Definitely Cannoneer (well in my PoV) because we seriously lack aoe clears and we will definitely suffer in late game dungeon grinds (250+) unless you want to stick out to musketeer still and opt for pvp but for me Cannoneer is still viable for pvp (long range large aoe skills ftw)
Didnt read too much into the thread but thought Iād contribute a little bit since I made a sheet to decide what to build ( full str or full dex).
I runned the simulations using the Stat simulator for each ratio getting the right stats every time. Also I used Kneeling shot 10 as well ( since I planned on going A3Qs3). Basically if you factor kneeling 10 into the damage formula full dex only stays 6% behind full str , so I went full dex for pvp reasons ( and because I have a linker 3 friend and a full str archer).
As you can see this is untrue for this game. The full con archer has a 54% dps loss compared to the full str. The bonus + 10% for each rank up is a very big deal.
QS3 is extremely good at every stage of the game, and has no problems with dungeons tbh.
Both choices are good, Cannoneer provides more damage, Musketeer more burst.
Im not sure on how to play QS once i get R7 though, i didnt have the experience from beta, im gearing and rising my char based on forums and guides only 
for what ive been reading, cannoneer is just to fill the QS downtime with AOEs which QS itself lacks big time.
But for a more oriented QS spec, wouldnt musketeer be better ? i read somewhere that muskets have high atkspeed too
Iāll check this again since it has been a while since I did the math. I think I made quite a few different assumptions on equipment and levels at that point, but Iāll standardize them when I play with it later. Think I made this in comparison to Snipe damage which obviously favors base damage. Think the math was in one of the middle posts.
You might be right on overall, and I cherry picked a scenario. Again, Iāll recheck myself later.
Every single QS 3 should be using a Didel Grand Cross end game. The extra 80% damage is impossible to make up for with any other weapon along with 4 extra seconds of Running Shot uptime.
You only ever use cannon/musket to cast skills. You donāt actually use them to auto attack due to the above reason.
Of course, use a bow if vs flying targets. The 2x damage attribute beats the 80% damage from the DGC. You should still cast with the DGC though for the extra 4 seconds of uptime.
What about Hanging Shot from Falconer? I heard melee attacks canāt hit you, but what about skills? Does anyone know exactly how Hanging Shot works?
Is the damage from Hovering good for PvP?
Iām thinking about taking Falconer for rank 6 at my Ar2 QS3 build, but if Circling is the only usefull skill, Iām going Ar3 then.
Yea, DGC is still a long way though, i read its a lv 260 quest ? 
as where ive seen rank7 players around at lvl 220ish and ill have to debate between a lvl 40 xbow vs a lvl 220 musket
Saalus Convent - 240 mission. About the debate, its as easy as if (average weapon > average grand cross + elemental atk arde/karacha/venom/manamana) then Use weapon, else do math.
Pretty simple really. If the damage when you have GC equiped x 2.8 is lower than your musket x 2.0, then you should attack using the musket. You should always cast with the GC.
Oh 240 
not that bad then,
Is there any other skill other than MS that benefits with aoe ratio btw from A3-QS3
Even more if you have Divine Grace and even throw on a monster gem. Heck add all of that and you ALMOST have 100% up time 31 sec up time 25 at lv 5 29 at lv 7 31 at lv 9
Speaking of monster gems would an auto attacker archer put the running shot gem on the Cafrisun Armor gloves or would we slot it on our AC at 220 whenever we would get it.
Weapon swapping after casting? Iām pretty sure it wonāt lower the level of already applied buff.
For a QS running build though you canāt give up Cafrisun gloves for Vubbe you lose out on the additional line and it effects your dmg majorly.
You keep the duration but you lose the Bonus % dmg running gives you when you swap weapons.
you get 80% from GC The dmg is just to much to give up. At 220 we get a nice upgrade at least but we are corn holed into using set items to effectivly use our build
So already applied buff updates if you swap weapon? Thatās really interesting. I though it only matters what level skill is when you cast it, at least talking about buffs.
From all that I am hearing, farming monster gems causes insanity. Something about a .01 drop rate with really low spawn rates. Canāt be traded and truly a massive boost to your damage.
If you do farm one, I would horde it until i am 100% sure that the glove I am socketing it into is in my end game build.
Monster gems for r7 skills really might outdamage crit gems. A Snipe gem would add 1402 damage at 100 atribute compared to say a lvl 7 gem giving like 50 crit. Something to consider, but you must be really bored or dedicated to farm them.
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Though speaking of gems, the quest to upgrade the Grand Cross is a recipe right ? so if i socket the gem into the GC, it will be lost when i craft DGC, or at least not moved to DGC
Oh I know the insanity trust me. I am an old school iro player that went mad farming golden thife bug card for my stalker. To be honest I like the fact imc made the gems this way it is only for the insane. Time and dedication is rewarded āeventualyā with insane power.
As for socketing the sad thing is none of the end game is final its constantly evolveing. One constant though is the fact gc and dgc will be a staple for auto builds untill we get another version of it latter on.
I mean end game wise now we are still forced to wear caf set from lv 20 x.x is therereally no better option for us. Like there is no upgrade to our armor sadly we will be at et in what we have worn since r2ā¦
why would cafrisun be mandatory for AA ? it only splits the elemental dmg into a separate dmg, though it doesnt gain the 280% bonus from RS, so why would it be mandatory? im missing some of the hidden mechanic here ?