I actually have a bird already, hate to break it to ya. :rolleyes:
Printable View
I'd like to add that from very recent tests (done yesterday) That Thorn's "Bleed" effect increases per level. We were able to pinpoint the amount per level and it looks like this:
level 1: -6 H/s
level 2: -10 H/s
level 3: -14 H/s
level 4: -18 H/s
level 5: -22 H/s
level 6: -26 H/s
Thorns wall has a similar effect, but we're still not sure on specific levels, as it seems to jump around in terms of unfixed increments, thus cannot post any data we are unsure of.
It's probably of limited use in PvE anyways, as the duration for this to take an effect means that the target is either dead or reset. The one possible exception may be against bosses. More testing here will be needed I think.
In PvP, when you're taking on an isolated bird or bear though ... another story (mages can just heal themselves).
@Physiologic
I think that you tested the new recurve bow last night after we did the Hideout runs ... what were your impressions after using it? Is it a major step up from the sentinel shotgun that you carry around? I can't remember, but some of the newer bows have some sort of hit% proc on them that reduces their hit by up to 50%.
@Herwolf - The Thorn Wall bleed proc is already a part of its skill description.
@Attackelf - I only tested out the range distance of the Customized Recurve Bow, and it's actually shorter than the Shotgun - The Recurve Bow travels 10 meters (same as a Talon distance) whereas the Shotgun/Mega Blaster/Cyber Blaster travels 12 meters. I didn't test for any procs, though.
Read this thread about the proc discussion:
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...pons-and-procs
You know, part of me still wonders if I should I remained dex-mage, despite the lower damage output compared to pure int. On the other hand ... maybe not. The new roach gear doesn't have any mana regen (fatal to any mage). Oh well ... I still have to level my bird at some point.
It doesn't surprise me that the range of the new bows is the exact same as their lower level counterparts. Other people around have been expecting an equivalent of the megablaster of the void or shotgun to emerge at some point - a raid roach blaster.
There ya go, credits added :)
Thumbs up physc!!
Great details, easy to digest!!
Keep it comin!!
@Physiologic - I can lend you my raid roach leather if you want to do some real world tests. Meet me in the game if you want to. You'll have to borrow the helm and bow off someone else, but it is probably worth finding out.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_q...ather%2055.png
At this point, I'd have to say that raid roach is probably better overall, but there are some significant tradeoffs to be made. Maybe raid roach with the highest mana regen ring is the optimal solution. Do you think that it's worth crafting this?
Hmm thanks for the offer - but you can go ahead and sell it or keep it :p Moogerfooger has done extensive research on the new sets and I most likely will follow-up once I have a complete set as well. I'd probably hold onto it for weeks (that's how long I usually do trial and error and do results) and wouldn't want you to part with it for so long :)
I really don't need it right now. It will be some time before I begin levelling my bird. I'm probably gonna sell it for cash then. Hopefully in a few weeks, things will be cheaper and I can just buy another one.
I just want to say thanks. This is a great guide. This is going to help me a lot when I start playing my bird more. Right now I am grinding out levels for it.
Wonderful guide! Can't wait to see lvl 55 additions!
Thanks :) I unfortunately maxed out the character limit allotted to a post - 50,000 characters to be exact, so I'm afraid I cannot update this guide any longer, or I may need to cut a lot of things out...
Here's a new setup I came up with. I call it the FD (Finger Dance)
http://i52.tinypic.com/aa8ux5.png
Explanation:
I built it so you just need to run your fingers through. Not necessarily mashing, but it's so much easier.
- 1st column: arguably the most important self buff: "Focus". Just underneath add "Evade". I messed up my respec, which is why evade isn't in the screenshot.
- 2nd column: thorns -> root for boss, and thorn wall for mob. Chain this into the next column
- 3rd column: run this from top to bottom (just be careful when u activate Shattering scream - you might need to time that with a bear's bekon)
first comes blinding shot (you can link to evade). This enables you to enter a mob with greater safety in order to unleash
shattering scream: major enemy debuff leading to further debuffing with armor break (this also gives you a pause in order to successfully chain ->)
blast shot combo. Your grand finale. In the mean time, mages can unleash lightning for cleaning up.
You CAN, but not necessarily need to use, Repulse as the last move.
