Need advice on bow character

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:59 pm

Before you start yelling, yes, I have read the millions of questions and answers there already are about bow characters. So there.

Anyway...since I learn more about the game every day, I want to create another character, an archer again, wearing garment for speed. With my first archer I made more mistakes than I dare think of, and although I could fix them by spending a few weeks hunting Curst Hearts and removing skills, I'd rather not.

So - if I want to go for bow, what skills should I pick? Fire or ice? I will get lightning just for Grass Walk, but for damage, I guess fire would be recommended?

Is pure STR a good way to go for a bow user? Will I have enough mana to use the high level fire skills, for instance? I know pure garment gives you a 20% reduction in mana cost, which will help a lot, I guess.

So, all you experienced archers out there, give me your opinions on how to build the perfect archer.

woutR · Post by **woutR** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:43 pm

according to the highest lvl on the forum ( BiggieTymers aka Fly ) there are a few builds that are the best.
Pure str fire blader ( koreans say this build doesn't do enough dmg )
pure str fire glavie ( koreans say this build is best , and ice is most powerfull at 65 + )
pure int nuker light spear ( koreans say this build is easy till 40 , after that pain in the ass due to low hp )
pure str fire bow ( koreans say this build is underpowered comparing it to others , I tend to disagree with them at this one )

NDR · Post by **NDR** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:47 pm

what happened to pure str ice blade i heard it was best for pvp.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:14 pm

NDR wrote:what happened to pure str ice blade i heard it was best for pvp.

This is NOT a thread about what character is the best. Please stay on topic.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:28 pm

So...is pure STR Fire a good way to go then? With lightning added for Grass Walk, of course, otherwise I'd go nuts.

You have 300 lvls of mastery. Fire takes away 80, that's 220 left. Bow is another 80, that's 140 left. If I max out Cold as well (for slowing enemies down) that's 60 left, which would give me a few levels of Grass Walk and other Lightning skills.

Would that be a good way to go if you want to be fairly good in both player vs. player and player vs. monster? I'm not interested in being Most Powerful Silkroad Character (tm), just having a good time and being able to hold my ground against people about my lvl.

EDIT: I figure I won't need Force, since I'm pure STR and will have a lot of HP. I'll be using Garment too, to reduce the mana use by 20% and increase my movement rate (he who fights and runs away, lives to run away another day

)

SuicideGrl · Post by **SuicideGrl** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:26 pm

fire + bow is a rare build. if you get it to work for you, kudos. mist archers i know are cold and/or light.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:34 pm

SuicideGrl wrote:fire + bow is a rare build. if you get it to work for you, kudos. mist archers i know are cold and/or light.

Alright, please tell me more.

Like I said I've made some crappy characters before, and I want to avoid that. I will have enough mastery levels to max out both Cold and Fire, so that's not really a problem.

But lightning? I know I've seen players with bow/lightning, so maybe that's a good choice? I really don't know...

Meth0d · Post by **Meth0d** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:48 pm

Im sorry for not supplying fact but I have been building a lightning Ice 2:1 int archer and it has worked out really well so far. I'm not the best in PvP or PvM but Im still good with both. It has also beel a lot of fun to play, which is the top priority to me.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:07 pm

Meth0d wrote:Im sorry for not supplying fact but I have been building a lightning Ice 2:1 int archer and it has worked out really well so far. I'm not the best in PvP or PvM but Im still good with both. It has also beel a lot of fun to play, which is the top priority to me.

Yes, being fun to play with is no. 1 for me too, but I think pure STR is the way to go for me actually. It's the skills I'm not sure about.

NDR · Post by **NDR** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:04 pm

i have a lvl 24 pure str fire bow with 5 lvls in cold for slowing down and 23 lvls in force for harmony and 8 lvls in lightning for grasswalk. Fire does alot of dmg but for me it uses so much mana for the imbue thing which lasts for 5 seconds. i usually only use it for giants and champions. Anyway i like the buffs for fire like the phys att raise and magic def buff. If you want to lvl fast then pure int but ull die a crap load but deal a crap load of dmg. I chose pure str to hold my own against mobs and ppl a bit higher than my lvl. If you do get fire get 5 lvls in cold for that skill cause it owns.

Kard · Post by **Kard** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:41 am

Bow skills are simple... The Anti-Devil bow does good damage and it gives an added chance for critical. Since you're a STR build, this first cheap skill is good for your usage. There is one later skill after level 30, strong bow something. I haven't gotten that yet so I'm not sure how effective it is. But for a start, the anti-devil bow skill is good for low level.

Arrow combo is subjective. Lower damage but fires consequtively.

White hawk is good if you're looking to do damage that's closer to you max, since it increases AR.

kagenutto · Post by **kagenutto** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:26 am

Arrow Combo at low levels seems... meh.

For me a normal shot does 200 damage on average. The Arrow combo at level 3 or 4, can't remember which off the top of my head does like 130 per arrow. So two arrows = 260 damage on average. It also consumes two arrows to fire it.

Now the advantage of using it isn't for the damage, it's for the effect. The IMBUE effect of whatever element you are using. I use ice so sometimes that Arrow combo is the difference between getting a freezing effect off or not before the monster gets into attack range.

