test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Archer-Spec HR
Being an Archery-spec'ed HR, and stubbornly so, I figured that I'd start a thread for like-minded folks to swap info on what works, etc.
Combat rotation:
So far, as suggested by others in another thread Cordon and Rain of Arrows are our meat and potatoes for dishing damage and keeping the foes at a distance from us. My usual cycle is:
- Cordon, Rain and Cordon again in quick succession, which takes out the lighter-HP'ed foes
- Split arrows a couple times while the heavies rush me
- Fox just before any remaining heavies close, then switch stance
- Pummel with Clear Ground and any encounters available
- Drink pots while dodging around.
Feel free to elaborate on any fine points you've found success with.
I just got the artifact bow, with a boost to Electric Shot/Clear Ground, and the off-hand with the boost to Pathfinder Action (useless to me, of course). I'm contemplating what weapon enchant would be best for an Archer. Probably either something with immediate damage, so heavies drop before they can close, or something that slows foes, giving us more time to twang before they close.
Combat rotation:
So far, as suggested by others in another thread Cordon and Rain of Arrows are our meat and potatoes for dishing damage and keeping the foes at a distance from us. My usual cycle is:
- Cordon, Rain and Cordon again in quick succession, which takes out the lighter-HP'ed foes
- Split arrows a couple times while the heavies rush me
- Fox just before any remaining heavies close, then switch stance
- Pummel with Clear Ground and any encounters available
- Drink pots while dodging around.
Feel free to elaborate on any fine points you've found success with.
I just got the artifact bow, with a boost to Electric Shot/Clear Ground, and the off-hand with the boost to Pathfinder Action (useless to me, of course). I'm contemplating what weapon enchant would be best for an Archer. Probably either something with immediate damage, so heavies drop before they can close, or something that slows foes, giving us more time to twang before they close.
Ancient Spirits officer
NW-DM9Pj62ZK 'Bear with Me'
NW-DOPPZAYKQ 'Retirement Plans'
NW-DKJMLS8OQ 'Sleepy in Cea Tull'
NW-DM9Pj62ZK 'Bear with Me'
NW-DOPPZAYKQ 'Retirement Plans'
NW-DKJMLS8OQ 'Sleepy in Cea Tull'
Post edited by dzaims on
0
Comments
Vorpal..no doubt..there is no other enchantment that synergize well with archery tree..adding longstrider might help ur immediate dmg too..
Just a tip, another way of dealing when :
1. single mob closing in, just disruptive it and place cordon with its centre point behind the mob and the tip of the radius under the mob..that will pull the mob back a few feet..next RoA and plant growth..that will kill it..
2. multi mob closing in, plant growth when they are about to surround u.. dodge once or twice back, place cordon and RoA..
If ur cordon is on cooldown, u might wanna kite alittle till ur cordon is 1 or 2 sec from available before pulling the above stratergy..u can add in ur fox in ur combo too if ur not going for longstrider..
I like the pull-back strategy with Cordon, but I've been finding small mobs (3-4 foes) that are spaced just enough that you can just get the first Cordon circle to get most of them. Sometimes, if you wait, one will shift a little to give you more room to snag them all in the first Cordon, then RoA and Cordon again.
Another key thing is having higher ground than the mob, so you can see well enough to get the first Cordon placed just right..
Anybody else hate it when a tank you paired up with scatters the mob just before Cordon hits? God bless them for taking the aggro, but it makes it a little harder for us to help them, eh?
As for the Enchant, Vorpal seems to be the answer to a lot of problems, hence its popularity.
NW-DM9Pj62ZK 'Bear with Me'
NW-DOPPZAYKQ 'Retirement Plans'
NW-DKJMLS8OQ 'Sleepy in Cea Tull'
cordon of course starter, then one split shot before i oversee cordon damage, than use another cordon or in quick combo conscription, hindering, disruptive last, then another hindering and split shot, simply try kill as many as i could, because enemies hit hard, if there are more than two still alive i can die. once they start hitting me i use ghost or cordon under me and dodge behind. that chest tank companion is very usefull too. worse is if i have a bad luck during boss fight without lifesteal proc and no crits i can easily die still
The only class feature that doesn't leave my bar is Aspect of the Pack because I run a CA playstyle. Second feature is situational: either Stormstep Action or Twin-Blade Storm - depends on the fight.
