What to rank next?

• abc33kr wrote on 2010-09-09 13:22
  Currently i have a meele build with 1.5k lv, but i also maxed some life skills.
  My skills are:
  r1 refine
  r1 weaving
  r6 handicraft
  r1 production
  r1 smash, windmill, combat, crit
  r1 thunder
  r6 magic mastery
  rA enchant
  all rF bolts except icebolt r9
  rB alch mastery
  r6 synthesis
  r9 frag
  
  
  So I thought up of couple of builds to go with
  1. alchemy mastery to r1 so I can synthesize with decent chance. (im still QQing from last failed synthesis that included jagged mini skirt
  2. firebolt to r1 so i can get ringbows easily and use them in synthesis
  3. lightning bolt to r1 to greatly improve my combat capabilities
  4. evade/charge r6 to increase combat agility
  5. Range mastery/AR/magnum cuz i have decent life skills and i will probably reach 300 dex when i rank all these
  6. alchemy build of flame burst cuz i read a guide on how sexy it is with g13. and u can do sulfur spiders of shadow world easily.
• Zid wrote on 2010-09-09 14:18
  Do you need to become a good Synthesizer? I know Synthesis is a way for your guild to make lots of money, but...
  
  If you really need to get Ring Bows for Synthesis, just get to the minimum of r5 Firebolt. I have r5 Firebolt and I utterly dominate the Ice Wyvern skies with it. 5 charge r5 Firebolt can one-shot regular Ice Wyverns, or two-shot "the Hungry" ones. If you really need damage, I guess r2 Firebolt might work.
  
  r1 Lightningbolt is a good idea.
  
  r6 Evade is, in my opinion, very useful for dual-wielders in a PvE environment in the case, where you can't pet swipe efficiently. You'll see very limited uses of it against Water Cannon, but it's a (sort of risky but) useful skill against monsters using bolts and arrows. Just be aware of how much Stamina it takes per use. r6 Charge is okay; I mainly ranked it to r6 for the distance to start Charge. The arrow dmg reduction doesn't matter to me (especially when I fight against archers that can do like hundreds of dmg with Magnum Shot).
  
  I never saw a serious PvE use for Human Ranged. Nor any Humans that use Human Ranged in a Hardmode Shadow Mission.
  
  Don't know about needing Flame Burst.
  
  tl;dr If you don't need Synthesis that much, I suggest ranking Lightningbolt first, then Evade/Charge.
• abc33kr wrote on 2010-09-09 14:25

  Quote from Zid;150488:

  Do you need to become a good Synthesizer? I know Synthesis is a way for your guild to make lots of money, but...
  
  If you really need to get Ring Bows for Synthesis, just get to the minimum of r5 Firebolt. I have r5 Firebolt and I utterly dominate the Ice Wyvern skies with it. 5 charge r5 Firebolt can one-shot regular Ice Wyverns, or two-shot "the Hungry" ones. If you really need damage, I guess r2 Firebolt might work.
  
  r1 Lightningbolt is a good idea.
  
  r6 Evade is, in my opinion, very useful for dual-wielders in a PvE environment in the case, where you can't pet swipe efficiently. You'll see very limited uses of it against Water Cannon, but it's a (sort of risky but) useful skill against monsters using bolts and arrows. Just be aware of how much Stamina it takes per use. r6 Charge is okay; I mainly ranked it to r6 for the distance to start Charge. The arrow dmg reduction doesn't matter to me (especially when I fight against archers that can do like hundreds of dmg with Magnum Shot).
  
  I never saw a serious PvE use for Human Ranged. Nor any Humans that use Human Ranged in a Hardmode Shadow Mission.
  
  Don't know about needing Flame Burst.
  
  tl;dr If you don't need Synthesis that much, I suggest ranking Lightningbolt first, then Evade/Charge.

  
  
  aha i see.
  
