By Crescendo/LegatoTide "The Salvo Guy"
post: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=51874&highlight=leveling
Foreword: There have been a myriad of questions on our class forums, asking simple questions about feats that a basic guide could answer. This guide is intended to be the answer to those questions, as a work in progress - ever changing as patches/new details arise. This is your guide as much as it is mine - if you see an error or want to give more information, send me a private message or reply to this thread, and I will update accordingly.
Anything with a (?) indicates information that is either untested, or information that is not known altogether by me. If you see one of these notes and happen to know the answer, please reply to this thread or send me a private message.
Index:
I. Sharpshooter Feats
II. Waylayer Feats
III. General Rogue Feats
IV. Misc. Info
I. Sharpshooter Feats
Tier 1: No requirements.
Focused Fire: 5 Ranks, Active Skill, 60 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability which increases the damage of their attacks for a short time.
- Each point invested in Focused Fire increases the damage bonus.
- The damage bonus scales along with the Ranger's current level.
- This ability applies to bows only.
Tier 2: Requires Level 15, 5 points in Sharpshooter tree.
Bow Specialization: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the chance to hit with their offhand weapon and damage done by bows.
- The first point in this skill grants a 5% additional offhand chance, and +6 Bow Damage.
- Additional points give varied amounts; the final rank is 15% additional offhand chance, and +14 Bow Damage.
- The offhand chance gives a chance on a melee swing for the damage of both weapons to be factored into the attack. Only applies when dual wielding weapons.
- This feat applies to bows only. Crossbows will not receive the bow damage. However, obviously the duel wield bonus will still apply.
Eagle Eye: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the range of bow attacks.
- Each rank increases your range rating by +1. This translates to an additional meter per point invested, to a maximum of 5m. (?)
- This bonus applies exclusively to bows. Crossbows will not receive the range bonus.
Tier 3: Requires Level 20, 10 points in Sharpshooter tree.
Rapid Stabs: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Upgrade combo: -2 to cooldown of the Incapacitating Stabs combo, which slows an opponent's movement rate.
- As the tooltip suggests, each point invested lowers the cooldown of Incapacitating Stabs by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 6 seconds.
Splintering Puncture: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown. (? - Confirmation on cooldown needed.)
Tooltip: Upgrades the Bleeding Puncture combo, adding a bleed effect to enemies in the area. More points in this feat will increase the area size.
- When Bleeding Puncture is used on a mob while this buff is active, any mobs within a certain radius of your target will also receive the bleed effect.
- The exact radius added per rank is currently unknown.
- The bleed effect is extremely poor damage, and can spread to targets that are under damage-sensitive CC, potentially breaking it early.
Tendon Rupture: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Ricochet.
Tooltip: Increases the duration of the Ranger's Pin Down combo.
- Each point invested increases the duration by 1 second, to a maximum of 3 seconds.
Ricochet: 5 Ranks, Passive, 3 Ranks of Tendon Rupture required, Required for Knee-Capping.
Tooltip: The Ranger's attacks have a chance of snaring enemies nearby the primary target.
- Each rank increases the area effect snare by 1 meter.
- The snare effect is similar to Pin Down in duration and potency.
Tier 4: Requires Level 25, 15 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Quick Shots: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Reduces the cooldown on all ranged combos.
- Each combo that this feat effects has a different cooldown reduction. (I will update this with a detailed list on combos that apply, and cooldown times.)
Silent Shots: 5 Ranks, Passive, Required for Sniper Stance.
Tooltip: Attacks performed with in 10 seconds of a Stealthy Strike combo have a chance of reducing the hate generated by the Ranger for a short period of time.
- This feat applies a debuff on the target after using Stealthy Strike, which lasts 10 seconds regardless of rank. For every point invested in Silent Shots, this debuff has an additional 20% chance of giving the Ranger the "Silent Shots" buff after an attack on the target.
- Regardless of Rank, Silent Shots grants the Ranger a -20% hate reduction on all attacks while the buff is active on the Ranger. Increasing the rank simply gives a higher chance of a proc.
- Keep in mind that Stealthy Strike is a skill that is learned in the mid 30's (? - What's the exact level?), and this feat can potentially be taken before the Ranger even acquires Stealthy Strike.
Tier 5: Requires Level 30, 20 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Fire Stance: 1 Rank, Active (Aura), 4 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Adds fire damage to normal ranged attacks, and bonus damage to all ranged attacks.
- As with all stances, the "Bonus damage" is a 30% damage increase to all attacks.
- Attacks used in this stance have a chance to proc a small fire damage bonus, seperate from the normal damage dealt.
- Because the fire damage proc occurs after the initial damage, Fire Stance has a chance of breaking damage-sensitive CC.
Sniper Stance: 1 Rank, Active (Aura), 4 sec. cooldown, 5 ranks of Silent Shots required.
Tooltip: Increases the range of the Ranger's attacks, their damage and their chance to hit.
- The tooltip for this feat is misleading, as there is no range increase currently associated with Sniper Stance. (Sniper Stance originally did give a range increase during beta.)
- As with all stances, the damage bonus is 30% to all attacks.
- The hit chance increase is listed as a -2% miss chance.
- In addition to the 30% additional damage, a flat damage bonus is added, which scales with the Ranger's level. (I believe this was the compensation for the removal of the range bonus.)
Knee Capping: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 Ranks of Ricochet.
Tooltip: The Ranger's shots have a small chance of briefly rooting the target to the ground, preventing movement.
- As the tooltip suggests, attacks have a chance to proc a Knee-Capping debuff on the target, lasting a few seconds.
- When used on other players, Knee-Capping will proc a Root Immunity after it's duration is finished. However, Knee-Capping willnot proc Root Immunity on mobs.
- Each rank increases the proc rate of Ricochet. (? - This seems to be the case, and if it is, testing will be needed to determine the approximate proc rate per rank.)
Tier 6: Requires Level 40, 25 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Sulfurous Burst: 1 Rank, Active, 60 sec. cooldown, required for Sulfurous Blast.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability which reveals any hidden enemies in the vicinity by lighting up the area.
- The radius effect of Sulfurous Burst is 5m.
- The effect is an area effect around the Ranger's location.
- Sulfurous Burst deals 1 damage to stealthed foes within the affected area, forcing them to unstealth. Coupled with Tracking, this is a highly useful PvP utility feat for a minor investment.
Sulfurous Blast: 5 Ranks, Passive, Requires 1 Rank of Sulfurous Burst.
Tooltip: Improves the Sulfurous Burst ability, increasing the radius and causing it to inflict burning wounds on all hostile targets in the area.
- Each point invested increases the radius of Sulfurous Burst by 1m, up to a maximum of 5m. This maxes the range out at 10m.
- Each point invested increases the damage dealt, which is a fire-based damage over time. The damage is minor, but does add up over several ticks.
Cold Nerves: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Reduces stamina cost on all ranged combos.
- Each rank reduces the stamina cost of specific combos by 5, up to a maximum of 15. (I will include a list of combos affected shortly.)
Deadeye: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the damage done by select ranged combos.
- Each rank invested in, provides a significant damage boost to combos such as Salvo and Volley Backwards. (Will post all combos affected shortly.)
I. Sharpshooter Feats (Continued)
Tier 7: Requires Level 50, 30 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Fire Trap: 5 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown, required for Immolation.
