The more I play qs3, the more I think Dex might be the way to go. With my low ping I am able to get in and out of Kneeling quickly and Kneeling also adds almost 200 extra damage to the low damage Grand Cross.
Probably the more you use Kneeling in your playstyle, the more Dex edges Str.
What about using pistol and crossbow? Does it changes anything with Running Shot? (Not talking about mana-mana tho)
I think the damage will work out either way, but if you are relying a lot on kneeling DEX is definitely a good investment. Not just for DPS, but the added evasion helps compensate for the lack of mobility.
Though Iâm not a big fan of kneeling since like stated in the other thread it doesnât really seem like you get almost anything out of ani cancel when you stack running shot with kneeling compared to KR version (unless weâre doing it wrong).
I think we are missing something. Hell, I am the one doing a lot of the attack speed tests.
I am looking for someone that speaks Korean to ask on the kToS forums on how to cancel Kneeling Shot. The strangest thing to me is that I am actually getting faster attacks per second to the Koreans even without animation canceling. Just imagine if we could animation cancel here. I think we could get to 3 attacks per second without a Chrono and maybe 3.5 with a Chrono.
That would maybe put us into damage range of Fletchers with how all the mechanics work out.
Good day peeps.
Lvl 162 QS3 A2 here to give my 2 cents.
First of all, great guide overall, you guys are considering almost every point that can be a variable with the class, though a few concerns regarding build + gearing synergy.
I wonder why so many ppl wants to take falconeer, just for the circling ? maybe im missing something, but i think its a waste to take 1 rank just for an AOE purpose on a FF build.
Even though if you want to get some aoe in the build, get it through items, dont screw the whole char taking a rank for just 1 skill 
You can get the aoe ratio+3 with mana-mana and vubbe blood gauntlets and AOE most cloth+leather mobs in the game. (i know its not cheap, but eventually its what you should aim for, if you want better aoe and not sacrifice a rank, im sure it will pay off)
another thing i noticed is during my farming for honeymeli stingers heres a few tips.
Archers have an attribute that increases 20% vs flying targets with bows, this is by far better than having the 80% from grand xbow, and i please beg eternalrift and ryosacerdos to explain us why (im guessing 1 is additive and other multiplicative) but you can try yourselves.
Im casting RS with GCross+Arde then switching to a skull bow, and the dps increase is HUGE, with GCross+arde i was doing tops 3.3k crits, with bow im doing 5.3k, i melt the honeymelis in 6-8 AAs and take in mind those bastards have over 40k hp.
So consider switching to a bow if its a flying mob, its definatelly worth it. (after casting RS with GCross)
anyways keep up the good work, im also a fan of theorycraft and knowing every detail of a build 
Yes, you should keep a 2h bow on swap for flying mobs. It is a +100% multiplicative damage increase at attribute level 5.
Against flyers I use my Grand Cross for the Running Shot duration, then swap to the 2h bow.
I forgot to ask, whats the purpose on maxing swift step beyond rank 8 or 9, because i was considering taking twin arrows lv5 to have a filler when RS is on cooldown, since swift step only adds timer and evasion on higher ranks, SS at rank 10 is already 45 secs on a 36 secs CD, which is pretty good, also i believe it doesnt adds any run speed when youâre buffed with RS anyways.
So please, is there any reason to keep lvling SS up ?
Oh right, i forgot about the atribute rank, yea its 20% per rank, 100% indeed⌠no wonder its a huge boost compared to 80%⌠which is why it was cracking my head ! hahah, thank you.
my A3 idea, should end like this
Swift Step 12
Multi Shot 15
Full Draw 1
Oblique Shot 1
Kneeling Shot 10
Heavy Shot 1
Twin Arrows 5
You should use your bow at all times vs fliers. Cast Running with your Grand Cross, swap to bow, and pew pew.
On my stats, I have 584-584 damage on Grand Cross + Ardeâs 153 damage = 1635 + 153 damage = 1788 while Running Shot is up. Compare that to my 677-805 damage on bow swap which under Running Shot is 1482 average damage. So when not hitting a flier, use Grand Cross.
