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Review: Archer costume set
bobsy26
Posts: 213 Arc User
(Thought it might be worthwhile reviewing some of the more hard-to-get costume sets, along with ideas of how they can be used. The prices for some of these lockbox sets are getting so high that it would be useful for some people to know what they'd get for their cash if they decide to invest.)
The Archer set is a rare drop from the Heartstring lockbox, and was rather long coming. The set as a whole has a distinctly Robin Hood vibe to it, and as such has long been considered useful for swashbucklers and rogues of all stripes. But is it worth the time, effort and money to get hold of? Read on to find out.
The set:
In terms of sheer number of pieces, the Archer set doesn't exactly disappoint. At its most basic level, you have a new shirt, trousers, boots, gloves, bracers, chest wear, hood, cape and a number of new quivers. The chest wear is, unsurprisingly, the most noticeable piece, and by rights should be the set highlight. But with the 'crenelated' square trim and the bizarre use of five leather straps across the chest, it's actually hard to use outside of the most basic medieval fantasy concepts.
The shirt and trousers are quite the opposite though. Despite not looking like much at first, these pieces are adaptable enough to represent clothing from a number of historical periods, from early medieval all the way through to the 18th century or even beyond, thanks to the chintzy pattern available on the shirt (which can add for a nice crinkly texture if use use the same colour twice). These options are also available on the hood, which despite being a nice shape and design, isn't really all that much to get excited about. The shirt in particular is a fantastic piece for its adaptability, even if it has clipping problems with the sleeves, coming in short and longer, more tunic-like varieties.
But these are small fry compared to the Archer set's most unique feature - the cape. This can be applied not only in the back slot, but also in the neck slot. While the two at first look identical, the latter one allows you to put something else in the back slot and combine the two. The obvious choice would be a quiver, but literally anything else can go there, allowing for capes with other equipment. Neatly, the neck-slot cape only flaps from halfway down, as back-slot objects weigh the top half down.
On the subject of quivers, the set also allows characters to store spare arrows as belt accessories (left, right or behind, though it looks very easy for arrows to fall out when the quiver is placed behind!) or as leg accessories, so you can have a bow, cape and quiver all at the same time.
I should also mention the belt, which has the handy addition of a small cloth pouch attached to it, giving your character useful extra storage space if utility belts or bulky backpacks aren't their thing.
It's worth mentioning that the quality of texturing on these costume pieces is very high - one of the bracer pieces has an intricate stitched design, the belt has a nice interweaving pattern along it, and even plain cloth pieces have high-quality shading in the creases. For soft clothing, this is a great set to pick up.
Worth the price?
Put it this way - if you're in the habit of designing fantasy or historical costumes, this could well be the most important costume set you buy, bar none. The costume pieces are high-quality, good-looking and (for the most part) very adaptable. Speaking from experience, I use at least one piece from this set on almost every costume my main has, and even after a year or two I'm still finding new uses for some of these pieces. Pirates, rangers, swashbucklers and wizards will all find something to use from this set.
If you only really do high-tech costumes, this is probably a set to steer clear of though, due to the high cost. The unique neck-cape is worth having in your inventory, but aside from that, there's little use in a futuristic armour concept.
Alternatively:
The Z-store Wizard costume set gives a handy alternative tunic, and you can scramble together budget versions of many historical versions quite happily with free pieces. A simple tunic just uses a short skirt with a tights top, and the regular hood may be looking a little low-res these days, but works just fine otherwise. The one thing you can't do, of course, is have back gear with capes. Sorry, but no.
Final verdict: 4 stars
In a better world, this would be an instant recommendation. One of the best lockbox sets out there, but it's market price makes it prohibitively expensive.
The Archer set is a rare drop from the Heartstring lockbox, and was rather long coming. The set as a whole has a distinctly Robin Hood vibe to it, and as such has long been considered useful for swashbucklers and rogues of all stripes. But is it worth the time, effort and money to get hold of? Read on to find out.
The set:
In terms of sheer number of pieces, the Archer set doesn't exactly disappoint. At its most basic level, you have a new shirt, trousers, boots, gloves, bracers, chest wear, hood, cape and a number of new quivers. The chest wear is, unsurprisingly, the most noticeable piece, and by rights should be the set highlight. But with the 'crenelated' square trim and the bizarre use of five leather straps across the chest, it's actually hard to use outside of the most basic medieval fantasy concepts.
The shirt and trousers are quite the opposite though. Despite not looking like much at first, these pieces are adaptable enough to represent clothing from a number of historical periods, from early medieval all the way through to the 18th century or even beyond, thanks to the chintzy pattern available on the shirt (which can add for a nice crinkly texture if use use the same colour twice). These options are also available on the hood, which despite being a nice shape and design, isn't really all that much to get excited about. The shirt in particular is a fantastic piece for its adaptability, even if it has clipping problems with the sleeves, coming in short and longer, more tunic-like varieties.
But these are small fry compared to the Archer set's most unique feature - the cape. This can be applied not only in the back slot, but also in the neck slot. While the two at first look identical, the latter one allows you to put something else in the back slot and combine the two. The obvious choice would be a quiver, but literally anything else can go there, allowing for capes with other equipment. Neatly, the neck-slot cape only flaps from halfway down, as back-slot objects weigh the top half down.
On the subject of quivers, the set also allows characters to store spare arrows as belt accessories (left, right or behind, though it looks very easy for arrows to fall out when the quiver is placed behind!) or as leg accessories, so you can have a bow, cape and quiver all at the same time.
I should also mention the belt, which has the handy addition of a small cloth pouch attached to it, giving your character useful extra storage space if utility belts or bulky backpacks aren't their thing.
It's worth mentioning that the quality of texturing on these costume pieces is very high - one of the bracer pieces has an intricate stitched design, the belt has a nice interweaving pattern along it, and even plain cloth pieces have high-quality shading in the creases. For soft clothing, this is a great set to pick up.
Worth the price?
Put it this way - if you're in the habit of designing fantasy or historical costumes, this could well be the most important costume set you buy, bar none. The costume pieces are high-quality, good-looking and (for the most part) very adaptable. Speaking from experience, I use at least one piece from this set on almost every costume my main has, and even after a year or two I'm still finding new uses for some of these pieces. Pirates, rangers, swashbucklers and wizards will all find something to use from this set.
If you only really do high-tech costumes, this is probably a set to steer clear of though, due to the high cost. The unique neck-cape is worth having in your inventory, but aside from that, there's little use in a futuristic armour concept.
Alternatively:
The Z-store Wizard costume set gives a handy alternative tunic, and you can scramble together budget versions of many historical versions quite happily with free pieces. A simple tunic just uses a short skirt with a tights top, and the regular hood may be looking a little low-res these days, but works just fine otherwise. The one thing you can't do, of course, is have back gear with capes. Sorry, but no.
Final verdict: 4 stars
In a better world, this would be an instant recommendation. One of the best lockbox sets out there, but it's market price makes it prohibitively expensive.
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Comments
I have to say, the Archer set gets a Solid from 10/10 from me, it's such a good quality and I always end up using pieces from it for most of my characters
The archer cape is definitely the best part, the flexibility of using Back pieces and WINGS with a cape is brilliant!