Ranger Midshot Sets

Before I begin this final installment, a big thank you to all who have contributed either through their own personal sets, comments on the submitted sets, or just good discourse on making our Rangers better. In the end, I think we all want this job to be respected and played well, and I hope that these threads have assisted in that.

Now, let's begin the real fun. Midshot sets. I personally have 12 different midshot sets, as I vary the amount of base Racc and STP depending on the weapon I use, and each weapon has 3 levels of ranged accuracy. I decided to just post my Fomalhaut sets, and then list some of the alterations to this that I make for my other weapons. I'd also love to have some people post THEIR midshot sets, and let's get some real discussion going.

Also, these are NOT strictly BiS sets, they are my personal sets and as such there is room for improvement and discussion. Please remember that.

So...what are our goals in building Midshot sets? First and foremost, we want to reach the minimum level of ranged accuracy to allow us to hit our target reliably, and then beef up each hit's damage and TP value. Ranger is so incredibly dependent on Weaponskill damage versus "white" damage...and as such, getting to the next Weaponskill as fast as possible is paramount. Every Ranger should be able to have a 4 hit build WITHOUT rolls (3 shots + a weaponskill) and WITHOUT /SAM. If you can't do this, get more STP in your sets ASAP. Once you have this minimum level, start throwing more AGI and Ranged Attack into your sets to boost the damage.

Midshot LowACC
ItemSet 353559
Base TP set. Uses some pieces that you can "get away with" in a low accuracy build, such as Dedition Earring, and Adhemar Gamashes(they are seriously lacking in the racc department). But this also takes advantage of the set bonus from the Adhemar+1 set of increased critical hits. When using my Annihilator or Gastraphetes, my set is exactly the same except I replace the Kwahu Kachina Belt in the waist slot for the Yemaya Belt, giving a few more points of STP due to lower delay compared to Fomalhaut, and also because Foma has that lovely +10STP on it.

Midshot MidACC
ItemSet 353560
Very similar to the above but with about +50racc over that set. Replaces Dedition Earring with Enervating, giving up some STP but a total gain of +17racc in just that slot. I happen to have a pair of TP augmented Herculean Boots I use in this set with AGI+9,racc+26,ratk+39, which gives the feet a total of +36 racc.

Midshot HighACC
ItemSet 353561
Max accuracy build I use in a TP set. Uses 3/5 AF+3 and the Regal Ring for the set bonus of RACC and Cacoethic Ring+1 as the key changes.

A few notes that pertain to ALL these sets:
1.Belenus's Cape augments are AGI+30,racc/ratk+20,Store TP+10.
2.Adhemar Wristbands and Kecks are PATH C in these sets.
3.Adhemar Gamashes are Path D for the Store TP.

There are a few times that justify special TP sets, the most glaring example being when you are using either Armageddon or Gandiva with Aftermath up. This set looks a LOT like a Camouflage set- and it should. Its taking advantage of critical hits and trying to put as much damage behind each individual shot as possible. In a set like this, Store TP takes a back seat because BOTH of these weapons deal more damage with AM up during TP phase than their related weaponskill in question (be that Wildfire or Jishnu's Radiance).

Gandiva Aftermath
ItemSet 353563

Again, this set focuses on critical hit rate%+ and critical hit damage+. Remember that "Dead Aim" is a ranged attack specific "critical hit damage+" modifier, but it doesn't work on weaponskills. Belenus's Cape is AGI+30,racc/ratk+20,Critical Hit Rate +10%.

Someone asked in the Utility set thread how much I used my Gandiva. I use it whenever I can, because if I'm properly buffed, the DPS absolutely destroys any other option. By properly buffed I mean situations with 4 song+honor march BRD, COR, GEO doing Fury/Frailty, and at least Flurry I. Gandiva falls off really fast if you all of a sudden have one of those missing, or doing a different role (say a Vex/Attune GEO instead). I also firmly believe it really needs Chrono Arrows to succeed. It needs all that buffing, but then when AM is up and you're seeing 14k doubleshots left and right WITHOUT camouflage up...its worth it.

Now, let's get to ripping eachother to shreds on our midshot sets!

So, Cele. When are you going to post all this in 1 location for ease of access vs multiple post?

Expect the ingame harassment to begin in a few min

My intent was to encourage discussion of each "family" of sets, rather than think I'm some Gods Gift to Rangerdom and just say "these sets are law" like a sticky. That's why I opted for individual topics rather than just dumping the sets into the sticky. If someone would like to update the first page of the sticky to include links to these threads, I think that would be the most beneficial, as it keeps the conversation lines intact.

