Need Help With Hunter Builds

[Yatta]

I dont have a clue who I should build my Hunter. I want to be able to swap between raiding build and a PvP but dont know what I am doing and any help be well helpfull.

[Lenin_]

Basically, there is not much options you can go for group playing setup (in my opinion).

Usually we are invited to groups as a DPS class, I have never seen that hunter was supposed to be wanted as CC member .

That removes the option of full Trapper of foes setup from the pool.

While crawling through instances, very *rarely* you need to be on the move while fighting, so fleet stance is out.

Next, do you use strength stance while in group, most of the times? I don't think so, so going for full Bowmaster is no go.

Ok, so what we got.... possibly 0/2 ToF traits, 2/4 BM traits and 3/4 HM traits to mix together.

Well, start with Bowmaster line :
True shot - more dmg for penetrating shot. A nice addition, not limited only to strength stance.

Hall of arrows - +3600 rain of arrows critical rating. *Rating* is very important word, because it means it does not stack with our critical chance, which is capped at 15%. Solo buffed you can get around 11-14% crit chance, with group buffs you should be at 15% or very near. So +3600 crit rating goes down the drain. And the +25% RoA crit multiplaier is not worth slotting this trait.

Barbed fury - more pulses for Barbed arrow. Quickshot is more dmg and power efficient then Barbed arrow. Wasting one trait slot to balance it a little bit is not worth it.

Swift and true - improves dmg of one of our most used dmg skill. It's nice.

Deadly precision - you gain 1 focus every critical shot you land. More focus > more focus skills available > more dmg. Definitely a worth trait.

The quality of mercy - the bonus it offers to merciful shot is not worth slotting this trait over others.

Critical eye - extra critical rating for all our skills/shots. VERY good trait.

Shot through the heart - +1200 crit rating for HS. Not worth slotting for group play.

Lets see what useful for group there is in ToF line :
Graceful Draw - definitely a very nice trait, futher power cost and threat generation reduction allows you to use skills more frequently > more dps.

Strong Intimidation - bonus 5s to fear duration. In case your healer is in trouble, bards arrow is great, and prolonging it doesn't hurt.

Stealthy shot - improved Beneath notice. The less threat you generate the more dmg you can do, so this is trait is pretty ok.

Deep Concentration - intent concetration restores 480 power as extra to normal effect. Basically this is a free power pot on 2min cd. With 2 ToF bonus a nice addition if you experience power problems.

Combat traps - This is for situational use. With in-combat traps and bards arrow you are able to perma cc one mob (if the mob is cc/fear-able), For example one troll in Forges at 2nd boss or the last troll at final boss.

Sturdy traps - in my opinion not very usefull in groups. This trait is only related to the use of traps, and as I mentioned, that is very situational.

Heightened sense - apart from exploring new unknown instances, totally unimportant.

Heart of the bard - purely PvMP trait in my opinion. Heart-seeker is not very efficient group skill. Bosses are usually not fearable. Nothing more to say.

There are some really nice traits in ToF line, the problem is that 3 or more traits will reduce our damage output too much, and are not worth the benefits of the traits.

Lets move to Hunstman line:

Enduring precision - passive focus generation while in precision stance. If you find yourself using precision stance most of the time, this one is a must. But if I would have to choose between improved precision stance or improved endurance stance, I will pick the latter.

Fast draw - reduced induction of barbed arrow and swiftbow. Barbed arrow I don't have even in action bars, so the benefit of -0.2s for swiftbow is all what this trait offers.

Swift recovery - Needful haste and Intent concentration are very good group skills, and improving both with one trait, nice!

Strong Draw - reducing the focus cost of Penetrating shot by 1. PS is like the only *very good* dmg skill we have atm, so this trait is a must.

Arrow storm - reducing the focus cost of Rain of arrows by 1. In order to maximize dmg output, this one really helps. (But remember, watch the AOE! :D )

Resolute aim - prevent setbacks while shooting with needful haste on. Another PvMP trait, in group play nothing should be really hitting you.

Bow and Blade - bonus dmg for melee skills. We are hunters, a ranged combat class. Eventho it may seem that developers want to push us more in melee combat (might bonuses on every set items??? ) you don't really fight in melee while in group.

Rapid recovery - reduced cd on melee skills. Same as Bow and blade.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Now wrap it up a bit.
It is important to look at the line trait bonuses. Not one of the new legendary traits from the cap stones (5 traits from same line) is usefull in group. Relatively to other legendary traits we have. So getting 5 traits of the same line is not needed, thus we can mix them more then other classes.

ToF line bonuses: We reduce our dmg switching from strenght to precision or endurance. And reducing it even more is not worth it. Thats why getting 3 or more traits is not very good.

BM line bonuses: There is one big problem with BM bonuses. Majority of them are bound to strength stance, which is very limited in groups. So their relative worth is very low. With 2-piece and 3-piece you get bonus for all stances, but 4-piece is completely strength stance related.

HM line bonuses: In fact the only line where you benefit even from 4-pieces bonus.

Possible builds I can think of:

3/0/4 -
This is build I use.
BM (Deadly precision; Critical eye; Swift and true or True shot)
HM (Strong draw; Swift recovery; Arrow storm; Enduring precision or Fast draw)

2/2/3
If you struggle with power, this is way to go.
BM (Deadly precision; Critical eye)
ToF (Graceful draw; Deep contrentation or Deep breath)
HM (Strong draw; Swift recovery; Arrow storm or Fast draw)

2/1/4
A hybrid between hybrids. You switch +5% crit multiplier for +60 ICPR, less power cost and less threat.
BM (Deadly precision; Critical eye)
ToF (Graceful draw)
HM (Strong draw; Swift recovery; Arrow storm; Enduring precision or Fast draw)

Wohoo, alot of text heh.

Now please take into account this all is only from group play perspective to maximize your dmg/power/threat efficiency.

Also this is a SUBJECTIVE opinion, based on my experiences and perceptions.

[agoracy_]

Nice thread, I saw that wardens have a good class guide, if there are any other experienced hunters willing to share their wisdom it will be great... Keep the spam away from this topic and let it flow!

Thanks Lenin, your efforts are appreciated as I still have new things to learn while playing with my hunter.

[Silmahad]

For the most I agree the above poster.

After B7 it leaded for me to just three most used skill builds, because the major reason you get invites to groups is as a damage dealer and for solo and farming you just want to maw through mobs as fast as possible, so dps plays a dominant role there too.

These (PvE) skill builds are:

4 BM / 3 HM
3 BM / 4 HM
3 BM / 3 HM / 1 TF

4 BM / 3 BM (Solo build)

I use this as a solo build. I want to maw through mobs as fast as possibe in S:S, no time for winning a beauty contest.

