[Archery] Armor Question

[Caelas]

So I just hit GM Archer last week, and being this is the first character I've EVER GMed a fighting style on (hey I'm new, be nice) I was thinking about buying some armor if I can afford it. My current "main" suit has the following stats:

21 DI
2 MR
2 HR
5 HP Inc
12 Dex
9 Sta
21 Mana Inc
8 Damage Reflect
97 Luck
28 LMC

Yeah...its all over the board. Question is, how can I improve? All of this is barbed leather...no arties at all, just a decently made suit someone donated to me when I was a newbie in New Haven. All I do is PvM...Guild hunts and the like. I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Starla]

It would be good to know your template.

If it is a pally archer doing Pvm only, your ultimate aim will be to max out your HCI (45), gets some Damage increase, from ring, brace or stormgrip (medable) / guantlet of nobility (non-medable). And you can also consider mace and shield glasses for the HLD, Jackal collar for the Dex bonus and the ring of vile for the dex bonus and HCI.

The rest of the pieces should be aiming to build a 70 resist suit with as much Stamina increase and possibly Mana regen + LMC.

All the artifacts and good items cost gold, so for a beginner suit, try to get a decent resist suit with some stamina increase and HCI ring/brace. You should do fine if you hunt in a group.

 

[Caelas]

Template!

110 Archery
100 Chiv
100 Tactics
100 Anatomy
100 Resist
100 Healing

So yes, a pally archer doing PvM only. My current suit is 52/70/64/45/70 with all the crap listed above...so yeah I need to improve.

 

[Birdseye]

Don't take this the wrong way matey, but you've got quite a way to go yet, with that suit. Shame your not on my server, as i would happily build you a suit for free, but i'm sure if you ask the right guys at the bank, someone will give you a break.

Better still, make sure you join a guild, and remain loyal to them. For the 1st 6 years i played alone, and although i did not know it at the time, it was the biggest mistake i made. Once i joined up with like minded people, my entire playing experiance changed (along with gold making opportunites), and i've never looked back.

Getting back to your suit, you need to get the physical up, and as mentioned above, get your HCI up to 45%. Or alternatively, drop (well soul stone) your magic resist, for Bushido. By using the honour atribute, you'll gain better loot, and get damage increase. By using Lightning Strike, you'll get 45% HCI. By using confidance, you'll get an amazing, and life saving HP boost, just when you need it.

My other advice would be to make sure you human, and fully exploit the jack of all trades bonus. Then go and do the Spell Weaving quest in Spirit Wood, and exploit the fact that you can cast some of the lower end spells, such as Gift of Renewal, Attunement, and my particular favourite Natures Fury.

Wow, that went on for longer than i intended

 

[Caelas]

Thanks for the tips. I am in a large, friendly guild I am highly loyal to, so I got that covered. I've been thinking about maybe getting bushido, but I've found the magic resist saving my butt in a few different cases, most of them the exceptionally short paralysis. Maybe I should move my GM Fishing to another character and make this guy a pure fighter

Now about that human thing...I was actually going to do the Human to Elf quest tonight for the mana bump...I run dry on mana pretty quick using specials.

Any particular items I should be on the lookout / saving / working for?

 

[Caelas]

Time to show my newbness...is metal armor (ring, chain, etc) bad for archers?

 

[GFY]

is metal armor (ring, chain, etc) bad for archers? Nope not at all.

Maybe I should move my GM Fishing to another character and make this guy a pure fighter? I would unless you use this template for just fishing. I like a mage fisherman myself.

Now about that human thing...I was actually going to do the Human to Elf quest tonight for the mana bump...I run dry on mana pretty quick using specials. I would highly recommend it.

Any particular items I should be on the lookout / saving / working for? Ohhh YA!

Rune beetle Carapise - The best chest piece in game (IMHO)

Heart of the Lion - Second best chest piece in the game.

Hunters Headdress - A good piece for pvm archers that allows you to use 20 skill points else where. (great for templates with tight skill caps)

Spirit of the Totem - A good head piece for dexxers that allows 20 points of stats to play with.

Ring of Vile - A good ring for dexxers because of the dex bonus.

Jackal's Collar - A good ring for dexxers because of the dex bonus.

Totem of the Void - a good all around talisman.

These would be a great start and some of them are fairly common. Don't obsess over arties too much get what you can as you can afford them. Skill at playing the game can more then make up for arties in most cases.

 

[Caelas]

Human to Elf - Done. Yay bright blue hair!
Moving fishing...not until I get a soulstone or two

Items...wow...some of these items are either extremely scarce on my shard or very expensive. (I play on Legends) So getting these items is going to be a slow process...but I got time.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Template!

110 Archery
100 Chiv
100 Tactics
100 Anatomy
100 Resist
100 Healing

So yes, a pally archer doing PvM only. My current suit is 52/70/64/45/70 with all the crap listed above...so yeah I need to improve.

The template you show above is only 610 skill points, which leaves another 90 skill points available to you. I'd strongly advise you to add Bushido to your template ASAP. I'd also suggest dropping Resist to 90 so you can have at least GM Bushido, and also Anatomy to 90 so you can have enough skill points to take Archery to 120. As you get the +5 to your skill point cap each year, put the rest into Tactics to increase your damage output. I'd also suggest dropping Chivalry down to 75, putting 20 of that to Bushido to take you to 120, and the remaining 5 to Tactics. GM Chivalry is a waste of skill points for the template you're wanting.

To answer your armor question, Mana Regen is a HUGE requirement for Archers for just the reason you stated of being constantly out of mana. Also, any bows you use should have Mana Leech on them as a requirement. For specific pieces you should be on the lookout for, the Rune Beetle Carapace and Brightsight Lenses give you 6 Mana Regen by themselves, which is a great head start into getting your suit the way you need it. You can then add other armor pieces with Mana Regen in the other armor slots. Another thing you should try and do is get yourself to 45 Lower Mana Cost, which will help to conserve mana, along with Stamina and Mana Increase on your armor pieces if possible to help with swing speed, and to build up your mana pool. With judicious selection of armor pieces and ring/brace, it's possible to get your mana pool up close to 100, but it will take a lot of searching to find pieces with the properties you want.

If you're on Pacific give me a shout. I've got a lot of armor and bows I'd be more than happy to go through to help you get set up.

 

[Caelas]

Ok...I think I'm pretty much set...

I was able to find a RBC and Brightsight Lenses.
So now, my suit is...

70/70/59/49/75 (Yeah...poison is low, I know)
HCI 20
DCI 35
LMC 35
MR 8

Stats are 104/98/90. Thinking I should probably lose some HP for Dex, am I right? Left myself room to grow...and this doesn't include a bow OR totem. Just armor and jewelry.

 

[Connor_Graham]

You can actually drop the DCI in favor of other mods. PvM Archers really don't need to have it. With that, you get a little more freedom in adding other mods in place of it.