How to Exploit the Chain Subtype with Ranged Weapons

English please. I realize this title is completely meaningless for somebody who’s not playing “The Secret World”.  But hopefully it catches somebody’s interest who’s gotten a bit deeper into the workings of the combat abilities in TSW. For the record: this is not an exploit in the standard MMORPG sense. This is using a game mechanic in a way the developers intended.

Each weapon group in TSW has its own way to build resources: Melee weapons build up with each use of a builder attack and slowly out of combat. Which means, for melee, you can open your attack with a finisher using maximum resources. Magic is building up resources only when builder attacks are being used. And finally, ranged weapons build up resources with each builder attack, but they are bound to a single target. If the target dies, the resources are lost. Magic and melee attacks are independent of the target. They remain usable after a target’s death.

However, with chain attacks things become interesting. A chain attack hits a first victim and then jumps over to up to 4 more targets. Imagine a lightning bolt not only hitting you, but the 4 people right next to you. If a ranged resource is built through a chain attack, it is built up on each target hit by the chain. Which means, you can execute a finishing attack with maximum resources, switch to the next target and execute another maxed finisher. Rinse and repeat.

Only pistols, elemental and blood magic have chains as part of their standard abilities, but the use of this mechanic is not restricted to these weapons. Some passive abilities can turn certain attacks into chains. As long as the resource building is done with a chain attack by one of those weapon types or triggered by a passive ability and the finishing move is using a ranged weapon, this mechanic can be used.

Caveat: Right now, my pistol/elemental character delivers pretty good dps. I just don’t get around to tab target through 3 or 4 enemies and dispatch them one by one with finishers. They are down way earlier. That’s why it took a while to notice this great option.