• Priests: Lady.Sin's Guide for Priests
  
• Fighters: .WheresLupers' Guide for Fighters
  
• Mages: Aes's Mage Gear Guide
  

• Volume 1: Introduction, Modes, Why Choose Archer?, Skills (this post, please scroll down)
  
  
• Volume 2: Armor, Capes, Mounts, Helms, Bows, Cross Bows, Swords
  
  
• Volume 3: Builds, Stat Information, Critical Damage Formula
  
  
• Volume 4: Lapis, Grinding Guide, Quests, Kiting Techniques, Making Gold
  

• Archers have range, the longest range of any class in the game. Besides casters, all the other classes have to fight in close combat. This range also means we take less damage since most targets cannot strike back from a distance.
  
  
• Archers have decent HP. Unlike casters, archers have enough natural HP to survive most initial attacks in PvP and they also have enough to be able to solo effectively in PvE. We are not tanks but we can take a hit and live to tell the story.
  
  
• Archers don't need to rely on parties. We can solo just fine so we don't have to wait around for others if we cannot find parties. And I can't stress enough how discouraging it is to be stuck there, spamming chat LFP, and not getting EXP because you can't find a party to help you. Archers will never have that problem.
  
  
• Archers have very high DPS (damage per second) against single targets. Combined with our range, this makes us very good in PvP and boss fights.
  
  
• There are much less people playing archers than there are fighters and casters. This means you will be part of a smaller population, and it also means that archer gear is less than half the price of other classes, because the demand simply is not there. Though this also means selling your old gear can be difficult.
  
  
• Archers get 1 ATK for every 3 LUC. So unlike fighters and other classes, we get a serious damage boost from having LUC; which means making 95% critical hit LUC builds is our specialty.
  
  
• Ultimate mode archers get a skill called Magic Defy which basically makes the threat of enemy magic a moot point. It's a serious advantage that makes it easier as you don't have to really worry about magic hurting or killing you, both in PvE and PvP.
  
  
• The reason we don't get invited to parties is also a reason to celebrate; we are not an AoE class. But let's face it, there are not always good spots to AoE on the maps and they are usually crowded. It's nice to not have the limitation of needing to find a group of 10+ mobs. We can pretty much set up shop anywhere.
  
  
• In PvP, because of our range, we have the ability to kill enemies even if they are hiding behind their guards or towers since we don't have to be close to attack them. This also makes us very powerful against squishier classes as we can pick them off in a few shots before they even realize what's going on. Also because we are LUC based, or should be, at high level we have the ability to do more damage to high defense targets like guardians. Our LUC somewhat bypassing their defense and thus giving us the ability to take them down (with help). Absolute Attack and Pantera Vision skills makes anyone a two hit kill.
  
  
• Unlike mages, archers do not have cast times on our skills (except nuke shot which has long recharge anyway). So there is no delay when we fire off our skills and being hit does not prevent us from attacking or using a skill.
  
  
• The most dangerous attack is the one you never see coming. That pretty much describes our ability in PvP, especially when fighters are running in getting all the attention while we go unnoticed picking off targets one by one. Consider it an honor when warriors start targeting you as they recognize the threat you pose.
  
  
• The very highest of end game bosses need archers to kill them. I can't get into why as i don't have much space here, but in the end archers are very much needed for the end game boss fights.
  

• Archers level slower than fighters, defenders, mages, and priests. The latter three need to have parties though, otherwise they won't level much at all. But archer is not THAT slow. Especially in UM towards higher levels, archer is a fairly fast class to level. Ranger, IMO is the slowest leveling class, though with my experience with not finding parties I would say that all party classes are the slowest for me as I spent more time waiting than I did leveling.
  
  
• Archer damage gets cut in half at close range. So if I normally hit for 1000, I would likely hit for around 500 if the target is very close to me. There are ways around this though, we call it kiting and I explain it in detail later.
  
  
• Our native stat (every class gets 1 stat point in a certain category every time you level up) is LUC. Unfortunately LUC is best in large quantities. Which means if you are not a LUC build, or if you are lower level, that extra stat is kinda wasted. This is no longer true for higher level LUC builds so in the end it doesn't matter. But if you are a 1-15 PvPer that's 14 stat points forced into LUC that are not very useful.
  
  
• Archers are best suited for high LUC builds, as I said. But this requires a LOT of stat points to pull off effectively. Which means you need not only LUC but DEX and STR as well. To do it properly you will need very good gear, which can be expensive. It's something to keep in mind; LUC builds are great but they are complex. This is also why it is usually recommended to play archer only in HM or preferably UM mode. Because in Normal mode you have almost half the stat points of what you get in Ultimate mode, which puts you at a serious disadvantage in your build possibilities.
  
  
• There is this annoying programming issue in the game; land obstacles. Sometimes you cannot attack and the reason given is that there is a land obstacle. But in a lot of cases there is simply NOT anything in your path and it can be annoying for archers especially since we attack from range. Sometimes you have to move closer to your target, thus giving up some advantage just to get around what seems to be a programming issue. Jumping before you attack can sometimes remedy this.
  
  
• I consider archers a support class. This is not a bad thing but it is something to be recognized, especially at higher levels. Archers are meant to stay back and damage from afar. We are not meant to take the brunt of attacks from enemies. This is true for PvP as well as PvE and bosses. Fighters are meant to get in there and slug it out while we stand in the back and assist. You wouldn't take a sniper rifle and run in using it like a shotgun right? Yeah we've all done that before. =P
  

• A lvl 31 or higher priest that has resurrection lvl 2 skill can bring you back to life. This is the best and cheapest way to save your UMs life, but there is not always a priest around to save you.
  
  
• Normal resurrection runes. These are one time use AP items. You keep them in your inventory at all times, and when you die you can click "OK" and be resurrected in the nearest town and one rune will be used and disappear. These also save you if you die after having been disconnected, you don't have to be there to click "OK" have at least one of these and you are safe.
  
  
• Continuous resurrection runes. These need to be activated, and once you click them they run for a set period of time. They come in 3 hour, 6 hour, 7 day, and 30 day timers (the 3 and 6 hour versions stop counting down when you log off the character, the longer ones do not). When you have a continuous resurrection rune activated, you can die an unlimited amount of times, and every time you will be resurrected in the nearest town. This is essential when you want to PvP in UM as you will die a lot.
  
  
• The last way is a target resurrection rune. This allows anyone to resurrect someone else. It's basically an item that gives any class the ability of a priests lvl 2 resurrection skill. They are one time use of course and disappear when you resurrect somebody.
  

• A rune is worth more than a potion. Admittedly I've made this silly mistake before, even after many months of playing; not wanting to waste a potion and pushing my luck trying to kill a mob, only to get a bit of lag or something and die. Value of potion: 10k ; Value of rune: 10 mil ; Value of being such a newbie after a year of playing: Priceless.
  
  
• A rune is worth more than a kill. If you're going to die, just RUN. Don't get the Kill Fever. The mob will reset, you can rest, and then kill it. As they say, know when to hold em know when to fold em. And don't get ganged up on. As an archer you are a single target killer. If you aggro too many mobs to handle, again RUN. Let them reset and you can go back to killing one at a time.
  
  
• A priest on your side is always a benefit, not to mention the fact that a good archer takes little damage, and a priest can handle the little that you do, and also resurrect you (after level 31) if you do happen to die. However, it can be hard as an archer to get parties or duos so you can't count on having a priest in your pocket all the time.
  
  
• Test your damage. Unsure whether or not you can kill it before it can kill you? Try it out cautiously while prepared to run. I like to test it with Rapid Shot, once you get it. If my RS doesn't significantly move the target's HP bar, I know it's gonna take me a while to kill it, which likely means I am in danger of being hit pretty hard by such a mob. A good chain of skills to use is Piercing Shot (or Slow debuff works here too), Rapid Shot, Bulls Eye, then normal attacks, when and if the mob starts getting close, use Slump Shot (to slow it's attack speed mostly) then Jumping Airshot, then if still not dead, kite and normal shot until it is. By the time you finish this guide you will understand all that hopefully. Not all of those skills are available until higher levels but that is a solid combo to use, just omit the skills you don't have.
  
  
• Find mobs you can easily kill. As an archer your best and fastest way to level up is to kill mobs that you can actually kill before they reach you. Attack from maximum range and by the time the mob runs all the way to you it should be dead or close to it. That is the ideal killing strategy of an archer. In general my advice is look for yellow or green mobs and kill those.
  
  "I'm UM. I'm uber. I can take 5 reds at once. Oh, I guess I can't take 5 reds at once. I'm dead. I don't have rez rune. RES PLZ !!!!!. I'm deleted. I'm quitting Shaiya T_T."
  
  
• Get the point? Level difference still trumps all in this game. Green names on a target means they are roughly the same level as you, Yellow means they are one or two levels higher, Orange one or two higher than that, Red even higher (and red mobs ignore the defensive abilities of your armor as do purple and gray), Purple mobs should have you turning around, Gray mobs are so far out of your reach that even if you somehow by the grace of a higher power were able to take them down the game does not award you any EXP. This is to discourage even trying because it will end in your death every time. Blue, light blue, and white mean the target is progressively lower level than you.
  

SKILL GUIDE:

Here are all the skills an archer will unlock throughout the course of the game. I've also listed my thoughts, if any, about each skill in green underneath the technical information. Normal mode gets 3 skill points per level, Hard mode gets 4, and Ultimate mode 5 per level. At level 60 an NM will have total 182 points, HM 241, and UM 300. Now, the total amount of points needed to get every skill is, in NM 293, in HM 347, and in UM 405. So you can see that regardless of mode you will NOT have enough skill points to max every skill to level 3. You will fall roughly 105 points short of that, but that's ok because not all the skills are very useful. Just for the record UM archers get 36 skills to choose from at lvl 60.

Also any skill that has the tag abnormal condition of "dying" or "death" will not work on bosses or most high level mobs that have lots of HP. This includes Sustain Shot, Pantera Vision, and Absolute Attack. To be able to blow away 88% of a boss's HP in a single shot would mean a single archer could solo every boss in the game.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Body Training

Level 1 - raises basic physical defense power by 9 (available at lvl 5 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 2 - raises basic physical defense power by 18 (available at lvl 28 ) costs 3 skill points
Level 3 - raises basic physical defense power by 27 (available at lvl 49 ) costs 4 skill points

This skill actually has a bugged description. It says it raises attack but it actually raises defense.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Bow Power Up

Level 1 - raises attack power by 05 when a Bow is equipped (available at lvl 5 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 2 - raises attack power by 12 when a Bow is equipped (available at lvl 16 ) costs 3 skill points
Level 3 - raises attack power by 20 when a Bow is equipped (available at lvl 25 ) costs 4skill points

I would max this skill to level 3 in all modes. Note that it doesn't show your ATK stat on the stat window raise.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Projectile Power Up

Level 1 - raises the attack power by 5 when a Crossbow or is equipped (available at lvl 5 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 2 - raises the attack power by 12 when a Crossbow or is equipped (available at lvl 16 ) costs 3 skill points
Level 3 - raises the attack power by 20 when a Crossbow or is equipped (available at lvl 25 ) costs 4 skill points

If you choose to use a crossbow instead of a regular bow then I would max this skill to level 3 in all modes. However, I recommend using a normal bow which makes this skill useless.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Relax Body

Level 1 - regenerates HP, MP, and SP by 4% each for 3 seconds during break (available at lvl 6 ) costs 1 skill point
Level 2 - regenerates HP, MP, and SP by 6% each for 3 seconds during break (available at lvl 15 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 3 - regenerates HP, MP, and SP by 8% each for 3 seconds during break (available at lvl ?? ) costs 2 skill points

I would max this skill to level 3 in all modes.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Backpack Upgrade

Level 1 - allows you to have 3 tabs in your inventory (available at lvl 12 ) costs 1 skill point
Level 2 - allows you to have 4 tabs in your inventory (available at lvl 26 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 3 - allows you to have 5 tabs in your inventory (available at lvl 46 ) costs 2 skill points

I would max this skill to level 3 in all modes.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Interpretation

Level 1 - allows you to understand 30% of what the furies say in PvP (available at lvl 13 ) costs 1 skill point
Level 2 - allows you to understand 60% of what the furies say in PvP (available at lvl 22 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 3 - allows you to understand all of what the furies say in PvP (available at lvl 51 ) costs 2 skill points

If you plan to PvP I would max this skill to lvl 3. If in NM you don't plan on PvPing then there is no point in getting this skill.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Bow Mastery

Level 1 - ability that increases the player's attacking speed by one level when a bow is equipped
Level 2 - ability that increases the player's attacking speed by one level when a bow is equipped

I would max this skill to lvl 2 in all modes.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Projectile Mastery

Level 1 - ability that increases the player's attacking speed by one level when a crossbow is equipped
Level 2 - ability that increases the player's attacking speed by one level when a crossbow is equipped

Again if you choose to use a crossbow I would max this skill to lvl 3 in all modes. Otherwise you don't need this one.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Sharp Shooter

Level 1 - Buff that increases shooting accuracy by 5% for 5 minutes (available at lvl 2 ) costs 2 skill points - uses 60 MP and 5 SP
Level 2 - Buff that increases shooting accuracy by 12% for 5 minutes (available at lvl 19 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 144 MP and 20 SP
Level 3 - Buff that increases shooting accuracy by 21% for 5 minutes (available at lvl 45 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 400 MP and 45 SP

I would max this skill to lvl 3 in all modes

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Slow

De-buff that decreases an opponent's moving and attack speed. Has a range of 24m, success rate of 70%, and recharge time of 60 seconds.

