Needling Shot

[tekDragon]

I have an irrational love for this skill.

Not sure if I'm crazy.

[ajc2123]

Yes, you are very crazy :p

But it's ok because rangers are some of the most laid back classes (at least in PvE) As one of my favorite GW comics said about rangers..." ESPLODIN ARROWS YEA!"

It's a good skill, and there WAS a build based around it, but I don't know where it went :ninja:

[Ralgha]

I like it, it's got a couple benefits, it ignores armor, and when the target is below 50% health you can fire as fast as you can hit the button.

Combine it with the appropriate damage type, throw in a preparation, a nature ritual or two, a weapon spell, and "I am the strongest!" and you can get some insane damage with it.

[Tyla]

It's bad, but I agree it's fun to toy with. :D

[Chthon]

It's bad, but I agree it's fun to toy with. :D

Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis?!?!

In PvE, the spammable armor-ignoring damage is pretty phenomenal once the monsters get up into ridiculous armor ranges. Combine with a vampiric bow and a good enchant/prep/weapon spell and you can get some respectable damage going.

In PvP, where no one has very heavy armor (except that fool in RA who thinks he's a stoneflesh tank), it's pretty lackluster.

[Tyla]

When it beats Splinter Volley, let me know, kthx.

[tekDragon]

When it beats Splinter Volley, let me know, kthx.

Yeah I have an irrational dislike for Volley also, but I think I'm coming around on that one. Something about the slightly slower refire rate compared to barrage never sat right with me. It's been a long long time since I've used barrage now so I think I might be in the right mindset to give volley a fair chance.

[Adja1005]

Needling Shot is a good skill but it is definately far from being a skill to base a build around. The only build i use it on this one...

Marksman's WagerPenetrating AttackSundering AttackNeedling Shot"I Am The Strongest"

Not an amazing build but then again its more a build i use when i want a change from the usual ones i run.

[Marverick]

It's good for triggering daze, that's about it.

[snaek]

Yeah I have an irrational dislike for Volley also, but I think I'm coming around on that one. Something about the slightly slower refire rate compared to barrage never sat right with me. It's been a long long time since I've used barrage now so I think I might be in the right mindset to give volley a fair chance.

y not bring both [needling shot] + [volley]?
or is that too much pwnage in one build? @__@

[Adja1005]

y not bring both [needling shot] + [volley]?
or is that too much pwnage in one build? @__@

Put both of those skills in you're bar and GW will just crash it can't handle the awesome that such a build would create!

[tekDragon]

It's good for triggering daze, that's about it.

yes.. I do tend to run BHA in PvE so triggering daze is part of my love for needling shot. Triggering daze on monks or eles is some sweet action.

[kev read]

wouldn't Concussion Shot + Epidemic then Flail + Barrage Spam be better for interrupting groups of casters?

[thebullion24k]

wouldn't Concussion Shot + Epidemic then Flail + Barrage Spam be better for interrupting groups of casters?

Ah concussion shot... Brings me back of a build I sort of made with archers signet, mantra of inscriptions, and concussion shot. Of course with the other 2 interupts.

[tekDragon]

wouldn't Concussion Shot + Epidemic then Flail + Barrage Spam be better for interrupting groups of casters?

Yes and no... Concussion shot is conditional on your target casting a spell and your interrupting them. By the time you interrupt your first target and then cast epidemic and start spamming barrage the rest of the group will have hit your party with their big spell.

Straight BHA + Epidemic might be better in this case because the daze is unconditional and spreads earlier. I guess this is where Volley would/should come in too.

[MisterB]

wouldn't Concussion Shot + Epidemic then Flail + Barrage Spam be better for interrupting groups of casters?[[Broad Head Arrow] + [[Epidemic] + [[Volley] will work in Hard mode, while [[Concussion Shot] is conditional on interrupting a spell. That's a rather hard feat in hard mode if they are not already dazed.

On topic, [[Needling Shot] is fun, but bow Rangers don't do single target DPS all that well.

