Perfect World Archer Guide
Perfect World Archer Guide by sacchin
Archers are of the Elven race and are DDs (damage dealers) that specialize in ranged physical damage. They stand in the back or fly in the air and take out whatever they can quickly and smoothly before being taken down themselves. Due to this nature, Archers are prone to have relatively little HP, high attack power, high critical rate, and high dodge rate.
Archers are given a choice of 3 types of ranged weapons: Bow, Crossbow, Slingshot. Each has certain attributes that make them unique and I will discuss those later in the guide.
Archers are very interesting and versatile! We are one of the top damage dealing classes in the game, alongside Mages. The lower-mid levels can be a little troublesome with low HP and lacking stuns/slows, combined with the fact that we do half damage at close range, but it gets better. However, many upcoming Archers may give up early because they seem weak. Archers don’t truly shine until 80+, or at least 70+, when gear, and most importantly, crit rate, starts to get better. So if you’re looking for an easy ride all the way through, Archer may not be for you! Archers have the power to take out squishy targets quickly with our excellent range and spike damage. They also have metal-based magical attacks that are very useful for Heavy Armored, low Magical Defense classes (WR and WB). After reading this, if the Archer class interests you, then continue reading!
There’s really only 1 build I recommend as an Archer, and its “Pure Dex.” That means you put enough Strength to wear the latest Light Armor, then the rest into Dex. This means you want (Your Level + 4) Strength, and every other point into Dex. That means you can do 1Str/4Dex every level, or you can pump Dex until you reach the level of a new armor you want, and add the missing Strength. Note: Its never a good idea to buy armor from vendors Also, if you’re close to a new critical % marker, it may be worth it to place extra points in Dex as well. Critical is 1% every 20 Dex.
The levels of new armors are:
_0 – Chest
_3 – Leggings
_4 – Arm
_6 – Feet
I don’t believe placing points into Vit is worth it. Archers get 13 (I believe) HP for each point. Archers are “glass cannons” of sorts, meaning they are meant to deal as much damage as possible before anyone can hit them. This means you need as much attack power/critical % as possible. You get enough HP to survive from +’ing armor and using HP shards. +’ing armor involves using Mirage Celestones, which you can read about in other guides or find out about in game. HP shards are gems that have stats, in this case +HP, which you can place into equipment.
Equipment can have from 2-4 sockets each. You armor can also have a little glow, color is dependent on the shard you use, if you fill it with the exact same type of shards of average quality or better.
NEVER add points into Mag however. It will not be worth it at all.
In the early levels, you’ll generally use whatever weapon you can find until level 19/20 when you can complete and equip the FB19 Crossbow. This bow should last you into your 30s. Once you get higher up however, you get some choices between Bows, Crossbows, and Slingshots. To me personally, the Bow is the most aesthetically pleasing.
Bows: Bows are basically the middle of the pack. Moderate average damage, moderate attack speed, moderate low-end and high-end damage. Bows use Arrow type ammunition. i.e. Phoenix Tail Arrow
Crossbows: Crossbows have the highest top-end, lowest low-end, and slowest attack speed. Note: Attack speed doesn’t matter when using skills, so that’s something to keep in mind. Crossbows use Bolt type ammunition. i.e. Bone Bolt
Slingshots: Slingshots have the highest low-end damage, lowest high-end damage, and fastest attack speed. I don’t like the look of them, but they are very good for every day grinding. Slingshots use Shot type ammunition. i.e. Pulse Shot
So whatever weapon you use is up to you. I find Slingshots are the best choice for PvE grinding, simply because of the fast attack speed and consistent good damage. PvP choice will depend on how you choose to play your Archer.
Another note on ammunition: I just use the level 1 type for ammunition when grinding. I really didn’t think the massive increase in cost was worth the benefit in damage increase. In PvP, that may be another issue however. But for starters, I’d recommend sticking with level 1 and whatever you get as a drop.
