(Did I hear a call for a Wall-o-text? Giggle)
Sorry about the size of the action bars in my vids, I like to have as much of the battlefield visible as possible. The shots I'm using are listed on the xHud display around Mystriss but I know sometimes it goes by too fast; I'll see if I can't make my action bars a little bigger for future videos though. :)
First, I'm going to say that I am not a real big fan of set rotations. Far to often I find they just don't work in practice; I lagged and now I can't get off that Eagle Eye or my Throat Shot was blocked/dodged, etc. I'm just going to advice not to get stuck in a "this is my rotation" rut; remain fluid and know what *all* your attacks can do to different classes, and even particular enemies. (I actually keep a mental list of what attacks work best on my commonly seen rivals; this not only lets me take *them* down, but also gives me a reference of what to do with random enemies who resist my initial advances.)
So Fester Arrow; yeah 3s cast time and an additional 1.5-2s flight time, but you can take advantage of that to put down so much burst that they don't have time to heal. For a good festerbomb you drop Flame Arrow, Broadhead, and Shadow Sting on them then wind up that Fester Arrow, about a half second before it completes its cast pop your M2, Unshakeable Focus. If you have a good connection and frames per second you can even tag VoN while it's in the air and get some serious bang, then you *can chase it with Fell the Weak. - Your Flame Arrow, Broadhead Arrow, Shadow Sting and Fester Bomb, will all hit at the same time (give or take a second) and all will benefit from your M2 UF (and VoN if you used it.) Then the FtW at the end could delve off up to 3k (if they are under 20% health.) *This is where I said *can, because some enemies need to have an EE or two thrown in before the FtW finisher to get them down, or sometimes you want to open up with a Throat Shot or Take Down prior to the Fla/BA/SS/FA/UF/EE/FtW combo; but that's really something you figure out with time and experience.)
For tactics, I run Masterful Aim, Enchanted Arrows, Bullseye. I run Leading Shots at all times these days but you could switch that our for Pierce Defenses or an AP tactic if needed)
Anyway, the art of Festerbombing is more about battlefield awareness than anything else. You'll have good mobility for your initial shots TD, Fla, BH, SS, and even your chaser FtW, but you have to learn when and where to can find the 5s window for dropping the bomb itself. Sometimes you'll find your front lines falter or a WE pops out and you have to abandon the bomb and start over, but when you get it off right it's an almost guaranteed kill on all but the best geared RR80s. I'll be totally honest and say that *I* don't usually set them up the way I should because I find it almost unfair...
The other common Scout option is the 1s EE path taking No Quarter, though a lot of folks find it to be too constrictive; must have AP regen tactic, really need Shadow Sting, really need high ballistic, etc. Guerilla Trainig is usually the best AP tactic option, but Replenishing Strikes is a decent option if you don't have the mastery points to get GT or if you run lower ballistics (I'm figuring under 1k). I like to run Pierce Defenses with NQ builds and open up with cheaper AP abilities to knock down their chances to block/dodge your real damage. At first it kind of feels like a waste of time because if they have a decent healer it'll feel like your not doing any damage with your "cheap" abilities, but when you get serious and start dropping your EE spam their healer tends to have blown enough AP healing off the cheap damage off that they simply can't keep up with the higher delve EE's - especially if you get your Flame, Broadhead, and Shadow Sting DoTs rolling just before you start your EE spam. Even the best healers can only do so much, and they almost have to be pocket healers to keep up with prep'ed EEs.
As for Morals, I personally prefer M1 Concealment for the Sorc's n SH's but I get a lot of hate from some high RR rdps so I can't get away with running Point Blank or Lileath's Forgiveness. For M2 Unshakeable Focus is my choice. For M3, I personally like Instill Fear for those "oh s..." moments when the melee train catches you (and also for running into their healers and dropping for giggles) Uhm Rank 4, yeah, I've made it to rank 4 like one time, ever. If you are running UF you'll never see it and most of the time you are lucky to see your Rank 3. In keep takes/defenses I'd agree with Stoat's Rain of Steel or Hail of Doom call because you'd have the time to place them, but in SC's or skirmishing situations it's almost impossible to implement.
As a final note, I'm currently working on a new video series called "Booties" in conjunction with my "Sexy Boot Camp" beginners guide which will incorporate everything I've learned into the leveling my young SW on Volkmar. I'm not sure I'll catch up to you as she's only level 10 and I figure I need at least another 5 days of playtime with her to get her to 40 (which equates to prob. a month real time.) However, you might enjoy checking out my various other SW projects on the official Warhammer forums: http://social.bioware.com/project/3250/ Has links to all my projects in the discussions section.
» Edited on: 2010-08-14 13:53:02
