Archers and Soloing

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

Heyy, I really like playing an archer because of the range and large amounts of damage dealt, but more often then not, I find myself nearly dead after fighting one or 2 monsters around my level.

It feels like I cant really do much unless I'm in a squad. I don't like that feel of always having to depend on other people though.

Is there anything I can do to fix that? Or are archers just meant to be in squads?

SpankShot - Sanctuary

I was in the exact same spot as you.
keep your winged shell at the top level you can, youl find it hard to attack melee oponents, just have to keep knocking them back and stunning them

but with ranged and poisen enemys are a lot easier, put your sheild up first and then start to attack, and you will hopefully have killed them by then time you shield has gone

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

Thanks I'll do that,
but isnt that a killer on your mp ?

Psycosiz - Lost City

Max frost arrow and winged shell and use this combo:

Frost-->2-3 normal attacks-->knockback--normal attacks and winged shell if mob gets too close. And remember that winged shell recovers mp

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

so basically what i need to fix is the way i use my attacks?

Lu$t - Sanctuary

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary wrote: »

Heyy, I really like playing an archer because of the range and large amounts of damage dealt, but more often then not, I find myself nearly dead after fighting one or 2 monsters around my level.

It feels like I cant really do much unless I'm in a squad. I don't like that feel of always having to depend on other people though.

Is there anything I can do to fix that? Or are archers just meant to be in squads?

lol i saw this too at my 40s so i went and stoned up my armor with a ton of avg hp shards. soloed suzerix(charmed ofc) at 46 and tank most of my guilds bosses now. ive tank fataliqua in tt2-1 squad hard shooting aur on hard ape guy in hard and i duo tt2-1 solo. just get a ton of good hp shards. right now i have 4030 hp buffed and my equip is only refinedto +1-+3. also invest in charms. i think archers a more squad based in pve instances but grinding/pve we're solo'ers. so keep up your archer and stay pure dex if you are and invest in tomes and refine your armor. Youll hardly ever need squads ^^ (cept TTs and fbs and hard bosses and the sort lol)

Falcondance - Heavens Tear

The awesome thing about archers is we have a pre-set combo that always works on what we need it to. I have my F1-F8 bars stretched so that there are 3 rows open. Top row, I have my buffs. Second row, I have my AOE and Damage over Time attacks. Third row, I have my "Kill" macro and my other attacks that don't fit into it or any of the other sections.

Works beautifully. Just need to set the macro to Frost, Normal, Normal, Knockback, Normal until dead, and press F1 to kill something.

Winged Shell I never really needed as much, unless I was getting piled by more than three mobs. But that's because I'm a vitality-oriented archer.

I do guzzle potions though.

That's just my take.

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

so should i max frost arrow and winged shell?

truekossy

A maxed frost is a must-have.

Reane - Sanctuary

in my opinion, archers must have maxed frost, maxed stun, maxed shell. those are the three most important. after that, i'd say both passives. rest is mostly up to preference

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

oooh so basically whatever keeps you alive longest
and also keep the enemy away as long as possible?

Reane - Sanctuary

well if you want to put it that way sure. at my level, i just frost, normal, normal, normal, kb, normal till dead and that works 100% of the time. using this combo will give you extra chi also, so if you encounter a increased life mob, pop a spark and there ya go. as far as i can remember, back when i was lvl 40, i had to shell and use wingspan a little too much since mobs always found their way into my face (wasnt pure build back then) but as you get higher, you crit more and do more damage so use of winged shell will gradually decrease as you lvl higher and higher.

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

oooh ok, ill try that then:D

i guess itll get easier as my crit rate increases in later levels then :P

thanks guys!