Ammunition can be purchased from any Blacksmith in town. It can also be crafted with the Craft skill at a Craftsman, but I don’t recommend this as the cost far outweighs the benefits.
Here I will explain some of the skills that Archers can learn. I’ll only explain the more basic ones, up to 59 or so, as that’s all you should need to know about to get your Archer started.
To find out more detailed information, I suggest checking out: http://www.ecatomb.net/skillpwi.php
Also, adding my opinion on priorities for upgrading skills. Priority 1 = Highest Priority, so keep upgrading it as soon as you reach the next required level. Priority 0 = leave it at level 1.
This is one of the first skills you start with as an Archer. You can reach level 10 by level 45. At level 1, it is a 5 second maximum charge and dealing base physical plus 165% weapon damage. At level 10, this becomes a 3.2 second charge dealing base physical plus 300% weapon damage, improving at -.2s and +15% weapon damage each level.
At the early levels, this skill is quite useless. The big usefulness of it comes from the weapon damage bonus. However, at low levels, your weapon is, well, garbage. That makes the damage garbage. Combine this with the relatively long charge time and issues with KSing in this game, its not good at the beginning. However, later on when you get high powered weapons, this spell becomes very strong. I’d recommend leaving this at level 1 until at least level 60 when you can get a TT60 weapon.
Priority: 4 – Not necessary to level until at least 60
Useless in early levels. Leave it at level 1 until around 60+, then max it when you can. You can charge it and shoot it earlier if you need.
The other skill that your Archer starts with. Able to be maxed at level 43. This skill looks like two arrows shooting. Deals base physical plus 12 damage at level 1, becoming base physical plus 908.4. In the lower levels, this should deal more damage than Take Aim. However, it really loses its usefulness early on. I’d recommend leaving it at level 1 for good and moving on to more useful abilities.
Priority: 0 – not useful at all unless you reach level 89 and choose Demon Path
Leave it at level 1
The first new skill you are able to train. At level 1, it adds 13% of weapon damage as Fire damage to your normal shots. You can max it at level 51, adding an extra 3% per level. It gives your weapon a red glow too!
I recommend maxing this skill whenever you have the SP to spare. At lower levels, its not quite as noticeable due to low weapon power, but as you get higher up, its very useful. Definitely a good skill to have and worth maxing as soon as you can.
Priority: 1 – Keep this leveled
Good skill, max it when you can
Congratulations! You’ve reached level 9 and have received your first Cultivation quest. After you complete this quest, you are able to learn some new abilities.
One of these new abilities is Frost Arrow. At level 1, it inflicts damage equal to base physical damage plus 150.8 as well as a 50% speed reduction for 3.2 seconds. It can be maxed at level 54, where it will become base physical plus 1381.1 and 50% slow for 5 seconds, with an extra .2s slow and some extra damage for each level. It requires 25 Chi per shot.
This skill is very useful for the early levels. Its the first skill in the slow/stun category of your arsenal, and is quite helpful for keeping your target away from you for a longer amount of time, allowing you to deal more damage more quickly. Due to low weapon damage resulting in little use for Take Aim, I recommend using this as your opening. Frost Arrow -> Normal attacks until death. As for leveling it…you should level it as you feel necessary. The damage isn’t necessary later on, so keeping it at level 1 is fine. If you want to level it to help out early on however, getting it to level 3 or 4 is no problem. The SP cost is negligible so you shouldn’t worry about it. Note: Its probably worth maxing for an Archer who chose Sage path. But even then, I wouldn’t recommend maxing it until you actually get there.
Priority: 3 – Good skill to have, best PvE opener in the lower levels, but not necessary to have it maxed later on unless you choose Sage path.
Good opener for the lower levels. Limited usefulness later on, so level as you feel needed.
A shield that absorbs some damage and regenerates some MP for you. Its on a 30 second cooldown and requires 45 Chi to cast. It can be maxed at level 54. At level 1, it absorbs 135 damage, lasts up to 20 seconds, and recovers 10 MP every 3 seconds up to 6 times (60 MP max). Each additional level adds 65 damage absorbed and 6 MP per tick, ending up at absorbing 810 damage and 64 MP per tick at max level.
