Need more Dex on my Archer / Cleric: suggestions?

[Tyncale]

I am having trouble getting enough Dex on my Archer to let him train the Tier 2 skills. The thing is, I am not interested in many Dex-raising skills and feats, other then Longbow attacks.

My two other mains, a Mage and a Fighter, I could pair with a synergistic Refining or Harvesting skill, and the ability-gate is no problem for them.

Unfortunately this *is* a problem with my Archer Main who has no refining skills, and will focus on Bows, Cleric (Wis) and the two Wis harvesting skills (Scavenger and Forester).

I am currently at 10.74 Dex, and need 11.

Spending XP on Bow attacks seems the only way to go since these give tangible increases in Dex: I have Overdraw, Half Draw, Sorrows Release at level 3, Bullseye shot, Followthrough Foresight, IMpact Criticial shot, Parting shot, and Pinpoint targeting at level 2 and Impaling shot at level 1.

I am not interested in shortbow attacks since I intend to use a Longbow/Trophy Charm and Focus/Holy Symbol combo. Not interested in Stealth or Perception. These also give minute increases in Dex.

Currently I pretty much only use Overdraw, Half Draw, Sorrows release and Longbow Exploit as attacks for PvE: all the rest seems redundant, both because a lot of conditions do not work on NPC's and because I do not PvP (yet). But I might!

So my question would be, which of the longbow attacks would be a good choice for the future, to upgrade? Getting them to level 3 is pretty expensive (1800+ xp) so I would like to make the best choice.

Are there any other Dex-based skills that may be useful for me (maybe later on)? Must give a tangible increase in Dex though.

Thanks for any help. :)

[Quijenoth]

My Archer has

Bow Specialization 4 - 9,142 xp 0.391 dex
Bowyer 2 - 1,908 xp 0.085 dex
Leatherworker 2 - 1,908 xp 0.085 dex
Ranged Attack Bonus 4 - 3,620 xp 0.078 dex
Overdraw 3 - 2,602 xp 0.07 dex
Lightning Reflexes 2 - 488 xp 0.049 dex
Archer 6 - 4,331 xp 0.043 dex
Base Attack Bonus 4 - 8,558 xp 0.028 dex
Reflex Bonus 3 - 1,954 xp 0.026 dex
Followthrough Foresight 2 - 721 xp 0.025 dex
Half Draw 2 - 721 xp 0.025 dex
Impact Critical Shot 2 - 721 xp 0.025 dex
Parting Shot 2 - 721 xp 0.025 dex
Sorrow's Release 2 - 721 xp 0.025 dex
Power 9 - 2,140 xp 0.009 dex
Bow Weapon Proficiency 2 - 1,024 xp 0.009 dex
Deafening Critical 2 - 1,881 xp 0.008 dex
Sickening Critical 2 - 1,881 xp 0.008 dex
Medium Armor Proficiency 2 - 1,024 xp 0.0045 dex
Evasion 1 - 81 xp 0.004 dex
Bullseye Shot 1 - 81 xp 0.004 dex
Impaling Shot 1 - 81 xp 0.004 dex
Patient Anchor 1 - 81 xp 0.004 dex
Pinpoint Targeting 1 - 81 xp 0.004 dex
Scout 2 - 61 0.001
Swashbuckler 2 - 61 0.001

Thats 1.0405 total dex

I Took some of the rogue armor feats and implrement proficiency simply because they are so cheap. I also have light melee attack bonus and Light blade proficiency at higher ranks but thats not what your interested in and requires a bit more xp so I excluded them.

For the XP, Leatherworking 2 and Bowyer 2 are worth the investment to hit 11 Dex. However, you could go just Bowyer 3 to give yourself an extra .029 Dex but will cost 5342 xp instead of 3816. This is only viable if you intend to craft your own arrows and bows though.

My current in-game Dex is registered at 11.24 and these numbers above are from sspitfires lists so are a little off in some respects.

Note: Archer 5 Requires 11 Dex and Bow Spec 2 requires Level 8 Fighter which requires 11 str or dex, base attack bonus 4, hit points 8 and power 8.

Hope that helps you to hit 11.

as for what longbow skills to increase I currently run with Overdraw, Sorrows Release and Half-draw, Parting Shot, Followthrough Foresight and Patient Anchor. I also Have Resiliency (Per) and Evasion (Dex) as my utilities.

[Tyncale]

Thanks a lot, this will be very useful. I just noticed that I missed Patient anchor, going to level that up too. I think I can come a long way with just leveling up the longbow attacks. Hopefully the conditionals start working on PvE soon too.

[Gol Guurzak]

Definitely train Parting Shot up. Evades are life for ranged characters.

