Bow Build need help and a question

[LilLambAmy]

First question is I am thinking of going STR, Agl, Will for more of an arcane archer build or should I go STR, Agl, Cun? I wanna deal physical and magical dmg.

Also if I spare Hethia and negotiate can I get the whitewood bow later???

I went Wyld Elf, Thief, Hunter

 

[Kingu2]

First question is I am thinking of going STR, Agl, Will for more of an arcane archer build or should I go STR, Agl, Cun? I wanna deal physical and magical dmg.

Also if I spare Hethia and negotiate can I get the whitewood bow later???

I went Wyld Elf, Thief, Hunter

If you're going for damage you should take will over cun for higher spell power

to get the whitewood bow you HAVE to attack her, there is no other way to get it.

 

[LilLambAmy]

If you're going for damage you should take will over cun for higher spell power

to get the whitewood bow you HAVE to attack her, there is no other way to get it.

I wish there was another way to get it.

 

[TheShepard256]

For a damage-oriented build, Willpower is only useful if you're going to be casting spells whose effects are based on Spellpower; which, admittedly, is most physical damage/healing spells. You can also have four stats at/near max if you put all your level up points into three, then buy drinks from Garth for the fourth (each will max out a different stat for 24 hours, but you can only have one at a time).

Also, the Whitewood Bow doesn't actually deal Frost damage, just Penetrating (and granting access to Frost Arrow); I think the only bow-type weapon that deals non-physical damage is the Beast Killer, which deals Penetrating and Blight. If you want to deal both physical and magical damage with your bow's attacks, Charge Weapon (adds Holy damage based on Spellpower) is probably the most reliable way (if you can maintain the stance and not get disarmed) due to being an At-Will power (it also deals Holy damage upon entering the stance).

Might I recommend Crackle Powder and Arc Cannon as a thematically-appropriate power combo? The former requires a ranged weapon and sets up Storm vulnerability on all enemies so the latter deals more damage to them.

 

[Burnerbro]

IMO if you are buffing your bow's damage with magic and don't plan on using too many Powers with damage that scales primarily from your Attack Power, you are better off with Agility, Cunning and Willpower as the core stats you upgrade, with the drink buff going into Toughness. Otherwise you will be too squishy without a shield while generating a lot of aggro from damage and heals - though you can get the Painslut Choker to mitigate that somewhat.

 

[Lone Wolf115]

There is Beast Killer bow you can get from the Ruined Shrine. It's not the

Whitewood bow

but definitely another unique bow.

 

[Aelana]

Interesting discussion, I tried doing an archer slut (i. e. charmer) and went for str agi, presence.

Willpower is good if you have a lot of "spell" ability. I think now every attribute with the spell tag scales with willpower (it used to be more confusing, but I think it got fixed). So unless you take them to damage stuff, you can ignore it. AFAIK debuffs trigger with spellattack, so they may work without high willpower? Maybe? Have to double check.

The highest damage (excluding abilities) would come from the str, agi, cunning spread. Str for raw attack damage, agility for good hit chance and first round, cunning for crits. But you are missing toughness for physical defense, and willpower for tease resist.

IMO your stat spread depends on the role you want your character to take.

Agi/toughness/willpower is a viable support stat spread. You won't be dealing big damage yourself but Brint/Brienne can dish it out for you. You likely get the first turn, and can drop a buff spell.

I have to play around with the bow skills in my next playthrough. They have some interesting support skills, like suppressive fire, or the skill that reduces the cooldown of other skills. I would try to play around with them. Make a save, respec your stats, and fight the lady in front of the winter city. She kicked my butt when stuff did not work out.

 

[LilLambAmy]

For a damage-oriented build, Willpower is only useful if you're going to be casting spells whose effects are based on Spellpower; which, admittedly, is most physical damage/healing spells. You can also have four stats at/near max if you put all your level up points into three, then buy drinks from Garth for the fourth (each will max out a different stat for 24 hours, but you can only have one at a time).

Also, the Whitewood Bow doesn't actually deal Frost damage, just Penetrating (and granting access to Frost Arrow); I think the only bow-type weapon that deals non-physical damage is the Beast Killer, which deals Penetrating and Blight. If you want to deal both physical and magical damage with your bow's attacks, Charge Weapon (adds Holy damage based on Spellpower) is probably the most reliable way (if you can maintain the stance and not get disarmed) due to being an At-Will power (it also deals Holy damage upon entering the stance).

Might I recommend Crackle Powder and Arc Cannon as a thematically-appropriate power combo? The former requires a ranged weapon and sets up Storm vulnerability on all enemies so the latter deals more damage to them.

Frost Arrow scales with spell power.

 

[WolframL]

Frost Arrow scales with spell power.

Yes, but regular attacks with the Whitewood Bow itself do not do Frost damage and the bulk of your output even with Frost Arrow is going to be Penetrating due to the way that power works. If you want to do an arcane archer build making Willpower a core stat is the way to go, but you'd want to make sure most of your other powers are dependent on that stat as well or you're gonna get spread too thin or need to rely heavily on Garth's drinks.

PS, light pink text on a white background is really hard to read (for people who aren't using the Dark theme) and it's kinda distracting.

 

[VerySexyGrammar]

Indeed, unless you're planning on using weapon buffs, Spellpower just isn't going to be doing much for you on a Ranged build. And if you're looking for more of an "Arcane Archer" build, you're going to want Arcane Shot as your At-Will, rather than the highly underwhelming Frost Arrow At-Will. Frostfire Shot doesn't require any Spellpower either.

The Taeleeran Longbow is easily as good as the Whitewood Bow. Compared to the Whitewood Bow, it has -5 Armor Penetration and -5 Evasion but +5 Accuracy and +15 Crit.

It's all good without any Spellpower.