Snipe morphs- which one ends up with more dps?

xxslam48xxb14_ESO · April 2014

Im really stuck trying to figure out which one to get. One lets me hit oppenent for 11 more damage every shot, im assuming, and the other morph applies poison. Now does the poison shot also leave behind a dot or does it just make them take less healing? 11 extra damage per shot isnt much so if the poison shot leaves a dot on the target as well im assuming it would be alot better, but idk so im asking here.

Focus aim says ranged attacks deal more damage, so does that mean that anything that hits farther then melee does more or just enemies that are "distant" like the long shots perk? I swear the perks in this game have such vague descriptions!

walldoe · April 2014

One has higher dps output, the other reduces healing. Seeming a pve vs pvp difference imo

xxslam48xxb14_ESO · April 2014

It might not actually hit more damage though if the poison shot applies a dot. Plus does poison hit through armor? So many things i just dont know about this.

SotP_Kondor · April 2014

I also have been pondering this choice for awhile now, and don't know which way to turn. How about some sage advice from the archers?

MoMoOG · April 2014

I don't think you are going to be pleased with snipe as a dps ability with either morph. Snipe is more of burst/one time opener type of ability at the moment. Long cast time and minimum range are the major issues.

xxslam48xxb14_ESO · April 2014

Yeah i thought maybe as an opener on a boss it would be nice to have extra damage on it while he is marked, but it just doesnt last long enough at all so I have to constantly re apply it and it takes 3 seconds to shoot that darn thing. Besides I would be lucky if the room the boss is in is even 20m for me to shoot it. It really is kinda only a pvp/questing skill. Is it even nice in pvp? Id imagine if you opened from 40m then kited with the extra range it gives you could annihilate someone. Only problem I could see is that you couldnt snare them at that range so they would just close the gap anyways.

spoqster · September 2014

Actually I'd be interested in that as well. I see the PVP/PVE argument, but looking at the skills themselves I am a bit torn.

Getting almost 50% healing reduction makes lethal arrow worthwhile, but how useful is the poisoned status effect in practice?
At the same time increasing weapon power on target for ranged attacks sounds also very powerful to me.

Any input from the experienced archers?

JonzzLonewolf · September 2014

I'd prefer Lethal Arrow over Focused Aim. Most NB bow users are weapon damage & stamina spec, so most will already at the very least just reach the soft cap, hence the healing debuff seems more appealing to me.

CapuchinSeven · September 2014

The buff to weapon damage on a single target isn't really that great in the grand scheme of things from a PVP point of view and you'll get a lot more from a heal debuff.

R0M2K · September 2014

The healing debuff is great for PvP, i think both poison & disease apply that status effect.

CapuchinSeven · September 2014

R0M2K wrote: »

The healing debuff is great for PvP, i think both poison & disease apply that status effect.

That's true, but the effect from Lethal is a 100% chance to happen and lasts longer.

I do both actually (and I'm pretty sure that poison from Venom Arrow doesn't reduce healing, would be interesting to find out).

Cinna · September 2014

CapuchinSeven wrote: »

R0M2K wrote: »

The healing debuff is great for PvP, i think both poison & disease apply that status effect.

That's true, but the effect from Lethal is a 100% chance to happen and lasts longer.

I do both actually (and I'm pretty sure that poison from Venom Arrow doesn't reduce healing, would be interesting to find out).

You are right, poison does not cause healing debuff. Eso has healing reduction as a direct effect of certain spells/skills such as bow's Lethal Arrow and templar's Dark Flare AND as a short status effect "diseased", which can be inflicted as a proc from disease damage (foul weapon enchant or meat bag catapult). The direct spell effects generally last much longer than the diseased status effect.

In regards to the revived questions

spoqster wrote: »

Actually I'd be interested in that as well. I see the PVP/PVE argument, but looking at the skills themselves I am a bit torn.
Getting almost 50% healing reduction makes lethal arrow worthwhile, but how useful is the poisoned status effect in practice?

At the same time increasing weapon power on target for ranged attacks sounds also very powerful to me.

Poisoned is a damage over time status effect that ticks every 2 sec and lasts 12 sec. Lethal arrow has the 100% chance to inflict target with this, whereas other sources of poison damage only have a chance (unknown %) to do so. Venom arrow does leave a poison damage dot as it's direct effect, but that is a separate one from the status effect. In comparison to burning, poisoned is weaker a dot per tick but has much longer duration. Werewolves are vulnerable to poison in the same manner that vampires are to fire. Some gear sets have bonuses related to poison, but nothing amazing afaik.

Usefulness of Weapon power increase (Focused aim) needs to be considered in relation to WP soft cap, and also what skills you would be using after the opener... Consider how many weapon power scaling skills will you fit into the 10 secs or would you use class skills that go on spell power.

Thejollygreenone · September 2014

My input on this: Generally in pve, you should be looking to use another ability spam, and only occasionally using focused aim for the buff has also generally proven to be a dps loss due to the long and clunky casting animation. So if you're going the physical damage route or the 'idc what damage type it is' route, I'd skip snipe altogether.

Lethal arrow on the other hand, while it doesn't promise as much of a dps boost inherently from the morph, as the poisoned status effect dot is quite weak and ticks for around 25 damage, it does have some promise in a specific type of build for pve. In pvp, it doesn't need a specific build, it does wonders as an opener, and to use when the opportunity grants itself.

However in pve, in 1.4.3 which just came out there is a set that is now compatible with using a bow, the Morag Tong set, which amounts to basically a 15% increase in poison damage while you can keep attacking a single enemy. Because of this set, I feel a build looking something like lethal arrow, poison injection, and possibly acid spray as damagers might pull some decent numbers in a pve setting.

So in the end, focused aims technically would yield higher dps if it were worth it to use in a typical build, but since a specified build now exists which specifically buffs lethal arrow, lethal arrow may take the cake as superior in both pve and pvp.

Cody · October 2014

lethal arrow is great because it heavily reduces healing, focused aim simply lets you do more ranged damage.

Both are great morphs, its just a matter of what best fits your play style.

don't use it as a source of constant damage. its cast time and range requirement make it difficult as a DPS outputer. its more of a stealth shot/opener ability. you can also outrange the NPC keep mages with it.

khele23eb17_ESO · October 2014

Cody wrote: »

don't use it as a source of constant damage. its cast time and range requirement make it difficult as a DPS outputer. its more of a stealth shot/opener ability.

Question is will it be viable with the cast time reduced by 40% and no range restriction in 1.5.

Thejollygreenone · October 2014

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

Cody wrote: »

don't use it as a source of constant damage. its cast time and range requirement make it difficult as a DPS outputer. its more of a stealth shot/opener ability.

Question is will it be viable with the cast time reduced by 40% and no range restriction in 1.5.

Yes. The only thing holding it back now is if the stamina is sustainable.