I downloaded and installed all the latest GD patches and hotfixes from GOG.
As of now, what would be a better attack for a 2H rifle / xbow - Fire Strike or Primal Strike?
Since its been a long while since I last played (only 1 toon - nightblade + soldier) - how have masteries been revamped? What would be now best support for 2H rifle / crossbow?
maybe its just me but my RakaJax Primal Strike druid feels sluggish than my Pyro Fire Strike User. Im thinking PS is weaker because its is a skill derived from primitive men from the northern lands that harness ancient technology :rolleyes:
Definetely recommend firestrike in almost any builds its insanely good.
Both Commando and Pyromancer work. I prefer Pyromancer due to increased resistance reduction.
Sorcerer also works, and it works great imho. But again, i prefer Pyro
Only what’s required for the weapon, if you have Ulzuin’s Chestguard you get reduction in cunning requirements
-Flashbang, why jacks?
-What you looking for? Fire, Lightning, Chaos, Aether?
-Both work fine, it depends on the build actually.
-Flame Touched is a good OA source even non-fire builds use it sometimes
-Fire and Burn usually go hand in hand, so you’re good
-Pyro is the way to go
-There are many ways to build rifle Fire Pyro, i use Empowered Will of Fate (i love it), some people prefer Hellborne and if you don’t have either then use the new green rifle that drops off aetherial enemies
-Rush Meteor and attach it to flashbang for best results imo
I am also considering occultis as support as I did not use this mastery yet and I can remeber back to DII days how good res reduction is! ( this paladin aura…conviction?)
But first I will go Demo and see how far it can get me.
I also need to look through my stuff as I did collect some items while laying my Blademaster…I have some blue / purple rifles and xbows.
Btw, noobish but practical…if I happen to have more questions regarding my firestriker - shall i stick to this thread or create new, like when asking about equipment advice?
EDIT - I have 1.0.0.7 ver + crucible if it bears any importance…
cheers!
I was playing with a rifle for a while (1 pint in fire strike and 1 point in Explosive strike) and using flashbang but it was painfully slow.
So I decided to try a slightly different approach:
respecced ut of FS and got 2 points in Granado and 2 points in High Impact (RMB)
got flincore bolts for Greater fireblast (LMB)
1 point in FlashBang and 1 point in Searing Light (definitely I will get more)
rest into mastery
only 1 point spent on cunnig; rest unspent (I needed that 1 point for a rifle earlier)
I got some -recharge on gear and managet to get Granado cooldown from 3 to 2 sec.
no rifle atm. Just some yellow sord with lots of fire bonuses and a nice offhand with cooldown reduction and other useful stuff.
Now this guy is unstoppable! I believe this combo will see me through Normal. And later maybe I will respecc to FireStrike again.
Now some questions:
Skyfire Granado and Shattering blast - do they make any significant difference? FlameTouced offers fire / lightning bonus so maybe this conversion physical to lightning could prove useful?
Will / when Fire Strike outperform Granado? With GreaterFireblast I 1- or 2-shot all mobs; Granado just obliterates mobs. When will FireStrikestart to shine I have read so many god things about it…and how do u develop FireStrike line? I think 1 point n fire strike is enough.
What is so great about BWC? is it really that useful? what are the advanteges of it and how do I use it?
I also read some people advocate StunJacks for dmg…but atm nothing can compare to Granado, both for packs and single target
with some cooldown reduction, this build can last long? So maybe I can forget for a while about FireStrike?
Basically, I will see how far I can go with it, I can always respec later
Greater fireblast stops doing any decent damage around level 30-32, start of act 3. At around the same time you should be able to get to 50 mastery points in demolitionist and take brimstone so your ranged fire strike would shine. Grenado is a toy for normal difficulty. I tried using grenado and canister at ultimate ranks on level 85 respecced build just recently and it felt like they still need some tweaking to get serious. My percentile damage was particularly bad on that character though, like 800% fire 600% lightning. I’m sure it would feel better at 1500% :).
You can put more points into flashbang and searing light until you get +skills items, this should be your main control and debuff but its not good yet at 1-1, should be 7-7 at least. These points are refundable.
BWC if you’re not using it for damage can debuff resistances and/or monster physical damage (with transmuter). You shouldn’t feel the need for that until late elite or early ultimate. But once you get there, an option to reduce physical damage on melee bosses you can’t kite is invaluable. There are others way to do it though, war cry skill and Oleron’s blood component. Also one of the Kymon’s augments for rings, though it was nerfed and has low value now.
All of my toons using Fire Strike never had any problems with damage throughout normal. Rush maxed Explosive Strike and watch everything die. If you’re going Occultist I’d follow up with maxing Solael’s Witchfire for more flat damage and attack speed.
Work yourself up the Demo skill tree, grabbing Blast Shield on your way to Brimstone. Start putting points into Flashbang when mobs actually start to pose a threat (Blast Field and your insane DPS should keep you safe from most packs). If you’re feeling sluggish, put more points into Vindictive Flame for the % total speed.
Throughout normal you say but what happens later? In epic for example? Will it be ok or is it justgood for normal…i can remember such builds back from tqit days…?
U fortunately i cannot respec points from demo mastery and i have pumped it up significantly now well tough luck. But for the time being granado is fun and will see me through for several levels while im pumping explosive strike.