Comprehensive Archer Skills and Equipment Guide
Comprehensive Archer Skills and Equipment Guide
by Physiologic
Check out my other Pocket Legends guides:
How Drop Rates Work (Simplified) and the Factor of Luck Elixirs
Post-Global Cooldown (GCD) Video Runs at Balefort Sewers
In-Depth Guide to Farming Balefort Sewers
Comprehensive Archer Skills and Equipment Guide
Complete Lv 55 Archer Gear List
Pocket Legends Enemy, Boss, and NPC Compendium
How to Craft Lv 55 Gear
How to calculate your attributes using STR, DEX, and INT
Ring List
Guide to Advanced Mechanics in PL: DPS, Crits, etc.
Void Set versus Sentinel equips: An Unbiased Analysis
In-Depth Guide to Farming Alien Oasis 3: Victory Lap
Check out my other Star Legends guides:
Star Legends General Attributes (STR, DEX, INT) Guide
Prefix/Suffix Compendium for Weapons and Armors
Lv 20-21 Operative Weapons and Equips
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Stats and Attributes, Builds, and Equipment Selection
III. Skills List and Explanation
IV. Skill Build
V. Skill Map Example
VI. Equipment Guide
VII. Ring Guide for Archers
VIII. Level 50 Equipment Guide
IX. Level 55 Equipment Guide
X. PvP Combo
XI. Thx and Revision History
I. Introduction
So you've decided to choose the road to the Avian Archer, congratulations! Out of the three characters, the archer is the best at maximizing damage to one opponent at a time. You will be a valuable asset to boss battles with your armor, hit%, and damage debuffing skills. You will also make powerful combos using your own skills, and combining your skills with bears and mages to do damage to multiple enemies!
Note: This guide will always be as up-to-date as possible. Any questions or comments can be PMed to me at any time.
II. Stats and Attributes, Builds, and Equipment Selection
First off, let's go over what each of these stats and attributes mean for a bird (as well as for other classes). Every time you level, you gain 5 points to put into either STR, DEX or INT. These stats don't really mean anything by themselves, but they do change all your other attributes (hit%, dodge, etc.) around. Note that STR, DEX, and INT influences all stats, but each of them greatly influence specific attributes. They also increase damage/DPS and skill damage as well.
STR: Most increases on Dodge, Health, Health Regen (H/s); increases skill damage for warriors.
DEX: Most increases on Hit%, Crit, Damage, DPS; increases skill damage for archers.
INT: Most increases on Mana, Mana Regen (M/s); increases skill damage for mages.
Hit%: Percent chance you will hit an enemy. For example, a hit% of 40 means you have a 40% to hit an enemy (excluding their innate Dodge capabilities). Do note that there is a probable cap on hit%, meaning that a hit% over 100 doesn't mean you are guaranteed to hit an enemy 100% of the time (see this thread).
Crit: Percent chance of you critically hitting an enemy. Both your normal attacks and skills can cause critical damage, and like Hit%, the higher the number the more likely you'll crit an enemy. Critically hitting an enemy will cause you to do double your intended damage (see this thread).
Dodge: Percent chance that you will dodge an enemy attack. In my opinion this is just as important as Armor in terms of defending yourself from enemies, since if you successfully dodge an enemy attack you get no damage.
Health: Your standard pool of health.
Regen (Health Regen aka H/s): The amount of health automatically healed per second.
Mana: Your standard pool of mana.
Regen (Mana Regen aka M/s): The amount of mana automatically regenerated per second.
Damage: Damage range of your normal attack, influenced by your main stat (STR, DEX, INT) as well as equips. Note that you will not be doing the exact damage range shown in this window because enemies have armor as well that decreases your damage. Therefore your effective damage, or damage seen when you hit an enemy, is [effective damage = damage - enemy armor] (see this thread for enemy armor values).
DPS: Amount of damage dealt per second. This is a function of damage and weapon speed (shown in weapon description) but does not take into account enemy armor (see this thread on how DPS is calculated and why enemy armor affects DPS).
Armor: Your defense against enemy attack. Every one armor point is equivalent to one less damage an enemy will do to you. Note that enemy's have a "minimum amount of damage" they are able to do to you regardless of how much armor you have. This armor value is different for all enemies across all campaigns (see here to figure out the most amount of armor you can wear per enemy before minimum damage occurs).
See this guide to find out how specifically each point increases each attribute.
Full DEX vs. Dual Spec STR/DEX
Essentially as a bird, there's two effective roads you may follow: full DEX, or dual spec'd STR/DEX.
Full DEX allows you to maximize what your bird does best, which is dealing damage to enemies. The con is that your armor suffers compared to STR/DEX birds.
Dual spec'd STR/DEX allows you to wear STR equips for more armor to increase survivability, since birds naturally have poor armor to begin with. However, damage and skill damage is severely impaired if you follow this route.
I highly recommend you follow the full DEX approach, as your tremendous damage will prove to be valuable to your party members. For this reason, this guide has been written for full DEX birds only. For those still interested in how to create a STR/DEX bird, please refer to Ellyidol's Dual Spec Guide.
"What are important stats I should focus on in my equipment?"