[SnipiousMax]

Needling Shot requires to much of an investment (ie...preperations, conjure, enchants, orders, etc) before it's really even marginally useful. Even at the top of it's game, the damage is nothing to be proud of.

[distilledwill]

I used to have an infatuation with Needling aswell, good for taking down a nearly dead enemy whos fleeing. However, its best when combined with Glass Arrows or a conjure, as snipious says.

[Orange Milk]

I've never been a fan of a skill you need an entire bar of other skills just to make it good. Needle shot + Prep+ weapon spell+ enchant+ vamp bow+ IAS + Other team mates to get the enemy down to under 50% health and then stop the healer so you have time to spam your -50 dmg to kill the enemy befor he gets a tad of healing to get back over the 50% mark and eliminate your build.

yeah, good skill.


Yeah it's good for the interupt on Daze, but again IF you have a team to get the dazed foe under 50% health.

No thanks, I'll just take my pet in it's place.

[Hara Makoto]

i use needling shot in quite a few builds , and i really like it :) ..

[build=OgMTcTsmXiC0VS4w3A1oCsVSmAA] .. that's the build i used to use , needling went really nicely in it

[Tyla]

^Whirling Defense is bad, and no D-Shot means you fail at Ranger.

[Hara Makoto]

Whirling Defense is bad, and no D-Shot means you fail at Ranger.


an opinions an opinion , theres more to life than what you think . if some find needling shot to work well , then that's their choice , same goes with builds , if they work well then they work well , perhaps because things aren't what you'd do doesn't make them bad . imo i like and think it's a really effective skill in pve , but that's just what i think .

[Tyla]

Maybe you can get away with saying what I said about Whirling Defense was an opinion.

But my point still stands about D-Shot. It's the most powerful interrupt in the game, and not taking it on your Ranger bar is bad.

Just because BHA is on your bar doesn't mean that D-Shot is made redundant. It disables ANY skill, the daze condition doesn't effect anything outside of spells.

(And if I'm showing my opinion, I don't show facts that should be commonly known.)

[snaek]

Maybe you can get away with saying what I said about Whirling Defense was an opinion.

But my point still stands about D-Shot. It's the most powerful interrupt in the game, and not taking it on your Ranger bar is bad.

Just because BHA is on your bar doesn't mean that D-Shot is made redundant. It disables ANY skill, the daze condition doesn't effect anything outside of spells.

(And if I'm showing my opinion, I don't show facts that should be commonly known.)

well this is pve...
and things tend die fast to really take advantage of teh 20s disable

and sigs (like res sigs) r hardly a prob in pve
that leaves out using dshot for attack skills/chants/rituals mostly
(which in most cases, arent terribly critical to interupt)
the best use for it in pve would prolly be monster skills
(but those r situational depending on the area)

having said that, it prolly still would be more useful to bring than whirling

[SnipiousMax]

well this is pve...
and things tend die fast to really take advantage of teh 20s disable


There is always at least one skill that is problematic per each mob. Most of the time it's a healer's fast cast/fast recharge skill designed to annoy the snot out of you. Regardless, there is almost always one skill that you have to interrupt in order to avoid wasted time and resources fighting a PvE mob. Daze and physical attacks can take care of a great deal of spells, but will not interrupt anything with precision, so it's in your best interests to have at least one other interrupt. Distracting shot is the best option of the non-elite interrupts.

Personally I think that any Ranger bar that isn't specifically intended to use a weapon other than a bow, should have distracting shot.

[Chthon]

When it beats Splinter Volley, let me know, kthx.

1. How about when you have 1 priority target to kill? An un-bunched mob?

2. Besides:
y not bring both [needling shot] + [volley]?
or is that too much pwnage in one build? @__@

[Tyla]

well this is pve...
and things tend die fast to really take advantage of teh 20s disable

Maybe it is PvE, but maximizing your benefits is good. Every now and then you do face something that can be quite dangerous. HM Fire Djinns for instance, sure you can BHA then, but why not run in and D-Shot SF?

