I would say it depends on the other corrupter's powerset and fighting scenarios. If you guys are fighting large groups and they happen to be something like fire/, then the AoE they might be using will trump most sets at that level. Early on archery is more about ST damage than anything, but is decent for that since it gets its tier 3 blast very early.
Also make sure you are actually hitting. All damage and no ACC means you may be missing more than you realize.
That's off the top of my head, others can help and offer tips as well if you can give some more info (My corr is fire/, only played an arch defender before awhile back).
The first few attacks of archery ie snap and aimed do indeed deal lower damage than most other tier 1 and 2 blasts. Not 3x as much, more in the range of 1.5x as much. However, archery attacks recharge faster and cost less end.
If you were also fighting mobs with a bit of lethal resists and the set you are comparing to was more exotic damage that may have made the difference a bit larger still.
Did you take blazing arrow at lvl 6? If not grab it ASAP, it is a very good attack. The only corruptor attack that hits harder is blaze from fire. Though both powers do have significant dot damage that you have to wait on.
Other than that arch deals decent aoe damage and with rain of arrows great aoe burst damage. It is a very endurance light set that should allow you to skimp on end reduction throughout the build, which is pretty nice for people not wanting to spend a king's ransom on recovery IO's.
IMO if blazing arrow isn't satisfying you then it will be a long road waiting on rain of arrows, which is really where the set jumps into the next echelon. You may want to look at other primaries if that is the case.
Although it still looks to me like rain of arrows for corrs is doing less damage than it should, but maybe that is intended for some reason or another.
To answer you last question: no arch is not a "support" set like dark blast (not that I necessarily agree with that assessment of dark). Arch is pretty much pure damage role as it has very little mitigation built in. It's actually closest to fireblast imo, just minus the extra dot damage (excluding blazing arrow) so fire is able to surpass it in pretty much every way until you get rain of arrows and then I've yet to hear an archery user say much of anything negative. It also is the best far range set available for corrs.
I consider Archery to be the "claws" of blast sets. Low on up front burst damage, it more than makes it up for that by having the highest sustainable damage over time. While fire may be able to kill minions and LTs faster than Archery (early game. After 32, minions will be gone with Rain of Arrows) against bosses fire lacks the mitigation tools necessary, and without a good amount of +rech from slotting and IO sets, it won't have a rapid chain to put out high damage, while archery will chain snap and aimed shot with blazing arrow tossed in. Archery is also lower on endurance costs, meaning that it can keep up that chain a lot longer than fire blast can. It also doesn't need to be up close for its big burst power, blazing arrow.
Also, like others have said, look at the tier 9s. Fire has Inferno on a 6 minute clock. Big boom, wipes out all but bosses, but then has zero endurance to finish off those bosses with. With a good amount of recharge I can see you getting that down to maybe 90-100s recharge, IE usuable every 3rd mob or so. Rain of Arrows will drop minions, leave LTs within 1-2 shots of dead, and still has endurance left over to take down what's left of bosses. With minimal slotting of recharge, you can get it down to about 45s easily, and even lower with good sets and bonuses. That makes it usable on every single mob you come across, with no downtime due to end drain and -recov.
Fire (at least) also has very little mitigation built in. Only one power in the set has a secondary effect to mitigate damage, Rain of Fire's slow effect (combined with the afraid effect). Archery has Stunning Shot for a good way to stun problematic Minions and LTs, and it can be stacked with proper slotting to keep a boss stunned the majority of the time. Explosive Arrow has a 3.32 mag knockback, as well, meaning you can keep minions and LTs on their backs and not attacking you for about 1/3rd to 1/2 the time you are fighting them, depending on slotting. It also has range as an advantage, as it doesn't have to get as close as other blast sets to do the most damage.
My advice is to stick with it. You'll never kill as *fast* as other sets, but you'll certainly have more than enough damage output to satisfy yourself and your teammates.
~WP
Just my opinion, feel free to disregard...
