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Do you really want to be a Pacheon ?

First question to ask yourself is this do you realy want to go bow ? Many people love the idea of having the Extra Range over there foes and the ability to kill mobs before they can even reach you. BUT, know this life is not all rosy for the Bowman, YOU WILL Die more than any other Char as we Have the worse weapon defence infact NONE (with possible exception of badly made nukers). You Will also have the annoying habit of being the first of your friends to return to town when out grinding as your Arrows take up 1/8 of your on Char Storage. Note you will also either have to spend alot of time "Pimping"(alchamey) your bow or spend alot of money on it !!

Do you want to be a HYB ?

Let's Face it Hybrid bows are controversial at BEST. 70:70 or 80:80 being the Unique hunter INT hybrid. STR hybrid is a personalised build more so made to take advantage of the planned skills and also the myth that Bows aren't an entirely STR weapon (New Rogue weapons in the Euro version almost prove that if JM ment this to be a pure str Weapon it would not have a Mag Attack).

How do I become a Str Hybrid ?

My recommendation is this. From levels 1-20 a Full INT is what we want, lets face it at these levels we cant do much but fight mobs anyway. So we might aswell be good at it . This will also allow us to level a bit faster than if we went Str Hybrid so upto level 20 add 2 Int and 1 Str to your char. From level 20-30 Add all Str we want to start getting series here, Jobbing for that gold and new bow become a concern so the extra Hp is required. So we made it to lvl 30, now this is where the personalization of HYB Comes to play I have talked to a few other of the HYB Str bowmen and are in close agreement, with Equips we are looking for a 85-95% Phy Attack Balance on our Character, obviously which side of this scale you are depends on if you want to be a Pvper or a Unique hunter. Both sides of the scale still allow for Crits well in and above the range of a Pure STR Bowmen. Its a matter of more research to narrow it down further. From all levels above 30 add Str and Int points to Fit your Equips and Phy Attack %


Which Forces ?
Now There are two ways to go about this build you can be a Support player (Use The "Force" healing tree, Which Hopefully EllisD will update us on) or Go all out for the 3 Imbue trees; Light, Fire, Ice. It is the use of these that causes further debate. For me and this Guild we are going to go under the assumption (using stats found here http://www.silkroadforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=49138) Light Does not lose significally in damage ratins to fire so: our Build allowing for Personal Changes will be:

Pacheon 80
Ice 80
Light 79
Fire 61



Now on to SKILLS, the fun part!

PACHEON 80

Anti-devil Bow Series
This is a must. Max it and get all books. It's a great starter and has an awesome critical stack. (Note) Since the update the down time on this Skill is now 7 secs Autumn Series Now becomes a series contender if not only for faster grinding.


Arrow Combo Attack Series.
Get them. Max it Combo on the last book will Include 5 arrows and a Chance For Knock Back approx 30% (yes that annoying thing Galvies have been doing to us for years) Early books are great with Ice imbue to try increase your chance of freezing or at least slowing your enemies


HAWKS!
Of Course its Bowmen so time for another debate. It looks cool yes, but Which one do you use for a while the debate centred on not using the Black Hawk as it does not add to your attack ratting merely act like a wolf and directly attacking your foe. This obviously dosent really add to your char when he wants to crit big, But none the less it looks like an enevitable requirment with the addition of the 4th book in this series.
Lightening Hawk will be another Direct attack hawk but will not be as pety as its Black predecsor, with a meaty Phy.Attack of 1426 this Bird wont be cheep but will peck a punch...(had to be done)

Break Heaven Arrow Series.
So you can shoot further. (Especially useful skill for hunting uniques like Isy and training.) Essential MAX it.


Explosion Arrow Series.
Gives you that great AOE (aka Area of Effect) MAX. With Light Imbue this Skill can be used to great effect with AOE it can hit up to four enemies at a time and with the light transfer of 2 you will only increase its usefullness.


Strong Bow Series!
Great starter for those harder to kill things MAX. It's a bit slow, but the damage it creates makes it worth it. Massive Attk bonus of 350% that HUGE make no mistake this is our Nuclear missile. The Problem is load time so use it correctly Combo Arrow before (With Ice) will give a chance to slow your enemy down and with last book KB give you time to charge. Last books Increase Crit Distance and Stun chance of 10% this will be the one thing all Chinese Chars will fear make no mistake.


Mind Concentration.
Pacheon's passive skill. It raises attack rating MAX.