A very useful skill. In PvE, it can keep you alive long enough to fly up and lose aggro, or stay alive long enough to get in the last hit you need. In PvP, it can be situationally useful. I recommend maxing this skill when you have the spare SP.
Priority: 4 – Just level it casually, it can save you but its better to level your attack skills first if you don’t have enough SP
Another useful skill, max it when you have the SP to spare.
A unique skill for Elves. It increases your flight speed by .2 m/s for each level, ending up at 2.0 m/s at level 10. Note: This only affects the ORIGINAL wings you have. Cash shop items/Eagle wings, everything else is unaffected. Its not essential to level now, or ever if you want. The starter wings do consume 2 mp/s, so its uses can be limited. However, this is a nice way for Elves to get faster flying early without buying different mounts. The choice is yours to level it or not.
Priority: N/A – Completely up to you, you can choose not level it at all if you wish
Only affects original wings. Makes you fly faster, level it or not, your choice.
Able to be maxed at level 54. It increases your maximum range by 1 meter for each level.
Very useful! More range means more time for full damage attacks. Definitely max it.
Priority: 1 – Keep this maxed
If you’re too lazy to read that, then you probably haven’t gotten this far anyway
This is the first skill in your Metal-based damage tree. It can be maxed at level 58. At level 1, it deals Metal damage equal to base physical damage plus 330.3 with a 6 second cooldown. At level 10, it deals base physical damage plus 2214.9
This is another useful skill for Archers. This tree is part of what makes Archers a versatile and dangerous class for anyone to deal with. Since Archers focus on phsyical damage, high HP/high defense targets can be difficult. However, this tree deals metal-based damage, meaning its magical! If you’re on Lost City and intend to PK/PvP often, this is very useful, as it deals full damage at close range. If you’re on a PvE server, it is still useful to have when grinding on Wood element mobs, and for PvP later on if you’re interested in it.
Priority: 2 or 3 – Good skill for PvP. If you’re on Lost City, I’d keep this leveled fairly high as it will be very useful. If you’re on PvE server, it is a useful skill to have for grinding, but not too high of priority.
Deals full damage at close range. Metal-based damage, so strong against Wood element mobs and Heavy Armor player targets.
PvP Server – Definitely good to level it when you can to deal with Heavy Armor targets and for anything that gets into melee range.
PvE Server – Still useful, I recommend leveling it if you have SP to spare.
Hooray! You’re level 19 now. You get another Cultivation quest, and when you complete that, the ever wonderful FB19 quest, or the Call to Duty quest. After you complete the Cultivation quest, you are able to learn some new abilities again. After you complete the FB19 quest, you get a wonderful 3 star Crossbow that you can equip at level 20 (assuming you have used your stat points correctly). You’ll likely use this weapon well into your 30s.
Able to be maxed at level 64. It has an 8 second cooldown and at level 1, deals base physical damage, then 628.7 Wood damage over 15 seconds. At level 10, the Wood damage becomes 3109.1 over 15 seconds.
Not a very useful skill. I recommend just leaving it at level 1 as a requirement to continue down the tree. This is very low priority however. Really, the last 3 abilities in this tree I don’t find so useful. The final one, Sharpened Tooth Arrow, is useful on bosses later on, but it isn’t much of a priority for now. So if you don’t have the SP to spare, don’t worry about this skill or any of the following ones until later.
Priority: 0 – Leave it at level 1
Able to be maxed at level 64. It has a 12 second cooldown and at level 1, deals base physical damage plus 376.0 and knocks the target back 12 meters. At max level, the damage bonus becomes 1864.6.
This is also a pretty useful ability, knocking back your target, allowing you to get in a couple more full damage attacks. The damage is halved at close range though, as with normal attacks. The main usefulness of this skill is the knockback, so level it casually as you see fit. At low levels, the order I used was Frost Arrow -> Normal attack twice -> Knockback -> Normal until dead. That allows you to get full damage on the Knockback Arrow while keeping your target in range so you don’t have to move forward to continue attacking. Note: The knockback doesn’t work in PvP.