Regarding equipment selection, I try to prioritize my equips in this manner:
1. Damage/Crit - More damage and crit means you can kill enemies faster.
2. Dodge/Armor - Increases survivability. Prioritizing dodge and armor over damage/crit helps only you, and not your party.
3. Everything else - Birds naturally have a high Hit%. H/s and M/s aren't too important as long as you're using potions efficiently. Equips that add to DEX is somewhat useful, but only if it's a large increase in DEX (10-15+); small increases cause insignificant increases in your attributes.
Of course, if you find yourself getting beaten up constantly in a dungeon, you may want to prioritize equips that add to dodge and armor. Constantly dying also doesn't contribute much to the party either, so make careful decisions in selecting equips.
III. Skill List and Explanation
Regarding skills:
1. You'll unlock new skills every 2 levels.
2. Maximum skill level is 6 (this was implemented in 1.7; the max level was 5 in versions below this).
3. There's a total of 12 skills and 55 skill points you can use, so you can't max out every single skill.
When I copied down the information I had a Cyber Skull of the Void, Cyber Blaster of the Void, and Cyber Armor of the Void equipped, I was lv 55, and I had all my attributes spent on DEX. The damages you see in your skill window may be different from mine because these factors influence and change your skill damages that you see.
Blast Shot (unlocked at lv 2)
Explanation: Shoots a powerful arrow that hits an enemy, explodes, and also damages enemies nearby. Described as an "AoE" attack aka "area of effect," or a skill that damages multiple enemies within a certain range. Can be comboed with Shattering Scream to create the "Cruel Blast" combo, which deals higher damage than Blast Shot alone.
Lv 1: 20 mana, 6 sec. cool-down, 12m range
200-213 damage, 2m target area blast
Lv 2: 20 mana, 6 sec. cool-down, 12m range
200-225 damage, 3m target area blast
Lv 3: 20 mana, 6 sec. cool-down, 12m range
226-250 damage, 4m target area blast
Lv 4: 20 mana, 6 sec. cool-down, 12m range
253-277 damage, 5m target area blast
Lv 5: 20 mana, 6 sec. cool-down, 12m range
280-304 damage, 6m target area blast
Lv 6: 20 mana, 6 sec. cool-down, 12m range
300-324 damage, 6m target area blast
Avian Scream (unlocked at lv 4)
Explanation: Emits a scream that damages enemies around you in a very limited range (they have to be really close). Knocks the enemies back a bit and stuns them for 3 seconds.
Lv 1: 15 mana, 8 sec. cool-down, 3m area effect
194-237 damage, knock-back + 3 sec. stun
Lv 2: 15 mana, 8 sec. cool-down, 3m area effect
194-247 damage, knock-back + 3 sec. stun
Lv 3: 15 mana, 8 sec. cool-down, 3m area effect
194-257 damage, knock-back + 3 sec. stun
Lv 4: 15 mana, 8 sec. cool-down, 3m area effect
194-267 damage, knock-back + 3 sec. stun
Lv 5: 15 mana, 8 sec. cool-down, 3m area effect
194-277 damage, knock-back + 3 sec.stun
Lv 6: 15 mana, 8 sec. cool-down, 3m area effect
194-287 damage, knock-back + 3 sec.stun
Thorn Root (unlocked at lv 6)
Explanation: Damages a single enemy and stops them in their tracks for 3 seconds, as well as decreasing their ability to dodge your attacks up to 25%. Useful for bosses. Important to note that this works completely different from Thorn Wall.
Lv 1: 20 mana, 6.25 sec. cool-down, 10m range
3 sec. root, -5 DODGE % debuff
Lv 2: 20 mana, 6.25 sec. cool-down, 10m range
3 sec. root, -10 DODGE % debuff
Lv 3: 20 mana, 6.25 sec. cool-down, 10m range
3 sec. root, -15 DODGE % debuff
Lv 4: 20 mana, 6.25 sec. cool-down, 10m range
3 sec. root, -20 DODGE % debuff
Lv 5: 20 mana, 6.25 sec. cool-down, 10m range
3 sec. root, -25 DODGE % debuff
Lv 6: 20 mana, 6.25 sec. cool-down, 10m range
3 sec. root, -30 DODGE % debuff
This skill also causes a bleed proc that decreases enemies' health per second (H/s). Credits to HerWolf and Beanmachine for this useful piece of information.
Lv 1: -6 H/s
Lv 2: -10 H/s
Lv 3: -14 H/s
Lv 4: -18 H/s
Lv 5: -22 H/s
Lv 6: -26 H/s
Note that this skill also does damage (not listed in the descriptions) similar to your damage range.
Focus (unlocked at lv 8)
Explanation: Increases your chance to hit an enemy (you miss less) as well as increasing your chance to critically damage them for 20 seconds. "Hit chance" and "crit chance" are in percentages.
Lv 1: 25 mana, 30.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
20 sec. buff, +5 hit chance, +5 crit chance
Lv 2: 25 mana, 30.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
20 sec. buff, +10 hit chance, +10 crit chance
Lv 3: 25 mana, 30.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
20 sec. buff, +15 hit chance, +15 crit chance
Lv 4: 25 mana, 30.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
20 sec. buff, +20 hit chance, +20 crit chance
Lv 5: 25 mana, 30.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
20 sec. buff, +25 hit chance, +25 crit chance
Lv 6: 25 mana, 30.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
20 sec. buff, +30 hit chance, +30 crit chance
Meditation (unlocked at lv 10)
Explanation: Increases your inherent mana regeneration rate for 3 seconds.
