Why should STR archers take fire?

Zeb · Post by **Zeb** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:58 pm

I'm currently making a pure STR archer, and am up to level 10. I currently have force Lightning (for speed boosts and shadowstepping)) and was looking for a possible second force element to use. I was looking at ice, but everyone else has said that I should take fire. However, these people also have no clue why I should take fire. If MMO experience serves me correctly, there is probably a reason why fire is better but these people are just reciting what they have read on online guides. So, what is the reason why Fire would serve me better than ice?

canakin · Post by **canakin** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:00 pm

in sro fire has buffs and passive to increase phy. damage so any pure str will do good with fire and also there is mag. resistance buff which is handy for str builds who lacks mag. resistance

dreyepatch · Post by **dreyepatch** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:00 pm

i've had both, before alchemy ice was a good choice, due to freezing aspects. However now most high lvls are imune to ice w/ fireshield series and fog tabs. I would suggest fire because it does more damage and you will lvl faster by killing mobs faster

Da_Realest · Post by **Da_Realest** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:03 pm

People say fire the fire phy buff and passive. Also fire for the imbue. People don't recommend ice imbue because people can become immune to it because of the fire shield bug. Ice imbue would be the better choice if people couldn't become immune to it. Joymax is suppose to implement the fix to the fire shield bug in our version bug one day....

4-n-zics · Post by **4-n-zics** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:05 pm

People say fire because it deals more damage. They say not to use ice because of the high level players being 100% immune to freeze/frost bite (IIRC, this is not the case anymore, or will be, because of the change to the fire shield or whatever skill that reduces abnormal effect). You have to remember that 99.9% of those that tell anyone that wants to build an archer are 99.99% PvP. I have a Hybrid archer and switched from fire to ice and an much more happy. I don't PvP much, if any, except for guild/job wars, which is where archers are most effective anyway.

Don't listen to others on how you should build your character. It is a game and you are supposed to have fun. If you are trying to build the best character on any particular server I have news for you.. You can't. There is ALWAYS someone that is going to be better than you. Don't stick to the "cookie cutter" builds. Build a character that you want to build and one that you will have fun playing.

Zeb · Post by **Zeb** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:15 pm

So would ice be better for mobbing then? I plan to mostly PvE except for jobs fights so that's really what's most important. I highly doubt I'll stick around long enough to get to level 80 anyway, and if whatever makes ice useless at high levels will be changed by then that shouldn't matter.

I rarely stick to cookie-cutter builds anyway, so I'll probably choose ice. I would still like to know if Ice has any advantages over fire in PvE. Thanks!

Alphanum3ric · Post by **Alphanum3ric** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:16 pm

Fire implies most damage... should be ur first and then the lightning for second for buffs and walks...

LadyB · Post by **LadyB** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:41 pm

id rather get ice. people with ice immunity is rare but awfully strong

Gwai_lo · Post by **Gwai_lo** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:01 pm

Zeb wrote:So would ice be better for mobbing then? I plan to mostly PvE except for jobs fights so that's really what's most important. I highly doubt I'll stick around long enough to get to level 80 anyway, and if whatever makes ice useless at high levels will be changed by then that shouldn't matter.

I rarely stick to cookie-cutter builds anyway, so I'll probably choose ice. I would still like to know if Ice has any advantages over fire in PvE. Thanks!

Absolutely. Ice is my preferred imbue for PvE since I don't have to carry many hp pots when I grind. The damage difference is minimal as far as I can tell and I've tested it pretty extensively. If you're not interested in PVP, I would go for Ice. Not to mention, Ice has increased phy defense which is nice for PVP and PVE as well.

MastaChiefX · Post by **MastaChiefX** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:34 pm

Ice bows agaist someone with ice immunity get so demolished, its not even worth it.

Bows have low dmg normally. Ice wont help.

LadyB · Post by **LadyB** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:41 pm

MastaChiefX wrote:Ice bows agaist someone with ice immunity get so demolished, its not even worth it.

Bows have low dmg normally. Ice wont help.

well it slows them down. thats when they take the chance to run

phresh · Post by **phresh** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:19 pm

Ice if you want to kill mobs slowly (and painfully imo).

Fire if you want to kill mobs as fast as possible.

I've actually built archers with both.

People say Ice stops you from getting hit. Sure this is true, freeze up the mobs and kill them before they get to you. Thing is, with fire you don't freeze them up and you're still going to kill them before they get to you. This is much faster. Ice imbue drove me nuts, it seems to slow the whole game down, not just your target.

tomiotar · Post by **tomiotar** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:16 pm

Im a bow user and I can tell you that the ice is the best imbue for pve. But that I should suggest is that the mastery you should quit is force and not choose between fire and ice (you will need both). The pasive plus the physical damage buff is something that you will really notice. I have only 32 fire lvls and I can see real increment on the damage and Im not pure str.

If for you the options are fire or ice (and taking account that you are pure str) go with fire to get those buffs. If you ask me what you should do, ice imbue +fire and light buffs.