Table of Contents:

I. Introduction
II. Skills
III. Attributes
IV. The Gun
V. Shulgoth Talk
VI. Videos Section
VII. Aftermath

I. Introduction

First of all, Ive tested a lot of builds. From full Rapid Fire builds to Sniping builds and Grenade builds etc.. Ive leveled most of them past Level 20; I also tested some builds in Elite mode.

This is the final build I currently have on Timeout which I got him to Level 50. The build itself develops upon the stronger skill sets of the Marksman, while attempts to take the best balance for all the situations and challenges youll face in game.

http://hellgate.ingame.de/skilltree/...20000000300800



II. Skills

The Marksman is all about damage. In Nightmare/Elite, you would want to kill stuff as fast as possible. Normal should be a cake walk. If you are struggling, you need to rethink your build.

Looking at the Marksmans skill tree, the Rapid Fire line is the way to go To get Multishot.

Multishot:
It works with Sniper Stance, Tactical Stance, Rapid Fire, Normal Shots. What it does is triple your damage by shooting additional bullets. Thats exactly what your want, to deal more damage. Just get the minimum skill requirements down the line until you hit MultiShot.

I would definitely max this skill if I had enough skill points, but 8/10 is enough. During this 11 second period, you would be able to dish out 2 Rapid Fires. 90% of the time, big group of mobs would have been dead during the first MultiShot + Rapid Fire combo.

Beacon:
Max it. 90% extra damage, enough said. Works well with bosses/minibosses/tough mobs. You can see how often I use this skill in the videos section below.

Ricochet, Reflected Shot:
Max it. I think most people here know for what reason. Besides the instant room clearing advantage when both skills trigger, it works amazingly well with single targets as well. What happens is when a bullet Ricochets, it is then automatically redirected from Reflected Shot onto the target. This is very noticeable on Nightmare Shulgoth or other mobs or bosses that has a decent HP pool.

Another reason to max Ricochet and Reflected Shot is to keep the seconds up, as long as possible. MultiShot at 7/10 would be able to cover the full period of maxed Ricochet and Reflected shot up, which is 7 seconds. During this 7 seconds period, you would be dealing the highest damage you can do. The longer, the better.

But normal trash dies within 2 seconds of carnage, why bother making it 7 seconds then?
Well, the 7 seconds you want would be used against bosses, especially bosses in higher difficulties, Nightmare/Elite etc. Also groups and groups of mobs. Lets say you are in an open area, you managed to clear the pack in front but there is still a pack behind you, all you need to do is to turn around and shoot. It also helps when you are in group play, where mobs HP gets a significant boost.

Dead Eye:
Max it. For obvious purposes. Especially when you want Ricochet and Reflected to trigger as much as possible.

Sniper Stance and Escape:
1 Point in each. Sniper Stance comes in handy in certain situations, such as killing those flying mobs from a long distance where they wont "notice" you, or die trying to get near you; Or killing a group of ravagers when you do want to engage them closeup, having them jumping all around you.

Escape is for fleeing, skipping mob packs, or for sneaking close up to a single/group or mob(s) to do your MultiShot Rapid Fire combo.



Why I didnt max the Rapid Fire line?

Well, 3/10 Rapid Fire and 10/10 Rapid Fire is 80% increase in the rate of fire. Which is definitaly good, but not good enough.

Keep in mind that you have limited amount of skill points, and you need to invest them in the most cost effective way.

Getting the necessarily skills up to 7/10 Multi Shot is a total 15 skill points.
Maxing everything down the Rapid Fire line to use it to its full potential requires 40 skill points. Thats 25 skill points we are talking about here.

With Ricochet and Reflected Shot triggering, the damage will not be any lower than a full Rapid Fire build, if not, HIGHER. Also you have a lot higher utility and mobility in the build. I could just walk around shooting and both Ricochet and Reflected triggers for 7 seconds, I proceed to kill a few groups of mobs during that 7 seconds period, just using normal shots from my gun. (Please watch the Experience Demo Run video for an example)

Also I dont have to go near mobs every so often relying on using Rapid Fire to kill them.
Having able to max Beacon is awesome as well.

Although this build isnt able to use Rapid Fire to its max potential damage, it takes the best out of its tree, and tries to take balance with other skills that works along well together. A winwin situation I would say.

Why I didnt take these skills?

Grenade Tree and Precision Strikes:
Its a waste of skill points, flat out simple. Let me remind you guys as stated in the beginning of the article, "The Marksman is all about damage". Although they do OK damage, it is not enough. They also require a lot of skill points and elemental debuffs to be effective in harder difficulties. They are also not 1 point wonders, as many people might have tested out already. Those skills are fun to use, but as of right now, "fun" is also the only things Grenades and Precision Strikes grants you.

