1.) General Idea
Archer is a long range class with low damage and low defense. The effect on battle field (in terms of pushing the front line) is medium. You have to be really good in order to be effective in the front line. Archer is rarely seen in guild battle. However, it is a very good class to obtain high kill rate. Keep in mind that FEZ is a cooperative game, that you really need good teammates to play with. Therefore, every time you get a kill, say thanks to your teammate.
2.) Is this the right class for you
If you want high score in everything, this is not the right class for you.
If you want high damage totals, this is not the right class for you.
If you cannot cooperate with other people, this is not the right class for you.
If you are unwilling to help other people, this is not the right class for you.
Don’t get me wrong, archer scouts can get high scores and solo pretty well. You can simply brainlessly spam Arrow Rain. However, the game will get boring pretty quick for you, and that also doesn’t help your kingdom to win that battle.
3.) Your Main Targets
a.) Mage – mage is weak against scout. It is an archer job to “lock on” to the mage. Mage is good against warrior. The idea is that you want to stop opponent mage from attacking your warrior, so that your warrior can cut in and break opponent’s front line.
b.) Low HP opponent – from time to time, it is likely that your friends did some good amount of damage to an opponent. However, the enemy might be fleeing back to regroup and recover HP. The idea is that you have to make use your long range attack to kill him before he can regroup or heal. Please beware that he is regrouping, and don’t go in too deep into enemy line.
c.) Scout – Scout in general is also your target. Help find the hidden scout, and use AOE attack to bring them out if you are unsure where he is.
4.) Not your target
a.) An ice cube (Frozen enemies) – You don’t have high damage attack. Let warrior and mage to handle ice cube.
b.) Stunned enemies – similar reason as above
c.) Any target that will be attacked by other people – to avoid overlap and cancel other people’s attack. Especially, warrior and mage high power attack.
Archer is the most hated class by your friend if you played poorly. If you get kicked out of the battle, please review these hints and tips so you can lower your chances of getting kicked.
5.) Skills
I am using the Japanese skill names for the moment, will update to official English ones once I know. Unless I mention it, the range, area, motions will remain the same for each level.
Basic bow attack
Attack: 80 Power: 0
Quick Slot: probably not
Detail: Shot out a straight arrow
In general, you will only use it against monster, not other player. The motion of happening and finishing is rather long (compare to dagger). You should avoid using it against other players. You can use it to attack enemy’s building. However, I usually switch to dagger to attack buildings, due to the fact that it is more effective that way.
Air Raid
Attack: 87 Power: 10
Incasing the skill level will increase the area and the distance.
Detail: Shot out an arrow in arch path. AOE. Slightly knock back effect (Knock Back). Enemy on the path will get hit as well. Does NOT pass through enemy
Usage: Anything on the arrow path, and inside the small area. You will need to move the area slight ahead if enemy is constantly moving.
Target: Mage, any low HP enemy for finishing hit, lagger, hidden scout
Pro: Fast, Lower Power consumption
Con: Does NOT pass through, can’t use it if the area is not shown, hard to use if the ground is bumpy, VERY low attack power
Comment: A very effective skill against elevation difference, whether it is high to low, or low to high. Low power consumption means you can spam this skill. However, it is a rather weak attack. Damage against warrior is pity. On the other hand, because of the knock back effect, two scouts using Air Raid to a single warrior can be very annoying. It is an AOE skill, although the area is pretty small that you are very likely using it against a single opponent.
Quick Slot: optional
Blaze Shot
Attack: 87 Power: 25
DoT Lv1: 24x3
DoT Lv2: 30x3
DoT Lv3: 36x3
Increasing the skill level will NOT increase the area and the distance
Detail: Shot out an arrow in arch path. AOE. Knock Back. Enemy on the path will NOT get hit. WILL pass through enemy (Pass Through). DoT. Enemy who fall on the ground because of this skill, will still vulnerable to attack (ground vulnerable)
Usage: The same as Air Raid. Have to move the area slightly more than Air Raid, because it is the arrow is slightly slower.
Target: Pretty much every, good against warrior
Pro: DoT, pass through enemy, ground vulnerable
Con: shorter range, smaller area, no hit box on the arrow path, slightly longer animation compare to Air Raid
Bugs: You can hit an enemy who is in the outer circle and you will see him being hit, but he will not take any damages and no DoT effect.
