After getting some good early third job experience, I can definitely say the first point into Blizzard and Inferno are the best choice, followed by Arrow Rain/Eruption. Blizzard finds good use on mobs, despite doing lower base damage than Iron Arrow, and not being able to critical, Iron Arrow's damage reduction proves to inhibit its reliability. I was finding myself 3HKOing the last two or three mobs in a trail with Iron Arrow despite 2HKOing the first, and 3HKOing constantly with Blizzard, but freezing at the same time. Thus, I ended up taking the same time killing most mobs that were closely packed enough, but also being able to hit monsters behind me if something was point blank, as well as hitting this up slopes with the curving and AoE. Arrow Eruption has use at level 1 despite being weaker and hitting fewer targets than Iron Arrow or Blizzard; it does have similar hits to kill as Blizzard though, and the ability to hit targets on both sides of you without having to lure and turn is invaluable.
After going around a bit, I've found good training in a Dark Sand Dwarf + Sand Mole map; the Dark Sand Dwarves are weak to ice, which really rewards you for freezing if you decide to, and opt to use it to hit more distant targets that Eruption can't reach.
I added the one point into Dodge like my build outlines to see if it is a good idea; misses are very rare now. Despite having so much DEX, there really isn't a lot of avoid at all. I've done a few tries, and from what I can conclude, mob skills don't get a significant if any bonus from Dodge, though I've seen my Double Shot hit double criticals every time a monster missed me.Could be a fluke though, and I'll retest when I max Arrow Eruption and have a point for Strafe despite it being weak and pomegranatety at level 1. I have 1 Strafe and 3 Dodge; it is obscenely hard to get a monster to miss on me, I'd have to go back to Victoria or something =[
With the trend, I may be agreeing that Mortal Blow is fairly useless. Despite being completely unfunded using clean, crappy gear, I'm not hitting weak enough for it to be potentially useful. It may change as I move up to higher monsters and not have better gear to match them though; Mortal Blow has a new unique animation that explicity shows you that it's activated. I think it may activate despite accuracy, which can be a bonus. Perhaps there is something about it I'm not seeing though. I'm tempted to say I've seen it OHKO full/high hp monsters, but I honestly don't pay enough attention to things I'm shooting.I see it really often despite being a 5% activation @ 15% HP?
After going around a bit, I've found good training in a Dark Sand Dwarf + Sand Mole map; the Dark Sand Dwarves are weak to ice, which really rewards you for freezing if you decide to, and opt to use it to hit more distant targets that Eruption can't reach.
I added the one point into Dodge like my build outlines to see if it is a good idea; misses are very rare now. Despite having so much DEX, there really isn't a lot of avoid at all. I've done a few tries, and from what I can conclude, mob skills don't get a significant if any bonus from Dodge, though I've seen my Double Shot hit double criticals every time a monster missed me.
With the trend, I may be agreeing that Mortal Blow is fairly useless. Despite being completely unfunded using clean, crappy gear, I'm not hitting weak enough for it to be potentially useful. It may change as I move up to higher monsters and not have better gear to match them though; Mortal Blow has a new unique animation that explicity shows you that it's activated. I think it may activate despite accuracy, which can be a bonus. Perhaps there is something about it I'm not seeing though. I'm tempted to say I've seen it OHKO full/high hp monsters, but I honestly don't pay enough attention to things I'm shooting.I see it really often despite being a 5% activation @ 15% HP?