worth pulling away from battle to perform.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Combine ranged with a high tier poison (i've been using tier 4 poison), and you'll have mobs down to half health before they even touch you.  I've solo'd a few red targets this way =)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>[Edit]  I use carbonite and feyiron arrows... ranged combat gets really expensive, but being able to solo orange and red mobs makes it worth the price.</DIV><p>Message Edited by KroviusTuri on <span class=date_text>01-12-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:25 AM</span>