Priority: 3 – Knockback distance doesn’t increase with levels, so only thing that increases is damage. For PvE, I’d recommend leaving it at 1 for low mana cost. However, the damage can still be useful in PvP even if the knockback doesn’t work.
This skill can be maxed at level 68. At level 1, it increases squad members’ evasion by 8% as well as a 15% movement speed increase for 60 seconds. At level 10, it increases evasion by 35% and movement speed for 600 seconds, improving at 3% and 60 seconds per level.
A somewhat useful skill to have. The difference it makes…well it will vary from one experience to the next. I personally find it nice to have, but not essential. The movement speed is nice as well. The choice is yours to make. Early it, probably best to focus on passives/damage skills first.
Priority: 4 – Useful skill, but not important to max it early on. Level it as you see fit.
The first “melee” attack you get. It can be maxed at level 68. At level 1, it deals base physical plus 490 with a 2 second cooldown. At level 10, the bonus damage becomes 2098.3.
This is a useful spell for PvP and is a pre-requisite for Wingspan which is very nice to have. If you plan on doing low-mid level PvP, I’d recommend getting a couple levels of this. It can be useful for when Lightning Strike/Thunder Shock is on cooldown. If you’re strictly PvE, I’d probably recommend leaving it at level 1 as a pre-requisite since it is a bit mana inefficient and you shouldn’t really need it.
Priority: 5 – For PvE, leave it at level 1 as pre-requisite. For PvP, it might be worth it to get a few levels. Up to you however.
Congratulations on another 10 levels! If you haven’t figured out the pattern yet, you’ll get another Cultivation quest here. Well, you should have been getting various Cultivation Quests along the way, but the final one comes at 29. This one is a little more troublesome than the others, having to kill an elite type and everything, but still relatively easy. After you finish it, you get your first spark and, you guessed it, more skills!
The second skill in your Metal-based tree. Can be maxed at level 74. At level 1, it deals Metal damage equal to base physical damage plus 330.3 and reduces Metal resistance by 23% for 15 seconds. At level 10, it deals base physical plus 2214.9 and reduces Metal resistance by 50% for 15 seconds. Each level adds some damage and increases the amount of resistance reduced by 3%. Requires 30 Chi to cast.
Great skill! This will be the opening for your “Lightning Combo” since it decreases the target’s Metal resistance. Like Lightning Strike, it will deal full damage at close range. Also like Lightning Strike, this is a definite must for PvP enthusiasts. For PvE focused players, again, its still useful for Wood element mobs or finishing close range mobs, but not necessary for now, so level it as you feel necessary.
Priority: 2 or 3 – Same as Lightning Strike. Great skill for PvP, and still useful for PvE.
Now that you have a spark, you get your first ability that takes a spark! Aim Low can be maxed at level 74. At level 1, it deals base physical damage plus 953.1 and stuns the target for 5.3 seconds on a 15 second cooldown. At level 10, it deals base physical damage plus 3469.5 and stuns the target for 8.0 seconds. Each additional level adds .3 seconds to the stun and some extra damage.
This is definitely a great skill. In PvE, its a good opener for when you have a spark. The damage is good and the mana cost is pretty reasonable. For PvP, well I think its uses are very obvious. Good for opening as well as stopping runners. Very good against Robe users. For PvP, definitely max this as soon as you can. For PvE, max it as you see fit. I used it a good amount in the lower levels until Deadly Shot/Take Aim became useful.
Priority: 2 – Great skill, good damage and a stun.
Can be maxed at level 74. Increases ranged weapon attack damage by 6% every level, becoming a 60% increase at level 10.
More damage! Definitely good. Max it as soon as you can.
Priority: 1 – Keep it maxed.