For dungeons I run with RoA, CoA and Longstrider. For solo play I have a hard time finding a useful substitute for Longstrider as Thorn Ward seems pretty underwhelming these days as does StS. I stay ranged in dungeons/Heralds but for solo play I tend to switch to melee for RoS, Plant Growth and Gushing Wound every so often.
The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
I am another stubborn archer. I play little else because I enjoy the unique playstyle so much, and it is so much more demanding than other classes and/or paragon paths. We get little love, but it's a rewarding class if you can figure out how to play it well. My setup:
At-Wills: Rapid Shot and Split Shot. Split shot always, occasionally I'll switch Rapid out to Aimed Shot for boss fights, etc in PvE, but I find the casting time too long for most other situations.
Encounters: Cordon (awesome), Fox Cunning, Marauder's Escape/Rush. This selection is heavily influenced by the fact that I've been doing a lot of PvP lately. The Fox helps with dodging one-strike TRs and buffing my party. Also, I find the Marauder's Escape indispensable for quick dashes. These choices also feed into something a little quirky about my style playing mainly as an Archer...I tend to stance-switch and use melee encounters a good deal. The Marauder's Rush followed by the melee component of Cordon (forget its name...Plant Growth?) are awfully effective followed by a Marauder's Escape back out and then back to pew pew pew.
Dailies: Disruptive Shot (a must-have...25% of action points puts it always on-call; great against controllers, CWs and the like in PvP). Also using Forest Meditation currently. I know everyone loves the Ghost, but I find the last-ditch save/heal of Meditation more useful, saving me many trips back to the campfire. And it's funny watching a GWF pound on me to no effect in PvP while my HP count continues to rise.
Enchants, Boons: In general, I run enchants and boons and the like which give me a fairly even stat distribution. I do run fairly heavy on ArPen, because everything else offensive depends so heavily on it. I dropped Lifesteal a little on my last respec since Mod 6 nerfed it so hard. Weapon enchant is currently terror, because I'm doing so much PvP, but I agree with the above post that Vorpal is probably most useful in PvE or for someone who plays both. I've got a Vorpal in the bank, and will probably slot it once/if I get back into PvE.
For Class Features: I was running Aspect of the Falcon and Twin Blade (for enhancement on split shot), but recently switched out the Twin Blade for aspect of the Serpent, due to increasing stance-switching as mentioned above.
For armor, I'm currently running the PvP profound set, along with Lathander's Cloak to get AC up there. This setup seems to work well for me in PvE as well. I was one of those lucky ones who had the seals stashed and nearly enough glory saved up when mod 6 came out to buy the whole set. Ran a hybrid DT/PvP setup for a while, but figured out quickly that the HP bonus from the PvP set was necessary for survival and outweighed the small action point bonus given from two pieces of DT.
My PvP rotation (assuming I'm not alone in battle): Multiple Cordons on any enemies in the area to tie them up for muh tanks, Disruptive on any active CWs, SWs, etc. in the area (actually, this often happens first), Fox Cunning, split shot a pile of enemies, Marauder's Rush into a pile of enemies, do the melee root component of Cordon (Plant Growth?) which does nice damage and continues to bind up some enemies, Marauder's Escape back out or dodge out if I'm out of stamina. Very often, I can catch a group busy meleeing and not paying attention to the preimeter. I'll then simply set up on the fringe of the battle and help my team out while I Archer them to death...Cordons, Rapid Shots, Disruptive Shots. That usually works until the TR finds me.
