How to Archer in PvP

Jarkhen - Archosaur

HOW TO ARCHER IN PVP

Or: Pew Pew For Dummies
by Jarkhen

Now with pretty color coding!

Introduction
What this guide is not

To begin with, I'd like to note that this will be a guide centered around at least semi-endgame group PvP, particularly TW. I'm going to assume you're at least 100+, have at least g16 gear, have your skills, and are at least vaguely aware of what they are. If you're looking for a leveling or PvE guide, look elsewhere. If you're more interested in 1v1s than group PvP... honestly, find a different class, because archer is probably not for you. Archers are one of the (if not the) weakest 1v1 classes, but really shine in group PvP if played properly. Purge is nowhere near as effective in a self-buffed fight as it is in TW - where getting purged often means pretty much instant death - and kiting loses a lot of its potency as well, because you don't really have anyone to hide behind. On top of that, archers have extremely low defense and very little in the way of control skills.

Further, this guide is more theoretical discussion than a hands-on how-to. I'm not here to baby your way through playing the game. You will find pros, cons, situational uses, general strategies, and the like. How to apply the information in this thread is left to the reader.


With that said, let's start with one of the more important skills for any archer:

Staying Alive (and Kiting)
How to run the **** away

Archers are not (should not be) built for tanking damage. It's that simple. Unless you're running around with r9r3+12 and jades (and even then, tbh), just about anyone attacking you should be cause for immediate concern. Even as an r9, a g16 archer attacking you can mean death if you aren't paying attention - especially if they decide to bring some friends.

So, what can you do? You run. You may occasionally find yourself in a 1-on-1 situation with someone else, particularly archers (I do often), and if you know you can win, that's fine. That said, if you're having difficulty, or if someone starts hitting you that you weren't expecting, or if some melee or other decides to get in your face, or one of another million bad things happens - get out of there, and do it quickly. Just about the smartest thing you can do as an archer is hide behind your friends. An archer that runs might seem like a coward, but an archer that doesn't run is dead, and useless to their squad. You have a 32 (34 sage) meter range. Use it properly.

Naturally, hiding behind other people is only really a viable option if you aren't the (only) powerhouse around, so adjust your actions accordingly. Running remains a viable and important option.

Also, take note of who the two main archer-killing classes are: sins and other archers. You should be aware of where the enemy archers near you are at all times, and you should be prepared to counter a sin jumping you at pretty much any time. An unprepared archer is a dead archer.

Leap Left and Leap Right
These two skills are absolutely amazing: two 35-second cooldown 20-meter leaps that cost no chi. These are essential for running away, and will save your *** if you're jumped and immobilized by a melee (*grumble* damn sins). Get used to using them very often. Make sure you note your terrain, though: if you leap out over open air, you'll be falling, which puts you in an even worse situation than before if you're immobilized.

Leaps are effective for moving in general, as well as leaping away from melees. I would advise changing your keybinds for leaps (K menu) to something that's easy to reach without much effort and on short notice. I have mine set to Q and E, and I highly recommend it. Leaping forward is as easy as pressing D + Q or A + E, and leaping backward is just A + Q or D + E. Double-leaping backwards after you start getting targeted will save your *** an unbelievable number of times.

If possible, get into the habit of using leaps even outside of a PvP situation, just to move around faster. The more you use them, the more it'll become second nature and the better you'll be at escaping in the middle of a fight.

Wings of Grace
This skill will be one of your main sources of chi consumption, for multiple reasons. Antistun in general is a lifesaver, and would make this skill worth the spark in itself - but probably my favorite part about WoG is the 30% damage reduction. It's perfect for that extra bit of survivability you need, be it to run in and take someone down or to get out of the way.

Wings of Grace + Holy Path will get you out of just about any situation where you aren't hopelessly outgunned and/or already locked, and can be considered an Elven Alacrity (see below) on steroids.

Do note that Wings of Grace is a vital skill for fighting, not just kiting. Hitting Wings lets you continue your assault on the opponent without worrying about getting stunned and while dramatically reducing your chances of getting killed. The antistun + 30% damage reduction also lends itself extremely well to chaining Ironguard Powders when things get hairy: Wings of Grace -> tank a few hits (if you can) -> Ironguard before you get into too much trouble works beautifully in most situations.

Additional note: Wings of Grace has a 3-second cast time during which you are invincible, similar to sparking. This is nice for general damage-tanking purposes, but is also exceptionally useful for avoiding those all-too-predictable skills like purges from pesky venos.

Elven Alacrity
At the cost of 1 spark, this skill gives you antistun and 15 m/s movement speed for 8 seconds. This skill is especially useful when you find yourself in a retreat situation where standing and channeling Wings of Grace isn't an option, and can be combined with Absolute Domain or IG if necessary to get you clear of just about any situation where you aren't already CC'd.

Also important to notice is that this skill isn't just for you - it's targetable, which means you can (and should) use it to assist your squad members. A well-timed Alacrity can easily save a squad member's life, and can also be used offensively, for example, to help a squad member run in and pop an Ironguard or - a personal favorite of mine - to help a Blademaster quickly run into the fray in Blade Tornado. Communication with the rest of your squad is key to figure out when/if you should be Alacing your squadmates.