-Deadly Precision (provides the focus you need)
-Critcal Eye (at least unbuffed a good skill to get closer to the critcap)
-Hail of Arrows (Although I know the + in critratring is useless because of the cap, but I appreciate the 25% crit multi. This skill does some damage and it is very often available. For the Watcher this might be a must, because you can cover your tentacle and the Watcher's head with one shot)
-True Shot/Swift and True (nobody can really compare the dps gain from these traits, so we just guess they are both equal, matter of taste)

-Strong Draw (-1 Focus needed for our most used damage skill)
-Swift Recovery (shortened cooldown of Needfull haste and Intent Concentration -> pure damage gain)
-Fast Draw (-0,2 induction for SB is ok) or Resolute Aim

3 BM / 4 HM (Solo, group)

-Deadly Precision
-Critical Eye
-Hail of Arrows

-Strong Draw
-Swift Recovery
-Fast Draw
-Resolute Aim (no or less interruptions while Needfull haste is up) or Arrow Storm (if you know you will and can use hail of Arros often -> Watcher) or Enduring Precision (to complete the pure Focus build and if you know you will use precision stance a lot -> so not at the watcher, cos you will use S:S there a lot too and only change to S:P when power kicks in).

You can use this as a normal group or solo build. If you dislike getting interrupted with mobs in close combat then this build with Resolute Aim functions great as a solo build too, although you will do less damage in S:S. I don't think that Resolute Aim is solo only as the above poster stated, indeed I find it very usefull in groups too, because you will offtank adds and stuff, standing behind and pew pew without ever fighting mobs in melee range is an illusion. I would slot it, if I wouldn't think there are more usefull traits. Just my opinion about Resolute Aim, no gereral rule.

3 BM / 3 HM / 1 ToF (group, Watcher raid, heavy power drain)

This is the build for group/raid content with long and power intensive fights (Watcher 2.0, Working through spiders in Skumfil, GS without a rogue and without wanting to do a suicide run, Forges last Boss).

-Deadly Precision
-Critical Eye
-Hail of Arrows

-Strong Draw
-Swift Recovery
-Fast Draw or Arrow Storm or Enduring Precision

-High Contentration (~465 power per use of Intent Concentration, gives 6 focus so a guaranteed Mercyfull Shot).

In opposition to the above poster I think that traited Swift Recovery and High Concentration and the synergy between the two traits and an occasional Celebrant Pot is more than enough to cover power problems. The + 60 icpr (2 x ToF bonus) are very mediocre in compare to 465 power every 2 minutes and I don't want to waste another traitslot for a ToF trait, that does nothing for my dps. But that is just my opinion, no general rule.

For the other things the above poster stated, I fully agree, especially to the explanations for Barbed Fury, Quality of Mercy, Shot through the Heart, Sturdy Traps, Heightened Senses, Heart of the Bard, Bow and Blade, Rapid Recovery.

For Legendaries:

Trait RoT, BA and BotR and you will be fine everywhere and everytime

PS: Last time I looked on my skill description Intent Concentration restored 465 power per use, I wonder...weren't that 480 usually?

[agoracy_]

Nice posts, thanks a lot!
If possible, could we make this on top, in the sticky section?

Also, could someone add some input regarding weapons speed, what are the best hunter melee weapons...?

This thread really helps me to understand my class and learn how to play it effectively,
Thanks Silmahad!

[Yatta]

Was looking for some help with traits and deeds as well not just the class specific deeds/traits.

[Cruciblious]

IMO-

Justice
Determination
Valour

Those are pretty set in stone for any PvP or solo build. Perhaps not justice for a raiding set-up but only if you're really finicky. I'd run with it anyway.

The rest are slightly more changable. Compassion for +5% ranged defence? Innocence for +5% melee defence? Idealism for the in combat regen? Depends on what you need most of, I suppose.

[Silmahad]

I agree.

I still trait Justice, Determination and Valor the most of the time (solo, most 6-men-instances).

The reason is - plain simple - the morale bonus and the agility (Det) from those traits (I hate Valor though, it brings nothing to the table except morale, but this in loads). If I want to change my equip to a heavy icpr build (~950 icpr unbuffed), I sacrifice about 500 Morale (charmed bracelets are nice, but no morale at all on them), without those traits I would drop not only to 4,6 k morale but even more to 4,2 k morale and lower.

For solo I still need Determination for reaching around 590 agi unbuffed. In groups/raids you could kick Determination for another trait, if you know you will get the Captain buff.

I usually always trait Loyalty. It's one of the best virtue in my eyes. It gives 3 bonuses we can use, vitality for more morale and resistances, power for a larger power pool and armor. I rate vitality as our second most important stat after agility.

The last one I use is usually Idealism for some more fate (icpr) and will (power pool). I could imagine that Empathy (armor bonus, fate, fear resistance) or especially Honesty (Armor bonus, power pool, fate) would be just fine too. I will switch to Honesty if I get that trait to 10 soon.

For certain instances like Watcher 2.0 (tentacle tanking) I switch Idealism and maybe Determination for Compassion and Charity. - 7,5 % ranged damage for such a long fight is something you can count on.

For DD I guess it might be great to equip Fidelity (shadow resistance, vita, power).

[Cruciblious]

Silmahad, my thoughts almost exactly; currently I'm rolling:

Justice
Valour
Determination
Loyalty
Compassion

But as you say, Idealism is very tempting. I'll probably retrait to it when I rank it to 10. I can't really think of that many other viable options; I doubt I'd ever trait charity personally.

[Crossdamo]

get a 2.6 or 2.5 xbow even if its 3rd age with decent legacies, kicks the crap out of a bow
basically because the most dps skills are non induction base and based on top end dmg,
and xbows do more top end dmg than bows, even a bow with 2.2 speed and higher dps (not weapon range) doesnt kick out as much dmg as a 3rd age xbow lvl 59 with 2.6 speed, due to the way our class works.

feel free to disagree though :P

[Kheld]

Keep this in your back pocket.

"A Hunters job is to turn his blue power bar into damage, (without pulling agro in most cases)".

Dont matter if you have 6k morale, if your ICPR is 500, your useless.

Crossdamo is right about the bows btw, even if he is a Junior member ;)

[Cruciblious]

Yes, it is in certain circumstances better for group play - you can then maximise your damage on mobs.

It's certainly not the most efficient solo play method, and there's a case to be argued for not ignoring morale in group play - several boss fights target anyone on the aggro list even if they're not first, adds can come and you can take aggro off the minstrel without fear that your squishy little man will die.

Don't even get me started on ICPR - 500 useless? If you're running instances in full bowmaster strength stance, perhaps. More is always better, but if you're in traited endurance and have BoTR, 500 should do most fights well enough.

[Kheld]

Depends on what you are Hunting in solo play, for the most part you want to kill & NOT STOP, hence Power Regen is the primary factor.

There are times when (for a single tough mob) you do want max morale.

In groups ill rephrase then, a Hunter with 500 ICPR running in endurance is not useless, merely less effective than the guy with 800+ in Precision next to him.

In light of the PvP complaints Turbine seems to be moving the Hunter AWAY from "Nuker with ranged burst damage".

There are plenty of threads on the US forums where other CLASSES out-burst dps Hunters.

In particular they have given RK's this role, probably as RK's dont have the same range Hunters do.

I feel that to contribute effectively, especially in Raids a Hunter must now concentrate on SUSTAINED DPS.