Tooltip: Gives the Ranger a trap that deals area effect fire damage when triggered. More points increase radius and damage.
- The tooltip basically explains the mechanics. However, the damage dealt by Fire Trap is fairly minor, regardless of points invested.
- The deal breaker for this trap is that it shares a cooldown with Leg Trap. This, coupled with the insignificant damage of Fire Trap, makes the feat nothing more than a 5 point sink to take feats such as Immolation.
Marked Target: 5 Ranks, Active, 20 sec. cooldown, required for Marked for Death.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability which increases the damage of successive bow strikes to the target. This special ability can be applied up to five times.
- Using this ability on the target will place a "Marked Target" debuff on the target, lasting 20 sec. After the debuff is in place, any strikes made with your ranged weapon will grant you the "Marked Target" buff, which gives a flat damage increase to both bows and crossbows. (Not just bows as the tooltip suggests.)
- Each time a new ranged attack hits the debuffed target, the damage buff's duration is refreshed, and an additional stack is placed on the buff, giving it a larger effect. As the tooltip suggests, this ability stacks up to 5 times.
- Each point invested in increases the damage boost given per stack.
- Anybody who uses a ranged attack on the debuffed target will have an equal chance of gaining the Marked Target effect. They do not have to be in the party/raid to get the buff.
- This ability can be applied to a target without causing aggro, making it easy to open attacks with.
Critical Aim: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability that increases the critical strike chance of the next attack. Each rank increases the critical chance by 33%.
- This buff lasts for only a few seconds, and will be consumed once a critical strike occurs.
- The critical strike chance applies only to normal directional attacks that are executed as part of a combo. (? - I've found that the critical hit doesn't happen for normal directional attacks, but if it's part of a combo such as Salvo, the first attack always crits with this buff.)
- If the tooltip is to be believed, 3 ranks would give a 99% critical strike chance. However, if this stacks with the Ranger's passive criticial strike chance, it would easily reach 100%.
Tier 8: Requires Level 60, 35 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Immolation: 5 Ranks, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 5 points in Fire Trap, Required for Improved Immolation and Flame Barrage.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger a combo making their target burn and run in fear.
- This combo is essentially CC, rendering your target useless for a brief period.
- It would seem sometimes the target will either run around while burning, or stand still.
- This combo is actually executed with a one-handed sword, and not a ranged weapon.
- (? - What does investing in more ranks do?)
Improved Immolation: 3 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 Ranks of Immolation.
Tooltip: Upgrades Immolation spreading the fire to enemies nearby. More points will increase the radius and the number of spreading area effect pulses.
- (? - What is the radius granted per rank, and increase in pulses?)
Marked for Death: 5 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 ranks of Marked Target, required for Volley.
Tooltip: Improves the Marked Target, allowing it to increase the damage done by melee attacks.
- All the effects of this are identical to the mechanics of Marked Target's debuff and buff effects, just for any melee attacks against the target.
Tier 9: Requires Level 70, 40 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Flame Barrage: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Need cooldown), requires 5 points in Immolation.
Tooltip: Deals fire damage to the target and the area around them. They continue to burn for a while, inflicting fire damage on those nearby.
- The ability's animation and damage is comparable to that of a Salvo, with the obvious difference of area effect fire damage that lingers for a while.
Volley: 1 Rank, Active, 3 min. cooldown. Requires 5 Ranks of Marked for Death.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability which converts all their ranged attacks into barrages which affect all enemies in the area.
- As the tooltip suggests, a small area effect radius is added to attacks. However, this only applies to normal directional attacks. Combos will not gain the effect of Volley.
- The buff lasts for only a short time. (? - I believe it is 5 seconds. Confirmation?)
II. Waylayer Feats
Tier 1: No requirements.
Puncture: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Adds a chance of inflicting a bleeding wound to all attacks.
- Additional points increase the chance of the bleeding effect to proc. (? - Need confirmation on the percentage chance increase per point investment.)
-The bleed proc's damage is negligible (just like any bleed effect), and can break damage-sensitive CC.
Tier 2: Requires Level 15, 5 points in the Waylayer tree.
Crossbow Specialization: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increase damage from crossbows and increases evasion chance.
- The amount of evasion and damage gained from each rank varies, but the end result is +14.5 Crossbow Damage, and +2% evasion.
Scatter Shots: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the width of column attacks.
- "Column attacks" refers to any skill which attacks all enemies in a line in front of the caster, such as the Lance of Mitra for Priests of Mitra. For Rangers, column attacks come only with the Crossbow. These attacks attack everything in their path, and will pierce through any enemy, stopping only when the bolt reaches it's range limit.
- Normally, column attacks with crossbows attack only what literally touches the bolt fired. However, with this feat, a small amount of width is added beyond the bolt for column attacks, allowing more enemies to be hit in the process.
- Each rank invested in increases the column's width by a small amount.
Tier 3: Requires level 20, 10 points in the Waylayer tree.
Clear the Field: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: The Ranger's Incapacitating Stabs combo throws the target backwards before slowing their movement. Investing more feat points means more heavily armored foes can be thrown back.
- The tooltip explains the mechanics. The knockback is similar to that of a Shattering Stance proc.
-As the tooltip suggests, more points in this feat means it will work on targets with heavier armor. It works as follows:
1 rank - Light (Cloth) Armor is affected. (Medium, Heavy - immune)
2 ranks - Light (Cloth) and Medium armor is affected. (Heavy - immune)
3 ranks - All armor is affected.
- What determines the type of armor your target is wearing is currently unknown, both from a PvP and PvE perspective. It is currently believed that your "rank" of armor is determined by whatever the highest type of armor you have equipped at the moment is. So, for example, if you had all cloth armor but a heavy helmet, you would be classified as wearing heavy armor, and therefore would be immune to Clear the Field unless 3 ranks were taken.
Blocker: 5 Ranks, Active, 2m cooldown. (Confirmation on cooldown?)
Tooltip: Grants the ranger an ability that blocks enemy attacks for a short time. While active the Ranger's damage will be lowered.
- Blocker's effects are not dependant on a shield being equipped, though a shield complements this ability quite well.
- Regardless of rank, Blocker lasts for 10 seconds. Each point invested increases the block chance by 10%, and attack by -10%, maxing out at 50% block chance and -50% attack for the duration of the buff.
Debilitating Aim: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the detrimental effect of Crippling Snipe and Armor Ripper combos.
- Each point invested increases the effect of Armor Ripper and Crippling Snipe by a varying amount. With 3 ranks invested, Crippling Snipe is a -5% attack debuff, with Armor Ripper being a -3% armor debuff.
Tier 4: Requires Level 25, 15 Points in the Waylayer tree.
Barbed Arrows: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Piercing Wounds.
Tooltip: Increases the damage done by Flesh Ripper and Bleeding Puncture combos.
- Fairly straight forward feat. Each rank grants 3% more damage per second on the two combos.
Piercing Wounds: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 3 Ranks in Barbed Arrows.
Tooltip: Improves the bleeding inflicted by the Puncture feat by increasing the damage inflicted.
- Despite being tied to Barbed Arrows, this indeed does amplify Puncture, the Tier 1 feat.
- The first rank of this increases the damage from Puncture by 50%, while the second rank adds an additional 75% for a total of 125% with two ranks.