Blessing of the Condor
+1000% evasion for 10 seconds, instant-cast, no chi cost. This skill is basically an anti-archer and anti-sin skill, and should be used accordingly. It will make most physical attacks against you miss, and will easily save you if timed properly, but note that it will not guarantee that every attack will miss - especially when dealing with a near-endgame archer or sin with upwards of 10k accuracy (not to mention 100% accuracy skills) - so don't save it until the last second. I find myself using this skill most often right before double-leaping back away from a fight.

Note: This skill overwrites your evasion buff from Wings of Protection, so make sure you rebuff afterwards.

Ataraxia
Archer stealth. This skill works similarly to an Assassin's Shadow Escape - it forces you into stealth even in combat, and gives +31 stealth levels - but your movement speed is slowed to 0.1 m/s while stealthed. Note that this movement speed cannot be increased with skills such as Alacrity or Holy Path, so the only way you're getting anywhere while stealthed is with leaps. Also note that this skill won't save you from sins above your level, or from seekers with their Morai skill, or from anyone your level or above hitting a stealth pot.

I don't find myself using this skill incredibly often, especially since stealthing doesn't stop attacks that are already being channeled or cast, and because the 0.8-second channel and 0.6-second cast means leaps are usually a faster and better means of escaping - but it certainly has its uses, especially when leaps are on cooldown or wouldn't bring you far enough away from the fight. You will almost definitely be using leaps in conjunction with this skill, to back away from the fight before you leave stealth.

Note: You can use Blazing Arrow to leave stealth.

Winged Shell
For 45 chi, gives a shell that absorbs 1000 (1250 sage) damage. That's not much, and typically means this shell is only going to last for one hit. The important thing to note about Winged Shell, however, is that while it's active, incoming damage is reduced by 80% (!). That makes this skill particularly useful for avoiding a single heavy incoming hit, though the 45-chi cost means you'll want to be very sparing in your use. In all honesty, I almost never use this skill.


Dealing Damage
Finally, time for some pew pew

So, now you know how to stay alive longer. It's time to put that to some use by actually fighting back. There are a few things to note here. The first is that, like it or not, archers are primarily an auto-attack class. You will be spending the majority of the time you're attacking using autoattacks. Even past that, an archer's repertoire of offensive skills is not very complicated and does not require an excessive amount of originality. Dealing damage as an archer is easy. The absolute key to playing an archer well is properly utilizing your defensive skills (and ability to run), and at the right times - so go back up to that last section and re-read it again. Then we can move on to the offensive part.

Note: With the exception of your magic skills, melee skills, and Take Aim (and maybe Blood Vow), you will be using skills for the buffs/debuffs they provide, not for the extra damage they do. The damage addons on most archer skills are negligible.

Who should I be attacking?

Your focus in general should be whatever target your squad is focusing at the moment (your squad is calling targets, right?). Archers are a support/flanking DD, and work best when attacking opponents in conjunction with others.

But what about those times when your squad doesn't have any target called, or for some reason you are unable to engage the called target? Your primary targets will be: other archers, clerics, and other arcane classes. Whether you actively engage enemy archers on your own will vary depending on the situation and especially on your gear level, since any archer you start shooting will probably either run away or start shooting back.

What about heavy armor classes?

Remember when I said archers are primarily an autoattack class? I meant it. With the exception of purge proc (which, on heavies, is generally only going to be useful if someone else is attacking them as well), autoattacks are mostly useless against heavy armor classes. The main exception to this will be Blademasters, due to magic marrow, but typically you'll still be better off focusing the classes listed above. Yes, you have three primary magic skills, but their damage output is rather pitiful compared to that of a caster proper. While you can throw up decent numbers on pretty much any class, you will be much more effective focusing on arcanes and archers.

Also, note that archer DD is next to useless on cata barbs, whose massive survivability makes the low damage output of our magic attacks even more noticeable. We have several debuffs that are useful on tanky barbs (see skill breakdown below), but after that, move on to another target unless you're r9 and are going for a purge proc.

Primary Offensive Skills
Bread and butter of an archer's arsenal

Stunning Arrow
This skill will generally be your opener against a target. Note that the stun only lasts 3.5 seconds, which is rather pitiful compared to most other classes' stuns (Sage gets 5 seconds, which is more respectable), but it's generally enough to get the job done. It only has a 15-second cooldown, so use it often.

Also, note that your success chance on this skill is not 100%, so pay attention to your opponent's buffs and debuffs so you know whether it succeeded.

Sage: Gives 5s stun instead of 3.5s. Shouldn't affect how or where you use this skill.

Demon: This skill gives +10% crit for 10 seconds. You should be using this skill all the time anyway, but this just gives you all the more reason to.

Quickshot
This skill is the keystone of archer DD, though the reason is different for each cultivation. Generally speaking, you'll want to be using this skill immediately after (or before, by preference) stunning arrow, usually followed by a chain of normal attacks (especially for demon). If you haven't gotten the level 11 version of this skill, you're missing out. Note: this skill is useless if it's not level 11. Don't use it.

Sage: This skill gives +20% crit for 10 seconds. Use as needed to keep your crit buff up at all times. Note: Crit buff does not overwrite itself, so you will have to wait until after the 10 seconds to rebuff it.

