Archery vs Dual Pistols (with /Mental)

Trying to decide whether I want to play a DP/Mental or Archery/Mental to 50. I've got both at 12, and I dig the hell out of the DP style, but I've heard through the grapevine that Archery is quite a boatload more powerful than DP at all levels (though in my case it's too early to tell). Also, Empty Clips and Swap Ammo seem to kinda, well, suck.

My question is, is the power gap between Archery and DP large enough to either be noticable at 50, or to be a likely candidate for dev rebalancing in the future?

(I'm also pondering because Rain of Arrows looks stupidly awesome and powerful compared to Hail of Bullets. Could be wrong on this point though--Mids' says Rain does more damage AND has a shorter recharge AND is ranged, compared to Hail. Is this for real?)

My main is an Archery blaster, made back around Issue 8. As such, I am intensely biased, but yes, Archery is a wonderful set, and Rain of Arrows is absolutely monstrous. Build Up + Aim + Rain of Arrows + Fistful of Arrows + Explosive Arrow will drop entire spawns, less than two seconds after they notice your existence (so they often drop before they can retaliate at all), and it can do so every 30-40 seconds with solid slotting. Aside from my limited experience in the Dual Pistols beta many moons ago, my highest level pistolier is only 10, so I can't compare the two as directly as I'd like. However, you are accurate in seeing that Archery is generally more efficient at slaughtering things than Pistols.

I believe the main reason that Archery is generally more damaging than Dual Pistols is that Dual Pistols can have very cool side-effects (like -damage debuffs on almost every attack) while Archery's only special effect beyond MOAR DAMAGE is a negligable damage stun attack and a 50% chance for knockdown in Explosive Arrow. (Both sets are also significantly more accurate than standard blast sets.)

That said, Pistols aren't all that weak, and if they seem significantly cooler to you, then stick to your guns. From a pure min/max standpoint the archer will deal more damage, even using incendiary ammo, but not by an overwhelming margin, and chemical rounds will let you make serious threats like AVs far less threatening when teaming.

Archery is hands down better then DP, in most situations. DP has a bit better damage mitigation, but Archery has significantly more damage.

It is unlikely that Archery will be nerfed at all, although there is a *slight* chance Dual Pistols may get buffed(Unlikely, since it is a very "average" set).

However, there is no accounting for Tastes, and DP does have cool animations, even if they do make the set slower.

I believe that Energy Manipulation goes much better with Archery than Mental Manipulation. Archery has no PBAoE powers which Mental with Drain Psyche is best suited for, but Archery has a cone, and two targetted AoE powers which all benefit from the extra range that Boost Range provides.

Pistols goes well with Mental Manipulation because of Hail of Bullets and its small grant to positional defense which goes well with Drain Psyche. Added with a few ranged defense bonuses and you'll see a noticeable difference in survivability.

Thanks all for the thoughts. I think for now I'll keep playing the DP/Mental, but I'll remake the archer as Archery/Energy--I haven't tried Energy Manipulation before, so that'll keep things different.

I love Archery, and definitely consider it better than Dual Pistols.

Archery
+ Excellent range (50 foot cone and full 80 foot range on its tier 3 blast)
+ Faster cast times
+ Great AoE once you get Rain of Arrows
+ Rain
+ of
+ Arrows
+ is
+ just
+ this
+ good
+
+ Has Aim
+ More accurate than normal
- Highly resisted damage type
- No secondary effect other than accuracy boost

Dual Pistols
+ Very flashy animations
+ Has a fourth (mostly) single target blast
+ Selectable but weak secondary effects
- Fourth blast is an energy hog with a long recharge
- Shorter range tier 3 blast
- No Aim
- Mostly Lethal damage just like archery (the alternate ammos make little difference)
- No
- rain
- of
- arrows
-

Seriously, before adding in the tier 9 powers both sets are fairly similar. They both have average damage, modest AoE, and a full ranged stun or hold. Archery is a bit faster, has Aim, and can easily make a full 80 foot range attack chain but Dual Pistols has a minor advantage in damage type and secondary effect. However, adding in the tier 9 powers changes things drastically: Hail of Bullets is decent damage but it's dangerous to use, somewhat unreliable due to the wide damage variation, and has a longish recharge. Rain of Arrows, on the other hand, is simply the best mini-nuke in the game. For that matter, it's the best ranged AoE in the game, period. Hit one button and every even con minion in a spawn usually dies without ever taking a shot? And you can do it to every spawn with decent recharge, and add in Aim + Build Up to wipe out +2s? Way better than jumping in the middle of a spawn and rooting yourself for several seconds while they all pound on you in the hopes of killing them before you drop.

HoB isn't that bad, but the only PBAoE I'd consider equal to Rain of Arrows is if Blasters got the old pre-nerf Psychic Shockwave. And even then I'd have to think about it a minute...