Tactical Stance Tree:
Ive also been thinking if I would need to invest points here at the beginning. It was either getting Multi Shot or maxing Tactical Stance. I choose Multi Shot and it turned out to be the correct decision. The one point default point would be enough; To gain better accuracy and a slightly longer range. Some people might argue that putting more points in it would give you higher chances to have a critical strike. I would say it is not needed. The critical chance % gained from gear and Dead Eye would be enough. When using Multi Shot and Rapid Fire together, its almost a 100% chance that multiple criticals will trigger. What you want is criticals to trigger Ricochet and Reflected shot. Having a higher critical chance is always great, but in this case, it is not cost effective enough.

If we are not spending points in Tactical Stance, we wont be getting Overshield and Elemental Visions also.

Sniper Stance Tree:
Do not invest more than 1 point, unless you want to become a "dedicated sniper". I understand the happiness to be able to 1 shot mobs from 1000 kilometers away, but in harder difficulties, that is often not the case, as mobs close in quickly, travel in packs, and are often hard to kill with single burst. Also keep in mind that you might not always have the room for sniping. All in all, it does not allow you to kill fast enough, which is something we dont want.

Elemental Beacon and Multi Beacon:
This build does not use any grenades, or heavy dependent on elemental attacks. Raw damage is enough to mow down most of the stuff in game already. As for Multi Beacon, it stacks with Beacon to gain a 150% increase in damage to a target, but that another 13 skill points we are talking about here in order to achieve that number. There are better places to spend it and maxing out Beacon for 90% would be good enough.

Hollow Points:
One or Nothing. First level grants you a 20% critical damage boost, but every other levels just grants you 10% each. When maxing out the skill, it only gives you 80% critical damage boost. Ive seen a lot of mods that gives you 80% or more of bonus critical damage, just from one mod. Not worth the investment at all.

Last but not least, Homing Shot:
As of now, the skill is bugged, and we are still unclear how the skill would work. Does it only works with certain weapons only? Does it hit the same target? Does it "home" target mobs around the corner? We dont know yet. Who knows how it would actually work when it is "fixed"? But if you hate rerolling, you could always save a few points before you get to level 50 to plan the build you want.

The build I have right now is revolved around what currently works, and Ricochet with Reflected shot is a proven fact to be a good combo. But if you still plan on saving up skill points to invest in Homing Shot after its fixed in the long run, please hold on a second and think to yourself: Is it necessary?

This is the description of Homing Shot:
"When the marksman scores a critical hit, certain projectilebased guns may automatically track targets."

(Assume Ricochet is triggered with Homing/Reflected Shot in the cases below)
Lets ignore the "certain projectilebased guns" part and assume it will work with every gun. Here is the point, Reflected Shot also automatically tracks target, but it ALSO does it TWO times.

The difference between the two, is that Reflected Shot would automatically track targets up to two times, while Homing Shot would only track a target once.

Think Reflected Shot is like a chain lightning that damage up to 3 targets (Initial target + 2 more upon Reflect), and Homing Shot as a laser guided missile, that is bound to hit the target once, and only once.

Damage wise, Reflected Shot is a lot better than Homing Shot, and I dont really see how beneficial Homing Shot would be, especially at this stage.

Here is an example of me killing a single mob here (I was Level 41 at the time, mobs were Level 4647)



When I walked around the corner, all the other mobs were dead (Look at the mini map for my position)



This scenario is what had me thinking, so I took the screenshots. I really doubt Homing Shot can do this. I have also had mobs dying 100s of meters away from my original target in different levels (Shooting from an upper level, things dying in the lower level).

(Fun tip: At The Big Gundown, you can shoot the "spaceship with your gun if you can get Reflected Shot to trigger while shooting Orbiles. VERY helpful in Nightmare.)



III. Attributes

There are a couple ways on how to invest you attribute points:
1. Invest them whenever the gear you want to use requires it.
2. Go heavy Stamina to get + All Attribute gear to get an overall boost, while adding some Accuracy and Will as well.

I reject by going through a systematic way to distribute attribute points, because it often doesnt guarantee that youre able to wear a certain piece of gear. Especially when you hit Level 25+, points on each attribute gets pretty tight due to gear requirements. But whatever you do, please restrain from putting points into Strength. Also, high Accuracy is not needed. As long as you can use your gun, you should be good.

(Screenshots as of Nov 26)

These are my attributes with no gear on at Level 50



And with gear on



I dont think I will use those extra 63 attribute points until I find good upgrades that requires it.



IV. The Gun

Weapons you would want to use are Automatic Rifles.

The more bullets youre shooting, the better. When you do the MultiShot Rapid Fire combo, critical(s) are bound to trigger, and Ricochet, Reflected Shot will follow up. Hence, the huge burst damage.

There are 3 types of Automatic Rifles, and here are some rough facts:
1. Exothermic, Fire Damage 600/RPM, 6 Slots Max
2. Volt, Electric Damage 400/RPM, 8 Slots Max
3. 25mm, Physical Damage 300/RPM, 5 Slots Max

There isnt a definite answer to which one is better, because the stats and slots you get that comes with the gun plays a big factor, but if you put that aside, the Exothermic type might have an edge over the others a wee bit, just because it has a higher RPM, and does Fire damage which provides you a chance to ignite the enemy. Either way its no big deal.