Demon: This skill has a 50% chance to increase autoattack attack speed by 30% (slightly more than demon spark). You will pretty much exclusively be using this after stunning arrow to get that dps boost needed to take down your target. This skill is also exceptionally useful for landing a purge proc if you're r9.

Helpful note: If you're Demon and interested in min-maxing, find out how many autoattacks your Quickshot buff lasts for, so you know exactly when you'll want to start casting it again. For a full r9 archer, it's 7 shots.

Sharpened Tooth Arrow
This skill is generally used for two things. It reduces max HP by 16% (20% sage), which is particularly useful on cata barbs and tanky targets. It's also a cheap physical AoE, and is great for use on just about any closely-clustered group of enemies, especially for the debuff.

Sage: Gives 20% HP reduction instead of 16%. Should not affect how or where you use this skill.

Demon: This skill gives +10% crit for 15 seconds. This does not stack with the stunning arrow buff, nor does it overwrite it, so take note of that. I'm a fan of using STA for the double-whammy crit buff + hp debuff before using Barrage of Arrows (see below).

Aim Low
Gives an 8-second immobilize at the cost of 1 spark. You will mainly be using this skill to prevent someone from running away. It's also occasionally useful to stop a rampaging Blademaster in its tracks, if it's not antistunned or IG'd like it probably should be.

Note that this skill costs a spark, so be a little selective in your use. Archers are fairly dependent on chi, especially for antistun, so make sure you're not wasting it.

Note: Like Stunning Arrow, this skill only has a 90% chance to take effect. Act accordingly.

Sage: 25% chance to freeze opponent for 5 seconds. This debuff is independent from the immobilize, and may still proc even if the immobilize doesn't. Note that a 25% chance is nowhere near high enough to depend on, but make sure you're aware of it so you can take advantage of it.

Demon: 25% chance to stun opponent for 3 seconds. This debuff is independent from the immobilize, and may still proc even if the immobilize doesn't. Note that a 25% chance is nowhere near high enough to depend on, but make sure you're aware of it so you can take advantage of it. Also, note that Stunning Arrow does not overwrite this stun, so if Aim Low's stun procs, do not use Stunning Arrow until after Aim Low's stun wears off, or you'll be wasting it.

Lightning Strike
This skill is short-channel, short-cast, and costs no chi, so it's a cheap and easy magic hit. Generally speaking you'll want to chain this after Thunder Shock to take advantage of the metal resistance debuff.

Sage: 25% chance to gain +20 chi. Better than nothing, but fairly insignificant overall.

Demon: 100% accuracy. This is mainly useful for knocking down enemy archers that have used Condor.

Thunder Shock
Metal attack, primarily notable for its 50% metal resistance debuff. Chaining Lightning Strike / Thunderous Blast after this skill is recommended. The 30-chi cost is easily made up for by the increase in damage.

Sage: Debuffs for 25s instead of 15s. If you're metal spamming, this won't really matter since you'll be refreshing the debuff in less than 15s anyway.

Demon: 10% chance to paralyze (immobilize+silence) target for 3 seconds. Definitely not something you want to rely on, but it's nice nonetheless.

Thunderous Blast
This is your hardest-hitting metal attack (by a small margin), and is also AoE. Unfortunately, it also has a very long channel time, making it of questionable use in most single-target situations (though metal-spam occasionally requires it). It is, however, very useful to drop on a group, particularly one composed mainly of heavy/light armors (see: middle of the lane).

Sage: Reduced cooldown and channel. Slightly more spammable, and slightly more viable in single-target.

Demon: Increased damage. Should not affect how or where you use this skill.

Barrage of Arrows
This is where the real fun comes in. Barrage deals massive continuous damage in a large area (12-meter radius), and is extremely effective at taking out large groups, especially when combined with a BM's stun+HF. However, the animation is also rather flashy, and is basically a giant blue arrow screaming "STUN ME AND KILL ME." As such, at the very least an antistun (Wings of Grace comes to mind) is recommended before entering BoA. Ironguard is preferred in most situations, especially since people tend to be rather unhappy about you killing everyone and will start hitting you. If possible, consider STA and/or Galvanic beforehand to enhance effectiveness (and make it harder for the target to run out of range, in the case of Galvanic).

Sage: Grants a 33% reduction in damage while casting. Honestly, this is a rather useless bonus, since pretty much the first thing anyone is going to do is knock you out of barrage if they can, and you'll usually be in IG while barraging anyway.

Demon: More hits in less time. What's not to love?

Melee Skills
For the up close and personal

Winged Pledge
Straight-up melee damage, pure and simple. This skill has almost no place in PvP, except for making short work of a pesky non-factor sin. You're usually better off getting out of melee.

Wingspan
Melee AoE, also with a short channel. Hopefully you won't often find yourself in a situation where a melee AoE would be exceptionally useful, but you may find yourself in a position to use it every now and then... though, again, you'll likely want to get the hell out of there ASAP. Sadly, the knockback doesn't work in PvP.

Sage: 20% chance to gain 50 chi. That's a significant gain, but with only 20%, not very reliable, and again, you don't really want to be in melee range much.

Demon: Gives a free level-5 Winged Shell (see above), which basically means the next thing to hit you does **** for damage. Again, nice, but getting the hell out of melee range should probably be higher priority.