[Silmahad]

There are plenty of threads on the US forums where other CLASSES out-burst dps Hunters.

In particular they have given RK's this role, probably as RK's dont have the same range Hunters do.

I feel that to contribute effectively, especially in Raids a Hunter must now concentrate on SUSTAINED DPS.

...and I still wonder if the RK is maybe dominant in the sustained dps role too. I still miss parces about a hunter in S:P and a RK with a Fire or Lightning build doing damage over a longer duration.

There must be a reason why I watch dozens of runestones ticking in Esteldin nowadays.

Ontopic:

For power regen and morale...it's possible to have 800 icpr, 2600 power and a morale value of still 5000. With some item changes I can achieve 950 icpr, 2700 power and ~4600 morale. With less than 800 icpr and traited BotR I wouldn't leave the 21. Hall, be it for a solo run or an instance or a raid, I would just feel naked.

For some fights even 900 icpr and celebrant Pots wouldn't be sufficient, traiting High Concentration helps a lot.

[Malindruil]

Well Bow of the Righteous is the hunter's #1 trait. Whether solo or group play.
Power is the biggest enemy of the hunter, or rather the lack of.

Most peeps who know me and have grouped with me in Rift or Watcher or even normal instances, will know that i never drop below 80% power, with the sole exception of the power draining darklings in Roger's room.

I have traited with full Bowmaster set and i only swap between Cool-burn and Bard's Arrow depending on fight, or if I want to see what I can crit :D. My other legacy is Rain of Thorns. And I can quite easily solo 18k lvl 61 elites, with no power loss. BTW, my ICPR = 486

When kitting yourself out, look for a balance between ur 4 main stats Vitality, Agility, Will and Fate.
I have seen hunters, before Moria, who aimed for 500 Agility at the cost of all other stats. This guy kept shouting how much damage he could do due to him being 50 and 500 agility.... despite he only had 1800 morale.
Ive seen players go for high morale at the cost of their power, an LM's nightmare.

I currently stand at 5,034 health, 3,314 power. I can stand my own ground for quite a while without troubling the mincers, and the LM's know they dont need to worry about me.

And yes there are some downfalls as well. I am the first to admit i dont always heed my own advice, my Fate is currently at the bottom of my stats list and I know it should be a lot more than it is

Dont be afraid to experiment with armour, jewellery and such. Teal is not the be-all and end-all for hunters, or any other class for that matter.
It's finding a balance for keeping you up and keeping you fighting

And remember Virtues, you can't slot every virtue for every fight. Check where you are going, if you've been to a place regular, you know what to look out for so slot the appropriate virtue, wether it be poison resist, shadow defence, ranged evade..... look for the right one for the right fight... and get a balance

[Kheld]

Well for myself, 4BM, 3 HNTS, starting with 2300 power & a ICPR of 800+ (in STR stance) I did a LoS run & lasted just over 2 minutes before I was empty.

Thats a plain fact.

There was a good calculation of a Hunters Power debt on the US forums quite a while ago, which showed the amount of ICPR needed to support a sustained DPS shot rotation.

Worth a read if it can be found, but it was pre-moria.

[Silmahad]

I have traited with full Bowmaster set and i only swap between Cool-burn and Bard's Arrow depending on fight, or if I want to see what I can crit :D. My other legacy is Rain of Thorns. And I can quite easily solo 18k lvl 61 elites, with no power loss. BTW, my ICPR = 486




I would feel naked with such low icpr for fellowship play, but a 3000 power pool helps a lot, yes, and some use of Strength of Earth, while the lvl 61 Elite runs around feared by BA, does the rest.

At Watcher 2.0 you either need a private loremaster (you won't have) or you will run merciless empty in phase 3 :-)

Even for the usual solo play and with that I mean farming by killing mob after mob without rest in S:S, you will run empty soon, too soon for my taste.

[Flambergius]

i never drop below 80% power
...
I have traited with full Bowmaster set
...
BTW, my ICPR = 486


How?

(Addition for lenght: the bit about getting balance is good advice.)

[OMWiener]

How?

(Addition for lenght: the bit about getting balance is good advice.)

Probably by auto-attacking all the time :P

I'm sorry for the sarcasm and it's not my intention to flame anyone, but posts like the one Flam is answering to, really **** me off. I run around with 900 ICPR and when dealing with the camps in Battle of Lorien, going all out on multiple elite mobs in succession, i run out of power in precision stance. Only with a pot now and then, can i cope pretty well. I have 2.8K power and 5.3K morale...

People running around with 500 icpr and not running out of power are either:

- only killing normal mobs one by one
- don't maximize their damage output and are probably spamming AA+QS
- Run around in traited endurance with -power legacies maxed out all the time. Even then going all out will deplete your power in longer fights with only 500 icpr.
- lying

There is no way they are not running out of power in group play...

[Kheld]

I think the Turtle Raid will sieve the Men (with decent ICPR) from the boys.

Its a DPS race v time, and it looks like the difficulty level has been skewed towards the upper end of the difficulty band.

In this instance ill rephrase again, if you have crappy ICPR you not pulling your weight.

Its a 5~7 minute fight where you have to belt out an insance amount of dps.

[mYhero]

There is no way they are not running out of power in group play...
Personal slave LMs are naturally a part of a good Hunter Setup.
Everyone should have one or two at his arbitrarily use, an additional right traited Captain might also come in handy. ;)

[OMWiener]

Personal slave LMs are naturally a part of a good Hunter Setup.
Everyone should have one or two at his arbitrarily use, an additional right traited Captain might also come in handy. ;)

Yep, just went to the shop and ordered four LMs in hobbit form^^

[IsmoLaitela]

I use these on my huntard:Valour-Justice-Determination-Loalty-Tolerance

[Belegathon]

Just wanted to add my two cents to the power argument on the build.

I've now 'finished' my hunter (ie got all the best gear and several LIs maxed out for different situations - including group CC btw ;) ) and reading through I've noticed several things that can't agree with. One is to say the bow of the righteous is essential, I always find it best to use the power cost down carving, then threat down legacies on bow and stick to endurance or preferably precision stance (depends on the tank really ;) - personally find i never use power, not even if i try lol, and of course it frees up a legendary trait.

In terms of DPS and build I have decided to go for full on speed when in group as dps. This just means traiting for the lowest inductions possible really (traits, legacies (needful haste duration) and relics for LIs all very useful with this) and faster attack speed too.
Now in this build you do lose some of the nice dmg up traits from the bowmaster line, but for me this is easily outweighed by the benefits. I may not hit as big as I used to, but I certainly hit a lot more often, with far less aggro and for far longer.

Basically I think my point is, if you want to be a serious group hunter that LMs and minis don't mind playing alongside please dont trait bowmaster, in a group you can't use strength stance until the end of boss fights (unless you re with a very good warden but they are all too rare atm ;) ) and so you end up with no benefit to being in the bowmaster line beyond the base traits.

