Felora
04-22-2010, 09:39 PM
Archer's Skill guide by Felora/Preda
Hi guys. Here are a few Archer skills that I believe are being less used or talked about so I think it is a good idea for me to put this up for your reference.
General Tip for Archer Build
First of all, I have to stress that the Archer is designed to be a high DPS single target shooter. You hunt down enemies one after one instead of getting tons of aggro by running in and using blast shot. The whole group of mobs will attack you at the same time and you will not always walk out alive. If you keep that in mind, you can solo most dungeons (with the exception of some ranged bosses). Whichever class you play, you need to ask yourself what your build is going to be for. If you only play in a full party run then you should focus on staying alive and skills that help out the group. If you plan to solo then things get much tougher and you have to pick the skills very carefully and executing them in a well planned manner. Below offers some tips from my experience:
Focus (Increase your chance to hit and crit! Cost 20. 20 sec. buff. +10% chance per rank)
http://s1.postimage.org/hx5B9-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
I believe all archers need this skill. If you have high dex and this skill maxed out, you will have over 70% of crit chance and over 170% hit chance (overkilling) which means you will deal alot of double damage per shot. The hit chance is not important as 170% is too high even after being debuffed by some bosses. But the crit chance is essential to any types of archers who uses a dagger, sword or any other combination. It lasts 20 seconds but cooldown is about 30 seconds so plan your time wisely.
Evasion (Dodge incoming attacks! Cost 20. 20 secs buff. +10% dodge per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hx85i-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
This Adds 50 to your dodge and is a life saver shall you fail to root/repulse/scream or being surrounded by enemies. The 20 sec will give you enough time to get away without getting slayed as you get a very high dodge (if you have high dex). If you notice you only get a few points of dodge even with very high DEX (let's say 120DEX you only get around 5 dodge). The 50 points mean a lot and you will dodge a lot of attacks. If you have a whole group of mobs attacking you, you may get hit occasionally but is easily managed by using a potion (calmly). You won't have to drink multiple potions in panic if you have dodge. My tip is not to cast it until you get a lot of aggro cos cooldown is 30 seconds. The duration of the skill is key to survival.
Restore (Increase your health regeneration! Cost 20. Regen +4 for 5 sec. +10 heal per rank)
So you think Archer can heal as well? This is a self healing spell. It heals you for 10 x skill level so if maxed out it heals 50 hp. Also, it gives you +4 regen for 5 sec that gives you another 20 hp restore so it is around 70hp healed per cast. However, the cool down is quite long and the healing takes time to complete since it is not the instant heal that enchantress have. It does not remove debuffs such as being frozen. It is a terrible waste of skill points IMO. I respec right away after trying this. You will never have HUD shortcut space for this spell. You have to go into the spell book. Potions are much faster and much cheaper comparing to the 5 skill points used on this skill. Afterall, remember Archers are not supposed to be hit that hard! So healing is your very last measure!
Break Armor (Reduce your targets armor. Cost 25. Reduce targets armor. -10 per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hxfzJ-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
Break armor is now fixed and working as intended. Reducing their armor means increasing your damage. Is useful when you have root and repulse shot. It only LASTS for FIVE seconds tho. So What I do would be root, break armor, repulse shot and repeat.
Repulse Shot (Knock your target back with this heavy shot! Cost 15. +2 knock-back per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hxpyi-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
I have this skill maxed. The Archer is supposed to be a high DPS single targeting class. This skill pushes your target all the way back (given that there is enough room behind him). Very useful on bosses. Cool down is 10 seconds so you can cast Thorn Root in between and the boss will almost never get to you. This is very important if you do solo runs (Well in a full party run, u pretty much don't need any skills...) You MAY not need to max it and put 3 points in it and it may be enough already.
Blinding Shot (Reduces enemy hit chance for 5 sec. Cost 25. Reduce 10% hit per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hxs2r-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
Shot does normal damage and makes them miss most of the time if you max the skill out. This is different from Evasion it reduce THEIR hit chance instead of boosting your Dodge chance. Evasion is much better than this skill as it lasts 20 seconds. This only lasts for 5 sec and can only target one enemy. With so few shortcut buttons on the HUD, you can't do much with this skill. Stay away from it.
Hope you find it useful and please correct me if you find any mistakes :p
More to come and may be I will put together a full skill guide...
