Range alt recommendations?

[DatChief]

Hey guys,

 

I currently have a LBD as my main and was wanting to make a ranged character in the near future but needing a bit of help in actually choosing it. I was wanting to make a FM but how are they in terms of solo dungeoning, survivability (since early game its all PvE) and end game PvP? I take it they are like the mages in mmo's? High damage but low survivability as a trade off?

 

I heard a lot of people say that if you want to solo things with ease then SUM is the way to go because their pets pretty much does everything and takes on everything. They are also great in PvP cause the cat is like cancer and extremely hard to deal with in the current meta if played right? However, I'm not too keen on the idea of that since ive never been a fan of using pets to do things. Sound like a hunter to me if you compare it to other mmo's. Maybe its different in B&S? 

 

I'm also aware warlock is an option but i don't actually have much idea what they do in this game apart from buffing party members with spells and using this fiend thing to tank for a short period of time / CC'in targets and bosses? The class actually looks like a support rather than the main stream Locks where you DoT everything to kill your targets. I don't actually have an idea what they are like. I dont see them around very often since I started playing. Even when i do, they do bare minimal from what i have seen. They just CC the target and the rest of the party does the damage.

 

Any recommendations as to which i should go for?

[Shukran]

FM is the ranged DPS of the game.

u can solo all the story alone (except F8 dungeons)

[Sherlock MacDumpster]

3 minutes ago, Shukran said:

 

FM is the stongest, by far. Biggest DPS, best party buffs, best hp regeneration.

[TecoTek]

6 minutes ago, Sherlock MacDumpster said:

FM is the stongest, by far. Biggest DPS, best party buffs, best hp regeneration.

Best party buffs?

I preffer a WL when it comes to ranged & party buffs.

[th4d]

1 hour ago, Sherlock MacDumpster said:

FM is the stongest, by far. Biggest DPS, best party buffs, best hp regeneration.

FM have no party buff. FM have so utilities for the party like Veil or Ice Stealth but no skill that improve party DPS.

 

1 hour ago, DatChief said:

Hey guys,

 

I currently have a LBD as my main and was wanting to make a ranged character in the near future but needing a bit of help in actually choosing it. I was wanting to make a FM but how are they in terms of solo dungeoning, survivability (since early game its all PvE) and end game PvP? I take it they are like the mages in mmo's? High damage but low survivability as a trade off?

 

I heard a lot of people say that if you want to solo things with ease then SUM is the way to go because their pets pretty much does everything and takes on everything. They are also great in PvP cause the cat is like cancer and extremely hard to deal with in the current meta if played right? However, I'm not too keen on the idea of that since ive never been a fan of using pets to do things. Sound like a hunter to me if you compare it to other mmo's. Maybe its different in B&S? 

 

I'm also aware warlock is an option but i don't actually have much idea what they do in this game apart from buffing party members with spells and using this fiend thing to tank for a short period of time / CC'in targets and bosses? The class actually looks like a support rather than the main stream Locks where you DoT everything to kill your targets. I don't actually have an idea what they are like. I dont see them around very often since I started playing. Even when i do, they do bare minimal from what i have seen. They just CC the target and the rest of the party does the damage.

 

Any recommendations as to which i should go for?

I prefer playing FM rather than WL. WL is fun to play but I find it to static you can't move when you cast, WL's skills CD are quite long.

 

You can solo a lot of content as FM. In PvE content for example : Yeti 4 man a lot of ppl looking for a FM to "save" the party during the ice phase.

FM is really easy to play in PvE, in SSP you should manage to always drop boxes ^^

 

For PvP content, it's harder to be "good". Average FM can farm Zen Bean quite easily but if you want to reach the top tier, you will need a lot of practice and a lot of patience.

[Nabzy]

FM is my main and I would agree that it's the strongest class in the game. FMs have the highest DPS in the game if you've got the right rotations. They have party sheath to protect the party with up to 5 seconds of invulnerability and can spec double joint stun on 1 abilty, and choose to spec double daze or double knockdown on another, giving them access to all of the necessary CCs required for dungeons. With enough practice, FM can even tank (in melee range) while surviving or ranged tank (by circling the mob and avoiding hits - bad when melees are in the party). 

 

However, FM is difficult to play PvP with. It takes a lot or practice to be able to understand what you're doing and how to keep consistent chain cc going, as a lot of other classes can resist through much of the freezes and cc you throw at them. With enough practice though, you can no doubt get far in PvP. FMs dominate open world PvP (SSP) due to our ability to just 16m grab you with phantom grip and toss you wherever we'd like along with the fact that we can safely farm lots of pp with high burst damage on the mobs from a distance. 

[DomiSotto]

I am a below average player, I play Summoner and WL, and deleted FM after a couple of tries to level it because it's just too repetitive, and well, I don't think I can be the kind of FM people expect every FM to be.

 

From my two co-mains, I prefer Warlock. Summoner has some serious changes incoming so I am worried about it, and when people see FM join the party they all expect miracles of performance while keeping everyone safe. When people see Warlock they are just happy that you can increase their DPS and reset their cooldowns. I play helix build so it's like a poor man's FM & mobility is not a concern at all. There is not much I can do in arenas , but it's not like I can do that much better on a Summoner.