PvE: Honestly I play it much the same, but when soloing, I do a lot more dancing and dodging. One big difference...I'll occasionally use Thorn Ward for bosses that don't move around a lot, or for tough opponents whom I can maneuver into staying near the ward (like giants, etc). Also...I'm sure everyone has figured this out, but a great mob control technique for me is this - I set up as far away as possible while still being able to lay a cordon on as many of the mob as possible...but do not fire. Once taking measure of distance, I quickly lay two cordons between me and the mob and then hit them with the third. I lay fire (usually split shot) as they stride through the cordons. Anything which makes it through this get Plant Growth and the blades when they get to me. Fun!
I have never liked RoA prior to Mod 6, since it's too easy for enemies to get out from under. However, now that Cordon is available as an anchor, maybe I should experiment with adding it in? Might be fun to bomb a tank or two with this in PvP.
I like this thread...hope there are enough Archers out there to keep this going and keep up the productive advice. Keep working that bow, fellow Archers. It's an unloved job, but doing it well is immensely rewarding!
Great thread! I'm a newbie at Neverwinter but I pretty much always play archers in any game I play, be it an MMO, console or pen & paper tabletop game.
I'm always on the lookout for tips and tricks, so keep em coming
For most content I been using rapid and split. Marauders, fox and cordon. Forest ghost and disruptive. Aspect of the pack and twin blade.
For solo encounters pop fox cunning, start charging spit and fire a cordon, release split just as cordon groups the mobs. I manage to land another cordon and one more split or a couple of rapids (depending on how many mobs survive the opener) till they get to me. Switch to melee, fox shift or plant growth (again depending on what ganged up on me), back to ranged and marauder away. Another cordon, then start dodging around and firing at wills, till everything is dead.
Forest ghost is my emergency exit and disruptive is barely used. I'm experimenting in replacing it with seismic, but then I find myself without enough AP for ghost sometimes.
When grouping I land cordon on mobs that don't move much and shower them with spit. Also spamming fox cunning. I'm experimenting on including longstrider, and I guess marauders will have to go. Fox is indispensable and cordon is our most damaging encounter.
I'm currently using plague fire (remnant from Royal Guard set), been entertaining the idea of switching it out for frost or vorpal. Armor enchant is barkshield, which I want to change because it's ugly and useless, but I don't really know what else to get.
Is Lathander's set good for archery HR? I have the Eye and enough Linu's for the cloak and I guess I could switch out my wisdom belt for Lathander's since double RP is coming up.
So I'm gonna switch back to archer this weekend and deal with it. I'm curious tho, does anyone have an optimal Resistance Ignored value? I hit about 55% and I think that might be too high.
Also wondering when soloing the tougher zones like IWD and WOD if yall use a companion for aggro management or heals or just run with an augment? I just got enough seals to get an angel companion and was considering giving it a shot because it seems to me it might be easier to kite for dear life and get a clutch heal now and then rather than watching helplessly as my poor galeb dutifully grabs the aggro then gets squished by it.
If you have the Eye (lucky dog!) I definitely recommend the Lathander's set. I'm still running the old lesser set from pre-Mod 6. If you have the Linus to get the Greater Set, and the RP to take advantage of 2X weekend, I'd go for it.
The stats and additional AC from the Cloak are great (where else you gonna get AC boost?), and I like the Dex/Con boost from the Belt. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they switched the stats with the Seldarine set and Lathander is now Wis/Char. If this is actually the case, I'd reconsider personally. But since you are replacing a Wisdom belt, it may make total sense for you.
But since you have the Eye, if the Lathander set makes sense to you, I'd go for it. The full-set bonus is great, and I really like the old Cloak and Belt which I run on my Archer.
Just my 2 cents. Keep firing!
Thank for your input, I did go for the Lathander set (of course the belt dropped from a dragon today after I bought it from the AH yesterday, lol). I originally went for the wisdom belt, because it happened to be the first I found and the belts were really rare and expensive back then , but the added critical chance is nice and I guess I can survive the +1 CHA.
I know Tiamat has 60% damage resistance but the optimal is around 40% I think, at least that's what I'm going for.