Autumn Wind Arrow Series
Built as a AOE Skill it is funnily enough used by many as a primary attack in Pvp. Don't laugh it actually has a higher attack rating than Anti Devil Bow Series, there be method in their madness. (Note) Serious Contender and is added to my new Grind Package

Mind Bow Series
Shoot up to 4 arrows @ random mobs Great for pulling mobs in if your partying or if you wish to use Bezerker more effectivly. Again should be very useful when grinding with light imbue.



FIRE 61


Fire Protection Series
This is our Magical Defense Buff to ensure we stay Ahead of those pesky nukers. Comes in very useful lvl 61 Book 3 for a +70mg.def is good for us.

Flame Body Series
The Phy Dmg increase Buff, Strangely enough this buff only allows up to 9% increase but we shall stay at 7% lvl 58 Book 3. Reason is this is our sacrifice force and the increase we get in Mag attk in Light is much great for the extra masteries.

Fire Wall Series
At the moment this is neccesary up to page one of the first book is enough simply enough the in game book of blocking any first nuke no matter what damage is priceless.

Passive Buff
Get it as high as our lvl 58 allows. Every extra bit counts



Light 79


Thunder Force Series
This is our main imbue MAX, almost as strong as the Fire but gives us that great attribute of transfer which is so useful in dragging in mobs when grinding also great in combination with Explosion arrow and Mind Bow Series.

Piercing Force Series
A Magical Attack Increase Buff MAX, With Book 4 at lvl 78 we get an Extra 17% to our magical attack thats a series Buff. Now see why I decided to add Light Max.

Wind Walk Series
Firstly lets take on Grass walk, its pretty much a must for everyone or you will just fall beind when running after anyone and seen as we are going to go to lvl 79 in Book 3 with a 73% speed Increase MAX Now lets tackle Shadow Series, This is basically your Nitro's. Press the red Button and go so fast your probable to lose yourself if not your target, Its hard to use but if you dont want to tank, you want to Hit and use you r range, Max only if you can use it not neccesary to max altho as you can suffice with a smaller ghost.

Concentration Series, Adds to your Parry Ratio allowing you to be less likely to stun etc, Of course im a buff freak I have it.

Passive Buff
I maintain my motto more is better, MAX this baby.


Ice 80


Cold Force Series
The Second imbue, but not less used MAX. The Frost and Freezing abilities of this imbue is where the skill in being a Bow comes to the fore.

Frost Guard Series
This is a Physical Defence bonus MAX, helping to make up for the lack of our weapon choice's Blocking ability. Giving an extra 81 to Phy.Def

Frost Nova Series, With a 100% chance of Frost bite and 50% chance of Freezing, this skill is quiet useful if your in a jam. First Two Books only cost 600 sp adding them isn't the worlds biggest pain.

Mana Shield
This is the kingmaker in our Build with a Phy attk of 85-90 you should easily be able to afford it to gain its 30% DMG conversion of Hp to Mp. The Brave go for the 50% but even if you do get mobbed by multiples your mp can always be topped up by adjusting your auto potage and getting larger pots. Turn this on after your enemy the cooldown time is very long so use with your head !

Passive Buff
You know the story by now


Insane Grind Package
So ok we have 462k sp all In. With the ommision of the grinding Tools (Frost Nova, Bezerker, Light Imbue, Autumn & Mind Bow) you can lower this, But you don't want to do that. So here is how we do it.
Pick your mobs some people prefer farming green or white, some on Orange and red. Il go with the Orange.
1. Buff up on Break Heaven Arrow Series, your Hawk Which every your using at this stage, Flame Body Series, Piercing force and finally either Frost Gaurd or Fire Protection Depending if the mob is Mag or Phy attack Based.
2. Have lots of MP pots this is expensive ! Wolf would also help (He'll level like no tommorrow too, and the cost will be worth it)
3. Find a Secluded area with few people around but as good as spawn as can be compramised for.
4. Start !
(i) Firstly Un-imbued Normal shot on your First Mob.
(ii) Next Select another mob with a mob or more near him and use Mind Bow
(iii) Your First Mobs Should Be upon you any Second Use Anti Devil and Light Imbue, and turn on Mana Shield.
(iv) Now you should have your other Two Mobs upon you, Use Bezerker with your Light Imbue.
(v) Use Mind Bow Again on one of the mob ontop of you, and you will hopefully drag in one more.(If you find you are killing the mobs too fast just use mind bow on a mob outside your circle of doom.)
(vi) If your First Mob Is not Dead use Autumn Series, Light Imbue again.
(Vii) With 3-4 Mobs now ontop of you use Nova Frost Series to freeze them.
5. Apply Steps (iv) To (vii) Liberally using Ice Imbue when Light is not available and enjoy the Mayhem.
(Note) This Method can be greatly boosted if you have a cleric Firend looking for some Uber Powerleveling.


