Pro's and Con's of an Archer?

Tsuiho - Heavens Tear wrote: »

So I am planning to re-roll on the new PvE server when it comes out and as of right now I intend to make an Archer as my main on that server (this archer I'm posting on is one I just made to test things out a bit at low levels).

So far from reading the forums I've picked up the following pro's and con's:

Pros:
-Very good at killing single mobs
-High dmg/crit rate/dodge
-Can grind mostly free of charms/pots if you dont skill spam and choose mobs wisely, so pretty good at making money via grinding
-Good PvP/TW class due to high spike damage capabilities

Cons:
-Weak at lower levels
-Not good at killing bosses solo (unless it is a ranged type boss?)
-Bad at taking on multiple mobs at once
-Low HP

Please let me know of other pros and cons associated with an archer, also correct me if I am mistaken on any of the ones I currently have listed.

Thanks in advance.

I think someone summed up an archer by calling it a "Glass Cannon".

Another con would be the class require a lot of luck. I miss so much and it isn't cool. My aim low misses like every time, or hit 1/10 times I use itb:cry Critical hit is a luck thing toob:surrender

Hey.
I have an archer, and i am quite new to the game so forgive any noobyness...
i play on Heavens Tear, so can i still pvp?
i mean is my character available for use on the pvp server? or will i have to make a new character like i had to when i changed from sanctuary to heavens tear?

Fumika - Lost City wrote: »

Ranged mobs/bosses are horrible for Archer IMO

they dont need to be that close to you and hit... means they hit you earlier
slow physical non ranged mobs are the best friends for archer (example: blobs)

For these types of mobs, using Winged Shell can be amazing. Your shell will absorb the majority of the damage, while they stay at a distance where you can do full damage with regular shots and recharge chi.

to sum up the greatest cons of archer is it is high maintenance and does require quite a lot of money to build a good one and lvl one fast. A good bow and lvling with zhen can be very expensive (assuming you want you lvl quickly). It is also very hard for archer to make money easily and the only thing you can farm would be DQ mats and high/mid mats.

And you can't kill any bosses solo unless they are 20-30 lvls lower.

what does zhen mean?

Aesthor - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Archers aren't as high maintenance as wizards and clerics.

Don't zhen. It's the lures' trick to make you spend money to level THEM up.

Bows aren't any more expensive than staves, hammers, rocks, toothpicks, etc.

Archers don't have veno income but they sure as hell grind more money than half the other classes. Quit zenning and learn2grind.

Things that make archers expensive:
-If you're stupid enough to BUY high level arrows
-Burns both MP and HP charm, but MUCH slower than cleric's MP charm and WR/WB HP charm.
-If you PK a lot and turn very red so you need angels to not drop your pretty bow
-If you're a fool enough to zhen -_-

For the first 50 levels an archer is expensive - even with level one arrows.

If you were a rich one - you're one of the lucky few who must've gotten everything you needed dropped - or had mountains of DQ items to sell.

For the first 50 levels with level 1 arrows and bolts you dont deal great damage. Most monsters will reach you before you can kill them even with knock-back. This becomes prevelant early 30's and early 40's. The reason is mainly to do with the fact that your range-increase (Winged Blessing) passive skill isn't where it needs to be. Neither is your damage-increase Bow Mastery skill.


For the first 50 levels its a skill spam after skill spam which eats mana fast (if you want to be able to kill the monster before it takes out a good chunk of your HP). If you use potions you'll be poor. If you rest and do not have MP recovery armor - then you'll be slow.


The only way you can fix this is by owning a legendary bow/crossbow/slingshot - which doesn't last very long to be worth the investment.


Past 50 your blazing arrow will be able to add a good amount of fire damage. At about 51 its a good 150+ damage added to each regular attack. Similarly your Winged Blessing will be high enough to give you some extra opening shots - thus saving you some mana.

As you move further past 50 mana doesn't become an issue unless you decide to Zhen.



But for the first 50 levels dont think for a minute an archer is a get-rich super fast grinder/leveller, and a decent PvP/PK'er.


Archers only shine when you reach higher levels. A cleric will make more money and grind faster than an archer for the first 50 levels. For the latter - well they get pretty darn expensive when they cant wait for their mana to regenerate.

Aesthor - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Archers aren't as high maintenance as wizards and clerics.

Don't zhen. It's the lures' trick to make you spend money to level THEM up.

Bows aren't any more expensive than staves, hammers, rocks, toothpicks, etc.

Archers don't have veno income but they sure as hell grind more money than half the other classes. Quit zenning and learn2grind.

Things that make archers expensive:
-If you're stupid enough to BUY high level arrows
-Burns both MP and HP charm, but MUCH slower than cleric's MP charm and WR/WB HP charm.
-If you PK a lot and turn very red so you need angels to not drop your pretty bow
-If you're a fool enough to zhen -_-

lol sounds like a person who has a grudge against lures.

Pros crit/accuracy(unless ur envy)/magical and physical damge/pvp
Cons low hp/low mp/low regen speed/generally bad in pve

Pre-60 u cant kill anything before it touches u, hh 60 helps. This class is generally picked for its pvp not its pve.

I'm just a noob, played like a week or less, but yeah...