This is what I use.

ItemSet 353589

I focus mostly on Store TP. If you're using Last Stand it will end up in higher WS numbers, and if you're using Coronach you need as much Store TP as you can to get the x-hit build. You can get up to 8 Store TP on Herculean Boots if you follow the magic augment path with Fern Stone. These will edge out Carmine Greaves +1 as they have more ranged accuracy and attack.

You can also swap in two Chirich Rings +1 if you have them. They are nice because you end up with +20 Subtle Blow and 2 additional Store TP. Oshohi Vest +1 will edge out Orion Jerkin +3 although it has a high price tag. I think even the NQ is better than Orion Jerkin +3 when you have Double Shot up though.

I didn't add any weapons because what I'm using in those slots varies greatly depending on what I'm doing.

If the Mummu +2 body turns out well, I could see that being the go-to piece.

For doubleshot- I swap in Oshosi Mask (increases doubleshot rate AND damage), Oshosi Legs and Feet into my standard TP sets. The body is certainly on my "to do list".

Thanks for Posting!

I mostly use Gandiva and I've found this set works well. Unless I'm doing something wrong it comes out higher in spreadsheet that NQ adhemar feet legs and hands. Thoughts?

ItemSet 351862

I see several people use a Rajas ring, and I used to as well. I would HIGHLY recommend that you do an actual store TP count in your builds to see if that 5STP is getting you across a point of cutting one shot off your build, or if it's TP overflow. In my case with Fomalhaut, taking that 5STP out in favor of DD stats like the regal ring didn't cause me to have a different x-hit build.

Corsair potency isn't constant, so you can't predict the Store TP neded for an x-hit build unless your counting on XIs for zerg situations or have gearswap rules for every roll potency. If you're using Last Stand, you probably want to use the extra Store TP anyways. The overflow will feed into your WS damage. I think this will net your more overall DPS.

After doing some math in the dev thread going to say the aftermath/crit build could use a nisorch and possibly nefarious collar and might want to look at average dmg increases from rate vs dmg at lower crit rates. It's closer than you think

In terms of a theoretical build, has there been much time spent looking at the relic body +1 augment bonus and Oshosi set?

https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Arc._Jerkin_%2B1 is the BG link that has part of the details:
"Double Shot damage boost affects the second shot of a Double Shot proc and adds 7% additional damage.
Augmented with Adds "Enhances 'Snapshot' effect" Adds 1% Double Shot rate per Snapshot merit level. The Double Shot job ability does not need to be active for the effect to proc."

Was messing around and threw together this as a set option as something to look at. Im not sure how much of a difference in DPS it would really accomplish overall, just looking for ideas.


ItemSet 354023

Edit: I put the Oshosi +1 set for the fun of it to see how things would look, personally I would probably only use the NQ set since I'm reasonably cheap. I will probably mess around with the build idea a little bit later tonight when I hit up omen.

How do you guys factor in the relic head to your x-hits? I know it's 50 tp per recycle, capped at 90%. Do you just assume it's going to proc then when it doesn't it's just an extra shot?

Interesting Idea on the Relic Body. I dont think that it will work with Oshosi's % increase at all when Double Shot is not active. I think with the Relic Body you will just get a 5% chance at shooting twice when double shot is off with the increased damage associated with Oshosi Head.

I could be wrong, and if I am that could be fun if wearing the Relic Body accesses the double shot feature and then the % increase is calculated after.

I would recommend calculating the numbers for both stp needed if it procs every hit, and stp needed if it procs every hit except 1. Look at what gear you have, what options are available, buffs, and decide which is more practical. When using a 3hit, the chance of a non proc on a given tp cycle is only 19%.. but the chance of 2 non procs is 1%. If it's practical to get the extra coverage without making significant sacrifices, do it.

For Double Shot I would ditch relic body and use Oshosi +1. It's got much better stats (10 STP 3% more Double Shot and a boatload of other stats vs 7% Double Shot damage).

You are giving up a lot of Store TP with the full Oshohi +1 build. It might be worth it though although I can see it breaking 3 hit builds. If you're using a higher delay weapon like Fomalhaut you'd probably be okay. Good luck not pulling hate and dragging the mob all over the place (RNG's principle problem.)

Oshosi might lose some STP, but when you pump up double shot proc rate as much as it does (even 5/5 NQ Oshosi is 25%, putting you at 85% total with base 40% rate + 20% from JP), it's likely still an increase in WS frequency. I was doing a WS + 1 double shot attack round to 1000+ TP the other day with an XI Samurai Roll and 5/5 NQ Oshosi.

