How are people using Stream of Arrows?

[RedLujan]

How are people using Stream of Arrows? I'm asking because its the only CA I never use. I remember people in the past raving about this, and I couldn't wait to get it, but it seems to me to be a DPS sink. I figured that Stream of Arrows would be useful in long fights when you start to run our of combat arts to cast, but whenever I use it, my DPS drops like a stone <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> As luck would have it <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, I've just got it as a Master1, but am reluctant to scribe it as its rare, and I don't think I'll use it - so what a waste. There's always a use for a combat art, so could someone please enlighten me as I'm sure I'm just not understanding this? I'm figuring there must be some combo that makes it useful in a certain situation, but I can't think of it. I mean its DPS even looks low, and you can't cast anything when its running right? Not even auto-attact?

[Nulad]

Only time it gets used is for a quick and sneaky /afk and to be honest I think just doing auto attack ranged will still out parse it, it was overnerfed and is as you have discovered pretty much useless. Used to be very overpowered and abused, it got taken too far when it was adjusted and needs another look at.

[Gareorn]

I removed it from my hotbar months ago. I have the Master I version and still don't use it.

[Starwindz]

<p>How are people using Stream of Arrows?</p><hr /><p>They aren't using it <img src="/smilies/385970365b8ed7503b4294502a458efa.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> !!!</p><p>In all seriousness if you have a t7 fabled bow theres really no reason to use stream of arrows. Its not even on my hot bar and i have the master version of it as well. For me having all my masters is a goal i want to reach so scribing the spell would not be an issue, and who knows the devs could come around and take a thrid look at it.  It may improve so i prolly wouldnt sell it either. </p>

[Sham07]

<p>It was useless in KoS times and now after we got some dps love it is even more....</p><p>And tbh i dont want a ca that does all the work for me for 30sek. Theres no skill in hitting it, have a bio and still parse reasonable. As such the whole CA itself is just stupid imo and i dont want it upgraded dps-wise.</p><p> The ONLY way to give it some use would be to increase recast to 2-3min and add aoe immunity while its up. Even then i wouldnt use it since rangers can dodge most aoes anyway but it would give me a reason at least to keep it on my hotbar..... just in case.</p>

[Kaleyen]

Not even using it to sneak in an afk since ranged auto attack > Stream

[Prandtl]

<p>Stream of Arrows is a level 55 skill, so I don't expect it to be of much use at lvl 70.  Some other classes ancient teachings are, but cest la vie.</p><p>I use it when I take a smoke break, but still want my guildies to know I'm thinking of them.  The arrows flying in faster sure looks impressive even if it isn't doing much for my dps.</p>

[Runewind]

It has one use! If you are really low on power and have 1 arrow left (because you still need 1 arrow to use a combat art) then it will keep you going for 30 seconds! This situation never happens so yeah it's pretty much useless. =P

[Gareorn]

Normally I don't make fun of the Devs, but come on, what where they thinking? I'd like to meet the guy that developed a CA that, for 30 seconds, roots you, silences you, lowers your DPS, and increases your aggro. That's some funny stuff.

[Prandtl]

<cite>Gareorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Normally I don't make fun of the Devs, but come on, what where they thinking? I'd like to meet the guy that developed a CA that, for 30 seconds, roots you, silences you, lowers your DPS, and increases your aggro. That's some funny stuff.</blockquote> He's probably catching a Red Sox game...

[nirav21]

<p>There is one very good reason to use stream of arrows, and that reason comes in rarely.</p><p>When u use stream of arrows it is like a DOT+stifle. So when u are against a mob that drops target or some other mobs taunt u off the one that u want to hit. SOA still hits the mob that u used it on. </p><p>Also comes in very handy in pvp fights. since if the other grps tank taunts u and u have used it on a healer. the healer still gets hit with it. (**i havent gotten many opportunity to perfectly test this theory out**)</p>

[Kaleyen]

Have three Rangers in guild and they never use stream in PVP.

[Tobann]

We ought to get Rothgar to look at this. He did a pretty good job at getting our arrow usage down. Maybe he can take this on as his new project. It really doesnt make much sence to have this CA at all. Buaf  70 Ranger Befallen

[Gareorn]

I think looking into this would be a bit of a waste of time. It's a gray damage CA at lvl 70. Even if it was made more useful, it'll still only be good for a few levels. The other two T6 ancient teachings are somewhat useful for soloers. Once we move into T8, none of the T6 spells are really going to matter.

[Tobann]

I agree it wont help us at level 70, but it may help our younger Ranger brothers and Sisters. It also just bugs me to have something so totally broken that no one even puts it on the hotbar. If thats the case just delete it all together. Buaf 70 Ranger Befallen

[sah]

most of the ancient teaching spells that totally suck now were actually somewhat useful before the lvl cap got raised to 70...

[BSbon]

i dont even have this spell. when i saw that it roots you i didn't want it. my play style involves moving and speed. if this CA could be used while moving and not stop auto attack then it might be useful.

[Safana.]

Back in DoF Times, it was our best CA (yes, you didnt need lots of skill to parse high, just click stream *g*). When they changed the proc mechanics and "nerfed" us it became useless...