Another thing that is very important but many people might neglect, is to get yourself a high Shield Penetration percentage. At least 75%.

I have 85% myself and it works wonders. It helps speeding up kills a lot in Nightmare. This works really well with a lot of mobs that have a shield. Test it for yourself and you will see what I mean.

V. Shulgoth Talk

Just some rough time facts on what I have tested, using Nightmare Shulgoth kills. You will be meeting him a lot when you head into Nightmare.

Normal Attacks + Beacon - Around 20 seconds (Assume no Ricochet, Reflected Shot proc)

Multi-Shot + Rapid Fire + Beacon - Around 3 seconds (Assume no Ricochet, Reflected Shot proc)

Multi-Shot + Rapid Fire + Beacon + Ricochet + Reflect Shot - Umm.. LESS than 1 second

What I see during that split second is Shulgoth's HP bar goes from 100% -> 50% -> 0%.

PS. Quoting myself from this thread:
http://forums.hellgatelondon.com/showthread.php?t=42321
Syndonai died within 2 seconds when I was level 30.

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VI. Videos Section

Videos at Level 35:

Shulgoth run. Didn't even get beacon on him -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJsNwTgSXo0

Shulgoth run. This run is slower and you can tell the difference. Ricochet didn't proc -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0HgBuK728U

Was on my way to Shulgoth when I saw 2 zombie packs standing together, so I decided to cap what Multi Shot and Rapid Fire does to groups -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJpoHKaBQdc

Another Shulgoth run. Just me and him in this one -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fmxIZU3l2g

A video I found on Stage6, a Level 35 Marksman as well -
http://stage6.divx.com/user/sommie/v...-shulgoth-run-

Although I'm not sure of his build, his game play style is very similar to mine, however I could drop those Blade Slayers and Imps almost twice as fast than he could. That's how good Shield Penetration is.

A Shulgoth run using a Sniper Rifle -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXPz-O-jAs4

Videos at Level 44:

This is an experience run demo, from Temple Approach to Waterloo Bridge. The video is 5 minutes long, starting from Temple Approach to half way through Savoy (It's very laggy when I'm trying to record and use the combo at the same time) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxbLtHEwnC0

This is how I normally play my Marksman. A lot of run and gunning, while doing "the thing" when needed.

This one here includes 4 short footages of massive Multi Shot + Rapid Fire kills. Well not that "massive" but thats the best I can get in 4 runs when I was trying to make the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCwnREg5loY

I remember in one of the runs I did, there were around 30-40 Mobs in that big open room (The one that has 2 floors). I jumped down and hit Multi Shot with Rapid Fire, 6 second lag on my screen, then everything was dead. Wish I had Frapped that one.

For those who have asked me how I level from 40 to 44 in one day; Well each run from Temple Station clearing all the way to Charing Cross Station takes roughly 15 minutes, maximum 20 minutes. Each run gives about 22% of my experience bar when I started at Level 40. It still gives me around 17% per run at Level 44. You can do the math.

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VII. Aftermath

Pretty much stuck with the plan from the start to the end. Im glad to say everything worked out pretty smooth. I solod all the way to Level 50, and managed to tackle every quest Ive encountered so far.

Beat Syndonai in Nightmare Solo, which is a world first. This was roughly a day and a half after I hit Level 50. Guess that's pretty much it for the game. Only a few side quests left around St. Paul's Station that I might go back and finish them later on.



Just a quick breakdown of where and how I leveled from 1 to 50:
Level 1-30 - In Normal pure questing, no grind. Did not skip a single quest. Was Level 30 when I fought Syndonai.
Level 30-31 - Questing my way to Shulgoth.
Level 31-40 - Raping Shulgoth over 700 times.
Level 40-49 - Mainly doing experience runs from Temple Station to Charing Cross Station.
Level 49-50 - Monument Tunnels and Monument Crawlway.

Also add in the usual questing here and there when I could solve them. (No point trying to quest when mobs are more than 8 levels above me)

I wouldnt say this is the way to go, but that is how I did it.



When I was at Level 49 trying to get to 50, I was bored to death. However CarnageDVS whom Ive traded with in the past tried to keep me entertained.



Haha thanks buddy.

Sadly, I missed the screenshot when I hit 50. I was trying to hit v for a nice pose, but mobs were hacking at me at the same time. By the time I cleared them all, the Level 50 heading was gone.

All in all, I thank everyones support and appreciate all the feedback that are given.
I will never say that there is a specific best build, and this build is just one of them among many builds. I also encourage people to test things out over theorycraft. It makes a big difference a lot of the time.

If you have a vision, and have facts to back them up, then go with what you think that would work best for you.

That is what I did. (I do regret putting 5 points into Strength though )

Thank You for Reading.