Looking for a special archer build

[Penitent]

I've tried a couple archer builds already, but they didn't quite seem satisfying -- so let me tell you what I've tried and maybe some expert archers out there can help make recommendations for me.

I've tried 18/18

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5 IF
6 PS
6 ATH
6 PD
6 WM

I liked this build because I could still do well in melee with 50 or 60 wpf in 1h -- but I didn't feel very powerful or effective as an archer.  One half or more of my kills were melee kills.

I've tried 27/9

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8 IF
9 PS
3 ATH
9 PD
3 WM

This was kind of a "lol" build.  I wanted power -- but I still couldn't 1-shot people wearing light armor so I wasn't satisfied.  I had high PS, but no melee wpf and low ath so I kind of sucked in melee.  I wasn't very accurate as an archer so I kind of sucked at shooting too.   I got some good shots in, but I kind of sucked at everything.

I like the Rus Bow the best (and used it the most with these builds) -- I also like having some powerstrike so I can defend myself.....but I'll consider anything.

Does anyone have build advice so I can become an expert archer and kill/hurt people enough to the point the call me a bundle of sticks?

[Clockworkkiller]

im no expert on my old friendchery

but, with 9 pd and a rus (what arrows were you using?)

you had to have been doing some dmg

you werent 1 shotting people, but you mustve been putting alot of black on peoples health bars

my old friendchery isnt really designed for 1 shotting, try throwing for that

[Penitent]

im no expert on my old friendchery

but, with 9 pd and a rus (what arrows were you using?)

you had to have been doing some dmg

you werent 1 shotting people, but you mustve been putting alot of black on peoples health bars

my old friendchery isnt really designed for 1 shotting, try throwing for that

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lol @ your sig ;)

Yeah, I think I hurt people pretty bad, but I had to be pretty close to hit with any consistency.  When I'm too close like that, I got easily surrounded and killed in melee.  What that build WAS good for was killing horses -- I also did pretty well in a strat fight where the defending team had a nice spot for archers to shoot the enemy at close/medium range.

[Grumpy_Nic]

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[Penitent]

Some people say the "middle finger" as an insult was invented by English a[r]chers to taunt the french.

SO IRONIC.

[Jarlek]

Here is my Combat Archer (aka, non-my old friendcher) build for actually fighting and not running away/kiting. Surprisingly good, even for siege.

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Level:           30

Strength:        18
Agility:         21

Skill to attr:    8

Power Strike:     6
Athletics:        4
Power Draw:       6
Weapon Master:    7

One Handed:      50
Archery:        159

Btw: on your 18/18 build, what were your wpf like? You need more archery wpf than melee wpf because of the retarded bonus damage from archery wpf.

[Penitent]

Here is my Combat Archer (aka, non-my old friendcher) build for actually fighting and not running away/kiting. Surprisingly good, even for siege.


Btw: on your 18/18 build, what were your wpf like? You need more archery wpf than melee wpf because of the retarded bonus damage from archery wpf.

Hmm, interesting.  Do you do ok with only 4 athletics?  It seems rather low!

My 1h wpf for my 18/18 build was like 75 or something.  With 6 WM that left my archery wpf at like 130 or something.

[Jarlek]

Hmm, interesting.  Do you do ok with only 4 athletics?  It seems rather low!

My 1h wpf for my 18/18 build was like 75 or something.  With 6 WM that left my archery wpf at like 130 or something.

Weird. It should have been around 140 arhcery wpf with 6 WM and 75 melee according to the calculator :/

Yeah, 4 athletics isn't that great. Always drop your bow/arrows if you think you'll fight an extended time in melee. But considering the arrows slow you down a lot already, and I'm more interested in fighting than running, it works. Just don't get overly aggressive in melee. Whenever the enemy touches his S key, you should do the same. Gain enough space and take your bow out and the backpedaler should realize that holding S is not the smartest move.

Against some of the worst S-key heroes though, you can actually get your bow out, shoot and switch back to melee again. Sometimes even with a longbow (although if you're ever in doubt if you can take he shot, just switch back to melee). Weirdly enough, 90% of the guys who s-key that bad are either 2handers or glaive users.

Also: at lvl 31 you should convert attributes over to skills and get 7 athl. I just prefer to get PS over athl as I prefer to fight, rather than run, and I'm confident in my melee capabilities with 4 athl.

[Penitent]

Ok cool thanks for the advise.

Maybe you are right and I had 140 wpf.  Still, I felt a bit lacking in both accuracy AND damage.  I think this was way back before archery equipment was buffed a bit (and archery looms nerfed). Perhaps the higher wpf would help in both those departments.

[ShinySpoons]

If you want the shooty shooty to be better than the smashy bits you have to sacrifice accordingly. 150-160 wpf is about the minimum you need for archery to start getting you kills regularly. 10 wpf points may not seem to be much but they have a cumulative effect on damage. Wpf also seems to have a bigger impact with ranged vs melee dmg/speed.

Not much point going beyond 6pd. More wpf will be more beneficial after that. After all, pure dmg is pointless if you can't hit your target.

So sacrifice some skill pts in if/ps/ath and go 18/21 as suggested by Jarlek.

Part of it is playstyle. If you find yourself getting in melee fights often than you should just spec into a hybrid thrower You'll be doing more ranged and melee dmg for less skill investment. You should only be using a melee weapon to get yourself space to use your bow again or fighting off the ninjas.

[Jarlek]

If you want the shooty shooty to be better than the smashy bits you have to sacrifice accordingly. 150-160 wpf is about the minimum you need for archery to start getting you kills regularly. 10 wpf points may not seem to be much but they have a cumulative effect on damage. Wpf also seems to have a bigger impact with ranged vs melee dmg/speed.

Not much point going beyond 6pd. More wpf will be more beneficial after that. After all, pure dmg is pointless if you can't hit your target.

So sacrifice some skill pts in if/ps/ath and go 18/21 as suggested by Jarlek.

Part of it is playstyle. If you find yourself getting in melee fights often than you should just spec into a hybrid thrower You'll be doing more ranged and melee dmg for less skill investment. You should only be using a melee weapon to get yourself space to use your bow again or fighting off the ninjas.

True to some extent, but you would be surprised as to how good a 18/18 2h/archer hybrid (150/50 wpf split) can be.

Although that's as much about 2h only needing PS and not requiring wpf (and only minimal player skill) as it is about archery being OP.

[14.41]

I did well with 27/9 using rus.Behave like a thrower and shoot in close distance.Follow your tincan teamates,shoot their opponents and the crowd.