Save yourself some energy, and BHA for other dangerous casters since SF is the only dangerous skill they have.

1. How about when you have 1 priority target to kill? An un-bunched mob?
Well put it this way, there are better skills. Sloth Hunter's Shot? Screaming Shot? With them you get armour-ignoring +Damage, almost equal to that of Needling Shot.
And NShot needs a huge investment to be truly good ayway.

[Trvth Jvstice]

Needling Shot is a fun skill, I tried it in PVE for a while, but got rid of it for better skills. However that skill works great in areas like Ft Aspenwood - with the shortage of monks there and so many people running around at <50% health - it will either kill them or make them run away.

[Adja1005]

Distracting Shot is best used for interupting key skills (res, healing, monster or AoE) but otherwise Savage Shot makes for a better all round interupting skill.

BHA is only really good against casters or mobs and i would much rather go the volley + BHA route than use N-Shot. And when it comes to single target take down Sloths, Screaming or Keen are far better choices. Generally N-Shot isn't a very good skill but it can be fun to use for the sake of its armour ignoring damage.

[Chthon]

Well put it this way, there are better skills. Sloth Hunter's Shot? Screaming Shot? With them you get armour-ignoring +Damage, almost equal to that of Needling Shot.
And NShot needs a huge investment to be truly good ayway.

Both those skills have a recharge of 8. The DPS on needling is much higher.

Also, SlothHunter has serious problems in PvE, especially in HM, because the monster AI spams skills.

[Tyla]

Against casters?
Sloth Hunter's --> Savage Shot. You get a bonus if they cast, gg.

Screaming Shot also has some extra condition pressure and can be used for moar condition spam.

By the way, these skills also work decently against enemies above 50% health.
Regardless, if they are at 50% health, with or without Needling Shot, they WILL die in around 5 seconds.
If not, it's a Monk that's extremely resilient.

[Adja1005]

Against casters?
Sloth Hunter's --> Savage Shot. You get a bonus if they cast, gg.

Screaming Shot also has some extra condition pressure and can be used for moar condition spam.

By the way, these skills also work decently against enemies above 50% health.
Regardless, if they are at 50% health, with or without Needling Shot, they WILL die in around 5 seconds.
If not, it's a Monk that's extremely resilient.

Agree 100% with you there mate. Sloth Hunter's then Savage is a favourite spike of mine especially when using Glass Arrows. Screaming Shot is also great to use even when outside earshot range and within earshot range you get to inflict some bonus condition, whats not to like about that?

But if you really have your heart set on making use of Needling Shot then i'd go with what Tyla said. The damage from a Sloth + Savage spike can be nasty, in the good sense.

[Bowstring Badass]

Against casters?
Sloth Hunter's --> Savage Shot. You get a bonus if they cast, gg.

Screaming Shot also has some extra condition pressure and can be used for moar condition spam.

By the way, these skills also work decently against enemies above 50% health.
Regardless, if they are at 50% health, with or without Needling Shot, they WILL die in around 5 seconds.
If not, it's a Monk that's extremely resilient.

Willa the Unpleasant....

But yeah... You have to have d-shot in your bar it is basically an elite no matter if you have savage shot or not...

[Trvth Jvstice]

@Chthon, You mentioned DPS - I've spent quite a bit of time with the Master of Damage and tried a ton of different Marksmanship builds. You can do great damage against a mob, but against a single player I've yet to find a build that gets anywhere near as good dps as a Mele character is able to do. A Ranger is great at a lot of things, but as far as I know, dps isn't one of them - at least not with a bow. I could be wrong, I haven't played Ranger nearly as much as Nec or Warrior - I'm sure someone will let me know if I am. :)

[Fraxian]

Personally, I fell in love with needling as soon as I got it also, its been in my skill bar forever, along with d-shot. However, you really don't have to build a build around it.