Olba - Sanctuary

Reane - Sanctuary wrote: »

in my opinion, archers must have maxed frost, maxed stun, maxed shell. those are the three most important. after that, i'd say both passives. rest is mostly up to preference

I'd like to argue that Winged Blessing takes priority over all else, as it makes you capable of attacking from a distance. When I was lower level, I had experiences where shooting Knockback Arrow had my character running towards the mob because the Knockback Arrow had moved him out of range, which is bad. Not to mention the fact that, of course, mobs also get to you faster. I also had personal experience of a situation where adding one level to Winged Blessing allowed me to do a quest which had previously seemed rather hard to do.

I'll also testify for the working of using Frost Arrow and Knockback Arrow, even more so with slingshots.

Reane - Sanctuary

Olba - Sanctuary wrote: »

I'd like to argue that Winged Blessing takes priority over all else, as it makes you capable of attacking from a distance. When I was lower level, I had experiences where shooting Knockback Arrow had my character running towards the mob because the Knockback Arrow had moved him out of range, which is bad. Not to mention the fact that, of course, mobs also get to you faster. I also had personal experience of a situation where adding one level to Winged Blessing allowed me to do a quest which had previously seemed rather hard to do.

I'll also testify for the working of using Frost Arrow and Knockback Arrow, even more so with slingshots.

I deliberately omited that one and the damage increaser by x% (forgot name) because if those are not maxed for your level, something is wrong. so yes max that and the base damage multiplier asap

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary

For the Stun, should i use Aim low? or Stunning arrow?
whats the difference between them anyways? which one is better?

DarkSniper - Lost City

Aim low freezes, they can't move but they can still attack/use items/etc.

While stunned the only thing they can do is a genie skill.

Olba - Sanctuary

SnipeySnipe - Sanctuary wrote: »

For the Stun, should i use Aim low? or Stunning arrow?
whats the difference between them anyways? which one is better?

I can only say about PvE, but I like both. Stunning Arrow stuns, making mobs unable to do anything, whereas Aim Low only stops them in their place. The latter works good as a starter, but not so great in a combo, because you just end up locking a magic mob within its own range of casting, thus doing effectively nothing, whereas Stunning Arrow can be used to stop them completely.

Also, Stunning Arrow gives some really nice chi, but is a bit heavy on the mana.

EronKillstar - Dreamweaver

Psycosiz - Lost City wrote: »

Max frost arrow and winged shell and use this combo:

Frost-->2-3 normal attacks-->knockback--normal attacks and winged shell if mob gets too close. And remember that winged shell recovers mp

this is basically what I do, but I currently also have Lightning Strike maxed for my level so that if the mob gets too close I can hit them with that skill effectively nullifying the damage penatly for being too close. I find (personally) thus far it is also nice to have that and vicious arrow for dealing with INC life and INC defense mobs - lighting strike of course being especially good against wood types, and vicious will be good against some earth mobs that I've yet to come across yet.

that and I always keep blazing arrow's buff up at all times.

F_E_A_R - Dreamweaver

Best thing u can do for Solo PVE is bying a MP charm.

Deadly Shot/Take Aim/Whateverulikeasopener//->Frost->Knockback->Finish off with normal hits

You can easily grind on mobs that are 6-8 lvls above u.

Olba - Sanctuary

F_E_A_R - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Best thing u can do for Solo PVE is bying a MP charm.

Deadly Shot/Take Aim/Whateverulikeasopener//->Frost->Knockback->Finish off with normal hits

You can easily grind on mobs that are 6-8 lvls above u.

Lol, so wrong.

MP Charms are not needed, plus they are super expensive right now.

You can just use Frost and Knockback and you shouldn't run into trouble unless there's two or more mobs attacking.

F_E_A_R - Dreamweaver

Olba - Sanctuary wrote: »

Lol, so wrong.

MP Charms are not needed, plus they are super expensive right now.

You can just use Frost and Knockback and you shouldn't run into trouble unless there's two or more mobs attacking.

Sure, u can beat green mobs with Frost only, or mobs at the same level with Frost and Knockback, but the fastest way to gain exp is beating up mobs who r a few level above u - like for example I as a lvl65 archer level on 68er bats. And for that I think a MP charm is the easiest way.

