The rifle is mostly just because I like rifles better than longbows. Critical strike applying bleed plus a large amount of precision may allow for a good application of bleed stacks. I don't disagree that Longbow would be better because of the fire stacks, but I get enough longbow on my ranger. But considering the goal of the build, you're right. I think I should probably have the bow be the default and create a rifle variant for myself just for the fun.
It seemed that Discipline was more appropriate because:
- Crack shot for rifle (admittedly with Longbow being better and should be the primary for this build, this is sort of wobbly)
- "Vengeful Return" is a huge benefit when roaming solo PvE. If you get downed, pop vengeance and kill something (anything) to rally.
- Destruction of the Empowered will help against upper tier and boss creatures that have perpetual boons on them.
- Burst Mastery will give a DPS boost. Increased Adrenaline generation from specializations, plus fast attacks, plus popping into Zerk mode more often seems it would get significant benefit from a Burst damage increase.
This was my thinking at the time. Not sure if it will bear out, but it seemed to make sense when I was theorycrafting it.
I've also been flip-flopping with the notion of adding Sundering Leap for the Leap Finisher for the torch's Fire Field.
The good news is, there's lots of options to try. Please let me know what you're seeing if you try this, and thanks very much for the feedback!