Able to be maxed at level 79. At level 1, it deals base physical damage and adds a bleed effect. The bleed deals 1398.9 physical damage over 15 seconds. At level 10, the bleed damage becomes 4571.4 over 15 seconds.
I’ve never found any use for this skill really. Archers aren’t about steady damage like Serrated Arrow or Vicious Arrow, they’re about heavy spike damage. I’ve seen some people say they like this spell for robe users, but personally I don’t think its worth it at all. I’d recommend leaving it at level 1. See the explanation I gave for Vicious Arrow also, this skill is low priority if you’re short on SP for skills you will actually use.
Priority: 0 – Leave it at level 1
Able to be maxed at level 75. At level 1, it deals base physical damage plus 697.5 with a 45% chance to stun for 3 seconds. At level, it deals base physical plus 1761.3 and a 90% chance to stun for 3 seconds, adding 5% chance to stun and some damage for every additional level.
A great skill for PvP! Stun that doesn’t take any Sparks/Vigor! Definitely level this as soon as you can if you plan on PvPing. Even for PvE, it can be very useful. If you’re on Lost City, I’d recommend making this a high priority spell. For PvE, still very useful so keep it leveled if you can afford it.
Priority: 2 or 3 – For PvP, definitely important to level. For PvE, level it if you can afford it, but not over more important skills
Able to be maxed at level 75. This is an AoE spell, affecting all enemies in an 8-yard radius of you. At level 1, it deals base physical plus 1128.5 and knocks enemies back 6.3 meters. At level 10, it deals base physical plus 2844.8 and knocks back 9 meters, adding some damage an .3 meters with each level.
Like Knockback Arrow, the knockback does not work in PvP, but it deals full damage at close range. This is a useful ability to have in PvE. In PvP, the usefulness can vary. It is an AoE attack, but that means you have to be in the middle of a group – a place no archer wants to be. However, many times Mages will try to Distance Shrink into your “dead zone” so this can be useful for those moments. It depends on your playstyle on whether you want to level this or not.
Priority: 4 – Level it as you see fit, it does have its uses. Your experience and how you play your Archer should determine how much you level this.
Able to be maxed at level 80. At level 1, it deals Metal damage equal to base physical plus 1420.3 to your target and all enemies within a 4.4 meter radius. Each new level increases the damage and also increases the radius by .4 meters. At level 10, the bonus damage becomes 3354.4 with a radius of 8 meters.
The next skill in our metal damage tree. As with the others in this tree, I think its worth leveling for PvP. The AoE damage can be useful in TWs, so if you are interested in getting involved with that, this skill is worth upgrading. However, unlike the others, it isn’t so important to level this until 60-70+ when you start doing TWs. You generally won’t use this at all in PvE due to the high mana cost, and Lightning Strike + Thunder Shock should be enough for you in PKing/normal PvP at these levels, so you won’t need a third spell for now.
Priority: 4 – Not necessary to level until you start participating in TWs
Able to be maxed at level 85. At level 1, it deals base physical plus 1299.5 and reduces maximum HP by 2.5% for 30 seconds and affects all enemies within a 6 meter radius of your target. Each additional level increases the % of HP reduced by 1.5% and increases the damage dealt. At level 10, it deals base phsyical plus 2901.5 and reduces maximum HP by 16.0% for 30 seconds.
The only use for this ability is against Boss monsters really. It has limited usefulness in TWs, but its up to you whether you like using it there. There’s no other situation that its particularly useful. Due to this, this spell is not at all important to max until later if you start running a lot of high level dungeons. If you didn’t get Vicious Arrow or Serrated Arrow yet, there’s no rush to get this skill yet either.
Priority: 5 – Leave it for later
Able to be maxed at level 85. At level 1, it deals base physical plus 55% of weapon damage plus 2235.3. Each level increases the damage bonus as well as increasing the weapon damage bonus by 5%. At level 10, it deals base physical plus 100% of weapon damage plus 4986.6.