EQUIPMENT

The Bow
The Life and blood of any Bow charcter is criticals, Do not Skimp !! 9+ crit is essential if you want to crit with any regularity. The usual pimping is always good Of course a Full Blue would be nice but here are my tips.
recommendations,
Blue: AR Add some Strikes Stones and try Get at least 60% It will help you crit, INT and STR of course, If your Planning on Pvping or Jobbing try add some BR its a Discipline Stone it lowers the chances of your hits being blocked.
[u]Stats[u/]: Only important on your last bows try get them above 60% reinforce also Phy First.


The Clothes
For lower levels 1-20 Garment is advisable for any build with its bonuses and the fact that the % difference in def and mag between Clothing types at theses levels is negligable. For later levels if you stay to the high area of your Str range, having a phy.attk of 90+% you may well find that you can still get away with garment. If not Protector is naturally built for the HYB being the best of both worlds so to speak with having decent Mag and Phy Def. Armour Should not be neccesary.


Well folks thats it all from me I wish all you Hyb bow's the best of luck and would like to give special thank to Tour Guide, hellsharpt & Glavie who I have used alot of info from there posts to help build this also EllisD and MrFudge for there part on bal %'s.

Edited on 1/08/2007
Added:
(Notes)
Mana Shield Series to Ice Force
Insane Grind Technique
Released:
Concentration Series,Mind Bow Series, Frost Nova Series and Autumn from Optionals.

Nice work. Looks good.

I have a few comments to make, but im rushing to get a few things done at the end of the day here at work, so i will sign in later and point out a few things, unless they are caught by others first

Well Done

i would actually like to go full int 1-20 then start adding str later just to get to lvl 20 faster, and farming is easier as a full int cuz you can actually 1 hit bandit archers with an SOS bow (impossible for str's)


and yes id recommend investing in the black/lightning hawk series from now on seeing as how some of the vital pacheon skills and passive already have an attack rating increase. The lightning hawk hurts pretty bad i myself can't wait to get it.

you should probably add in to use strongbow books 1 and 2 before you do arrow combo if the monster is passive, and after you do arrow combo if the monster is aggresive. Launch time won't matter if the monster is just sitting there for you, so why aggro it first with arrow combo when you can just finish it off with that. Also add in that the Strongbow book 3 cast time is cut in half, which is why it will be killer... along with its crit increase, stun, and shot dist. increase which u've already mentioned.

fire passive buff you can get up to lvl 60, not 58

Concentration series optional? thats way too much parry ratio to pass up, its like wearing another equipment piece with only parry on it.

id add in that if you have enough sp and dont care about sp usage to max the ice imbue, most people will be turned off by the diff in damage from their lvl 79 light to their low lvl ice imbue, even though it freezes.

id recommend getting book 1 and 2 both lvl 1 of the frost nova series, its only like 600 sp to get both lol.

with lightning hawk being available in like 4 days, id recommend getting 40%+ attack rating blue on the bow.

this is just my input, hope i helped

OHHH and for the future, think about mana shield set at about 25% since you will have more mana than a pure str, might give you an edge over the rival pure str bow.

Thanks guys emm yes little typo there Mr Fudge of course the Passive can go up to 60, lol. On other notes I think Il do a bit more on Bow Pimping requirements, I personally like to always have 100% AR blue on my bows .

I Look forward to more contribution

I'm adding this to an updated Guides Sticky, but please add pictures, they are more user friendly and easier to view when followers are trying to fix up their build.

Thank Shadow , Few little Crinkles to Iron out but i spent alot of time on it and I think it is pleasing overall, lots of views and not many comments is always a good thing

I have little change (just my opinion)

Instead of 61 fire 80 ice I think is best 72 fire 69 ice. If you are making an str hybrid, fire provide better buffs than ice and with this configuration you will get a 3% extra physical damage and 27 extra magical defense (IMO this more important on hyb str than phys defence). Maybe you could trade a bit of damage with light at 78 or pacheon at 79 to recover the lvl7 ice passive, but is up to you and I dont recomend it.


PS As MrFudge said, this build can take some levels of mana shield without problem to increase his defense.

Point taken, Fudge and Ellis whats your view on this ? Im starting to believe with immunity still around Ice is becoming less attractive for Str builds

Honestly, i never found it an attractive tree. For an INT build yes, but as a STR build, your main worry shouldnt be other STR builds, it should be INT builds...so the physical defence increase (which is what this tree is based around) is not as important.



