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| The Archer, by Lord Astynax; Edited by Xena Dragon |
A Guide to Archery
In the world of Britannia, archery has a very solid place. Archery
is a skill with vast flexibility. It enables the Archer the
ability to hunt as a solo warrior, or become a key damage factor
in a party of hunters. While it is true that archery has it's
flaws, my purpose here this evening is to educate those who
wish to learn about those flaws, as well as the advantages that
it serves in every scenario.
Pro/Cons
First we shall discuss the negative properties of archery, and
ways to overcome the handicaps that archery can incur on the
user. The main two negative points of archery are: it's speed,
and it's cost. Archery is a VERY slow skill for the beginner;
both in the rate of fire, and in skill advancement. It requires
a high dexterity to be an effective skill. Low dexterity as
an archer results in abnormally frequent misses, and a huge
amount of time between shots. This is especially true for users
of the heavy crossbow. A player who has low dexterity and attempts
to use a heavy crossbow will find that the reload time between
shots is an eternity, especially since even a Grandmaster Archer
misses frequently with this weapon. Your best bet as a beginning
archer is to stick to the bow and get your dexterity raised
as quickly as possible. Archery itself raises dexterity very
well, as does complementary skills such as musicianship and
hiding.
The cost is another high issue for the would-be archer.
Supplies for this skill are expensive, even if you buy feathers
and shafts separately. Keep in mind that these products are
relatively useless if you do not possess any bowyer skill
to assemble your ammunition. Therefore, I highly recommend
taking on bowcraft and lumberjacking, if you plan on using
archery as your primary combat skill. We will discuss additional
benefits from these two skills shortly.
Perhaps the largest bane to archers in the combat scenario
is the mage, because of the sluggish attacking speed of the
archer. The reload time between shots allows the mage to throw
half his spell book at you while he stands unmolested. Thus,
I do not recommend archers to take up solo PvP, as your first
encounter with a grandmaster mage will more than likely convince
you to stick to llamas and rabbits. =) I have seen a veteran
archer succumb to another player whose magery was negligible,
simply because the archer's dexterity was too low. He was
fireballed to death by the new mage, who had time to heal
himself and cast another attack before the archer got his
next shot off.
In my opinion, however, the Pros of archery greatly outweigh
the Cons. The key benefit of archery in a combat scenario
(PvP or whatever) is the ability to cause mass amounts of
damage without ever having to get really close to the opponent.
An archer in a hunting party is highly valued because he or
she takes a large amount of the damage load off of the melee
warrior's shoulders. He can stay in one place, shoot from
ledges, behind rocks, etc. These are advantages that a melee
warrior cannot duplicate without devoting large amounts of
time and money complimenting his combat skill with magery.
Another good quality to archery is the first attack factor.
An experienced archer can have a first shot off well before
the melee fighter ever gets in range for an attack, or before
a mage can finish speaking his words of power. While the first
strike is not always crucial to the outcome of the battle,
every bit of damage given counts, and the one who gets the
most damage out the fastest is usually the victor.
Skill Advancement
Archery is different from other combat skills in that it is
less oriented on the difficulty of creature you are attacking,
and more on the number of hits you achieve. It is still necessary,
however, to hunt progressively tougher creatures in correspondence
with your skill level. I recommend hunting the most difficult
creature you are comfortable fighting until you are a master
archer. At master level, advancement is slow, (this is true
with almost every skill) but if your magery is high enough,
you can advance much more quickly. I did this by standing on
a ledge and casting blade spirits on the ground below, and then
shooting the blade until it's summon time expired. This is tedious
and more expensive than gaining normally, but you gain far more
skill at an advanced rate. It is also dangerous because of scoundrels
who enjoy running into your blade spirit to flag you criminal
so they can attack you freely without fear of a penalty. For
this reason I suggest finding a secluded spot that is not frequented
by other players. (If you are a registered T2A player, the ledges
northeast of Delucia are quite ideal for this purpose. )Be cautious
in where you place the blade as well, because if it has a route
to get on the ledge with you, it could very well prove a fatal
mistake. I always made sure to teleport onto a ledge that had
no other entrances to remove that threat completely.
For those who wish to make skill gain normally, I found
that earth elementals raised skill faster than anything else
I was skilled enough to hunt. Caution should be taken in that
as well if you plan to hunt them in Shame, due to the frequency
of murderers and villains.