Master Archer: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the damage of all ranged combos.
- This increases the damage on some ranged combos, not all. Each rank invested in this gives a 3% damage per second increase to applicable combos, for a total of 15%.
- The combos affected by this feat are any combos that utilize a crossbow. So, Heartseeker would be affected as both Crossbows and Bows can utilize it, but Salvo would not.
- How this feat stacks with other % increase feats like Barbed Arrows is currently unknown, but it is believed that the % bonus is simply stacked. So, having 5 ranks of Master Archer and 3 ranks of Barbed arrows would result in a 25% damage increase to Bleeding Puncture.
Tier 5: Requires Level 30, 20 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Pitch Pots: 5 Ranks, Active, (? - Can't know the cooldown until it's fixed.), Required for Improved Pitch Pot.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability to throw flaming pots of pitch that explode a few seconds after. Investing more feat points increases the damage inflicted.
- Broken. Doesn't do anything when used, so at this point we know little about the ability, just what the tooltip gives us. Grenades are cool, though.
Shattering Stance: 1 Rank, Active (Aura), 4 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: All attacks have a chance of damaging other enemies near the primary target in addition to knocking the target backwards.
- As the tooltip suggests, a proc rate is added to attacks that deals area effect damage around the target, and inflicts knockback on the original target.
- As with all Stances, Shattering Stance can be used with either Bows or Crossbows, and also grants a 30% damage increase to all attacks.
- It is believed that the knockback's proc rate is significantly less against other players. (? - ~25% against mobs is what I'm told, not sure about other players. Confirmation?)
Piercing Stance: 1 Rank, Active (Aura), 4 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Increases the Ranger's penetration rating and the length of column attacks.
- As with all Stances, Piercing Stance can be used with either Bows or Crossbows, and also grants a 30% damage increase to all attacks.
- As the tooltip suggests, Piercing Stance is most effective against foes in heavy armor. While the Stance is active, the Ranger gets a +5 Penetration Rating, ignoring more of the target's armor that is factored into damage dealt.
Tier 6: Requires Level 40, 25 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Improved Pitch Pot: 3 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 Ranks in Pitch Pots.
Tooltip: Improves the Pitch Pot ability by segmenting the clay pot. When it explodes it scatters other charges. Adding feat points increases the number of waves of secondary explosions.
- No way to know anything about this either, until Pitch Pots if fixed.
Servant's Heart: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Vicious Assault.
Tooltip: Enhances the Heartseeker combo, granting it a chance to instantly kill a minion. This effect can only occur once per minute.
- As the tooltip suggests, despite the shorter cooldown on Heartseeker, if you use the ability on two minions within 60 seconds of each other, the instant kill effect will not take place.
- (? - Any ideas on what the fatality chance is per rank?)
Vicious Assault: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 3 Ranks in Servant's Heart.
Tooltip: Substantially increases the chance for the Ranger's group to inflict fatalities for a short period after Servant's Heart has been performed.
- As the tooltip states, a group-wide buff is given upon completion of a Servant's Heart.
- Each Rank of Vicious Assault gives a 25% fatality chance increase to the group, with 50% being the maximum at 2 ranks.
- (? - What's the duration on this buff?)
Heavy Bolts: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: When the Ranger uses a crossbow they can apply more force to the drawstring which results in more draw weight, increasing the damage of all combos.
- Interesting how almost every feat that increases the damage of combos, claims in the tooltip that it increases all combos. This is false. The damage increase applies to Linebreaker, Piercing Shot, and Flesh Ripper.
- The first two points invested grant a 3% damage per second upgrade to the listed abilities. The final point gives 4%, for a total of 10% with three ranks.
II. Waylayer Feats (Continued)
Tier 7: Requires Level 50, 30 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Hail of Fire: 5 Ranks, Passive, Required for Grievous Injury.
Tooltip: Improves the Piercing Shot combos by adding a chance of inflicting damage on the area targeted and leaving lingering wounds on the victims.
- This enhances Piercing Shot to add an additional area effect across the path your bolt travels. In addition, those hit by the effect are inflicted with a bleeding effect.
- (? - Does adding points simply add to the damage dealt?)
Piercing Shots: 5 Ranks, Passive, Required for Shattering Shots.
Tooltip: Increases the penetration of all shots, reducing the effect of directional shielding and damage deflection.
- Straightforward feat. Each point invested grants +1 Penetration Rating, helping to ignore more armor and directional shield defense.
Combo - Shield Bash: 3 Ranks, Active, Required for Improved Shield Bash.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger a melee DPS combo. More points in this feat will increase combo damage.
- The tooltip says it all for once. A decent-damage melee attack, with more points adding damage.
- As far as additional points go, the first rank grants you the ability. As for the damage increase, each point invested increases the DPS of this combo by 1%, up to a maximum of 3%.
Tier 8: Requires Level 60, 35 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Grievous Injury: 5 Ranks, Passive (?), Requires 5 Ranks in Hail of Fire, Required for Linebreaker.
Tooltip: Increases the damage done by Hail of Fire's bleeding wound, and decreases the target's attack.
- (? - Tooltip is fairly self-explanatory, but I have no idea on stats per points invested. Also, does the feat simply apply an attack debuff on targets affected?)
Booby Trap: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. Cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger a trap doing AoE knockbacks. More points will increase the AoE size.
- Fairly straightforward feat. Each point invested increases the raidus of the AoE knockback effect by 1m, up to a maximum of 3m. (? - Confirmation needed)
- The AoE knockback is triggered as soon as a mob runs into range of the trap. The knockback radius is based around the area of the target who first triggered the trap - A point-blank AoE. (? - Confirmation needed)
- This trap shares a cooldown with Leg Trap and Fire Trap.
Shattering Shots: 5 Ranks, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 5 Ranks in Piercing Shots.
Tooltip: Has a chance of breaking the target's shielding.
- This skill applies a "-1000 shielding bonus" debuff to your target. At this time, the debuff appears to do nothing, as testing has shown no difference in damage dealt versus any amount of shielding.
- Adding more points to this feat increases the duration of the shield debuff.
Improved Shield Bash: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 3 Ranks in Shield Bash.
Tooltip: Improves Shield Bash, adding a DoT to the attack. Also upgrades Blocker by adding Spike Shield, doing damage to attackers.
- The tooltip basically says it all here. Each point invested increases the duration of the DoT for Shield Bash, and increases the damage for Blocker's reflection.
- Blocker will only reflect damage when you do not block the damage. (Kinda counter-productive, huh?)
Tier 9: Requires Level 70, 40 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Linebreaker: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 5 Ranks in Grievous Injury.
Tooltip: Deals damage and knocks back all enemies in a column.
- As the tooltip suggests, this is classified as a column attack, and thus is enhanced by feats in this tree that alter column attacks.
- Any enemies within the effect of the attack is dealt a standard knockback effect.
Absolute Precision: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability that enhances the Penetration Rating of all team members for a short time.
- (? - Need to know the Penetration Rating gained through the buff. I'm assuming it scales per level, as per Focused Fire. Also, what is the duration?)
