Needling Shot. Good or Bad?

Hey, ive posted a few builds here and there but when ive including needling shot into a few of my ranger builds, people always say i should replace it. Are these people not seeing what im seeing? This is only one skill shot in the 8 and for the dam you can get is well worth it. I use ranger alot and find this skill excellent for finishing off monks with a warrior hunting them. Im not expecting to take a monk down on my own, but if your supporting a warrior or any other char for that matter, then this skill is for me, a very good skill. Instant recharge, faster attack than normal and with a high expertise, costs next to nothing in energy. People keep saying swap it for marauders shot and i just dont get it(i get the maths perfectly so please dont explain). Anyway anyone else use it and like it, or is it just me?

Needling Shot combined with Favorable Winds, Read the Wind and a Vamp Mod becomes very powerful about 41dmg max and ignores armor.

finally someone with a brain

Admittedly I overlooked this skill a lot when Factions first came out since it didn't look that great by it's description alone, but after a Guildmate influenced me to take a second look at it, I realized that the skill is a LOT more powerful than I first thought. I think what most people don't realize about the skill is that you can spam it faster than quickshot and faster than using an IAS alone. Also, when used in the right build (such as with FW + RtW like posted above or with Glass or Melandru's Arrows) you can really pump out some stout armor ignoring damage quickly.

The biggest disadvantage about the skill is that it can drain you relatively quickly when spammed for long and has limited use in PvE when enemies are dying quickly, but I believe that in the right environment, this skill can deal some unmatched DPS.

People tend to avoid conditional skills. That said, I love needling shot. I sometimes miss the 50% mark even though I could swear the health bars are below half but ah well...when it works it eats through the remaining health without issue.

Add an orders nec to a group with DarkGanni's skill list = yummy

Keep a hornbow as one weapon set and you will also get 10% armor penetration when using it. Its slow fire rate is replaced by casting time if a bow attack skill has one. This is something I learned a few months ago even I have played since May 2005

Glass Arrows works better than Melandru's most of the time. And when you get a target less than 50% health it's practically dead. Pin down helped though you don't have a cover condition.

I like needling shot in AB to finish people off,

by the way FW +Conjure flame+Kindle arrows + needling shot ? =GG

Quote:

Needling shot is an awesome skill, especially in an interupt/damage build like what I use sometimes on my ranger. It was overlooked early on in the Factions skill pool by me,but once I used it...wow!

Picture this, if you can.

A beaten warrior, caught in a battle, a monk coming to his rescue...
Suddenly,(put your ranger's name here!) spots the monk on the hop, and uses kindle arrows. Drawing your bowstring back you strike, right as he cast heal other, only to find that he has been interupted.

Then,he is caught by a next ranger in a crossfire, while a 3rd ranger attacks the embattled warrior. The monk tries to heal again,only to be denied,and brought under 50% hp himself.

Thinking, in classic style,the monk assumes he has survived long enough to avoid further interuptions of his divine might, only to be popped with a distracting or savage shot, then peppered to death by dual needling shots.

That is a good day to be a ranger squad!

i dont care much for this skill, your base damage of a bow almost always outdamages this until you are hitting 100 armor targets and the 50% health condition is bit much imo to make a build around it outside of fooling around in RA

Needling Shot+Marksman's Wager=GG?

well im glad at all the posts bigging this skill up. I was beginning to think i was the only one that liked it!

I don't use Ranger often, and only in PvP when I do, but I used this combo when I first unlocked Needeling Shot, which was soon after the release of factions.

I used it with Choking gas and Practiced Stance, so that when a caster got below 50% health, I was able to spam spell inturrupts like there was no tomorrow! It is a good skill!

Marksman's Wager? Ewww. Try 13 expertise and a zealous string please. It's called gaining energy. Sure, you lose out on the vamp mod.. meh. It's 5 damage. At least you can do it again with a zealous mod. (talking pve here)

Another fun use I've found:
Take Ignite Arrows. This causes the AI to run away. It's hilarious to use Ignite+Frenzy and watch everything scurry around. You can actually make some use of Hunter's Shot, or the like, not to mention start spamming NEEDLING SHOT and watch those warriors that were on your monk dissapear in a pile of fire.

Of course, scattering is usually more harm than good, but games are to have fun, right?