Comment: A skill that is very similar to Air Raid. You might have to choose between Blaze Shot and Air Raid depends on your style of playing. It does fire DoT (a fixed damage ignoring def), which makes it good against warrior.
This skill has an interesting effect because of the knock back effect. A highly skilled archer can help other players to chain. Eg.) Warrior skill Heavy smash might knock down an opponent. If the timing is right, Blaze Shot can help lock the motion so that the opponent won’t fall down. However, it is very difficult to do, and you have to worry about cancelling warrier’s second attack.
Quick slot: optional
Arrow Rain
Lv1 Attack: 100 Power: 36
Lv2 Attack: 110 Power: 36
Lv3 Attack: 120 Power: 36
Increasing the skill level will increase the area and distance
Detail: Shot a lot of arrow out. Biggest AoE Skill, Completely ignore elevation difference, Really Long range, ground vulnerable, Will not cancel your friends attack (No Cancel)
Usage: move yourself forward (around your friendly warriors), shoot everyone at the back
Target: Area with lots of enemy (>3), hidden scout
Pro: Big area, Long range, Ignore elevation, No Cancel, Ground Vulnerable, give you very high score
Con: Attack power kind of low for its power consumption, will break ice easily, misuse by newbie is annoying.
Comment: Just give out a warning first. Don’t spam this skill without observing the battle line situation. For a newbie, it is very likely that you will spam this skill. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good skill. It has one of the largest area attacks in game. It is likely that you will do around 80-100 damages per person, and you will see 4-5 people get hit. However, keep in mind that your job is to stop mage from attacking your warrior. Spamming this skill simply doesn’t help pushing the front line. When your warrior is pushing the front line, you have to move up and shoot at the back where all the mages are trying to flee away. You can use it to discover any hidden scout. I suggest you use it randomly when you are collecting crystal.
Also special note, please don’t use this skill to break the ice cube even if it is accident. People WILL kick you out of the battle.
Quick Slot: must have
Poison Shot
Attack: 87 Power: 22
Lv1 DoT: 20x4
Lv2 DoT: 30x4
Lv3 DoT: 40x4
Detail: Shoot out a poison arrow. Slow arrow speed. DoT.
Usage: Aim around 2 person ahead when enemy moving sideway. Or wait for enemy using a long motion skill. (eg. Warrior Heavy Smash)
Target: Warrior, anyone with high HP
Pro: DoT
Con: Slow arrow speed
Comment: Although it has higher DoT than Blaze Shot, the arrow goes a lot slower. It simply makes this skill very hard to use. Compare to Blaze Shot, it is slower and shorter range. Poison DoT will stack with Fire DoT. Thus, if you can master both Poison shot and Blaze shot, you will see your final score increase quite a bit.
Quick Slot: optional
Spider Web
Attack: 50 Power: 18
Lv1 slow down 80% for 8s
Lv2 slow down 70% for 9s
Lv3 slow down 67% for 10s
Detail: Shoot out a spider web to slow enemy down. Longest slow down duration in game. Slow arrow speed.
Usage: Similar to Poison Shot. Used in chasing or being chase.
Target: Warrior, anyone who is chasing you.
Pro: Slow down enemy for a long time
Con: Slow arrow speed
Comment: It has the exact same range and motion timing as Poison Shot. The arrow is still very slow that makes it difficult to use. However, it is a very good survival skill when you are trying to escape. The way that I use this skill: escape in a linear path, and a dumb enemy chasing you in the exact same path behind you.
Quick Slot: optional
True Shot
Lv1 Attack: 100 Power: 18
Lv2 Attack: 110 Power: 18
Lv3 Attack: 120 Power: 18
Increasing the skill level will increase the area and distance
Detail: Shoot out a straight arrow, with large hit box. Pass Through
Usage: Pretty much just aim, or wait till 2 or more enemies lineup in a straight line.
Target: Anyone, hidden scout
Pro: Fast attack motion, Fast attack speed, Big hit box, Pass Through enemy, Normal power consumption, Extremely easy to hit your target, what more do you want?
Con: Long term usage will lead to disability of aiming.
Comment: It is one of the best skills for the archer. Extremely easy to use, big hit box, and pass through enemy. The only downside is, you have to learn both poison shot and spider web before true shot. Just beware that it has an even shorter range than Air Raid and Blaze Shot. In general, most newbie will prefer to use this skill over the others.
