GameBanshee Forums

First thanks for all the information I found in this forum!

I'm an Italian player of DS2 and I've got some question about this game.

I've tried a natural mage (in multiplayer whit my brother) since level 53, good class, nothing to tell. Now I try to grow up an Arcer (ranged weapon) but I've a little trouble:

I want to use the throwing weapon (no bow, no crossbow, only the throwing knife etc) but I don't understand why this weapon is so "no power" (I don't know the exact word to say "an object that is not powerfull"). I've see that:

- Bow are fast and medium damage
- Crossbow are slow and high damage
- Throwing weapon are normal speed and low damage

the damage difference from Bow and Throwing Weap. are very small, but the speed is faster in bow so the Throwing Weap are unuseful.

What kind of ranged abilities you advise to use?

Inishu

NB: Sorry for my english!

At any point in your game, if the best thrown weapon you have found does 100 average damage, then roughly the best bow you get should do up to about 150 average, and the best crossbow you have found should do more than 150 average.

However, those numbers are only on paper. In actual game play, the killing speed of a dedicated thrower is not slower than that of a dedicated archer.

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A brief comparison between a pure archer and a pure thrower (assuming their class/char levels are all identical)

The thrower can't attack enemies over 8 meters away, while an archer can easily shoot enemies more than 13+ meters away. The archer is slightly better when taking out a single target by relying on critical shot (the take aim power), because the bow/crossbow does higher normal damage. In other scenarios, the thrower is either as good as the arhcer, or better. The archer and the thrower each has two special powers. The thrower's powers are better for general gameplay: one power can deal out damage to a group of enemies, the other enhances the overall power of the thrower (similar to melee figher's elemental rage - but more powerful in general) - meaning the thrower is good everywhere. The archer's powers are geared towards shooting enemies in a straight line or boosting arrow damage - meaning the archer is more specialized. The thrower can take out a horde of monsters, even if surrounded/attached by more than a dozen enemies from all sides. But the archer should try best to avoid getting surrounded/attacked from all sides. In a solo game, getting surrounded is normal. When this happens, the thrower can survive much better than the archer can. In a party game, the thrower can stay on the front line for ever, dealing damage to all enemies in close range. But the archer's damage is significantly reduced when shooting enemies less than 7 meters without using archer powers. In general, the thrower is more powerful in close combat and/or if there are more than 1 target in the range, while the archer is more powerful if enemies are at least 7 meters away and/or if there is just 1 target (every summoned creature/construst counts as a target).

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I solo'ed the game with a thrower on the merc & elite levels. She has only died 3 times - all on the merc level: a level 22 grand wizard turned her with full health into a tombstone in 1 hit (don't know how!!!), the dark wizards' crystal turned her into a tombstone twice (my mistakes . She's now at the end of act2 on elite. After snowbrook heaven is cleared, she'll be in act3.

The listed damage of her normal attack at level 75 was only about 150-3xx. Ridiculously low damage, right? Don't worry though. Unlike some "solo" chars played by other people, this thrower does not even use pets in combat/questing in her solo games. She heandles everything on her own.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=67716

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In terms of char building, I'd suggest:

1) Put only 1 skill point each in dodge/survival! - Unless you won't play on elite.
2) No need to get Flurry to level 3 - unnecessary - unless you want a pure thrower or have spare skill points at high levels.
3) Try multiclassing your thrower a little bit - combat and/or nature mage skills/powers can boost her versatility.

Cheers!
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