Quote:Does Lightning Mastery (or Fire Mastery I suppose) work on damage delivered with ranged weapons?
Everyone knows (?) that the masteries work on (the correct elemental) damage delivered by swords and orbs and staves (etc) and other melee weapons. But does anyone know if it works when such damage is delivered by ranged weapons (thrown daggers in my case, but bows or javs also)?
As others have said, it won't work with ranged attacks (Cold Mastery probably will, though, as it doesn't actually affect the damage dealt). Still, if you're keen on making a sorcy who shoots stuff other than spells, I have a suggestion. Grab yourself a Demon Machine crossbow and Razortail belt, and max Enchant, Fire Mastery, and Warmth. The Enchant damage will get the bonus of Fire Mastery when cast, and though it won't be additionally boosted on the hit (as melee Enchant damage would be), the Enchant damage will stack with the splash damage of the exploding bolts. Think of this as piercing Fireballs that cost no mana.
I actually had a sorcy like this doing around 5-6k damage per bolt, but I'm rebuilding her now (I originally had her use Thunderstorm as a backup for FI baddies, but that was too slow, so I'm now using Frozen Orb). The bolts are devastating against non-FI mobs, as the explosion is usually triggered several times in close proximity. Each target hit by a bolt takes phys damage + Enchant damage + Enchant-boosted splash damage (usually several splashes), and everything else takes the splash damage. If I ever find a Widowmaker, I'm going to be so happy- think heat-seeking Fireballs. :)
A sorcy like this is also pretty party-friendly; giving any physical attackers in your party an additional 500+ fire damage is nothing to sneeze at.