FELORA, PREDA
Hi guys. Here are a few Archer skills that I believe are being less used or talked about so I think it is a good idea for me to put this up for your reference.
General Tip for Archer Build
First of all, I have to stress that the Archer is designed to be a high DPS single target shooter. You hunt down enemies one after one instead of getting tons of aggro by running in and using blast shot. The whole group of mobs will attack you at the same time and you will not always walk out alive. If you keep that in mind, you can solo most dungeons (with the exception of some ranged bosses). Whichever class you play, you need to ask yourself what your build is going to be for. If you only play in a full party run then you should focus on staying alive and skills that help out the group. If you plan to solo then things get much tougher and you have to pick the skills very carefully and executing them in a well planned manner. Below offers some tips from my experience:
Focus (Increase your chance to hit and crit! Cost 20. 20 sec. buff. +10% chance per rank)
http://s1.postimage.org/hx5B9-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
I believe all archers need this skill. If you have high dex and this skill maxed out, you will have over 70% of crit chance and over 170% hit chance (overkilling) which means you will deal alot of double damage per shot. The hit chance is not important as 170% is too high even after being debuffed by some bosses. But the crit chance is essential to any types of archers who uses a dagger, sword or any other combination. It lasts 20 seconds but cooldown is about 30 seconds so plan your time wisely.
Evasion (Dodge incoming attacks! Cost 20. 20 secs buff. +10% dodge per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hx85i-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
This Adds 50 to your dodge and is a life saver shall you fail to root/repulse/scream or being surrounded by enemies. The 20 sec will give you enough time to get away without getting slayed as you get a very high dodge (if you have high dex). If you notice you only get a few points of dodge even with very high DEX (let's say 120DEX you only get around 5 dodge). The 50 points mean a lot and you will dodge a lot of attacks. If you have a whole group of mobs attacking you, you may get hit occasionally but is easily managed by using a potion (calmly). You won't have to drink multiple potions in panic if you have dodge. My tip is not to cast it until you get a lot of aggro cos cooldown is 30 seconds. The duration of the skill is key to survival.
Restore (Increase your health regeneration! Cost 20. Regen +4 for 5 sec. +10 heal per rank)
So you think Archer can heal as well? This is a self healing spell. It heals you for 10 x skill level so if maxed out it heals 50 hp. Also, it gives you +4 regen for 5 sec that gives you another 20 hp restore so it is around 70hp healed per cast. However, the cool down is quite long and the healing takes time to complete since it is not the instant heal that enchantress have. It does not remove debuffs such as being frozen. It is a terrible waste of skill points IMO. I respec right away after trying this. You will never have HUD shortcut space for this spell. You have to go into the spell book. Potions are much faster and much cheaper comparing to the 5 skill points used on this skill. Afterall, remember Archers are not supposed to be hit that hard! So healing is your very last measure!
Break Armor (Reduce your targets armor. Cost 25. Reduce targets armor. -10 per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hxfzJ-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
Break armor is now fixed and working as intended. Reducing their armor means increasing your damage. Is useful when you have root and repulse shot. It only LASTS for FIVE seconds tho. So What I do would be root, break armor, repulse shot and repeat.
Repulse Shot (Knock your target back with this heavy shot! Cost 15. +2 knock-back per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hxpyi-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
I have this skill maxed. The Archer is supposed to be a high DPS single targeting class. This skill pushes your target all the way back (given that there is enough room behind him). Very useful on bosses. Cool down is 10 seconds so you can cast Thorn Root in between and the boss will almost never get to you. This is very important if you do solo runs (Well in a full party run, u pretty much don't need any skills...) You MAY not need to max it and put 3 points in it and it may be enough already.
Blinding Shot (Reduces enemy hit chance for 5 sec. Cost 25. Reduce 10% hit per rank.)
http://s1.postimage.org/hxs2r-ccf41d824aca0316bdf260ce41e13573.png
Shot does normal damage and makes them miss most of the time if you max the skill out. This is different from Evasion it reduce THEIR hit chance instead of boosting your Dodge chance. Evasion is much better than this skill as it lasts 20 seconds. This only lasts for 5 sec and can only target one enemy. With so few shortcut buttons on the HUD, you can't do much with this skill. Stay away from it.
Hope you find it useful and please correct me if you find any mistakes :p
More to come and may be I will put together a full skill guide...
FELORA, PREDA