Personally I always prefer playing as or alongside hunters traited for speed, longevity and flexibilty over dps powerhouses that 'shoot their load' in under 2 minutes. Oh and saw someone saying that they can run in strength stance, traited bowmaster and never dip below 80% power, even if this were true (which it aint) your threat would have you die maybe even before you got through your power

[Telaron70]

Just wanted to add my two cents to the power argument on the build.

I've now 'finished' my hunter (ie got all the best gear and several LIs maxed out for different situations - including group CC btw ;) ) and reading through I've noticed several things that can't agree with. One is to say the bow of the righteous is essential, I always find it best to use the power cost down carving, then threat down legacies on bow and stick to endurance or preferably precision stance (depends on the tank really ;) - personally find i never use power, not even if i try lol, and of course it frees up a legendary trait.

In terms of DPS and build I have decided to go for full on speed when in group as dps. This just means traiting for the lowest inductions possible really (traits, legacies (needful haste duration) and relics for LIs all very useful with this) and faster attack speed too.
Now in this build you do lose some of the nice dmg up traits from the bowmaster line, but for me this is easily outweighed by the benefits. I may not hit as big as I used to, but I certainly hit a lot more often, with far less aggro and for far longer.

Basically I think my point is, if you want to be a serious group hunter that LMs and minis don't mind playing alongside please dont trait bowmaster, in a group you can't use strength stance until the end of boss fights (unless you re with a very good warden but they are all too rare atm ;) ) and so you end up with no benefit to being in the bowmaster line beyond the base traits.

Personally I always prefer playing as or alongside hunters traited for speed, longevity and flexibilty over dps powerhouses that 'shoot their load' in under 2 minutes. Oh and saw someone saying that they can run in strength stance, traited bowmaster and never dip below 80% power, even if this were true (which it aint) your threat would have you die maybe even before you got through your power

Spot on :)

Haven't seen this carving of which u speak tho. Time to investigate.

[Belegathon]

Apologies Tel, didn't have access to the game, it aint a carving it's a tome (my other main is a warden and they use carvings ;) )

One I use is Major Tome of the Wind-Rider, just provides -12% bow skills power cost, there is another for threat but if you trait correctly I can't see how a hunter can get aggro even without this.

[OMWiener]

I've noticed several things that can't agree with. One is to say the bow of the righteous is essential, I always find it best to use the power cost down carving, then threat down legacies on bow and stick to endurance or preferably precision stance (depends on the tank really - personally find i never use power, not even if i try lol, and of course it frees up a legendary trait....

Guess I'll have to make a video of me running out of power in precision with Bow of the rigtheous and the -power book, before people start believing it...That's with a slow bow (2.6 speed) to boot...I really have a hard time believing anyone not running out of power without bow of the righteous, especially in precision UNLESS you play solo exclusively and kill normal mobs all the time. Even then, fighting a group should deplete your power in no time

Sorry for the harsh tone, but bow of righteous is still worth around 400icpr. There's no way any build out there could compensate for that and not run out of power (again unless you just fight some normal mobs solo)...

[Telaron70]

Apologies Tel, didn't have access to the game, it aint a carving it's a tome (my other main is a warden and they use carvings ;) )

One I use is Major Tome of the Wind-Rider, just provides -12% bow skills power cost, there is another for threat but if you trait correctly I can't see how a hunter can get aggro even without this.

Ah ok I have the books , thought I was missing a trick ;)

Guess I'll have to make a video of me running out of power in precision with Bow of the rigtheous and the -power book, before people start believing it...That's with a slow bow (2.6 speed) to boot...I really have a hard time believing anyone not running out of power without bow of the righteous, especially in precision UNLESS you play solo exclusively and kill normal mobs all the time. Even then, fighting a group should deplete your power in no time

Sorry for the harsh tone, but bow of righteous is still worth around 400icpr. There's no way any build out there could compensate for that and not run out of power (again unless you just fight some normal mobs solo)...

Well tbh I haven't been able to give up BoR just yet, but I would love it if I didn't have to rely on a legendary to keep me from having power issues. I have around 3k power & abt 770icpr most of the time. For long fights abt 2.7k & 910. I don't really have serious power issues. Strength is fairly bad if I'm in it for any length of time, Precision is ok, just the occasional top up with a pot & endurance isn't a problem at all.
I think partly it's question of weaning myself off Bowmaster & trying to compensate for the dps drop in other ways. I certainly get thru a whole lot more bow chants than I ever did. My agi & ranged crit is high & luckily my bow is a pretty good dps bow. This with the speed of HM set up I feel pretty good abt where I am right now. No longer a nuker, even a greenie would laugh at my Heartseeker :D, more of a light machine gun, but still quite effective overall.

[Belegathon]

Guess I'll have to make a video of me running out of power in precision with Bow of the rigtheous and the -power book, before people start believing it...That's with a slow bow (2.6 speed) to boot...I really have a hard time believing anyone not running out of power without bow of the righteous, especially in precision UNLESS you play solo exclusively and kill normal mobs all the time. Even then, fighting a group should deplete your power in no time

Sorry for the harsh tone, but bow of righteous is still worth around 400icpr. There's no way any build out there could compensate for that and not run out of power (again unless you just fight some normal mobs solo)...


I hear wot ur saying, however the key is not to commit to one stance, I only ever use my hunter for groups as I'd rather do solo content in order to lvl up other toons and improve my warden. With this in mind all I ever do is grouped work, raid and instances, the key for me is to start off in endurance stance against bosses. Plenty of quick shots in your rotation to lower aggro and conserve power levels. Then you can switch out to precision or strength depending on situation.

I think my main point though is this: if you can't trait and build to not lose power in precision or strength stance then for me there is no point in even trying. For longer bosses I can gather no threat and lose no power without bow of the righteous, so for a group build (the topic of the thread if i remember rightly lol) imho I would save the legendary slot and just run predominantly in endurance. Once you get to the tougher fights, Watcher 2.0 and DDs final boss for example, anything less than an endurance build just doesnt cut it, your LMs are going to supply the healers with power not the DPS.

With this in mind i find improved press onward to be a great trait to have, for one you can switch stance for a while then instantly refill on power, and more importantly I always considered hunters to be a very independent character even when grouping. For example noone should be healing you, noone should be supplying you with power, very rarely should someone have to buff/clear debuffs on you. A good hunter needs none of these things to operate well, so I think maximising longevity is and will always be better than trying to trait for power and eventually running out anyway ;) (of course solo and PvMP is a different story I accept that!)

[OMWiener]

I hear wot ur saying, however the key is not to commit to one stance, I only ever use my hunter for groups as I'd rather do solo content in order to lvl up other toons and improve my warden. With this in mind all I ever do is grouped work, raid and instances, the key for me is to start off in endurance stance against bosses. Plenty of quick shots in your rotation to lower aggro and conserve power levels. Then you can switch out to precision or strength depending on situation.

I think my main point though is this: if you can't trait and build to not lose power in precision or strength stance then for me there is no point in even trying. For longer bosses I can gather no threat and lose no power without bow of the righteous, so for a group build (the topic of the thread if i remember rightly lol) imho I would save the legendary slot and just run predominantly in endurance. Once you get to the tougher fights, Watcher 2.0 and DDs final boss for example, anything less than an endurance build just doesnt cut it, your LMs are going to supply the healers with power not the DPS.