  So I should rank stuff that will help me combat wise.
  
  the reason i wanted to rank range attacks is because i have so much dex and i feel that by not using them im wasting them. xP
• Zid wrote on 2010-09-09 14:41
  Every Dex after 260 (r1 Combat) or 320 (Novice Combat) is a waste to Melee-only builds (except for Injury), so yeah, I guess you can branch out to Ranged from there if you get more Dex.
  
  I still never ran any Hard Shadow Missions with Human archers (Was either Melee or Magic) and we did fine. For some, Charge is still more useful than Evade because of the guaranteed(?) reduction and hit in PvE. In serious combat, I mostly use Evasion in non-pet swipe situations (like if all my pets are dead when I summon them) versus mainly bolt magic, because Windmill can't protect you for so long against bolt magic.
  
  If you really want to integrate Evasion into your combat, I suggest getting the timing down so that enemy bolt magic can "hit" you at or near the beginning of your rolling animation (for maximum Evasion rate).
• abc33kr wrote on 2010-09-09 14:47
  oh i was thinking of using range for occasions like
  
  ciar adv boss
  karu statue when i need to wound mobs in recovery rooms.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2010-09-10 02:17
  I'm a Human archer, FYI.
  
  Humans parallel Elves are far as sheer damage is concerned. Elves are capable of significantly greater DPS but lack Arrow Revolver, which is the most reliable ranged skill.
  
  The primary advantage of Elven ranged combat lies in their improved flexibility (mobility, mounted combat, mirage missile/final shot) and their significantly decreased magnum shot load time. The primary advantage of Human ranged combat is the improved ranged passive skill which greatly boosts aim speed and damage. Those traits should allow Humans to compete with Elven archers especially as newer ranged skills become available.
  
  As an example, Humans have a more accurate Crash Shot while Elves can use the skill while mounted.
  
  You've already maxed several skills that benefit ranged combat such as Thunder (MP/Will), Windmill and several life skills. If you choose to use ranged combat, you'll have a good headstart.
• abc33kr wrote on 2010-09-10 02:23

  Quote from Kaeporo;151054:

  I'm a Human archer, FYI.
  
  Humans parallel Elves are far as sheer damage is concerned. Elves are capable of significantly greater DPS but lack Arrow Revolver, which is the most reliable ranged skill.
  
  The primary advantage of Elven ranged combat lies in their improved flexibility (mobility, mounted combat, mirage missile/final shot) and their significantly decreased magnum shot load time. The primary advantage of Human ranged combat is the improved ranged passive skill which greatly boosts aim speed and damage. Those traits should allow Humans to compete with Elven archers especially as newer ranged skills become available.
  
  As an example, Humans have a more accurate Crash Shot while Elves can use the skill while mounted.
  
  You've already maxed several skills that benefit ranged combat such as Thunder (MP/Will), Windmill and several life skills. If you choose to use ranged combat, you'll have a good headstart.

  
  
  e.e this makes me wanna be ranger soo badly.
• Shirayuki wrote on 2010-09-10 03:09
  Max out ranged and carpentry :D~ Maxing your STR slowly but steadily 8D And you can magnum spam stuff for funsies starting R9
• Kaeporo wrote on 2010-09-10 04:02
  If you decide to use range, follow this order.
  
  1. Ranged Attack > r5
  2. Arrow Revolver > r5
  3. Ranged Attack > r1
  4. Magnum Shot > r1
  5. Arrow Revolver > r1
  
  After that, save up AP for Crash Shot and Support Shot. Crash Shot is expensive but awesome. Support shot is lackluster but will allow you or your team to double your melee damage. Supportmill will be a decent tactic, allowing players to windmill at 500% bare-hand damage.
  
  Useful upgraded weapons include the longbow, composite bow, elven short bow, crossbow, ring bow and wing bow. The wing bow is the most useful human spirit weapon with an adact of 149, followed by the ring bow with 151, the leather long bow at 147 and the Crossbow with 145.