Archery as main attack?

[mclieberman]

Has anyone contemplated if archery would be a legitimate means for your primary weapon?

It is strong and if you can get the arch for long range, with no penalty for short range, it seems like a great main weapon.

I have not invested much time with it, I just got an account. So, I do not know if later levels of it pan out to be decent in weaponry choices.

The only downside I see is getting ganked. If you go on a run you need a lot of arrows, if you die, well, hope you have more.

[Waddy]

It's been my primary source of attack since day one, I simply use a shield and 1h for the ability to block when people come in to melee on me. I use my mana to convert to stamina and everything works great.

[Temko Firewing]

As long as you are not figting a shield users who knows what he is doing, you can use archery for you primary weapon.
It does great damage and is an awsome way to remain alive.

the problem starts with shield users and your own skill at aiming, timing and holding shots.

if you know HOW to use bow, it works wonders, if you dont, all the damage it does in the world would not help you.

[Jathen]

As long as you are not figting a shield users who knows what he is doing, you can use archery for you primary weapon.
It does great damage and is an awsome way to remain alive.

the problem starts with shield users and your own skill at aiming, timing and holding shots.

if you know HOW to use bow, it works wonders, if you dont, all the damage it does in the world would not help you.

Shield users are not that bad. They cant really block effectivly against an archer(Just hold ur bow drawn and point at them....making them either drain stam blocking or take a hit), and the extra defense that shields give is not THAT much.

But yeah archery can be used for a main attack, but a well rounded player will own you. It is hard to shoot someone running around you smacking you with a 2h, and if you try to run/jump/turn/shoot they will just start plugging you in the back with their own arrows.

[Viluin]

No, it's not. Not when you're alone anyway. Someone can just hide behind a tree, and you will have no choice but to use melee because you can't get a shot at him.

[jamez5000]

No, it's not. Not when you're alone anyway. Someone can just hide behind a tree, and you will have no choice but to use melee because you can't get a shot at him.

all you have to do is strafe around it...you can always find a limb sticking out before they try to stay behind it...you dont have to run up to them, there will always be a situation in which you can move to get better shots, if not you're not a very good archer.

[Viluin]

all you have to do is strafe around it...you can always find a limb sticking out before they try to stay behind it...you dont have to run up to them, there will always be a situation in which you can move to get better shots, if not you're not a very good archer.

No, you will not find a limb sticking out or anything like that. They will see you strafing around because the third person camera allows you to peek around corners.

You may be able to hit them with a MM splash, but the damage from that is so shitty they'll regenerate before the next hit.

[peertje]

it's my main attack, but it's not viable without at least decent melee skills

[AlexGodis]

I have archery as my primary source of attack, and use two handed sword as my secondary.

If someone charges towards me , and I stand still I can usually get them to at least half health, and if they are right by me then I equip my sword and start attacking then.

It's also good to jump up on rocks and such if the enemy is close to you, since it can be hard to jump up on them you can usually fire 2-4 arrows before the enemy gets up as well.

[Oo_]

One downside is that pure archers are the only people who can't naked zerg.

[Lictor]

One downside is that pure archers are the only people who can't naked zerg.

Yeah, let's give them 1k noob arrows!
/sarcasm

[Sabbathius]

Well, I personally feel it is very viable. Granted, I only just started using it, and have not used it since beta. But coupled with a 1h+shield, knockback attack, and knockback (or more than one) from magic, you should be pretty well set.

If he gets close to you, knock him back with your melee knockback and start shooting. It's got a short cooldown, 15 seconds or so, at most.

If he gets close again, knock him back with Launch from LM (only 75 skill, no reagent needed). If you want to get really fancy, also get Begone in GM, 100 skill though.

All this time you're walking backwards. When he turns and runs, run after him nailing him in the back, and he'll go down pretty quickly. This is for 1v1. For group, I imagine it's viable too, since you can shoot OVER people, as well as BETWEEN people, neither of which you can do with magic.

