[1.xx] Islidox's Build tips/critique section for Rangers

@kierankyle: I'll send you a PM when I get a chance to reply back.

So guys, I never used any bow build before - i'd like to start nemesis or domination, should I go RoA (less dps, more defensive) or split crit (more dps)?
Also I wonder if it's even worth using bow, I mean all bow builds I saw don't have a solid amount of dps to contribute to group and do hlvl content.
For example it's possible to go full block duelist and still have like 25k+ dps when bow users will get like 7k. Kinda weird.
What do you think?

I'm new to this game, so bear with me here!

Here's the situation: I'd rather go with not using Blood Magic. So far, this is the tree I've come up with (Keystones include: Iron Reflexes, Iron Grip, and Static Blows): http://tinyurl.com/mbpkmd3

My plan at the moment is to use the so commonly mentioned combo of Grace/Anger/Wrath I keep reading.

Here comes my several questions:

1. What would you suggest I change in the Tree?

2. Again, I'm new to this, so I don't see how Grace/Wrath/Anger is do-able. How would that combo be set up? What kind of Linked Gems and stuff, and changes in the Tree, if needed?

3. I keep seeing around people tend to have 2 LAs in their set up:

A: A 6 linked setup with Lighting Arrow/(Faster Attacks or Weapon Elemental Damage)/Life Gain on Hit/Chain/Lesser Multiple Projectiles/Blood Magic. (I assume this set up is so the Mana Reserved by the 3 Auras doesn't affects the LA spam?)

B: Another linked setup of Lighting Arrow with Culling Strike and a few other things. (Why is this second LA set up established by many?)

I have so many more questions to try and understand these set ups, but I'll be fine if at least these are answered.

Regards!

Appreciate if I can get some guidance on my bowman too. I'm a L58, but I have 6 skill points not yet used, as well as all of the respec points as of A2 Merciless. Particularly I expect to spec out of at least 4 points used to get Mana Geyser just above right of ranger start. My current skill tree:



I have traded for all of my toons current gear except her jewelry, and don't have much more orbs to trade at the moment, so no 5 links for me. Most of the gear was 1 or 2C so actually changing a slot or 2 except the bow is not a big deal, assuming it's a cheap change. My plan is to change some jewelry next.

Currently I find I can only do Merciless in parties, and then it seems OK so far. When I solo, I killed smacked by all bosses and many uniques, even though I tried to prioritise life and resists (within my budget that is). I'd like to be able to solo Merciless (except for some bosses) as in parties I seem to miss most of the Chaos orb drops! I accept that solo maps is likely out of the question on my budget.

I am really not sure where to spend my next skill points. Given I don't plan to change my chest or bow for a while, I wasn't sure if it made sense to increase my DPS via the crit chance / damage skill modes, as I doubt I can afford much of those stats on gear. So would those be wasted points compared to other means of increasing DPS. Also, am I generally better getting "increased projectile damage" over "increased physical damage" given I deal most of my AOE damage via Ice Shot and LA? (I understand 8% of projectile applies to all my DPS, whereas physical to only a fraction even though my bow is physical.)

My current gear:



Any education and suggestions gratefully accepted!

P.S. I have yet to run an aura as I held off on accepting an aura gem from quest until I knew I could both run it and had a slot for it. Suggestions here also appreciated, though I think that might require new boots for new sockets. I want the movement speed though for soloing, so not sure I can afford a 4 socket linked boot

P.S.S. I only use the Decoy Totem skill gem in the boots, the others are there for leveling in case I use them in the future

"

g00dguypete wrote:

So guys, I never used any bow build before - i'd like to start nemesis or domination, should I go RoA (less dps, more defensive) or split crit (more dps)?
Also I wonder if it's even worth using bow, I mean all bow builds I saw don't have a solid amount of dps to contribute to group and do hlvl content.
For example it's possible to go full block duelist and still have like 25k+ dps when bow users will get like 7k. Kinda weird.
What do you think?

RoA can attain high DPS with the right build and decent gear. RoA + Concentrated Area of Effect is a must combo for lots of DPS.

Take my own build (on page 30 of this thread) - I do around 15k-16k DPS with Frenzy and 10k-11k with RoA. It's a crit/phys/evade/dodge build that does decent in endgame with the exception of certain mobs. 5Ls used only - no 6L. If I had 2 6Ls, my DPS would skyrocket with the addition of Increased Crit Dmg support.

Other RT-based builds can also reach 10k+ DPS easy with 5Ls and decent gear. I'm not saying you need a Lioneyes or god forbid a Voltaxic, but with any build, you'll need to have a weapon that does over 200+ phys dmg DPS in order to do good damage. This also includes a good quiver and the appropriate damage mods on your jewelry.

I used to have a section with bow builds... but I've gotten too busy and lazy to reupdate it for release and as such is on hold for indefinite status. If there's a build that interests you, it would be easier to tell me about that and work from there rather than answering general questions.

@GoodLuckTrying:
1. Hmm, if you don't get RT, then I assume you have a Lioneyes Glare Bow? If that's the case, I would suggest this skilltree: Link
You get more life and more DPS in this variant as you take advantage of the life wheel behind the mara tree.

2. You're right in that Grace/Wrath/Anger isn't really doable anymore since release. The cost of auras have gone way up and as such, the best way to get more damage is going physical damage plus conversion. I suggest using Grace/Hatred. Grace for armor, and Hatred benefits from phys dmg and is boosted by WED support. You'll also need sufficient Int to use auras/curses. For LA-users that converts from phys dmg, the Projectile Weakness curse is the better curse to use, with Ele Weakness/Conductivity as the second option. Temp Chains is also good for tough mobs/bosses.