Autumn wind is also a very nice skill. Same damage as Devil bow series with about the same windup time. The difference is it penetrates and goes through shields. It typically can hit stuff half an inch or so off to the side of my target on my screen when I fire. It can also hit sometimes stuff in close melee range on my backside. When combined with lightning imbue and surrounded it makes a nifty little AOE attack. Which also works well with the Blasting Arrow. Overall, every bow skill available has a use unlike some of the other lines. The least useful skill would be Arrow Combo though out of the bunch.

jetjetjetjet · Post by **jetjetjetjet** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 12:17 pm

i'ma a kind of INT build

at level 20, i have 82 int, and 53 str.. and yeah, i do use ICE

can someone gimme some suggestions?

i am scared... no one comment on a pure int archer built

what should i do?

Uchiha Itachi · Post by **Uchiha Itachi** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:29 pm

i got a int fire bow nuker kind of cahracter and he works fine for me but the lack of HP can get anoying at times. it makes up tho with the amount of damage i can deal.
from my experience from other rpg games mage (int) characters are not meant to tank mobs or ppl, thay are ment to deal a masive amount of damage form a distance.
usualy mage characters get the kills from warrior (str) characters but the one cant do without the other. the mage will always need support form a warrior and a warrior will always need support from a mage

jetjetjetjet · Post by **jetjetjetjet** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:41 pm

cool

i think i will keep going with my INT BUILT

Fracture · Post by **Fracture** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 9:59 pm

I am Pure STR and am using Ice for now. (Slow down targets).

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:43 am

So...will a pure STR archer have enough mana to use magic, or should I add a point to INT every other level? Like 3 STR, 2 STR 1 INT, 3 STR, 2 STR 1 INT etc? Or should I just buy a LOT of pots?

banzaimonkey · Post by **banzaimonkey** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:11 pm

Marcato wrote:So...will a pure STR archer have enough mana to use magic?

As long as you use potions.

The primary reason to build int is not to increase your mana capacity, but to increase the damage of your imbues and nukes. Extra mana's a nice perk. STR on the other hand is used to increase both HP and damage. You can't pot if you're dead, but you can pot if you're oom.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:49 pm

Alright. I've checked, re-checked and re-re-checked the skill trees, and I think I'll go this way:

Pure STR
Pacheon (bow) lvl 80
Cold lvl 60
Fire lvl 80
Lightning lvl 80

I have a very nice lvl 1 SoS Copper Bow that does damage slightly below (just a point or two) a lvl 8 bow, so that'll do nicely until I get to lvl 8 or 9. I'll have LOTS of HP since I'm going pure STR, and I'll have money since I have another character who put a little away in storage, so I won't have to worry about money for pots for a while.

So I'll keep the 9 level difference between my character level and my masteries for as long as I can stand it, but at least until I have 5,000 SP. Then I'll gradually shrink the difference down as I level.

I will be a pure garment-user, for speed and the 20% reduction in mana cost (which will help a lot). I will use lightning for speed, and when I reach lvl 30 for damage as well. Cold will of course be used to slow enemies down, and for the passive. Fire will be used for damage and since I'm pure STR of course for the passive that increases the physical damage.

So - does this sound at all like a decent build? That could do well both against monsters and players?

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:31 pm

I can't decide.

Now I'm considering choosing glaive instead of bow...but otherwise the same build.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:13 pm

Screw the bow.

I'm going like this:

STR
Garment
80 lvls Blade w/ passive
80 lvls Fire w/ passive
30 lvls Lightning w/ passive
37 lvls Force w/ passive

That ought to do it

EDIT: SP farming until I get 5000 SP

SuicideGrl · Post by **SuicideGrl** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:05 pm

Marcato:

that build seems good. it's pretty cookie-cutter except for the force added in, which i think is a great touch. you should have lots of front-end dmg and be able to tank well, move fast, and res most people you meet :)

lemme know how this works out for you.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:18 pm

SuicideGrl wrote:Marcato:

that build seems good. it's pretty cookie-cutter except for the force added in, which i think is a great touch. you should have lots of front-end dmg and be able to tank well, move fast, and res most people you meet

lemme know how this works out for you.

Yes, I am getting Force just so I can resurrect people. I think it would be good when doing trade runs, to have a character with lots and lots of HP, that's able to do a lot of damage, and that can resurrect others.

And I'm going with blade/shield just because I love being able to block.

Marcato · Post by **Marcato** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:18 am

SuicideGrl wrote:Marcato:

that build seems good. it's pretty cookie-cutter except for the force added in, which i think is a great touch. you should have lots of front-end dmg and be able to tank well, move fast, and res most people you meet

lemme know how this works out for you.

Works great for me so far. At lvl 21 I've got 1515 HP and 726 MP, so I can take a punch or two before dying. At lvl 20 I fought a lvl 21 INT lightning spear nuker and didn't lose a single fight, not even when I let my opponent get a free shot or two before I started hitting (without using any imbues or combos

). The shield really helps.

RaiKiRii · Post by **RaiKiRii** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:42 am

^ Realize though, that Nukers don't do well in PvP until they get their nukes. Especially if they don't imbue. (my imbued sword slash does 20 dmg -___-)

jetjetjetjet · Post by **jetjetjetjet** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:42 am

SHUT UP, MARCATO, TALKING TRASH ABOUT ME

wait till i'ma level 30.... I WILL FIGHT BACK GRRR

:cry:

ShizKnight · Post by **ShizKnight** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:40 am

IF fun is most important, go pure Int. Your attacks will be good, and both your weapon and force spells will be powerful.