I think the forums have a lot of misinformation.
People have said Frost Arrow levels aren't that important but I found them to make a huge difference, same for Blazing Arrow.

Makes me wonder if they are wrong about leaving Knockback at lv1, too, or if I really should leave it at that.

People also say Vicious Arrow is useless.
I don't know about high levels, but I open my attacks with lv1 Vicious Arrow half of the time and it often makes the difference between a monster hitting me or dying just before it does.

Makes me wonder if I can trust anybody's advice. lol

And like half of the people are "Ooh an archer, let's give PvP advice!" while I don't give a damn about PvP, I just wanna do quests, level up and save money as much as I can.

Lastday - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I'm just a noob, played like a week or less, but yeah...

I think the forums have a lot of misinformation.
People have said Frost Arrow levels aren't that important but I found them to make a huge difference, same for Blazing Arrow.

Makes me wonder if they are wrong about leaving Knockback at lv1, too, or if I really should leave it at that.

People also say Vicious Arrow is useless.
I don't know about high levels, but I open my attacks with lv1 Vicious Arrow half of the time and it often makes the difference between a monster hitting me or dying just before it does.

Makes me wonder if I can trust anybody's advice. lol

And like half of the people are "Ooh an archer, let's give PvP advice!" while I don't give a damn about PvP, I just wanna do quests, level up and save money as much as I can.

knockback arrow doesn't work in pvp, and the distance the mob gets kb'd isn't changed when it's levelled, which is why some people say leave it lv. 1

good for u, but do note that later on all u need is frost and normal attacks to kill a mob b4 it gets to u; i know that i barely had the sp for lvl 9 frost, guess if i lvl'd 2 lvls of knockback i wouldn't have that now

but i hear also that as u lvl even higher, u will have an abundance of sp; so wutever floats ur boat man.

frankly if u dont give a damn about pvp then play however the hell u want; go heavy armor archer for all anyone cares, its not like they're forcing u to adhere to their advice

Prewancker - Lost City wrote: »

The ONLY usefulness of the Knockback skill is the knockback. Leveling it beyond level 1 only gives you damage which your regular arrows can provide and wastes more MP than needed.

As for Frost Arrow, I recommend maxing that. Leveling it increases the slow time as well as the damage.

Ah yeah I do run out of MP a lot more than HP or chi.
I'll take your word on that, then. Thank you!

I do remember seeing at least one other high lv Archer saying the same about Frost Arrows.

Now, maybe my opinions will change once I'm higher lv and get my **** kicked an angry 10 feet monster a few times, but so far to me it seems that Frost Arrow, Knockback, the passive skills (range+damage) and Blazing Arrow are all that matters at low lv.
...Plus Winged Shell when fighting something tough and Knockback is still on cool down. It's MP recovery is very nice, too.

I'm not leveling Vicious Arrow simply because the guide says so, but I wonder why not, as it deals around double the damage of Lightning Strike for lower MP cost over that 15 sec.

Of course it's pretty much one use per fight, but it's still nice.
Ah well.
I'm sure things will change a lot once I get to Sparks and AoEs. :P

So, I think I'll focus on Frost Arrow, Blaze arrow and passives and leave everything else at lv1 unless a guide says that some move is really important.

Also, I'm sorry if I come off as rude or not thankful.
The guides did give me a lot of direction and ideas how things work.
I just wanted to state that so many people have differing views about how to do things in this game that nothing seems set in stone.
There are so many ways to focus on things!

One person always has a MP charm from the Boutique and spams high cost skills, the other kites, the third one does something completely different.

It's a nice change, most games I've played have just few cookie cutters and very limited skill points.

mbrunestud wrote: »

b/c venom arrows take 15s for its effect. u're not going to take that long to kill someone period. doing so either means u're taking a lot of hits, or u're kiting around wich u wouldn't have to do if u took another skill to high dmg (like lightning strike)

I did some calculations where I divided the duration in half.
7,5 seconds is a reasonable time to kill something, imo, so let's see...

Vicious arrow lv1:
628,7 divided by two = 314,35 Damage over 7,5 seconds.
Mana used: 28.5
Plus the damage of your arrow itself without a bonus.

Lightning Strike lv1:
Instant 330.0 damage.
Mana used: 48.8

Lightning Arrow loses pretty clearly here unless you kill your target in less than 7,5 seconds or use it twice.

Now let's see at Max.

Vicious Arrow lv10:
3109,1 divided by two = 1554,55 Damage over 7,5 seconds. (6 sec if Demon)
Mana used: 96.0
(plus arrow damage)

Lightning Strike lv10:
Instant 2214,9 damage.
Mana used: 218.0

Lightning strike wins, here.
Except MP cost vice. But nobody is gonna take 39 seconds to kill something that's not a boss...
Nor 33 sec. lol :P

I see!
Lightning Strike is used because it's much better at high levels.
Interesting.

But at low lv there's no reason to not use that lv1 Vicious Arrow, unless you have a lot of money to burn on MP pots or have a really good weapon!

Man, I hate math.

I usually do either Frost Arrow -> Vicious Arrow -> Knockback
...or Vicious Arrow -> Frost Arrow -> Knockback.

There's enough time to do both against most monsters, as long as you start it at your maximum range.

Anyhow, I've completely off-topic'd this thread... Sorry.

I'll shush. b:shutup