In a good party, regular mob doesn't survive 1 such strike, and a few iterations of this combo quickly and efficiently takes care of demi-bosses.
Just finger dance from top to bottom. 1st column, then second (select either thorn wall or root) then third column et voila.
Don't clutter your skill list with meditate, restore and avian scream since you're not gonna be using those anyway,
AND they're a waste of mana (which, as a bird, you always be short on).
@Physiologic: I tested out AS vs Repulse, and I must admit that repulse seems to work better. The bigger active radius effectively makes up for the lack of stun.
I'll try this set-up too :) Was getting kinda bored with my own. If I can somehow coerce the devs into giving me a 50k+ character limit I'll add this in.
And yeah, I really wish AS would have a larger range of attack. The stun would be so much useful with an 8m range, but the 3m range really bites. Not sure how the knockback compares.
@Physiologic: just remember to add "Evade" underneath "Focus".
Other than that, it's a smooth motion from top -> right -> down
The only "drawback" I could experience is me automatically hitting SS, when not necessarily needed.
Let me know how that works for you.
I have something sorta similar, other than I have SS right next to Blast Shot for our favorite birdie combo :D I just hesitate for a split second before hitting Blast Shot. I'd try this out, but I think finger muscle memory may cause issues at first, haha.
@Mooger: I've been using this for the last few days and it works for me. The additional break armor press between SS and BS gives enough time for the combo to chain up.
@Physio & @WhoIsThis: I've been wanting to sell that L.55 recipe for custom gemstone leather of mine, but I don't know if the sensible thing to do would be to keep it for a dual setup.
The difference between a pure RR and the customised one is 2 dex and 6 damage instead of 6H/S.
6 damage is also 6 additional dps -> only 360 damage in a minute. Bosses usually go down faster than that, and taking into consideration that most bosses have "14 900" health, this is a meagre tradeoff for:
Comparatively, 6H/s is a nice addition to health pot usage reduction in an unbalanced party.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
I wasn't implying there was anything wrong with it, lol. I start chains with Break Armor....debuff the armor, thereby magnifying other effects of later skills. I will say that this "works for me" :D Blessed Shot is usually second, in line with your safer approach idea. I do the two so fast we are talking six of one, half dozen of the other for the most part.
+6 damage on a piece of armor, while using the Recurve, is actually +7.0588 DPS :p But yes, there really isn't much to it unless you count what 6 damage does to your skill damage/combos combined.
Really, it's up to your preference on whether or not you want to craft your equips or not - in-game, you won't be able to detect any sort of difference whatsoever when you're comparing 6 damage to 6 H/s. It's like the pre-1.7 Cyber vs Void vs Sentinel vs Sunblessed argument again - sure they vary on paper but in the battlefield you get very similar results among all of the sets.
I personally enjoy "seeing" a high damage/DPS on my character screen, so I like my Raid Roach sets. You may like a sweet regen rate on your bird so it's less finger movement to use potions during runs. Ultimately - up to you :)
im so using ur build on my bird and i love it!
Just want to say thanks for the excellent guide. I'm just starting and built my first character as a bear assuming melee was the best damage dealer class (usually my style in rpgs). This is my first MMO, so I'm glad I found this site and read a little before investing too much time. I'm ready for my bird to take fight!
Adwin, love the setup! I'm using it with my alt :D thanks a bunch!
I do my twinks combos like that too.
From Top---->Right----->Down----->Left
:)
I have updated my setup, here it is:
http://i51.tinypic.com/2ns2ych.png
1: be sure to have focus and evade AT ALL TIMES. Even for regular mob. This WILL save your booty quite a few times, and reduce your potting as well
2: the first "debuffer" as soon as you encounter an enemy, is the thorn (root or wall).
Use wall for mob, and thorn root for bosses. This is a critical step, since it will debuff their dodge, increasing the probability that your subsequent hits will land.
3: there's a reason why I moved break armor up. It's the only debuffer which doesn't deal damage, and apart from that, it's the most critical starter (whopping -26 pts). Every other hit, be it physical or skill, will benefit from this debuff.
4: next comes blinding shot. Another reason for that is because you're moving and at the same time getting closer to the enemy, subconsciously, or just because you're making speed runs or boss runs. I also found that you sometimes need to get quite close for shatter scream to properly chain. Well, thanks to the blinding shot, you can come closer to the enemy, with a reduced risk of being hit.
