Barrage Captain "Inspiring Barrager"
An untested Ranger/Paragon build by Grimarren.
Build Description:
With the popularity of Barrage and Critical Barrage builds growing and the new skill lines of the Paragon, I got inspired to enough sit down and put together a Barrage build designed for use with Barrage Teams. This build has never been tested in either PvE or PvP.
The idea behind this build was to create a Barrage Team buffer. By spamming Anthem of Envy, the entire Barrage Team will enjoy the benefits of bonus damage upon their targets.
Add to that, this build enjoys the benefits of working within a group to enhance both its hard resurrection skill.
The downfall to this build is that the character itself will not have the DPS (Damage Per Second) of other Barrage builds due to taking time to use the buff, but in doing so it will improve the DPS of its allies. This includes Warriors, Assassins, Paragons, and Dervishes, whose attack skills can also benefit from the buff.
Attributes:
Marksmanship: 12 + 1 + 3
Expertise: 9 + 1
Command: 9
Wildlife Survival: 3 +1
(0 Unused Attibute Points.)
Skill Bar:
1) Barrage (Elite)
2) ?
3) Anthem of Envy
4) Savage Shot
5) Whirlwind Defense
6) Favorable Wind
7) Troll Unguent
8) Signet of Return
Skill Descriptions:
Barrage (Marksmanship)
5 Energy, 1 Second Recharge.
Elite Bow Attack All your Preparations are removed. Shoot arrows at up to 6 foes adjacent to your target. These arrows strike for 17 damage if they hit.
Anthem of Envy (Command)
6 Adrenaline, 1 Second Recharge.
Chant. For 10 seconds, the next attack skill used by each ally within earshot deals +14 damage against foes with more than 50% Health.
Savage Shot (Marksmanship)
10 Energy, 1/2 Second Cast, 5 Second Recharge.
Bow Attack. If Savage Shot hits, your target's action is interrupted. If that action was a spell, you strike for +29 damage.
Favorable Winds (Marksmanship)
5 Enery, 5 Second Casting, 60 Second Recharge.
Create Spirit. Create a level 11 Spirit. For non-Spirit creatures within its range, arrows move twice as fast as normal and strike for +6 damage. This Spirit dies after 158 seconds.
Whirling Defense [Expertise)
10 Energy, 60 Second Recharge.
Stance. For 16 seconds, you have 75% chance to "Block" attacks. Whenver you block a projectile in this way, adjacent foes take 9 damage.
Troll Unguent (Wilderness Survival)
5 Energy, 3 Second Cast, 10 Second Recharge.
Skill. For 10 seconds, you have health regeneration of +5.
Signet of Return (Leadership)
6 Second Casting, 15 Second Recharge.
Signet. Resurrect target party member with 5% Health and 1% Energy for each party member within earshot.
--Edited for corrections.--
Barrage Captain; A Nightfall R/P build
Grimarren
Master Fuhon
From all the preview events and all kinds of internet resources, the Leadership attribute has been assigned as the Paragon primary attribute. I'm not sure if you're new to the game, but primary attributes are restricted to your primary class. It's not too bad, because the self heal and hard rez can be replaced by having a team that knows what they are doing. Anthem of Flame should get you one second of burning with 0 Leadership (based on website information, I've never actually tested this).
If you choose to make use of damage based team buffs, you will most likely be restricted to the Command line. I haven't tested chants with expertise, so someone else can elaborate on that.
Also make note that chants do not perform as shouts do; meaning that you have a skill activation time during which you won't be spamming barrage (your intended purpose). Then you will have to consider that you are losing a few Order of Pain stacked barrages to do your chanting.
Should this thread be filled with insults, it's because we all expect more out of our captains
. As good as theory might sound sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty with some actual testing in order to have a good understanding of how something works.
If you choose to make use of damage based team buffs, you will most likely be restricted to the Command line. I haven't tested chants with expertise, so someone else can elaborate on that.
Also make note that chants do not perform as shouts do; meaning that you have a skill activation time during which you won't be spamming barrage (your intended purpose). Then you will have to consider that you are losing a few Order of Pain stacked barrages to do your chanting.
Should this thread be filled with insults, it's because we all expect more out of our captains
. As good as theory might sound sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty with some actual testing in order to have a good understanding of how something works.
Grimarren
*smacks forehead*
It never dawned on me until you said something that the Leadership line is the Paragon's Primary. I guess that kills the idea behind the description above...
If the professions are reversed, the build becomes energy weak due to the loss of expertise and the lack of Shouts/Chants, not to meantion the poor energy regeneration rate of the Paragon.
Since the Leadership attribute is the Paragon's primary, then Command should be boosted to 9 instead. This will promote the damage granted by Anthem of Envy. Anthem of Flame would need to be replaced by a better skill. Leader's Comfort would also need to be replaced as it becomes a low spike healer, so Troll's Urgent or possibly a Motivation attribute healing skill would take its place.
With only one Anthem being used which is adrenaline based, it would get spammed less often allowing more uses of Barrage.
It's rather hard to test the build when that game is not actually released yet, but I get your point. Perhaps a better name would be "Inspiring Barrager". Thanks for the feedback!
It never dawned on me until you said something that the Leadership line is the Paragon's Primary. I guess that kills the idea behind the description above...
If the professions are reversed, the build becomes energy weak due to the loss of expertise and the lack of Shouts/Chants, not to meantion the poor energy regeneration rate of the Paragon.
Since the Leadership attribute is the Paragon's primary, then Command should be boosted to 9 instead. This will promote the damage granted by Anthem of Envy. Anthem of Flame would need to be replaced by a better skill. Leader's Comfort would also need to be replaced as it becomes a low spike healer, so Troll's Urgent or possibly a Motivation attribute healing skill would take its place.
With only one Anthem being used which is adrenaline based, it would get spammed less often allowing more uses of Barrage.
It's rather hard to test the build when that game is not actually released yet, but I get your point. Perhaps a better name would be "Inspiring Barrager". Thanks for the feedback!
SnipiousMax
No Go For the Eyes?
lennymon
I'd presume until it tests otherwise that the anthems will only boost/affect the first arrow (main target) of the barrage as well. Same as splinter shot/barrage etc. barrage with burning is a very cool idea though. Hells yeah, go for the eyes!!!
Grimarren
"Go for the Eyes!" would be a great buff to add to the mix. With +14 damage from Barrage, +17 damage from Anthem of Envy, +6 damage from Favorable Winds, and a 55% bonus towards Critical Hits, this build would make a nice killing machine.
Add to that the fact that the buffs affect allies, multiple Barragers would be dealing major spike damage across an area.
Add to that the fact that the buffs affect allies, multiple Barragers would be dealing major spike damage across an area.
Evilsod
Why Troll Unguent though? If you obviously haven't made the build with a self heal in mind tacking Unguent onto the end at low Wilderness really has no use. You might aswell use it for a skill that will actually benefit the build as a whole.
Grimarren
I only threw Troll Unguent in as a self heal, and I didn't have time to go back and look up a better paragon self heal.
As was stated above though, with a proper group there really isn't a need for a self heal. Thus, this slot could be better used with another party affecting shout or chant, or the paragon skill (I've forgotten the name) that gives adrenaline per nearby allies. This would allow the use of Anthem of Envy for the opening Barrage when the enemy is assured to be over 50% health.
As was stated above though, with a proper group there really isn't a need for a self heal. Thus, this slot could be better used with another party affecting shout or chant, or the paragon skill (I've forgotten the name) that gives adrenaline per nearby allies. This would allow the use of Anthem of Envy for the opening Barrage when the enemy is assured to be over 50% health.