A pretty nice ability. It is similar to Take Aim but still deals a lot of damage even before getting a very good weapon. The mana cost is a little high, but depending on how much you leveled Frost Arrow/Knockback Arrow, it can be a great opener. It is definitely worth leveling in my opinion, but how often you use it will depend on your playstyle.
Priority: 3 – Useful spell to have, worth maxing as it deals a good amount of damage.
ARCHER BASICS by Annor
The archer is a damage class, specializing in dispatching enemies at range, and relying heavily on their basic ranged attack. This guide is intended to be a starting point for learning to utilize your archer’s strength. For further specialized reading, try the links and information in the post below. See the Glossary for a list of definitions for some of the abbreviations and slang used in this guide.
Stats
‘PURE’
per 5 attribute points:
1 Strength
4 Dexterity
The standard approach to stats is the ‘Pure’ build, where in for every level (5 attribute points), 1 point is allocated to strength, and 4 points are allocated to dexterity (yes: no points are ever allocated to vitality or magic). This build is all about firepower, more dexterity means faster kills, and faster kills mean safer archer.
‘HYBRID’
While a consensus is difficult to reach, most archers can agree that points spent in magic are wasted points. Some archers however choose to allocate small amounts of vitality to bolster their survivability at the cost of damage, two such build are: 3 dexterity, 1 strength, 1 vitality per 5 points, or 7 dexterity, 2 strength, 1 vitality per 10 points. Vitality-heavy builds reduce your efficiency when out hunting, but can be useful in bolstering your surivability in PVP in lieu of high refines and shards.
Skills
(Brief descriptions, and leveling advice)
Archers have a wide and daunting range of abilities, the ones you choose to use, and with what regularity, may be personal, here nonetheless are some brief recommendations. See also Damage Penalties, and Playing Your Archer sections.
KEY:
Max : Maximize this ability
Efct1 : Effective at level 1, you may decide to conserve mana by leaving it there
Opt : Levelling Optional
Halt : Levelling not advised
Pace: Ability should be maximized, but not necessarily immediately
NA : Usage of this ability Not Advised, generally leave it at level 1
PASSIVES
Bow Mastery (Max) Passively Increases damage
Blazing Arrow (Max) Duration damage buff, keep active.
Winged Blessing (Max) Passively Increases range
Flight Mastery (Opt) Increases flight speed of white wings only
STUNS/SLOWS
Frost Arrow (Max) Slows target’s movement
Knockback Arrow (Efct1, Halt) Knocks target back, buying time (effect does not work in PVP)
Stunning Arrow (Max) Stuns target for a short time
Aim Low (Pace) Freezes target in place
DEFENSIVE
Winged Shell (Max) Absorbs damage and regenerates mana
Wings of Protection (Pace) Duration buff, increases evasion and movement speed
Wings of Grace – Stun and slow immunity, damage reduced, movement speed increased
AOE (Area of Effect)
Wingspan (Efct1, Opt) Archer-centered melee range aoe with a knockback effect
Thunderous Blast (Efct1, Pace) Target-centered ranged metal aoe
Sharpened Tooth Arrow (Max) Target-centered ranged aoe, reduces targets’ max HP
Barrage of Arrows {PVE(Efct1, Halt)} {TW(Max)} Target-centered continuous aoe, drains mana over time, continues until target dies. Generally only max this ability if you actively participate in Territory Wars.
