Questions about Archery, Powerdraw, and Archer builds.

[Stokes]

Hey guys,

I've started an Archer alt, but I have some questions for our more experienced archers out there on good builds.

Right now my plan is to go 18str/18agi, with 6 points in weaponmaster and 6 points in powerdraw. From there I want to play with the various bows to find out which I like best. I like the idea of using the slow, massive draw, high damage Longbow, but we'll see. I know most use the Warbow.

The problem is, with higher WPF so much harder to obtain with the patch, will the 6 PD destroy my accuracy if I only have maybe 125-140 WPF in archery? I'd like to be able to put ~100 points into a secondary skill so that I can at least defend myself when enemies get close.

Anyways, what do you guys think? Is the Agi-Archer with low PD a better bet or will I have fun and still be accurate with 6PD and the high tier bows?

Not really liking the whole "higher PD makes you a whole ton less accurate bit, right now.

Thoughts?

[Miley]

I say go for what you said.

Pre-patch I had 10 PD and 180 WPF (I've never retired my character, so 10 PD used to help with aim). My aim was much bigger than the agility-stacking archers, but I still got a bunch of kills. It's also more of a challenge, which is fun. You just have to take less accurate shots, but sometimes, it even gets you hits/kills :D

[Stormcrow]

my advice is to put your agi to  18, then try out the bows as u lvl up on your strength. If you do well with a low tier bow like khergit, leave your strength at 12 and put the rest into agi. If you want a secondary weapon i suggest a maximum of 50wp and put the rest into archery

[bruce]

Idk - I'm still fairly lowlevel on mine, but I went str first - now at 21 str with 7 PD & PS and 8 agi (lol). It's inaccurate, in the old crossbow style, but much like you could aim with the old crossbow and hit, you can with the PD archer. The slow firing speed is the suckiest part, but the damage, even with a strongbow (which I'm using at the moment) is solid enough. I'll probably go for a 24 str / 12 agi build in the end.

[Miley]

my advice is to put your agi to  18, then try out the bows as u lvl up on your strength. If you do well with a low tier bow like khergit, leave your strength at 12 and put the rest into agi. If you want a secondary weapon i suggest a maximum of 50wp and put the rest into archery

Also, you do NOT need melee WPF. I did very well without WPF. I even had my tin can armor and went melee when I wanted to! :]

[Stormcrow]

Never use a higher power draw then you need because it reduces your accuracy. pick a bow and set that for your max strength.

[Joxer]

Get PD as much as your choice of bow requires. Then go all on the WPF. Athletics is good for archer too. Dont waste any WPF on secondary skill. Just get a decent weapon that allows you to do some damage and block quickly. Spears are my fav cause cav loves to sneak up on archers personally.

[Stokes]

Hmm... is there any downside to having a higher PD than the bow you want to use requires? I really want to try out the higher tier bows, just to get the feel for them in CRPG, but I'd hate to level up my PD, decide I want to use a lower bow tier, and then realize that my character that I just spent so much time on is uselessly gimped.

EDIT: For that matter, where can I get information on what WPF actually affects? Does Agility/Str, Powerstrike, or WPF have more to do with my melee capabilities?

[Keshian]

Post-patch:

The reticule size is significantly larger (half-again to a 1/3rd) if you use a powerdraw matching the bow you are using rather than having 1 powerdraw higher then the requirement for the bow (direct opposite of pre-patch).  It seems to keep decreasing up to about 4 powerdraw over though most significant differences are with 1 and 2.  Highly recommend getting a powerdraw of 2 above the bow you are using (though this comes into some serious low wpf issues with accuracy if you try to do this with either a longbow/warbow).  I have tested this out with multiple archer builds and it holds true for all of them, though you should test this out for yourself using 2 static targets and set location to aim from as you switch between bows.  Zoom in with each bow and feel thew difference, which is the opposite of what you would expect considering the weaker bows have a lower accuracy number.

Hope this helps.

[Miley]

You can also retire like Kesh 45 times. Lol. Just kidding.

Agility helps with melee speed. Strength adds 1 HP pre point, and you also do more in melee.
Just get 6 Power Draw, and then get as much Weapon Proficiency as you can. Probably get a lower tier bow, and then work up to the 6 PD, so that you're not 6 PD and low WPF. I hope this helps.