I got the angel and I really like her, she heals often and for a lot (at least compared to the green fawn I have on another character), thought she sometimes has a tendency to drag other mobs in the fight. I still switch to augment in dungeons and dragon fights, but it's actually nice to have summoned companion, I won't have to switch Aspect of the Pack out for soloing.
Loving the positive thread, i am also a stubborn Archer HR, I never got the artifact belt previously and I was wondering what your feelings were on taking the entire Lostmouth set?
I like ot play glass canon in PVE and this set seems to be the best all round, i know you have ot get the belt to at least blue to get a dex bonus but that shouldn't take too long in the grand scheme of things
Maybe combine the seladrine set with barkshield? It would make for a fair amount of incoming healing for the first few hits, and by the time your barkshield's toast you should have the crowd thinned out enough for seladrine goodies and maybe a heal pot to keep you upright until the encounter is cleared. That is, of course, optimistic, and assumes the enemy doesn't just one-shot you.
With the Seladrine Set you could go for both the greater cloak and belt (they focus on deflect and life steal - awesome since defense doesn't work for sh*t) and not be throwing any wasted points into charisma like you would be with the greater lathander's set. One could argue that you don't particularly need Con either, but the only thing less useful than Con on an HR is Charisma.
In addition to wasted points in charisma, the greater lathander set focuses on power, recovery and defense, which while no one would argue that those things are bad, power is easy to get gear-wise, defense as I said is not for us, leaving rec as the only really useful stat in that set.
maybe most importantly - the Seladrine set doesn't require you to die to activate, allowing you to bypass soulforged for an enchant that would perhaps keep you off of your face longer. Then again, soulforged+ the lathander set bonus is a potent combo, and just the money you save on injury kits would be pretty groovy.
The Emblem of the Seladrine artifact itself is a handy boost for your whole party when activated. Not quite as potent as the lathander set bonus activating but can be timed to keep you and your team safe, as opposed to activating whenever it is your archer happens to get KO'd.
Thoughts?
I have to disagree with you there. I would actually have taken one or two points more in Cha at the start if I had the choice again. Cha boosts Combat Advantage, which is what my build strongly focuses on. It's the reason I decided on the Lathander set on my Archer since the ability stats on the belt changed from Dex/Con to Wis/Cha. I was running with Belt of Wisdom in Mod 5. On a side note, my Combat HR switched out the Lathander set for the Seldarine Set which I am loving.
The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
True enough. I hadn't taken the combat advantage bonus into account. That's definitely worth considering.
How often do they proc? I only ask because it's the kind of thing that seems like it might be unreliable (as in probably bugged).
Pathfinder for single target and a bit more defense, stormwarden for AoE and more offense.
I'm always using Marauder's, CoA, RoA, feats twin blade all the time and aspect of the pack or storm step.
Just to know if anyone is using different stuff on Dragon's run I'm runing StS, RoA and longstrider, this seems to do the most damage.
Before mod 6 there was some really good tier 2 gear available in the auction house you could just buy if you wanted. You could still earn better gear, but you could be walking around in what was second-place gear only by a narrow margin within minutes of hitting 60. Say what you want about buying gear instead of grinding for it - I just had several alts I wanted to get into the endgame content quickly, and in mods 3-5 I felt like spending a little cash now and then. Now all the top gear is a hellish slog though T-2 dungeons your stormwarden archer (and mine) is ill-suited for. Glad you have a regular tank teammate, though. That might make it easier to keep from being vote-kicked (there's a ton of that sh*t going around). There are different armor sets you can earn through campaigns Elemental Black Ice in Icewind Dale and Eternal gear in the Well of Dragons. There's a patch coming apparently that will let you earn decent rare (blue) gear in the Dread Ring and Sharandar. If you want the best, though, be prepared to run dungeons until you hate your life.
FYI - there are new and upcoming sets you can get from Dread Ring and Sharandar campaign available next patch. But I believe the costs outweighs it's usefulness as the currency needed to obtain the said items are essential in getting your boons.
The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
Ok, auction house it is
Sorry for all the newbie questions... this is my first character in NW!