Hunter offensive setup in the later stages

[Skamander]

What, in your view, is currently the best offensive setup for Hunters, including choice of bows, close-quarter weapons and traits (not armour!)?



In view of the vulnerability of Hunters in close-quarters combat, I have tried to build up Morale as much as possible. An excellent offensive combination for both fellowships and soloing is the Bane of Forvengwath bow, which drains 166 points of Morale from your opponent and transfers it to you, and the Bow of Righteous epic trait which increases your Power with every successful shot (in my view, by far the most useful epic trait for Hunters).

Other combinations?

[Bell of Eternity]

Well IMO I see too much Might there, you could easily trade some for Agility which is surprisingly low for a hunter. I'd trade the mirrored away for something that boosts agi plus will/fate/vit. My hunter has roughly 2600 morale, 2200 power and 370 agility. Might is around 120-130, the rest close or over 200. This with only three teal items (bow, pocket vial and that book 11 necklace). I forget what virtues exactly I had. The one that boosts Agility of course, and maybe the ones with the biggest boosts to Will, Fate, Armour and Power.

Melee weapon slots are best treated as jewelry slots; equip whatever gives the best stat boosts to suit your build. Don't worry about melee damage, it will be crap whatever you wield.

[Thurondur]

i have a similar setup of 3000 morale and 2000 power ,

and its all good as long as a hunter doesnt get involved too much in melee combat , power is very important actually since the hunter is the best DPS there is ,we need alot of power , where do you get forvengwaths bow

Stats:
might = 250
agility = 375
vitality = 310
will = 230
fate = 180

[Bell of Eternity]

I suppose it is loot from Forvengwath. It is a boss mob in Barad Guralan.

[Halborn]

yes it is from balad gularan

to be perfectly honest the key stats a hunter needs is will vit and agi(being the most important)

with those you are dealing the most damage for the most period of time

However

for solo you would need some might and probably also some decent melee weapons incase you get 3 mobs on you
Yes you use them for stats but they are also important for solo IMO

my hunter stats are as follow

Might : 150
Agility : 389
Vitality 330
Will : 260
Fate : 210

My morale is just short of 3000 and power is just short of 2000 and i deal roughly 140 melee damage ontop of my huge dps with bow

i also use a fortified bow which does the job

p.s in regards to your setup i suggest a bit more ranged critical

[Skamander]

Originally Posted by Thurondur

where do you get forvengwaths bow

Forvengwath, one of the early bosses in Barad Gularan. Fairly easy to bring down , and the bow seems to drop about one time in three.

[Scappydog]

My solo build at present gives me around 2800 morale, 1800 power.

Might 212
Agility 446
Vitality 287
Will 239
Fate 168

I've traded Vit and Fate for Agi and find the extra evade/parry makes up for the lost morale. ICPR is around 650.

I could boost the agi some more, but that would drop my morale below a level I am comfortable with.

Personally I have 2 builds, one for solo and one for instances. For instances I drop my agi to around 380 and boost morale/ICPR.

But at the end of the day go for a build that suits you and your playstyle. If anything the discussions on these and the US forums show that there isn't a universal 'best' build, only a personal one.

[Skamander]

Originally Posted by Scappydog

If anything the discussions on these and the US forums show that there isn't a universal 'best' build, only a personal one.

Agreed, absolutely. What's interesting is to see what other people think works best and in which circumstances.

[Bell of Eternity]

Yes, there is no single build to rule them all. There's some good rough guidelines to successful hunter, like enough agility, enough power, enough power regeneration, enough morale, but they need to be balanced to playstyle. My own style when soloing, as might be obvious, disregards Might because I go for maximized damage and criticals. I avoid using melee attacks and won't rely on traps or fear to save my bacon.

Against normal mobs and signatures my combat these days can more or less be simplified to quick - penetrating - swift - penetrating - quick. Preferably from extreme range. If the quick's speed bebuff sticks, they're sorely wounded when reaching melee range, weaker ones never get there. If the mob's weak enough and close to death I might even simply wait for penetrating to recycle again and again instead of chancing inductioned shots against their damage. Elites take more strategy or are simply out of my reach. I can bring down elite turtles but a drake's fire hurts just too much for me to consider soloing one (haven't tried recently though).

This specialization works in groups as well. I just switch to endurance stance and let the tanks have their initial aggro build, then start the arrow rain. My power reserve and regeneration, with the slotted power refresh trait, seems to last me quite well through a boss fight of some 40-50K morale. Might be even better once I get the legendary trait from class quest.

Back to subject; ultimately the best build is what you're comfortable playing with. I am with mine, though I'm looking forwards to book 12 changes and how to adjust my style to incorporate the new advantages.

[Samlito]

Originally Posted by Skamander

Forvengwath, one of the early bosses in Barad Gularan. Fairly easy to bring down , and the bow seems to drop about one time in three.

One in three?? Are you having a laugh?? I farmed the hell out of that guy with a group of friends for about a week trying 5 or 6 times a night. Of course the damn thing hasnt dropped and i have given up lol! I envy those that get it on their first try