Your normal shot rotation?

[melbourne73]

I've just started up my lil hunter and after reading some posts I'm looking to get your ideal box & xbow rotation of shots for say a level 30? I think most shots are available by then.

example :
bow : quick shot --> auto --> penetrating --> swift --> auto --> merciful shot --> rinse and repeat

how do you prefer to go?

[DeltaSteve]

For single mobs I start with swift, then barbed if the mob is far away, and then penetrating.

In a group I start with swift, then penetrating and some quick shots in between to get focus for merciful shot or rain of arrows.

[Cragen]

For elites with a tank and full focus then my shot rotation is something like this:

Pene shot >> Barbed Arrow >> Auto shot >> Pene Shot >> Swift Bow >> Auto shot >> Pene shot >> Quick >> auto shot and so on.

The auto shot depends a bit if I'm using a bow or a crossbow, and I still havn't fought a mob that lasted long enough for me to run out of focus, but I'm sure that time will come with the new raid instance so then I'd probably do a couple more quick shots to constantly have enough focus for my shot rotation.

[Vargur]

When solo, I tend to build up focus, rather than use the skills. I know it is kinda lazy of me, but I have the focus stuff on my Alt-# bar, and for most solos I prefer to just open up.

My shot rotation is usually Swift-Barbed-Penetrating-Barbed-Penetrating-Swift. That is what my growing gut tells me offer the most damage to a single target. I have yet to get Hail of Arrows trait, so my rotation might change once that is in place.

[zimoo]

Swift-Penetrating-Swift-Penetrating etc and so on, using Merciful Shot when available.

[Corvus Umbranox]

Swift - Penetrating - Quick - Penetrating : rinse and repeat.

Don't have Merciful yet...

[Wolfrim of Rohan]

Solo: quick (with str stance for snare) auto barbed auto swift auto penetrating - then usually finish with a melee style.

Fellowship: (precision or endurance stance) auto auto quick auto barbed auto swift auto penetrating auto - then continue with penetrating, merciful and quick/swift when they are available.

[Morlu]

I use the trait enduring precision, so have a full focus bar most of the time, mine is

Normal mob: Swift-->penetrating-->quick-->penetrating-->quick-->p-->q e.t.c
Elite mob: Swift-->penetrating-->quick-->penetrating-->rinse and repeat, merciful when ever it come available.
Multiple mobs: Rain of arrows-->penetrating-->swift-->quick-->rinse and repeat + merciful shot when its a avilable to finish something off quick and bards arrow in there on a mob that you arnt attacking to give yourself a breather.
Monster players:Barbed-->penetrating-->quick-->penetrating-->barbed-->swift-->merciful, but mp is very fluid and you have to change your sequence depending on the situation, i.e. lots of monsters, few monsters, what class of monster, how they are playing, e.t.c.

[melbourne73]

so is the rule of thumb to use AA between shots with Bow & just spam skills with xbow?

[Lorianne]

I'm just very young hunter, but I use my bow like this.

Swift -> (sometimes AA) -> Quick -> Penetrating -> Quick and so one..

Base idea behind this is that Swift is slow, but does good damage, so it's good for opening attack. Then Quick, because it slows the enemy. Penetrating has also good damage, so I use it as much as possible. As for Barbed, I never use it, if I think fight will not last for while. If the fight gonna last long and I know it, then I use Barbed after the Quick. As for AA, I try to avoid it, but sometimes it comes fast after Swift. Oh, Also I don't melee at all, I use Quick in close combat.

[zimoo]

I personally only use the barbed arrow if I wish to follow up wth scourging blow. I don't consider the poison damage to be of any use at all :/

[Vanguard DOTA]

I personally only use the barbed arrow if I wish to follow up wth scourging blow. I don't consider the poison damage to be of any use at all :/

Agreed, Scourging blows damage is very nice :).

Mine goes: Swift Bow --> Auto --> Barbed --> Auto --> Pen -->Scourging Blow

Rain of Arrows doesn't seem to always hit all of my targets. There was this one incident today, I was in Ost Cyrn and a Beserker was in my trap whilst and Range Tarkip was attacking me. The rain of arrows failed to hit the trapped one. Why is this? Is it because they weretoo far away from each other?

[Zakk]

Agreed, Scourging blows damage is very nice :).

Mine goes: Swift Bow --> Auto --> Barbed --> Auto --> Pen -->Scourging Blow

Rain of Arrows doesn't seem to always hit all of my targets. There was this one incident today, I was in Ost Cyrn and a Beserker was in my trap whilst and Range Tarkip was attacking me. The rain of arrows failed to hit the trapped one. Why is this? Is it because they weretoo far away from each other?

could be luck of the draw and random on hits, does it happen often? check it a few times and see might answer your question for you....

[nicbass]

I personally only use the barbed arrow if I wish to follow up wth scourging blow. I don't consider the poison damage to be of any use at all :/

I have the trait equipped that increases the damage from Barbed Arrow, so I find it worthwhile. I've had some mobs bleed to death before they've got to me.

In general my selection is:

Barbed Arrow to slow them down & get them bleeding
Swift Arrow as it does lots of damage, but has a slow induction time
Swift Bow to Hopefully get another shot in before they close.

Then, if in melee, I'll probably go:

Low Cut to slow them down further,
Blindside
Scourging Blow

Then, if they haven't dropped by now, step back & do variations of the above.