With this in mind i find improved press onward to be a great trait to have, for one you can switch stance for a while then instantly refill on power, and more importantly I always considered hunters to be a very independent character even when grouping. For example noone should be healing you, noone should be supplying you with power, very rarely should someone have to buff/clear debuffs on you. A good hunter needs none of these things to operate well, so I think maximising longevity is and will always be better than trying to trait for power and eventually running out anyway ;) (of course solo and PvMP is a different story I accept that!)

First of all, i'd like to point that this is a completely different story from before. before you said you had no trouble in precision. Now you're saying you go in endurance mostly...

Anyway your longetivity would drastically improve by slotting Bow of the righteous. You're telling me to stance dance, yet you don't apply the same logic to yourself. Slotting bow of the righteous will allow you switch to precision after endurance much faster and thus maximising dps. Staying in endurance too long to slot one of the other useless (imo) legendaries is not effective dps-wise and that's what we are here for mostly:DPS. And that's exactly the point where a good hunter shows his skills: by switching stance at the right moment. So no point in even trying for a power-conserving build? Wrong, if you wanna maximize dps, BotR will allow you to go for full damage much quicker, without having to "quick shot to conserve power" even in endurance...

I'm sorry, but any hunter slotting BotR will beat you at dps handsdown, exactly because they can afford to switch stances much sooner. They don't even have to conserve power in the beginning by quick shots in endurance. Btw on most normal bosses, i have little trouble power-wise in precision with power pots. The difference in dps will be even bigger since i don't even start in endurance.

This is not a critique of your build per se. If you like it, that's fine.But there's a big difference between "i have no trouble in precision" and "i will run in endurance during most group battles". It's a completely different picture you just painted here. As a conclusion, grouping build that maximizes dps will involve BotR, end of. If that's not your goal, fine :)

[Eikinskialdi]

I use 2 bowsmaster (Deadly precision & Critical eye) 1 ToF (Graceful Draw) and 4 Huntsman (Enduring precision & Fast draw & Strong Draw & Arrow storm)

[Kheld]

Guess I'll have to make a video of me running out of power in precision with Bow of the rigtheous and the -power book, before people start believing it...That's with a slow bow (2.6 speed) to boot...I really have a hard time believing anyone not running out of power without bow of the righteous, especially in precision UNLESS you play solo exclusively and kill normal mobs all the time. Even then, fighting a group should deplete your power in no time

Sorry for the harsh tone, but bow of righteous is still worth around 400icpr. There's no way any build out there could compensate for that and not run out of power (again unless you just fight some normal mobs solo)...

Quoted for truth.

Farming LoS in strength stance I used to run our of power at the bottom of the first floor.

WITHOUT BOTR it would be even worse.

On Turtle fights you have to be speedy - and with current tactics having a "Huntank" running in STR to grabb agro is usefull.

So its STR all the way & you HAVE to do anything you can NOT to run out of power.

BTW im pleased to annonce that on 2 Turtle fights the other night (first a wipe) 1 racked up 110K & 113K of damage :)

[Belegathon]

First of all, i'd like to point that this is a completely different story from before. before you said you had no trouble in precision. Now you're saying you go in endurance mostly...

Anyway your longetivity would drastically improve by slotting Bow of the righteous. You're telling me to stance dance, yet you don't apply the same logic to yourself. Slotting bow of the righteous will allow you switch to precision after endurance much faster and thus maximising dps. Staying in endurance too long to slot one of the other useless (imo) legendaries is not effective dps-wise and that's what we are here for mostly:DPS. And that's exactly the point where a good hunter shows his skills: by switching stance at the right moment. So no point in even trying for a power-conserving build? Wrong, if you wanna maximize dps, BotR will allow you to go for full damage much quicker, without having to "quick shot to conserve power" even in endurance...

I'm sorry, but any hunter slotting BotR will beat you at dps handsdown, exactly because they can afford to switch stances much sooner. They don't even have to conserve power in the beginning by quick shots in endurance. Btw on most normal bosses, i have little trouble power-wise in precision with power pots. The difference in dps will be even bigger since i don't even start in endurance.

This is not a critique of your build per se. If you like it, that's fine.But there's a big difference between "i have no trouble in precision" and "i will run in endurance during most group battles". It's a completely different picture you just painted here. As a conclusion, grouping build that maximizes dps will involve BotR, end of. If that's not your goal, fine :)

Apologies, I read back my original post and it reads badly for me too lol, wasn't in the best state when I wrote it ;)
I didn't mean to say I can run in precision without losing power and without BotR, in fact I can't say I use precision WITH BotR and not run out of power! If I had been awake/fully sober I would have added in there about stance swapping in the original post. Think the key that we're both really agreeing to (in slightly different ways) is that a Hunter with no power is a pointless Hunter...

I do run in endurance most of the time if I'm honest (in groups), however with agility at 600 (after honeycakes!) I don't ever seem to miss or be evaded by bosses, and so being in Precision doesn't really up DPS that much, as there are no dmg bonuses in the stance, just less chance to miss (which you won't anyway with high agility). In endurance you can use your best skills without fear of picking up aggro (hence no holding back), just rotating quick shot often makes doubly sure of this. Plus endurance uses far less power = win.

So with high agility, decent ICPR and the right traits you can do pretty much the same dmg as in precision. I will swap occassionally to perhaps avoid that one in twenty that may miss but really it's not a big enough deal to place using precision heavily above endurance's other advantages. I may use strength sometimes, normally if I have a warden tanking and towards the end of a fight, bt my preferred method is coolburn tbh as it s much more satisfying for that last 15k health.

Think the key things though whatever our personal preference is that Hunters need ICPR, they need speed and they need DPS. If you can achieve this DPS without using power or getting aggro mores the better.

Plus of course BotR allows you to run for a little longer in precision, however cool burn, followed by an improved press onward in combat outputs high enough temporary dps to keep anyone happy, plus the benefit of being able to use it towards the start and at the end of boss fights (due to resetting the first coolburn via press onward) :D

[OMWiener]

Very nice post and i agree with most of it. Although i haven't tested this, i do think that precision might give you higher hit chance on lvl60+ (61-62-63) mobs even with very high agility, but that's speculation off course.

Second of all (and i know this depends on trait setup), i run with enduring precision slotted and deadly precision. So switching to precision will give me a decent supply of focus troughout the fight. I realise this is not needed for short fights where you gather focus in the beginning. But for boss fights precision will allow me to do a lot more high-damaging shots (focus shots) and that *will* increase my damage compared to endurance. Don't forget that quick shot has a higher crit chance in precision (with the legacy) and that will help you build focus faster as well :)

PS: i think you mean Burn hot instead of Cool burn, because Cool Burn would require you to slot 5BM traits which isn't very efficient when running in endurance most of the times (imo)

[Belegathon]

Very nice post and i agree with most of it. Although i haven't tested this, i do think that precision might give you higher hit chance on lvl60+ (61-62-63) mobs even with very high agility, but that's speculation off course.

