I am doing an AR/Shotgun build and I feel that those powers are very weak.
Both don't really help me while leveling and the heal is nearly not noticeable, when it matters. I have AR 7/4 and Shotgun 4/4. Talismans all on 4.
Is there any way or build to make an AR/SG build more tanky so I can survive longer?
ps.:
I could switch to a different secondary weapon if absolutely necessary, but I definitely want to keep my Assault Rifle.
pps.: I am currently in Savaged Coast and Kingsmouth
Best Answer
The first thing to check is your talismans -- do you have at least 2 heal talismans and one health talisman, or are you trying to run pure dps? AR is an odd beast in that it is actually most effective when your attack rating is the same as your heal rating (though I admit that I personally tend to push my luck and go as dps-heavy as I think I can survive), and you need a bit of health to get you over the initial spike, particularly with multiple opponents.
Anima shot is a fairly decent basic builder (though Anima Burst is actually slightly better overall once you have sufficient heal rating), but Shot of Anima is actually a horrible skill for soloing -- it's really designed for when you're providing heal duty for a group. For when you're solo, you want Transfuse Anima from a bit further down in the same tree instead (which basically does the same damage as any other single-target consumer from any DPS tree, AND gets you a hefty self heal), and then Re-Animator, the elite skill from the same line, lets you put down some fairly serious self-healing once every 20 seconds, which you need to not be using as an emergency power, but basically as soon as its healing wouldn't be wasted, as it comes back fast enough to be used twice or more in a fight.
Another thing not to neglect is passives from other trees. For a single AP, you can pick up Lick Your Wounds from the Fist line, which provides a surprising amount of mitigation with a couple of heal talismans. For a single additional AP, you can also get Immortal Spirit from the blades line, but even using Anima Burst and Suppressing Fire for your builders for the extra attacks per second, your penetration rating might be too low at your current level to make it work (though keep your eye on it for the later game). Another good one, though probably very expensive for you in terms of AP, is Healing Sparks from the outer Fist "Warming Up" tree. If you are applying Afflicted at least once every ten seconds you can also look at Circulation from the outer Blood Magic tree "Circulation", but again, expensive.
If you need a second emergency self-heal to go along with Re-Animator, you can look at Turn the Tables from the "Survivalism" independent tree as well, which is relatively cheap to obtain.
AR is unfortunately a bit weak against swarms, as its primary leeching ability is single-target, though you can get a bit of use by combining Suppressing Fire with Leeching Frenzy and then still using Transfuse Anima as your AR consumer, but an AoE Shotgun consumer to back it up. Against single bosses, however, AR/Shotgun is arguably one of the best combinations due to the ability to stack the self-heal with Debilitated (which you can apply cheaply with Pump Action + Sawed Off in the early game, or Fire and Forget + Improved Blasts from the Hammer outer circle for more range in the late game), which will reduce all incoming damage by 30% once you have all stacks applied, and still putting out the bulk of your DPS at the same time and having access to both Cleanse and Purge as needed for special targets.