Level 1 - Slows enemy for 6 seconds (available at lvl 3 ) costs 2 skill points - uses 80 SP
Level 2 - Slows enemy for 9 seconds (available at lvl 17 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 200 SP
Level 3 - Slows enemy for 12 seconds (available at lvl 30 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 315 SP

I love this skill, both for PvE and PvP. I would max this skill to lvl 3 in all modes.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Long Range

Level 1 - Buff that increases the range of attack by 3 meters for 5 minutes (available at lvl 4 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 65 MP and 5 SP
Level 2 - Buff that increases the range of attack by 4 meters for 5 minutes (available at lvl 18 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 140 MP and 15 SP
Level 3 - Buff that increases the range of attack by 5 meters for 5 minutes (available at lvl 31 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 244 MP and 30 SP

I would max this skill to lvl 3 in all modes.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Shot Pointer

De-buff that decreases an opponent's shooting defense power for 30 seconds. Recharge time of 30 seconds.

Level 1 - decreases targets shooting defense by 25, range of 27m (available at lvl 7 ) costs 2 skill points - uses 5 MP and 35 SP
Level 2 - decreases targets shooting defense by 50, range of 29m (available at lvl 23 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 25 MP and 85 SP
Level 3 - decreases shooting defense of all mobs within 10m of target by 75, range of 32m (available at lvl 32 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 30 MP and 115 SP

I personally don't really care for this skill. I would much rather just attack again rather than debuffing with this skill. However, it does have a longer range than your other skills so there are situations in which it could be useful. but if you are NM or short on points you may want to skip this one.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Big Coup

Buff that helps the player to successfully accomplish physical and shooting attack regardless of the targets DEX. Recharge time of 600 seconds (10 minutes)

Level 1 - Buff that lasts 30 seconds (available at lvl 18 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 35 MP and 80 SP
Level 2 - Buff that lasts 40 seconds (available at lvl 27 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 50 MP and 115 SP
Level 3 - Buff that lasts 60 seconds (available at lvl 37 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 65 MP and 150 SP

This skill is useful for hitting high DEX or higher level opponents in PvP as well as bosses in PvE. It also increases your dodging ability, not just your accuracy of attack.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Misfortune (hard mode and ultimate mode skill)

Level 1 - De-buff that decreases a target's LUC by 15 for 30 seconds (available at lvl 19 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 20 MP and 110 SP
Level 2 - De-buff that decreases a target's LUC by 35 for 30 seconds (available at lvl 38 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 40 MP and 210 SP
Level 3 - De-buff that decreases LUC of all mobs within 10m of target by 55 for 30 seconds (available at lvl 57 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 60 MP and 320 SP

I really don't see the point in using this skill.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Piercing Shot

Skill that pauses the target for 3 seconds and wounds it for fixed damage regardless of its defense. Range 24m.

Level 1 - does 58 damage, recharge time of 30 sec. (available at lvl 1 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 45 SP
Level 2 - does 112 damage, recharge time of 30 sec. (available at lvl 15 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 105 SP
Level 3 - does 239 damage, recharge time of 25 sec. (available at lvl 30 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 180 SP

Definitely get at least lvl 1, but against the end game bosses that may be red or purple to you, having 239 damage is actually higher than your normal hits in some cases. This skill cannot critical hit as its damage is fixed.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Rapid Shot

Level 1 - wounds target for 2 times basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 8 ) costs 2 skill points - uses 45 SP
Level 2 - wounds target for 3 times basic damage (available at lvl 24 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 90 SP
Level 3 - wounds target for 3 times basic damage +15 additional damage for every successful hit (available at lvl 45 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 200 SP

The difference between lvl 2 and 3 is 15 fixed damage on each hit. So a max of 45 additional damage. And lvl 3 costs over double the SP. I only have level 2 because I just don't see the point in using more SP for so little damage increase. This skill can critical hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Wide Shot

Level 1 - wounds all mobs within 6m of target for basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 10 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 100 SP
Level 2 - wounds all mobs within 10m of target for basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 20 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 150 SP
Level 3 - wounds all mobs within 14m of target for basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 40 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 235 SP

One of the 4 AoE damage skills that archers get. I like it. In addition to being useful for AoE parties, it's also nice if you happen to aggro two mobs while kiting, you can deliver the killing blow to one and at the same time damage the other. This skill is only usable with a normal bow. This skill can critical hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Ballista Shot

Level 1 - wounds all mobs within 6m of target for basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 10 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 100 SP
Level 2 - wounds all mobs within 10m of target for basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 20 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 150 SP
Level 3 - wounds all mobs within 14m of target for basic damage, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 40 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 235 SP

Exactly the same as Wide Shot except Wide Shot is only usable with a bow and Ballista Shot uses a crossbow. Some say that you can utilize more AoE skills by switching between bow and crossbow, but at high level your bows will have elements on them so using a crossbow would either mean your damage will go way down or you'll have to spend billions lapising crossbows too. Not worth it in my opinion. This skill can critical hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Sustain Shot

Level 1 - does 2% HP damage per cycle for 30 seconds, range 24m and 30 sec recharge time (available at lvl 11 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 60 SP
Level 2 - does 3% HP damage per cycle for 40 seconds, range 24m and 30 sec recharge time (available at lvl 29 ) costs 6 skill points - uses 120 SP
Level 3 - does 3% HP damage per cycle for 60 seconds, range 24m and 20 sec recharge time (available at lvl 39 ) costs 7 skill points - uses 165 SP

This skill can stop enemy assassins from using stealth in PvP but for PvE I don't see much use for it. Any mob with enough HP to use this on will be immune to it anyway. Also it does % of current HP not total HP. This skill cannot critical hit as its damage is DoT.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Nailed Shot

Level 1 - does 168 damage over 12 seconds, range 24m and 15 sec recharge time (available at lvl 12 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 60 SP
Level 2 - does 384 damage over 12 seconds, range 24m and 15 sec recharge time (available at lvl 27 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 110 SP
Level 3 - does 580 damage over 12 seconds, range 24m and 15 sec recharge time (available at lvl 41 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 145 SP

I'm not a big fan of the damage over time skills, and the damage is too low to make it useful to most archers, especially at high levels. This skill cannot critical hit as its damage is DoT. Just like Sustain Shot i prevents assassins from staying in stealth mode.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Mana Shot

Level 1 - deals basic damage and 194 MP damage, range 24m (available at lvl 13 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 15 MP and 60 SP
Level 2 - deals basic damage and 350 MP damage, range 24m (available at lvl 23 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 25 MP and 100 SP
Level 3 - deals basic damage and 631 MP damage, range 24m (available at lvl 36 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 35 MP and 150 SP

Despite what it says it does indeed work on monsters. This could be useful for doing extra damage to casters who have activated their skill Health Assist, which makes their MP act like more HP. Thus at lvl 3, in addition to the basic damage it does (which i believe can critical hit) you will get another 631 MP damage. Once confirming that the target is on HA you can start spamming them with this skill.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Slump Shot

Level 1 - deals basic damage and decreases targets REC by 9 and STR by 18 for 15 seconds (available at lvl 16 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 53 MP and 123 SP
Level 2 - deals basic damage and decreases targets REC by 15 and STR by 30 and ATK speed for 15 seconds (available at lvl 37 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 108 MP and 212 SP
Level 3 - deals basic damage and decreases targets REC by 21 and STR by 41 and ATK speed for 30 seconds (available at lvl 57 ) costs 6 skill points - uses 177 MP and 302 SP

A good move. It deals damage but also drops STR, REC, and ATK speed of the target. This skill can critical hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Jumping Airshot

Level 1 - wounds target for 270 regardless of its defense, range 27m, 30 sec recharge (available at lvl 34 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 360 SP
Level 2 - wounds target for 500 regardless of its defense, range 28m, 30 sec recharge (available at lvl 44 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 440 SP
Level 3 - wounds target for 1270 regardless of its defense, range 30m, 30 sec recharge (available at lvl 54 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 560 SP

Good skill to use when the target gets at close range. Also good against targets that have high defense, or higher level than you, or bosses. This skill cannot critical hit as its damage is fixed. For PvP it's great against guardians, relics, when fighters get close.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Shower Time (hard mode or ultimate mode skill)

Level 1 - wounds everyone within 10m of target for basic damage + 306, has 24m range and 600 sec recharge (available at lvl 33 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 165 MP and 415 SP
Level 2 - wounds everyone within 10m of target for basic damage + 451, has 24m range and 600 sec recharge (available at lvl 42 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 230 MP and 525 SP
Level 3 - wounds everyone within 10m of target for basic damage + 671, has 24m range and 600 sec recharge (available at lvl 53 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 320 MP and 670 SP

A good AoE skill, does high damage at level 3. Can easily wipe out enemy casters in the area in a single hit (of course that depends on their build). This skill can critical hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Bloody Shower (hard mode or ultimate mode skill)

Level 1 - wounds everyone within 10m of target for basic damage + 306, has 24m range and 600 sec recharge (available at lvl 33 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 165 MP and 415 SP
Level 2 - wounds everyone within 10m of target for basic damage + 451, has 24m range and 600 sec recharge (available at lvl 42 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 230 MP and 525 SP
Level 3 - wounds everyone within 10m of target for basic damage + 671, has 24m range and 600 sec recharge (available at lvl 53 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 320 MP and 670 SP

Same skill as shower time except this is only usable with a crossbow while shower time is only a normal bow skill.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Magic Defy (ultimate mode skill)

Skill that negates magic attacks that would have hit you.

Level 1 - negates the next two magic attacks that hit you (available at lvl 11 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 75 MP and 120 SP
Level 2 - negates the next three magic attacks that hit you (available at lvl 32 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 140 MP and 280 SP
Level 3 - negates the next five magic attacks that hit you (available at lvl 52 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 240 MP and 430 SP

One of the best skills archers get. As a UM it's your duty to max this to lvl 3 =P Works like a buff that expires in 5 minutes. Recharge time is 5 minutes. (if you don't wear it out before then by taking the limit of magic hits you will have constant protection from spells).

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Flash Attack (ultimate mode skill)

Level 1 - Increases ATK speed by 1 level for 30 seconds, 5 minute recharge (available at lvl 21 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 100 MP and 185 SP
Level 2 - Increases ATK speed by 1 level for 45 seconds, 5 minute recharge (available at lvl 34 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 145 MP and 285 SP
Level 3 - Increases ATK speed by 1 level for 60 seconds, 5 minute recharge (available at lvl 43 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 195 MP and 360 SP

I can't see a reason for UM to not get this skill.


This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Marksman Song

Level 1 - Increases shooting ATK and defense of party within 100m by 7 for 10 min (available at lvl 7 ) costs 2 skill points - uses 95 MP and 85 SP
Level 2 - Increases shooting ATK and defense of party within 100m by 14 for 10 min (available at lvl 24 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 220 MP and 210 SP
Level 3 - Increases shooting ATK and defense of party within 100m by 39 for 10 min (available at lvl 39 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 400 MP and 330 SP

I would max this skill to lvl 3.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Bull's Eye

Level 1 - does basic damage + 10. recharge 25 sec (available at lvl 9 ) costs 6 skill points - uses 49 SP
Level 2 - does basic damage + 92. recharge 20 sec (available at lvl 27 ) costs 7 skill points - uses 104 SP
Level 3 - does basic damage + 208. recharge 15 sec (available at lvl 47 ) costs 8 skill points - uses 225 SP

This skill doesn't seem to be all that great at first. However, it never misses. It also can critical hit. At high level it ends up dealing a significant amount more damage than a normal shot. I would max it to level 3 in all modes.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Potential Viable

Level 1 - raises movement speed by one level and critical hit rate by 8% for 30 sec when HP falls below 8% (available at lvl 17 ) costs 1 skill points
Level 2 - raises movement speed by one level and critical hit rate by 15% for 30 sec when HP falls below 10% (available at lvl 29 ) costs 2 skill points
Level 3 - raises movement speed by one level and critical hit rate by 25% for 30 sec when HP falls below 12% (available at lvl 50 ) costs 3 skill points

I personally don't find this skill too useful. However, I have sonic boots and high LUC so when this does rarely kick in I can't notice a difference. I'm also rarely low enough on HP to have it kick in. If you have points to spare there is no harm in getting it but you could pass on it to save points. It may be more useful for someone who doesn't have sonic boots or high LUC. For me about the only thing it does is in PvP it alerts me I'm just about dead which sometimes can give me enough notice to pot in time.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Absolute Attack

Level 1 - deals damage equal to 10% of the target's HP. recharge 300 sec (available at lvl 22 ) costs 7 skill points - uses 230 SP
Level 2 - deals damage equal to 15% of the target's HP. recharge 300 sec (available at lvl 37 ) costs 8 skill points - uses 370 SP
Level 3 - deals damage equal to 20% of the target's HP. recharge 300 sec (available at lvl 55 ) costs 9 skill points - uses 550 SP

This is a good skill, especially for PvPing against target's with high defense. In PvE it is less useful as any mobs with high enough defense or HP to make this skill useful are also immune to it, such as bosses. I have it maxed to lvl 3 though I use it almost exclusively in PvP.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Dragnet

Skill that casts an invisible Dragnet that wounds any enemy within specific meters for damage. Unable to set more than two at a time and disappear after 3 minutes. recharge time of 180 sec and range of 2m.

Level 1 - deals damage of 1000 (available at lvl 31 ) costs 3 skill points - uses 60 MP and 80 SP
Level 2 - deals damage of 1500 (available at lvl 41 ) costs 4 skill points - uses 80 MP and 100 SP
Level 3 - deals damage of 2000 (available at lvl 58 ) costs 5 skill points - uses 120 MP and 140 SP

I don't see much use for this skill. I've never heard anyone say they use it. Depending on your build, you may be able to normal hit as hard or harder than this skill can hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Mana Decay

Skill that blows away a % of the target's max MP by spending your entire MP. Only usable when equipped with a sword. It doesn't affect Monsters. recharge time of 600 seconds.