Lv 1: 10 mana, 45.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
3 sec. buff, +12 mana regen rate
Lv 2: 10 mana, 45.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
3 sec. buff, +16 mana regen rate
Lv 3: 10 mana, 45.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
3 sec. buff, +20 mana regen rate
Lv 4: 10 mana, 45.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
3 sec. buff, +24 mana regen rate
Lv 5: 10 mana, 45.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
3 sec. buff, +28 mana regen rate
Lv 6: 10 mana, 45.5 sec. cool-down, self-target
3 sec. buff, +32 mana regen rate
Restore (unlocked at lv 12)
Explanation: Heals you and increases your inherent health regeneration rate for 5 seconds.
Lv 1: 15 mana, 16.25 sec. cool-down, self-target
Heal 13-17, +5 health regen for 5 sec.
Lv 2: 15 mana, 16.25 sec. cool-down, self-target
Heal 16-27, +5 health regen for 5 sec.
Lv 3: 15 mana, 16.25 sec. cool-down, self-target
Heal 19-34, +5 health regen for 5 sec.
Lv 4: 15 mana, 16.25 sec. cool-down, self-target
Heal 28-51, +5 health regen for 5 sec.
Lv 5: 15 mana, 16.25 sec. cool-down, self-target
Heal 44-67, +5 health regen for 5 sec.
Lv 6: 15 mana, 16.25 sec. cool-down, self-target
Heal 60-83, +5 health regen for 5 sec.
Evasion (unlocked at lv 14)
Explanation: For 10 seconds, increases your ability to dodge all enemy attacks (melee, ranged, and magic attacks) and increases your armor.
Lv 1: 25 mana, 30 sec. cool-down, self-target
10 sec. buff gives +4 dodge
Lv 2: 25 mana, 30 sec. cool-down, self-target
10 sec. buff gives +8 dodge
Lv 3: 25 mana, 30 sec. cool-down, self-target
10 sec. buff gives +12 dodge
Lv 4: 25 mana, 30 sec. cool-down, self-target
10 sec. buff gives +18 dodge
Lv 5: 25 mana, 30 sec. cool-down, self-target
10 sec. buff gives +24 dodge
Lv 6: 25 mana, 30 sec. cool-down, self-target
10 sec. buff gives +30 dodge
This skill also increases armor, unspecified by the skill description:
Lv 1: +2 armor
Lv 2: +3 armor
Lv 3: +4 armor
Lv 4: +5 armor
Lv 5: +6 armor
Lv 6: +7 armor
Break Armor (unlocked at lv 16)
Explanation: Shoots a piercing arrow into an enemy to damage them and decrease their armor for 10 seconds, enabling you and your party to damage them more.
Lv 1: 15 mana, 5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
10 sec. debuff reduces armor 4 pts.
Lv 2: 15 mana, 5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
10 sec. debuff reduces armor 8 pts.
Lv 3: 15 mana, 5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
10 sec. debuff reduces armor 12 pts.
Lv 4: 15 mana, 5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
10 sec. debuff reduces armor 16 pts.
Lv 5: 15 mana, 5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
10 sec. debuff reduces armor 20 pts.
Lv 6: 15 mana, 5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
10 sec. debuff reduces armor 26 pts.
Note that this skill also does damage (not listed in the descriptions) similar to your damage range.
Shattering Scream (unlocked at lv 18)
Explanation: Emits a scream around you for a decent range that, along with damaging enemies, reduces the damage enemies do to you and your party, as well as reducing their armor, enabling you and your party to damage them more. Can be comboed with Blast Shot to create "Cruel Blast," which deals more damage than Blast Shot alone.
Lv 1: 20 mana, 5.5 sec. cool-dow, 8m range
Reduce DMG -4, ARMOR -4
Lv 2: 20 mana, 5.5 sec. cool-dow, 8m range
Reduce DMG -8, ARMOR -8
Lv 3: 20 mana, 5.5 sec. cool-dow, 8m range
Reduce DMG -10, ARMOR -10
Lv 4: 20 mana, 5.5 sec. cool-dow, 8m range
Reduce DMG -12, ARMOR -12
Lv 5: 20 mana, 5.5 sec. cool-dow, 8m range
Reduce DMG -14, ARMOR -14
Lv 6: 20 mana, 5.5 sec. cool-dow, 8m range
Reduce DMG -16, ARMOR -16
Note that this skill also does damage (not listed in the descriptions) similar to your damage range.
Repulse Shot (unlocked at lv 20)
Explanation: Shoots an arrow that damages a single enemy as well as knocking them back to a distance. Useful if strong enemies or bosses charge towards you.
Lv 1: 15 mana, 7.5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
183-188 damage + knock-back (no stun)
Lv 2: 15 mana, 7.5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
194-200 damage + knock-back (no stun)
Lv 3: 15 mana, 7.5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
204-216 damage + knock-back (no stun)
Lv 4: 15 mana, 7.5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
214-228 damage + knock-back (no stun)
Lv 5: 15 mana, 7.5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
224-243 damage + knock-back (no stun)
Lv 6: 15 mana, 7.5 sec. cool-down, 12m range
244-263 damage + knock-back (no stun)
Blinding Shot (unlocked at lv 22)
Explanation: Shoots an arrow that damages an enemy, as well as decreasing their chance to hit you.