Right now im using the current skill-set:

Point Blank Shot
Zojun's Shot
Needling Shot
Distracting Shot
Glass Arrows
Brutal Weapon
Troll Unguent
Whirling Defense

This actually works petty good PvE and in AB/RA, and the build isn't entirely built around needling. Just rock back and forth between the PBS and ZS and either finish off with needling or continue with the high damage shots. On an average person/monster at around 60~80 armor, the close range shots would get the target in 3~4 shots to half and easily finished with needling. If the target healed, just go back to the two shots again since the recharge is only 3, its easy to use them one after the other.

[Stormlord Alex]

Needling is actually kinda bad, tbh...
To make it work effectively, you need to put quite a lot into it - extra buff skills, attribute spread - taking away skills that could be used for disruption/utility.
Then, to use your OMGawesomesauce l33t attack, you need to get something below 50% anyway...
And once you're spamming Needling, not only do enemies in PvE not live long enough for it to really pay off; you don't end up really doing much more than what you would with Sloth Hunter's or Screaming overall.

... Just save yourself the effort and blow the enemy up with [finish him] instead.

As for PvP where Finish Him! isn't an option, sure you can use it - you just need to fit it somewhere on [savage shot][distracting shot][apply poison][natural stride][mending touch][troll unguent][resurrection signet] + elite of your choice.
Oh wait.
:p

[Tyla]

Willa the Unpleasant....

But yeah... You have to have d-shot in your bar it is basically an elite no matter if you have savage shot or not...

Exactly why I <3 BHA. :D

[Chthon]

@Chthon, You mentioned DPS - I've spent quite a bit of time with the Master of Damage and tried a ton of different Marksmanship builds. You can do great damage against a mob, but against a single player I've yet to find a build that gets anywhere near as good dps as a Mele character is able to do.

No doubt. But the point of ranger damage skills is still DPS. Should I go "well, since warriors do better damage anyway, I should choose bad damage skills for my ranger like power shot"? I think not. The fact that rangers can't keep up with melee DPS without splinter is perhaps a good argument for not using damage skills at all, but it's no argument for not picking the best options if you are going to use a damage skill.

In a roundabout way though, it is a reason why needling is better than screaming/sloth/whatever. Most of the time, you shouldn't be using damage skill at all because other party member do damage better and you've got interrupting to do or nice big mobs you can hurt more with splinter+volley/barrage. The only time you're going to be using that damage skill is when you've got that rare stubborn foe that just won't die, usually a boss, and it doesn't need interrupting or is already dazed. In that context, needling is golden because you're probably looking at something with high armor and a huge amount of HP, even under 50%. Sum: Big bosses are the only foes where you'll use your damage skill as a ranger; Needling owns big bosses.

[SnipiousMax]

No doubt. But the point of ranger damage skills is still DPS.

See I think this is where I have to disagree. APART from mass attack/splinter-esque style builds or spikes, the point of ranger damage skills is SUPPLEMENTARY. You're goal should be to compliment your overall team DPS rather than focusing on one target. Single target dps has and always will be the domain of Warriors. The reason you have a warrior, is you want him to kill one target as fast as possible. Ranger's are meant and designed to be different. You should never devote your entire skill bar to damage (again, excluding splinter/barrage-esque builds). Sloth Hunter's and screaming attack are so great, because they let you contribute damage in a meaningful way without having to spend a great deal of effort or resources on them. The greatest caveat to using needling is that it requires your target to be under 50%. Apart from boses, 50% on a PvE monster is like two seconds from death in a well organized and thought out team (or H/H). If you are building your entire bar around the very brief time it takes to bring a target from <50% to 0%, then you are missing out on a significant portion of the battle.

If you need further proof that Bow's aren't supposed to be DPS monsters...think about what happened to the turret rangers. They were nerfed pretty handily because of their damage output.

the only time you're going to be using that damage skill is when you've got that rare stubborn foe that just won't die

What about the times you aren't doing anything else that's particularly important? You should use your attack skills every time they recharge unless are doing something else productive(like distracting shot something annoying!)

