I hate it when people try to justify a particular specialization as a specific weapon style. Archers and dual wielders can both make use the artificer tree just like they both can utilize the assassin and tempest specializations. The way I see it, there is no "archer specialization" in the sense of "this spec is just made for archers". Instead the archer specialization is the archer tree, not any of the specializations in game:
- Artificer is best used with a party that has high crit chance, otherwise it cannot utilize it's abilities (archery or Dual wield) at all. The only real differences between the two styles of artificer are which trap (mines/spike) and the focus ability. Otherwise it is the same for both.
- Tempest requires chaining the flasks to be any good, not a single weapon style
- Assassin may seem like a dual wield specialization, but you can still use it well with an
I agree that both archers and DWRs will have plenty to play with in the artificer school, but don't you need a bow equipped to utilize the hail of arrows focus? That was my biggest consideration when deciding to choose weapon style. Having a companion not bother learning a focus is OK, and I do it all the time with Viv and Dorian. Having an inquisitor that can't take advantage of the headline ability seems wasteful. Of course, fallback plan would have helped my DWR, a lot....
High critical chance will help the party make the most of just about any class, so I do what I can to spread the love around the whole party when I'm crafting weapons and upgrades. My artificer was able to really take it further, but I wouldn't say the tree is worthless if you don't overload on criticals. You just won't get maximum benefit out of one of the passives. I learned something like that when I forgot to switch staffs from bear load to dragon first time I took on the Ferelden Frostback. It might have laughed at me, but it still died.
While I agree chaining flasks, in the sense of using one right after another is the most fun, my Inqs pretty much use abilities the second the cooldown expires anyway. I didn't really notice. I like to make sure everything stays dead. What can I say?
The thing to remember with both Thousand Cuts and Hidden Blades is that their range isn't as long as other talents your archer is using. What the exact range is, I don't know, but both my alchemist and assassin archers had to move to use those specialties. It's also probably about the same as the throwing knives in the sabotage tree.
I think we're saying the same thing different ways. I don't think any one weapon style is the only one to choose, but for an archer, the ones I like are artificer and assassin. I do think alchemist "feels" better for a DWR, but that probably has a lot to do with the inquisitor I had in mind when I picked the specialty.
Retour en haut