Level 1 - takes 50% of target's MP (available at lvl 36 ) costs 4 skill points
Level 2 - takes 70% of target's MP (available at lvl 46 ) costs 5 skill points
Level 3 - takes 90% of target's MP (available at lvl 56 ) costs 6 skill points

Archers are supposed to be a ranged class. This skill uses a sword at close range. I don't see much use for it. It could have a strategic use against a caster on HA in PvP though now we are talking unorthodox tactics most won't use.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Nuke Shot (hard mode and ultimate mode skill)

Level 1 - deals 2 times basic ATK and pauses target for 5 sec, recharge of 900 sec, cast time of 2 sec. (available at lvl 49 ) costs 8 skill points - uses 570 MP and 1230 SP
Level 2 - deals 3 times basic ATK and pauses target for 5 sec, recharge of 900 sec, cast time of 1.5 sec. (available at lvl 59 ) costs 9 skill points - uses 750 MP and 1500 SP

A good skill. Has a high recharge time but still useful. One of the few archer skills that has a cast time. Nevertheless I would max this to whatever level you can.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Sleeper Ban (hard and ultimate mode skill)

Skill that makes enemies sleep for a number of seconds with a melee attack. Only able to use it with a sword. The affected target falls asleep but will be awakened when damaged.

Level 1 - puts target to sleep for 6 seconds, recharge of 60 sec (available at lvl 26 ) costs 6 skill points - uses 72 MP and 165 SP
Level 2 - puts target to sleep for 8 seconds, recharge of 55 sec (available at lvl 39 ) costs 7 skill points - uses 117 MP and 220 SP
Level 3 - puts target to sleep for 10 seconds, recharge of 50 sec (available at lvl 51 ) costs 8 skill points - uses 154 MP and 266 SP

Archers are supposed to be a ranged class. This skill uses a sword at close range. I don't see much use for it. Plus the sleeping state is not very useful as the target will wake up the next time it is hit.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. Pantera Vision (ultimate mode skill)

Powerful Shooting skill that deals 88% damage of the selected target's max HP. Its effect is limited to some Monsters. recharge of 600 sec, range of 30m, cast time of 1 sec (available at lvl 60) costs 9 skill points - uses 800 MP and 1650 SP.

ARMOR GUIDE:

Here is a list of all the armor available for Archers. I've included some information as well as pictures of each armor. Armor can come in many versions depending on how many slots it has for linking lapis to. Noble (1 slot), Worship (2), Heroic (3), Dread (4), Legendary (5 and can only be worn by hard mode and ultimate mode characters), and Goddess (6 slots and can only be worn by ultimate mode characters).

With the exception of the lvl 55-58 Raffiniert set, archer gauntlets give +STR stats, boots give +LUC, pants give +DEX, and top gives +DEX. This only applies to slotted versions, the plain versions do not give +stats. Noble gives +1, worship gives +2, heroic gives +3, dread +5, Legendary +6, goddess +7 base stats.

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Cloth Armor
Gauntlets level 2, Boots level 3, Pants level 4, Top Armor level 5
Plain and Noble versions
This armor is a quest reward. Most people probably skip this set altogether. It's likely by the time you acquire all the pieces that you will be high enough level to wear the next set anyway. It's definitely not worth putting lapis in unless you are rich and bored and do it for kicks.

Leather Armor
Gauntlets level 8, Boots level 9, Pants level 10, Top Armor level 11
Plain and Noble versions
This armor is also a quest reward. The Noble version of the boots, pants, and top are the best ones available for PvPing in the 1-15 zone. The quest for the top armor is called Robbed Woodpile. It tells you to get 5 woodpiles and bring them back. In reality you must collect 15 of them and then you will get the noble top as a reward.

Hard Leather Armor
Gauntlets level 15, Boots level 16, Pants level 17, Top Armor level 18
Plain and Noble versions
This armor is a quest reward. The Noble version of the gauntlets are the best ones available for PvPing in the 1-15 zone. They are from a quest and can also be purchased in a guild house that has been upgraded.

Terra Armor
Gauntlets level 22, Boots level 23, Pants level 24, Top Armor level 25
Plain, Worship, and Heroic versions
The worship version of this armor drops from Graveyard Loca, the mini boss of Cornwell Ruins on map 1. He has a spawn time of 30 minutes after he is killed. The heroic version of this armor is dropped from the boss of Cornwell Ruins, Asmo. The heroic top and pants are the best ones available for PvPing in the 20-30 zone.

Unicorn Armor
Gauntlets level 29, Boots level 30, Pants level 31, Top Armor level 32
Plain, Worship, and Dread versions
The dread version of this armor is from a series of quests for Hard mode characters.The dread gauntlets and boots are the best ones available for PvPing in the 20-30 zone. I believe the worship version drops from the weaker mobs in Fedion dungeon.

Ebony Armor
Gauntlets level 36, Boots level 37, Pants level 38, Top Armor level 39
Plain, Heroic, and Dread versions
The dread version of this armor is very rare. I believe it drops from the Fedion boss Ajuha. The heroic version drops from the mobs deeper in Fedion.

Portuba Armor
Gauntlets N/A, Boots N/A, Pants level 40, Top Armor level 40
Two slotted "worship" only
This is an alternate armor version of the Ebony armor. It looks the same except it's green. There are only top and pants, no gloves or boots. It drops from the Asmodeus mini bosses in Maitreyan dungeon and Cloron's Lair as well as the Generals.

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Freya Armor
Gauntlets level 43, Boots level 44, Pants level 45, Top Armor level 46
Plain, Heroic, Dread, Legendary, Goddess versions
I believe the heroic version of this drops in Maitreyan dungeon. The dread drops from the mini bosses and boss of Maitreyan. For Goddess/Legendary see below.

Legendary Freya Armor
Gauntlets level 43, Boots level 44, Pants level 45, Top Armor level 46
The Legendary version of this armor drops from the boss of Maitreyan dungeon, Ankylul. As far as i know only the top and pants exist. There have been rumors that the chests from
freezing mirage boss may drop the gloves and boots but i can't confirm that. (gloves and boots in pic are unicorn/dragon).

Goddess Freya Armor
Gauntlets level 43, Boots level 44, Pants level 45, Top Armor level 46
The Goddess version of this armor drops from the dragon form of the Freezing Mirage boss. I do not know if the gloves and boots exist or not. Yes i know it looks drastically different than the other versions of Freya but i promise the picture is correct. This gets my pick for the best armor in the game (though technically goddess dragon is better statistically as it gives slightly more HP, MP, SP, def bonus - not much though). And since i love it so much Click here for a bigger picture.

Dragon Armor
Gauntlets level 50, Boots level 51, Pants level 52, Top Armor level 53
Plain, Heroic, Dread, Legendary, and Goddess versions
The heroic version drops from mobs in Elemental Cave as well as Cloron's Lair, the dread drops from mini bosses in cloron's lair. For Legendary/goddess see below.

Legendary Dragon Armor
Gauntlets level 50, Boots level 51, Pants level 52, Top Armor level 53
The gloves i believe drop from Ankylul, the boss of Maitreyan dungeon; the boots may as well i'm not sure. The top and pants i believe only drop from the Cloron Troll (mini boss of cloron's lair) or the chests that drop after the Cloron dragon or Freezing Mirage dragon die.

Goddess Dragon Armor
Gauntlets level 50, Boots level 51, Pants level 52, Top Armor level 53
This drops from Cryptic Throne bosses. Yeah it looks like it should be a Freya armor but i promise you the one pictures is goddess dragon. This is technically the best armor available for UM archers since it has an extra slot over the "Legendary" Raffiniert.

Raffiniert Armor
Gauntlets level 55, Boots level 56, Pants level 57, Top Armor level 58
Noble, Dread, and Legendary versions
I know the boots and gloves drop from the scorpion mobs in the desert. I believe they also drop in the jungle. The top and pants drop from bosses in the desert/jungle though i don't know which. The Legendary pants seem to be the most rare of this set. This is the highest level armor in the game and for Hard mode or Normal mode characters it is the best set.

HELMS GUIDE:

Most of the helms in the game are non slotted. There are some lvl 15 worship helms out there from raffles and some lvl 1 noble helms too. There are also quite a few level 30 dread helms from AP events. Legendary and Goddess helms are not in our version of the game yet. Normal helms are from quests, usually involving turning in 30 cores of some type in exchange for the helm.

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Cloth Helm - level 1. This helm has one slot. It came from a forum event done last year involving RL picture taking. It is the second best helm for use in the 1-15 PvP zone. It looks just like a Unicorn Helm.

Hard Leather Helm - level 15. This helm has two slots. It comes from AP raffles and is the best helm usable in the 1-15 PvP zone. It also looks just like a Unicorn Helm.

Unicorn Helm - level 30. The plain version is from a level 29 quest in Arktus Ville. You need to collect 30 spirit cores to trade for the helm. Spirit cores can be found from the Sealakels just south of the town or the Goblin camp to the south east. The dread version of this helmet is a coveted item for PvPing in the 20-30 zone, it is only from AP events.

Ebony Helm - level 37. The plain version is from a level 36 quest in Silvaren. You have to collect and trade 30 mare cores for it.

Freya Helm - level 44. The plain version is from a level 43 quest in Stronghold. You have to collect and trade 30 pint cores for it. The Legendary helm pictured above is not in the game yet. HOWEVER there has recently been a promo for a 5 slotted Freya helmet. It is NOT the Legendary version, which means a few things. All modes can wear it, it has 5 slots for lapis, it has no stats or MP,SP,HP bonus on it, and it looks like a normal Freya helm.

Dragon Helm - level 51. The plain version is from a level 50 quest in Apulune (the blacksmith outside of the city). You have to trade 3 level 3 endure lapis and 15 dark mages stones for it. The Legendary and goddess versions pictured above are not in the game yet.

Raffiniert Helm - level 56. Not in game yet.

MOUNTS GUIDE:

There are 6 different mounts that archers can ride. Only two of them are buyable within the game. The other 4 are from AP events / raffles. You can of course buy those from other players who got them from said events. The two mounts buyable in game are not tradeable, which means you cannot sell them or give them to other players. You can put them in your warehouse and trade them between your characters on your account though. The hard mode and ultimate mode mounts seat two people and anyone, regardless of class or level or mode, can ride as a passenger.

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Leopard mount - must be level 40 to ride, any mode can ride it. Buyable from merchant in Apulune for 11 million gold. Increases movement speed to very fast. Seats one. (not tradeable)

Red Leopard mount - must be level 40 to ride, any mode can ride it. Event item, not buyable in game. Increases movement speed to very fast. Seats one.

Silver Lion mount - must be level 50 to ride, only hard mode and ultimate mode can ride it. Buyable from merchant in Apulune for 75 million gold. Increases movement speed to extremely fast. Seats two. (not tradeable)

Red Lion mount - must be level 50 to ride, only hard mode and ultimate mode can ride it. Event item, not buyable in game. Increases movement speed to extremely fast. Seats two.

White Tiger mount - must be level 50 to ride, only hard mode and ultimate mode can ride it. Event item, not buyable in game. Increases movement speed to extremely fast. Seats two.

Land Phoenix - must be level 58 to ride, only ultimate mode can ride it. Event item, not buyable in game. Increases movement speed to extremely fast. Seats two.

Reindeer - a christmas mount dropping during the holiday season but will remain in game permanently. All modes can ride it at level 28, i believe it only seats one. Not sure about the moving speed increase though i've heard it's like a HM mount.

CAPE GUIDE:

There are lots of different capes that archers can wear, at least 14 off the top of my head. They come in 8 different lvl varieties with 1 - 3 different versions per level. There are 4 normal mode capes and 4 hard mode and above capes. The normal lvl 31 and 44 capes are short and look the same. I've only pictured one of each style to save space but they do come in other colors, which i will list in the description. I don't have all the specific names for each cape as there are many and i only own a few of them. But what's most important is the stats and looks so this should give a good idea. btw all capes except the lvl 16 also give DEF/MP/SP/HP bonus but they are very insignificant so i won't list them all. Just to give you an idea the best one (54 HM) gives 6 DEF, 6 resist, 72 HP, 51 SP, 52 MP. So you can see even the top cape gives insignificant boost in those stats.

There is now a badge merchant in Apulune. You can bring your cape there and select from some standard designs to put on the back of your cape. As of right now the options to choose from are not super great. If they ever implement the option to upload custom logos from your PC then it will truly be something special. But for the low price of 450k you can make your cape a little fancier if you choose. You can also buy lvl 31 NM capes from NPC merchants. They cost 40 million gold and you can get them in any stat, each stat is a different colored cape.

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Fighting Mantle - must be level 16 or higher to wear, gives no stat bonus. no longer distributed so pretty rare.

Lvl 31 NM capes - must be level 31 or higher to wear, gives + 11 to one stat. There is a STR version which is red, a DEX version which is green, and a LUC version which is purple. In addition to those standard stats there are also, INT capes that are golden yellow (not to mention useless), WIS which are khaki colored (again useless for archers), and REC capes which are blue. All buyable from NPC merchant in Apulune for 40 million gold.

Lvl 44 NM capes - must be level 44 or higher to wear, gives + 13 to one stat. There is a STR version which is red, a DEX version which is green, and a LUC version which is purple. This looks exactly like the lvl 31 capes except since you can't buy them from the NPC merchants, they are only available in STR, DEX, and LUC versions from other players.

Lvl 52 NM capes - must be level 52 or higher to wear, gives + 17 to one stat. There is a STR version which is red, a DEX version which is green, and a LUC version which is purple. The STR version, which is called the Cape of the Force (pictured) is red and is very rare.

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Cape of the Fierce - must be level 33 or higher and HM or UM to wear, gives + 11 LUC and 11 DEX.