The black hawk is a joke. Period. The only thing that possibly saved it (we will see when someone gets it) is the lightning hawk. I maxed the black hawk recently cause i assumed it would be a prerequesite for the new one. Summoned it while i was at the generals and it did a whopping 50dmg per hit. Whoopdy Do. This lightning hawk better be good, lol.




So you are suggesting to use 2 books of strongbow on passive mobs, and an arrow combo to finish them off? I strongly disagree. If you use 2 strongbow shots as well as an arrow combo to finish the mob your grinding...you are taking considerably more time than needed which will make grinding at higher levels a pain...well, moreso than it already is. My personal rule is absolutely no longer than 1 imbue per kill. That gives enough time for a skill, arrow combo, and an imbued arrow to finish if needed. The only time i ever use strongbow is at uniques, and for giants. Its simply too time consuming to use in a regular grinding routine.



Just thought i would quote that cause it still says 58 up top ^^



Agreed.

Work is overrrrrrrrrrrr WOOT!

Time to go home and play

EllisD I realize your build is not exactly the same as this, but could you comment on what you consider to be the strengths or weaknesses when compared to a pure str bow in respect to jobbing(group battle), or 1 vs 1.

I guess what I am wondering is how does being hybrid-str change how you play compared to being pure str?

Emm Before we all get confused Guys my comments on using Ice Imbue with Combo going on to Strong Bow are for Pvp not PvE, And I believe if your grinding and using Strongbow PvE and cant kill with one shot or with combo you should change mob... I personally grinding Euro mobs now and go Combo, Anti Devil -> Strongbow. Thats two mobs dead, note you can charge strong bow in mid combo .. also The mind bow series is freaking awesome for grinding on green or white mobs as i suggested before. Mind Bow, Bezerker arrow Light imbued = lots of dead mobs, best used on green mobs.

Returning to the Masteries, Ice has brought itself right back into the running with Mana Shield, This little skills is one series buff !! Altho I think it will be alot more benefical to the 70:70 boys Ints are back in the game with this buff I was out hunting already level 3 and came across a lvl 70 I have Mana as an emergency buff, run away enough to get it up and then run, took 4 hits to kill me he finally imbued a shot. Problem is everyone will want it but I dont think Full str's will be able to use it at top levels.. consumes too much mp. Il look into what the optimum level for us this will be added.

Any last views would be nice and Il add and edit the Guide before Shadow adds us to the sticky list YAY

I suggest an update to these combo.

The strong bow series delay is now the same delay of anti-devil's. At moment I use first strong bow, then anti-devil. I just had to learn a new way of combo and learn also how to use that new skill floating bar:

strong bow - fire imbue - anti devil - (3 arrow combo when needed);

So far its doing fine, except when I get mobbed by agressives... yay!

Note: I cant use that new bow skill properly. Its bizarre and sometimes hits in unexpected mobs, such party mobs... then becomes a pain. I left it on lvl 3 and simply dont use much.

Sorry for the lack of response. Real life has taken a hold and is not letting go. Too much work, not enough hours in a day or people to do it Plus trying to kill my GT (which i have been falling behind with) makes for just enough time to kill some spambots, move obviously misplaced topics, and throw a quick response here and there...



Really, the builds should be played virtually the same. The -3k hp in favor of a higher crit and average damage means you may have to duck out earlier than a pure, but thats half the fun to me. Knowing you can die, but still being strong enough to kill means that it comes down to learning how to survive.

It also heavily comes down to gear, just like any build, but moreso for us cause when you get near the cap, you need good gear, cause everyone else has it. You need it to bring up your STR\HP so you can close the gap as much as possible with a pure str, and you need INT to up your magic balance\defence so you can increase damage and have better defence against nukers.

I havent done any PVP in easily a month though. Having a daunting 200k+ sp to farm, wanting to keep a 9 gap, and not getting any new books until 73, makes me want to farm enough to at least get to 75-76 so at least i will have all the new skills to play and test with. That might take me a bit

The new skills characteristics are awesome though. Well, some of them.
Love:
- More frequent crits with antidevil.
- Strongbow cast time shortened so its not a burden to use.
- Mind bow has a fairly large AOE which helps with finishing multiple mobs, or pulling mobs in. Also awesome in zerk. Gets more kills while taking on a giant or just running around killing mobs. Sets you up nicely for Devil arrow or Autumn wind.
- Autumn wind keeps getting better and better. With the first book, you lost 35% (i think) damage via penetration, book 2 you lost 30%, book 3 = 25% and book 4 your only going to lose 20%. The skill damage keeps going up, and the % you lose due to penetration drops. Im using it more and more now.