III. General Rogue Feats
Overview: While the Waylayer and Sharpshooter feats enhance the playstyle and abilities that are exclusive to Rangers, the general Rogue feats are meant to make you more well-rounded. This tree offers both PvP and PvE abilities of all shapes and sizes. In addition, because the tree only contains 4 tiers, it's easier to pick and choose what you want from it, making it a tree that any Ranger/Rogue should invest somewhat into. Because this tree also is given to Assassins and Barbarians, I'll add commentary as to how this does or does not benefit us as Rangers.
Tier 1: No Requirements.
Perfect Balance: 5 Ranks, Active, 30-60 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Rogue an ability which makes them immune to knockback in combat. Additional feat points increase the duration of the immunity and shortens the refresh time.
- Originally, the cooldown is 60 sec. and the duration is 10 sec. Each point invested decreases the cooldown by 6 sec. and increases the duration by 1 sec. At 5 points, the cooldown is 30 sec. and the duration is 15 sec.
- The actual buff granted is +200 Knockback Immunity.
(This is a must to get further in the tree, so not much to comment on here. Regardless of a focus in PvE or PvP, you will experience knockback at some point. It's a handy utility to have.)
Tier 2: Requires Level 15, 5 points in the General tree.
Natural Protection: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's elemental resistance ratings.
- The first and last rank of this feat increases your elemental immunities by 1%. The three ranks inbetween increase your immunities by .5%, for a five rank total of 3.5%. (Cold, Holy, Fire, Electrical, Unholy.)
(Straightforward ability. Perhaps more of a PvP focus, but potentially useful either way - Just consider the significant 5 point investment.)
Subtlety: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Wiles.
Tooltip: The Rogue's strikes are less likely to attract a foe in battle, making them less likely to break off from their current target and attack the Rogue.
- The first point invested grants a -3% hate modifier. Additional points give a -2% hate modifier, resulting in a maximum of -7%.
(A pure PvE feat. If you're familiar with group hate mechanics, you know how easily a Ranger can pull hate off the tank. Highly recommended for a group PvE player.)
Second Wind: 1 Rank, Active, 10m cooldown (Can be reduced to 5m with Endurance.), required for Endurance.
Tooltip: Grants a new special ability which gives the Rogue a short duration but substantial stamina boost. Takes a moderate amount of time to refresh.
- Second Wind restores 6% of your maximum stamina every second, for 10 seconds. The end result is 60% of your maximum stamina gained.
(Absolutely recommended regardless of spec or playstyle. For just 1 point, you're gaining a fantastic cooldown that can be used in clutch situations. It can provide a boost of stamina that stacks with potions when supplies are running dry for long fights, or can be popped while sprinting to give you significantly longer distance.)
Keen Senses: 1 Rank, Passive.
Tooltip: Substantially reduces the reuse time of the Search ability.
- This feat reduces the cooldown time of Search in half, bumping it down to 15 sec.
- Bear in mind this applies to the Search ability, and not the Tracking ability.
(Seeing as Search is supposedly broken, not much of a purpose. However, if you do not take Sulfurous Burst in the Sharpshooter tree, this may prove useful once fixed for PvP players. After all, it's only 1 point invested.)
Quick Recovery: 1 Rank, Passive.
Tooltip: The rogue instantly recovers stamina after being knocked back in melee.
- After being the victim of a knockback effect, stamina is instantly gained. (? - I assume the gain is percentage based. Any confirmation on the amount?)
(This feat seems a little counter-productive to the Perfect Balance ability, but for just 1 point it could be somewhat useful, depending on the stamina gain.)
Toughness: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's physical resistance ratings.
- The first and last rank of this feat increases your physical immunities by 1%. The three ranks inbetween increase your immunities by .5%, for a five rank total of 3.5%. (Slashing, Piercing, Crushing, Poison)
(As with Natural Protection, a considerable investment, but decent returns regardless of your spec or playstyle. Again, more PvP oriented since your goal in group PvE is to not be the target of attacks.)
Tier 3: Requires Level 20, 10 points in the General tree.
Acrobat: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Mountaineer.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's evasion rating.
- Each point invested grants a +1% evade chance.
(Pretty nice feat regardless of playstyle. Of course, if you want Mountaineer, this will be a must to begin with.)
Endurance: 5 Ranks, Passive, Requires 1 point in Second Wind.
Tooltip: Reduces the reuse time of the Second Wind ability.
- Each point invested reduces the cooldown of Second Wind by 1m. With all points invested, Second Wind goes down to a 5m cooldown.
(Depending on how often you find yourself needing Second Wind to be up, you may or may not see a reason to invest in this. However, a 5m cooldown on Second Wind is a very nice luxury.)
Escape Artist: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown (? - Confirmation on cooldown needed.), required for Agile Mind.
Tooltip: Grants the rogue an ability which gives them a substantial chance to escape snares that slow movement and root effects that prevent movement.
- As the tooltip suggests, using this ability gives you a chance to purge yourself of any slowing or rooting debuffs.
- Each point invested increases the chance of escaping from these effects by 33%, maxing out at 99%. (? - Confirmation needed)
(Though I'm not 80, my findings at 60 are that mobs very, very rarely use snares or roots. Therefore, this is going to serve best as a PvP ability.)
Swift Shadows: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Ambush and Concealment.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's movement rate while they are using their Hide special ability.
- Each point invested grants a 5% movement bonus while stealthed. (? - Confirmation needed.)
(While frontline classes like Barbarian and Assassin will be using stealth more, Rangers still spend a good deal of time in stealth. The PvE and PvP applications are about equal.)
Concealment: 2 Ranks, Active (Aura), Requires 3 points in Swift Shadows.
Tooltip: Slightly increases the stealth rating of the team.
- This is an Aura style buff, meaning once activated party members within a fairly long range of you will receive the effects.
- (? - What is the type of stat gained, and how does it affect the party? Does it simply reduce the radius at which enemies initially aggro, or does it treat the party members as though they have stealth?)
III. General Rogue Feats (Continued)
Tier 4: Requires Level 25, 15 points in the General tree.
Mountaineer: 2 Ranks, Active (Aura), Requires 3 Ranks in Acrobat.
Tooltip: Increases the team's climbing ability, and reduces any fall damage inflicted on the Rogue.
- (? - How much climbing skill does this grant per rank, and how much fall damage reduction? Is the fall damage reduction exclusive to the Rogue?)
(This talent seems fairly useless. Climbing skill does next to nothing, as I've seen no uses for climbing outside past level 40. I took climbing to 600 just to see what was at the top of the arch outside the Noble's District, and there was nothing but a drunk guy. Unless the climbing skill gain is significant, and the fall damage reduction is massive, this is a fairly pointless feat. Besides, I use falling for deathporting!)
Wiles: 1 Rank, Active, 2 min. cooldown, Requires 3 Ranks in Subtlety, Required for Distraction.
Tooltip: Grants a special ability that makes the target less likely to break off and attack the Rogue.
- This feat is a single target aggro dump. This means that the target of this ability will lose a portion of the hate generated towards you.
(This is excellent for group PvE Rangers, as you now have a panic button when aggro comes your way. This is usually enough of a hate reduction to get the target back on the tank. In addition, Distraction is a fantastic group PvE feat, so I suggest taking this anyway to get it.)
Distraction: 3 Ranks, Active (Aura), Requires 1 Rank in Wiles.
Tooltip: Reduces the hate generated by the blows of any team members not in Defensive Stance, making it less likely for enemies to break off and engage their attackers.