Cape of the Beast - must be level 41 or higher and HM or UM to wear, gives + 13 LUC and 13 DEX.

Cape of the Feral - must be level 48 or higher and HM or UM to wear, gives + 16 LUC and 16 DEX.

Cape of the Savage - must be level 54 or higher and HM or UM to wear, gives + 18 LUC and 18 DEX.

Archers can choose from three weapons: Bows, Crossbows, and One Handed Swords. Depending on what you have equipped, the skills you can use, as well as how your stats effect you change. (LUC adds shooting ATK, which doesn't apply to swords. But swords get 1.3 ATK for every 1 STR which doesn't apply to bows.)

BOW GUIDE:

Normal bows are certainly the most popular archer weapon. I use them almost exclusively. They attack faster than crossbows, and lets face it, archers are not really meant to use swords. As far as base stats go, Noble weapons give 6 spread across 1-3 different stat categories, Worship gives 12, Heroic 18, Dread 24, Legendary 30, Goddess 36.

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Short Bow
Level 1
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 17 - 22

Long Bow
Level 7
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 23 - 30

Composite Bow
Level 13
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 31 - 41
The Noble version of this bow is from a quest. It's the best weapon for use in the 1-15 pvp zone.

Battle Bow
Level 19
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 41 - 54

Eagle Strike
Level 25
Epic Weapon
ATK Power: 67 - 88
This is the reward for the first epic quest which starts near the antelope field to the west of Haldock Farm. It has no slots but has 12 Dex and 20 Luc base stats.

Siege Bow
Level 25
Plain, Worship, and Heroic versions
ATK Power: 53 - 70
The worship version of this bow drops from Graveyard Loca, the mini boss of Cornwells Ruins dungeon. The heroic version drops from the boss Asmo. The heroic version is the best weapon for 20-30 PvP.

Sweet Madonna
Level 31
Plain, Worship, and Legendary versions
ATK Power: 67 - 88
I'm not sure if there is a heroic version, the worship is most common, and i know there is at least one Legendary sweet madonna out there on Lailah server. Looks just like the Epic eagle strike except it doesn't glow. (well the Legendary version glows blue).

Shine Spark
Level 37
Plain, Heroic, and Dread versions (perhaps worship too idk)
ATK Power: 83 - 108

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Dark Bow
Level 40
2 slots, 23 base stats (+8 STR +12 DEX +3 LUC)
ATK Power: 92 - 132
This is the weapon equivalent of Portuba armor. It has only 2 slots and drops from the Maitreyan dungeon mini bosses as well as the Cloron's lair Asmodius mini bosses. Took me a few hours farming the minis before i gave up and then realized there was one in the guild warehouse i could have looked at for the stats ^^

Pan's Shot
Level 41
4 Slots, 38 base stats
ATK Power: 91 -143
This weapon is a Pando drop limit of quantity, recently they started dropping again and showing no signs of stopping so as far as we can say they drop from mobs in the Skulleron (Pando) map. But not the fire mobs in Calli Puirr or Vindes Puirr (those drop higher level weapons).

Nidhoggr
Level 43
Plain and Heroic versions (maybe dread as well)
ATK Power: 101 - 132

Elfen Aqua Bow
Level 45
no slots, no base stats, water elemental
ATK Power: 120 -158
This is the reward for the level 43 Epic quest. It gives no base stats and has no slots, but it has a faster attacking speed and it is water elemental. Thus this bow is quite good, especially since it is free. A lot of people still use it even at level 60 due to the difficulty of acquiring elemental lapis to make a better water bow.

Piku Hawk
Level 47
4 Slots, 43 base stats
ATK Power: 111 - 173
This weapon is a Pando drop limit of quantity, recently they started dropping again and showing no signs of stopping so as far as we can say they drop from mobs in the Skulleron (Pando) map. From the fire mobs in Calli Puirr or Vindes Puirr.

God Finger
Level 49
Heroic, Dread, Legendary, and Goddess versions
ATK Power: 120 -158
Heroic version drops in Cloron's Lair from normal mobs. Dread version drops from the mobs in the Cloron Troll room. Legendary version drops from Cloron Troll and dragon boxes. Goddess version drops from Freezing Mirage dragon.

Shining Finger
Level 53
4 Slots, 47 base stats
ATK Power: 132 - 206
This bow drops only from the Cloron Dragon, boss of cloron's lair dungeon. He spawns 3 days after he is killedl.

Sweet Bow
Level 55
3 Slots, 18 base stats (+9 DEX +9 LUC)
ATK Power: 144 - 186
Drops from Elemental Cave bosses and also from Cloron Troll. Honestly it's not really better than a well lapised Legendary God Finger. for an NM archer though it may be the best bow that is affordable and easy enough to acquire. It looks exactly the same as a God Finger except it glows orange (like a Goddess God Finger).

Soul Finger
Level 56
5 Slots, 42 base stats
ATK Power: 146 -191
This bow drops from bosses in Cryptic Throne, which opens only after killing Freezing Mirage dragon. They spawn only once a week.

Dragon Howling - (translated from Korean website)
Level 59
5 Slots, 48 base stats
ATK Power: 158 - 206
This bow drops from bosses in Cryptic Throne, which opens only after killing Freezing Mirage dragon. They spawn only once a week. It's statistically not much better than a Soul Finger but it does look hot. Click here to see a pic.

CROSSBOW GUIDE:

Crossbows have slower ATK speed than normal bows, but they have higher base ATK. Still I see no reason to use crossbows over regular bows. Lapising several different styles of weapons at high level, especially when you add in the elements, is far too expensive. So generally you have to eventually choose your main weapon style and I can't see why anyone would not choose normal bows.

Now, the real difference between a bow and a crossbow is just that a crossbow attacks slower, meaning there is a longer pause between each attack you use. Thus your overall DPS goes down when compared to normal bows. However, there is something called Flash lapis which does just that, increases ATK speed of a weapon. As of right now for the most part the only kind you can get is lvl 1 flash which increases ATK speed by 1 level. This simply is not enough to make a xbow equal to a normal bow.

The fastest attacking speed in the game is "extremely fast" and there is almost no pause at all between attacks, the animation actually can barely keep up with it lol. A normal bow is only "fast" so it needs a two level increase to reach extremely fast, very fast being the next step up. A crossbow is even slower, with the skill upgrades they reach normal attacking speed so they need 4 level increase to reach extremely fast. Max flash lapis raises speed by 3 lvls so the best a crossbow can do is get to very fast attacking speed. So the question then becomes, is it better to have an extremely fast bow with less ATK power or a very fast crossbow with more ATK power? hmm.

If we are talking about really making the best possible weapon, in the future whether you choose bow or xbow you will be putting a flash lapis in it. And thus whether you put in a lvl 2 flash lapis on a bow or a lvl 3 on a xbow it still uses one slot so in the end it may be possible to make a crossbow out-DPS a normal bow. Now since the skills are all basically the same, crossbows then have the advantage in higher attack power. I'm gonna speak about the best bows in the game as that is personally the only thing i would dump such uber lapis on. The difference between the lvl 59 bow and xbow is about 75 min - 120 max ATK but that is still pretty nice. But honestly normal bows look much cooler.

So would having an extra 100 ATK make up for the slightly slower speed in terms of DPS? It really depend on the situation. But for now normal bows are still the weapon of choice of all serious high level/mode archers.

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Cross Bow
Level 1
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 25 - 35

Arbalest
Level 8
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 36 - 50

Lightening Bow
Level 14
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 49 - 68
The Noble version is a quest reward. It's the quest in which you have to kill the leopardess boss Eolith. If you choose to use crossbows this would be the best one for the 1-15 PvP zone.

DesPandamonium
Level 20
Plain, Noble, and probably Worship versions
ATK Power: 64 - 89

Hresvelgr
Level 26
Plain, Worship, Heroic versions
ATK Power: 83 - 114

Shooting Star
Level 32
Plain, Worship, Heroic versions
ATK Power: 104 - 144

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Nemesis
Level 38
Plain, Heroic, Dread versions
ATK Power: 129 - 177

Snakeshot
Level 42
4 Slots, 40 base stats
ATK Power: 141 - 237
This weapon is a Pando drop limit of quantity. They recently started dropping again and showing no signs of stopping so as far as we can say they will continue to drop from mobs in the Skulleron (Pando). But not the fire mobs in Calli Puirr or Vindes Puirr (those drop higher level weapons).

Gastraphetes
Level 44
Plain, Heroic, Dread versions
ATK Power: 156 - 215

Stone Phetes
Level 48
4 Slots, 44 base stats
ATK Power: 171 - 291
This weapon is a Pando drop limit of quantity, recently they started dropping again and showing no signs of stopping so as far as we can say they drop from mobs in the Skulleron (Pando) map. From the fire mobs in Calli Puirr or Vindes Puirr.

Arcu-Ballista
Level 50
Heroic, Dread, Legendary, Goddess versions
ATK Power: 186 - 256
Heroic version drops in Cloron's Lair from normal mobs. Dread version drops from the mobs in the Cloron Troll room. Legendary version drops from Cloron Troll and dragon boxes. Goddess version drops from Freezing Mirage dragon.

Arcane Star
Level 54
4 Slots, 48 stats
ATK Power: 203 - 345
This drops from Cloron Dragon, boss of cloron's lair. He spawns 72 hours from the time of his last death.

Bermina
Level 55
3 Slots, +2 REC +39 LUC base stats
ATK Power: 213 - 294
This drops from Elemental Cave bosses. I believe it looks like a Arcu-Balilsta that glows orange. It can also drop from Cloron Troll.

Germina
Level 55
3 Slots, +6 STR +24 DEX +6 REC +3 LUC base stats
ATK Power: 213 - 294
This is another one that drops from Elemental Cave bosses. I believe it looks like a Nemesis that glows orange. It can also drop from Cloron Troll.

Starlander
Level 56
5 Slots, 42 base stats
ATK Power: 219 - 302
This bow drops from bosses in Cryptic Throne, which opens only after killing Freezing Mirage dragon. They spawn only once a week.

Primal Hawk
Level 59
5 Slots, 48 base stats
ATK Power: 236 - 326
This bow drops from bosses in Cryptic Throne, which opens only after killing Freezing Mirage dragon. They spawn only once a week.

SWORD GUIDE:

It's interesting why we even get to use swords. If anything i would have thought an archer may get a small dagger, Legolas style. But the way the skills are set up there is really no reason to use a sword. I have yet to find a serious archer who actually uses them over bows. I've also yet to hear a legit reason to use a sword. Hitting a warrior with sleeper ban if he gets close is the best thing i've heard. Actually there is one valid reason to have a sword on hand. During monster spawn events usually boxes or pigs are spawned that are resistant to range attacks so you cannot hit them with a bow/xbow. That would be the time to whip out a sword and start swinging. But there are virtually no skills usable with a sword and you don't get any speed upgrades and using a sword means you will be in close combat with your target and thus taking much more damage than a normal bow wielding archer.

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Long Sword
Level 1
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 19 - 21

Bast*rd Sword
Level 5
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 23 - 26

Silver Sword
Level 11
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 32 -35
This can actually be obtained from the quest A Devoted Husband Duke. If you choose the defender's reward. It is also buyable from an upgraded guild house's weapon merchant.

Gradius
Level 17
Plain and Noble versions
ATK Power: 42 - 47

Rune Blade
Level 23
Plain, Noble, Worship, and Heroic versions
ATK Power: 55 - 61

Damascus Sword
Level 29
Plain, Worship, and Heroic versions
ATK Power: 70 - 78

Aluster
Level 35
Plain, Heroic, and Dread versions
ATK Power: 87 - 97

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Yelloster
Level 39
4 Slots, 38 base stats
ATK Power: 95 - 115
This weapon is a Pando drop limit of quantity, recently they started dropping again and showing no signs of stopping so as far as we can say they drop from mobs in the Skulleron (Pando) map. But not the fire mobs in Calli Puirr or Vindes Puirr (those drop higher level weapons).

Balisarda
Level 41
Plain, Noble, Worship, Heroic, Dread versions
ATK Power: 107 - 118

Beris
Level 45
4 Slots, 42 base stats
ATK Power: 116 - 140
This weapon is a Pando drop limit of quantity, recently they started dropping again and showing no signs of stopping so as far as we can say they drop from mobs in the Skulleron (Pando) map. From the fire mobs in Calli Puirr or Vindes Puirr.

Ascalon
Level 47
Heroic, Dread, Legendary, and Goddess versions
ATK Power: 128 - 142
Heroic version drops in Cloron's Lair from normal mobs. Dread version drops from the mobs in the Cloron Troll room. Legendary version drops from Cloron Troll and dragon boxes. Goddess version drops from Freezing Mirage dragon.

Rancor
Level 51
4 Slots, +36 STR base
ATK Power: 144 - 159
This is from a high level quest. Part of the quest requires that you collect drops that come from treasure chests that spawn after killing the big end game dragons Cloron and Freezing Mirage. Thus it is very difficult to complete and honestly this weapon would not be worth it to me. It does look pretty sweet though.

Tatugalon
Level 51
4 Slots, 46 base stats
ATK Power: 140 - 168
This drops from Cloron Dragon, boss of cloron's lair. He spawns 72 hours from the time of his last death.

Rune Gaia Sword
Level 56
5 Slots, 42 base stats
ATK Power: 156 - 173
This sword drops from bosses in Cryptic Throne, which opens only after killing Freezing Mirage dragon. They spawn only once a week.

Beriunse
Level 59
5 Slots, 48 base stats
ATK Power: 178 - 197
This sword drops from bosses in Cryptic Throne, which opens only after killing Freezing Mirage dragon. They spawn only once a week.