Situational Skills
I don't really have a witty phrase for this section

Take Aim
This skill has two main uses. The primary use is to oneshot unsuspecting arcanes with a fully charged shot, though (especially at higher gear levels and with demon) quickshot -> normal is often preferred.

This skill is also useful instant-casted, both for quick chi gain and to get a shot off at someone that's running away. An instant-cast take aim will hit faster than a normal attack.

Blood Vow
18% max hp reduction, 25% damage amp, semi-decent damage-over-time, and the hardest-hitting single-target skill you have, with the exception of Take Aim. The double debuff on this skill will typically be enough to drop just about anyone your squad is attacking. Note, however, that the 25% damage amp will overwrite and/or be overwritten by a bm's HF (and if you overwrite a BM's HF, your squad will not be very happy with you).

With a 2-minute cooldown and a 1-spark cost, try to save this for the right situation, but definitely do use it. It's extremely useful when used properly.

Arrow Inferno
This skill is a tank killer, pure and simple. It's AoE, and reduces all incoming healing by 20% and increases charm cooldown by 30% for thirty seconds, at the cost of just one spark. Drop this on cata barbs or other tanky targets when focusing them.

Whisper Shot
The 1-spark cost on this skill, combined with the short range (only 18m), limits its effectiveness somewhat. This skill is pretty much only useful for disabling someone that has an antistun up. Use sparingly.

Galvanic Charge / Galvanic Aura
Long cast time; costs two sparks at first, and regains one. Honestly, only really useful when coupled with Barrage. If you're trying to just get more range to stay alive, Wings of Grace is a better defensive option. If you're trying to get more damage, use Blood Vow instead.

Useless Skills
This **** just sucks

Serrated Arrow
The damage-over-time on this skill is negligible, and you are much better off spending the time normal attacking or using other skills.

Vicious Arrow
See Serrated Arrow.

Stormrage Eagleon
See Serrated Arrow, but this skill also costs two sparks, making it even more worthless unless you want to make archer babies. The slow is negligible.

Sage: This skill has some situational use as Sage due to the defense reduction (equivalent to a bm's Glacial Spike), but you're almost definitely better off using something else with your chi, like Blood Vow or Barrage (or defensive skills).

Frost Arrow
Put simply, slow is damn near useless in group PvP, and this skill doesn't come close to being worth the chi cost.

Sage: Sage has marginal use due to the conversion of physical damage to water damage, but again, that chi cost is ugly, and we're primarily focused on archers and arcanes.

Deadly Shot
By the time you're lv90+ or so, Take Aim overtakes this skill in damage.

Knockback Arrow
Knockback doesn't work in PvP. End of story.


Useful Genie Skills
Say hello to my little friend

Note: I highly recommend a mag/vit build genie to allow for extra spammage of defensive skills. You'll need it.

Holy Path
General-purpose movement skill. Pretty self-explanatory. Good for moving around the battlefield, getting in a fight (though you'll usually want to save your genie for other skills in this case), and getting out of one.

Absolute Domain
As mentioned multiple times, archers are squishy as hell. 5 seconds is more than enough time to get your *** out of the line of fire and keep going. Generally a good idea to chain with IG or combine with Alacrity or leaps to get away while immune, so you don't just get wiped once immunity is off.

Also exceptionally useful for saving your *** when a sin (or three) pops on you.

Cloud Eruption
More chi = more antistuns and barrages = excellent. Self-explanatory.

Leave at level 1 to allow for more spam.

Fortify
Useful for chaining IG without having to waste a spark on an antistun, and will be increasingly useful in a general combat situation as you learn to predict incoming stuns (Roar, Soul of Stunning, etc. etc.)

You will likely want to leave this at level 1 for the lower energy cost.

Will Surge
Mostly for anti-Soul of Silence. 7 seconds should be more than enough time to beat down just about any psychic you're going to beat down.

This skill is also useful for avoiding getting locked down by a venomancer's Parasitic Nova or a sin's Throatcut, both of which are fairly easy to see coming.

Unlike Fortify, you'll probably want this skill maxed to allow for more time to bash on Psychics.

Faith
Purify + immune to status ailments for 5 seconds. This skill is incredibly useful for getting out of a CC'd situation, and (like Fortify) can be used to chain IG, but the 7-wood 7-fire affinity requirement might make it difficult to fit into your genie.

Also note that this skill still won't save you from getting pummeled by large damage numbers - so if you're not heavily endgame geared, you won't get nearly as much use out of it. Only recommended before 105 (when you can have faith + AD) if you're highly geared.

Note: This skill will not break you out of a cleric's SoG, but it will block it if used beforehand.

Expel
Mostly used for extra survivability while in Barrage, since the silence won't cancel your barrage. You'll probably still want to have an antistun up while barraging with Expel, since it won't stop an archer's Stunning Arrow (due to Blazing Arrow), a BM's Roar, or any caster's stuns.

Also occasionally useful as a makeshift AD when you're jumped by a sin with AD on cooldown.

Note: Use while already sealed (Throatcut, etc.) for a free physical immune buff.

Stunning Blast
Mainly useful for trapping any sins or bms that come near you. Blast and leap away.

Tangling Mire
Combine with Barrage for extra fun. Note the 20-meter range, though - if you're barraging from max range you won't be able to use it. If someone in your squad has a strength genie with Mire, see if they can chain it with you instead.