MP Charms super expensive? Sure, if you buy them with coins (uber stupid to buy anything shop related with coins atm - the prices are nuts. Oh and btw, I dont sell any gold or shop stuff neither).

bluewinter93

all u have to do is max
1. frost(which is your opening)
2.all ur passive skills like winged blessing and bow mastery
3.blazing arrow
4.winged shell(i don't really use it but if the mob manage to appear in your face, use it)
5.use a pure build with hp shards in your armor

you don't have to max lightning cos it drains mana and you don't have to use it often in pve(unless you do pvp)
leave knockback at level1. the distance of which the mobs are thrown back is the same no matter what level.

in the worse possible case where the monster you kill is no where close to dying and it is hitting you hard, just hit the fly button and escape b:victory

Olba - Sanctuary

F_E_A_R - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Sure, u can beat green mobs with Frost only, or mobs at the same level with Frost and Knockback, but the fastest way to gain exp is beating up mobs who r a few level above u - like for example I as a lvl65 archer level on 68er bats. And for that I think a MP charm is the easiest way.

Grinding on higher level mobs gets less exp per time, which means it's pointless.

MP Charms super expensive? Sure, if you buy them with coins (uber stupid to buy anything shop related with coins atm - the prices are nuts. Oh and btw, I dont sell any gold or shop stuff neither).

Yes, MP charms are super expensive right now. And god, if you're seriously suggesting that an Archer REQUIRES paying real money, then you're just ... spoiled.

Kagutsuchi - Dreamweaver

bluewinter93 wrote: »

all u have to do is max
1. frost(which is your opening)

So fail.

Lower level:
- Deadly shot as opener
~75-80:
- Take aim

I used take aim as an opener since the beginning, but deadly shot is cheaper to get to level 10.

Anyway
= Deadly / take aim
= frost
= normal
= knockback
= aim low on bosses, on mobs normal attack
finish with normal attacks

If you are QQing about mp usage and you are too cheap to buy a charm, you can skip take aim, but youll prolly get hit more.

No other skill is needed in pve, but sometimes a metal chain is nice on mobs with increased speed.

MystiMonk - Sanctuary

Psycosiz - Lost City wrote: »

Max frost arrow and winged shell and use this combo:

Frost-->2-3 normal attacks-->knockback--normal attacks and winged shell if mob gets too close. And remember that winged shell recovers mp

What do you do to build up the chi to get FA?I thought that Archers would be second to Venos.I say Clerics are second with the AoE build.

truekossy

Kagutsuchi - Dreamweaver wrote: »

So fail.

Lower level:
- Deadly shot as opener
~75-80:
- Take aim

I used take aim as an opener since the beginning, but deadly shot is cheaper to get to level 10.

Anyway
= Deadly / take aim
= frost
= normal
= knockback
= aim low on bosses, on mobs normal attack
finish with normal attacks

If you are QQing about mp usage and you are too cheap to buy a charm, you can skip take aim, but youll prolly get hit more.

No other skill is needed in pve, but sometimes a metal chain is nice on mobs with increased speed.

WTF are you smoking? Sure Deadly/Take Aim is nice for inc. life mobs, but from 30+, all you need as an opener is frost. Deadly's kinda a waste in PvE anyway for normal grinding thanks to the channel time and if you use frost as an opener, Inc. Movement speed won't matter since it's getting slowed too.

Also, how exactly is it cheaper to get Deadly to 10 than take aim when take aim costs lest in spirit, less in coins, and can be maxed before you even get Deadly?

MystiMonk - Sanctuary wrote: »

What do you do to build up the chi to get FA?I thought that Archers would be second to Venos.I say Clerics are second with the AoE build.

Wings of Grace 3 times, a basic chi pot, Awaken, etc. Once you get that 30 base chi to start (which is easy) then you don't really have to worry about generating chi again.