LEVEL DIFFERENCE

Before i get into talk of builds and stat points, i want to make a few comments about the level system in the game. The color of a mob's name is not just to make it look pretty, it is to inform you what level that mob is in relation to your own level. In PvP all enemies have red names and there is no way of knowing (within the game) what level an enemy player is. But for PvE it goes like this. The higher the level of the target the more EXP you gain, but the harder it is to kill.

• A white named mob is 6 or more levels below you. (You gain no EXP for killing them.)
  
• A light blue mob is 4 or 5 levels below you.
  
• A dark blue mob is 2 or 3 levels below you.
  
• A green mob is the same level or within one level of your own.
  
• A yellow mob is 2 or 3 levels higher than you.
  
• An orange mob is 4 or 5 higher than you.
  
• A red mob is 6 or 7 levels higher than you.
  
• A purple (pink) mob is 8 or 9 levels higher than you.
  
• A gray mob is 10 or more levels higher than you. (You gain no EXP for killing them.)
  

The level difference is a huge part of the game in terms of what it does to the performance of your character. There are "penalties" involved when facing a higher level target. Against a green mob, which is the same level as you, there are no penalties. You'll do your full damage and get hit for its full damage. Your hit rate and whatnot will all be unpenalized. In terms of damage, you won't hit a white mob for more than you hit a green mob, all other things being equal. But in terms of defense and dodging ability, you will perform better against lower level targets. Because by being higher level than it, the mob is now being penalized in accuracy and damage etc. That being said, when you fight a yellow mob, YOU are being penalized in your damage ability and accuracy etc.; even more so with orange, red, purple, and gray. The bigger the level difference, the more you get penalized.

And EVERYTHING about your performance will be penalized; that's important to note. Maybe you have 1000 ATK power, and maybe Cloron Dragon has 600 DEF (completely made up figures btw). That should mean you hit it for 400 damage. But if Cloron is red to you, you will hit for far less because of the level penalties. It also means you will miss completely most of the time because the level difference negatively affects your accuracy rate. Critical damage gained from LUC is affected just the same, while it ignores the DEF stat it does not ignore the level difference of your target. Thus the single most important thing you can do to improve your performance in this game is to level up, unless you are already level 60. So that being said, any kind of testing in regards to how stats affect performance need to be tested against same level targets or the results will be flawed. Unless you are specifically testing with the level difference variable in mind for some purpose.

STATS

Here are the base stats that archers start out with at level one. I'm not 100% sure if the MP, SP, HP is the same in all modes but as an average these figures come from a HM toon so UM may be a tad more and NM a tad less (should be pretty close though). The actual stats are the same regardless of mode.

STR 11 / REC 10 / INT 7 / WIS 10 / DEX 14 / LUC 13

HP 242 / MP 137 / SP 218

ATK 33-38 (using the bow you start with) / MAGIC 28-33 / DEF 10 (cuz of the REC) / RESIST 10 (cuz of the WIS)

Most people talk about builds in terms of what to do with your stat points every level. Such as 3 STR 2 DEX every level. However, if you are really serious, at high level you have to consider your gear as well. If i get 200 DEX from lapis and gear, i wouldn't really need to put any of my stat points into DEX. A lot of us end up resetting our stats to adjust when we get new high level armors etc. So if you were to ask me my build and want a xx STR, xx DEX, xx LUC per level format i simply can't give that to you. Best i could do is list my total stats now. That being said, i will list some of the common xx per level builds.

There are a few common builds that most people use. LUC builds, STR/DEX builds, and a relatively new and not tested by too many people REC build. There is also what i would call Hybrid builds, which in my opinion are ultimately the best. They combine all of those stats in significant quantities, which is why the term hybrid is appropriate. Which build you choose depends on what you are intending to do, your mode, your level, your willingness and ability to spend massive quantities of gold on this character, etc. I should say that in regards to stats everything in this game is capped at 95%. Meaning 95% accuracy rate, 95% critical hit rate, 95% evasion. Nothing can reach 100%, so there is always a chance for failure.

LUCK (LUC) - adds 1% chance to critical hit for every 5 LUC you add (thus 475 LUC is considered 95% critical hit rate - the maximum), adds 1 shooting ATK for every 3 LUC you add (this affects bows and crossbows but not swords), it adds damage to your critical hits (the way it does this will be explained later), it also supposedly adds critical hit evasion but honestly i don't know how that works nor do i see it actually having much effect with this.

STRENGTH (STR) - adds 1 ATK for every 1 STR you add. (adds 1.3 ATK for every 1 STR if you have a sword equipped.)

DEXTERITY (DEX) - adds 1 ATK for every 5 DEX you add, it also adds evasion (dodging ability) and hitting accuracy, though the formulas for this i dont know.

REACTION DEFENSE (REC) - adds 1 defense and 5 HP for every 1 REC you add, i believe REC also allows you to regenerate your HP faster the more you have, though you would likely need a ton of it for that to matter.

WISDOM (WIS) - adds 1 resist and 5 MP for every 1 WIS you add. I'm not completely sure how resist reduces the damage you take from magic, I've tested it but could not see a predictable way to explain the results. In any case i don't recommend archers adding any points into WIS, there are better ways to up your resist stat.

INTELLIGENCE (INT) - INT increases magic attack. Archers don't have any magic skills. Thus any points put into this stat are wasted.

BUILD GUIDE

What's the best build? A question that is heard a lot. The answer is, there is no BEST build anymore than there is a best color or best tool. It's subjective depending on many things that are different for each person. The purpose of this guide is not to put an end to all discussion of builds. That will never happen and I don't want it to. I will list some common build ideas, but stats and builds are something to be played around with and something that is ever changing and being experimented with.

• PURE LUC BUILDS - When people say this, I think they are usually operating under the assumption that you don't have a lot of stat points (which means you are lower level, PvPing at lvl 30 and such, or you are Normal or possibly Hard Mode.) "LUC build" usually means pure LUC or very very high LUC with low STR/DEX. It's generally accepted that 5 LUC = 1% more chance to critical hit. So in theory 475 LUC is considered 95% chance your shot will critical hit. But I also believe that much of it depends on your DEX, your target's DEX, your level in relationship to your target's level, and perhaps somewhat your target's LUC. The exact formulas are simply something we don't know. SonoV has not nor likely will never release such information so we are just speculating.
  
  However, most experienced archers will tell you 600 LUC is the most you should put, and 500 is the minimum. In Normal Mode, it's likely you will have to go pure LUC with your base stats and to reach this mark at high levels, but in HM and UM you can reach upwards of 1300 stat points, which means after the 500-600 LUC you still have plenty to put in STR and DEX. But when you start adding significant amounts of STR and DEX to the mix it is no longer a pure LUC build, and I prefer to call such builds Hybrid builds. That being said, in NM I don't recommend any form of LUC build unless you are going past level 50. You need a lot of stat points to make LUC worth it and in NM that means uber gear and very high level and a stat reset later. However, the common LUC builds are pure LUC or 1 DEX/the rest LUC per level.
  
  I don't like going pure LUC from the beginning, it just takes too long to level. I say it would take less time to be a STR/DEX build, level up, then spend some time farming and selling items for gold, buying a restat stone and change to a LUC build, than it would be to make a LUC build from the start and try to level it. In Normal Mode and Hard Mode i recommend at least lvl 40 before changing to pure LUC. In Ultimate Mode you can go a little earlier, about level 32 is when i did it but i had nicely lapised gear as well. I comment more about this later.
  
  
• STR/DEX BUILDS - 3 STR 2 DEX in NM, 5 STR 2 DEX in HM, 7 STR 2 DEX in UM. Those are the stock basic builds. Boring perhaps, but reliable and superior to LUC builds for the first 30 levels at least. Whenever I made archers, or any LUC build, I used these STR/DEX builds and reset my stats to LUC/Hybrid builds later.
  
  
• REC BUILDS - The theory and intention behind this kind of build is to level quickly and restat later. You basically put all your points into the REC stat and thus you make yourself a tank who has very high defense but nearly no attack. So it would be your job to act like a defender and team up with a mage. You gather a bunch of mobs and attack them to keep their attention and attacks on you, while the mage does the damage and kills them. I've never done this build, but others say it is faster leveling than standard archer builds. You will be useless solo though so make sure you have people to level up with. Again, you will be restating to a more conventional archer build later. If you just want to be a tank, choose defender, or priest/mage can make useful REC builds as well. But for archer the only reason to do such a build is to level fast and restat later. I imagine the common REC build would be 1 or 2 DEX per level to ensure you don't miss and then the rest into REC.
  
  
• HYBRID BUILDS - Generally, any build that combines all the stats in significant quantities each (LUC, DEX, STR, and perhaps REC) is something I would consider a Hybrid build. It's also the most solid and "best" build in my opinion but it requires that you have a LOT of stat points, which typically means at least Hard Mode and very very good gear. As far as grinding and PvE goes, at high level you are going to want 500+ LUC so that you critical hit almost every time, and 200+ DEX so that you do not miss too much against high level mobs, and at least a few hundred STR as well so that your damage is high enough. The importance of those stats are in that order, the 500 LUC, then the 200 DEX, then the STR. Ideally I would recommend even more, such as 550 LUC, 200 DEX, 400 STR. And it would not hurt to go even higher especially for PvP purposes.
  
  But so much of that depends on your gear and mode and finances. I'm not even going to say per level builds as Hybrids are complicated things to make and gear must be factored into achieving a good Hybrid build. But in the end, at lvl 60 every mode, even NM, has the potential by using great gear to be a Hybrid build that is superior to a comparative STR/DEX or pure LUC build.
  
  
• GRINDING BUILD After much testing and many stat resets the conclusion I've reached is that the best build for grinding in the end game (53+) is with numbers in the range of 225 DEX, 525 LUC, the rest in STR. That will give you maximum DPS to kill as fast as possible in PvE. If you do want to nos to speed things up weapon mastery is the best thing you can do. Clean hit nos would be the only other real option but in my opinion it's not significant enough to use constantly, WM is nice though.
  
  
• PURE STR ON KO Yeah I've tried it. In the interest of speeding up grinding as much as possible. I know a lot of fighters do it for this purpose. However, since archers get only 1:1 STR to ATK ratio and we get 1 ATK for every 3 LUC the results are different for us. First, I'll say it is indeed a bit faster. Your damage output will by slightly higher because it will be consistent damage. But it also means you need pure STR gear, good gear, to truly take advantage of such a build. That being said, it can get costly and here's the kicker, it's not THAT much better for an archer. The truth is, the way our stats work with LUC it just doesn't offer the same benefit that it does to fighters. So unless you have more money or gold than you know what to do with I would steer clear of this build.
  
  
• 1-15 PvP BUILDS I recommend 2 DEX per level and the rest STR, using dual STR/HP and DEX/HP lapis if you can afford it is what i like best in 1-15, the added HP goes a long way in protecting you. If you can't afford dual lapis, then lvl 3 STR and DEX lapis is what I would recommend. I don't like level 4 lapis due to the increased cost over lvl 3 but not much in terms of stat increase. Either I go all out with lvl 5s and duals or I just go lvl 3s, that's my opinion.
  
  However, there is a lot of talk about LUC builds. People keep asking me questions in regards to what kind of lapis they should use for a LUC build in 1-15. So let's run the numbers. I will say this, If you're not UM just forget it right now. If you're poor in game forget it right now. Only a UM archer with top notch gear can pull off something that could be considered somewhat halfway remotely decent with LUC in 1-15. A UM pure LUC archer at lvl 15 could reach about 250 LUC, (if you have worship helm and nos you can reach into the 300s) But still, it is about 50% critical hit rate. I won't bore you with all the math but it comes out to your crits (against a normal target with no added DEF) will range from 150 - 500 damage. Sounds nice, 500 damage at lvl 15. But remember it won't always be that on every shot. Your average critical damage will be 325.
  
  Now, with only 50% critical hit rate and no DEX you will flat out miss half the time. So while half your shots will average 325, the other half will average 0. Averaging those we get the figure of DPS of about 160 per hit. Now how does that stack up against a STR/DEX archer in 1-15. It's not far off actually. a 7 STR/2 DEX build using dual STR/DEX lapis will do average damage of about 200 per hit and you will only rarely miss against high dex sins. It's funny, the literal translation of the word "sin" is "to miss the mark". Ironic that we call the class known for evasion "sins" for short. Anyway back on topic, the STR/DEX build not only has higher DPS, it's also cheaper and easier to pull off. If you are not rich and UM then a LUC build is off the table. Even if you are rich and UM LUC still is not the best build for 1-15.
  
  
• 20-30 PvP BUILDS - I don't have much experience in this zone. A STR/DEX build will still be solid, but a well rounded LUC build has the ability in HM/UM to out damage a STR/DEX build at lvl 30 PvP. I would shoot for the high 400s for LUC and then try to get your DEX into the 100s. I wouldn't worry too much about STR. You will need great gear to pull off a build like this so only attempt it if you have lots of gold and are very serious about this PvP zone. Using great gear you can get your LUC in the mid 400s and your DEX into the mid 100s and you will still have some STR as well. But it requires expensive gear. If you can't afford such gear then perhaps you should stay as a STR/DEX build, shooting for maybe 150-200 DEX and the rest into STR.
  
  
• 1-60 PvP BUILDS - This is where I do my PvP as I believe the true point of the game is the end game PvP action, utilizing the best gear, skills, levels, and modes to their full potential. So I won't comment too much on builds because high level PvP things are closely guarded, this is war after all. But by reading through this guide you will obtain the necessary information to compile your own conclusions of what build is best for you in the end.
  
  
• I JUST WANNA UNLOCK HM/UM - If this is the case then 2 DEX every level and the rest into STR is the only way to go. LUC based builds are slower to level in the beginning stages so no point in putting points into LUC if you are just gonna move on when it starts to pay off. That being said you may wanna consider another class if your only goal is to unlock the next mode. Fighter would be faster, as would priest, mage, defender if you can get consistent parties.
  