Frenzy
Combine with Barrage for extra fun. Be extremely cautious when using this skill if you're not IG'd - the defense reduction will likely kill you. Not one of my more recommended skills, but up to personal preference.

Extreme Poison
Single-target amp. Not as useful in TW where there are targets aplenty and you'll probably want to be focusing on defensive genie skills, but you may occasionally want it for extra firepower.


But you didn't mention buffs or Awaken! QQ!

Call me lazy if you want. Honestly, these skills shouldn't really require explanation - keep WoP and Blazing up at all times, use Awaken as needed to avoid being chi-less in a fight.


SUPER SPECIAL BONUS NOTE FOR DEMONS

If your passive buffs (Winged Blessing and Bow Mastery) are demon, you get 2% extra crit from having white wings. If you don't have white wings, you can buy them from the Priest in Plume. Switch out between white wings for fighting and normal wings for flying.

Senel - Dreamweaver

Awesome Guide, we desperately needed an update with the new skills and all so thanks alot for thatb:thanks just point out for the skill "Take Aim" that you need to double click the skill to instant cast d-(^_^)z

Aeliah - Dreamweaver

I am going to take the liberty to point out that you didn't say this guide was *only* for TW. Therefore there are a few corrections I would suggest for your guide (which otherwise looks pretty legit).

I quickly noted your dismissive references to winged pledge, sage stormrage eagleon, and frost arrow. I'm going to suggest that you haven't played a sage archer much/at all and haven't studied how sage archers can use these skills. This is understandable, but I still want to correct your assumptions, so that your guide isn't biased towards demon archers, which is the sense that I get from it.

Winged pledge... granted, less useful in large group situations. In smaller group situations, it can work well. Common scenario when I'm fighting against archers 1vs1, 2vs2, or even somewhat larger groups (groups that aren't quite large enough for me to safely hide behind my allies at all times). Enemy archer is my most dangerous person. I have two ways I can handle him. 1) stay as far away as possible---often not possible, or, what if there is more than 1 archer? 2)stay as CLOSE to the archer as possible. And immobilize him... assuming I can't seal of gods/sleep. When I'm up close and you can't get away, you could auto attack. Pitiful damage. You could stun if you have it... still pretty pitiful damage because of 1/2 dmg nerf... I might also have anti-stun though (it is probably how I caught up to you in the first place... a purify proc). You might try walking a bit so that I'm out of melee range, and I'll probably walk yoooouurr waaaay. Lol. You might, however, consider winged pledge. Bonus points if you had just triple sparked and I ran up to you for safety, and you do a full dmg crit winged pledge instead, ouch time. I've recently fought a lot of archers and I can attest that this works for them. It makes it much less safe for me to be up close to them. Bonus points if you have SAGE winged pledge and can spam every second. And because it carries no debuffs, yes, it can purge. Now clearly being ranged is better... but often I do my utmost to stay in an archer's melee range, and if you really can't get away, winged pledge is better than auto attacks in those situations. Also a great finishing blow against bms (magic marrow), assassins, and every arcane who ever wanted to hug your melee range in hopes of halving damage. Please don't dismiss this skill.

Stormrage eagleon...sage archers rarely have problems with chi. Arguments that 'you should use blood vow instead' are invalid, when a sage archer can, with little difficulty, put BOTH debuffs onto a target for some freakin massive dph. Both debuffs on a target = that target is gonna diiiie...ESPECIALLY in group situations (lucky purify proc/cleric purify aside; these debuffs are best reserved for non-arcanes anyways). Properly applied, the combination of 50% magic defense debuff, 50% metal defense debuff, 25% amp, 18% max hp debuff, strong metal dot, and probably extreme poison as well, can destroy even the toughest of targets, to say nothing of having purged the target first. I have seen r9rr+12 jaded barbs and seekers go splat to this combo when it was just the archer hitting. Add in anybody else and.. yeah. As well, blood vow has a significant cooldown, and sage archers can gain chi a lot faster than demon archers, and might end up wondering what to do with all of it. In such cases, a sage archer could altnerate between blood vow and stormrage eagleon. Please don't do a disservice to archers by stating that this skill has few uses, when it fact it is massively useful when you are assisting to take out KEY targets, like barbs and seekers, who are *probably already purged but still tanky enough to need extra debuffs anyways*.

The argument that 'use a barrage instead' is fairly good, and would eliminate this skill from use in TW situations a lot... the same way that you'd eliminate the use of blood vow. In TW almost any chi should be going into a barrage or wings of grace. However, in smaller group pvp, barrage isn't nearly as useful (less chance that it'll actually hit people), and therefore, both blood vow and stormrage eagleon become far more permissible, as you kill targets 1 by 1 rather than many at a time. Again, your guide doesn't say *only* TW. And there is always cata-barb killing, which both do quite well at.

Finally, frost arrow is, contrary to the opinion of every demon archer ever, quite useful from what I've observed. Even though sages have lower cd on certain metal skill(s), they still run out of metal magic damage to do, and so frost arrow can often land the finishing blow. Again, the chi cost doesn't hurt a sage archer as much as it would a demon archer. Also, it has an added bonus of NOT being metal... so sometimes if your targets pops in heart of steel at the last moment, bwahaha, you can still take him out (assuming a heavy armor target of course).