- Each rank invested gives a -2% Hate Modifier.
- This feat is a group-style Aura. Any party/raid member within a large radius of you will gain the Distraction effect as a buff. It can be removed by any party member by right clicking the buff icon, should they not want it for any reason.
- As the tooltip suggests, if a target enters Defensive Stance, this buff will lose effect. (Defensive Stance is an ability exclusive to Soldiers, increasing hate generated.)
(A fantastic feat for group PvE. This aura will make group PvE encounters significantly easier, as all team members except for the tank will be generating less hate constantly.)
Agile Mind: 3 Ranks, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 3 Ranks of Escape Artist.
Tooltip: Grants a special ability which gives the Rogue a substantial chance of escaping fear or charm effects.
- Each rank gives a 33% chance for the ability to remove one fear or charm effect, with 3 points giving a 99% chance. (? - Confirmation on gain per rank needed)
(As with Escape Artist, this is primarily a PvP ability. The only mobs I've seen use fear or charm effects are select bosses in group instances. If you're a PvP Ranger, and you're taking three ranks of Escape Artist, chances are you'll want this as well.)
Ambush: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 3 Ranks in Swift Shadows.
Tooltip: If used against a minion it is instantly killed. The stealthed Rogue must wait briefly before attacking.
- As the tooltip suggests, the Rogue must be in stealth for Ambush to work correctly.
- This is a melee ability, requiring you to be in close range.
(This is fairly useless for a Ranger. As a ranged class, we can already take down a minion with ease before they touch us. If you're a Waylayer spec, you may already have the feat that turns Heartseeker into an instant kill for minions anyway. Because this feat requires you to be in melee range and stealthed, it is far more useful as an opener for our other Rogue counterparts, as they both fight in melee range.)
Brutality: 3 Ranks, Active, 2 min. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Rogue a special ability which increases the chance of their team performing fatalities.
- As the tooltip suggests, this is a group-wide buff. The duration is 15 seconds.
- Each rank gives a 10% additional fatality chance, with the final rank giving 30%, for a 3 rank total of 50%.
(This is a fantastic group buff with a fairly short cooldown. At 3 Ranks, having a 50% fatality chance for your entire group results in a true bloodbath when fighting multiple targets. This is considered a damage buff, since the high proc rate of fatalities will give the group a substantial damage boost. Highly recommended, as this has no prerequisites other than the tier.)
Tier 5: Requires Level 30, 20 points in the General tree.
Trickery: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed).
Tooltip: Grants the Rogue an ability that deceives their enemy in the chaos of battle, diverting the foe's rage elsewhere and reducing the Rogue's threat.
- (? - When I am the proper level I will know more about this feat, but is it another single target aggro dump like Wiles, or is the tooltip correct in suggesting that you transfer a portion of your hate to another target?)
Cheat the Reaper: 2 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: The Rogue has a slight chance of cheating death when killed, instantly restoring them. This ability takes a long time to refresh.
- As the tooltip claims, upon death there is a chance this feat will proc, allowing you to ressurect yourself. If activated, a dialogue box will appear asking you if you accept the res, so the ability can be declined.
- Despite the tooltip claiming a long cooldown, tests have shown that with two points invested, Cheat the Reaper can proc twice within just a minute or so of each other. The exact cooldown (if one actually exists) is unknown, but it is assumed that investing the second point decreases this cooldown.
post: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=51874
Tier 7: Requires Level 50, 30 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Fire Trap: 5 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown, required for Immolation.
Tooltip: Gives the Ranger a trap that deals area effect fire damage when triggered. More points increase radius and damage.
- The tooltip basically explains the mechanics. However, the damage dealt by Fire Trap is fairly minor, regardless of points invested.
- The deal breaker for this trap is that it shares a cooldown with Leg Trap. This, coupled with the insignificant damage of Fire Trap, makes the feat nothing more than a 5 point sink to take feats such as Immolation.
Marked Target: 5 Ranks, Active, 20 sec. cooldown, required for Marked for Death.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability which increases the damage of successive bow strikes to the target. This special ability can be applied up to five times.
- Using this ability on the target will place a "Marked Target" debuff on the target, lasting 20 sec. After the debuff is in place, any strikes made with your ranged weapon will grant you the "Marked Target" buff, which gives a flat damage increase to both bows and crossbows. (Not just bows as the tooltip suggests.)
- Each time a new ranged attack hits the debuffed target, the damage buff's duration is refreshed, and an additional stack is placed on the buff, giving it a larger effect. As the tooltip suggests, this ability stacks up to 5 times.
- Each point invested in increases the damage boost given per stack.
- Anybody who uses a ranged attack on the debuffed target will have an equal chance of gaining the Marked Target effect. They do not have to be in the party/raid to get the buff.
- This ability can be applied to a target without causing aggro, making it easy to open attacks with.
Critical Aim: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability that increases the critical strike chance of the next attack. Each rank increases the critical chance by 33%.
- This buff lasts for only a few seconds, and will be consumed once a critical strike occurs.
- The critical strike chance applies only to normal directional attacks that are executed as part of a combo. (? - I've found that the critical hit doesn't happen for normal directional attacks, but if it's part of a combo such as Salvo, the first attack always crits with this buff.)
- If the tooltip is to be believed, 3 ranks would give a 99% critical strike chance. However, if this stacks with the Ranger's passive criticial strike chance, it would easily reach 100%.
Tier 8: Requires Level 60, 35 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Immolation: 5 Ranks, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 5 points in Fire Trap, Required for Improved Immolation and Flame Barrage.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger a combo making their target burn and run in fear.
- This combo is essentially CC, rendering your target useless for a brief period.
- It would seem sometimes the target will either run around while burning, or stand still.
- This combo is actually executed with a one-handed sword, and not a ranged weapon.
- (? - What does investing in more ranks do?)
Improved Immolation: 3 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 Ranks of Immolation.
Tooltip: Upgrades Immolation spreading the fire to enemies nearby. More points will increase the radius and the number of spreading area effect pulses.
- (? - What is the radius granted per rank, and increase in pulses?)
Marked for Death: 5 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 ranks of Marked Target, required for Volley.
Tooltip: Improves the Marked Target, allowing it to increase the damage done by melee attacks.
- All the effects of this are identical to the mechanics of Marked Target's debuff and buff effects, just for any melee attacks against the target.
Tier 9: Requires Level 70, 40 points in the Sharpshooter tree.
Flame Barrage: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Need cooldown), requires 5 points in Immolation.
Tooltip: Deals fire damage to the target and the area around them. They continue to burn for a while, inflicting fire damage on those nearby.
- The ability's animation and damage is comparable to that of a Salvo, with the obvious difference of area effect fire damage that lingers for a while.
Volley: 1 Rank, Active, 3 min. cooldown. Requires 5 Ranks of Marked for Death.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability which converts all their ranged attacks into barrages which affect all enemies in the area.
- As the tooltip suggests, a small area effect radius is added to attacks. However, this only applies to normal directional attacks. Combos will not gain the effect of Volley.
- The buff lasts for only a short time. (? - I believe it is 5 seconds. Confirmation?)
II. Waylayer Feats
Tier 1: No requirements.
Puncture: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Adds a chance of inflicting a bleeding wound to all attacks.
