Best Ranged Dps power/weapon for PVE

Hello all. So I currently have a level 30 dps. His power is fire and he uses a bow. I was just wondering what the best power/weapon combination is. The one that generates the most damage. Thanks!

heres the tip to damage and playing this game in general. dont gravitate to what the herd is doing, instead choose the role you wanna play be it tank healer or troll, then choose a power that is associated with that role. Learn how to play that power, learn everything there is about that power and eventually you will hit the top of the scoreboard. being a dps isnt about whos at the top of the list.

but if you really wanna be a sheep try rage, electricity or gadgets (i think gadgets is still good)

I searched for this myself, on the forums, and what I found? The general population does not like it when people ask for the best.
What I am discovering through, experimenting with various powers and still perusing the forums, you can be really good with any power. Just need to learn it.
Learning the power is not as simple as you may think. Each power has it's pros and cons, each power has it's strength and weaknesses. Each power may have powers that play off each other, play off other players' powers, or other players play off yours. Then youo have weapons, the stats they add, the combos they do, fast, slow, getting to the levels of power regen. Then you have Weapon Mastery and the permutations associated with that, and lastly, if an AM has been built into this power and how to effectively use it. And even what I said here, simplifies it.
This is what makes this game such a great game. The combat system is superior. In my opinion of course.

WOW! A lot more words then I expected.

Heh, I'd be careful about being too happy go lucky about your weapon and power choice for dps.

It is a fact that some weapons are better for support and others are better for dps in varying degrees.

Brawling, not the best choice for dps. As a matter of fact, it might be the "best" choice for support and the "worst" choice for dps.

I use quotations because you can use any weapon and do moderately well in support or dps role if you really know what you are doing.

My top three dps weapon choices are:

Handblasters: Excellent AOE damage, high critting finisher that is a smaller AOE. Those two factors make it an undeniably awesome for dps, but I find that it is even better for precision based dps than for might based dps.

Dual Weild. Very small cone for AOE.. so small that it almost sucks. But heavy damage and high critting finisher, along with a high modifier for WM bonus might damage make it a top choice for me.

Staff: In the right hands staff can be deadly, very nice AOE damage to a precision based DPS with weapon crit buffs in his loadout. Not so much for the might based dps, he might want to go for something else because staff can be pretty lackluster in any other scenario.

Edit: I almost forgot last but defo not least One Handed. Excellent for might based dps and comes with a fast hitting, wide AOE burst and nice WM might crit bonus modifier.

Anyway, those are my top 4 favs.

As far as powers go, I'm betting Fire can be on par with just about any other power if you take the time to really, really explore the power and read up in the Oracle Database Guides section, and then really just practice a lot and experiment to come up with stuff that makes the great strategies you can find there even better.

Brawling isn't as bad as you think for a DPS!

The rest you mention are and were FOTM weapons and really still are....IMO!

Too each their own, but, don't hate on Brawling, it's viable in DPS and even end game content.

Not really sure why folks hate on it, I think they are scared of the up close and personal nature of the weapon, don't know!

Not messing with you, just how I see it as a three year player...



IA ARMY

Heh, yeah youre messing with me haha. Nah, that's why I put "worst" in quotations and said that any weapon can be used moderately well by the right player.

FOTM weapons, hey, only one weapon can be FOTM! its like having 4 employees of the month, sort of defeats the purpose, no?

If there is a FOTM weapon I'm guessing it would be Handblasters.

Brawling can be pretty pitiful in unskilled hands but anyone can do well with Handblasters, so you might have a point there.

Not hating on Brawling, just hating that the game made it do less range damage than I'd like, in exchange for making it so awesome for support roles.

Been thinking, doesn't wm make range/ melee all about the wm combo? Been tooling around w dual wield on a rage dps, and the bow wm combos shred the target at range. IMHO since most weapons (if not all) have at least one range wm combo wouldn't picking a weapon a base weapon be about stats then wm combo?

Somewhere in the top there in the top theeish:

Sorcery
Rage
Ice

Flavor of the month weapons right now:

DW
HB
Staff

Bottom three IMO (not bad but definitely harder for newer, less skilled, fewer skill points to compete)

Celestial
HL
Quantum

* This is currently fluctuating update to update and very fluid especially right now

** I find fires awesome mechanic is very cool and spontaneous combustion may be the best multi target AoE in the game right now

There is no flavor of the month weapon anymore, the fact that the majority of the weapons hit hard, most have just picked whatever weapon they like and make it work, stop abusing the term flavor of the month. And the only 2 powers right now that I see need adjusting is sorcery and celestial. Sorcery stacks multiple dots over, and still gets weapon mastery bonus, in skilled hands its deadlier than any other power. Celestial still does serious damage but you cant really slack off, or use certain powers at the sake of weapon mastery.

Each and every power and weapon in this game right now is dangerous in the hands of a player who understands how to use them in each situation. The problem arises when players flock to what their buddy is using because they beat them on the scoreboard, they don't understand their own powers and weapons, and then move onto another power and weapon they don't understand creating a domino effect. And get skill points they really make a difference now

Hey Matt, I too am a fire dps and for me it is one of the best dps free powers. I use duel wield with bow weapon mastery, and IMO it does SO much damage. It all depends on your load out, if you are a villain on PC find me, my name is FlamerCH1CK if you want to find me and take a run or two to see how much damage it can do.But back to the topic yes fire is really good for dps(better dps than tank IMO) but, I have tried all weapons with fire for dps and by far DW is the best with HB and staff at a tied second. But if you are a villain on PC hmu.

There are some situations where brawling shines for DPS. For example I use Brawling with the Gadgets AM because it was putting out better effective than Dual Wield even.

One-Hand is also a great 'point zero' Melee weapon. So... bear that also in mind....

HL can put out massive numbers if you know what your doing. That being said it requires someone who has gotten good at the power set and is not for everyone.

Frankly if you want to be a the top of the score bored you should go rage other powers can beat rage but you sound like a noobie so i think that rage would be a good choice any wep will work but i think shields ranged wep mastery takes abit too long and could impact damage

Weapon: Duel Wield
Power: Gadgets

Any power can work if you know what your doing. Ask yourself this "will I ever use my off role" if yes what do you like tank troll or heals. Do you like fire if so read the fire guide in the forum ask questions there (I can't help you as I don't know much of fire). I personally like electric with bow sorcery with HB and celestial is fun but struggles, I used to like mental more before the latest changes (its AM). find something you like and get good at it. If the community says its weak find a way to prove them wrong. My least favorite power is HL which seems to be a power you either love or hate. Don't get me wrong HL in the hands of a skilled player is great. Also Quantum is getting love very soon.

Dw and nature are at the top rite now.but who knows with the next game update, they constantly change the dps side of powers, there always one that is better then the rest for a lil while and then the change it to something els. It's how they make money and one of the reasons we still have a game to play at all. So I don't blame them but it is prity Noying with the constant changes.

biggest FoTM right now is nature, followed by HL and Ice.

DW>HB>Staff

this, nutshell. don't limit yourself to a singular thought or playstyle based on the results you see come out of one good dps.

Best: power that you spend time learning, understanding, testing and building tailor-made loadouts with fitting weapons

Worst: FOTM OP power that you asked on the forums for, that you never played before and have no clue of how it works, with some dude telling you a rotation that you just copy, giving you average results at best when you try to use it ingame and making you look like a complete fool after the next update changes anything because your lack of understanding will make you return to the forums with a "what's wrong with my power wtf ninja nerf" thread