Quick slot: must have
Eagle Shot
Lv1 Attack: 100 Power: 15
Lv2 Attack: 112 Power: 15
Lv3 Attack: 125 Power: 15
Detail: Shoot out a straight arrow that travels the farthest and quickest in game.
Usage: Aim around 1-1.5 person ahead
Target: Mage/Scout at the back, anyone with low HP
Pro: Fastest, Furthest, Low power consumption
Con: Small hit box, hard to aim, will have to adjust for lag
Comment: It is the fastest and longest range attack. It is a skill that you will both love and hate. To me, I love this skill. It is the fastest skill, which makes it hard to aim compare to True Shot and Air Raid. However, it is the most effective skill against mages that are at the back. (Remember it is your job to keep the mage away from your warrior.) Low power consumption makes it spammable. It is also the best skill to kill any low HP escaping enemy. Master it, so that no one can escape from your hand.
Quick Slot: must have
Power Shot
Lv1 Attack: 260 Power: 38
Lv2 Attack: 280 Power: 38
Lv3 Attack: 300 Power: 38
Detail: Hold and shoot a powerful arrow in a short distance. Long starting motion
Usage: Aim anyone who is moving straight line, combo after Blaze Shot
Target: Anyone in closer ranger
Pro: Very good damage to mage
Con: Slow Starting Motion, hard to aim, shorter range
Comment: It has a long starting motion and slower travel speed. In general, you won’t use it very often. It is very attractive to use since it has very high attack power. It will do around 100-200 damage on enemy. It can be combo after using Blaze shot. It has a shorter range compare to other skills (except poison shot and spider web). As a result, you will hardly use this skill to enemy at the back. You will notice that you might end up using this skill at a closer range.
Side note: Please don’t use it to break the ice. The damage is still too low compare to other classes. (Low 100 damage to a shield warrior)
Quick Slot: optional
Piercing Shot
Lv1 Attack: 160 Power: 76
Lv2 Attack: 180 Power: 76
Lv3 Attack: 200 Power: 76
Increasing the skill level will increase the area and distance
Detail: Shoot out a very large arrow that travels very far and very fast. It will blow out any enemy on its way. Pass Through. Large Hit Box.
Usage: Use Macro to announce you are going to use Piercing to your comrades, then shoot it when 4-5 enemy are group together.
Target: Anyone
Pro: Knock down the entire enemy line, good damage, long range, big hit box, pass through
Con: Consume lots of power, long motion time. Easily misuse by newbie.
Comment: It is a skill that is both good and evil. Good: It will save you and your comrades’ life. Bad: It will only save your life but screw everyone else. It has very long travel distance and relatively high damage, but a very long finishing motion. This skill will knock down anyone in the way. It is a very good survival skill both for you and your teammate.
The proper time to use it:
- When the battle line is being pushed, you will want to help your warriors to get back (such as recover HP). Piercing Shot will knock down any enemy who is chasing your warrior.
- save your teammate who is low in health
- escape from the enemy chase
- break down enemy line (DON’T USE IT THIS WAY IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME)
Not the proper time to use it
- When your warrior is pushing the enemy line
- Please don’t spam this skill. It is very attractive to do, but please don’t. It makes the battle line really hard to predict and manage.
This skill probably needs a separate thread in detail on how to effectively use it.
Quick Slot: must have
Hide
Power: 32
Lv1 120s with walking speed slow down to 60%
Lv2 155s with walking speed slow down to 70%
Lv3 195s with walking speed slow down to 80%
Detail: Hide for a certain period of time. Enemy will not be able to see you directly, but can still aim you. Enemy will still notice you from your foot step, using pot, water reflects. When you are attack or being attacked, your hide status will get canceled.
Usage: Just don’t use it in front of the enemy
Target: yourself
Pro: No one can see you, so you can do a sudden attack (like Piercing), very exciting
Con: If anyone finds you alone, you are dead meat.
Comment: Enemy can’t see you. However, they can still hear your foot step, see the water motion, see you using any pots, or have the focus onto you. To avoid that, try using side jump randomly, so the enemy is hard to predict where you moved. For a pure archer, you will have 2 skill point left, and most people will put it into hide. Using Hide and Piercing Shot will change the front line in an interesting way. You can shot the Piercing Shot in side way. It will isolate enemy warrior in the front, and knock down the mage and scout at the back. The idea is that it will keep the enemy mage and scout from helping enemy warrior from the front line.