[holychicken]

I wouldn't suggest it be your ONLY method of attack. However, as a primary it can hit hard, hit from a distance, hit fast and really is the best way to deal with runners.

[Zeyll]

Right now there is lots of things that you cant do solo if your not archer.

Archery is Overpowered, i hope they fix it soon.
Im archer, but still realistic.

[Abremalist]

If he gets close again, knock him back with Launch from LM (only 75 skill, no reagent needed). If you want to get really fancy, also get Begone in GM, 100 skill though.

When people say only 75 skill, you kind of gets depressed. :(

I love in PvE box-in situation to strafe around the main fight and put arrows in the NPCs, or draw the extra Mobs away from the main fight and run to keep them busy.

[Temko Firewing]

well... it IS only 75 skill.


do the following:

Party with 3 other people.
3 of you take a staff and one takes a shield.

1 blocks, 3 others shoot until they run of mana, do heath to mana as well, and possibly stamina to health as well and that to mana.
shoot and shoot away at the blocker.

out of mana:

Now, rest rinse and repeat.

i garantee ye, that you''ll be skilling up WAY faster then you could ever by macring in the air, regular play or whatever.

best part? the guy you are shooting that gains PArry, Rigor, Defence, reflex, armour, etc...

[Psymon]

Archery drains way to much stamina to be the ONLY source of damage. It's very easy to dodge if your not just trying to run away.

[Sabbathius]

Archery drains way to much stamina to be the ONLY source of damage. It's very easy to dodge if your not just trying to run away.

Depends how close you are. And I can fire 61 shots with a full stamina bar. Compare that to 7 elemental magic nuked. Obviously it can't be the ONLY thing in your arsenal, but you can use it as an opener, use it as a finisher, and use it during the fight after you knockback your opponent with melee and magic.

[Atnas]

Depends on. Most people can close distance really quick, but you can as a skilled archer absolutely wreck some havoc on someone.

The biggest problem I would see is that by engaging someone at range you might have problems hunting them down if they start to flee immediately. You'd have to hit with almost every shot you make, and then they will be using trees, and zig-zagging and all sorts of stuff to avoid you.

Not to mention shooting a bow costs a lot of stamina!

[Lictor]

well... it IS only 75 skill.


do the following:

Party with 3 other people.
3 of you take a staff and one takes a shield.

1 blocks, 3 others shoot until they run of mana, do heath to mana as well, and possibly stamina to health as well and that to mana.
shoot and shoot away at the blocker.

out of mana:

Now, rest rinse and repeat.

i garantee ye, that you''ll be skilling up WAY faster then you could ever by macring in the air, regular play or whatever.

best part? the guy you are shooting that gains PArry, Rigor, Defence, reflex, armour, etc...

You speak about mana missile shooting here or what?

[fr0g]

Once you get good with arching your shots and leading your targets, you can hit somebody running in a relatively straight line or pattern as long as you can see them.

Believe me, when I go and PK I start firing arrows so early sometimes people ask me if I'm stupid; than they see the blood flying off the target and they usually shut up and take notes.

The downside to archery is if you kill somebody far away and you don't have units near them, they will get resed unless you get lucky enough to insta kill. The other downside is that if somebody is fighting melee with friendlies, you have to be very careful and pick your shots. Archery is ideal for lowering your enemies HP before the real fight starts, and for picking off low hp runners during the fight with 1 or 2 well placed shots to the back. It does a ton of damage and it's ideal for picking off mounts.

[Ludial]

max out your stamina and related skills;
max out your running/sprinting skills;
max out your archery skills, both point-wise proficiency and twitch;
get yourself a killy bow, plus several quivers of killy arrows;
wear nothing that would slow you down, preferably have just the bow and arrows.

now nobody can stop you:D

[shaystamang]

Archery is the way to go, magic doesn't not compare at all until you get into the elementals.