If vs a flier, I should swap due to that 1482 damage being multiplied by 2.
Interesting enough, my +10 Grand Cross + Arde is actually better than using my 677-805 bow when casting Multishot. It beats it 741 (GC) to 737 average damage along with getting the 25% defense reduction attribute. Strange how long lived the Grand Cross is.
Imo quality of live with longer duration is enough reason to level it. As for time filling, Iâm fine with two multishots and rapid fire. And on r7 there wonât be such a problem on how to fill time at all - you get much more skills than the time to use it.
Yes agreed, fillers while being R7 im not worried much, but its still a long way :â)
Twin Arrows seems okish though, can fire it 5 times before it goes on a 7 secs cd ? ⌠sounds good.
I guess ill lvl SS to 15 anyways⌠5% more evasion will be better than 200 more dmg on twin arrows.
AoE attack ratio from gear is not as effective as debuffing enemy AoE defense.
Someone in Reddit made some tests a while back. For example, to properly hit two Medium targets with Multi Shot you needed at least 4 aoe att ratio. Thatâs already two gladiator bands and vubbe gauntlets, just to hit two Medium targets. On the other hand, you can just cast circling and Multi Shot will hit pretty much everything within itâs attack radius.
Not to mention, Circling is an enemy debuff so you will not be the only one benefiting from it, your party will too. You are not screwing up your character⌠you are making it more versatile, stronger and supportive even if itâs just one skill. Granted, you should still aim for +AoE attack radius gear in order to enhance your skills during circling downtime.
Some classes also work better with it than others. Musket and Cannon are probably the ones that benefit the most.
mm for what i understood is that the monsters that are cloth have aoe defense +1, while leather varies, some have 2 or 3, i guess depending its size too.
If you have aoe ratio +3, you should hit everything that has aoe defense +2, thats clear to me.
eveeeeeeentually, you will get 2 from vubbe, 1 from mana mana, 2 from 2 gladitors⌠so it is achievable at some point.
I guess you mentioned a few pros of the skill, being : it works 100% since noone have aoe def over +5, helps the whole party.
but did not mention the cons : having a 35 secs cd, the area it focuses is not that big, usually on party farming you move around a lot, you dont benefit much while solo farming.
Itâs not like that at all, it substracts their AoE defense from your AoE attack ratio.
So for example, if you have an AoE attack ratio of 5, if you were attacking 5 monsters that had an AoE defense ratio of 1, youâd be able to hit all 5 of them. Now if they had an AoE defense ratio of 2, youâd only strike 3 of them with an attack. And if they had 3 AoE defense ratio, youâd only hit 2 of them.
It also depends on the skill, since they have their own attack ratio. But in general, if you want to maximize party DPS or your own AoE skills Circling is a great skill. Not a necessary skill, but between A3 and Falconer thereâs a definitely very good PvE reason to go Falconer and it will in no way be a waste of a rank.
That said, scout is also a pretty good alternative to A3. As long as you have A2 QS3 X Musket/Cannon you canât really go wrong.
I didnât go over the cons since I already mentioned a lot of them earlier in the thread for someone asking about falcon (or was it another thread?). Though while the CD is pretty long, itâs the kind of skill that you use for very large pulls so itâs usually available right on time.
Do you mind to tell your stats? I have skull bow, but Iâm not even close to deal 5.3k on crits D:
As for rank6 personally Iâm going for SR - more mobility, more HP, defense, evasion and interesting skills.
Its not really giving something OP, but seems much fun to play.
Donât like falconer as alternative (imo very limited usability), but considering to get Rogue for its crit buff. But SR seems more promising for overall gameplay.
I started as 2:1 but im leaning towards the optimal according to the thread, 1.5:1, atm im at 223 str 113 dex
ill try to snag a SS of a big crit
I see, that makes it a whole lot different then ⌠circling caps at 5, but does it stacks with gear ? is there any other skill than multishot that can use this aoe ratio on a3 qs3 ?
Yeah, Iâm not even close to this at all XDD
But now, I donât have much to do =/ Try to put all the rest of my points in STR and pray to that fix my problems :C