Again I know what you are going to say is 'archers don't go for heavy armor targets blah blah blah'. Fact is, sometimes they DO though. When the enemy has entered the base, and the healers are dead... the archers go for barbs, just like everybody should be. Sometimes you just have to kill a particularly pesky bm or seeker capable of tanking multiple people at a time, and your magic damage and debuffs could be the extra oomph that gets the kill in. Targeting heavy armors is situational and not the FIRST thing you do, but it isn't something you never do either, and if you are gonna do it, why not some magic damage? Can only purge somebody so many times before somebody actually has to do some real damage, and against heavy armors that'd better be magic damage lol.

Otherwise, really nice guide, well explained. Cheers.

iskelei

Excellent work, thank you.

Aeliah - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Stormrage eagleon...sage archers rarely have problems with chi. Arguments that 'you should use blood vow instead' are invalid, when a sage archer can, with little difficulty, put BOTH debuffs onto a target for some freakin massive dph. Both debuffs on a target = that target is gonna diiiie...ESPECIALLY in group situations (lucky purify proc/cleric purify aside; these debuffs are best reserved for non-arcanes anyways). Properly applied, the combination of 50% magic defense debuff, 50% metal defense debuff, 25% amp, 18% max hp debuff, strong metal dot, and probably extreme poison as well, can destroy even the toughest of targets, to say nothing of having purged the target first.

The only point is that despite its description Sage version of Stormrage eagleon lowers target's physical/magical attack and not the defence. It can be used to disable a bit the opponent's key dds in mass pvp, and - probably - in 1vs1, but it still has a rather narrow range of application due to its chi cost.

Aeliah - Dreamweaver

iskelei wrote: »

Excellent work, thank you.



The only point is that despite its description Sage version of Stormrage eagleon lowers target's physical/magical attack and not the defence. It can be used to disable a bit the opponent's key dds in mass pvp, and - probably - in 1vs1, but it still has a rather narrow range of application due to its chi cost.

Others say this too but its just not true. Maybe it *used* to be true---but it is no longer. I have plenty of videos which show that (a) the debuffs are magical/physical DEFENSE debuffs, and (b) that people take lot more damage with those debuffs in. I've even done personal tests which verify that, in fact, the debuff from stormrage are slightly stronger than my own debuffs, which are 40% physical and 35% magical respectively, so it seems likely that they are 50% debuffs.

Minute 1:55 or 22:30 of this video

CielDeLumen - Raging Tide

Might I also mention some other tactics?

First, in TW. I watched most of Transcend's vids, and noted a useful tactic in TW--that of hiding behind scenery when attacking. On this:
Due to range, in the chaos of TW, most often times someone cannot simply tab you, making it much harder to figure out where the fire is coming from, and by then it is often too late.
Due to this, if you are behind a tall object, such as a tree, unleashing BOA might be more effective, since people can't see the where it's coming from as easily, giving you a couple more seconds to wreak havoc.
Thus, picking a target, moving to max range behind an obstacle and unleashing pain might be well effective.

Second, regarding control skills--you make it sound like the archer control skills are negligible, but that's hardly the case. Between stunning arrow, aim low, and stunning blast (genie), you can practically keep people frozen as long as needed while you fire on them. Also, leaping gives you extra distance, and extra chances to stun and freeze people. Even better if you are sage, since you can 5 sec stun + 8 sec freeze with only 15 second cd on both, leading to a potential stunlock of sorts, since all you need to do with many classes is simply keep them still (and you can outrange any of them, even without galvanic aura).

Third, I don't think galvanic aura/charge is all that bad. It makes your already massive range insane (I can barely see you at that distance), and ups your crit, lasting 30 seconds. You can cause a lot of havoc in that time. Also, in NW, all you have to do is hide in the trees, and you can hit anyone without them knowing where it came from.

Just some thoughts.

[Start random fact]
Also, random fact of the day, while I'm on the subject of archers: You know in Blood Vow, how the target takes 4444 damage? Well the number 4 is interesting in Chinese culture--it's associated with death. Reason being the word for death is one tone away from the word for 4 in Mandarin. This is also likely the reason some Chinese buildings don't have a 4th floor, much like how some American buildings don't have a 13th floor. So 4444 is like quadruple death. Makes sense, with the skill.
[End random fact]

Walpurga - Dreamweaver

Leaps are 35 sec CD

Jarkhen - Archosaur

Walpurga - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Leaps are 35 sec CD

o_o that's what it already says.

Aeliah - Dreamweaver

Forgot to mention: genie skill my archer friend uses all the time when fighting melees is 'Piercing Flames'. Might want to research/add that in. Does a guaranteed immobilize.

Edit: lvl 5 winged shell buff from demon wingspan is actually very useful. Might want to mention that.

Walpurga - Dreamweaver

Jarkhen - Archosaur wrote: »

o_o that's what it already says.

talking to BM above me

Jarkhen - Archosaur

Walpurga - Dreamweaver wrote: »

talking to BM above me

I believe the two 15s cds he was referring to are the cds on stunning arrow and aim low.


By the way (@bm), spamming aim low every 15s is a great way to find yourself dangerously out of chi in a hurry.

FlyRanger - Dreamweaver

Stun or Sharpen tooth arrow before using metals is a good technique, since it'll increase the chance of these skills landing a crit.