- Additional points increase the chance of the bleeding effect to proc. (? - Need confirmation on the percentage chance increase per point investment.)
-The bleed proc's damage is negligible (just like any bleed effect), and can break damage-sensitive CC.
Tier 2: Requires Level 15, 5 points in the Waylayer tree.
Crossbow Specialization: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increase damage from crossbows and increases evasion chance.
- The amount of evasion and damage gained from each rank varies, but the end result is +14.5 Crossbow Damage, and +2% evasion.
Scatter Shots: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the width of column attacks.
- "Column attacks" refers to any skill which attacks all enemies in a line in front of the caster, such as the Lance of Mitra for Priests of Mitra. For Rangers, column attacks come only with the Crossbow. These attacks attack everything in their path, and will pierce through any enemy, stopping only when the bolt reaches it's range limit.
- Normally, column attacks with crossbows attack only what literally touches the bolt fired. However, with this feat, a small amount of width is added beyond the bolt for column attacks, allowing more enemies to be hit in the process.
- Each rank invested in increases the column's width by a small amount.
Tier 3: Requires level 20, 10 points in the Waylayer tree.
Clear the Field: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: The Ranger's Incapacitating Stabs combo throws the target backwards before slowing their movement. Investing more feat points means more heavily armored foes can be thrown back.
- The tooltip explains the mechanics. The knockback is similar to that of a Shattering Stance proc.
-As the tooltip suggests, more points in this feat means it will work on targets with heavier armor. It works as follows:
1 rank - Light (Cloth) Armor is affected. (Medium, Heavy - immune)
2 ranks - Light (Cloth) and Medium armor is affected. (Heavy - immune)
3 ranks - All armor is affected.
- What determines the type of armor your target is wearing is currently unknown, both from a PvP and PvE perspective. It is currently believed that your "rank" of armor is determined by whatever the highest type of armor you have equipped at the moment is. So, for example, if you had all cloth armor but a heavy helmet, you would be classified as wearing heavy armor, and therefore would be immune to Clear the Field unless 3 ranks were taken.
Blocker: 5 Ranks, Active, 2m cooldown. (Confirmation on cooldown?)
Tooltip: Grants the ranger an ability that blocks enemy attacks for a short time. While active the Ranger's damage will be lowered.
- Blocker's effects are not dependant on a shield being equipped, though a shield complements this ability quite well.
- Regardless of rank, Blocker lasts for 10 seconds. Each point invested increases the block chance by 10%, and attack by -10%, maxing out at 50% block chance and -50% attack for the duration of the buff.
Debilitating Aim: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the detrimental effect of Crippling Snipe and Armor Ripper combos.
- Each point invested increases the effect of Armor Ripper and Crippling Snipe by a varying amount. With 3 ranks invested, Crippling Snipe is a -5% attack debuff, with Armor Ripper being a -3% armor debuff.
Tier 4: Requires Level 25, 15 Points in the Waylayer tree.
Barbed Arrows: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Piercing Wounds.
Tooltip: Increases the damage done by Flesh Ripper and Bleeding Puncture combos.
- Fairly straight forward feat. Each rank grants 3% more damage per second on the two combos.
Piercing Wounds: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 3 Ranks in Barbed Arrows.
Tooltip: Improves the bleeding inflicted by the Puncture feat by increasing the damage inflicted.
- Despite being tied to Barbed Arrows, this indeed does amplify Puncture, the Tier 1 feat.
- The first rank of this increases the damage from Puncture by 50%, while the second rank adds an additional 75% for a total of 125% with two ranks.
Master Archer: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the damage of all ranged combos.
- This increases the damage on some ranged combos, not all. Each rank invested in this gives a 3% damage per second increase to applicable combos, for a total of 15%.
- The combos affected by this feat are any combos that utilize a crossbow. So, Heartseeker would be affected as both Crossbows and Bows can utilize it, but Salvo would not.
- How this feat stacks with other % increase feats like Barbed Arrows is currently unknown, but it is believed that the % bonus is simply stacked. So, having 5 ranks of Master Archer and 3 ranks of Barbed arrows would result in a 25% damage increase to Bleeding Puncture.
Tier 5: Requires Level 30, 20 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Pitch Pots: 5 Ranks, Active, (? - Can't know the cooldown until it's fixed.), Required for Improved Pitch Pot.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability to throw flaming pots of pitch that explode a few seconds after. Investing more feat points increases the damage inflicted.
- Broken. Doesn't do anything when used, so at this point we know little about the ability, just what the tooltip gives us. Grenades are cool, though.
Shattering Stance: 1 Rank, Active (Aura), 4 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: All attacks have a chance of damaging other enemies near the primary target in addition to knocking the target backwards.
- As the tooltip suggests, a proc rate is added to attacks that deals area effect damage around the target, and inflicts knockback on the original target.
- As with all Stances, Shattering Stance can be used with either Bows or Crossbows, and also grants a 30% damage increase to all attacks.
- It is believed that the knockback's proc rate is significantly less against other players. (? - ~25% against mobs is what I'm told, not sure about other players. Confirmation?)
Piercing Stance: 1 Rank, Active (Aura), 4 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Increases the Ranger's penetration rating and the length of column attacks.
- As with all Stances, Piercing Stance can be used with either Bows or Crossbows, and also grants a 30% damage increase to all attacks.
- As the tooltip suggests, Piercing Stance is most effective against foes in heavy armor. While the Stance is active, the Ranger gets a +5 Penetration Rating, ignoring more of the target's armor that is factored into damage dealt.
Tier 6: Requires Level 40, 25 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Improved Pitch Pot: 3 Ranks, Passive, Requires 5 Ranks in Pitch Pots.
Tooltip: Improves the Pitch Pot ability by segmenting the clay pot. When it explodes it scatters other charges. Adding feat points increases the number of waves of secondary explosions.
- No way to know anything about this either, until Pitch Pots if fixed.
Servant's Heart: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Vicious Assault.
Tooltip: Enhances the Heartseeker combo, granting it a chance to instantly kill a minion. This effect can only occur once per minute.
- As the tooltip suggests, despite the shorter cooldown on Heartseeker, if you use the ability on two minions within 60 seconds of each other, the instant kill effect will not take place.
- (? - Any ideas on what the fatality chance is per rank?)
Vicious Assault: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 3 Ranks in Servant's Heart.
Tooltip: Substantially increases the chance for the Ranger's group to inflict fatalities for a short period after Servant's Heart has been performed.
- As the tooltip states, a group-wide buff is given upon completion of a Servant's Heart.
- Each Rank of Vicious Assault gives a 25% fatality chance increase to the group, with 50% being the maximum at 2 ranks.
- (? - What's the duration on this buff?)
Heavy Bolts: 3 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: When the Ranger uses a crossbow they can apply more force to the drawstring which results in more draw weight, increasing the damage of all combos.
- Interesting how almost every feat that increases the damage of combos, claims in the tooltip that it increases all combos. This is false. The damage increase applies to Linebreaker, Piercing Shot, and Flesh Ripper.
- The first two points invested grant a 3% damage per second upgrade to the listed abilities. The final point gives 4%, for a total of 10% with three ranks.
II. Waylayer Feats (Continued)
Tier 7: Requires Level 50, 30 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Hail of Fire: 5 Ranks, Passive, Required for Grievous Injury.