Complimentary Skills
As with most combat skills, archery can be complimented by a
variety of skills. My personal combination is: Archery, Magery,
Meditation, Hiding, Tactics, Tracking, Magic Resistance, and
Evaluate Intelligence. Of course, once you hit the skill cap,
you'll have to start narrowing down any skill that you don't
use frequently. (For those that are uneducated on this, you
are allowed 700 skill points, before attributes are factored
into your skill scores) For the starting archer, bowcraft and
lumberjacking will be the most valuable asset to compliment
your archery. These skills allow you to pump out virtually endless
numbers of shafts and bows at a low skill; I used my own bows
until I was a master. The excess materials you make are almost
always readily sellable. And, since all you need to do these
skills is an axe, all the money you make is basically profit,
not counting the amount of time you must put into this. On average,
a good bowyer/lumberjack can make about 2 thousand gold in 30-50
minutes, depending mostly on the number of logs you can cut
in that time. These two skills also do a lot to increase you
strength and dexterity, the prime attributes for an archer.
Another very good complimentary skill for archery, is magery.
If you wish to gain magery for your archer, I'd suggest going
no higher than 55 or 60 until you reach at least high master
in archery. If you don't mind running around or asking for
gates, then don't bother with magery at all until you reach
this point.
Feather Locations
This may sound like a silly topic to talk about, but as an archer
who makes his own ammunition, I will tell you that this information
is VERY vital to the self-sufficiency of your character. If
you are registered on T2A, the land in the southwestern quadrant
of the map is absolutely rich in feathers. Birds are everywhere,
and harpies can be found frequently to the east of Delucia.
If you are not registered, or prefer to stay in the Old Lands,
then your most consistent feather hunting grounds are usually
in any jungle. Many eagles can be found south and southeast
of Yew, and in the Orc Valley. There are many areas where birds
and other feather-bearing creatures frequent, and in the old
lands they tend to be in the deeper woods areas. One of the
more dangerous feather hunting areas are the caves leading up
to Covetous. They are typically jam-packed with harpies, AND
with murderers, so be careful.
Battle tactics/PvP
As was discussed previously, attempting PvP combat with an archer
is very perilous unless you are proportionally good at magery.
The only way I'd suggest PvP as an archer is in a group. A group
of archers can be VERY deadly. But, since you probably won't
have a group of pure archers, then you will be more of a behind-the-lines
component, dealing damage from behind the fighters. One thing
to remember in Non-PvP combat is this: Stay moving, and find
the safest place you can to shoot from. If this sounds craven
to you, wait until you've tried to fight 4 Ophidian Knight-Errants
toe-to-toe, and you'll catch my meaning. =) In a case such as
this, (assuming your magery is high enough) I always find a
ledge and cast offensive spells until my mana is exhausted,
and then I pelt them with arrows. For tougher creatures, by
the time they are near death, your mana has regenerated, and
you can finish them off with a quick Energy Bolt or two.
Summary
It is my belief that Archery and Magery are akin to each other,
because they are both range attacks, both expensive and difficult
to build, and both very well worth it in the long run. It takes
a great many arrows to gain prestige as an archer, and a lot
of patience for misses to stick with it long enough to gain
that prestige. If you have the arrows, and the patience, then
perhaps you can join me as a Grandmaster in the wonderful world
of Archery.
Thank you.
- Lord Astynax
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| Bowcraft and Fletching, by The Bear; Edited by Xena
Dragon |
Bowcraft for Fun and Profit
When you first start out you need to find a relatively quick
way of making some gold. At first the need for gold is to better
equip yourself, then later to purchase skills and training from
NPC's, then much later to purchase even better equipment, reagents
for magic, and perhaps a horse. So from the very start until
you are quite experienced you are motivated by the need for
gold. And so it is good to develop a skill or two that can get
you some of what you seek with little investment in time and
energy. Bowcraft is one such skill.
Learning the Ropes
This skill does not require a very high rating to be effective
enough to produce a steady income. However, it is very dependent
on another skill, lumberjacking. It is a poor bowmaker who can
not cut his own wood, so make sure you have a bit of skill with
an axe to compliment this skill. Both bowcraft and lumberjacking
can be purchased from NPC's. Just ask around until you find
a NPC who can teach you. This can be done by typing the name
of the NPC with the word 'teach' for example 'kyle teach.' This
will prompt the NPC to give you a list of skills which he or
she can teach you. If you see one you would like then add that
skill to what you just said, ie: 'kyle teach bowcraft and fletching'
or kyle teach lumberjacking.' This will get you a price for
the instruction, then you must find the coin. If you have enough
with you then drag the amount over the NPC and repeat what you
just said. You repeat yourself to make sure that the offer is
fresh, if too much time elapses between the offer and you dropping
the coin on the NPC, they will take your money as a gift. It
is rather frustrating when that happens. So repeat your request
and then immediately drop your gold on the NPC. He/she will
say something like 'let me show you a little bit about how this
is done.' and you will get a message that your skill has increased.
It is normal for any NPC to train you up to about 30 or so in
skill points. That is enough to be able to build on.
