Valuation of Iron Grip passive for ranger (dex-based) bow builds

Question

Under which conditions should a ranger (usually dex-based) consider taking the Iron Grip passive?

With around 200 Str, Iron Grip would add another 40% projectile damage - I was tempted by this until reading an analysis of just how underpowered it is, considering the several nodes needed to reach it for dex-based builds ... with 5 pts to traverse it becomes a measly 8% damage boost per node.

There are several factors that I can't analyze well for the trade-offs concerned, such as

• With Iron Grip, there is more justification to take Str nodes - this also raises life, and there is some decent max life scaling near that area too
• Utmost Strength cluster nearby could boost the life/dmg values higher
• A major reason for me to pass it up, is because I gave up on a generic 'projectile tree' (to try wander later) and am going for bow nodes; maybe its better for non-bow builds?
• Not sure if any dex-based builds would use Resolute Technique, but if so then I can see Iron Grip being an easier pick-up and also more useful

Also, are there conditions under which a crit bow build would benefit enough to take IG with an investment of 5-7 pts?

Answer 1

Since Iron Grip is an Increased and not a More bonus, it's almost always useless.
The only situations in which it can be taken into consideration is if you are going for a full Strength build (like 2000+ Strength), or if you plan to actually use different skills that are all Projectiles but with a different weapon base, for example any bow skill and projectile-melee-attack (like Spectral Throw) on a sword with weapon swap. I've never seen something like that, even if it's technically possible, that by doing so Iron Grip became one of the few skills capable of scaling all the damage at the same time. Otherwise, all the points for the relevant weapon you're using are more valuable.