Lv 1: 25 mana, 7 sec. cool-down, 12m range
171-214 damage plus 5 sec. hit debuff
Lv 2: 25 mana, 7 sec. cool-down, 12m range
174-227 damage plus 5 sec. hit debuff
Lv 3: 25 mana, 7 sec. cool-down, 12m range
177-243 damage plus 5 sec. hit debuff
Lv 4: 25 mana, 7 sec. cool-down, 12m range
198-257 damage plus 5 sec. hit debuff
Lv 5: 25 mana, 7 sec. cool-down, 12m range
201-264 damage plus 5 sec. hit debuff
Lv 6: 25 mana, 7 sec. cool-down, 12m range
221-284 damage plus 5 sec. hit debuff
Here are the following hit% reductions unspecified by the skill descriptions:
Lv 1: -5 hit% debuff
Lv 2: -10 hit% debuff
Lv 3: -15 hit% debuff
Lv 4: -20 hit% debuff
Lv 5: -25 hit% debuff
Lv 6: -30 hit% debuff
Thorn Wall (unlocked at lv 24)
Explanation: Damages and stops several enemies in their tracks as an AoE for 3 seconds. Has an unspecified dodge debuff as well.
Lv 1: 30 mana, 11 sec. cool-down, 6m area
3 sec. root, 6 target damage per sec.
Lv 2: 30 mana, 11 sec. cool-down, 8m area
3 sec. root, 6 target damage per sec.
Lv 3: 30 mana, 11 sec. cool-down, 8m area
3 sec. root, 9 target damage per sec.
Lv 4: 30 mana, 11 sec. cool-down, 10m area
3 sec. root, 9 target damage per sec.
Lv 5: 30 mana, 11 sec. cool-down, 10m area
3 sec. root, 12 target damage per sec.
Lv 6: 30 mana, 11 sec. cool-down, 10m area
3 sec. root, 16 target damage per sec.
Here are the following dodge% reductions unspecified by the skill descriptions (thanks Skimmey for this useful piece of information):
Lv 6: -20% dodge
Note that this skill also does damage (not listed in the descriptions) similar to your damage range.
IV. Skill Build
Before you read: Note that this is what I consider an "optimal build" - one that is focused primarily on destroying your enemies and bosses as soon as possible to prove yourself "useful" as a character with a tremendous amount of DPS (damage per second). Please realize that this may NOT be the build you may want yourself and that these are only guidelines as to what you would want to incorporate to your own character.
Note: This build is strictly PvE (players vs. enemy).
Optimal skill build for DPS, or damage per second. Skill build updated to 1.7.
I will categorize each skill into 4 categories: Self-buffs, debuffers, main attacks, and miscellaneous.
Self-buffs are skills that will serve to "buff" you up - or increase certain stats on only your character.
Debuffers are skills that lowers certain stats (such as lowering their defense so you can damage them more, lowering their chance to hit you, etc.) on enemies and bosses. They may also damage them as well.
Main attacks serve to primarily damage your opponents the most.
Miscellaneous skills are useful only at certain times.
Blast Shot: Max level (6), main attack. This AoE attack will be your main damage-dealer throughout your early levels. Its usefulness will be even more amplified when comboed with Shattering Scream (which you get at level 18), when it damages enemies even more. Cruel Blast can be done by using Shattering Scream (since it has a range, make sure the enemy is close-by) and then using Blast Shot. Note that you have to wait at least one second after Shattering Scream to use Blast Shot, or else the combo will not be activated.
Avian Scream: Level 1, miscellaneous. Though this skill may look fancy when you first get it, it really doesn't help much at later levels, when your other skills begin to outshine it during bosses. Despite its ability to stun enemies, its extremely limited range and low damage dismisses this into a "non-essential" skill.
Focus: Max level (6), self-buff. With a 25% increased chance to hit your enemies and critically damage them, this is an important self-buff that you should max early on.
Thorn Root: Max level (6), debuffer. This will be a primary de-buffer for bosses and is extremely useful in lowering their ability to dodge your attacks, up to 30%. Although major bosses (Overlord, Gurgox, etc.) won't be rooted in place, it may be also used against a single enemy to stop them in their tracks. Its other function is to permit and extremely strong attack when combined with a mage's lightning spell called "Nature Strike." Often times during runs you'll find that mages will ask you to thorn wall a lot because it really improves their lightning damage. (Credits to Fyrce for pointing this out)
Meditation and Restore: No points, self-buff. The reason why I chose not to max these skills is because my build is primarily for attacking and DPS only. All they do is restore health and mana by a small amount, for a limited amount of time, with a huge cool-down time. I'd imagine those who want to save money on potions would find these skills useful, but the caveat is that you'll have to sacrifice points off of your essential bossing skills for them. As you party more and more frequently as you level, you'll be with mages that will heal for you. As for excessive mana consumption, which archers are notorious for, this may only be remedied by spending more money on mana pots. But really - you'll find that money for potions won't be a problem later if you're a savvy archer, and not rush into mobs of enemies like a bear.