  
• SWORD WIELDING ARCHER - The first time i heard of it i just dismissed it as a newbie question and replied not to use a sword but a normal bow. Then it came up again, and again. So let me offer my thoughts. There is just one massive problem that simply cannot be gotten around with this idea. Archers got virtually NO skills to use with a sword. Sleeper Ban and Mana Decay, that's it, and guess what? Mana Decay doesn't even work on mobs, and even if it did it's junk anyway. If you were to make a sword using archer, you would be doing nothing but normal attacks the whole time. An archer using a sword will also take an extensive amount of damage that a normal bow archer does not because of the range. Swords also don't get speed upgrades. In the end you simply won't be a good enough damage dealer to be able to handle the increasing difficulty of the monsters. However, if you are for some reason set on using a sword as your weapon of choice, what kind of build should you use?
  
  Treat yourself like any other melee class at this point as the way LUC works for you now is just as it does for a fighter, ranger, battle def. This doesn't mean that LUC is no longer useful, it just means that I wouldn't go over about 400 LUC. Though since you get no ATK bonus from LUC anymore, going pure LUC from the beginning is out as you will have no damage. 7 STR/2 DEX is all i could recommend for this. Of course this is all hypothetical as quite honestly this idea is a pretty horrible one and I doubt anyone would play it long enough to accrue so much LUC. Also, I wouldn't even attempt anything like this unless I was UM as you're gonna need every advantage you can get with this one. Yet i wouldn't dare do it in UM as you will certainly be dying a lot. On the plus side you won't have to worry about skills as you will get nothing useful for a sword. But it also means when you finally give up you can go to the merchant, buy a normal bow, purchase the proper skills, and continue your life as a normal bow archer.

TO RESTAT OR NOT TO RESTAT

In the end, archers are much more powerful as Hybrid builds. But to pull that off properly you need a lot of stat points. At the start you obviously don't have a lot of stat points. So in the beginning it is faster to be a STR/DEX build rather than a Pure LUC or a Hybrid LUC build. So there are two ways to do this. You can either start as a STR/DEX build and then reset your stats to a Hybrid build later or you can start your Hybrid build from lvl 1. The reset is much faster of course but the other option is cheaper. I guess it depends how valuable your time is. You can buy a stat initialization stone from the AP item mall in game, or you can buy it from other players using in game gold or trade.

Your stat totals in the end depend so much on the gear you make. Without considering your gear it's impossible to say how much base LUC, DEX, STR you should put. It's why nearly every high level archer has used multiple stat resets. I've personally used dozens, though I do a lot of statistical based tests in the effort to discover and refine game mechanics.

However given all my experience I would say that if you were adamant about not reseting your stats you should allocate them as follows. For the first 15 levels go 2 DEX each level and then the rest STR. If you are NM simply follow this forever because without expensive uber gear and very high level you won't be able to pull off a good Hybrid build. Stop in 1-15 PvP and get at least 1000 kills. Then start putting your points all into LUC and continue to do so until you reach a base LUC near 350. If you are UM you will be lvl 47 when that happens.

I'm assuming that as an HM or UM you will be eventually making very good gear. So after you have base LUC of 350 you can get the rest from gear, and the same is true for DEX. This means that you can then start going full STR with your stats every level. However, as you can see until you do make that great gear your base stats won't be enough to support you against the higher level mobs. You won't have 95% crit rate without your armor. I recommend a well lapised Legendary Dragon set. You can get by in lesser maps and dungeons with cheaper armors but for Pando, Desert, and Jungle you will want good armor, which means Dual Lapis (lvl 5 is a luxury but not mandatory with the great selection of LUC/STR/DEX duals available.)

So if you were insistent on not resetting your stats that's what I would do to make it as fast as possible at the start. However, as I said this build relies on you making a very well lapised Legendary Dragon set of armor because you'll need to get about 200 LUC and 200 DEX from your armor to be successful past lvl 53 or so. But that is true regardless of the build you use. Even a lvl 60 UM with good PvP rank doesn't have enough base stats to make a successful hybrid build, your gear counts for more than half your stat points in the end and you will need in the 1k range to make a good build. You just can't skimp on the gear if you are serious.

HOW DOES CRITICAL DAMAGE WORK?

I will start by saying that this is a highly debated thing. But I've done extensive testing and after over I am finally confident enough to say I'm 99.9% sure I understand exactly how crit damage works, actually damage in general. However, only the developers SonoV know the game mechanics and as you can see, it's basically up to the players to test and make guides like this so we will never get an official confirmation if anything we discover is true.

IS IT JUST 2x 3x 4x BASE DMG?

Nope. This is not how critical damage works in Shaiya. I know this is a standard setup for crits in other games but I have done a very specific test that blows this theory out of the water. At lvl 57 I put nearly all possible points into LUC; I reset my build just to test this, and I made pure LUC armor as well. My damage was very low but my LUC very high. I used a lvl 1 bow on Pando high defense mobs. My normal hits were doing consistent damage in the range of 50, yes 50 DMG. My critical hits were consistently getting as high as 700 and 800. If the damage multiplier theory was true that would mean that I was getting 16x crits. However, this can't be true, aside from that number being ridiculous, most normal build archers do normal hits of around 1000, so we would be criting for 16k. A lvl 60 UM using nuke shot lvl 3 can only muster about 8.5k max. So let it be known that in the world of Shaiya critical damage is not simple base damage multipliers; this we know for sure.

SO WHAT THE HECK IS IT THEN?

While we have to consider this a "theory" because we don't have official confirmation that this is how it works, I can say with confidence that this is correct. Yes I know it may look complicated but it's not and I will explain it all clearly.

critical damage = (((your ATK stat * ELEMENT factor) - target's DEF) * 1.5) + (your LUC stat * (random # between 0 and 1.5))

you can see that this formula takes your ATK stat and multiplies it by what I have labeled the ELEMENT factor. This figure is determined based on the elemental attributes of your weapon and the target's armor if applicable (I'll explain this later). Then the target's DEF stat is subtracted from this number, and the resulting damage is multiplied by 1.5 times. If you have no LUC then this is the end of your critical damage formula, but archers will have very high LUC at later levels and that adds even more power to our critical hits. Your LUC stat is taken and multiplied by a random number; anywhere from 0, which negates your LUC in terms of added damage, and 1.5.

ATK, DEF, and LUC

Your ATK stat can be seen on your stat window (press T). If you want your average ATK figure add your min and max stat together and divide by 2. As far as the target's DEF stat that of course depends on the target, but in general outside map mobs have very little DEF. My recent tests on map 3 put the DEF of fire orcs in the 10 or less range. Tests in cave of stigma yielded results of 50 DEF, so nothing too big. Pando mobs have DEF in the 400 - 500 range. More specifically the non elemental mobs have around 395 and the fire mobs have about 430. The random multiplier on your LUC is just that, random from shot to shot and unpredictable.

ELEMENT factor

Earth dominates Water which dominates Fire which dominates Wind which dominates Earth. Any element will give a 20% advantage over a non elemental target. The elemental factor is applied to your attack stat before the target's DEF is subtracted. It is applied in a single calculation, and the amount of the multiplier is based on which two elements (weapon and armor) are being used.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image.

If you have a non elemental weapon vs a non elemental target it is a figure of 1 (which really means it doesn't effect the damage). If you have a non elemental weapon against an elemental target the figure is .8 (20% damage reduction). If you have an elemental weapon against a non elemental target it is a figure of 1.2 (20% damage increase). Two neutral elements, such as fire vs fire or water vs wind is a figure of 1 (again no effect on DMG). Using a dominant weapon against a weak target such as fire vs wind or water vs fire is a figure of 1.4 (40% increase). Using the weak weapon against dominant target such as water vs earth mob or fire weapon vs water mob is a figure of .5 (50% damage reduction). So the potential figures for the ELEMENT factor of the formula are .5 , .8 , 1 , 1.2 , and 1.4.

A simpler way to quantify your critical damage is to notice what your normal non critical damage is. That is the equivalent of the (ATK * ELEMENT) - DEF) portion of the formula. Your normal damage * 1.5 will be the minimum amount you can critical hit for and your maximum crit is your (normal damage * 1.5) + (your LUC * 1.5). So let's say your normal damage is 500 and you have 500 LUC. Your critical damage will be at least 750 and at most 1500. Now, high LUC based critical hits are inconsistent. You will hit all over the place within that range; sometimes 1500 sometimes 750 and everywhere in between.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

Another thing to understand about this is the first half of that formula, which is listed in blue, is subject to the enemy's defense, resist, and elemental stats, as you can see. The portion in green, which deals with your LUC, does not take into consideration any of the target's defensive abilities nor elements; It's purely straight damage based on your LUC stat. People refer to this as crits "bypassing" enemy defense. This is not really true though; critical hits don't bypass defense, LUC damage bypasses defense. But only on some shots as the random factor is still there and can cancel your LUC damage completely sometimes.

That's why a pure LUC build would have higher damage output against a boss or target with very high defense, as at that point your ATK power as an archer is completely canceled by the targets defense. It's also why guardians do not like archers so much, as our LUC gives us the ability to hurt them regardless of how much DEF they have.

And again remember that everything is affected by the level difference between you and your target; including base damage, crit damage, damage gained from LUC, everything. If you are going up against a boss that is red or purple you will miss most of the time, and when you do hit your damage will be insignificant even if you have 1000 ATK and 600 LUC.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

You may not. But if you get serious at high level and you want to understand how stats affect results so that you can know what is the best use of your stats you may start to care. As an example, using figures from my old grind build; using a fire bow against wind goblins on map 3. Let's be generous and say they have 20 DEF.

(((920 * 1.4) - 20) * 1.5) + (500 * (random # between 0 and 1.5)) = 1902 - 2652

My critical damage from normal attacks, and I confirmed this, ranges from 1900 - 2650 in that situation. My bull's eye in that situation hits for as high as 3k which is cool to see. But if I leveled up and I wanted to know what I should do with my 9 stat points understanding this damage formula would help me. If I put 9 STR I would get an extra 19 damage. If I used the 9 points for LUC I would get an extra guaranteed 6 damage and up to another 14 damage on some shots, but that is subject to the random multiplier on LUC. So the LUC on the best shot would add 20 damage to a critical hit in this situation where as the STR adds 19 on EVERY shot; thus the STR is more beneficial to damage in this case.

Being able to understand and perfect stats in this way is why some people care, and why some of us spend hours figuring this stuff out. Casual players likely won't care, but then again casual players would never read such a statistical writing long enough to see this.

END GAME ARCHER BUILDS

With one exception we are pretty much talking about UM Hybrid builds here. With all serious archers likely being UM or perhaps HM lvl 60 in the end with great gear, you will be working with the potential for 1300+ stat points. Thus Hybrid build is the only way to go. What about that exception? Well, technically speaking, against targets with high defense LUC is simply better than any other stat. For archers, even the best of us can barely reach 1000+ ATK using a LUC build (which is the best at high levels), and targets with 1000 DEF will completely cancel out your entire attack power. LUC however, does not care about defense and will damage a full REC guardian the same as a squishy pagan. This also means that in terms of end game bosses a pure LUC build would do more damage for you than a hybrid build would.

Now if absolutely PURE in your LUC you would need Sharp Shooter NOS in order to hit a boss consistently, otherwise you will need some DEX as well. But, having said that, you will have to restat to a more conventional build to do anything else, such as grind, farm, or PvP to you fullest potential. However there is a way using two armor sets to achieve harmony, but this is for a lvl 60 UM who wants to do the end game bosses Freezing Mirage and Cryptic Throne. By being a pure LUC build and using a pure LUC armor for bosses with SS nos, and then using a second set of uber balanced LUC/STR/DEX armor for doing other things, you can avoid needing to constantly reset your stats. But if you are lvl 60 UM and interested in that you should have the knowledge to figure out the details yourself. So The main stats of an end game hybrid build are STR, DEX, and of course LUC. REC is not frowned upon but i wouldn't sacrifice any of the other three to get it.

DO LUC BUILDS NEED DEX?

Let's get this out of the way first. Somehow a long time ago perhaps in a land far away it got started that critical hits do not need DEX to hit, so if you are a high LUC build with 95% critical hit rate you wont need any DEX at all and you will always hit. Certainly in PvE before level 50+ this seems to be somewhat true, you can do just fine with a pure LUC build or even a STR/LUC build and little DEX. But in PvP and against the higher level mobs this becomes less true. Almost everyone who goes high LUC and low DEX thinks everything is fine, until they get to Pando and start missing so much that it becomes unbearable. So then we reset to include DEX and this seems to correct the problem. 200 DEX is the minimum recommended amount for high level action for a high LUC build and 300 DEX is more recommended for PvP. This is a touchy subject, we don't understand why things are as they are because nobody has run the proper tests.

How to know for sure?

Evasion/accuracy and critical evasion/accuracy is something not fully understood. We know for certain that LUC alone is responsible for adding critical hit RATE, but hit rate and accuracy are not the same. I would love to test this properly but at the moment I don't have the resources, which for the most part means I don't have a lvl 58 ranger friend to run the tests with me. I also don't have the possible 4 to 6 stat reset stones that would be needed. The possible theories are:

• DEX and DEX alone is responsible for accuracy and evasion, both normal and critical.
  
  
• DEX is responsible for normal accuracy/evasion, but LUC and LUC alone is responsible for critical accuracy and evasion.
  
  
• Both DEX and LUC have an effect on accuracy and evasion. LUC being responsible for critical accuracy and evasion, and DEX effecting both normal AND critical accuracy/evasion.
  

