AN ARCHERY QUESTION?! :3 Hold my milk!!
((I soloed with archery on my ranger till 56, untwinked! But, if you plan to twink, a little secret is that bow damage isn't limited like melee damage is....so you can run around shooting stuff for 40 at level 1))
1) Ranger - Very good archery soloing if you can get a decent bow (which, with bow of the huntsman isn't that hard even if you have no money. If you really want one of these you could could it at level 10 or sooner with a little random passerby help).
And, of course, once you get the wuoshi bow (skydarkener, Pal + SHD also get it btw).... everything becomes insane (starts to proc at 35 if you are lucky enough to get it before 50. It is an AE of 184 damage. I've had it proc 5 times in a row ). You suddenly find yourself able to quad kite non stop like a wizard :| Making you capable of doing stuff like quadding urthomirs or armors in wakening land....or whatever anyone else quads.
Takes a little longer, sure, but you never need to med (and actually, rangers get one AE spell that is pretty decent to throw in there as you run around).
Rangers also can root rot in dungeons and basically anywhere you can back up a little bit.
Rangers are actually one of the strongest soloers in the game....oddly enough. I could even outpace necromancers. Or do things no one else can do, like solo sand giants at level 12. Rangers are only limited by the size of their quiver ...and once you get the bracer to summon arrows, you aren't even limited there anymore (with a good bow, you can even kill casters and shoot further than they can cast...).
Just don't forget to use your spells between shots (DD spells, or dots when rooting....even flame lick helps). A lot of rangers tend to ignore the power of their spells. But as an archer you can med while killing stuff! You only need to stand for a split second to shoot and then sit back down.
This lets you bow + cast even in a group and keep up. Though much more work.
2) Shadowknights .....the fabled "shadow archer". This was a theory I had while being a ranger and eventually tried out (problem is their more limited number of bows). It is actually stronger than a ranger at kiting!!!!
The problem is lack of sow, lack of root, and lack of longer lasting snare (which makes bow killing in cramped spaces in a dungeon harder).
BUT being able to keep such high agro with disease cloud and other dots means you can run around with your pet hitting on it (adding some ok free damage).
I'm not too sure how the shadow archer scales later levels (since they don't get the double damage on stationary targets, or the trueshot discipline....and they don't get the ability to summon their own arrows).....but pets + dot stacks + bow is a pretty decent contender (maybe even passing a rangers typical damage).
3) Warrior - ....eehhh. I've thought about it a lot. But the lack of spells means you aren't really working with much. Yea they can crit, but I'm not sure that is enough to make up for the lack of spells (on a ranger, spells are a big source of damage).
My only theory with warrior is if you could somehow keep yourself low life so you cripple strike a lot. That might make an interesting build and make up for the lack of damage? But, again, you just lack SO much utility and i doubt you would make up the difference in damage.
4) Holy Archer - Paladin archery?!?! This is something I haven't tested....but I have a good idea how it would work.
They get root (which is great for being able to med while fighting) but they don't get much in the way of damage additions to help out with the bow fighting (except vs undead, in which case they are better than ranger).
They do get access to the wuoshi bow like SKs though....which is a big advantage later on.
The thing about holy archers that make them shine is their group friendlyness. I think being able to med while archering would make them great for grouping and helping out to heal and CC with roots (since, like I said with rangers, being able to med while fighting is a big advantage and gives hybrids way more use of their magic than they would ever get if they have to melee all the time).
Especially if you take the time to get a good bow early on....you will be contributing more than most others in the group.
I think a lot of people underestimate hybrids spells. But even with my ranger I remember my heals being a HUGE help in grouping situations during 20's and 30's. I can only imagine how much better it would be as a paladin.
But, again, the damage dropping off so drastically if you aren't fighting undead....and the issue with scaling later in the game (lack of high end bows and no double damage at 51 on stationary targets)....are big problems.
SKs keep up with the pets + spells (especially important if you are soloing a lot). But with paladin I guess they are more of a group friendly archer.
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