Kagutsuchi - Dreamweaver

truekossy wrote: »

WTF are you smoking? Sure Deadly/Take Aim is nice for inc. life mobs, but from 30+, all you need as an opener is frost. Deadly's kinda a waste in PvE anyway for normal grinding thanks to the channel time and if you use frost as an opener, Inc. Movement speed won't matter since it's getting slowed too.

Also, how exactly is it cheaper to get Deadly to 10 than take aim when take aim costs lest in spirit, less in coins, and can be maxed before you even get Deadly?

You are right about it being better, and I can't for the life of me remember when i heard that it was cheaper. Anyway I've never used deadly shot in pve.

Anyway, Take Aim is THE opener for pve. period. The cast time is long (3 seconds) but who the fsck cares? It's pve, you stand at a longe range and wait 3 seconds. Big deal. When it crits, IT OWNS. 300% weapon damage can 1- or 2-shot a mob of your level if you have a good weapon.
Yes, frost is nice, but when you are of decent level, your range is high enough for frost to be cast after you use take aim.
Inc movement mobs are the only ones on whom i MIGHT consider using frost first.
When I do:
- Take aim,
- Frost,
- Normal,
- Knockback
My range allows frost to run out just when i knock back the mob. Why would you need any more slowing down if the mob dies soon after that?

No, seriously, the only reason why you could argue that you shouldn't use Take Aim as an opener is the higher miss rate. No other argument for pve is valid.

And no, I don't smoke, and I don't like that being implied, if you don't mind.

Elviron - Dreamweaver

I use the following while in PVE which might change as I get new skills. These work quite well for me provided I maintain the maximum distance to start with.

For regaining Chi: Blazing Arrow -> Wings of Grace

This is usually enough for me to start my attacks.

For regular/Increased Speed mobs: Take Aim -> Quickshot -> Serrated Lvl1 -> Winged Shell -> Knockback -> Vicious -> Normal

The bleed+poison effect reduces HP quite well and helps killing the mob faster. Due to winged shell i usually regain almost all of the mp used and suffer less damage in the event that the monsters gets close (which usually happens at my lvl)

For Increased Defense Mobs: Same as above and add a Lightning Strike at the end to cause more damage as they usually take quite a bit from magic attacks. If the target is wood, even better

For Sacrifical Assault/Weak Mobs: Take Aim -> Quickshot -> Normals

For Wood Element Mob: Add Lightning strike after casting Winged Shell as you might want to recover the mp drain after LS.

If they do manage to get close, use Knockback once.

Well this is my preference as I prefer winged shell's defense over the reduced movement speed given by Frost Arrow. Atleast this is what I prefer at the moment. For higher levels when I get a good weapon, I might use Frost more instead of winged shell.

Elenacostel - Heavens Tear

Kagutsuchi - Dreamweaver wrote: »

When I do:
- Take aim,
- Frost,
- Normal,
- Knockback
My range allows frost to run out just when i knock back the mob. Why would you need any more slowing down if the mob dies soon after that?

???

I alternate between these combos:

1) Normal -> Normal -> Normal -> Knockback -> Normal (the rest)
2) Winged Shell -> Normal -> Normal -> Normal -> Knockback -> Normal (the rest)

You actually have to use Take Aim and Frost Arrow?

EDIT: I forgot to mention I heal myself with Double-Spark.

Kagutsuchi - Dreamweaver wrote: »

No, seriously, the only reason why you could argue that you shouldn't use Take Aim as an opener is the higher miss rate. No other argument for pve is valid.

??

Here are some reasons:
- Take Aim takes too long. All I need is Knockback and Winged Shell.
- Take Aim takes too much mana. All I need is Knockback and Winged Shell.
- Take Aim is not necessary. All I need is Knockback and Winged Shell.

I'm not boasting. I'm a hybrid archer; I am very certain there are many, many archers that can out-DPS me.

MystiMonk - Sanctuary

How do you heal yourself with double spark?Why use charms unless 8x+?