Hate:
- Devil arrow has a 7 second cooldown, i think it was 5 seconds tops before the update
- Devil arrow is on the same timer as book 2. I often used these one after the other if i was getting mobbed. Not possible anymore.

I have had to basically learn how to use my skills again because there are so many conbinations that take equal time to cast, and give equal results. I have had a new skillbar setup everytime i grind since the update.

Mana shield. This is something i cannot, and will not be able to comment on. My ice is at 0, and it will remain that way. I definetly see that it could help because i have near 11k mp (with no MP blues on my gear, just INT) so i have a fair bit of that to spare. Once im capped and farmed and see how i do, the decision will be made then.

One thing that has kind of taken me by surprise is the Vital Spots. I will definetly be investing in these. I have the first 4 books at lvl 1. The first 2 are pretty self explanitory (reducing attack rating and parry ratio of the target), and im sure if they are maxed, they will make a decent difference in damage given, and damage taken, but these new spots take the cake. The one for physical defence lowered the phys defence on my opponent by 200 points, and the magic defence one took 300 points off their mag defence. Thats essentially like eliminating the defence they get from 2 pieces of 3rd tier gear, and they can still be levelled up. Then the last one you get at lvl 80, lowers the physical and magical attack of an opponent.

Current status:
Bow, Light, Force fully farmed to 71, Fire fully farmed to 61...9 gap farming

Planned status:
Bow, Force @ 80, Light 79, Fire 61 (sacrificed 1 lvl of light for the big jump in mag def you get from 60-61)

Done and Done

Highlighted in red.



If that was going from my last post, then i was talking about Devil Arrow (from the explosion series) not AntiDevil. AntiDevil has the same cast time as before...may even seem slightly quicker.



This is the skill with the 7 second timer. Also, book 2 and 3 run on the same timer now, unlike before.



You can remove that now, cause the casting time is quite quick. Making it no burden at all to cast mid fight.



60 !!!



Definetly not an option to remove these. Ok, the imbue can be questioned. If you want to use ice, by all means...but i think you will be pressed to find anyone that will tell you to get rid of Explosion arrow...even though the casting time is now longer than strongbow.



Bolded. It will help increase the amount of damage you do when you crit. Not raise the chance of a crit.


Nice edit. Just a few things i thought i would point out.

Good job once again

lol so you can tell I did this while in work, il make the neccesary changes

dude wtf everyone is saying different things
ok once and for all:

should i go Pure str after level 20 for pvp? or should i just stay hybrid 2 int 1 str all the way till i die?

personally i like lvl 1-20 pure int, and after that pure str. depends on wat u planning to do

this needs to be sticked!! fantastic guide been waiting for a good bow guide... thanks I dont agree 100% but that makes the game so good.

http://www.silkroadforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=19902
look in there. it was stickied some time ago

can this build be good for PvP? i put like all INT in level 1-20 and full str from 20 and on, im level 31 now and im gonna start thiefing in next level
what i hate about bows is that their damage is so little against monsters.. i hit like 50 damage to kokoru's at lvl 29 using a lvl 16 SoS bow (still using it), when my 28 wizard can do 1k on kokoru im like kinda offended here

are u sure you, used an attack/imbue. and i would drop that sos bow and get one closer too your lvl, its basically a lvl 21 bow

yeah i put maxed cold imbues with all my buffs i only do 50 damage to kokoru's
im too poor for another bow man i only got like 300k what should i do (and i only want SoS bows)

wat is your ice mastery lvl?

and sos bows are expensive, so yea try and stick to regular or even npc stuff tell u get some more cash

my ice mastery level is 24

thats probably why. if u had a mastery lvl 31 (wtvr your lvl is) fire and a decent bow (around your lvl), you would be hitting MUCH harder

alright then ill try

Wow...nice guide, best bow guide ive seen so far.

Two question...

What build would be best for PvP?
Pure STR or Hybrid (90% Phy Naked)

Which skills would you advise me to get?
Autumn Wind Arrow Series or Explosion Arrow Series

I like Autumn Wind because it hits the mobs attacking you aswell as the mob your directly hitting, however Explosion Arrow has the AR increase, and from what ive heard, its stronger.

Thanks

Bump

ahahahaha alright koo kooo im lvl 32 rite now with cold mastery/pacheon mastery to 32 and got strong bow and shit damn i can critical for like 2k and regular for like 1.5k its craazy
alright this is gettin cool