Evasion: Max level (6), self-buff. An extremely crucial skill to level up as soon as you get, this will save your life numerous times. As a ranged attacker, you inherently have low defense and health, and mobs of enemies will most likely kill you instantly. This skill helps increase your ability to dodge enemy attacks and along with Focus, should be always be buffed when available during battle.
Break Armor: Max level (6), debuffer. This skill is very important for bossing, as it will severely cripple their armor allowing you and your party to damage them more and take them down faster. This skill really makes a difference between a prolonged boss fight and an extremely short one. Since the debuff lasts only 10 seconds on the enemy/boss, you should be constantly using it when the cool-down time is up and the skill is available to cast.
Shattering Scream: Max level (6), main attack and debuffer. I classified this as both an attack and debuffer because although it reduces enemy damage and their armor, it can be comboed with Blast Shot to create a 'Cruel Blast" combo, which severely damages an enemy more than their respective parts alone. Cruel Blast can be done by using Shattering Scream (since it has a range, make sure the enemy is close-by) and then using Blast Shot. Note that you have to wait at least one second after Shattering Scream to use Blast Shot, or else the combo will not be activated. This skill also works in conjunction with a bear's Hell Scream to create the 'Terror' combo.
Repulse Shot: Max level (6), miscellaneous. Although this damages a single enemy to a certain degree, it shouldn't be used as a main attack because of its annoying tendency to knock away bosses while your party is killing them. It should be reserved more for emergencies, when a strong enemy is focused on you or a party member and they need to run away quickly. However, it may be used when a boss is cornered (i.e. stuck on a corner or a wall) so that you get away with more damage, AND it doesn't knock them around.
Blinding Shot: Max level (6), debuffer. There is a lot of discrepancy in the function or usefulness of this skill due to the nature of its in-game description. It does a certain amount of damage as well as a "5 sec. hit debuff." What I think "hit debuff" means is that it lowers an enemy's ability to hit you (allowing them to miss you more) for 5 seconds, which sounds incredibly useful for bosses, especially strong ones. So this skill both attacks an enemy and improves survivability for your entire party - sounds like something you want, right?
Thorn Wall: Max level (6), miscellaneous. As the final skill to unlock, this acts to stop many enemies in their tracks and damages them for an unspecified large amount, making this the only strong AoE attack a bird can have (like Thorn Root, it can be comboed with a mage's lightning for 'Nature Strike'). This also debuffs the affected enemies' dodge by an unspecified amount, up to 20% and this debuff can be stacked with Thorn Root's dodge debuff (credits to Skimmey).
Special combo Cruel Blast: This is the only combo that birds can perform using their own skills. To use Cruel Blast, use Shattering Scream followed by Blast Shot. You need to wait at least one second between both skills or the combo won't register. The result is an incredibly damaging AoE attack. If you look closely, Cruel Blast is actually registered as two separate attacks at the same time - Blast Shot + normal attack. Now this may not seem like it would do a lot of damage at first, but remember that it's an AoE attack.
If your Blast Shot does 150 damage and normal attack does 50 damage and you use Cruel Blast on a single enemy, you'll do about 200 damage.
If your Blast Shot does 150 damage and normal attack does 50 damage and you use Cruel Blast on a mob of 5 enemies bunched together, you'll do 200 damage x 5 = 1000 damage total! Not too bad, right?
Special combo Nature Strike: This is used with a mage. You will need to use either Thorn Wall or Thorn Root and have the mage use their lightning attack for massive AoE damage.
Special combo Terror: This is used with a bear. You will need to use either Shattering Scream and have the bear use Hell Scream, separated by 1 second. (credits to Fyrce for this info)
Special Features of Level 5 Avian Scream: When an enemy freezes you in place, specifically in the Lost Expedition and Frozen Nightmares campaigns, you can use this skill to break free. It can be a very useful and life-saving maneuver, especially when enemies mob you. Other than these campaigns, you won't need to use Avian Scream to break out of a freeze anywhere else.
This is the old, pre-1.7 skill allotment per level for reference.
Here's the new 1.7 skill allotment per level:
V. Skill Map Example
Creating the perfect skill map for you makes a large difference when you're fighting a boss, or raiding a dungeon. Though it may seem inconsequential, during hectic and chaotic fights you need to know how quickly you can perform skill combinations to ensure you're fighting to the best of your ability. That being said, I will use an example of the skill map I use.
These skills may seem all over the place at first glance, but they're actually grouped together into self-buffs, debuffs, main attacks, and miscellaneous.
Here is an example of my skill map during a boss battle:
The order in which you should use the skills will be the following: Important self-buffs(1) -> Main boss de-buffs (2) -> Cruel Shot combo (main attack)(3)
Use Focus and Evasion before you attack the boss to
1. Increase your chance of hitting him,
2. Increasing your critical hit chance, and
3. Increasing your ability to dodge attacks.
Move onto the boss debuffs and tap upward, starting from Break Armor (the most useful of the three). You've now successfully debuffed the boss in terms of
1. Lowering his armor,
2. Lowering his ability to dodge your party's attacks, and
3. Lowering his ability to hit your party members
Now that you're completely buffed up and the boss is debuffed, run up closer to the boss and use Shattering Scream, followed by Blast Shot to create your Cruel Blast combo. Note that you need to wait at least one second to use Blast Shot after Shattering Scream, or else the combo will not register.