[Tyncale]

Thanks Guurzak, will do that. Haven't used it much due to all the talk about bugginess but it does seem like a great tool to keep the fight at ranged a little longer. Had kinda forgotten about it.

Edit: just used it about 20 times, got one succesfull evade out of it. Is this working for others?

[Caldeathe Baequiannia]

My impression is that the evades rarely work unless you use it before you need it. Maybe it's too easy to interrupt.

Also remember that most lower levels are terrible for stat bumps. It might be xp-cheaper to take a 4 or 5 in something you'll never use than several things to levels 1-3 that you'd rarely use.

[Gol Guurzak]

It's pretty reliable for me if the terrain behind me isn't obstructed or rising, and if I'm not already stunned or immobilized.

[Tyncale]

Caldeathe Baequiannia wrote:

My impression is that the evades rarely work unless you use it before you need it. Maybe it's too easy to interrupt.

Also remember that most lower levels are terrible for stat bumps. It might be xp-cheaper to take a 4 or 5 in something you'll never use than several things to levels 1-3 that you'd rarely use.

That is true, but I need Dex 11 before I can even buy the level 4 attacks. After that first bump I hope it gets easier by doing what you suggest.

I was using the evade attack as an opener and also made sure there was nothing behind me, and a declining slope: still no go. Very broken as far as I am concerned.

You do notice a little hickup that moves you back half a step maybe but often not even that.

[Caldeathe Baequiannia]

I was actually referencing crafting/refining, not attacks. Taking leatherworker to level 4 costs about 5 days xp and gives a +.369 cumulative total to dex. If a settlement-mate provides you with +3 inputs for one of the basic free recipes, you can probably have all the crafting achievements you need to get there in a few minutes.

In your case, Level 3 would be +.199 dex for about 5400 points leaving you only .06 away (from your starting value)

[Tyncale]

Good call, Cal. I have covered all crafting and refining professions with other DT accounts so that is probably why I am hesitant to go that route. But it indeed seems that pairing up a Crafting or refining profession seems to be the fastest way to take the Ability hurdle.

I may go that route anyway.

[Black Silver of The Veiled, T7V]

Take a few levels in Bowyer along with some Smelter & Sawyer levels would allow you to make our own generic arrows when ammo comes in. Bowyer will add to Dex while Smelter & Sawyer both add to Con which is always good.

[Tuoweit]

Caldeathe Baequiannia wrote:

Also remember that most lower levels are terrible for stat bumps. It might be xp-cheaper to take a 4 or 5 in something you'll never use than several things to levels 1-3 that you'd rarely use.

Actually the lowest levels are the most efficient in terms of stat-per-xp, it's just that they don't take much xp to learn, so the magnitudes of their stat bumps are very small.

[Caldeathe Baequiannia]

Tuoweit wrote:

Caldeathe Baequiannia wrote:

Also remember that most lower levels are terrible for stat bumps. It might be xp-cheaper to take a 4 or 5 in something you'll never use than several things to levels 1-3 that you'd rarely use.

Actually the lowest levels are the most efficient in terms of stat-per-xp, it's just that they don't take much xp to learn, so the magnitudes of their stat bumps are very small.

I hadn't considered it that way, but I expect you're correct.

[Neadenil Edam]

Archer Armor feat - cos silly attack bonus eventually and DEX

Bowyer - cos ammo is coming soon and buying your own will suck

ALSO - I am pretty sure you need some shortbow achieves (as well as longbow) for the higher level bow feats so training a little bit of shortbow may be sensible

[Tyncale]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I am almost at Dex 11 now. I think adding shortbow attacks in the future will be the best for me. I already have Alts making bows and arrows, so that would be a bit redundant. I may want to switch to the faster Shortbow at times later on, so I think that xp will not be wasted.

This character has a long road ahead of it, since I also will focus on Cleric and the two Wis-gathering skills with him.

Pairing up a Harvesting skill(or 2 in this case) with a Combatrole really works well for me. The Cleric has a nice synergy with the medium armor (there are in fact some very nice cleric armor feats that would work well with Ranged bows too) and the Cleric also has its heals and some nifty expendables that do great melee damage for when mobs have closed in on me. Also, Travel Domain: I have a Need for Speed.

[TEO Pino]

Late to the thread but nickel dime penny, it all adds up:
If you like the Master of Opportunity Reactives, they add Dex:
Crippling Strike, etc:
rank 1 = +.007; rank 2 = +.042;

What do you have in slots 7 and 8 (utilities) ?
Some add Dex:
Evasion, Defensive Roll, Tumble: rank 1 = +.004; rank 2 = +.025;
Trip adds Dex and Strength, so
rank 1 = +.002 Dex & Str; rank 2 = +.013 Dex & Str