Side note: Japan already changed it to 95% slow down and -10defense at Lv3.
Quick slot: optional
6.) What to Learn
For a pure archer, you can learn every archer skill + hide. The question should be what order to learn. From what I know so far, we will have the tutorial at the beginning. When you come out of the tutorial, you will be around Lv16. I think you can reset your skill before Lv16 in tutorial. For the first 5 level, you will gain 2skill point per level. From level 6-35, you will get 1 skill point per level. You will not get any more skill point after that. As a result, you will have total 40 skill point. You can buy the skill reset item from cash shop when it comes out.
Don’t worry too much about it, since it is really hard to get wrong for pure archer. Also, leveling from Lv1-30 is a really short period of time.
Poison Shot -> Spider Web -> True Shot -> Eagle Shot -> Power Shot -> Air Raid -> Blaze Shot -> Arrow Rain -> Piercing Shot -> Hide
Pro:
- Both Eagle Shot and Power shot can be used to grind money for pots in early level.
- Learn Eagle Shot early, so that you can have more time to practice with it.
- Piercing Shot is not necessary at the early Level, can learn later.
Con:
- Arrow rain will master when you are Lv28. Kind of late for the newbie to enjoy.
- Piercing Shot comes even later to save you in danger.
Comment:
Learn True Shot before the tutorial end, since it is the easiest to use. You can also consider learning Eagle Shot -> Power Shot before True Shot. The idea is that before Lv28 you won’t have good enough equipment anyways, unless you get one of those cash items. Before Lv28, I would suggest you to sit and collect crystal and summon knights. It is easier to get more rings that way, which will also get to 5star ranking quicker.
Eagle Shot -> Power Shot -> Air Raid -> Blaze Shot -> Arrow Rain -> Piercing Shot -> Poison Shot -> Spider Web -> True Shot -> Hide
Pro:
- Both Arrow Rain and Piercing Shot come out early
- Start with Eagle Shot, pretty much force you to use it and get good with it
Con:
- True Shot comes very late
- Newbie has to use Eagle Shot that is difficult to use, or Air Raid that is too weak in some cases
Comment:
Learn Eagle Shot and master it ASAP. Since you don’t have True Shot in the beginning, you are being forced to use Eagle Shot most of the time. That will give you lots of chances to practice Eagle Shot. Remember Eagle Shot is pretty much the best skill that can kill any low HP enemy who is trying to escape.
7.) Combo:
None of these can be used on warriors with endure pain.
Air Raid*n
If enemy is moving, the next Air Raid needs to move ahead a little bit.
Air Raid + Eagle Shot
There is a certain distance requirement in order to chain with Eagle Shot.
Blaze Shot + Eagle Shot
You can actually chain another Eagle Shot after from what I know.
Blaze Shot + Poison Shot
It can be used in mid range distance.
Blaze Shot + Power Shot
Good damage even to warriors. I think every scout archer should master this combo.
Arrow Rain + Eagle Shot
Make use of the knot back effect of Arrow Rain. Both skills can shot very far.
Arrow Rain + True Shot
Both skills have large hit box. Good to use if enemy are group together.
Arrow Rain + Air Raid
This combo is effective when you are in high attack low elevation area.
Arrow Rain + Piercing Shot
You need to be aware of your Pw in order to use this combo. Need to drink Blue Pot.
True Shot*n
It might be easier to use than Air Raid *n due to the fact that True Shot has a big hit box.
8.) What to do?
Not necessary a guide on this. It only gives some general ideas on what you should do when you are in the following situations. Remember, things are difference case by case, it doesn’t always work the way you want.
VS 1H Warrior
Run for your life. At the same time, use Spider Web or Piercing shot. If time permit, also use Blaze Shot and Poison Shot to decrease his HP. Regroup ASAP.
VS 2H Warrior
Similar to 1H Warrior, you should run for your life. Have to be careful that 2H Warrior skill (Strike Smash) will jump further than you walk. Whenever he gets close, I will use Piercing Shot to knock him down. Regroup ASAP.
VS Archer Scout
It all depends who has better aiming. Try to keep your HP above 250 all the time. So that you can have enough HP to take 1-2 Eagle Shot damage (about 100 per shot) before you completely run out of his attack range.