[forgivers]

Post-patch:

The reticule size is significantly larger (half-again to a 1/3rd) if you use a powerdraw matching the bow you are using rather than having 1 powerdraw higher then the requirement for the bow (direct opposite of pre-patch).  It seems to keep decreasing up to about 4 powerdraw over though most significant differences are with 1 and 2.  Highly recommend getting a powerdraw of 2 above the bow you are using (though this comes into some serious low wpf issues with accuracy if you try to do this with either a longbow/warbow).  I have tested this out with multiple archer builds and it holds true for all of them, though you should test this out for yourself using 2 static targets and set location to aim from as you switch between bows.  Zoom in with each bow and feel thew difference, which is the opposite of what you would expect considering the weaker bows have a lower accuracy number.

Hope this helps.

second this,  there seem to be a relation with PD and  Wpf now cause PD 6 with 0 wpf give a whole big aim but also 1pd with 120+ wpf also give a big aim so there must be some kind of formula

[Miley]

Ya, you should listen to Kesh. I'm sure he knows better than I do, because I do not have a dedicated archer in this post-patch.

[Pongest_Lenis]

For any wanna be Archers this is my short guide to buidling a Archer

First pump all points in to agility even convert your skill points in to stat points and add them to it also then run around and help your team out by beating things with rocks and your knife, when you have 15 agility place a point in to power draw and buy a bow and arrows by this time you should have enough gold, however make sure it is just the basic bow and the best arrows. Then use your skill points to raise your weapon master to 5 as you level and the stat points put in to str do this untill you have 12 str, by now you should now have enough gold for your 2nd bow which will be the one you need power draw 4 for, but dont put points in to power draw just yet place your stats points back in to agility as well as your skill points till your agil is 21 and your weapon master is 7. Then put points in to power draw and get your bow at this point you can then choose increase str more and go for the bigger bows and higher power draw or become an horse archer and put points in to  agility, riding, weapon master, and horse archery. For your first generation I advise you to go full archer this will give you enough money when you come back the 2nd time to play which ever way you want to please give feed back if you use my quick easy guide.

[Mouse]

Post-patch:

The reticule size is significantly larger (half-again to a 1/3rd) if you use a powerdraw matching the bow you are using rather than having 1 powerdraw higher then the requirement for the bow (direct opposite of pre-patch).  It seems to keep decreasing up to about 4 powerdraw over though most significant differences are with 1 and 2.  Highly recommend getting a powerdraw of 2 above the bow you are using (though this comes into some serious low wpf issues with accuracy if you try to do this with either a longbow/warbow).  I have tested this out with multiple archer builds and it holds true for all of them, though you should test this out for yourself using 2 static targets and set location to aim from as you switch between bows.  Zoom in with each bow and feel thew difference, which is the opposite of what you would expect considering the weaker bows have a lower accuracy number.

Hope this helps.

Curious, but this is a pretty big change to make in secret. It'd be nice if this was the case, but can you prove it somehow?

[Keshian]

Curious, but this is a pretty big change to make in secret. It'd be nice if this was the case, but can you prove it somehow?

Literally anyone can test it out for its veracity, just buy nomad and khergit bow and use your current power draw and show it.  Also can test with strong bow too and warbow.  The higher power draw requirement bows have a higher accuracy rating, but if you test this out near your current power draw level you will see a significant difference between the bow 1 power draw less and the one matching your power draw in reticule size with the lower power draw bow being tighter bya  third.  I used 2 catapults in the distance in a siege map with a set position on a platform where i tried it out.  It doesnt matter which bows so long as near your current power draw.  Make sure to zoom and note the realtive distance. 

Basically highly recommend getting 1-2 powerdraw higher then the bow requirement of the main bow you use, but this doesnt work as well with 6 powerdraw required bows because you still are short on wpf because lower weaponamster so you often have shots go wide, though decently accurate.  Just did 8 powerdraw with my masterwork warbow, maybe it will be better with 7 powerdraw with 6 weaponmaster at level 30 after my next retirement.  If not, then will focus on strong bow or khergit and just have to regret wasting 3 heirlooms.