 

On the other hand, yeah, I can solo everything I needed on a Summoner, and had a rude awakening when I tried to farm Mistywood insignias on my Warlock after having zero problems on the Summoner.

 

If you think you are higher than average skilled player,  FM is hands down the bestest ever. If lower - Summoner or WL is an aesthetic preference, can you stand playing a Lyn with a  cartoon cat kind of thing, plus the Summoner is better if you want to solo a lot.

[Nabzy]

17 minutes ago, DomiSotto said:

If you think you are higher than average skilled player,  FM is hands down the bestest ever.

There are plenty of people that aren't a "higher than average skilled player," and they still play FM. Your DPS might suffer a bit, and you may not be able to party save in dire situations, but there's nothing wrong with that, just make sure your party knows what you can and cannot do. In the end, with enough practice, you should be able to accomplish anything asked of you as an FM.

 

Most common scenarios FM skills are required:

Asura -- KD ken/gen when he's low, then stun when the tank gets pulled

           -- Veil during final boss

           -- KD/Stun Iruga's shadow adds when they spawn

Yeti  -- Sheath last 3 cruxes

Necro -- sheath nightmare wave

Nexus -- Stun and either KD or Daze on first boss

 

That's really it, and it doesn't take long to learn to do all of these either. On top of that, every one of these can be accomplished by other classes too, so don't feel like the weight of the world is weighing on you. I'd say asura and yeti are the most difficult dungeons to get the hang of personally and if you have a main that you are comfortable with on those already, FM should be a breeze in those dungeons. 

[DomiSotto]

15 minutes ago, Nabzy said:

There are plenty of people that aren't a "higher than average skilled player," and they still play FM. Your DPS might suffer a bit, and you may not be able to party save in dire situations, but there's nothing wrong with that, just make sure your party knows what you can and cannot do. In the end, with enough practice, you should be able to accomplish anything asked of you as an FM.

Well, the way I see it, I prefer to be able to do the stuff the character can/expected to do, and if the failure to do that will cost the party dearly, I don't want to mess with it. I saw HM10 FM dying twice and wiping us on Naryu lab (that we've passed after he quit in a huff with a replacement HM3 sin), because he could not handle the agro he was generating on Fujin/Rajin. I don't want to be an FM like that. I saw FMs that could take a few direct hits of a thermonuclear weapon while laughingly freezing everyone just right, and I saw FMs that folded under the class pressure. It is sort of a statement class, and as a noob I've learned that some 'give most pluses' classes work great, some will screw you up bad. Like driving a sports car, gotta have skills or you can get real dead real fast.

[Nabzy]

7 minutes ago, DomiSotto said:

Well, the way I see it, I prefer to be able to do the stuff the character can/expected to do, and if the failure to do that will cost the party dearly, I don't want to mess with it. I saw HM10 FM dying twice and wiping us on Naryu lab (that we've passed after he quit in a huff with a replacement HM3 sin), because he could not handle the agro he was generating on Fujin/Rajin. I don't want to be an FM like that. I saw FMs that could take a few direct hits of a thermonuclear weapon while laughingly freezing everyone just right, and I saw FMs that folded under the class pressure. It is sort of a statement class, and as a noob some 'give most pluses' classes work great, some will screw you up bad. Like driving a sports car, gotta have skills or you can get real dead real fast.

Well, to best honest (not trying to offend anyone here), if you're playing FM and can't sheath properly or don't care enough to spend the time to learn, chances are you won't take the time to learn how to DPS properly and you probably won't be taking aggro anyways.

 

Regardless, we're starting to get off of the topic of the forum, so i'll leave it at that. 

 

GL OP in choosing a class. I really do recommend FM, it's a great class and easy to jump onto when you want to just pew pew without too much effort. 

[Charas Blade]

24 minutes ago, Nabzy said:

There are plenty of people that aren't a "higher than average skilled player," and they still play FM. Your DPS might suffer a bit, and you may not be able to party save in dire situations, but there's nothing wrong with that, just make sure your party knows what you can and cannot do. In the end, with enough practice, you should be able to accomplish anything asked of you as an FM.

 

Most common scenarios FM skills are required:

Asura -- KD ken/gen when he's low, then stun when the tank gets pulled

           -- Veil during final boss

           -- KD/Stun Iruga's shadow adds when they spawn

Yeti  -- Sheath last 3 cruxes

Necro -- sheath nightmare wave

Nexus -- Stun and either KD or Daze on first boss

 

That's really it, and it doesn't take long to learn to do all of these either. On top of that, every one of these can be accomplished by other classes too, so don't feel like the weight of the world is weighing on you. I'd say asura and yeti are the most difficult dungeons to get the hang of personally and if you have a main that you are comfortable with on those already, FM should be a breeze in those dungeons. 

