So, I'm not an Artisan Rep, however I do have a high level Launcher Arti. I'll outline some of the finer points of this build
1: AoE's. This is good, as the path to being a good PvP player starts with leveling. AoE's for most party's are a must. These can also increase your damage done in CD and over-all increase your point gain.
2: Offensive Passives. At first your offensive passives look, wonky at best. However once you max them out you have roughly the following.
35% Def Pierce
70% Critical Damage
25% Skill Power
High AP
Mid-High Skill Power attacks from Artisan Tree.
If you build with 1 def pierce gem + 1 citrine, you can bump those values to 40% + ### pierced and 100% critical Damage.
3: Cast times. For 1v1 Launcher combat, Artisans beat bourges. Their single target skills from the Artisan tree cast so much faster then a Bourges.
4: AoE Radius + Sleep. You can cast Hypno Shot with a Launcher and the AoE radius passive bumps this from 10m AoE, to 15!. It's insanity, and OH SO helpful when controlling large groups of enemy's.
5: Better accuracy then Cannon Bourge. Artisans gain a 15% accuracy passive, while I think Launcher Bourges have none. This can greatly help with your combating Raiders and Scouts.
6: Nades. The fact that you have 5 types of nades [Stun, Normal, Mp, Poison, Flash] with a Stun [Daze Attack] and Hypno Shot makes you one of the most reliable CC partners.
7: Mutes. [related to nades] Mute's don't affect a Arti much. Consumables like Grenades can be used while muted. And Skill Power Passives work on Grenades. Launcher Artisan has Both Nades, Skill Power passives and in addition high AP. This makes them master's of the nade, as they cast nades at the same speed as a gun, but with significantly more oomph.
So from my experience, a Launcher Artisan is fully capable of nuking an opponent, and CCing like a boss. They're very well rounded and if played correctly, very useful.
Edited by Feuer, 02 December 2014 - 06:13 AM.