The test that needs to be run to narrow these down is simple, but potentially costly. It requires a duo of a high level UM archer and a UM ranger of the same level. (HM has the potential to pull this off as well, but must be high level). The archer needs to be pure LUC and have no DEX aside from the base DEX you must have. The ranger must be pure DEX and have no LUC aside from the base. The ranger can use the Agility DEX buff as well but neither should use their accuracy/evasion buffs. So an archer with 500+ LUC (the higher the better) vs a ranger with similar DEX could show us some things. The easy results any "scientist" would want is for the archer to either always crit or always miss.

That would mean that DEX and LUC separately handle normal and critical accuracy/evasion. If the archer always critical hit then it would mean that DEX does not help evade critical hits or help their accuracy. If the archer always missed it would mean that DEX is responsible for not only normal hits but also critical accuracy and evasion. My guess is that it would not be so simple. The official stat description for LUC says adds critical evasion. DEX doesn't say anything about critical at all. I would hope it's clean cut but my hypothesis is that both DEX and LUC play a part in critical accuracy and evasion. To what degree this is would require multiple tests, multiple stat resets, with multiple levels of DEX and LUC. As I said, I just don't have the resources right now to pull it off but if any other archers, rangers, hunters, assassins are as curious as I am you can run the basic test described above. That would at least give us an idea as to how it works.

But for now having 200-300 DEX is still our best option given our current understanding.

WHEN SHOULD I STOP ADDING LUC?

So now that we've got our DEX, whether that be 200 for grinding or upwards of 300+ for PvP, what about LUC and STR? Just for the record, at least at the current state of the game, and not including such super uber rare things like goddess armors and lvl 6 lapis, the most a lvl 60 UM archer can muster if you were to go pure LUC, and not counting super high PvP rank either, is about 1000 LUC. With the absolute best of everything and a ranger buff you could possibly squeeze out another few hundred or so. But just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you should.

We can say with certainty that 450 LUC is the absolute minimum amount you should have as an EGHA (end game hybrid archer) yeah I just made that up. We need at least that much because in theory at least that is the lowest figure I've heard that people believe can give you 95% critical hit rate (the idea being that we all get 5% natural crit rate and 1 LUC gives .2% increase on that). Nobody who knows anything about the game will claim that less LUC will give you 95% crit rate (for an archer without Etain bless buff or potential skill active or nos). So in terms of LUC, if you can't get 450 then don't make a LUC archer. But this is EGHA talk so of course we can get that much, and more.

There is a balance at which point LUC will stop paying off. Because LUC does two things: increases crit rate, and adds critical damage; and for us archers it also adds ATK. But once you reach the maximum crit rate of 95%, now all we are doing is looking for the balance between LUC and STR and what gives the most ATK damage to our critical hits. The simple answer is somewhere between 450 and 600 LUC, and if you have A.D.D. then take 525 as your figure and go play lol. Of course, if that's the case you never would have read this far. But in the end it is all about your target and that variable changes the answer greatly.

High Def

• Against a high defense target, whether that be a boss like FM or a lvl 60 UM guardian, they will have DEF stats nearing 1000 or more. As a high level UM archer the highest attack power achievable with a proper build is just around 1000 (going STR/DEX and no LUC can get you higher but damage output will be crap compared to a LUC build). A high defense target will completely negate all your attack power, thus giving you single or double digit damage and elements won't matter at that point. Your LUC is what can save you against such targets as their defense means nothing to your LUC.
  
  So as I already said, going pure LUC will give you the highest potential damage output against targets with high DEF (500 to 1000+). If the target has 1000 defense, any points you have in STR are completely void and only LUC will help you there. But pure LUC is not the best all around build so unless you want to restat back and forth to kill a boss every time I don't recommend it. A 60 UM fighter will likely out dps you even with a pure build and 900 LUC.

Middle Ground

• Against a target with 500 or less defense, now the difference between a pure LUC build and a hybrid build becomes much less because now your STR/ATK counts for something in addition to your LUC. In a matter of speaking, these kinds of targets will produce similar results whether your build be high LUC or more balanced between LUC and STR. I've tested against 500 DEF targets two builds with the same DEX (over 200). One with 750 LUC and less STR, and one with 500 LUC and more STR. The damage per hit was very different, but the overall DPS was very similar. To call one better would be a bold statement as the results were pretty close.

The Squishies

• Against a "squishy" target with 200 or less DEF, which is about what a high level toon would have if not adding anything into DEF or REC, kinda like you may be if you follow this guide. Having more STR vs LUC helps most here as all points you add into STR will count and add guaranteed consistent damage to your critical hits. If these are the kind of targets you are facing then LUC would be useful only to get 95% critical hit rate, after which adding points into STR would increase damage more than adding more LUC.

So in terms of damage against high defense targets LUC is better, and against low defense targets STR is better. Against medium defense targets they are about the same. Now here's the thing, most people are not going to have high defense besides good PvP casters and REC guardians. Everyone else for the most part will be under 500 DEF. Bosses and high level dungeon mobs will have higher defenses though. I'm not here to tell you WHAT to do but rather to tell you information so that you can choose what you want to do given the environment.

There is no one build that will Pwn All. That being said, I feel that 550 LUC would be a nice figure; added unto your 300 DEX and 400 or so STR would make a pretty solid build both for grinding and PvP. I wouldn't recommend much over 600 LUC for a well rounded build and certainly no less than 450. If you can manage to get it into the 500s with LUC and over 200 DEX you will be just fine.

LAPIS GUIDE

What Lapis should I use? A valid question but no straight answer. Of course so much depends on your build and your playing style and what your intentions are, but there are a few truths that are useful to all archers in terms of lapis; and there are some things to keep in mind when choosing lapis. I will list the different kinds of lapis and then offer my thoughts about some helpful things to keep in mind when choosing lapis. As of right now, lvl 6 stat lapis is very rare, to the point where you really shouldn't even take it into consideration. There also may be one or two lvl 7s out there but again too rare to even think about in this episode of the game. Dual lapis has 4 varieties for each type and can be linked to ANYTHING that has slots (except jewelery - rings/armlets/loops).

Lapis are gemstones of power that you can link to your weapons and armors in order to increase the stats that they give you. You do this by acquiring the lapis either from killing a mob in a PvP zone and getting the drop or from buying it from other players or merchants in a guild house. Once you have the lapis, you can take it to a blacksmith in any major town. You talk to him, tell him to link lapis, and then put in the piece of slotted gear (not all has slots for lapis) and then place the lapis you want to try to link in one of the slots and click link. It costs gold to do this and depending on the lapis lvl it has varying degrees of success. It can be as low as 1% chance or as high as 50% chance. You can use AP item linking hammers to increase the chance but it will never go above 50% chance.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. CRAFT LAPIS - Adds STR and can be linked to top armor, pants, boots, and weapons.
Normal Craft: lvl 1 adds +3 STR, lvl 2 +5 STR, lvl 3 +7 STR, lvl 4 +10 STR, lvl 5 +20 STR, lvl 6 +30 STR.
Dual Craft: lvl 1 adds +9 STR and +8 DEX, lvl 2 gives +9 STR and +12 DEF, lvl 3 gives +9 STR and +175 HP, and lvl 4 gives +9 STR and +175 SP.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. SHREWD LAPIS - Adds DEX and can be linked to top armor, gauntlets, boots, and weapons.
Normal Shrewd: lvl 1 adds +3 DEX, lvl 2 +5 DEX, lvl 3 +7 DEX, lvl 4 +10 DEX, lvl 5 +20 DEX, lvl 6 +30 DEX.
Dual Shrewd: lvl 1 adds +9 DEX and +12 DEF, lvl 2 gives +9 DEX and +8 LUC, lvl 3 gives +9 DEX and +175 SP, and lvl 4 gives +9 DEX and +175 HP.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. FORTUNE LAPIS - Adds LUC and can be linked to top armor, pants, boots, and weapons.
Normal Fortune: lvl 1 gives +3 LUC, lvl 2 +5 LUC, lvl 3 +7 LUC, lvl 4 +10 LUC, lvl 5 +20 LUC, lvl 6 +30 LUC.
Dual Fortune: lvl 1 gives +9 LUC and +8 STR, lvl 2 gives +9 LUC and +11 to min AND max ATK (this only links to weapons), lvl 3 gives +9 LUC and +175 SP, and lvl 4 gives +9 LUC and +36 magic resistance.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. SAFE LAPIS - Adds REC and can be linked to pants, gauntlets, boots, and weapons.
Normal Safe: lvl 1 adds +3 REC, lvl 2 +5 REC, lvl 3 +7 REC, lvl 4 +10 REC, lvl 5 +20 REC, lvl 6 +30 REC.
Dual Safe: lvl 1 adds +9 REC and +12 DEF, lvl 2 gives +9 REC and +11 to MAX ATK, lvl 3 gives +9 REC and +36 magic resistance, and lvl 4 gives +9 REC and +175 SP.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. ASSAULT LAPIS - Adds MIN and MAX ATK to weapons. It can ONLY be linked to weapons.
Normal Assault: lvl 1 adds +3 ATK, lvl 2 +5 ATK, lvl 3 +8 ATK, lvl 4 +16 ATK, lvl 5 +24 ATK.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. WIT LAPIS - Adds magic resistance, reducing the damage you take from magic spells. It can only be linked to helms.
Normal Wit: level 1 adds +10 resist, lvl 2 +20 resist, lvl 3 gives +30 resist, lvl 4 gives +50 resist, lvl 5 +75 resist, and lvl 6 +100 resist. (there is no reason to use lvl 1, 2, or 3; there are better uses for that helm slot including dual fortune 4 which not only gives 9 LUC but 36 resist as well).

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. LIFE LAPIS - Adds HP and can be linked to anything except weapons.
Normal Life: lvl 1 gives + 50 HP, lvl 2 +100 HP, lvl 3 +180 HP, lvl 4 +240 HP, lvl 5 +360 HP. I believe HP lapis is the way to go if you want more defensive survivability. I'll write below why I think it's better than adding DEF.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. ACCESSORY LAPIS - There are rings, loops, and armlets that have slots for lapis. SP and MP lapis can be linked to these, and there is also what we call accessory lapis that gives +7 to one stat and +6 to another, so each lapis ends up giving 13 stat points divided in that ratio between two stat categories, an example, one gives +7 LUC and + 6 DEX. These lapis have a linking rate of 1% and 2% at high bless. If you use an OP hammer it will be 20% chance of success. However if it fails to link it will break your jewelry as well. The way to stop that is by having an AP item called a Lucky Charm. If the lapis fails then the lucky charm will break and your jewelry will be spared. This is very hard to link, just like sonic lapis, and can be very expensive.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. SONIC LAPIS - Increases your movement speed. Can only be linked to boots. lvl 1 increases speed by 1 level, lvl 2 increases speed by two levels. This also has a 1% linking chance, 2% at high bless. Again using an OP you can get 20% chance and it will break your boots if it fails, unless you have a lucky charm, in which case the charm will break. This is even more expensive to link than an accessory lapis as the sonic lapis itself is very expensive, plus the OP hammer, and the lucky charm you need for every attempt. But it is so awesome especially as an archer to have sonic boots. It makes kiting much easier and ends up saving you a lot of damage both in PvE and PvP. If you can manage to get sonic boots you will not regret it.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. DEBUFF LAPIS - These lapis offer various dubuffing effects that have a chance to hit on every attack. There are many of them out there but in my opinion there is only one that interests me as an archer. Slo Mo, which decreases the target's attack speed by two levels for 30 seconds. Combined with Slow and Slump Shot you could knock down an enemy in PvP by 4 attack speeds, rendering them pretty much a sitting duck. A warrior has an attack speed of Fast when using dual axes so this would take him down to Slow, which is horribly debilitating; not to mention the Slow skill also takes his moving speed down. That would be one annoying archer to deal with. The accuracy of the debuff effects is something that seems to vary between each type, but I've heard good things about Slo Mo's effect actually hitting most of the time.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. FLASH LAPIS - I personally have no interest in Flash lvl 1. It raises ATK speed by one level. Unfortunately for our bows, the base ATK speed is normal. With the two mastery skills it becomes fast (the elfen aqua bow ends up being 1 speed faster at very fast). The fastest possible speed is extremely fast. In order to make a bow extremely fast you need to raise it two levels. Thus I would only waste a slot on flash if it was lvl 2. The difference between the speed of the aqua bow and a normal bow is not very significant to me. But the aqua bow on nos is very noticeable. If and when they release Flash lvl 2 I would do my best to put that on every bow I had, but lvl 1 does not interest me. Just my opinion.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. HORIZON LAPIS - Horizon lvl 1 increases your range by 1 meter. Honestly that's pretty insignificant. I would be interested if it was a bigger increase like 5 m, but from what I remember from the Chinese site even the higher levels of horizon lapis do not give that much. Perhaps if you stacked multiple ones on a single weapon you could achieve something significant but then you're wasting far too many slots. So to me horizon lapis is pretty much useless and always will be.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. AND THE OTHERS - I've decided to collect the other types of lapis and list them here; knowing this, they are almost completely useless for archers, or there are better options out there. WIS, adds resist and MP but there is dual fortune 4 and WIT lapis for that. INT, completely useless. Endure, 100% crap. Deceive, assault is better, again there are better uses for a slot. Mental, adds MP but you shouldn't need it, don't waste a spot. SP, if you have slotted jewelery and can't afford to link the accessory stat lapis to it, SP would be a good choice. Forbid, adds DEF, I'll talk below about why I don't think this is worth using (unless your are a REC archer).

CONSIDER BEFORE LAPISING...