Though, yeah, watch the hate. WS + 1 attack round + WS is obviously a pretty huge hate generating machine. Gonna be a real issue for Fomalhaut or Gandiva, less so for Anni/Coronach or if using TF/WF.

I'd agree with Snaps and go with Oshosi body (even NQ, and obviously HQ preferred when available) over Arcadian for a Double Shot build for the reasons he said. Also in connection with the general idea that the main benefit of Double Shot is increasing WS frequency, so increasing DS proc rate (DS rate, STP, higher Racc/AGI on Oshosi) probably has more value than worrying about higher white damage. The only case I could even conceive of DS damage possibly being more valuable would be for Empy AM3 up where you are less concerned with WSing as much as you can... but even then, I'm a bit skeptical of Arcadian+1 outperforming Oshosi under Double Shot.

All that being said... Arcadian +2/+3 body may be incoming very, very soon (i.e., November update). May be worth revisiting once that happens!

No amount of Double Shot can increase your WS frequency if it breaks your 3 hit. You also need to look at the marginal gain for Double Shot. The body is a definite, so you're at 68% baseline no matter what (assuming you have the gil for this.) Going from 68% to 75% isn't going to help your DPS if your preshot breaks.

Assuming 95% capped accuracy, the distribution for the two shots following the WS

Both missed or failed recycle - 2.11%
1 recycle and 1 hit or miss - 24.82%
2 recycle - 73.08%

So if you're using arcadian head for the TP to make your 3 shot, you should probably only rely on one of them.

That said I don't have good performance data for different roll levels/stp values, so it's just best guess. I feel like you'd be fine using 5/5 Oshosi with Fomalhaut/Fail-not but I wouldn't that confident with Annihilator or Gandiva. The piece I'm not sure about is the head. It seems to have the best stats but giving up arcadian beret sucks.

I haven't tested the aracadian but scouts beret would only give you tp for 1 shot even if both proc recycle. At least for double shot and last stand (last stand is pretty easy to tell it was only the first hit double shot it's a tad harder to figure out if it's only a certain hit or just a round cap). Barrage hasn't been tested but doubt it works there too

If that's true then the actual value of Arcadian beret is lower when Double Shot is up. Should be easy to test.

Would NQ Adhemar be ok in these sets for hand legs and feet> and still be able to maintain 4 hit?
Also I'm assuming Path D for legs and feet and C for hands? Thank you.

Have to know what weapon in particular you are building for, but yes, there is minimal difference in STP between HQ and NQ adhemar (only 1 extra STP per piece) gear. And if you're a bow user, the Amini Gloves+1 have +9 STP on them, 2 more than even HQ adhemar (if we're talking about STP only, not the overall value of HQ Wristbands vs. Amini Gloves+1).

As a Fomalhaut and Annihilator user, I at one point was going with HQ legs, NQ hands, NQ feet in my builds and maintained 4 hit easily (of course easily on the Fomalhaut with its native +10STP).

Perfect thank you. Yeah I almost have Fomalhaut complete, so hopefully the NQ Adhemar will be enough.

You can get a 3-hit with NQ and annihilator.

Quick question: for you guys, which would be priority on HQ adhemar? Let alone body and bonnet.

Legs, hands.

Then if you still want to get more feet, head if you have gandiva maybe. Not sure body has much use

quick addition on the legs. I'd get a pair of HQ for midshot, and an additional pair for preshot. Midshot gets path C, preshot path D. The preshot pair can be NQ without much change to snapshot values for preshot builds...the HQ for midshot though means a lot more racc/ratk/AGI, and the set bonus (eventually).

So the only Store TP feet I can find are Carmine/Carmine+1 and Melee Path herc with high AGI/STP.

Sorta gross.
So far at Store TP+4/AGI+8 Base feet are still better than carmine with augs. More STR/AGI and some Racc/Ratk at the cost of about 3/4STP Depending on NQ/HQ.

Might have better luck next Dark matter campaign.

Tatenashi Sune-ate +1 have AGI 32 and stp: 4-8 based on unity ranking. Not awesome for RNG, but available.

For stp feet really cheap option is rawhide for 5. Tatena. Sune. +1 for 4-8.

But yeah generally you going to have a hard time getting racc and stp in that slot

Herculean can get 8 STP although you need to do magic path to achieve this. It is possible to get STP and racc on them although you will need to get the offpath racc roll.