A Word On Lumberjacking
So now you have a little bit of skill with lumberjacking and
a little bit of skill with bowcraft. If you started with even
1 point of lumberjacking you will have a newbie hatchet. This
is a very good thing to have so don't loose it. It can not be
stolen, or lost when you die. Which can be a very handy thing
when you get stuck out someplace and need to make a bow fast,
or you get PK'ed and want to make some cash on the way back
to town. Plus its nice to be able to leave the PK's with nothing
but logs if you get killed while cutting trees. So once you
upgrade to a better weapon just put the newbie hatchet in your
locker and keep it. One day you will carry it again, as just
a back up incase of death.
Cutting, Carving, and Creating
In order to use the lumberjack skill you must double click on
an equipped axe. That means your character has to be holding
the axe in his hand to use it on a tree. You will get a crosshair
which you will use to select the tree you wish to cut. Depending
on the availability of wood, your skill and the weight and item
limit of your backpack you will get one of the following messages:
- "You hack away at the tree but are left with nothing to
show for it."
- "You put some logs in your backpack."
- "You have no more room in your backpack" (or
something similar)
- "There is no wood left to be harvested."
Once you have your logs you can use fletcher's tools to engage
the bowcraft skill. You will be given a menu to select the type
of item you wish to try to create. The items get more difficult
as you move right through the menu. The easiest thing to make
is kindling and the hardest is a heavy crossbow. You will not
have the option to make all of the items until you have sufficient
skill. The skill needed to make a bow is 30, for a crossbow
it is 60 and for a heavy crossbow it is 90. (Kindling, arrows,
and bolts can be attempted at any skill level. At the minimum
skill level required to create the item in question, you will
have a 50% chance to succeed.
It should be noted that the skill necessary refers to your
skill level after it is modified by your stat bonuses. This
would be why it might appear that the minimum skill required
to make a particular item is lower than the values I have
suggested. Keep in mind that success rate depends on displayed
skill and not base skill.
Exceptional Bows
At a displayed bowyering skill of 38.1 you can start to make
exceptional quality bows. Success rate for exceptional bows
at that skill level is only 0.1% but will increase as your skill
improves. If you use Arms Lore on such a bow it will say "an
extraordinary deadly bow". Exceptional bows do damage in the
range from 20 to 30+. Exceptional heavy crossbows do damage
in the range from 25 to 35+. A Grandmaster Bowyer can place
his Makers's Mark on a bow if he
creates a bow of exceptional quality
Strategies
Depending on your goals you can choose to employ different strategies
to maximize your bowcraft skill. If you plan on building your
skill you would use a different process than you would if you
were planning on using your skill to earn gold. It is possible
to do both, but if you wish to get the most benefit in one area
or the other then here is my suggestions.
- Building Skill
Start off slow with arrows and an occasional bow. Make your
shafts one at a time. In order to do this you will need
to separate your wood into individual logs before you attempt
to carve them. This is because if you target a group of
logs and choose arrows or bolts as your product then you
will attempt to make arrows or bolts from the whole pile.
Sense your skill builds upon each successful attempt at
the use of the trade, you would glean more advancement from
your work by making them one at a time. Once you are to
30 in skill make only bows until you get to 60. This is
because once you have reached this level you will be producing
arrows with a 100% chance of success and this does not allow
for advancement, it seems you must be challenged in order
to learn. At 70 you can start making crossbows along with
bows with fairly good odds of success. Once you reach 80
you are good enough to make a heavy crossbow with a fairly
predictable rate of success so start making them intermittently.
At higher levels it seems to work better if you switch back
and forth between bows, crossbows, and heavy crossbows.
Making a wide range of archery weapons seems to stimulate
skill building more than sticking with one product.
- Earning Gold
If you are just looking to make a quick pile of gold then
stick with producing what you are able to make the best.
Arrows require feathers as well as wood so in the long run
they are actually more work than making a bow. They take
more time because they require more resources. I would suggest
for the young entrepreneur that you start with bows and
stick with them until your skill is up to 75 or so. This
may sound a bit silly to some but you will make more gold
from a pack full of bows than you will from a couple of
crossbows and a pile of shavings. The money gets better
for the harder items but wasted wood gains nothing. You
well see that it is much better to make 10 of something
you are able to make well rather than to make 1 or 2 of
something you are just learning to make. Be ever mindful
of your weight. You should always know how much more you
can carry, once you get close to your limit head back and
sell your wares. There is no sense in leaving product behind
because you can not carry it all. It would also be good
to note that you will not always be able to unload your
pack full of bows on just one merchant. It may become necessary
to travel in order to turn your wares into gold. To this
end it would be a wise bowcrafter that learned the ways
of magic, especially in the areas of transporting ones self
In Conclusion
As skills go bowcraft is a reliable and easy source of income.
It is a good skill to have in case of a disaster, all it takes
to make back a lost fortune is your newbie axe, tree's and time.
So if you find yourself out of gold and in need, don't go begging
for handouts, go cut a tree. It is true, money does grow on
trees. |
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