Archers

[Remy]

Anything done well is a source of annoyance.

Armor can be frustrating, certain weapons can be frustrating, cavalry can be frustrating, archers can be frustrating.

Them's the breaks.

[Brutal]

Personally i like to play my my old friendcher (wut can't write fa*cher ?  ), for the challenge it offer and because playing only melee gets boring after a while.

I've way more trouble toping the scoreboard with my archer than with melee and my K/D ratio is just horrible compared to melee.
When i top the scoreboard 95% of the time it is because I went into a rampage using my backup melee weapon instead of my bow.

Also starting cRPG playing as an archer is IMHO just the hardest way to get started cuz:

1.no armor + no awareness = very quick death
2.You get very little practice in melee, so you improve very slowly
3.You need higher level than melee to start being useful
4.heirloom are most important in archery and when you start you've no heirloom
5. You deal low damage. It's just way easier to whack some heads twice with a big sword than to shoot 3-6 arrow in the same guy to get a kill.
6. Archer are the perfect target for other archer, this mean that the so called "easy mod" is just a myth because even if you're far from combat you will get targeted a lot more than melee by bow, xbow, horsies and ninja backstabbers. 

[Memento_Mori]

:3 so after reading this I guess I'll take getting struck by arrows a little more lightly, for the record, I don't hate you Governor (and other archers) I simply thought you hated me and my other melee buddies because of all the nasty scars your arrows have given us. xD

[okiN]

All of that said, I put it to you, my non-archer, bow-hating, level-headed fellow gamers: What do you want from the archers on your team?

I want them to stop shooting me in the goddamn back, especially when I'm trying to kill somebody.

Focusing on enemy horses instead of random peasants would also be a welcome change.

[The_Bloody_Nine]

Personally i like to play my friendly archer (wut can't write fa*cher ?  ), for the challenge it offer and because playing only melee gets boring after a while.

I've way more trouble toping the scoreboard with my archer than with melee and my K/D ratio is just horrible compared to melee.
When i top the scoreboard 95% of the time it is because I went into a rampage using my backup melee weapon instead of my bow.

Also starting cRPG playing as an archer is IMHO just the hardest way to get started cuz:

1.no armor + no awareness = very quick death
2.You get very little practice in melee, so you improve very slowly
3.You need higher level than melee to start being useful
4.heirloom are most important in archery and when you start you've no heirloom
5. You deal low damage. It's just way easier to whack some heads twice with a big sword than to shoot 3-6 arrow in the same guy to get a kill.
6. Archer are the perfect target for other archer, this mean that the so called "easy mod" is just a myth because even if you're far from combat you will get targeted a lot more than melee by bow, xbow, horsies and ninja backstabbers.

exactly my experiences of trying an archer. Its not so easy as it looks.

[Kafein]

Personally i like to play my friendly archer (wut can't write fa*cher ?  ), for the challenge it offer and because playing only melee gets boring after a while.

I've way more trouble toping the scoreboard with my archer than with melee and my K/D ratio is just horrible compared to melee.
When i top the scoreboard 95% of the time it is because I went into a rampage using my backup melee weapon instead of my bow.

Also starting cRPG playing as an archer is IMHO just the hardest way to get started cuz:

1.no armor + no awareness = very quick death
2.You get very little practice in melee, so you improve very slowly
3.You need higher level than melee to start being useful
4.heirloom are most important in archery and when you start you've no heirloom
5. You deal low damage. It's just way easier to whack some heads twice with a big sword than to shoot 3-6 arrow in the same guy to get a kill.
6. Archer are the perfect target for other archer, this mean that the so called "easy mod" is just a myth because even if you're far from combat you will get targeted a lot more than melee by bow, xbow, horsies and ninja backstabbers.

Most of this doesn't hold true for medium or good archers. Many are decently skilled in melee, have at least one +3 bow and +3 arrows, need 2 arrows for most full life enemies (the build is not fucked up) and learned to sidestep well (when you are far from the melee combat, evading arrows isn't that hard). Being constantly aware of your surroundings is rather a work on yourself than a real skill you have to exercice. If you look around after each arrow, you will likely not be ninja'ed, it's only a matter of self-discipline.

Saying "archery is hard for beginners" is a bit like saying "blocking is hard for beginners". Yes it was hard when you bought the game. But imagine someone that practiced archery from scratch as much as a today just-over-mediocre melee guy practiced blocking from scratch. Yeah it takes quite some time to block decently, nevertheless nearly everyone blocks decently nowadays. So it is logical that many players that didn't really tried cRPG archery are not so good at it when they start. I didn't saw any 2h or even 1h guy doing well after one week of playing this game.

[Overdriven]

This very large time window makes archery quite easy as you can just begin to draw and search a target at the same time. If you find your target a little too late, there's no problem as you can hold you bow ready for 2 seconds. It is much more forgiving than a 0.4 seconds time window for example, which would force you to concentrate on draw timing to get a shot in.