MELEE
Winged Pledge (Efct1, Opt) Melee attack
Wingspan – see above
OTHER SHOTS
Lightning Strike (Efct1, Opt) Adds damage, converts entire shot to metal element
Thunder Shock (Efct1, Opt) Adds damage, converts entire shot to metal, reduces target metal resistance
Deadly Shot (Opt) High damage shot, long cast delay
Take Aim (Efct1, Halt) Low damage for cast time but fire instantly by pressing twice to generate chi
Quickshot (Halt) Ineffective for damage, but can be used for chi generation (not as effective as instant take aim for this purpose)
Viscious Arrow (NA) Damage over time ability, low wood damage, generally not worth the cast delay or the mana
Serrated Arrow (NA) Damage over time ability, low physical damage, generally not worth the cast delay or the mana
Stormrage Eagleon (NA) Metal damage over 30 seconds with a 30% slow effect, generally a poor usage of sparks as damage does not compete with advanced spark eruption, and sparks can be used more lucratively on other abilities in PVP
Damage Penalties
Ranged Weapons encounter a 50% damage penalty in melee; the metal damage abilities and the melee ‘Winged pledge’ and ‘Wingspan’ abilities however do not suffer this penalty, and can be used to deliver full weapon damage. There is also a 50% ‘Air to Ground’ Penalty, so try to avoid attacking targets on the ground while flying.
Playing Your Archer
GRINDING AND QUESTING
Your ability usage here will form regular patterns. Rely heavily on low mana abilities and regular attacks (the lowest mana ability). Your goal as always should be dispatching your enemy quickly, consuming the least MP/HP possible. All that follows in this section are recommendations.
Melee/Short-range Enemy
Opener1: Frost Arrow
Opener2: Take Aim (effective only after 85 or so)
Snare: Knockback Arrow
Difficult opponents: Stunning Arrow / Aim Low
If reached: Winged shell and Lightning Strike/Winged Pledge/Wingspan
i.e. Frost Arrow -> Regular Shot -> Regular Shot -> Knockback -> Regulars to finish
Ranged Enemy
Precast: Winged Shell
Opener: Take Aim (any level, fire instantly for chi)
Snare: Knockback
Difficult opponents: Stunning Arrow
i.e. Winged Shell -> Take Aim -> Regular Shot -> Regular Shot -> Knockback -> Regulars to finish
PLAYER VS PLAYER
Basic PVP Tactics (assumes use of a HP charm). Your ability usage here will depend on the conditions of the fight, and your target’s class and armor-type. Individual fights, manouvres and strategies can be complex, following however are some basic PVP tips to get you in the right mindset.
Dealing Damage:
-For arcane armor, focus on regular attacks
-For heavy armor, focus on metal damage skills (Thunder Shock, Lightning Strike, Thunderous Blast)
-For light armor, use a combination of regular attacks and metal skills
-Try to find opportunities to do large bursts of damage to get past your opponents charm, Spark Eruptions are good for this.
-Deadly Shot/Take Aim can be effective for sniping, but should generally only be used on unsuspecting targets, or those you can kill in a single attack.
Protecting your HP:
If you notice your HP dropping too quickly or your opponent sparks, focus on avoiding damage while your HP charm catches up and the threat passes, by use of:
-Stunning Arrow
-Winged Shell
-Running/jumping/flying
-Wings of Grace
DUNGEONS (FB/BH etc)
Generally in these situations you will want to use only your standard ranged attack, and carefully to avoid pulling aggro. Your target should be that of the tank in your group (you may use ‘Assist Attack’ from your action menu while targetting your tank to acquire his target). An archer being more expendable than a cleric may choose to throw down their life for one… when picking up such a target, unless you are easily able to dispatch them, cast winged shell for your own protection, and run the monster to the tank.
BOSSES
Monitoring your aggro here is essential, you should aim to NEVER pull aggro from a tank, as this will generally get you killed, occasionally kill the entire group, and ALWAYS make you look incredibly noobish.
As it is impossible to see your own accumulated threat, and your tanks accumulated threat, you should plan your attacking before the fight, and try to avoid guess-work mid-fight. My reccommendation is to choose your starting point based on the level and ability of the tank (the latter if you know it) i.e. for a tank of significantly higher level, start dealing damage at 95% boss HP, for a tank around your level start at 85-90%, for a tank 5 or more levels lower start damage at 80%, and for a tank 10 or more levels lower start at 65-75% boss HP; this method removes guess-work, and ensures the tank gets a solid headstart. This is a rough guide though, your experiences will form a better one.
