Why do hunters switch to melee when monster gets close?

[Mordikay]

This thing have been buggin me about hunters. Why does hunters switch to melee when a mob gets close. Just doesn't make sense since you can actually shoot your bow at a mob that stand right in your face.

As a ranger melee dmg is less then your bows dmg, but for some stupid reason it auto switches to melee..why?

[Dale E]

I assume because for some bow shots it takes a while to draw your bow, and can be interupted by the monsters attacks

[Rorax]

Well, does it make sense at all to shoot a bow when someone is swinging a sword at you? I would say that the fact you CAN shoot the bow when in melee combat is whats wrong.

[Mordikay]

Well, does it make sense at all to shoot a bow when someone is swinging a sword at you? I would say that the fact you CAN shoot the bow when in melee combat is whats wrong.
That might be correct. But fact is you can shoot a bow at point blank atm as the game is, but yet it switches to melee weapon...

[DTQ]

One of our special moves is a melee hit followed by a arrow shot isnt it obviously meant for point blank arrow work, but I do use melee specials between timers for bow shots.

[hitchhiker54]

I've played hunter since I first got into beta... Melee option is good (past lvl 20 with dual wield) for the following :

No interrupted hits - certain mobs or multiple attackers leve you standing like a gimp and getting slaughtered while trying to use bow shots.

Low power/conserve power in groups - with 2x11.8 dps weaps on my current toon i can deal more damage on auto attack without needing power. That troll on weathertop springs to mind ;)

Time - we/i close to death, low hp on the mob. a few swipes of my axe and dagger may help more than a few secs wait for special bow attack to fire if my focus is low.

Boredom - sometimes a change is a good thing :P

[elahim]

If theres an orc swinging at you with a huge cleaver, would you rather have a bow to parry with or a sword?

I´d take the sword any day :)

Besides, you can still use your melee skills/auto attacks in between the bow timers.

[Belechael]

I assume because for some bow shots it takes a while to draw your bow, and can be interupted by the monsters attacks

I agree. This is the most logical answer, even though I prefer to hit them with arrows by point blank myself.

[Mordikay]

I've played hunter since I first got into beta... Melee option is good (past lvl 20 with dual wield) for the following :

No interrupted hits - certain mobs or multiple attackers leve you standing like a gimp and getting slaughtered while trying to use bow shots.

Low power/conserve power in groups - with 2x11.8 dps weaps on my current toon i can deal more damage on auto attack without needing power. That troll on weathertop springs to mind ;)

Time - we/i close to death, low hp on the mob. a few swipes of my axe and dagger may help more than a few secs wait for special bow attack to fire if my focus is low.

Boredom - sometimes a change is a good thing :P

Why not just make the game auto attack on bow at point blank range? Bows clearly have auto attack function and you can clearly shoot bow at point blank. So switching to melee still makes no sense.

[Jared]

Switching to melee from a game perspective makes a LOT of sense. The special 'Barbed Arrow' bow attack will cause the MOB to bleed.

If you then use the correct melee attack (I forget the name) you can do a substantial amount of damage, and kill the creature MUCH quicker.

[Iolas]

Switching to melee from a game perspective makes a LOT of sense. The special 'Barbed Arrow' bow attack will cause the MOB to bleed.

If you then use the correct melee attack (I forget the name) you can do a substantial amount of damage, and kill the creature MUCH quicker.

Absolutly right about that.. .

When I kill goblins I use:

1. swift bow
2. Barbed arrow
3. piercing shot (the 2 above give you enough focus)
4. then if it is a ranged goblin or orc I run towards them and do that scourging blow or something..

Try it.. it works like a charm :P

[D3ATH-W15H]

Why not just make the game auto attack on bow at point blank range? Bows clearly have auto attack function and you can clearly shoot bow at point blank. So switching to melee still makes no sense.

Take off your melee weapons then, and auto attack with bow at close ranger because it your only weapon

[Vanguard DOTA]

Take off your melee weapons then, and auto attack with bow at close ranger because it your only weapon

I tried this and if i remember correctly you end up punching...

[Larinson]

I hardly ever used barbed arrow. It's quite good at lower levels (with the melee follow up), but at higher levels it dos an insignificant amount of damage compared to bow skills. I find the best combo is.

Quick shot (slows down the mob and does a good amount of damage)
Swift bow
Penetrating shot
Quick shot
Penetrating shot

That is with the trait that reduces focus cost for PS to 2. It has the advantage that none of those stages are likely to get interrupted unless you attack really close and the mob closes before you can finish swift bow. Quick shot MIGHT get interrupted, but it is so quick it doesn't really matter.

As for the argument of melee vs bow point-blank, I think the melee is in there to add some realism.

[Leelad.]

Gotta admit though watching the films there is nothing more brutal and awesome than watching legolas slide on that shield and point blank arrows in orc face. Would be nice to have the option to choose though.

[zimoo]

I personally use barbed arrow as my second attack (after swift bow). Yeah, the poison is pretty useless, and the speed deudction is minimal, but follow it up with a scourging blow and you can deal out some nice damage :)

[SbS]

Depending on distance, I use the double shot, followed by the barbed arrow, quick shot if I have time, then the scourging blow. Works most of the time!

[Araldi]

Well, the answer to the OP is that we must switch to Melée because of the reason already given here: ranged attacks are interrupted by mobs. Some more than others (it's very difficult to shoot a single shot at a bird when it gets in your face, as it breaks it constantly). Besides, at higuer levels the dps we do is more than acceptable, specially in dual wield.

Coming now to the point where this thread has gone, lol, I must say that I'm now lvl 25, and so far I have used this attack combination, similar to that of Iolas :

1. Set trap, if no Cool Down on it and only if I consider it's necessary.
2. Barbed arrow
3. Swift bow.
3. Piercing shot.
4. Wait until he reaches me, and then Scourging blow.
5. Any other melée attack available. Should it be an animal, I fear it and range attack it.

Now I'm 25 and with money enough to learn something else, I planned to use the combination told by Larinson, so I'm happy so learn it works:

1. Quick shot
2. Swift bow
3. Penetrating shot
4. Quick shot
5. Penetrating shot


GL out there !