I do part of my soloing in VoS, and today I got a drop of a BoP shaft. It got me to thinking - for solo grinding in fields, is there any advantage to having a bow for a Destroyer? BTW, I play with WC buffs. Both my Destroyer and WC are currently level 67.
1> pull a mob out of a group (aggro mobs that aren't social)
2> pull a mob that is in an unaccessible spot (spawn on a rock)
3> quickly pull a room in cats without taking much damage
These are a few examples. But you don't need a good bow to do any of that.
I also find bow useful in Hot Springs against the Nepenthes and Flava. You can knock down to 50% HP without getting taking any damage. But for this you need a good bow.
I wasn't even thinking of using a Bow with Frenzy, tbh. Just regular open-filed XPing. But if I would miss a lot ...... I'm currently doing open-field soloing in VoS, and some of those mobs have enough evasion as it is. (By the way, VoS is the best open-field solo spot I've found yet for my Orc pair at mid-60s. It's not as efficient as the cats, but it works pretty well with buffs.)
I use to hunt up on the hill behind the necro at portind, at FotD, but when i got to high for that i stoped huning in FotD, becos there are to many nukeing mobs there.
and i never huning in Vos on my destroyer, then i was to high the 1st time i went there, to try.
Imo, VoS is even more nuker mobs. And FotD during night = godly. All those vampires, mmmm. CoD+FS = dead and overhit too. And Holy weapon really jacks the dmg up.
Right now I am level 67. I suspect at higher levels I might find FoD better. But I don't have to deal with rooting mobs in VoS. And I actually find the nuking mobs in FoD to cause me more damage than the mobs in FoD. Then again, I can easily find mobs who are green to me in VoS at this level. The few I find green at 67 in FoD are kinda crappy to grind on.
I agree with Charmille on one thing. What little I've seen of FoD at night is much better than what is in FoD during the daytime.
My favorite solo hunting ground is Hot Springs. Starting at 66 I got more XP / hr there than VoS, FotD, or (generally) Devotion. The only time I got better XP was poling in Devotion after a ban when it was empty for a few hours.
The key to Hot Springs at lower level is to get Cholera lvl4 then go back by the Tent. Keep accuracy toggle up, use Majestic armor, +DEX tats, and activate Rage as often as possible. With that setup you won't miss and the XP is great (even solo with GHP and herbs).
I'm going to go try the entrance to FoG next but expect it to be tough.
Right now I am level 67. I suspect at higher levels I might find FoD better. But I don't have to deal with rooting mobs in VoS. And I actually find the nuking mobs in FoD to cause me more damage than the mobs in FoD. Then again, I can easily find mobs who are green to me in VoS at this level. The few I find green at 67 in FoD are kinda crappy to grind on.
I agree with Charmille on one thing. What little I've seen of FoD at night is much better than what is in FoD during the daytime.
You need to explore a little ^^ Lots of hunting spots in FotD with 0 rooting mobs, at those lvls and higher lvls. You can pretty much go to 75 in FotD without killing a single rooter mob. You wear Tallum, right? That negates lots of the bleed/poison dmg in FotD already. Add in Vigor and you're set. Oh right, you have WC as buffer :P
Yes, I wear Tallum and use a WC for buffs. You have quite a memory. I would try Hot Springs, but I've developed a tendency to go for greens/near greens when I'm soloing in open fields - it just seems to be way more economical that doing whites or yellows, especially when it's a field where herbs don't drop. (Do herbs drop in Hot Springs? If so, and if I can get enough mobs togther, maybe I'll give it a try.)
I've never really hunted in VoS on my main, been there a few times as support for archers/mages - and I def think it's overrated. I'm a huge fan of FotD on sub and main (although a bit to high now). If I can't find any spots there I'll check out places like the SoL of if I just want to shut the ol brain off I'll go to BS. Once I hit noble I'm going to abuse the mobs in FoG or the bottom of Imp Tomb.
OldFart seriously bow in FoTD and Hot Springs works very well. I have done destro bow parties and owned. Having EE buffs did help a lot. If you can get zerk talk about ownage. I have out damaged an HE and no I didnt have frenzy. Bows do rock for destros but it is a different style of play.
Destros can use bow. Guidance on a bop is a good thing. Try it do it and own it.
I don't think you could argue that a bow on a class with no ranged attacks whatsoever certainly doesn't hurt. The only drawback I can think of is economic, weight, and micromanagement reasons.
I have one on my WL but never take it into pve. The only use that I can think of would be getting one (maaaaaybe two) shots in on a mob before it gets into melee range. Eh.
I hardly ever get root'n'shooted in pve so it's not something I'll bother trying to combat.
I find it kinda funny to even have Archer parties in FotD which is the perfect solo place, or in HS where a Destro can solo very well too. To each their own I guess.
bows are only good for dest in sieges and pvp...in pvp
frenzy runs in cata with pole is the way to go for pve....i just dont understand why you would wanna kill one at a time with no skills...lower p atk adn less accuracy when you could have 7k p atk and two shot 30 4x hp mobs?
Frenzy in open fields with 1X mobs? I must be missing something. Anyways, I haven't done it yet, and after all the replies, I might never do it. At 68, I can party very well at WoA, and when I hit maybe 70 or so, I should be able to solo there fairly effectively, and I've got Hot Springs to look forward to. I hate that long dry spell from high 50s to 70 or so where there are no fields with multi-HP mobs. The devs seemed to forget about melees when they dreamed up most of the 55 - 68 fields.
Why not? Frenzy will always boost your DPS so might aswell use it. And when it comes to lvling spots, you can exp effectively in WoA from like 63 with SE buffs.
It just takes so much running around in an open-field to gather enough 1X mobs, that I've figured it would never be useful to try. For the same reason, and because I box with a WC with limited healing, I'm waiting until I'm equal or a little higher levl than the mobs to solo in WoA. I agree, with an SE to heal as well as buff, this would not be an issue. The fact that herbs drop in Hot Springs is why I'm really looking forward to being at a good level to go there. (I tried it already the other day - at 68, it's doable with WC buffs, but I do spend a bit more on shots than I like, and I get stunned a bit more than I like.)
Gather? You pop Frenzy, run from mob to mob 1 shotting them. Works well in FotD in high density spots. You dont need heals in WoA either, Frenzy and VR is all you need. By the time Frenzy is ready again, you're dropped close to using it.
Oh, I do solo in the cats just fine. But, I like to do some open-field hunting also. For the past several levels that has mostly meant VoS. And it hasn't been bad. But I've missed multi-HP field mobs ever since I outgrew EV.
Oh, I do solo in the cats just fine. But, I like to do some open-field hunting also. For the past several levels that has mostly meant VoS. And it hasn't been bad. But I've missed multi-HP field mobs ever since I outgrew EV.
Try Hot Springs [66+ is doable, get Cholera level 4, use Majestic Heavy, use accuracy toggle]. When Hot Springs becomes too easy then switch to Ketra / Varka.
Another option if you have healing support is WoA, but it is not as good as Hot Springs.
I don't have Majestic Heavy yet, or I probably would head back over to Hot Springs. I did try the outskirts of Varka once, and my poor WC died just from mob's Aura flash, or whatever it's called. She's only in B grade gear and Jewels, and it was so sad to see her go down.
You don't really need Majestic Heavy for Hot Springs, but it does help. You do need Accuracy improvements though [DEX+4/5, Accuracy toggle, Guidance buff, Cholera4 should be enough]. Also, if you keep Rage up as much as possible you'll be fine.