Needling owns big bosses

I'm not sure how Needling really holds anymore weight with bosses than it does with any other normal mob. I'm usually focused on interrupting bosses, cause I'm more worried about what they'll do to me than what I'll do to them. If your party is dependent on you in order to kill a boss, then something's wrong with your party makeup. Regardless, I still think that a shot or two from Sloth Hunters or Screaming is just as effective.

[Improvavel]

Theres stuff better than [volley]+[splinter weapon], like [volley]+[great dwarf weapon]

[SnipiousMax]

Theres stuff better than [volley]+[splinter weapon], like [volley]+[great dwarf weapon]

Except GDW only works on other allies, you can't cast it on yourself. Unless you've found a way to get your hero's to take PvE skills...?

[Improvavel]

Sorry for playing with humans...

I'll humbly retreat, saying that [volley] is better with [splinter weapon] than with [great dwarf weapon], cause people are forbidden to play with other humans...

Or gods forbid, take it in its own character and cast it on a ranger hero/henchie

[SnipiousMax]

Sorry for playing with humans...

I'll humbly retreat, saying that [volley] is better with [splinter weapon] than with [great dwarf weapon], cause people are forbidden to play with other humans...

Or gods forbid, take it in its own character and cast it on a ranger hero/henchie

There's nothing wrong with that, just sounded like you were saying to bring GDW as a superior substitute for Splinter.

I agree that:

[Volley]+[splinter weapon]+[great dwarf weapon] > [volley] + [splinter weapon]

[legacyofkain85]

Maybe you can get away with saying what I said about Whirling Defense was an opinion.

But my point still stands about D-Shot. It's the most powerful interrupt in the game, and not taking it on your Ranger bar is bad.

Just because BHA is on your bar doesn't mean that D-Shot is made redundant. It disables ANY skill, the daze condition doesn't effect anything outside of spells.

(And if I'm showing my opinion, I don't show facts that should be commonly known.)

Totally agree d-shot is kinda glued to mi ranger´s bar cant even take it off lol(joke ofc) also like savage shot alot dont know why

[The Meth]

Totally agree d-shot is kinda glued to mi ranger´s bar cant even take it off lol(joke ofc) also like savage shot alot dont know why

Maybe because they are the best ranger skills in the game, and both probably in the top 10 best skills across any profession?

[MasterSasori]

There's nothing wrong with that, just sounded like you were saying to bring GDW as a superior substitute for Splinter.

I agree that:

[Volley]+[splinter weapon]+[great dwarf weapon] > [volley] + [splinter weapon]

By "+" you're not referring at the same time right? Because last I recalled, you can only use 1 weapon spell at a time.

[Improvavel]

I would still prefer [[great dwarf weapon]. Sure [[splinter weapon] is great and a lot easier to use without human players, but if humans are there, in my opinion, [[great dwarf weapon] is just better than [[splinter weapon], knock is too versatile to pass up, and 2 casters with it can keep it on a few physicals.

[MasterSasori]

I would still prefer [[great dwarf weapon]. Sure [[splinter weapon] is great and a lot easier to use without human players, but if humans are there, in my opinion, [[great dwarf weapon] is just better than [[splinter weapon], knock is too versatile to pass up, and 2 casters with it can keep it on a few physicals.

Looks real fun.

[Kereminde]

I tend to stick with Savage Shot over Distracting Shot. Then again, I haven't changed my skill bar too much in a while.

Power Shot
Savage Shot
Poison Arrows
[Open]
Broad Head Arrow
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Never Rampage Alone

Slot 4 usually is used for Signet of Capture while I'm hunting my skills, Light of Deldrimor while in dungeons, and overall usually has Troll Unugent locked into it when I plan to be doing some heavy combat. Sometimes I go R/Mo and put Resurrect in there (cut me some slack, it's what I've got so far).

I dunno if I'd change Power Shot for Needling Shot; I think I'd burn through my energy rather fast.

Yes, I'm fully aware I "fail at Ranger" by some definitions. But I do mostly/only PvE and not Hard Mode. (I get my butt kicked WAY too much in Hard Mode.)

