Hello.
Could anyone help me? I’m using Boardman21’s 1 to 75 guide to level a Marksman. She does decent damage but has very low survivability. I know I’m not a skilled player, but I can’t even finish the first Quest in Monolith level 55. Did I make an error while applying the build, or is it really me that is not the right player for Marksman?
Resistances and Dodge doesnt look too bad for lvl 53. The life saver skill is decoy (change it for Shurikens. I would always recommend to use decoy (with 2 charges) when you have survivability problems. Once you throw a decoy, it taunts enemies and you can easily finish off enemies with detonating arrow. Put 7 points away from Guile (rogue passive). You dont really need poison resistance for marksman. Evasion and Agility are better to max out. Put 8 points away from ethereal arrows and put it into Meditation and Reflection for more movement speed and dodge. Movement speed is a really important stat for marksman and saves my life alot of times. Try to reach a minimum of 50%. Put 1 point into Arrow Storm and 1 point into Covering Fire, when you proc Arrow Storm you get one 100% dodge chance for free which can also save your life. Snipers Gambit increases your dmg taken by nearby enemies, so try to stay on distance. Get Chill and Slow chance on either Bow or Quiver. They reduce enemies movement annd attack speed. Chance to Frailty on hit on gloves is a stat that i like to add aswell in my marksman builds. Try to put 1 point into Moonlight Bomb (Smoke Bomb) for another free Silver Shroud stack (100%dodge chance). Once you finish the lvl 55 timeline, immediatly put on Woven Flesh for 100% Crit avoidance. Then you can remove some points from Heigtened Senses again and invest it into dodge or glancing blow. Later you can put those 5 points back once you get the CA blessing and an additional t5 crit avoidance roll. Also putting 4 points into Sharpshooter and 1 point into death from afar is a good offensive & defensive setup for Detonating Arrow. You almost stun enemies all the time with your high base dmg.
But yes, the rest is pretty much all about your playstyle. try to keep distance, try to move as often as you can. Use Shift, Decoy and Smoke Bomb at the right time and you should survive more often.
Hope i could help out a bit.
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OK, I’ll have a look at all this and do as you suggest. She is not a Solo hero, so I already have the Woven Flesh, I’ll give it to her.
It went fine during the campaign, it was very easy and with almost no issue. Almost the same with the echoes, but it’s really the quest that is a problem. And as I must confess I find Marksman gameplay rather boring, I’m ready to admit that I can be the problem. ^^
Thanks for all this! 
Abomination killed. I will not say all was easy and smooth, but the Echo in Maj’Elka and the Abomination were done first try each, so that’s good. Ready to go for Rahyeh now. I still find Marksman not really interesting to play, but at least I can go forward. Thanks again!
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Glad to hear. What did you change to feel the difference or what do you think helped you out alot more?
I applied almost all the changes. I say “almost” because I had to respec skills and lose points, and I need some more passives, but I’m close to applying all. Therefore it’s difficult to say what works best. Maybe the Decoy spec was the more useful, because I maxed the Ignite stacks and the explosion area. I also hesitate about converting it to Chill, unsure. Losing Specc’ed Shurikens makes me deal less damage while shifting, but I guess it was not that big and I’m sure the explosion of the Decoys deals more damage.
I still haven’t played her anymore. Not motivated with this build. And I just found the unique bow that gives +2 ballistae, but not really motivated either.
Marksman is a really good class very well designed and built, but for me it’s very boring to play. I have another Marksman who goes Multishot, but the same: I don’t like the gameplay.
I’m not the kind of player for this. 
Hey Bro,
I leveled a marksman to 90 and love her.
I use detonating arrow with tendrils to wreck echos. For boss fights I use ballista. Drop 2 with the empowered node after u use a flask and kite around.
To survive, KITE. KITE. KITE. Max resistences and crit avoidance. Thats all. Screw dodge. Avoid getting hit. I rarely get one shot and when I do it’s cuz i got stuck or just was slow. I use shift to get out of binds and decoy sometimes. In echos, just shoot an arrow ahead of u, draw the mobs to u and waste them before they get near. Too easy.
I spec into serious dps. I stack crit and bow damage. Stun is great in echos but trash against bosses. Shred armor is great. Anything that will stack on a boss. I found bleed to be ok but prefer to stack crit and let my ballista do the work.
But you gotta be the kind of player who likes to run around and avoid stuff. If you’re a run in, stand still and hope to out dps the mobs on you kinda player then marksman is NOT for you.
happy gaming
Yes, and that’s exactly why I almost never play Marksman. I really dislike the “hit and flee” type of gameplay.
I have respec’ed her and she’s new a Ballistae girl, but I’m pretty sure I will almost never play her.
The Rogue is thebest designed and built class in the game, but I really don’t like Marksman game style. I feel far better with Bladedancer and with other classes. 
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