[LoreLady]

I use it when I want to do something dumb ^_^

[bodomite]

<p>they could just change it into a Lifeburn thing, instead. have the AA turn it into something like increase its damage and aggro for every shot with 2%, and allow for autoattacks in between the dmg shots it does every 1s (with 5AA into the line), turn reuse to like 10 or 15 mins. Something like that would require skill to use in group and raid situations, and it has a decent penalty then too. </p>

[TerriBlades]

<p>I really dont feel that Stream needs any love.</p><p>First of all, its a T6 Spell. Yeah, I know its an Ancient Teachings. I also realize its not ever going to be on the calibur of Dispatch, or Double Up, or some other useful CAs that are still around today. However, we are not the only ones to have crappy AT arts that we dont want to use. Yes it was nice in DoF. Yes it was one of (if not the single) highest DPS CAs we had. However, that was then, and this is now. Its sucked since the proc revamp, its going to continue to suck. </p><p>I dont want to see this upgraded to a viable way to maintain DPS for one simple reason. You SHOULDNT be able to hit a button, walk away from your computer, use the bathroom, get a drink, eat some chips, and maybe scratch yourself before sitting back down just in time to watch your Stream expire and you havent lost an ounce of DPS. Its lazy, its cheap, and its over done. If this spell was half way decent to where the DPS lose was minimal, then Im sure we'd have more /afk rangers making the rest of us looking bad. I dont want another "I win" button. I dont want the DPS bandwagoneers jumping back on going "I have a level 50 Ranger, I stopped playing when they borked us.. are we good again?". Screw that, let the DPS jumpers stay right where they are. This also goes for the unskilled player.</p>

[Safana.]

Are necros unskilled players when they make proper use of lifeburn? <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I like bodomites idea of a stream change

[TerriBlades]

<p>I dont expect my opinion to be popluar, nor do I care if it is.</p><p>Fact: Rangers dont need any more DPS love. We can deal enough damage as it is.</p><p>Fact: You dealing with a Tier 6 CA. You cant expect it to remain good forever.</p><p>An upgrade to this CA just isnt needed. If you want to use it and AFK, your DPS should suffer. We have the best aggro control on anyone in the game. So to make Stream anything like Lifeburn, its gonna require a ton of hate gain. As in like 4 or 5 times the normal amount. That way, you're still getting roughly 2 or 2.5 times the normal hate, seeing as how we can dump 41% of our hate right off the top. </p><p>Putting this CA on a 10 or a 15m reuse would make it completely useless. I cant think of ONE single instance where this would actually be a benifit to this CA.  Rangers hitting 3K+ dont need more hate gain, and they dont(wont) need to use Stream.</p>

[Balerius]

<p>Well, I agree and disagree <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Should SoA be a CA that is useful at level 70?  For the most part, No.  So we agree.</p><p>Should SoA be a useful CA at level 55?  IMO yes.  But it's not.  So it's not even useful at the level it can be used and IMO that's wrong and should be fixed.</p><p>Lastly, there is a problem when our Ranger AA tree has in its primary line an AA that affects a spell that is useless at any level.  So either SoA needs to be "fixed", or the AA needs to be changed.</p>

[Safana.]

SoA can be upgraded with ranger tree, so it has to be useful in any case... but its not... except for going afk and shooting some more arrows than with autoattack and thats a joke. I dont know all the ancient teaching spells of all classes, but most of them are useful with level 70 even if they are t6... you remember primal instinct is also t6 and its useful at lvl70 since its not upgraded! So the "its t6 it has not to be useful" argument isnt a real argument to me. Yes, we are doing good dps even without PoA so its up to the devs to make it a useful ca in any case cause in its current state its a waste money to even get it.

[Drodin]

I havent taken stream off my hotbar yet lol, I havent pushed it in about a year, but still keep it there to remind me to /feedback about how useless it is now.   My best idea I've had for it now is to make it fire auto attacks that fast instead of the pathetic stream arrows..have it be like some kind of Super Ultra Haste lol.  but they would need to drasticaly extend the recast timer and the duration too, and if the hate gain stays on it, odds are it would be a sure way to kill myself. I'm really not too worried about it now, DPS is still great without it being worth a hoot. I probably will replace it with a /tell macro to have our necro give me a heart right before I think hes going to lifeburn <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Tobann]

I have to disagree with Terri about Rangers being fine with their DPS. It may be true for higher end players with uber gear, but for players like myself that are casual with OK gear the DPS isnt great. In pick up groups and Raids in Labs and Lyceum I parse behind any assasin, Swashy, Necro, Wizard and to my lasting shame a Paladin on our last raid. It is true if everything works just right and the timer gods are with me I can be top parse, and I usually am in the top 6 ( though only with high end expensive arrows and very expensive poisens), but our Assasin brothers dont need the luck to be top parser all the time. I dont want to start the whole DPS broken thing again,but I dont agree our DPS is fine. I still feel we are a bit too low. Just one casual players opinion. Buaf  70 Ranger Befallen

[Badaxe Ba]

Never had it.  I also am of the opinion that a stunned/stifled ranger is a soon to be dead one, at least pvp wise. Ask any caster of the difficulties of battling while standing still.  As far as raids go,  if it interferes with autoattack, it can't be good for our DPS.

[Katsugen]

<p>I would have no issues with this skill being modified to help casual and non-raiders, but I agree we should not be seeing anymore tweaks to raider dps. I fear raiding end game rangers might be getting too close to the sun. We might not get some of the huge spike numbers that other classes can put up, but staying in the top 3 has become almost easy. I don't think I've ever had so much concern with agro either, and holding back is becoming a must on some fights. And buff wipes...man forget about it, auto attack is a liability when dehate drops. </p><p>I haven't spoke to too many other rangers this expansion but thats just how I feel, not sure if ppl will disagree. I'm not a casual non-raider so I can only take your opinion that you need more dps. What I can say is nerfs will come based on end game numbers, and you will eventually feel the affects trickle down. So be careful when you ask for too much. SOE has a history of over compensating in both directions.</p><p>- Katsugen</p><p>(holy run on sentence batman. went a little comma crazy there)</p>

[gfx]

Stream of Arrows isn't good in PvP, Unless your fighting someone that is standing still for a little while, OR if you have someone very snared in max range. I use it for PvE when my CA's are down. Does 800-1100 damage a hit in PvE.