[Stormlord Alex]

I dunno if I'd change Power Shot for Needling Shot; I think I'd burn through my energy rather fast. [Distracting Shot], [screaming shot] or [sloth hunter's shot] are all amazing attacks and far superior to Power and Needling.
Take a looksie at them and decide which one suits you best - Screaming is general damage for lazy men, Sloth is big damage for not lazy men, and Dshot is OMGpwnage for not lazy men.

[Kereminde]

I was using Screaming Shot for a while, didn't work out so well for me. The refresh time was a little too long for me to really use damage. Especially since I found Melandru's Arrows was working better for me through the period I used Screaming Shot. Bleeding isn't a big deal for me, not with Apply Poison and often a sword-using Warrior hero (Jora with a Barbed Sword Hilt).

Sloth Hunter's Shot had the same problem, with it taking a while to reload. That, and I was getting a more consistent damage spike alternating Power Shot and Savage Shot every five seconds or so. True, it has the potential to spike some damage but damage output hasn't been my problem specifically . . .

Distracting Shot . . . look, I find Savage Shot has performed better for me than that skill. I have to deal with more caster enemies than those who rely on skills, just doing casual running around. It interrupts as well, and punishes spellcasters; stacked behind Broad Head Arrow it generally allows me to abuse the heck out of enemy Monks.

No, see, the trouble has been less in pure damage output than with having enemies ignore everyone else and come tearing turf to slap me around. This has been happening with increasing amounts in Eye of the North and in Sorrow's Furnace attempts.

(Speaking of, on a tangent, who the heck designed a creature which can do 326 damage on average IN ONE ATTACK several times in a row? And why do they always seem to inhabit GW:EN areas in large groups?)

[Stormlord Alex]

No, see, the trouble has been less in pure damage output than with having enemies ignore everyone else and come tearing turf to slap me around. This has been happening with increasing amounts in Eye of the North and in Sorrow's Furnace attempts. If that's the problem you're facing, then [pin down], [natural stride] or [throw dirt] are what you need. I'd prefer Natty or Pindown because they're available more often.
Also, check you're not using multiple superior/major runes on your armour - enemies like eating people with low max hp.

(Speaking of, on a tangent, who the heck designed a creature which can do 326 damage on average IN ONE ATTACK several times in a row? And why do they always seem to inhabit GW:EN areas in large groups?) GW:EN is meant to be that little bit harder - put some more thought into your team build, notably in the area of defense - try out skills like [aegis] or [enfeebling blood] on your heroes, they're incredibly good at neutering massive damage.

[Tyla]

Kereminde, I would still take D-Shot.
If you're going pure damage you're just a sub-par Paragon.
You really might aswell go Warrior or Paragon under them conditions.

D-Shot has power because of it's recharge, cost and disable.
Savage Shot is a little more flexible I would say, but it doesn't carry a disable.

And to answer your huge damage question, Anet made big numbers instead of good AI.

[MasterSasori]

I was using Screaming Shot for a while, didn't work out so well for me. The refresh time was a little too long for me to really use damage. Especially since I found Melandru's Arrows was working better for me through the period I used Screaming Shot. Bleeding isn't a big deal for me, not with Apply Poison and often a sword-using Warrior hero (Jora with a Barbed Sword Hilt).

Sloth Hunter's Shot had the same problem, with it taking a while to reload. That, and I was getting a more consistent damage spike alternating Power Shot and Savage Shot every five seconds or so. True, it has the potential to spike some damage but damage output hasn't been my problem specifically . . .

Distracting Shot . . . look, I find Savage Shot has performed better for me than that skill. I have to deal with more caster enemies than those who rely on skills, just doing casual running around. It interrupts as well, and punishes spellcasters; stacked behind Broad Head Arrow it generally allows me to abuse the heck out of enemy Monks.