As you wait for your skills to become available again, you can use any of the miscellaneous skills to help out. Don't use Repulse Shot to knock away a boss while your party is attacking it - it'll cause them to stop attacking and chase after the boss - but it's fine if the boss is already pinned to a wall. Thorn Wall can be used if there's a mage in your party to create the Nature Strike combo, if your mage uses lightning fast enough. Avian Scream can be used for a bit more damage if you're willing to go close up to the boss.
This may seem like it'll take a lot of time to perform, but you'll go through these skills in probably 3 seconds if you can tap them fast enough. Always remember this order:
1. Keep your self-buffs up all the time
2. Debuff the boss for your party
3. Use Cruel Blast when the boss is debuffed
4. Use your miscellaneous skills when needed
VI. Equipment Guide
Weapons and armors both serve to increase your attributes and stats in a variety of ways. Armor not only increases your armor, but your health/mana regeneration as well, and some may bump up your damage too. They increase your STR/INT/DEX as well to some degree, such that you can dual spec your character to equip weapons of other character types (i.e. the mage or the bear). I will not get into how to dual spec your character, as an extremely useful guide is already available: Ellyidol's Dual Spec guide.
Each weapon type differs from one another. Weapons for birds are primarily categorized by their attack range/distance: long-range, short-range, and melee.
Long-range weapons
Bow/Crossbow: Your standard weapon as an archer. Capable of damaging enemies from a far distance, you can safely dodge attacks from melee enemies. Though the bow seems weak in terms of damage, it has a fast attack speed, and thus has a high DPS (damage per second) compared to other weapons.
Heavy Crossbow: An alternative to the crossbow, this weapon is usually more damaging per arrow. However, it has a slow attack speed and suffers in terms of DPS. In that regard, heavy crossbows are better off used to eliminate enemies quickly in one blow, but may suffer when it comes to damaging bosses, where DPS matters more.
Gun: These weapons aren't as plentiful as bows, and you may have first seen them through the Winter Festival Snowball Launcher and the Blunderbuss. Typically, guns are as damaging or more damaging than bows with a longer range of attack. They are well-balanced in both damage and DPS. End-game weapons such as the Cyber Blaster of the Void, Mega Blaster of the Void, and Sentinel's Shotgun of Death are all considered guns. (thanks eagleswords for grammar correction!)
Short-range weapons
Talon+Shield: The talon can be thrown from a distance like the bow/gun, but the range of attacking is much smaller, thus you need to be closer to the enemy to attack. While damage for the talon is usually low, attack speed is fast so overall DPS is high for this weapon set (though, not as high as a bow/gun). Because the talon is a one-handed weapon and you are more exposed to enemies, you can equip a shield to vastly improve your armor. In short, you are sacrificing raw power and attacking range for more amount of armor, making this ideal to tank hits from stronger bosses.
Melee weapons
Dagger+Shield: Technically, the dagger can be thrown from a limited distance when you use bird skills (such as Blast Shot, Blinding Shot, and Repulse Shot. However you will be up-close and personal with your enemy when you're using normal attacks, which will cause you to be very vulnerable to attack. Personally, I think the dagger is a very useless weapon for archers, as their damage and DPS are lacking despite their fast attack speed. The talon+shield or the dual wield weapons are much more useful.
Dual wield: The newest addition of weaponry in PL, dual wield weapons can be thrown when using bird skills just like the dagger, but you need to be up-close to enemies when using normal attacks. They are moderate (not low) in term of damage and have a fast attack speed, giving them an extremely high DPS. However, dual wield is just as the name implies: you have two daggers in your hand, and no shield - therefore low armor. I find the best time to use dual wield weapons is with a party that can heal well and keep aggro away from you. Thus you aren't getting attacked much, but you are contributing to your party vastly with your damage.
VII. Ring Guide for Archers
Rings were added to PL in version 1.7 and is currently only purchasable by Platinum, but they work just like the rest of your equips by increasing your attributes. I highly recommend you pick one up! See the ring list here.
There are two sections for rings, Common and Platinum. The Common rings cost 5 Platinum each and the Platinum rings cost 10 Platinum each; Platinum rings give more stats than the Common rings. For full DEX archers, you'll want to look for the "Golden Band" and "Platinum Band" under the Platinum ring section. Note that there are two versions of the rings that are identical in name, but different in the level req and the stats they give, so be very careful and don't make a mistake in your purchase.
As for me, I bought 2 rings:
Acrobat's Fine Golden Band Req: Lv20, 67 Dex; 2% Dodge, 8 Armor
and
Champion's Fine Platinum Band Lv20, 67 Dex; 2% Crit, 10 Damage
Be very careful, there's the Lv10, 65 Dex versions of these rings that give you lower armor and lower damage at the same price - be sure to choose the Lv20, 67 Dex versions.
I believe these two rings give you the best bang for your buck for your archer. Acrobat's Fine Golden Ring gives optimal defense; I chose this over the rest because it's purely defensive (dodge/armor) and not a mixture between damage/defense. The other ring most similar to this is the Fine Golden Band of Technique but the loss of 1 armor for 1% dodge is fairly significant IMO, since 1 armor = 1 less damage to all attacks but 1% dodge = 1% more likely for the enemy to completely miss you.