Second of all (and i know this depends on trait setup), i run with enduring precision slotted and deadly precision. So switching to precision will give me a decent supply of focus troughout the fight. I realise this is not needed for short fights where you gather focus in the beginning. But for boss fights precision will allow me to do a lot more high-damaging shots (focus shots) and that *will* increase my damage compared to endurance. Don't forget that quick shot has a higher crit chance in precision (with the legacy) and that will help you build focus faster as well :)

PS: i think you mean Burn hot instead of Cool burn, because Cool Burn would require you to slot 5BM traits which isn't very efficient when running in endurance most of the times (imo)

Nice reply! Yes indeed meant Burn Hot as opposed to Cool Burn :D
The discussion (for me at least) is proof that in one way at least Hunters have improved. Before the nerf, even in SoA it was more about finding the best bow and finishing a fairly standard set of deeds to achieve the best build. Now there is no real 'best build', you can trait for solo BM, group endurance or precision and of course group or even solo CC (great fun in an understanding group - ie I'm not an LM but I'm still pretty ace at it!), it's great to have choices and see that not everyone is set up the same way anymore.

I do think that for grouping you ll pretty much have to choose between endurance or precision builds, but to have a choice which actually does give a fairly different feel through skill rotation etc is a wonderful thing!

[Lenin_]

Second of all (and i know this depends on trait setup), i run with enduring precision slotted and deadly precision. So switching to precision will give me a decent supply of focus troughout the fight. I realise this is not needed for short fights where you gather focus in the beginning. But for boss fights precision will allow me to do a lot more high-damaging shots (focus shots) and that *will* increase my damage compared to endurance.)

There is one interesting thing I realized after comparing my parsing data from turtle. For some reason I just don't like precision stance, the benefits of traited endurance stance... I just can't give up on that one.
As a tactic we always used 2 tanks or guardian shieldwalling champ. But once happened that none tank was available so we decided to try the enrage tactic. Of course I was expecting that my total damage would be lower, because of melee autoattacks.
BUT, there is one thing that made a big difference: blindslide. I popped it every time cooldown was ready and to me it seemed like I had too much focus points to spend . I was using focus skills pretty much nonstop, what in the end balanced the melee deficit.
Speaking in numbers, in 2 runs with enraged turtle I did 103k and 106k total damage without any power from loremaster or that dmg buff from being captains shield-brother

[OMWiener]

Aye but blindside is very specific to the "enraged turtle fight". I can only assume you want be in ranged for every other boss fight really :)

Furthermore, the turtle is lvl60 thus negating the extra hit chance precision might give over endurance.

Like Belegathon said, it's give and take on the situation really. Because something i forgot to take into the equation: needfull haste. Precision already puts a high strain on your power pool so needfull haste is tricky to use (unless you have a personal battery, but i believe a hunter should never ask power of an LM). With traited endurance+ BotR, you will be able to use needfull haste a lot more often, thus getting more shots :) .. I don't think the two of them will outrun each other by far. The two builds will be fairly close to each other. Precision build will be more comfortable focus wise, endurance more comfortable power wise. I'll try the endurance build and see how i like it ^^

Oh and I never have enough focus^^

[Kheld]

There is one interesting thing I realized after comparing my parsing data from turtle. For some reason I just don't like precision stance, the benefits of traited endurance stance... I just can't give up on that one.
As a tactic we always used 2 tanks or guardian shieldwalling champ. But once happened that none tank was available so we decided to try the enrage tactic. Of course I was expecting that my total damage would be lower, because of melee autoattacks.
BUT, there is one thing that made a big difference: blindslide. I popped it every time cooldown was ready and to me it seemed like I had too much focus points to spend . I was using focus skills pretty much nonstop, what in the end balanced the melee deficit.
Speaking in numbers, in 2 runs with enraged turtle I did 103k and 106k total damage without any power from loremaster or that dmg buff from being captains shield-brother

Just to clarify, that is in Endurance Stance?

Id love to try the Turtle using non-STR & even non-LI bows to see what sort of damage differences they make.

[Lenin_]

Just to clarify, that is in Endurance Stance?

Id love to try the Turtle using non-STR & even non-LI bows to see what sort of damage differences they make.

Yes endurance stance. Traits: Deadly precision, Graceful draw, Deep contrentation, Strong draw, Swift recovery, Arrow storm and Fast draw.

Unbuffed 590 agility, 5k morale, 2k power and 960 ICPR. I can certainly lower my agility to get more morale or power, but I just can't be bothered grinding the instances for the rare jewelery and play with different gear setups :rolleyes:

[OMWiener]

mmmhh but without critical eye, won't your crit rating be a bit on the low side? especially if you don't have a captain.

[Lenin_]

mmmhh but without critical eye, won't your crit rating be a bit on the low side? especially if you don't have a captain.

Well it is a bit over 11% I think, don't have time to check now. Basically all I do with my hunter is just turtle... and very rarely 6man instance. And for the turtle we always take at least 1 captain.
I play on my warden now, helping new kin members to get radiance for watcher so we can start smashing that squid again :P. Also I believe that loremasters bog lurker adds few % to ranged critical, at least that is what I have been told.

[Scatha the Worm]

I also build for precision almost exclusively for groups, except when pugging: there it's endurance untraited and combat traps for some added utility (and the overall reduction of available focus and less damage-centric traits also lower my damage output I would assume).

I know I'm constantly running at a power deficit with this build. It is just impossible to keep it up with my focus burn rotation, specially since I try to fire Intent Concentration+Needful Haste every time they are off cooldown. The only thing I think could help my power would be giving up a bowmaster trait in favour of Deep Concentration, but that is again reducing damage output. So since I'm a scholar, I burn pots as if it was a skill, and that about makes it usable (but still at heavy deficit).

For trash mobs, and most bosses (which have some form of scripted pause, invulnerability state, etc), it's not a problem because you either have some spare time to use ISotE, and power unstrains a little. But still, pots like water.

The highest benefit I see from using traited Precision is focus: I never ever have to queue two quick shots toghether, and I'm also finding myself being able to fire merciful (which damage wise is better even without crits) without hurting my skill rotation if the timing is calculated correctly with Intent Concentration and Swift Bow. The reduced miss and block+evade is also noticeable. I don't think it is that the crit chance itself is higher, but just a higher succesful hit chance overall which makes that happen. The added DPS of reduced mob avoidances is also quite noticeable.

So, then again, going back to Endurance every now and then makes me feel a slug... The skill firing gets duller, I find myself waiting for focus A LOT and queuing QS as a result, Merciful is a no-go, etc.

About Critical Eye: If there's a captain, no doubt about it, I just kick it out in favour of True Shot or Hail of Arrows (even tho it is horribly broken). I am considering asking for focus instead and keeping Critical Eye, but I'm an all-in for damage usually, and unslotting Critical Eye for True Shot helps damage quite a bit in big boss fights (tested it in its moment, even with normal mobs, PS gained noticeable damage output, around 6-7%. Bosses, which should generally have higher mitigations, suffer the most of stacking -mitigation).