3. The second setup is for ppl wanting the cull the boss for more drops. As such, their LA would be outfitted with Culling Strike + IIQ + IIR support gems. The most common setup for LA is for regular mob-clearing: LA + WED + LMP + Chain + BM + FA/AFD/LoH/LL.

@crushkyle: PoE is a very gear-based game, so you cannot stop with the current gear you have at the moment. The rings/ammy especially need an upgrade whenever possible. (life + rez)

As for your skills, you need to lock down on which skill you want as your AoE and single-target. Both LA/Iceshot are considered AoE bow skills, and you're better off choosing one. LA has better AoE spread, but Iceshot does more DPH and chills enemies. Frenzy should be your single-target skill.

I think you need to read this particular post of mine:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/69224/page/20/#p998666

It goes into more depth of how to skill for you character. At this moment, your skill selection (from what I see on your gear) is not optimal and needs to be changed.

As for skilltree advancement, I suggest you go physical/crit. While you're more susceptible to death by reflect, it's the easiest way for a Ranger to build damage up. I recommend looking my at own phys/crit/evade/dodge build on page 30 of this thread, or visit VictorDoom's phys/crit/IR ranger.

While it's easier to follow a build, it's also important to understand what makes a build successful. And this means you need to have a clear picture of what you want your build to do and do everything necessary to reach that goal. This includes settling on what type of damage you want to do and how to go about maximizing that damage, which to me seems to be your biggest issue. Gear and passives fall in place after. Once you've decided on what you want to do with your build, I can make suggestions to your skilltree.

To answer your other questions, yes the increased projectile damage will account for elemental damage as well. Depending on what sort of build you're going for, those passives would be the better choice. As Rangers that stick around the Dex part of the tree, I suggest going physical/conversion and take advantage of the great phys dmg nodes available in the Ranger tree. As for auras, generally speaking the Grace+Hatred combo is the best, tried and proven. Can't really go wrong with that.

"

Islidox wrote:

@GoodLuckTrying:
1. Hmm, if you don't get RT, then I assume you have a Lioneyes Glare Bow? If that's the case, I would suggest this skilltree: Link
You get more life and more DPS in this variant as you take advantage of the life wheel behind the mara tree.

1. Thanks. I see what you mean.

"

Islidox wrote:

@GoodLuckTrying:
2. You're right in that Grace/Wrath/Anger isn't really doable anymore since release. The cost of auras have gone way up and as such, the best way to get more damage is going physical damage plus conversion. I suggest using Grace/Hatred. Grace for armor, and Hatred benefits from phys dmg and is boosted by WED support. You'll also need sufficient Int to use auras/curses. For LA-users that converts from phys dmg, the Projectile Weakness curse is the better curse to use, with Ele Weakness/Conductivity as the second option. Temp Chains is also good for tough mobs/bosses.

2. To make the Grace/Hatred combo, what links would I need? a 4L with Grace + Hatred + WED + Reduced Mana?

"

Islidox wrote:

@GoodLuckTrying:
3. The second setup is for ppl wanting the cull the boss for more drops. As such, their LA would be outfitted with Culling Strike + IIQ + IIR support gems. The most common setup for LA is for regular mob-clearing: LA + WED + LMP + Chain + BM + FA/AFD/LoH/LL.

3. How is the setup with BM viable without LoH/LL? (I ask because you put these two as optional, with Faster Attacks and Added Fire Damage as options for that remaining spot)

@GoodLuckTrying: For auras, Hatred + Grace + Reduced Mana. Attack-related supports do not affect auras.

Also with the BM setup, that's on the assumption you have 5k+ HP and decent life regen. Otherwise, you'll need LoH to support your attacks or utilize the Mana Leech support. I would priortize the supports like such if you need to use LoH:
LA + WED + LMP + BM + LoH

Personally I think Chain is overkill considering that LA has an inherent AoE effect. (Hits up to 3 targets)

@Islidox, thanks for much for the feedback. I have been leveling up a bunch of skills as I wasn't sure which one ultimately to use (I even have ROA and Split Arrow leveled up about the same though they aren't used. I've gone to read your build in detail, thanks for link.

I was using both LA and Ice as AOE, largely using Ice unless cold resistant mobs or if positioning of few baddies suggest LA better. I really like the freezing effect to give me time when necessary to shoot-back up-shoot, so I will focus on that and remove LA

For single target, I was using puncture for the debuff, followed by frenzy for the increased damage and then Burning Arrow, recharging Frenzy as required. (I also use frenzy often to prep by AOE Ice Shot.) My toolbar says BA has much higher DPS than Frenzy. Am I better off still switching to Frenzy, in which case I guess I'll support it with Faster Attacks, BM and perhaps also the Projectile Speed for more damage? I haven't gotten the PPAD gem, I guess now I'll look to buy one given your build posts. I also use Decoy Totem with bosses.

I ended using quite a few of my free passives but I still have 4 left as well as passive resets. I was going to take the Lethality CC nodes, then the LIfe nodes above that, and then come back and finish get Deadly Draw. I plan to try using Grace aura this weekend and see how mana does. If it works well then I'll get 4 more points by respecing out of Mana Geyser on far left

Sounds like that passive plan aligns with your suggestion?



I've been shopping for jewelry, but so far either seller is forever AFK or I don't have enough orbs, but glad to confirm that's the next set of upgrades

THanks again and any other suggestions appreciated. Cheers