The Champion's Fine Platinum Band gives a great crit/damage mix and is purely attack-based. The other ring similar to this is the Fine Platinum Band of Bravery, but the loss of 1 damage for 1% crit is fairly significant; 1 damage less for all attacks for 1% more likely to effectively double your damage.
Now switching between rings depends on how you play and the types of games you play - I'm currently grinding in Bandit Boys Hideout and I rarely die because there is only 1 explosive barrel and 3 explosive grates in this map. Since those are easily avoidable, and I can avoid dying in Gold Fever fairly easily, I use Champion's Fine Platinum Band to ensure that my runs are all <5 minutes long (so my XP pot doesn't run out); no need for a dodge/armor ring since I almost never die in Bandit Boys Hideout.
If my runs are let's say, at Catacombs though, I will occasionally switch to the Acrobat's Fine Golden Band, but only if my party is not very fast at killing. If the Catacomb party is one that breezes through, then I'll use the Champion's Fine Platinum Band. If I am physically tired though and tend to not pay attention in runs, I'll go back to the dodge/armor ring though.
But you may prefer to choose rings that are a mix of defense/attack, it's totally up to you depending on your playing style, how fast you can pot, the type of map you're in (lots of exploding grates vs. none), and how well your party can go through that map.
VIII. Level 50 Equipment Guide
In this section, you will find how to complete each set for lv 50 equips, as well as where to find each piece of equipment. Certain set of equips give bonus stats, and this information will be included as well.
Once considered the end-game equips prior to the release of the 1.7 client, new level 55 equips have been released to replace them. However, these equips will still be extremely useful for your dungeon raids in Balefort Sewers (where the level 55 equips drop).
All information regarding sets were taken from Yanis' guide.
Cyber Void Set I: Cyber Skull of the Void + Cyber Blaster of the Void + Cyber Armor of the Void
Set bonus: +2% Hit, +1% Dodge, +1 H/s, +9 Damage, +3 Armor
Cyber Armor of the Void: Obtain from the "?" NPC that spawns in map 'Crush the Keeper!' and kill Alien bosses (Keeper, Gurgox, Overlord) for 100 totems total.
Cyber Skull of the Void: Obtain from the "?" NPC that spawns in map 'Crush the Keeper!' and kill Alien bosses (Keeper, Gurgox, Overlord) for 50 shards total.
Cyber Blaster of the Void: Obtain from the "?" NPC that spawns in map 'Crush the Keeper!' and kill 25 Captive Shadows that spawn in the map 'Captive Audience'.
Cyber Void Set II: Cyber Skull of the Void + Laser Talon of the Void + Cyber Wing of the Void + Cyber Armor of the Void
Set bonus: +1% Hit, +1% Crit, +1 H/s, +5 Damage, +6 Armor
Cyber Armor of the Void: Obtain from the "?" NPC that spawns in map 'Crush the Keeper!' and kill Alien bosses (Keeper, Gurgox, Overlord) for 100 totems total.
Cyber Skull of the Void: Obtain from the "?" NPC that spawns in map 'Crush the Keeper!' and kill Alien bosses (Keeper, Gurgox, Overlord) for 50 shards total.
Cyber Wing of the Void: Obtain from the "?" NPC that spawns in map 'Crush the Keeper!' and obtain 5 shadow essences from Captive Shadows in the map 'Captive Audience'.
Laser Talon of the Void: King Mynas (map: Victory Lap)
Original Void Set: Jacob's Helmet of the Void + Wraith Armor of the Void + Mega Blaster of the Void
Set bonus: +5% Hit, +5% Crit, +2 H/s, +2 M/s, +10 Damage, +5 Armor
Jacob's Helmet of the Void: Gurgox the Great (map: Intergalactic Combat, Victory Lap)
Wraith Armor of the Void: T'Paxx the Executioner (map: Captive Audience)
Mega Blaster of the Void: Galactic Overlord (map: This Ends Now!, Victory Lap)
Sunblessed Archer Set: Overlord's Helmet of the Void + Wraith Armor of the Void + Sunblessed Bow of the Void
Set bonus: +3 h/s, +10 DMG, +7 Armor
Overlord's Helmet of the Void: Galactic Overlord (map: This Ends Now!, Victory Lap)
Wraith Armor of the Void: T'Paxx the Executioner (map: Captive Audience)
Sunblessed Bow of the Void: King Mynas, Alien Lorekeeper, Alien Sniper, Shadow D'Jinns (map: various Alien Oasis 3 maps, Shadow Caves)
Sentinel Set I: Sentinel's Helmet of Death + Sentinel's Armor of Death + Sentinel's Shotgun of Death
Set bonus: +2 Crit, +2 M/s, +8 DMG
Sentinel's Helmet of Death: Shadow Lord and others
Sentinel's Armor of Death: Shadow Anubis and others
Sentinel's Shotgun of Death: Shadow Archer and others
Sentinel Set II: Sentinel's Helmet of Death + Sentinel's Armor of Death + Sentinel's Talon of Death + Sentinel's Wing of Death
Set bonus: +2 Dodge, +2 H/s, +8 Armor
Sentinel's Helmet of Death: Shadow Lord and others
Sentinel's Armor of Death: Shadow Anubis and others
Sentinel's Talon of Death: Dark Genie and others
Sentinel's Wing of Death: Shadow Witch and others
Sentinel Set III: Sentinel's Helmet of Death + Sentinel's Armor of Death + Shadow Slicers of Death
Set Bonus: +2 Hit%, +2 Crit, +2 M/s, +7 DMG
Sentinel's Helmet of Death: Shadow Lord and others
Sentinel's Armor of Death: Shadow Anubis and others
Shadow Slicers of Death: Shadow Demon and others
*The Shadow bosses are found in the Shadow Caves, an extremely hard elite dungeon. It may not be worth it to farm these weapons and gear.*
Mystery Ancients set
Set bonus: +1 crit, +8 damage, +3 armor
Mystery Helm of the Ancients: Complete series of crafting quests; Ghost of Malik crafts this.