Tooltip: Improves the Piercing Shot combos by adding a chance of inflicting damage on the area targeted and leaving lingering wounds on the victims.
- This enhances Piercing Shot to add an additional area effect across the path your bolt travels. In addition, those hit by the effect are inflicted with a bleeding effect.
- (? - Does adding points simply add to the damage dealt?)
Piercing Shots: 5 Ranks, Passive, Required for Shattering Shots.
Tooltip: Increases the penetration of all shots, reducing the effect of directional shielding and damage deflection.
- Straightforward feat. Each point invested grants +1 Penetration Rating, helping to ignore more armor and directional shield defense.
Combo - Shield Bash: 3 Ranks, Active, Required for Improved Shield Bash.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger a melee DPS combo. More points in this feat will increase combo damage.
- The tooltip says it all for once. A decent-damage melee attack, with more points adding damage.
- As far as additional points go, the first rank grants you the ability. As for the damage increase, each point invested increases the DPS of this combo by 1%, up to a maximum of 3%.
Tier 8: Requires Level 60, 35 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Grievous Injury: 5 Ranks, Passive (?), Requires 5 Ranks in Hail of Fire, Required for Linebreaker.
Tooltip: Increases the damage done by Hail of Fire's bleeding wound, and decreases the target's attack.
- (? - Tooltip is fairly self-explanatory, but I have no idea on stats per points invested. Also, does the feat simply apply an attack debuff on targets affected?)
Booby Trap: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. Cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger a trap doing AoE knockbacks. More points will increase the AoE size.
- Fairly straightforward feat. Each point invested increases the raidus of the AoE knockback effect by 1m, up to a maximum of 3m. (? - Confirmation needed)
- The AoE knockback is triggered as soon as a mob runs into range of the trap. The knockback radius is based around the area of the target who first triggered the trap - A point-blank AoE. (? - Confirmation needed)
- This trap shares a cooldown with Leg Trap and Fire Trap.
Shattering Shots: 5 Ranks, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 5 Ranks in Piercing Shots.
Tooltip: Has a chance of breaking the target's shielding.
- This skill applies a "-1000 shielding bonus" debuff to your target. At this time, the debuff appears to do nothing, as testing has shown no difference in damage dealt versus any amount of shielding.
- Adding more points to this feat increases the duration of the shield debuff.
Improved Shield Bash: 2 Ranks, Passive, Requires 3 Ranks in Shield Bash.
Tooltip: Improves Shield Bash, adding a DoT to the attack. Also upgrades Blocker by adding Spike Shield, doing damage to attackers.
- The tooltip basically says it all here. Each point invested increases the duration of the DoT for Shield Bash, and increases the damage for Blocker's reflection.
- Blocker will only reflect damage when you do not block the damage. (Kinda counter-productive, huh?)
Tier 9: Requires Level 70, 40 points in the Waylayer Tree.
Linebreaker: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 5 Ranks in Grievous Injury.
Tooltip: Deals damage and knocks back all enemies in a column.
- As the tooltip suggests, this is classified as a column attack, and thus is enhanced by feats in this tree that alter column attacks.
- Any enemies within the effect of the attack is dealt a standard knockback effect.
Absolute Precision: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed.
Tooltip: Grants the Ranger an ability that enhances the Penetration Rating of all team members for a short time.
- (? - Need to know the Penetration Rating gained through the buff. I'm assuming it scales per level, as per Focused Fire. Also, what is the duration?)
III. General Rogue Feats
Overview: While the Waylayer and Sharpshooter feats enhance the playstyle and abilities that are exclusive to Rangers, the general Rogue feats are meant to make you more well-rounded. This tree offers both PvP and PvE abilities of all shapes and sizes. In addition, because the tree only contains 4 tiers, it's easier to pick and choose what you want from it, making it a tree that any Ranger/Rogue should invest somewhat into. Because this tree also is given to Assassins and Barbarians, I'll add commentary as to how this does or does not benefit us as Rangers.
Tier 1: No Requirements.
Perfect Balance: 5 Ranks, Active, 30-60 sec. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Rogue an ability which makes them immune to knockback in combat. Additional feat points increase the duration of the immunity and shortens the refresh time.
- Originally, the cooldown is 60 sec. and the duration is 10 sec. Each point invested decreases the cooldown by 6 sec. and increases the duration by 1 sec. At 5 points, the cooldown is 30 sec. and the duration is 15 sec.
- The actual buff granted is +200 Knockback Immunity.
(This is a must to get further in the tree, so not much to comment on here. Regardless of a focus in PvE or PvP, you will experience knockback at some point. It's a handy utility to have.)
Tier 2: Requires Level 15, 5 points in the General tree.
Natural Protection: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's elemental resistance ratings.
- The first and last rank of this feat increases your elemental immunities by 1%. The three ranks inbetween increase your immunities by .5%, for a five rank total of 3.5%. (Cold, Holy, Fire, Electrical, Unholy.)
(Straightforward ability. Perhaps more of a PvP focus, but potentially useful either way - Just consider the significant 5 point investment.)
Subtlety: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Wiles.
Tooltip: The Rogue's strikes are less likely to attract a foe in battle, making them less likely to break off from their current target and attack the Rogue.
- The first point invested grants a -3% hate modifier. Additional points give a -2% hate modifier, resulting in a maximum of -7%.
(A pure PvE feat. If you're familiar with group hate mechanics, you know how easily a Ranger can pull hate off the tank. Highly recommended for a group PvE player.)
Second Wind: 1 Rank, Active, 10m cooldown (Can be reduced to 5m with Endurance.), required for Endurance.
Tooltip: Grants a new special ability which gives the Rogue a short duration but substantial stamina boost. Takes a moderate amount of time to refresh.
- Second Wind restores 6% of your maximum stamina every second, for 10 seconds. The end result is 60% of your maximum stamina gained.
(Absolutely recommended regardless of spec or playstyle. For just 1 point, you're gaining a fantastic cooldown that can be used in clutch situations. It can provide a boost of stamina that stacks with potions when supplies are running dry for long fights, or can be popped while sprinting to give you significantly longer distance.)
Keen Senses: 1 Rank, Passive.
Tooltip: Substantially reduces the reuse time of the Search ability.
- This feat reduces the cooldown time of Search in half, bumping it down to 15 sec.
- Bear in mind this applies to the Search ability, and not the Tracking ability.
(Seeing as Search is supposedly broken, not much of a purpose. However, if you do not take Sulfurous Burst in the Sharpshooter tree, this may prove useful once fixed for PvP players. After all, it's only 1 point invested.)
Quick Recovery: 1 Rank, Passive.
Tooltip: The rogue instantly recovers stamina after being knocked back in melee.
- After being the victim of a knockback effect, stamina is instantly gained. (? - I assume the gain is percentage based. Any confirmation on the amount?)
(This feat seems a little counter-productive to the Perfect Balance ability, but for just 1 point it could be somewhat useful, depending on the stamina gain.)
Toughness: 5 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's physical resistance ratings.
- The first and last rank of this feat increases your physical immunities by 1%. The three ranks inbetween increase your immunities by .5%, for a five rank total of 3.5%. (Slashing, Piercing, Crushing, Poison)
(As with Natural Protection, a considerable investment, but decent returns regardless of your spec or playstyle. Again, more PvP oriented since your goal in group PvE is to not be the target of attacks.)