I'll add a bit

 

Asura 3rd both put veil while ice bird up ( so it's won't knock your party member), stun+daze to cc birds

           final boss fire tab 1st orb (on fire mode), Sheath from asura pull

 

Nexus if u tanking which is most of cases

          1st boss fire tab so he wont run to another side of room

          final boss fire tab to stop him and sheath on earthquake

[Nabzy]

8 minutes ago, Charas Blade said:

I'll add a bit

 

Asura 3rd both put veil while ice bird up ( so it's won't knock your party member), stun+daze to cc birds

           final boss fire tab 1st orb (on fire mode), Sheath from asura pull

 

Nexus if u tanking which is most of cases

          1st boss fire tab so he wont run to another side of room

          final boss fire tab to stop him and sheath on earthquake

That's getting a little nit-picky -- however I will agree I forgot sheathing the Earthquake of Wrath. Sometimes in asura if you're the only ranged you'll have to spec your parry tab too, but that's nothing the tank can't do. 

 

To be honest, most asura parties I'm in have a summoner who enhanced seed shrouds or BM/BDs that HM block the asura pull. I get to be pretty lazy during that boss :).

[CoffeeDemon]

Quote

The class actually looks like a support rather than the main stream Locks where you DoT everything to kill your targets

The support aspect of warlocks is like 1 spell with a 2 min cooldown, everything else is damage and a bit of CC. I early game you just  press 4 (dragoncall) to 1 shot all mobs. Later its just RMB (bombardment) against marked targets for instant cast and F (rupture) in between after a critical bombardment to restore focus and apply the mark again for more instant cast RMB. With a PvE build you have your chains (like FM's freeze) and a short aoe knockdown for CC and thats it.
The thrall can also mark targets for instant cast RMB and you can use it to juggle around with boss aggro to give you some time to safely dps with RMB (RMB can be speced to cause zero threat so the thrall will keep aggro).

To sum it up you have a thrall to temporarily tank for you.
Constant dps with RMB.

Some burst with Dragoncall that can be instantly cast under certain conditions.
The support aspect is kinda underwhelming.

TL;DR Warlock = ranged dps with a few underwhelming gimmicks

Also if you prefer melee and you are into soloing dungeons, try assassin. The ability to skip annoying mobs with stealth is priceless and saves a lot of time. I personally think that playing a ranged character takes away the fun and makes a lot of the activities dull because you only need to care about which buttons to press for max damage,

 

[Nabzy]

5 hours ago, DatChief said:

Any recommendations as to which i should go for?

Also, if you like your BD and would like to keep playing it, many people create FMs just to be an SSP slave. They work great for that to be honest. 

[Sherlock MacDumpster]

2 hours ago, Nabzy said:

Also, if you like your BD and would like to keep playing it, many people create FMs just to be an SSP slave. They work great for that to be honest. 

haha, nicely said ;)

[Eileithia]

WL can be highly mobile if you use the shadow build (Helix (4) + Salvo (RB)).  Also you need the HM unlock to make Dragoncall really shine.  Properly timed salvo reduces wingstorm (V) cooldown which gives you helix in between each one.  Rupture gives you an orb every crit (more helix) and you can spec 3 to reset cooldown on wingstorm on last hit.  With the right build you're basically spamming 4,V,RB,4,RB,F,RB,4,RB,F (or just mash those 3 keys) over and over. If there's a laps you just salvo a couple times to reset V. The trick is using each reset of V independently.  Hard cast the first, use siphon on the 2nd, and (3) on the 3rd, then you basically start over.  I think it's still a toss-up which is better for overall DPS (Helix or Dragoncall) but shadow build is definitely not a stand around wait for crap to happen build. Helix build is also going to be superior come the next balance patch with more wingstorm resets.

 

That was longer than it needed to be but don't count WL out as a viable option.  They really don't come into their own until 45 and aren't as pew pew as a FM, but well timed blocks and group buffs make it pretty fun to play.

 

[DomiSotto]

19 hours ago, Eileithia said:

WL can be highly mobile if you use the shadow build (Helix (4) + Salvo (RB)).  Also you need the HM unlock to make Dragoncall really shine.  Properly timed salvo reduces wingstorm (V) cooldown which gives you helix in between each one.  Rupture gives you an orb every crit (more helix) and you can spec 3 to reset cooldown on wingstorm on last hit.  With the right build you're basically spamming 4,V,RB,4,RB,F,RB,4,RB,F (or just mash those 3 keys) over and over. If there's a laps you just salvo a couple times to reset V. The trick is using each reset of V independently.  Hard cast the first, use siphon on the 2nd, and (3) on the 3rd, then you basically start over.  I think it's still a toss-up which is better for overall DPS (Helix or Dragoncall) but shadow build is definitely not a stand around wait for crap to happen build. Helix build is also going to be superior come the next balance patch with more wingstorm resets.

 

That was longer than it needed to be but don't count WL out as a viable option.  They really don't come into their own until 45 and aren't as pew pew as a FM, but well timed blocks and group buffs make it pretty fun to play.

 

Thank you for mentioning it. I tried to hard cast Wingstorm first as suggested, and I am loving the results. :) I am going to take a closer look at the full rotation you are suggesting and try to get myself into the rhythm, but that first hardcast really carried procs on like a charm.