Do Auto-attacks continue while casting?

[Darkoverlord2]

Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere I couldn't find it.

My question is do ranger/ MM auto-attacks continue while casting abilities such as empowered shot/ shadowdfire shot etc.

As far as I can tell if they don't then the buffs from shadowfire shot/ rapid fire shot/ doubleshot talent seem very diminished also it would make deadeye shot and empowered shot weak compared to the instant abilities as auto attacks can continue during them.

Thanks all

[Vague]

no
/10char

[Arvelen]

No, they don't, however depending on your weapon speed, you can time your shots so that you'll weave your auto attack in to ALL your special shots, even including Empowered and Deadeye shot.

For instance, take the Ashwood Longbow (crafted level 19 bow) that has a 2.6 weapon speed. My shot rotation would go something like this:

Splinter Shot (opener) -> Auto shot -> Barbed Shot -> Auto shot -> Empowered Shot -> Auto Shot -> Rapid Fire Shot (finisher) -> ...

While I can't specifically say whether or not this is maximizing your DPS output, it allows you to get your auto shots off as well as allowing you time inbetween specials to regenerate energy so that you're pretty much always maxed out and ready so that you can pop off Hit and Run and spam Empowered/Deadeye shot.

[Arvelen]

No, they don't, however depending on your weapon speed, you can time your shots so that you'll weave your auto attack in to ALL your special shots, even including Empowered and Deadeye shot.

For instance, take the Ashwood Longbow (crafted level 19 bow) that has a 2.6 weapon speed. My shot rotation would go something like this:

Splinter Shot (opener) -> Auto shot -> Barbed Shot -> Auto shot -> Empowered Shot -> Auto Shot -> Rapid Fire Shot (finisher) -> ...

While I can't specifically say whether or not this is maximizing your DPS output, it allows you to get your auto shots off as well as allowing you time inbetween specials to regenerate energy so that you're pretty much always maxed out and ready so that you can pop off Hit and Run and spam Empowered/Deadeye shot.

Got a little ahead of myself... Here's the rest:

While Rapid Fire Shot DOES decrease the amount of time between auto shots, it only drops that 2.6 weapon speed down to 1.86 (if my math is correct). Empowered and Deadeye only have a 1.5 s cast time, so while there's a smaller margin for error, it's still doable. Add Shadow Fire on decreases that margin even further, putting weapon speed at 1.506, so you essentially have .006 s to get the other shots in... Unless you pop Hit and Run! As for Doubleshot, the way I understand it is that it triggers at the same time as your normal auto shot, so you're firing 2 auto shots at once, as opposed to auto shot -> auto shot.

[Darkoverlord2]

Thanks for the replies they've been very useful.

[Grath]

this is horrible... if thats true i dont want to play a marksman or ranger anymore

[Arvelen]

this is horrible... if thats true i dont want to play a marksman or ranger anymore

You can make it work if you try. If not, well... PEBKAC?