Mystery Armor of the Ancients: Complete series of crafting quests; Jones crafts this.
Mystery Assault Bow of the Ancients: Buy the Recipe Schematic from Ramla for 5 Plat to start the crafting quests; Ramla crafts this.
Outdated comparison table for reference.
Cyber Void set (gun and talon):
> Most inexpensive to obtain out of all the sets because they are quest items, not boss drops.
> They cannot be traded or sold. (thanks eagleswords for this fix)
Original Void set:
> Similar to Cyber Void set in terms of stats, but only acquirable by boss drops.
Sunblessed Archer set:
> More pronounced damage/DPS compared to Cyber and Void.
> Range of attack is shorter than Cyber, Void, and Sentinel sets.
> Only archer set that carries with it a proc (see here for definition): Blinding Shot can be cast at a low rate.
Sentinel set (shotgun/talon/slicer):
> Prior to the addition of set bonuses, these were very similar to the other lv 50 sets. With the addition of set bonuses, they are superior.
> Most difficult set to obtain, as the enemies and the bosses in the Shadow Caves are numerous and extremely strong.
Mystery Ancients set:
> Most damaging level 50 set due to its weapon speed, but severely lacks in armor and dodge. Crit is also lower than the other sets.
> Has the highest H/s rate, but the low armor and dodge will probably get you killed first.
> The armor and helm are cheap to obtain because they are quest rewards, but the weapon requires you to purchase a recipe that costs you 5 Platinum.
IX. Level 55 Equipment Guide
With the release of the new Balefort Sewers campaign, you can now obtain level 55 equipment through Sewer boss drops.
With the new crafting system implemented, you can also craft 'new' level 55 pinks from 'old' level 55 pinks. Please check my guide on how to craft level 55 pinks.
Level 55 equips are a bit different from the lv 50 sets. There's only one "set" for archers, but these equips have a level 51 and level 53 version as well. It's important to note that the level 51 and 53 pinks CANNOT be used to craft the new level 55 pinks. I will not be including level 51/53 pink stats.
For archers, 6 damage per lv 55 non-crafted pink is REMOVED and REPLACED with 6 H/s for each lv 55 crafted pink. 2 more dex is also added.
Click here to see a list of all new level 55 equips for archers, as well as a comparative table.
X. PvP Combo
I'm not a big PvP fan, but I posted this in another thread and decided to just paste it here as well.
Skills:
Max all except (1)Avian Scream, (0)Meditation, (0)Restore
Combo:
Focus->Evasion->Thorn Root->Break Armor->Shattering Scream->Blast Shot->Blinding Shot->Repulse Shot
1. Focus and Evasion are obvious first.
2. Thorn Root to reduce the probability that opponent will DODGE Break Armor, Shattering Scream, Blast Shot, Blinding Shot, Repulse Shot, and Avian Scream.
3. Break Armor sets up -26 armor points on your opponent. Causes Shattering Scream, Blast Shot, Blinding Shot, Repulse Shot, and Avian Scream to be stronger.
4. Shattering Scream to further reduce opponent's armor -16 points. Break Armor debuff should still be active, so -42 armor points total to make Blast Shot, Blinding Shot, and Repulse Shot stronger.
5. Blast Shot to cause Cruel Blast combo (which is technically an extra normal attack combined with your Blast Shot).
6. Blinding Shot to add extra damage while -42 armor point debuff is active.
7. Repulse Shot to add extra damage while -42 armor point debuff is active.
XI. Thx and Revision History
As always, thanks for reading this guide. I am open to all constructive criticism, opinions, comments, and any information to help my guide.
1/7/11: Guide created
1/14: Added entire equipment guide sections
Took off skill pictures and hyperlinked them to reduce clutter
2/1: Added PvP combo section
2/5: Skill point distribution has been rearranged for 1.7
2/9: Fixed skill points with actual figures
2/11: Added revised skill allotment table for lv 55
Added various new level 55 sections
2/12: Added lv 55 table
2/14: Added Stats and Attributes section
Added Rings section
2/15: Added lv 50 Sentinel equips set bonuses (added in today's patch)
Removed outdated lv 50 equipment comparison section
3/5: Edited out 50 v 55 comparison, added link to lv 55 equips instead
4/14: Moved Focus to "unlocked at lv 8" and revised skill allotment table to reflect v1.7.0.1 change
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Originally Posted by Justg
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