(49+) When you have it, you should use Sharpened Tooth Arrow after a few swings by your tank (use a level 1 weapon if you’re paranoid about an early pull), reducing the bosses maximum HP by a percentage, and forcing their current HP to the new maximum. Immediately after use, cancel your attack, and wait for your planned starting point (remembering that it will now be at a lower HP value – your debuff’s reduction was not time spent sticking the boss to the tank).
Equipment
WEAPONS
Weapon: Bow, Crossbow or Slingshot
Soulshards: Garnet (+Physical Attack)
You don’t need to pay too much attention to weapon type until the later stages of the game (where slingshots are considered the better PVE weapon, and crossbows the better PK/PVP weapon).
At level 19 you can get the ‘Trial Crossbow’ from your FB19, a weapon you will likely use until your early to mid 30s, from there you will want to be using 2star, 3star, or mold weapons and replacing every 5-10 levels generally. For a list of recommended weapons by level, see this link.
ARMOR
Armor Type: Light (‘all resist’ preferred)
Soulshards: Citrines (+HP)
Useful Modifiers: Dexterity, Vitality, HP, Physical Resistance, -Interval
Accessories: Optional, physical resist type recommended
Headgear: lower level HP helm
Glossary
PVP: Player Vs Player
PVE: Player Vs Environment — Monsters, bosses, FBs… any encounter where you are facing something other than a player, is considered PVE.
TW: Territory Wars — Guild Vs Guild, large scale battles
HP: Hit Points, your health… the red bar
MP: Mana Points, the blue bar
Aggro: Term used to refer to a monsters attention, your abilities and attacks will generate ‘aggro’ or threat, and you have ‘pulled aggro’ when dealing enough damage to cause a monster to leave the player tanking it, and run after you.
Grinding: Gaining experience by simply killing monsters over and over again… what you end up doing when you run out of quests.
AOE: Area of Effect, any ability or spell that affects multiple targets within a given radius
Kiting: basicaly ‘hit and run’, shooting a monster then running back to avoid being hit, hitting again etc, it often involves slowing the monster. The aim of kiting is to avoid being hit altogether.
MISCELLANEOUS
As in the title, the above guide is Archer BASICS, information that didn’t make the cut may appear gradually below:
Total Damage = (1+[dexterity/150]+[Skill Multiplier]+[Bow Mastery])x(Equipment Physical) + Static Skill Bonus
-Percentage multipliers should be converted to decimal (i.e. 120% = 1.2)
-Total damage is modified by enemy defense
While the pushback effect of Knockback Arrow does NOT affect other players, it will affect pets.
The base speed for flight is 5.0 (not your runspeed) — add this to any speed modifier on your wings.
Want to get to a certain (points per level) build but don’t know what your stats should be?
Use this: (Level – 1) x Points per Level + 5
Or for the ‘pure’ build, just: Strength = Level + 4 and the remainder into Dexterity.
ZHEN GROUPS (59+)
Previously a part of the actual guide, no longer all that relavent as dramatically increased gold prices and alternative levelling methods have sent these squads into all but obsoletion. Retained here for historical value ;).
A zhen group is a special AOE-grinding party for level 59+, to briefly describe it, archers and wizards stand in a central point, channelling a damage AOE, with a cleric channelling a healing AOE. Lurers, often on mounts, run monsters spawning nearby into the wizard/archer aoe, everything dies, and everyone gets large amounts of experience. There are special Zhen-friendly locations you will likely learn about from other players.
During zhen groups, which last a minimum 1 hour, training esotericas are used (boutique item), and as an archer you will also need to have an equipped MP charm (boutique item). Due to the high mana drain of the archer AOE, Barrage of Arrows, zhen groups are very expensive, keeping barrage at level 1 will make them slightly more affordable.
To begin a zhenning session, before the wizards/clerics begin their spells, the archer must duel a cleric or wizard and cast Barrage on them, after the duel ends and the mighty archer is victorious, the barrage will continue with that player as the focal point. Other players then begin their AOE and lurers begin to bring mobs over.
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