  This is after the draw speed nerf and accuracy nerf. God knows what you would have said before the big patch when crosshairs were closer and you could fire off accurate arrows at a rate of knots. It also wouldn't have mattered previously if you had to redraw because the speed was faster.

Most of this doesn't hold true for medium or good archers. Many are decently skilled in melee, have at least one +3 bow and +3 arrows, need 2 arrows for most full life enemies (the build is not fucked up) and learned to sidestep well (when you are far from the melee combat, evading arrows isn't that hard). Being constantly aware of your surroundings is rather a work on yourself than a real skill you have to exercice. If you look around after each arrow, you will likely not be ninja'ed, it's only a matter of self-discipline.

Saying "archery is hard for beginners" is a bit like saying "blocking is hard for beginners". Yes it was hard when you bought the game. But imagine someone that practiced archery from scratch as much as a today just-over-mediocre melee guy practiced blocking from scratch. Yeah it takes quite some time to block decently, nevertheless nearly everyone blocks decently nowadays. So it is logical that many players that didn't really tried cRPG archery are not so good at it when they start. I didn't saw any 2h or even 1h guy doing well after one week of playing this game.

Meh...so they put in the time to become good. Then they should be good. Everything is difficult at first in crpg. Thanks to me being an archer/shielder most of the time, I've only just learnt how to block properly at gen 6 after almost a year of cRPG and well over of native. Now I can do it pretty decently though, until the lack of PS and WPF in melee begins to make the difference.

I think most archers do get very little practice in melee though. If they are good, then they have probably played a melee build for a time. Apart from anything, the fact all your slots get taken up now for most dedicated builds means taking a decent melee weapon isn't really an option.

But yes as I've already said archers vs archer duels are dumb at anything over a set distance. It's too easy to dodge arrows at any range. If you get shot in a duel at distance, even as a beginner, then you are just daft.

[Jetsam]

I have no problem with any archer. If I get killed by one, it's my mistake or a killer shot. Keep on doing what you're doing.

[Tungsten]

I just wish Archers that know they aren't the best archer would stop firing into melee. Chances are, if you don't know exactly where to put your arrow, you'll hit a friendly instead of an opponent.

As for archers running away, that's what they do. Deal with it.
So long as they aren't delaying the game or if they are the last one and are just making ground (ie. actively kiting not just fleeing).

[DrTaco]

I think the problem everyone has with archers isn't really that they sit a bit away from combat, or they run from melee (Which can get annoying mind you).

I think it's because unless they can get up close to you, there is nothing they can do about you. If you get killed in melee it's normally your fault that you were slashed. But archery means that you can't do jack shit besides put up a shield and hope for the best. I mean, it's like the famous Troll nerf post

But all that time--

--But all that time--...

He was shooting at me.

"And there's nothing you can do about it."


http://www.wowblues.com/eu/troll-regeneration-must-be-nerfed-10106911836.html (For a reference)

[Casimir]

Getting shot in the back is always annoying, especially when fighting multiple opponents.

Any shot into melee can be disaster for anyone involved friendly or otherwise and should be avoided at all costs.

However good archery support is appreciated as ever.

In regards to running archer i think it is fine to an extent. Sometimes i rage and scream at the cowardd but i do appreciate its the best thing for most to do.

If melee runs away from archers however its the best way to survive but its still delaying.

[Corpus]

I'm archer too and often get killed by the lovely cav ;)
I don't think archery is OP, it fits perfectly in the game. Also with the slots system I can only wear a War Bow and 2x Bodkin Arrows, without melee weapon.

[Bija]

Firing into melee is often necessary. Consider this scenario:

Siege, incoming attacking shielder(steel shield) and two defenders(1 melee and 1 archer).

If melee defender moves in one direction or uses a predictable but defensive movement pattern, the archer will have more room for shooting. If melee defender engages and dies, the archer is most likely dead or will have to run. Or the worst case scenario; the melee defender engages in his usual, unpredictable pattern, gets TK'ed by the archer, archer dies and the round is lost.

I've experienced all of the above as an archer, and more often than not, little attention is payed to cooperating with the archer. Doing so however would save melee players from a lot of grief, as well as give the defending archers an easier task. 

[Vibe]

Lol, the very first and nearly only thing I do is shooting enemies horses, until no horses are left, or at least are in range

A rare kind.

[Warsloth]

I specced an archer based on the retinue longbowmen from medieval total war...

so far (at 26)
6 PD
some athletics
3 PS
5 Shield
some WMa

wears tunic over mail, open bascinet
carries longbow, 1quiver, buckler, hammer.
would use a better melee, and sometimes change to a 1 slot bow and carry a better melee.

not a fantastic melee combatant, but never runs. Usually the buckler allows me to hold off a combatant until help arrives, or until they get TK'ed.