Another post of mine that got too long... So, for me at least, Precision will stay, toghether with my insane power pots expenses, and mad ICPR stacking. The gameplay just feels a lot better -> more fun. And I also recover 3 skills to being usable, which wouldn't happen normally in other stances (Press Onwards, Strength of the earth, Merciful Shot), so I don't think I would be trading them out. I still have to actually remember to parse turtle data carefully (did a couple parses, but they weren't very clean runs), but Precision was about 10k higher than Endurance. My guess is that the avoidance is not that much of a difference as the skill rotation with a lot of extra focus is.

PS: Build for reference
Critical Eye/True Shot/Hail of Arrows
Deadly Precision
Swift and True
Enduring Precision
Arrow Storm
Strong Draw
Swift Recovery

[Belegathon]

Aye but blindside is very specific to the "enraged turtle fight". I can only assume you want be in ranged for every other boss fight really :)

Furthermore, the turtle is lvl60 thus negating the extra hit chance precision might give over endurance.

Like Belegathon said, it's give and take on the situation really. Because something i forgot to take into the equation: needfull haste. Precision already puts a high strain on your power pool so needfull haste is tricky to use (unless you have a personal battery, but i believe a hunter should never ask power of an LM). With traited endurance+ BotR, you will be able to use needfull haste a lot more often, thus getting more shots :) .. I don't think the two of them will outrun each other by far. The two builds will be fairly close to each other. Precision build will be more comfortable focus wise, endurance more comfortable power wise. I'll try the endurance build and see how i like it ^^

Oh and I never have enough focus^^

Just to clarify I run generally with an endurance build (aiding focus where poss) but I'm basically traited for needful haste. Even without BotR in needful haste (extended to the max duration) I don't use power. Admittedly I do have two runes which give around 90icpr each i believe.
My main task is speed though, two relics giving -5% attack duration total, coupled with shortest possible inductions and buffed needful haste make the game a blur when going all out! Great fun to stand next to another hunter from kin, blast away and then afterwards have them ask how I manage to get so many shots away!

Oh and I use a lvl 59 second age bow for the increased speed too ;)

[agoracy_]

Another post of mine that got too long...

Keep it up Scatha :)
At least you're one of the few that have something useful to share, something worth for me to read and test ;)

I am a relatively "young" hunter, and I can say I have improved my play style since I am reading around here...

[Eikinskialdi]

I went from 2/1/4 back to 7/0/0 tommorow I''m gonna check out how I expirience it.

[omissis]

With my hunter at the momemt I am running with:

3 Bowmaster
Swift And True
Deadly Precision
Critical Eye

4 Huntsman
Swift Recovery
Strong Draw
Fast Draw
Resolute Aim

Legendaries
BotR
RoT
Bard's Arrow


I run around with unbuffed ca. 950 icpr (I still need one more Diamond Stud and I am really looking forward for the critted version of the turtle bracelet), I have no power problem anymore in precision stance.

Since I slotted Resolute Aim (no set-back when using Needful Haste) I became addicted to it. I run in Precision stance all the time, except when soloing (Strenght), for Turtle raid at the very beginnig (Endurance), and when I am with some very terrible tanks (Endurance again) who lose aggro against one sinlge critted Quick Shot.


I found Resolute Aim vital because of several reason:

-) when I want to speed up the killing I unleash all my power when the mob/boss is almost dead, this usually cause aggro on me and with needful haste on I can kill him without any problem and with very low need of healing.

-) with bad pull or when there are many archers around to save the healer I usually aggro one or two archers or one melee to ease the tanking, then I click on Needful Haste and focus on whatever I want not bothering at all if a mobs is beating on me. Without it you must focus on the mobs beating on you first or you will end up for the whole fight with set-backs, with the result of a ridiculous dps output.

-) While soloing it is a must have. Nowadays you cannot avoid a mob to go into melee range, unless you go with crowd controlling, but this way the fight becomes too long and then what's the point of playing a dps class? Moreover if you get some unexpected adds it is no longer a problem, your dps will still be top-notch.

-) In Moria one of the most feared mob by hunters (or at least by my hunter) is not the Balrog, nor the giant squid, nor any other nightmarish creature awoken from the realm of the dead, but it is the swarm of BATS. With Resolute Aim you can laugh at them all. You have no idea how pleasant it is to use Swift Bow on them. :)

[Lenin_]

In Moria one of the most feared mob by hunters (or at least by my hunter) is not the Balrog, nor the giant squid, nor any other nightmarish creature awoken from the realm of the dead, but it is the swarm of BATS.

So true :D Caused many deaths for me while I was leveling

[Falorond]

I confess, Trapper of Foes is among my most appriciatted traits. But some developers had the great idea of making it with -25% Output Ranged Damage which is ridiculous.
If at 4-traits bonuses we had the debuff of just 10% damage I would not mind, (could counter with Strenght stance).
But currently, Full Trapper of Foes? I don't even think on that, I would not hit high enough to even be part of a group, Trapper of Foes -25% Output Ranged Damage is, as I said a ridiculous "bonus".

If we are traiting for bonuses why do we get Debuffs? Explain that Turbine.
If in Hunstmen we get faster attacks, less focus cost and extra melee damage, in Bowmaster we get extra dps, why In trapper of Foes we can't keep the 100% damage for just some Crowd Control? I don't see it.

I don't mind having less criticals in "ToF" (like Loremaster's CC trait line), but less Output damage? Come on!

[Eikinskialdi]

I went from 2/1/4 back to 7/0/0 tommorow I'm gonna check out how I expirience it.

Went from 7/0/0 to 6/0/1 and now I'm going to 4/0/3 for the needfull haste and resolute aim. :)

Edit: As of today I'm seriously doubting if I should stay 4/0/3 or go 3/0/4

Now I use this line for the 25% dmg I get nice crits but it feels kinda slow with swiftbow even in needfull haste.

Bowmaster

True shot (for the extra pen crit-dmg)
Critical eye (for the crit ofc since I don't hit cap)
Swift and true (for the swiftbow dmg use this as opener)
Deadly precision (building focus pip since I'm build around bowmaster)

Huntsman

Resolute aim (for setbacks on inductions I get allot these days)

Strong draw (for the fast pen shot I like this one in combo with true shot since tis a hunters spam skill)

Swift recovery (faster needfull haste)

I'm thinking about going

Bowmaster

Critical eye (like the crit)

Swift and true (because I slot fast draw to cut extra 0.2 secs of swiftbow induction so It looks more usefull then true shot)

Deadly precision (focus building, perm slot in whatever build)

Huntsman

Resolute aim (no setbacks on inductions)
Strong draw (still pen shot is 1 of the 3 most important hunter shots)
Swift recovery (needfull haste since huntsman is the build for that skill)

Fast draw (To get a 1 sec induction on swiftbow in needfull haste together with the dmg bonus of swift and true)

So here are the pro's and con's on 4/0/3 (bowmaster) & 3/0/4 (huntsman)

4/0/3 (bowmaster) Pro's

25% dmg
Crits on pen shot
Solo dmg

4/0/3 (bowmaster) Con's

Slow inductions
No group build
30% threat
40% power cost

3/0/4 (huntsman) pro's

swiftbow ind 1.5 sec without needfull haste 1 sec with needfull haste
quickshot 0.8 ind
focus building quicker
less threat -10%
less power cost -15%
more groupfriendly

3/0/4 (huntsman) con's

-10% dmg
less dmg/crits from pen shot
50/50 on solo play (dephends on the person faster inductions or raw numbers)

So this what I think I'm still weighing the pros and cons and it looks like the huntsman build gives way more pros then the bowmaster build gives.

