To be honest I’m still mad about the time it was briefly given some ok cleave during the BBB. Then a bunch of people freaked out that it actually functioned well as a horde clear weapon rather than being an irrelevant boss killing meme BH has little use for, so FS took the cleave away again.
To my experience this was one of the absolute lamest, unfounded kneejerk reactions in the history of VT2.
So my question is is there anyone who swears by the volley bow on any of the Saltz classes? Anyone who would defend it or extoll its virtues.
And if not, could we please get that cleave back finally? Although in the post Griffin foot era I’m honestly not sure what niche it should have.
It’s satisfying to unload on a blob of unarmored elites and chaff, or a boss after you stack enough buffs on yourself like a zealot. And it’s good enough to carry you through most missions. I’d say it’s atleast better than the repeater pistol. I think of it as a primitive cannon that you take out of you really want something dead.
However it’s absolutely not a weapon you want to tryhard with, and absolutely not a very good solo weapon. Awful ammo economy unless specced to cover it, and godawful reload speed keeps it from being the best.
Volley crossbow is almost required to builds with low cleave. I think especially on my buffed 1h axe. Even with improved cleave I lost against marauder swarms like in the key battle in Empire in Ruins, around the barrels (true solo). Griffinfoot pistols might be even better in this scenario but way worse against specials.
Also there is a Zealot build based around it, and that perfectly fits the niche use.
Volley crossbow is also a good alternative for BH, and unlike the griffinfoot, it’s not OP. I’m not sure I would bring it to cata.
It’s not the best ranged weapon, but it’s okay if your teammates shoot specials, too.
I buffed it in my mod and was satisfied with the changes.
➤54 bolts instead of 45.
➤2.5 sec reload for Saltzpyre, too.
Doesnt there exist a Zealot build for that bow that also does strangely well? Ammo hungry if i recall but feeds really hard off the stat boosts.
…
That said, I do dislike the idea of a weapon being viable/good only on one career due to that career having way too many raw stats boosts (or some gimmick) though. Makes it bad or at least subpar on the other 3 pretty much every single time. Build diversity gets impaired : (
I believe you’re talking about Smite…it’s somewhat gimmicky and fun, but taking Smite deprives you of Castigate or Unbending Purpose …and it’s a PITA to reroll all your gears to remove Crit % if they have them
Of course. I’m just a huge fan of dual wields, flails and polearms in particular!
I’d like to say all weapons are viable with the correct playstyle but… yeah, that’s definitely not true at all when considering Crowbill and Elven Axe.
Boss damage, mainly on Zealot with Smite (every sixth hit crits).
If Repeater Pistol is the hybrid of Griffon-foot and Brace of Pistols, then Volley Crossbow is or could be the hybrid of the Crossbow and Griffon-foot.
Its left click is for some reason extremely accurate while moving.
I made it better in Kite Together (KT) by changing it and Bounty Hunter
Volley Crossbow KT Changes:
Magazine: Raised from 15 to 18.
Raised cleave by 12.4% (exact value needed to cleave one Cataclysm 1 Marauder iirc).
Damage dropoff start distance: Raised by 66.6%.
Damage dropoff end (damage stops dropping after this point): Raised by 14.28% (not sure why I made this change, though I probably misunderstood what ‘damage dropoff end’ did at the time).
Related Bounty Hunter KT Changes:
Weight of Fire: Gives ranged power equal to double magazine size instead of simply equal.
Blessed Combat: ‘Melee hits make up to the next 8 ranged attacks deal 15% more damage; ranged hits make up to the next 12 melee attacks 15% faster and deal 15% more damage.’
Salvaged Ammunition: Made to work on special kills and second-last shot, ammunition return raised from 15% to 26%, and melee kill reload raised from one shot to 15% of magazine. Melee kills can reload magazine beyond max capacity, max 3 extra shots, if scored while at least one shot is missing from the mag.
Just Reward: Passively makes ranged attacks cleave one more enemy (somewhat humorously, works with Rapier pistol). Cooldown reduction return lowered from 20% to 12.5%.
The above sounds strong (and there’s several more changes to BH), but he’s still tough to play in Kite Together. Wouldn’t have to go as far on Official to make Volley a compelling choice, but the end effect of the changes is a sustained mid-range horde mulcher, boss killer, and close-range special killer capable of accurately picking off already weakened specials at long range, like in this table:
Distance
Specials
Bosses
Hordes
Close-range
Effective
Effective
Acceptable
Mid-range
Acceptable
Effective
Effective
Long-range
Only if already weakened
Acceptable
Ineffective
For Official, I’d recommend just the following:
Salvaged Ammunition: Raise melee-kill reload from one shot to 15% of magazine (3 volley arrows, 2 bop bullets, 1 repeater pistol bullet, 1 crossbow arrow.)
Volley Crossbow: Raise cleave by 12.4% (exact value needed to cleave one Cataclysm 1 Marauder iirc).
Thanks all for your feedback. I am most definitely aware of the Zealot build with it, I guess I should have specified that it’s the performance with bounty hunter that feels lacking to me.
@Velsix love those suggestions for official. Cleaving a marauder is the main thing I’ve wanted for it forever.