5: shatter scream, your 2nd proper debuffer - speaks for itself
6: lastly, chain your combo with blast shot.
7: as a bonus damage dealer, repulse shot. Just be sure to be in the right spot. I have seen far too many times repulse shot + bear stomp, and there goes the boss out of reset range. Repulse is also a double-edged sword. Used correctly, it's a very nice tool. I use it all the time to counter an unskilled stomp by a bear or in order to pin the boss in a corner. You will find this especially useful with Trash Heap, where you definitely DON'T want to be in the center for too long. ;]
@Phys: sorry for hijacking your thread, but there was no meaning in starting a separate thread just for that. ;]
Awesome, I'll add your skill build example in as soon as I clear out more room in my guide :)
You can update the thread with the new "Alien Oasis Mystery Set" (although it's on a lv55 char, so just substract 25 dex and the corresponding damage/dps)
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...l=1#post223816
Thank you so much!! I decided to make an archer for my 3rd char, and I have at least learned from some of my mistakes with the others, most notably about where to put skill points. I got some advice from a lvl 50 that said, first max heal and mana, and then the rest, and it seemed wrong. So glad I came here first! This info is spectacular!!! Very Very Very much appreciated. Too bad a point is automatically put into the scream, oh well :) Thanks again, awesome guide.
Don't worry, I maxed Restore and Meditation too because I followed a really old guide posted here when I first started :p Then I realized, wait a second I have potions, why do I need Restore and Meditation - they barely heal health and mana, plus their cool-down is just too long. Also, less points in my damage skills means less overall damage for my party! And that's what basically inspired me to publish a new guide altogether...
@Physiologic:
The part about unlocking the shadow caves for the level 50 gear is not needed now since the 1.7 patch.
That said, for bird, some people just like the restore and med. It does offer some healing and mana regen - not much, but for those who don't like to use potions, it is a small boost. Whether it justifies the loss in other abilities though is another matter.
Thanks for the fix! For me, it's hard to go through the guide over and over again :p
The only problem about using restore/meditation is that pot costs is extremely minimal. I made a post somewhere that calculated how much pots restore would save in 100 5 minute runs and it only turned out to be ~25,000-30,000 gold - very very minimal. If you're interested I can redo the calculations :)
There are players who do not play like you Physiologic - they don't like to be out in front. There are reasons why warbird builds exist and people choose it over dex bird. :) Personally, I find it an unacceptable loss in firepower. Others clearly disagree and there are plenty of dual-spec birds around. Same with people who choose hybrid int (70% int, 30% str) over pure int mages.
There are also a few strength birds around. A lot of these players tend to have very high PvE K/D ratios because of their play-style.
I know there's plenty of players that don't play like me :p This guide was written intended for the archer to perform to their best abilities for their party, not the best for themselves (after all - it's a party-oriented game). Even when I used to solo everything and I had lv 5 restore and meditation, I found no real use for them. Enemies, when I am completely mobbed, will kill me if they attack consistently and I don't pot fast enough - +60-80 health heal + 20 h/s won't do me any good if I'm dead in 3 seconds.
Again, this is only what I've experienced myself. Being a dual spec warbird is totally up to a player, but I did issue the warning in my guide that being one will severely impact your ability to perform in a party. That's why the full-DEX recommendation is issued :) Besides, I'd want an army of full DEX birds in random pub games that happened to glance over the thread, instead of an army of dual spec'd warbirds who can't really do much for the party except survive.
One of the things I like about mage is that you do use less pots. If you have a mage, you probably know that heal is well worth maxing out. And I hardly ever use mana pots. The only time to pot is when I am mobbed and my spells can't kill fast enough, which isn't that often.
Current build:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_q...Build%2056.png
Note mana regen on build.
That said, there are players that are awesome pallys and awesome strength birds too. Player skill and playing style will dictate survivability and usefulness to team.
That's the thing about bears and mages - bears have such high dodge and armor that a high h/s value actually helps them out. Mages have a high mana pool as well as mana shield, so that a high m/s value helps them out.
Birds on the other hand cannot utilize h/s and m/s as well as bears and mages can. If we have a high h/s, then we will still die fast from poor dodge and armor. There's no real reason for us to sacrifice damage for a high m/s. Thus birds are the most expensive class to play regardless of whether or not those skills are maxed :p