Bhavyy - Raging Tide

FlyRanger - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Stun or Sharpen tooth arrow before using metals is a good technique, since it'll increase the chance of these skills landing a crit.

for demon archers*

And pretty much everythin that Aeliah said.. piercing flames etc etc.

Oh and some archers have started using Celestial sword because it can be spammed and purge.

kothainephae

Hopefully ! one day, Archer can attack while riding mount b:laughb:dirty

Walpurga - Dreamweaver

kothainephae wrote: »

Hopefully ! one day, Archer can attack while riding mount b:laughb:dirty

you clearly never targeted someone on a Boa mount or THAT DAMN FROG

It will be the end of balance

(also **** that frog it's so annoying)

Jarkhen - Archosaur

Walpurga - Dreamweaver wrote: »

you clearly never targeted someone on a Boa mount or THAT DAMN FROG

I haven't either. It's impossible.

opkossy

The trick if clicking manually is to go a bit behind where you'd expect to be able to click.

And if that doesn't work, say **** it and hit tab or use the T menu. b:chuckle

Anhka - Sanctuary

The thing about Sage Stormrage + BV is that you've spent 3 sparks inflicting something completely purify-able. Opponent can pop 3 sparks to get rid of your debuffs and have an attack buff to boot.

Eoria - Harshlands

Anhka - Sanctuary wrote: »

The thing about Sage Stormrage + BV is that you've spent 3 sparks inflicting something completely purify-able. Opponent can pop 3 sparks to get rid of your debuffs and have an attack buff to boot.

Alternatively, pop a sutra pot.

Walpurga - Dreamweaver

Or belief or Heart of Steel + kite away

Aeliah - Dreamweaver

Anhka - Sanctuary wrote: »

The thing about Sage Stormrage + BV is that you've spent 3 sparks inflicting something completely purify-able. Opponent can pop 3 sparks to get rid of your debuffs and have an attack buff to boot.

You are an archer. You don't need to debuff somebody to get them to pop their genie or apoth, you just hit them till they are purged and then stun them. Once you ascertained that their apoth or genie has been expended, then you can unleash this combo and do some freakin massive damage lol. Bonus points if you purge them again in the hits following this combo.

Anhka - Sanctuary

That's extremely unrealistic. I use a ZTP combo with BV, just not in a 1v1 unless my opponent is really bad but nicely geared.

Endgame heavies are very tanky, and the archer is most likely spending resources for their own protection as well.

Sint - Harshlands

Aeliah - Dreamweaver wrote: »

I quickly noted your dismissive references to winged pledge, sage stormrage eagleon, and frost arrow. I'm going to suggest that you haven't played a sage archer much/at all and haven't studied how sage archers can use these skills. This is understandable, but I still want to correct your assumptions, so that your guide isn't biased towards demon archers, which is the sense that I get from it.

Winged pledge... granted, less useful in large group situations. In smaller group situations, it can work well. Common scenario when I'm fighting against archers 1vs1, 2vs2, or even somewhat larger groups (groups that aren't quite large enough for me to safely hide behind my allies at all times). Enemy archer is my most dangerous person. I have two ways I can handle him. 1) stay as far away as possible---often not possible, or, what if there is more than 1 archer? 2)stay as CLOSE to the archer as possible. And immobilize him... assuming I can't seal of gods/sleep. When I'm up close and you can't get away, you could auto attack. Pitiful damage. You could stun if you have it... still pretty pitiful damage because of 1/2 dmg nerf... I might also have anti-stun though (it is probably how I caught up to you in the first place... a purify proc). You might try walking a bit so that I'm out of melee range, and I'll probably walk yoooouurr waaaay. Lol. You might, however, consider winged pledge. Bonus points if you had just triple sparked and I ran up to you for safety, and you do a full dmg crit winged pledge instead, ouch time. I've recently fought a lot of archers and I can attest that this works for them. It makes it much less safe for me to be up close to them. Bonus points if you have SAGE winged pledge and can spam every second. And because it carries no debuffs, yes, it can purge. Now clearly being ranged is better... but often I do my utmost to stay in an archer's melee range, and if you really can't get away, winged pledge is better than auto attacks in those situations. Also a great finishing blow against bms (magic marrow), assassins, and every arcane who ever wanted to hug your melee range in hopes of halving damage. Please don't dismiss this skill.

Stormrage eagleon...sage archers rarely have problems with chi. Arguments that 'you should use blood vow instead' are invalid, when a sage archer can, with little difficulty, put BOTH debuffs onto a target for some freakin massive dph. Both debuffs on a target = that target is gonna diiiie...ESPECIALLY in group situations (lucky purify proc/cleric purify aside; these debuffs are best reserved for non-arcanes anyways). Properly applied, the combination of 50% magic defense debuff, 50% metal defense debuff, 25% amp, 18% max hp debuff, strong metal dot, and probably extreme poison as well, can destroy even the toughest of targets, to say nothing of having purged the target first. I have seen r9rr+12 jaded barbs and seekers go splat to this combo when it was just the archer hitting. Add in anybody else and.. yeah. As well, blood vow has a significant cooldown, and sage archers can gain chi a lot faster than demon archers, and might end up wondering what to do with all of it. In such cases, a sage archer could altnerate between blood vow and stormrage eagleon. Please don't do a disservice to archers by stating that this skill has few uses, when it fact it is massively useful when you are assisting to take out KEY targets, like barbs and seekers, who are *probably already purged but still tanky enough to need extra debuffs anyways*.