[Celene]

I keep wondering why people start with quick shot anyways, you lose anything you gain from the slowing effect because you have to cast swift bow during combat rather than before it and your miss rate makes any gain from strength stance totally useless since you miss WAY more than 10% of the time.

I do the following:
focus -> swift bow (combat begins when second arrow hits) -> penetrating shot -> barbed arrow -> penetrating shot (mob reaches me here) -> scourging blow -> penetrating shot -> ... (swift bow up)

That's an awful lot of firepower, swift bow, 2 penetrating shots and DoT in before the mob even reaches me; and if it's even alive anymore at that point, I have two high damage instant attacks coming right up. Needless to say, I also use mercy shot instead of penetrating shot as soon as that is possible.

I have no trouble killing orange mobs with this cycle, so I figure I must be doing something right. It all of course varies by mob level, for lower level mobs barbed arrow is just a waste of time and for higher level mobs I tend to put one quick shot in between to let barbed arrow bleed the mob a little longer.

[Shariva]

I do the following:
focus -> swift bow (combat begins when second arrow hits) -> penetrating shot -> barbed arrow -> penetrating shot (mob reaches me here) -> scourging blow -> penetrating shot -> ... (swift bow up)


Hmm, that's almost what I do. I also start by gathering focus (if at all nessecary because I use a stance for it) -> swift bow -> penetrating shot -> barbed arrow -> penetrating shot. Then the mob reaches me and if I do not have trap down, I mostly keep using the bow with barbed arrow -> penetrating shot -> swift bow (if it isn't dead already). I rather use my bow as I do far more damage with it.

[Ismelda]

I have set my quick bar to just press 12354
1: Barbed Arrow: I usually start to attack from far away so making them come slowly to me is always good
2: Swift Bow: This attack has a long induction timer so better used when the target is moving slowly to you.
3: Quick Shot: the target is nearly on you, a quick arrow to get it in the good mood.
5: Penetrating shot: You still want more then here it is!
4: Blindside: I like this attack.

If the creature is still alive, I generally add a Scourging blow then go back to 1, 3, 5.

I use big attacks like Merciful Shot only on mobs that are too powerful for the previous cycle of attacks or if I'm low in HP and need to end the combat swiftly.

I'm not a fan of Rain of Arrows because it often creature more problems than it gives solutions. I use it from time to time, when I'm sure only the targets wanted will be affected.

I'm also all the time in Precision stance (unless i'm with a lower level tank and need to get a bit less aggro, in which case I use the Endurance Stance). Of course I also have Enduring Precision Trait and nearly always full of Focus in case of dire need of rapidity or any other focus skills.

[Willdo]

I'm level 26 at the moment so I don't have all the skills, but I use stance-switching mid-combat to be effective. I'm gonna try some other options, but so far my buttons are set up like this:

1: Strength Stance - Press this at the end of combat to be ready for the next fight.
2: Quick Shot - First shot, slows target by 40%, followed up by an auto-attack.
3: Precision Stance - You can queue this up right after you press Quick Shot and it won't get in the way of your auto-attack.
4: Swift Bow - Followed by auto-attack.
5: Barbed Arrow - After this attack they're on me.
6: Penetrating Shot - This can't be interrupted so it's fine to use in melee.

After this I've still got 2 focus so I can use another PS, plus I can use Scourging Blow as the target is bleeding.
This setup assumes I'm not using the Focus skill, and not using a trap.

Part of the reason I have this setup is because I'm trying to get some Barbed Arrow practice in to get the class trait. After that I may remove it in favour of more PS, but I'll see.

[yellsie]

I just like to taunt them, then run away....


Seriously though, I tend to use swift first, then pene, then barbed, then quick, then swift again, then pene, then maybe a few autos then rain of arrows.....


:drive:

[Corintur]

In solo play i use: swift-barbared-penetrating-quick-penetrating and if the mob ain't dead then i use swift-penetrating-quick until he/she is dead.

I fellowships i often use: quick-qucik-penetrating, sometimes swift but it does often draw to much aggro.

[SCM]

My usual shot rotation using strength stance is

quick shot to slow them down > auto > barbed arrow > auto > swift bow > auto > penetrating shot - after that whatever skill is available to use.

By time those hit mob is 50% down on morale minimum allowing for some misses at times, other time can be as much as 50-75% reduction.

SCM

[Bell of Eternity]

When soloing, my hunter is always in strength stance. Against easy kills I don't bother with Focus and just do a quick > quick > penetrating and whatever it takes to finish them off (I have the trait equipped giving me pen shot with 2 focus).

Against harder ones I start with focus, then quick (slowdown) > penetrating > barbed > penetrating > swift > penetrating > quick > penetrating, followed by quick > penetrating grind until swift has cooled down. I don't bother with melee attacks at all except auto-attacks and a scourging blow to capitalize on a bleed that is about to fade. If I run out of focus, I just spam quick until I have enough for a penetrating shot, or use the in-combat focus regen ability if I am in dire need of more focus.

In fellowships I use the precision stance. Against trash I just spam quick because they are usually dead before I have enough focus for penetrating... tougher ones and bosses I open with barbed and then quick > penetrating > swift > penetrating > quick > penetrating > quick > penetrating > swift... shoot in barbed whenever the bleed stops and if I run out of focus I alternate quick and swift until I have enough for a penetrating shot, or use the focus boost if it has cooled down.

Overall, I try to ready moves into queue well in advance so there's as few auto-attacks inbetween as possible. Swift seems to demand a single auto-attack afterwards but that is usually the only one I am forced to make.