VS Dagger Scout
Don’t let him get close to you. I will use Air Raid*n to keep him from getting close to me. Usually, around the 3rd shot, he will fall down. Then, it is time for you to run further. If he is close enough, you can use Blaze Shot + Power Shot, which will do quite a bit of damages. Beware that Viper Bite jump further than you walk. Depends on the situation, I might use blue pots to help spam skills and keep him busy. In that case, I will use meat to recover HP instead of pots.
VS Mage
Just keep a reasonable distance to hit him. If he decided to run away from you, you should consider let him go. Chasing him too deep into enemy line will lead you into danger.
VS Fencer
Fencer doesn’t have Endure Pain. You can use pretty much the same strategy against Dagger Scout to Fencer. Though, Fencer kills you much faster once he gets close to you. Also, his Penetrate Thrust will jump further than you walk.
VS Cestus
To be added
When you are iced
Face forward to enemy. Then, sit down to recover power if situation permits. Beware you will take more damage when you sit down. Prepare to fire Piercing Shot.
When you are stun
Pray that your friends see you and help you out.
When you are blind
Rather difficult situation for pure Archer Scout. First, you need to identify where the front is and where the back is. Move to the back a little. Play it safe. Switch to feather mode, and find a target. Use Eagle Shot. I strongly suggest not using Arrow Rain and Piercing Shot. It is because you simply don’t know how those skills will affect the battle line. You can accidently cancel your friends’ skill or break an ice cube. Tragic things can happen.
When you are webbed
Depends on whether you want to escape or not. If so, you can do a random side walk and side jump. You want to make your movement hard to predict. Conserve power if you could. 10sec is a very long time, it is enough for any enemy get close to you and kill you.
When your warriors are moving, pushing forward
Move with the warriors. Use Arrow Rain at the back of the enemy line.
When your warriors are moving backward
It is likely that they need to move back and recover some HP before pushing again. Therefore, use Piercing Shot to knock down anyone who is chasing him. Before that, beware there might be an ice mage trying to freeze enemies. In that case, save up your power to prepare Piercing Shot.
When you see an ice cube
Do nothing! Let other people do the damage.
When you see a stunned enemy
Do nothing! Let other people do the damage.
When your friends become an ice cube
Wait a bit, and let enemy group closer together before firing Piercing Shot. It is because, some enemies are approaching to your ice cube friend, but they could be out of the range of your Piercing Shot. If only Enemy Mage is around (especially Fire Mage), you can consider using Eagle Shot, True Shot or Air Raid to stop him from casting Fire D.
When your friends become stun
Similar to the previous case, but stun is more dangerous than ice cube. Worst, most of the time, it is your warrior friend. You might have to consider sacrifice yourself to save them. Without a warrior, the defense line will break down pretty much immediately.
9.) Stuff to do
Newbie:
Master Arrow Rain (Know when and where to use Arrow Rain)
Master True Shot (Each True shot can hit 2 or more enemies most of the time)
Understand Every Class, Every Skill, and Every Summon
Know when to move in with the warrior and when to move back
Learn to read the chat channels for battle field information while playing
Get a good feeling on each skill motion speed and distance
Understand the importance of not doing something
(hitting the stunner, ice cube, or wrong time using Piercing Shot)
Effectively switch between Cross Hair Mode and Feather Mode.
Search for hidden Scout
Find a Guild
Intermediate:
Master Eagle Shot (accuracy >75%)
Master Power Shot
Master Piercing Shot (know when to shot, announcement before shooting)
Pw management
Know every skill Pw consumption, play aggressive when enemy is low in power.
Master Blaze Shot + Power Shot
Learn not to be a chicken, sacrifice yourself to save warriors.
Advance:
Master Spider Web and Poison Shot if possible
Know how to use Piercing Shot to completely cut off enemy front and back line
Escape from Danger
Help newbie out
10.) Final Words
To be honest, archer is both easy and hard to play. If you focus on a selfish good score or high kill rate, it simply doesn’t help your kingdom to win. I see so many times that people just spam Arrow Rain brainlessly. If you notice you are like that, you might want to switch to play 1H warrior or Ice Mage for a while first. That will give you a better understanding on how each of your actions can affect the battle line.
XI Wiki
Funny and yet so very true.
Originally Posted by Araelus