Still I hope to get some feedback

[Lounatuuli]

I usually just run 3/0/4, even when solo. The damage output is respectable enough and I rarely have power troubles.

I have used the same set-up than you put with 3/0/4 for a while now (Swift and true, Critical eye, Deadly precision / Strong draw, Swift recovery, Resolute aim, Fast draw / RoT, BoTR, PO) and still feel like it's a perfect compromise for me.

I occasionally try 4 bowmaster traits to see how much more damage I do, but since I'm used to shorter inductions, it feels really, really sluggish.

[Silmahad]

3/1/3 all the way, meanwhile I am too lazy to respec even for solo game or Ettenmoores.

3 BM:

-Critical Eye (always)
-Deadly Precision (always)
-Hail of Arrows (Joker)

1 ToF:

Deep Contentration (always)

3 HM:

-Swift Recovery (always)
-Strong Draw (always)
-Fast Draw (Joker)

I could increase my damage performance by a 4/0/3 build or a 3/0/4 build for soloplay or some instances (where power isn't such a prob) by a bit, of course, but with a FA Bow, full Watcher Set (Neefull Haste all 90 seconds with Swift Recovery) and Needfull Haste with 41 seconds duration I enjoy the luxury to do sufficient damage with this skillspec, although it's "not 100% perfect build" for every situation.


Save silver and spec 3/1/3 !

[IsmoLaitela]

Can someone make me a hunter build that would give me more max. power? I currently have just 1.9K and my morale is 4.9K on my newbie lvl60 hunter..i want to have min 4.5K morale

my current virtues: valour-determination-justice-tolerance-loyalty

Jewellery:
Pocket item: Miner's charm
Bracelet: 2x insidious cuff
earring: 2x diamond stud
Rings: Carved sapphire ring and Brilliant aquamarine ring
NEcklace: curative locket

other geaR:

Full +10 radiance exept gloves
gloves: Gauntlets of accord
Cloak: Cloak of the galadhrim
Offhand weapon: Túronn
My legendary weapons have both +50 max power runes in them

[Moridin(ReBorn)]

Bracelet of the Moon from Dark Delvings perhaps? and/or the pocket item from Skumfil right side ?
oh and edit - also the necklace from Forges last boss is good for hunters :)

[Eikinskialdi]

Well instead of 3/0/4 I went 4/0/3 I liked the true shot trait more then the fast draw trait and swift bow is now at 1.3 induction with needfull haste to still fast enough for me. :)

[elvedhel]

i really think ive done something wrong with my hunter, ive got the standard virtues listed ( determination, valour, etc) ive got a fairly respectable 3rd age bow, traits are set as again pretty much the default listing. all thats left is my armour which at the moment isnt the best ( equisite cloak and set of marchwardens armour with ashpars demise gloves and uzar-ketef shoulders. jewellry is basic too yrjanna's ring, orc hunters ring, khazad gold bracelet, suviverlists bracelet, tascalls gift, necklace of leadership, glittering khazad gold earing and survivorlists earring.

im level 60 though havent yet had chance to really do any raids to get better gear and with less than 2 gold in bank cant afford to buy anything.
my virtues are not yet maxed being at 9,7,8,10,10 so got a bit to do there.
My main issuse is power, morale and ICPR.
i see people post they have 4.5-5k morale. im nowhere near tipping in at 4017.
my power is 2356 and my ICPR is 713.
what i need to know is what they hell am i doing wrong to give me such low morale?
is it down to my armour and jewellry?
is there a recommeneded set thats not to unrealistic to get?
I dont yet have bow of righteousness still struggling to get a raid in CD despite being in a kin its tbh to low level with not enough active members to get a decent party anywhere at level 60 but they are good bucnh so dont wanna leave.

and advice on whats best armour/jewels thats not impossible to get when ya got no money and would help with morale and icpr would be great

[agoracy_]

You can get some nice ICPR from the non critted Turtle shell bracelet... These are not so expensive and you get a lot of agility and ICPR in the same time (+78 agility and 194 ICPR).

If you have the time for doing HM instances I recommend you to do GS for jewelery farm, diamond studs + insidious cuffs, jubut-rud cloak and carved sapphire ring (which imo is quite good for hunters, nice morale and pretty good stats). Also, the radiance armor helps a lot if you want to max out your stats (power, morale, etc etc). Depending mostly on your play style. Virtues give small bonuses if you compare the stats you get from them with the stats you get from gear... when the new jeweleries from Lothlorien will be available, you will get even better stats, but those will be pretty expensive on the release day...

[Silmahad]

i really think ive done something wrong with my hunter, ive got the standard virtues listed ( determination, valour, etc) ive got a fairly respectable 3rd age bow, traits are set as again pretty much the default listing. all thats left is my armour which at the moment isnt the best ( equisite cloak and set of marchwardens armour with ashpars demise gloves and uzar-ketef shoulders. jewellry is basic too yrjanna's ring, orc hunters ring, khazad gold bracelet, suviverlists bracelet, tascalls gift, necklace of leadership, glittering khazad gold earing and survivorlists earring.

im level 60 though havent yet had chance to really do any raids to get better gear and with less than 2 gold in bank cant afford to buy anything.
my virtues are not yet maxed being at 9,7,8,10,10 so got a bit to do there.
My main issuse is power, morale and ICPR.
i see people post they have 4.5-5k morale. im nowhere near tipping in at 4017.
my power is 2356 and my ICPR is 713.
what i need to know is what they hell am i doing wrong to give me such low morale?
is it down to my armour and jewellry?
is there a recommeneded set thats not to unrealistic to get?
I dont yet have bow of righteousness still struggling to get a raid in CD despite being in a kin its tbh to low level with not enough active members to get a decent party anywhere at level 60 but they are good bucnh so dont wanna leave.

and advice on whats best armour/jewels thats not impossible to get when ya got no money and would help with morale and icpr would be great

Without radiance stuff it will be almost impossible to get over 5k moral, even with the best jewelry. The radiance stuff has lots of passive moral with vitality, the radiance gives you a 5% moral bonus if maxed out and some pieces are important moral boosters, like the radiance set helm from the watcher (190 moral).

No need for raids, breastplate, throwsers, shoes and gloves you can get in normal instance runs, even the shoulders aren't such a prob anymore. Only the helm from Gurvang is still a major problem.