The argument that 'use a barrage instead' is fairly good, and would eliminate this skill from use in TW situations a lot... the same way that you'd eliminate the use of blood vow. In TW almost any chi should be going into a barrage or wings of grace. However, in smaller group pvp, barrage isn't nearly as useful (less chance that it'll actually hit people), and therefore, both blood vow and stormrage eagleon become far more permissible, as you kill targets 1 by 1 rather than many at a time. Again, your guide doesn't say *only* TW. And there is always cata-barb killing, which both do quite well at.

Finally, frost arrow is, contrary to the opinion of every demon archer ever, quite useful from what I've observed. Even though sages have lower cd on certain metal skill(s), they still run out of metal magic damage to do, and so frost arrow can often land the finishing blow. Again, the chi cost doesn't hurt a sage archer as much as it would a demon archer. Also, it has an added bonus of NOT being metal... so sometimes if your targets pops in heart of steel at the last moment, bwahaha, you can still take him out (assuming a heavy armor target of course).

Again I know what you are going to say is 'archers don't go for heavy armor targets blah blah blah'. Fact is, sometimes they DO though. When the enemy has entered the base, and the healers are dead... the archers go for barbs, just like everybody should be. Sometimes you just have to kill a particularly pesky bm or seeker capable of tanking multiple people at a time, and your magic damage and debuffs could be the extra oomph that gets the kill in. Targeting heavy armors is situational and not the FIRST thing you do, but it isn't something you never do either, and if you are gonna do it, why not some magic damage? Can only purge somebody so many times before somebody actually has to do some real damage, and against heavy armors that'd better be magic damage lol.

Otherwise, really nice guide, well explained. Cheers.

Sage archers still suck.

Arcanes hugging my melee range when i'm behind my squad usually don't do very well or last very long. Clerics are the first targets. If i leap sideways i can stun you and you're about to get epicly ganked.

Any full +12 jaded barb/seeker who "goes splat" against a single archer is a pve server barb. Also, there's a lvl 60 pot that removes those debuffs. In case you're too cheap for base pots wich do the same... or dew, pan gu, ig, sutra power orb, chi pots and spark, chi pots and turtle, cornered beast, solid shield, heart of steel, faith, AD, ToP and your cleric is too lazy to purify you, because a sage archer who's willing to waste 3 sparks on that would definitely have gone for the barb first, and you're too lazy to simply move away from the archer untill the debuffs are off.

Aeliah - Dreamweaver wrote: »

You are an archer. You don't need to debuff somebody to get them to pop their genie or apoth, you just hit them till they are purged and then stun them. Once you ascertained that their apoth or genie has been expended, then you can unleash this combo and do some freakin massive damage lol. Bonus points if you purge them again in the hits following this combo.

Yeah, catabarbs panic all the time when i hit them. You may want them to use both their apoc and their genie. Otherwise they'll use whichever they haven't used.

If everyone is ganking a bm/barb that needs to die, your argument about heart of steel -> frost is bogus. Unless you have clerics dding...

Considering actual archers (demon) deal 2-3 times more dmg/time with normal shots than they do with metal even on some heavies, spamming metal is often simply idiotic. So if you don't know already, check your physical damage/time, see if it can kill the heavy or contribute enough, and if it definitely can't, check metal damage/time, then make your pick.



On the actual guide:

Wingspan and shell can allow you to tank a spark combo if you know how to play an archer.

Knockback Arrow is a good way to luck out and get free chi. (if demon)

Starting with stun is **** unless you know your target won't live through 3 hits. Start with STA and save the stun for when they're about to panic.

ReckUrWorld - Lost City

hold down 1 key press tab. PVP on EA done.

Transcend - Lost City

ReckUrWorld - Lost City wrote: »

Spend $1k+, hold down 1 key press tab. PVP on EA done.

FTFY b:laugh

Frighten - Dreamweaver

ReckUrWorld - Lost City wrote: »

hold down 1 key press tab. PVP on EA done.

Till you hit that psychic with soul of retaliation and purge yourself b:laugh

tsyfall

Get on my level, Jarkhen. Need 17 pages.

But no, seriously, great work! A bit of tweaking and I would like to see this stickied. This has long been overdue for all archers.

I've been working on an newer version of my Assassin guide, but it's sitting at 30+ pages in Word right now and reading your post is much more interesting.

Zsw - Dreamweaver

tsyfall wrote: »

Get on my level, Jarkhen. Need 17 pages.

But no, seriously, great work! A bit of tweaking and I would like to see this stickied. This has long been overdue for all archers.

I've been working on an newer version of my Assassin guide, but it's sitting at 30+ pages in Word right now and reading your post is much more interesting.

Nah but see, no one reads it anyway GG

Jarkhen - Archosaur

Zsw - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Nah but see, no one reads it anyway GG

Sad but true.

XCableX - Archosaur

Well Done Jarkhen. b:victory

Veneir - Dreamweaver

Oh pff I saw the title, chuckled because I thought it was going to be a troll-thread about auto-attack, and then saw it was genuine...
that was a very nice surprise, thank you