At level 9, your Enhancements are not making a big difference. So it's not Enhancements that are making the other guy do more damage, it's just his attacks. If you look at Archery, its first two attacks have a 2 sec recharge and a 4 sec recharge. Dark Blast, by comparison, has a 4 sec recharge and an 8 sec recharge. That other guy is doing more damage because he can't fire as often.
You're basically being fooled by orange numbers. You see bigger numbers for him and think "He's doing more damage than me". But you are hitting twice as often, so you should have twice as many orange numbers appearing as he does. If you add it all up over time, you should be doing the higher damage.
If you really want to make a comparison, just double your numbers and then compare them to his. You'll probably see that you do more damage, not less. He doesn't actually do twice as much damage as you do, for firing half as fast, he only does about 60% more. Of course, that assumes you can fire as fast as your attack comes up, and if you're busy doing other things, it probably comes out about even.
I will second the previous suggestion not to slot for damage, but for accuracy instead. You have better accuracy at the low levels, but still, you'll get more out of your attacks if you can hit than you will out of slotting damage. You're talking about like 8% more damage, that's not a lot. Wait until 14 and DOs before you start trying to slot damage. And even then I would still slot at least two DOs for accuracy.
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Well, that depends in part on his secondary, as well. /Rad's Radiation Infection will allow him to get by with 2 Acc TOs and 1 Acc DO. /Cold can also nullify a targets defense early on, albeit on just one enemy at a time, as opposed to the majority of the mob.|
Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
I will second the previous suggestion not to slot for damage, but for accuracy instead. You have better accuracy at the low levels, but still, you'll get more out of your attacks if you can hit than you will out of slotting damage. You're talking about like 8% more damage, that's not a lot. Wait until 14 and DOs before you start trying to slot damage. And even then I would still slot at least two DOs for accuracy.
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Not knowing your secondary, we can't tell you exactly how to slot, but it's a good idea to go with 2-3 acc TOs, and 1-2 acc DOs once you can get em. After that, a recharge and/or end redux in attacks can help you get your damage over time up and sustainable. Really, only slot Damage once you have DOs, and only then when you already have Acc and End/Rech redux well slotted. Remember, you aren't doing damage if you don't have any attacks ready, you aren't doing damage if you don't have the endurance to use your attacks, and you really aren't doing damage if all you ever do is miss.
~WP
Just my opinion, feel free to disregard...
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Slotting accuracy before damage is a good idea. Slotting endurance and recharge before damage is not. Slotting damage improves both the endurance efficiency of the attack and the time efficiency of the attack. Endurance reduciton and recharge reduction enhancements only improve one of those traits - and not by any more than slotting damage would.|
Originally Posted by W Peace
Not knowing your secondary, we can't tell you exactly how to slot, but it's a good idea to go with 2-3 acc TOs, and 1-2 acc DOs once you can get em. After that, a recharge and/or end redux in attacks can help you get your damage over time up and sustainable. Really, only slot Damage once you have DOs, and only then when you already have Acc and End/Rech redux well slotted. Remember, you aren't doing damage if you don't have any attacks ready, you aren't doing damage if you don't have the endurance to use your attacks, and you really aren't doing damage if all you ever do is miss.
~WP |
Would you rather kill an enemy by hitting it twice with a 16 endurance attack that takes 8 seconds to recharge, or by hitting it four times with an 8 endurance attack that takes 8 seconds to recharge, or by hitting it four times with a 16 endurance attack that takes 4 seconds to recharge? If you didn't choose the former, there's something wrong with your brain.
TLDR - slot damage before endurance reduction or recharge reduction. Unless you're a Brute, and these don't look like the Brute forums.
TEH WERDZ ON SKREEN HURTZ MI BRANE!
I am a very low level (only 9), but I am beginning to get concerned. When a I team with another corruptor he seems to dealing 3 times as me. Yes, I have been putting damage enhancements on. Is archery meant to be more of a support role like dark? Is it just a weaker powerset, or what?