No, see, the trouble has been less in pure damage output than with having enemies ignore everyone else and come tearing turf to slap me around. This has been happening with increasing amounts in Eye of the North and in Sorrow's Furnace attempts.

If you're looking for damage, Ranger isn't the right department for you.

BTW [distracting shot] should be on every bow ranger's bar.

[Kereminde]

I just re-read my posts and am groaning over how I contradict myself . . . and proceeded to think my statement through a little better. It's not about PURE damage output, but I like decent output. Power Shot doesn't seem worse than the ones listed, if only because other parts of my pattern don't mesh well.

If Distracting Shot has to be glued to my skill bar, then Charm Animal needs to get glued to everyone else's :)

Usually I take Cynn/Orion out with me and I KNOW they have less hit points than me, and will outdamage me 7 times out of 10. Still I got Stone Summit Carvers charging me and making me eat Shiverpeak snow. As far as defense goes, I have been taking out Lina for protection . . . usually Guardian and Aegis wind up on me. I'm not sure Weakness is a good answer, because it never seemed to hinder ME any . . .

But I dunno, I think if we're going to get into critiquing my build I should put a new topic rather than hijack this one completely. I know I should probably groom my necromancer hero to be a competent Minion Master. (After all, that seems to be the solution to EVERYTHING when I ask people; that or Ursan. No, I'm not using Ursan. It either works spectacularly or fails spectacularly. I also glued Broad Head Arrow to my skill bar so there's no room for another Elite.)

[Divisor]

Distracting Shot . . . look, I find Savage Shot has performed better for me than that skill. I have to deal with more caster enemies than those who rely on skills, just doing casual running around. It interrupts as well, and punishes spellcasters; stacked behind Broad Head Arrow it generally allows me to abuse the heck out of enemy Monks.


I'm not sure if you realize that D-shot's effect triggers on ANY skill, which also includes spells...

[Adja1005]

Ranger's are not a DPS class, we're better at spreading conditional damage and making high damage spikes aswell as interupting.

Distracting Shot and Sloth Hunter's Shot are two non elite skills that are better than half the elite skills available to Rangers. I know you said you weren't keen on the long recharge of Sloths but if used at the correct moment its easy to gain that bonus damage and cause a nice dip in a targets health bar.

D-Shot is a great skill but i can understand you wanting to use Savage Shot as afterall you can interupt more often with Savage. But remember D-Shot can be insanely usefull for taking out key skills that a target may use.

And while BHA is a good skill i'd suggest using Glass Arrows if you want to increase you're damage output. At 14 expertise it can add +19 damage to your arrows for 33 second. Combine that with Sloth Hunter's, Screaming Shot, Keen Arrow or Triple/Dual/Forked and you can have a seriously damaging spike.

[Kereminde]

I'm aware Distracting Shot also interrupts no matter what. Hey, Savage Shot does too :) It refreshes faster too so I can actively keep enemy Monks or Elementalists from doing really nasty spells. I also keep Broad Head Arrow around to daze, and Savage Shot makes it possible to interrupt those really quick spells I want to avoid seeing cast.

(Like Healing Hands. I NEVER want to see that skill cast. EVER.)

About Sloth Hunter's Shot:

I dunno if it's supposed to work this way but if the "skill activation bar" is up at ALL under an enemy name . . . it skips the bonus damage. Even if said skill was interrupted or finished. I just finished going after some stance-users while Elite Hunting today and it would NEVER trigger for me. I don't know if it's supposed to work like that, but I went to Glass Arrows for a while. (It at least would do any kind of effect on something blocking what seemed like 100% of the attacks . . . I hate assassin mobs now, by the way.)

[Tyla]

Distracting Shot also disables for 20 seconds.
Having both on your bar is a good thing, more interrupts is good.

[tekDragon]

You know as much as I love D-Shot I've never found it very effective in PvE HM. There usually are too many casters with one big spell to handle for it to make a huge difference.

That being said does anyone have an idea around which ranger of monstre AL the dps from Needling shot (or say needling shot + expert's focus) will become favourable vs. other sources of damage?