It seems like me and a lot of the archer guidemakers share different opponions on certain things. So a combination of caffein, boringness and a lust to write a bit, drove me to write this guide for fun
# Int, Str or Hybrid?
* Both Int and the Hybrid build is a nogo for an archer. Being a pure int or int hybrid, will benefit you a lot more with a sword, spear or both.
# Okey so im gonna go pure str, what about my skills?
* First im going to go over which skills you wanna get from Pacheon.
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Anti devil
Arrow combo
Explosion series
Strong bow
Autumn wind - optional (i heard positive use about it in group fighting)
Break Heaven Arrow Series
White/Blue hawk (will benefit a lot more than the black)
The passive (of course)
# So how should i use the skills?
* For training: use anti devil as your starter arrow. A lot of people then use berserk, and arrow combo to finish the mob off with. This is wrong. Do anti devil + arrow combo, then berserk. This is because arrow combo will very often (at the last book, almost every time) give the mob your imbue ability. Which in this case would be either frostbite or burn. Which will be useless if the mob is almost already dead.
Note: please keep in mind when you aquire Explosion Arrow book3, you should use this as your starter arrow. And strong bow will also be useless.
* For pvp: Keep in mind the advantages of being an archer are:
1. Range
2. Criticals
Now when opening up a pvp fight you want to do it from distance, start off with strong bow (if you have devil arrow use this instead), then follow it with anti devil. Also remember every time your opponent gets in a stab or a stun, phantom walk away and re-use anti devil to struck in a crit.
You phantom walking away can make you recover just as much hp as when they do a stun. And i have lost counts of how many glaviers bitch about me using this tactic
Now if youre fighting an int sword, a good idea (if you have this skill) is to cast icewall before start attacking. A lot of int swords tend to start stabbing when you get them with a crit. This is so they can recover hp.
(note - if you got quick fingers a good idea is to switch to a shield while lying down being stabbed, then reswitch to your bow, from your quickslot when youre up again)
# What about force, fire, lighting and cold?
* All four forces is actually a good idea. But requires a decent gap.
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Force (to 23, for rescue and harmony therapy)
Fire (max to 70, this should be your main tree)
Lighting (to 60 or 70, optional depending on how much sp you farm)
Cold (to 60 or 70, depending on how much sp you farm)
# So which skills should i choose?
*Lets start with the main tree, and take them one by one.
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Fire:
Imbue (max it, this will be your main imbue)
Fire shield (get the first three books, take the last if you want aswell)
Flame body (max it)
Fire protection (max it)
Fire wall (optional, can be good if you run low on hp, ghost walk and cast)
Fire nuke (useless for a pure str)
Flame devil force - passive (max it)
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Lightning:
Imbue (no good, waste of sp)
Piercing force (optional, wont benefit a lot to a pure str, i got it to book3)
Grasswalk/Phantom (get them as high as your light mastery allows it)
Lion Shout (useless)
Concentration (get it, however after book2 gain is not increased much)
Lightning nuke (useless for a pure str)
Heaven's Force - passive (max it)
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Cold:
Imbue (if you can afford the sp get it. Even at the cap a lot of people still isnt immune, and it can really make a big difference in pvp. The lower damage adds up if you got a powerfull enough bow)
Frost guard (get it as high as your mastery allows)
Cold wave (useless)
Icewall (get it if you got the sp)
Frost nova (Pvp skill, mostly for fun though. Im getting all 3 books)
Cold nuke (useless)
Cold armor - passive (max it)
Alternativly you can choose to not get force and instead up Heuksal to level 20 and get the passive lv 2
I recently removed force and instead got this passive. It adds up +200 hp which is a nice little boost
I mainly do jobbing with high levels now and force just became more and more useless to me.
# What gear should i use?
* Being an archer its hard to tank other pure str in 1v1 fights. This is due to the fact that we dont have stun nor stab, which immobiles the enemy thus allowing to recover hp. Therefor youre gonna want to be able to stand a good fight against other pure str. My recommendation is therefor that you wear protector
Archers already have a good advantage against int (especially spear ints)
due to the fact that they got longer range, and crits like hell. Now glaviers and bladers they can tank those crits a bit, but on int builds, crits fastly becomes deadly
Okey i think that just wraps up about everything. I will try to be on, to answer any questions regarding this guide
(Updated - 18 / 11 / 2006)