Tier 3: Requires Level 20, 10 points in the General tree.
Acrobat: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Mountaineer.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's evasion rating.
- Each point invested grants a +1% evade chance.
(Pretty nice feat regardless of playstyle. Of course, if you want Mountaineer, this will be a must to begin with.)
Endurance: 5 Ranks, Passive, Requires 1 point in Second Wind.
Tooltip: Reduces the reuse time of the Second Wind ability.
- Each point invested reduces the cooldown of Second Wind by 1m. With all points invested, Second Wind goes down to a 5m cooldown.
(Depending on how often you find yourself needing Second Wind to be up, you may or may not see a reason to invest in this. However, a 5m cooldown on Second Wind is a very nice luxury.)
Escape Artist: 3 Ranks, Active, 60 sec. cooldown (? - Confirmation on cooldown needed.), required for Agile Mind.
Tooltip: Grants the rogue an ability which gives them a substantial chance to escape snares that slow movement and root effects that prevent movement.
- As the tooltip suggests, using this ability gives you a chance to purge yourself of any slowing or rooting debuffs.
- Each point invested increases the chance of escaping from these effects by 33%, maxing out at 99%. (? - Confirmation needed)
(Though I'm not 80, my findings at 60 are that mobs very, very rarely use snares or roots. Therefore, this is going to serve best as a PvP ability.)
Swift Shadows: 3 Ranks, Passive, Required for Ambush and Concealment.
Tooltip: Increases the Rogue's movement rate while they are using their Hide special ability.
- Each point invested grants a 5% movement bonus while stealthed. (? - Confirmation needed.)
(While frontline classes like Barbarian and Assassin will be using stealth more, Rangers still spend a good deal of time in stealth. The PvE and PvP applications are about equal.)
Concealment: 2 Ranks, Active (Aura), Requires 3 points in Swift Shadows.
Tooltip: Slightly increases the stealth rating of the team.
- This is an Aura style buff, meaning once activated party members within a fairly long range of you will receive the effects.
- (? - What is the type of stat gained, and how does it affect the party? Does it simply reduce the radius at which enemies initially aggro, or does it treat the party members as though they have stealth?)
III. General Rogue Feats (Continued)
Tier 4: Requires Level 25, 15 points in the General tree.
Mountaineer: 2 Ranks, Active (Aura), Requires 3 Ranks in Acrobat.
Tooltip: Increases the team's climbing ability, and reduces any fall damage inflicted on the Rogue.
- (? - How much climbing skill does this grant per rank, and how much fall damage reduction? Is the fall damage reduction exclusive to the Rogue?)
(This talent seems fairly useless. Climbing skill does next to nothing, as I've seen no uses for climbing outside past level 40. I took climbing to 600 just to see what was at the top of the arch outside the Noble's District, and there was nothing but a drunk guy. Unless the climbing skill gain is significant, and the fall damage reduction is massive, this is a fairly pointless feat. Besides, I use falling for deathporting!)
Wiles: 1 Rank, Active, 2 min. cooldown, Requires 3 Ranks in Subtlety, Required for Distraction.
Tooltip: Grants a special ability that makes the target less likely to break off and attack the Rogue.
- This feat is a single target aggro dump. This means that the target of this ability will lose a portion of the hate generated towards you.
(This is excellent for group PvE Rangers, as you now have a panic button when aggro comes your way. This is usually enough of a hate reduction to get the target back on the tank. In addition, Distraction is a fantastic group PvE feat, so I suggest taking this anyway to get it.)
Distraction: 3 Ranks, Active (Aura), Requires 1 Rank in Wiles.
Tooltip: Reduces the hate generated by the blows of any team members not in Defensive Stance, making it less likely for enemies to break off and engage their attackers.
- Each rank invested gives a -2% Hate Modifier.
- This feat is a group-style Aura. Any party/raid member within a large radius of you will gain the Distraction effect as a buff. It can be removed by any party member by right clicking the buff icon, should they not want it for any reason.
- As the tooltip suggests, if a target enters Defensive Stance, this buff will lose effect. (Defensive Stance is an ability exclusive to Soldiers, increasing hate generated.)
(A fantastic feat for group PvE. This aura will make group PvE encounters significantly easier, as all team members except for the tank will be generating less hate constantly.)
Agile Mind: 3 Ranks, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 3 Ranks of Escape Artist.
Tooltip: Grants a special ability which gives the Rogue a substantial chance of escaping fear or charm effects.
- Each rank gives a 33% chance for the ability to remove one fear or charm effect, with 3 points giving a 99% chance. (? - Confirmation on gain per rank needed)
(As with Escape Artist, this is primarily a PvP ability. The only mobs I've seen use fear or charm effects are select bosses in group instances. If you're a PvP Ranger, and you're taking three ranks of Escape Artist, chances are you'll want this as well.)
Ambush: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed), Requires 3 Ranks in Swift Shadows.
Tooltip: If used against a minion it is instantly killed. The stealthed Rogue must wait briefly before attacking.
- As the tooltip suggests, the Rogue must be in stealth for Ambush to work correctly.
- This is a melee ability, requiring you to be in close range.
(This is fairly useless for a Ranger. As a ranged class, we can already take down a minion with ease before they touch us. If you're a Waylayer spec, you may already have the feat that turns Heartseeker into an instant kill for minions anyway. Because this feat requires you to be in melee range and stealthed, it is far more useful as an opener for our other Rogue counterparts, as they both fight in melee range.)
Brutality: 3 Ranks, Active, 2 min. cooldown.
Tooltip: Grants the Rogue a special ability which increases the chance of their team performing fatalities.
- As the tooltip suggests, this is a group-wide buff. The duration is 15 seconds.
- Each rank gives a 10% additional fatality chance, with the final rank giving 30%, for a 3 rank total of 50%.
(This is a fantastic group buff with a fairly short cooldown. At 3 Ranks, having a 50% fatality chance for your entire group results in a true bloodbath when fighting multiple targets. This is considered a damage buff, since the high proc rate of fatalities will give the group a substantial damage boost. Highly recommended, as this has no prerequisites other than the tier.)
Tier 5: Requires Level 30, 20 points in the General tree.
Trickery: 1 Rank, Active, (? - Cooldown needed).
Tooltip: Grants the Rogue an ability that deceives their enemy in the chaos of battle, diverting the foe's rage elsewhere and reducing the Rogue's threat.
- (? - When I am the proper level I will know more about this feat, but is it another single target aggro dump like Wiles, or is the tooltip correct in suggesting that you transfer a portion of your hate to another target?)
Cheat the Reaper: 2 Ranks, Passive.
Tooltip: The Rogue has a slight chance of cheating death when killed, instantly restoring them. This ability takes a long time to refresh.
- As the tooltip claims, upon death there is a chance this feat will proc, allowing you to ressurect yourself. If activated, a dialogue box will appear asking you if you accept the res, so the ability can be declined.
- Despite the tooltip claiming a long cooldown, tests have shown that with two points invested, Cheat the Reaper can proc twice within just a minute or so of each other. The exact cooldown (if one actually exists) is unknown, but it is assumed that investing the second point decreases this cooldown.
post: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=51874
