Crossbowman heroes

[iBlue]

I'm close to level 52 and am probably about to receive a nice cash injection in the near future so i'm left with the decision on which hero to take if any?
I'm going to take my time (probably a month) to think about it and use my respec when it's off cooldown. I'd like to hear your toughts on the classes and perhaps (if possible) spark a debate which wont only help me but anyone out there that's undecided.

Classes:

Sharpshooter:
Chosen Marksman - Sharpshooter specialises in crossbows.
Aventurier- Sharpshooter specialises in one-handed weapons.
Pavise Champion - Sharpshooter specialises in shielding.

Pavise champion seems a great class and their shielding is at 9 if i am not mistaken?
Which is the stronger? I assume chosen marksman requires more items to be effective while pavise does it's magic with casual high-crafting items (non-house)
Proficiency doesn't play a large role in crossbow damage and so it relies on items. Is taking chosen marksman a worthy investment if you're not getting the neat crossbows anytime in the near future?
What are Aventurier's shielding stats? Is Aventurier the true hybrid of the lot? Does he only recive one handed bonus or a small twohanded aswell for the offchance that he would slash?
What is his power strike.

I'll think of many more questions as long as people are willing to answer. I find that hero information is scarce and bugging players to get answers isn't nice a topic debating the benefits and drawbacks of these classes would be most welcome!

[Maroon]

I myself am also grinding my sharpshooter towards level 52, and I'm thinking of Pavise Champion at the moment, because of their amazing shield skill (indeed 9). I think the shielding adds a lot to the usefulness of the xbow, so that's probably what I'll be choosing.
My reason for this, is that the Sharpshooter already is amazing with crossbows, so an increase in xbow proficiency won't add much, and currently, you don't get access to new crossbows that really are better.
I'm not choosing Aventurier, because, although the xbow's one-handed is formidable, I only use it on Normal, as you just don't do enough damage on Hard, and you die in a melee fight in Ragnarok (fact ).

As for stats, all xbows get the same increase in 2 handed (40), and the Aventurier and Marksman both get 2 extra shield.
Pavise gets the most Ironflesh (2, where the others get 1), the Aventurier gets the most Athletics (3, 2 for the other), and the Pavise and Aventurier both get 2 more powerstrike (Marks gets 1).
For moar stats: http://forum.nordinvasion.com/index.php?...756.0.html

[Sphinx]

Pavise is the way to go. You can be in the back "pew pewing" and when your fellow shielder falls, you're the one taking over instead of running like a chicken but as a normal xbow your shield skills are lacking and your melee isn't so great

For the team , go Pavise

[j0n]

it's a difficult one, the pavise champion would be the 'team player option' 9 shield skill it enough to be a solid feature in all hard mode waves, also taking into account champions can use the aegis shield.

The chosen marksmen is good if you can afford either of the new crossbows AND the cost of the hero class at the sametime, I only say this because chosen marksmen knocks your powerstikes from 7 to 6, which is an unnecessary loss if you don't have a new crossbow to use, you won't notice the 30 proficiency with an Arbalest.

It's a tough choice between these two, you'll feel the benefits of the champion off the bat, but without either of the new crossbows I doubt you'll see any difference with the marksmen. I'm torn between the two choices myself, however I'm leaning towards getting the Bigshot, I find myself playing ragnarok a fair amount and it'll be perfect there.

It's all personal preference, but all the responses you've received have great merit, use them all to make your decision. 

[iBlue]

Sorry about overlooking the hero classes topic but i dont usually check the classes category and jump to the class i'm interested itself from the main page >.< (learned my lesson)
I've been thinking pavise but the two times i tested my sharpshooter on ragnarok the arbalest just doesn't cut it.
Fire rate/ damage aren't sufficient. For hardmode, pavise would be the way to go but what about ragnarok? I expect that more and more events will be happening on ragnarok rather than hard because with a good team hard is a breeze and doing something easy for items is the worst type of a grind. My 2nd character is an archer and if i understand it correctly they fall off on ragnarok due to the rangers.

Would a normal repeater be a sufficient upograde for ragnarok if you carried a shield and crossbow using only 1 set of bolts? Again, i have no real experience in this game mode yet and would value the input!

(The last thing i want is a useless hero that's rather unwelcome in ragnarok)

What is the actual preferance for events in ragnarok? Commando and skirmisher?

[Niezdara]

so i'm left with the decision on which hero to take if any?

Do as I do...simply wait. The pavise champ  can get new shields and the marksman can get new crossbows in near future (there is at least one new model). Moreover there is a chance that the next patch will turn all things upside down, since devs keeps giving us hints how much they dont like that "cading madness".

Last but not least, someone may finally chose that "awesome" pavise champion and you will get real feedback how usefull it is, instead of mere assumptions.

[iBlue]

Already said that i'm waiting  8)

Can't wait to see how heroes end up being. (all classes)
I just wish that i'd found this mod sooner and be a tiny bit richer atm

[j0n]

Late hard mode and ragnarok are really where the crossbow class shines, assuming there isn't an idiot stood behind you and peeking at your window it's laughably easy to headshot everything, but I do know what you mean by the Arbalest not quite cutting it, generally taking 2 solid headshots to down an enemy.

This is where the bigshot would be perfect, although almost half the reload speed of the Arbalest, killing an enemy in one hit and therefore reducing the amount of times you have to risk peeking out is always preferable. Although there are more ragnarok games starting up recently, hardmode still gets a damnsight more play time and as you've said the champion's very well suited to that.

As for the repeater...I've never been a fan of them...so it's hard to not be bias...but unless you're shooting at the mobs bashing into the shield wall then don't get one, for ragnarok you really need to be focusing on the Einherjar rangers/snipers, your team will thank you for this, trust me, and you aren't going to be hitting them with a repeater.

We had a ragnarok event with the CC the other day (Killed Odin) and I think we only had 4 commandos, rest were a mixed of ranged and it was pretty easy, with the exception of Thor...guy's a pain in the arse.

[iBlue]

thanks for the input. I'll take my time and surely get some more experience in ragnarok before i decide on the hero. Are 1 shot kills with bigshot confirmed though? in Ragnarok.

[j0n]

That's a fair question...from what I recall someone with a penetrator and onyx bolts (139P) was one hitting them. The big shot with gold bolts has 145p and a faster projectile speed (80 vs 75) so that'll add to it's damage also.

However I can't 'confirm' this for you, I'm a week or so away from being able to afford the bigshot, so I can't give you anything concrete till then.

EDIT

I can confirm for you that penetrator with onyx bolts can't one shot rangers on ragnarok, so I'm beginning to doubt the bigshots ability to one hit things on ragnarok, unless the additional 5 missile speed and 6p (If using gold bolts which most will be) will give it that extra punch.