Ranger: Bow progression (for bow rotting)

[Snaggles]

Hello,

Had the Runed Oak Bow. Finally got the Bow of the Huntsman and have really been enjoying it.

In my low 50's now and it's nice being able to log on and bow rot some mobs when I dont have time to group. Even with the Tolan's bracer the Huntsman just chews through stacks.

For about 1500p is it worth getting a velium bow for bow-rotting or is the dps from the 20/30 and 81dd proc pretty much the same as say a 30/40 ratio? I know the DD breaks root sometimes so that's a bit of a pain when killing stuff indoors.

Currently I have a fleeting quiver but non Velium Swiftblade. If the answer is "it always sucks" I'll just plunk away and summon more stacks. If something slower makes sense lemme know :).

Thanks!

[loaf]

What is your avg. proc rate vs number of shots?

I imagine your average hit (non-crit) is in 20s with that bow vs 30s with a velium.

[Mistle]

And I thought warrior soloing was bad. This must be new levels of slowness.

[Darguth]

And I thought warrior soloing was bad. This must be new levels of slowness.

It's not so bad if you can setup somewhere you can snag C/C2 pretty easily. I'll often bow rot outside KC (ravishing drolvargs) or off the ent mobs when it's over-populated or when I just don't feel like grouping. Usually can go in and find an enchanter to buff you inside. Use that time finding them to summon some of your arrow stacks, too.

Once you've got some crack I'll throw in Immolate/Drones to speed up the killing process. Then when you spend ~2min clicking your Tolan's Bracer to refill your arrow stock you'll get that mana regen. Add using Trueshot whenever it's off cooldown and I can probably kill ~8 dark blues an hour (which is pretty good for a Ranger soloing and is super safe).

That said, whether or not investing in a Velium Bow to speed up the process really depends on your other gearing priorities and how often you plan to bow rot. I'd think the Bow of the Huntsman is plenty fine unless you plan on doing this all the time. I rot with a Windsaber which eats thru stacks of arrows like crazy but since I only do it occasionally it's not really an issue.

[Snaggles]

Thanks everyone :).

Yea I'm primarily rotting with this toon. Probably as the bow and bracer are fairly new acquisitions...I can't see doing this for another 7 levels. The exp rate actually isn't "bad" given I never get hit and use about 20% of my mana on roots. With a bit more space and one ensnare it would even be less.

Compared to a solo class its a dredge, compared to most melees (Warriors, Rogues, Pallies, maybe even sk's) it's actually decent. Especially given the cost to do this (5k + a bow) vs having to invest in a fungi and other items.

I could see the Velium bow's cutting down on downtime mainly from arrow usage. 10 extra damage is give/take 50% more damage per landed hit. It's basically stretching those arrows further and cutting down on summoning downtime.

[Jimjam]

Do you toggle sit/stand between shots to maximise med ticks?

[Snaggles]

Do you toggle sit/stand between shots to maximise med ticks?

No. I read that you folks do and feel extra silly now.

I’m arm-swarming and casting immolate (when I have clarity) but am not medding during the fight. I figured the delay of the Huntsman didn’t justify med ticks. My bad.

[Darguth]

Do you toggle sit/stand between shots to maximise med ticks?

Is there a macro command to perform a ranged attack so that one could hotkey this?

[port9001]

No, other than assigning sit to a more convenient key. And yes sitting in between shots is extremely important to the efficiency as it allows you to mix in more DoTs/nukes.

[Snaggles]

I've been practicing this for a bit now. Thanks for all the input :) It definitely stretches out the arrow supply.

Now I just need a harder hitting bow.

[skarlorn]

Exquisite Velium Reinforced bow will definitely outperform your bow of the huntsman. All else in this thread checks out. Good luck and happy hunting!