Why does improved firing mechanism suck?

[mjkittredge]

I was psyched to get this skill finally. Now that I have it, I'm really dissapointed. Before I got Improved Firing Mechanism, my traps would aim for specific enemies, kill them, then pick another target. Now, it just shoots out seemingly at random. This results in a lot of misses, even on Xmax! My clever traps just got stupid! Grrrrrr!

Is there something I'm missing? The only tactic I've figured out to improve accuracy is to either cast the trap right next to enemies, or fight enemies right next to it.

Would it be better to take the points out of this skill so my traps go back to sniping enemies?

[Vegreaper]

Only one of those bolts per a trap's attack is actually meant to hit someone. It will seem like it's shooting at random, since you'll see 2 bolts missing and one bolt hitting the target.

Keep the points, they'll come in handy against bosses. Cast it at their feet (and other large monsters), so all the bolts will hit them because they're practically standing on them

[Blackhand]

Actually, it doesn`t suck, but don`t forget that it also gives other bonuses, and at higher levels, it can fire 5 [ or more] arrows, decimating enemies.

[mjkittredge]

Hmm, I guess I should give it further testing.

I bet a lot of trappers pick Hunting Mastery as their second, for Study Prey.

[ZanderArch]

I thought it sucked too when I finally got a point in it. I thought it was going to be some kind of barrage like effect, launching a wave of arrows toward the target, or firing at multiple targets... But then is just sprayed everywhere, didn't like it. Then I studied it a little and it works just like a regular trap. The trap still picks a target and fire one arrow accurately at it, then the rest are fired at random angles.

The bonuses make points to it worth it since the extra arrows don't seem to do much, but I'm pretty sure they work nicely.

[Magoosh]

It's really about trap placement. Against 1 regular, non boss mob its really not going to do as much.

But when placed in the middle of large groups (especially on XMAX) or right on top of a boss, they can dish out some serious dmg.

[gasconron]

Originally Posted by mjkittredge

Hmm, I guess I should give it further testing.

I bet a lot of trappers pick Hunting Mastery as their second, for Study Prey.

yup you got that right... set traps > study prey to agro > throwing knives to spread poison > lethal strike the largest threat

[claudius]

It helps to have rapid construction along with rapid firing mechanism. 3 traps all spewing 5 bolts will get you pretty far until the damage trails off (Legendary Egypt).

My strategy is to place them in a triangle close enough to produce crossfire yet command a wide area.