[Archery] PVP staying alive as an Archer

[Podolak]

I've been having trouble staying alive as an archer. Now although I do agree part of my problem relates to my lack of skill and less than optimal connection, I want to ensure I at least know what I am supposed to do...

I have been playing a stealth archer and generally I can survive by smoke bombing and slipping away. However, I would like to remove hiding/stealth and last a bit longer without it. Right now when I don't smoke bomb and try to survive it seems that the timer is too long on pots and bandages take too long. When I am near my allies they can keep me healed pretty well but sometimes I get separated and I'd like to live long enough to make it back. Running isn't really an option, everyone seems to move faster than me so out running a couple mystic mages is not happening and that is without getting slept.

Additional Info: my opponents are almost exclusively mystic mages. Sometimes they have an archer in their group. My allies are a mix of archers and mages, sometimes mystic mages. Also I can add/subtract any skill if there are better ways to heal I should consider. I am far better at building suits than at pvp so redoing the armor is not a problem either. Right now I have the standard fare 12ish mr, 40 lmc, 70 dci, 45 hci, 70's resists, some hpr, 25 hpi, etc.

Am I just SoL and should resign myself to a stealth archer if I want to play an archer at all?

Thanks everyone.

 

[[JD]]

Hey dude,

I was lured into the PVP world via first playing a stealth archer also. I made the transition to nonstealth when I had a regular group to roll with and it was a lot of fun. But I have not had that for a while and I rather enjoyed the stealth factor so I am thinking of going back to that.

Your suit seems good.... but do you have ep and balanced on your bows?

Some things about survivability, first ping your server, server.owo.com (ie sonoma.owo.com) and see how bad your connect is. Consider if you really want to be on that server.

Second, you need to have everything at your fingertips. Make a macro for all your survival stuff. I have macros for faction runes (Which I still forget to use, even if I'm being 10 to 1 ganked lol), trap box, potions, etc. You also need to be familiar with using them.

Third try to predict the type of attacks your enemies do and know how to handle the situation. IE you know that myst mages like to spell plague, so when you see that spell plague icon on your screen you need to counter with apple, cleansing winds, remove curse, or offscreen to prevent a dump. Now if instead you get dismounted, what actions would you take? Do you have ninja for llama/mirrors? Or do you have a way to invis yourself while you summon an ethy? Think ahead and plan out what you are going to do, and then practice it.

Lastly your healing needs to be "healing on the go", you need to be able to heal while offscreening or chasing someone down. You can't stop to cast heal. Ways you can heal while moving: Confidence, 50 ep greater heal, healing skill with enhanced bandages for +10, heal stone from mysticism, etc. Generally the more of these you have helps you live longer, though it may cost in your attack ability dept and force you to stay closer to your group. Really you should not be peeling off from them anyway. A common tactic is for enemies to lure you away so you're alone and then they get you. To that effect, if your group is not already using a program like Cartographer you need to begin immediately for organizational purposes.

edit: Also do the spellweaving quest even if you only have JOAT spellweaving, with a focus the gift of renewal and attunement can be a life saver if you precast before a battle.

These things helped me. I'm still awful at pvp, but I have fun anyway.

 

[Podolak]

Thanks for the tips JD and the additional info you asked:

Most of my PvP bows are balanced.

My Composite, my heavy-x, my Yumi (though I've been using this less), and my regular bow. I also use an imbued invasion x-bow but I didn't balance that.

I do not have EP because I've been using the factions Ring of the Vile, should I give serious reconsideration?

My stealth archer does not have chiv but when I take hiding/stealth off I add resist and chiv. without fc/fcr is remove curse/cleanse by fire still viable?

I have ninja and jump to llama form when I need to get away. I also use ninja for ninja stars though with man targets this isn't useful.

I thought about confidence but not sure I can fit the bushido. Do I need 120 to have good confidence heals?

 

[Lynk]

Playing an archer is all about rolling the dice.

Make sure you have enough mana for at least 4 consecutive AIs, and get your stam above 180 with as much SSI as you can fit.

Your bow should have double hit spell. Spam armor ignore until you connect consecutively and kill someone. If you don't, and you fall below 90 HP, run until you are full life.

Try again.

There is no real strategy to playing a straight archer.

As for staying alive, utilize all consumables. Fruit baskets, trinsic petals, trapped box, apples, all potions (invis, conflag, supernova, ALL potions have a use), invis sash/earings, teleport rings, teleport scrolls, wall of stone scrolls, faction runes. Supernova pots are the most underused item. Those provide an instant 15 damage to a 6 tile radius. I've gotten many kill shots chasing people down and just popping a nova.

Never forget to hit your bandaid, you should always have one going. If I see a mage prepping an exp dump often times ill box myself to get a bandy started so it heals right after his initial exp dmg. Don't chug your cure until just a moment before the bandy tics to prevent someone from blocking the bandy. Time your heal pots so that you use them in between your bandage heals. Don't necessarily wait for a certain number of HP before using one.

Keep some ninja on your archer for animal form and mirror images. Also, if you are human you can use smoke bombs next to houses for a good chance on a hide.

 

[[JD]]

Forgot, even with 120 resist those orange petals are INVALUABLE

Mages know that poison blocks bandage so they will try hard to poison you

Orange petals counter that

I was having trouble with a mage til I popped one, then he was more or less on the defensive afterwards