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. MAGIC DEFY the UM archer skill at lvl 3 blocks up to 5 magic attacks every 5 minutes. For the most part this make resistance unnecessary. Just something to keep in mind. You may want to choose duals with more HP or more stats over something like wit or resist.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. USE YOUR RANGE to your advantage. This is certainly true for PvE, not necessarily for PvP. But since archers are ranged attackers, we take less hits than fighters. So it is usually not necessary to have high defense. Thus you can choose lapis that give more stats rather than defense. I'm not saying not to add REC or DEF stats, I'm just saying your range does offer some protection and that is something to keep in mind as well.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. HP IS NEVER A BAD THING Especially in PvP, there is only so much you can do if you don't have enough HP to survive an initial attack. Some high level warriors DS (deadly strike skill) for 6k+ damage. If you don't have that much HP you are just one hit kill fodder for any warrior you meet. And high level hunters rapid shot for the same. You have to be able to take at least one hit. You can't pot if you're dead. So I recommend shooting for a minimum of 6k HP at high levels. (and you can't make it without adding some kind of HP via lapis). Archers, even in UM only get about 4800 natural HP. Adding unto that the base HP of armor it's in the 5900 range. That's really pushing it, I prefer to have a few thousand more. There is straight life lapis but I would recommend only lvl 5s at high level (slots are valuable). And there are dual lapis as well that add DEX and HP as well as STR and HP. For PvE this is less important and you should not have much problems with survivability in PvE.

Now, let's think in terms of high level PvP. You have one slot open, You could potentially get up to 20 stats out of that slot, or you could get 360 HP. Neither seems all that big, you're not gonna notice an extra 20 damage when you hit for 2k+, nor will 360 HP do much to thwart someone who does the same. But over the course of 4 or 5 pieces of gear, that 360 HP can turn into nearly 1800 HP and that IS significant. Of course you have to give up about 100 stat points to get that and is that worth it? hmm an extra 150 critical damage or 1800 more HP. Again I would ask, do you think you would notice a difference from 150 damage when you are critting for over 2k? probably not. Would you notice a difference in survivability with an extra 1800 HP? probably. Even if it means nothing more than you can survive a DS/WS combo long enough to pot and run. Anyway, just making some observations. Especially in PvP victory depends on more than how many stats you have. An extra 100 stats doesn't mean much if you're dead. If you put a dual craft 3, dual dex 4, and lvl 5 life on all 5 armor pieces that would give you an extra 3550 HP. Combined with prayer and AoP you could reach over 10k, not bad.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. WHAT ABOUT REC OR DEF? HP always offers more survivability for archers than REC or defense does. The exception would be if you are doing a REC build for the purpose of faster grinding, but eventually you will be a normal attack archer in the end. The reason HP is better is because as archers, in general (and in PvP), we are usually dealing with one on one fights. When comparing equal DEF vs HP lapises, the HP always offers more survivability. It averages out to needing to take 15 hits before the defense lapis is better than the HP lapis. What I mean is that comparing a lvl 5 Forbid (24 DEF) and a lvl 5 Life (360 HP), by taking 24 less damage per hit with the forbid lapis, you need to take 15 hits before you save 360 damage.

Now if you were AoEing (which stands for Area Of Effect and refers to the idea of gathering a lot of enemies around you and then using skills that damage all enemies within a given area) 10 mobs at once you could get hit 15 times very quickly, (not even two attacks from each mob) but in PvP even against a few targets at once it will take a while to get hit 15 times. Unless of course we are talking high level and a few warriors DS/WS/EWS you, but you'll be dead in about 4 hits anyway regardless of your lapis so it won't matter. Which brings up the main point, if you are not built to take 15 hits in a short amount of time and still be standing, which pretty much means a tank build, then HP will help you more than DEF.

The 15 figure holds true for the other level of lapis as well, lvl 4s and the dual lapis, etc. But if you are really sold on adding DEF the REC/DEF dual lapis is the best choice, better than a lvl 5 Forbid. Well actually lvl 5 REC is the best as it gives 20 DEF and 100 HP, but for the top armor the REC/DEF (Dual Safe lvl 1) is the best. But even comparing a 5 REC with a 5 Life it will take 13 hits to make the REC lapis better. And of course DEF offers no protection from magic where as HP does.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. ASSAULT IS ALWAYS BETTER than craft lapis on your weapon (well lvl 1 and 2 craft and assault lapis are equal, all the rest assault is better). Archers get 1 ATK for every 1 STR. So assault ends up giving more ATK than craft, and thus if you are only choosing one to use, use assault. It's cheaper anyway.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. DUAL FORTUNE LVL 2 gives 11 ATK and 9 LUC (which archers get 3 more ATK from). So it gives 14 ATK and 9 LUC. To me that is better than assault 4. It's also definitely better than Dual Fortune lvl 1 which gives 8 STR (8 ATK) and 9 LUC. Dual fortune lvl 2 is one of the cheapest dual lapis out there, it's also one of the best for archer weapons.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. THINK MORE CREATIVELY than just "put all lvl 5s on everything". With so many dual lapis around there are actually better ways and cheaper ways to achieve the same or better results. An example: using two slots to put lvl 5 craft and lvl 5 LUC would yield 27 ATK (20 from the craft and 7 from the LUC) and 20 LUC. It also means you have to link two level 5s which usually means using OP hammers. It can get pretty pricey pretty quick. Or you could use those same two slots to put dual fortune 1 and 2, which would give you 25 ATK and 18 LUC. It's slightly less than the lvl 5s but costs a quarter of the price since you won't need OP hammers to do it. And honestly you're not going to notice any performance difference between those two setups. You will save 100s of millions by using the duals though. There are lots of options out there and just because you don't have billions of gold doesn't mean you can't get uber gear and great results. There are 3 dual lapis that give +17 stat points, which puts them nearly on par with a lvl 5 lapis; but again the cost of linking a dual lapis is a fraction of that of a lvl 5 and the performance difference will be insignificant.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image. IT'S ELEMENT-ARY MY DEAR Should I put an element in my gear? A question more relevant to high level characters and PvP characters. The average NM or HM that is just trying to unlock the next mode doesn't need to be concerned with elemental gear. Archers get a water bow at level 45 but as you only need level 40 to unlock the next mode it only applies to those going higher.

Elemental lapis is very expensive. The reason being that everybody wants it; and not just one but many. That, plus the fact that only one boss in the entire game drops it, Kimiraku (the D-water dungeon 2 boss) and he spawns a lengthy 12 hours after the last time he was killed, the supply that can get into the game is small compared to the demand.

This image has been resized. Click to view the full Size Image.

The effect of elemental lapis is huge. I don't have room to write an elemental guide here but let's just say that an element gives % of damage increase/reduction of up to 40% depending on if it's dominant or weak against the element of your opponent. Remember Earth > Water > Fire > Wind > Earth. There is no BEST element, as every element has a strength and a weakness.

• 1-15 PvP
  
  Elemental gear is not essential to success. If you have elemental gear you are among the elite as far as gear goes. It also doesn't really matter what element you choose as most people don't have elemental weapons or armor at that level. Fire armor is nice as it will protect you from enemy casters wind spells. Because of that, putting water on your weapon would not be bad, in case you do run across someone who has fire armor. I'm not going to get too much into elemental and PvP strategies.
  
  However, in 1-15 keep in mind elemental lapis works on damage percentage system. Assuming your target does not have elemental armor, which few do at lvl 15, then an elemental weapon will do 20% more damage than a normal weapon. So if you have an attack power of 200, using an elemental weapon will up that to 240. My fighter at lvl 15 had 350 attack power so an elemental weapon benefits me a bit more at around 70 ATK boost, but archers usually won't have attack quite that high. So keep in mind that an assault lvl 5 lapis adds 24 ATK and costs a fraction of the price of an elemental lapis. You really really really have to be serious about staying a long time in order to invest that kind of gold into a lvl 15 weapon or armor.
  
  And speaking of the armor, the damage you will take, again assuming the enemy does not have an elemental weapon as most don't will be 20% less damage. So again if the enemy was gonna hit you for 200 he would now hit for 160. If I was going to hit your for 350 I would now hit you for 280. And also keep in mind that a forbid lvl 5 is pretty cheap and adds 24 defense. Because of the cost of elemental lapis and the fact that at level 15 we don't have much stats and ele lapis works on % based system it is not always best to throw eles on your gear at that level unless you are super crazy about maximizing your damage/defense.
  
  
• 20-30 PvP
  
  Elemental lapis has more of an impact. Again because it works on a percentage based system and at level 30 you have much more stats and also 3 and 4 slotted gear and helms to get even more stats. So here, where people can hit in the 1000+ range, an elemental lapis starts adding a significant amount of damage both given and taken. But it's still expensive so only for those who are serious about their PvP. However, an elemental lvl 25 Heroic Siege bow can last you pretty long in terms of grinding after you decide to level out of PvP. I had one and it holds out being better than a higher level non elemental bow until you get your lvl 45 epic water bow.
  
  
• END GAME
  
  For high level archers, elemental weapons are almost required. As said, you get a free water bow from a quest at lvl 45 so everyone will have at least a water weapon. However, water weapons are weak against Earth mobs, and one of the high level maps (Pando) have tons of earth mobs. So your water weapon is actually worse than using a normal non elemental weapon against earth mobs. Wind weapons are very popular precisely because since we all get water weapons for free, having a wind weapon compliments it nicely. The water bow is weak against earth, but a wind weapon is strong against it. Having water and wind means you will never be stuck with the elemental disadvantage.
  
  It's very possible to get to high level without anything more than your epic water bow. You can go to elemental cave and the non elemental gnomes, wolves, monkeys in Pando until you are level 54. After which you can move on to the fire bears and monkeys in Pando. You can stay there until lvl 56 or 57 if you had to. After that it will start being harder and harder to get by without at least two elemental bows. There are two general setups in regards to elemental weapons. Either have a water and a wind, or have a fire and an earth bow. The first setup will allow you to go to the Jungle maps and do well (after level 53). The latter makes for easy grinding in the desert maps. Since deep desert two is the highest EXP in the game, it would be preferred to have a fire and an earth bow, and because there are groups of only wind mobs in the desert you can actually do just fine all the way to lvl 60 with only a fire bow. In my opinion, having at least your water bow and another elemental bow is necessary to make the grind to 60 tolerable. Of course you can stay in Pando with your water bow until lvl 60 but that is a very slow road.
  
  Elemental armor is another story. In PvE, really any element will do because most mobs attacks are non elemental, thus ANY elemental armor will give you a 20% protection boost against attacks. Some attacks like magic have elements on them, such as meteor is fire. against those attacks it does matter what element your armor is. But such attacks are not very common and thus its not all that important for PvE which element you have in your armor. It's also not essential that you have any ele at all in your armor as an archer.
  
  For PvP things can get really complicated when trying to choose an element. You have no idea what kind of elemental weapon your opponent has, and at high level he likely has two or three, even four different ele weapons. It can also pose a problem, if it becomes known what element you have in your armor (and that's not hard to figure out if someone fights you a few times using different elemental weapons). Then they know exactly what to use against you to get that 40% damage bonus. It could be argued that it's better to have no element in your armor, unless you have several armors to switch out. Otherwise, if your weakness becomes known your expensive top just became a liability. Anyway my purpose is not to tell you which ele to pick or if you should pick one at all, but rather just present the information. The choice is yours.

GRIND GUIDE

Where should I go to grind at lvl xx ? is another question heard a lot. I think mostly the motivation behind such a question comes from feeling the pain of grinding and thinking surely someone who has done this before must have a faster way. Well I can tell you there is no shortcut. Grinding is tedious and gets worse with every level. I highly recommend doing quests whenever possible to break up the grind. But in the end you just have to push through it and try to have as much fun as possible. I never intended for this to be a walkthrough strategy guide that you could follow step by step to "beat" the game. Grinding is a big part of the game, but there is no set formula of go here, then here, then here. I do want to offer tips but it will not be in the form of "lvl 23 grind here, lvl 42 grind here, etc." Not to mention the fact that I haven't been low level for a long time; since I started my UM in August of 2008, so I don't really remember specifically where I went for each level.

But that's not the point.I'm here to give you information so that you will be able to go out there and be the best you can be. But this is not a strategy guide per say, I'm not a fan of strategy guides that walk you through the actual game play. A game is meant to be played and explored, not just followed along with a guide. That being said, there are pointers I can give having made the journey to and past lvl 50 many many times with many classes, and most recently with a UM archer.

My simple formula of where to grind is, stay outside of dungeons, especially if you're alone. Look for green or yellow mobs, or orange if you can kill them fast but remember killing fast is what we aim to do so don't take on targets that are too high for your level. Avoid mobs that have bad debuff or poison or high damage skills. As an archer avoiding ranged mobs and magical mobs is also good advice.

MAP ONE: ERINA

The first few levels go very fast. After a couple of kills you will have already leveled up once maybe twice. For the most part I recommend that you follow your quests, indicated by yellow and blue dots on your map (press M). Blue dot means you have finished something and just need to return to the dot. Yellow dots mean you have not yet picked up the quest and need to go there to start it. They will pretty much show you the best mobs to kill for your level. They will also give you a significant reward in the form of gold and EXP and occasionally armor and weapons as well.

Map 1 is loaded with quests that will last you to around level 20. I recently went back with my lvl 57 archer, having realized that I did not do any of the map one quests. It took me nearly a full day to finish them all, and that is with me one hit killing everything. That's how many quests there are on map 1. This does not stay that way throughout the whole game. As you reach higher levels quests become fewer and farther in between, so take advantage of them now. That being said, I really don't have any more comments on where to grind in map 1 as by following your quests you should have no problems finding appropriate green or yellow mobs to kill. Some mobs, like goblin shaman have magical slowing spells, but for the most part mobs on map one don't have any serious debuffing or poison skills.

Cornwell's Ruins

This is a lvl 18+ dungeon if I remember correctly, yet I don't recommend trying to solo there as an archer, there are lots of magical mobs and even with the UM Magic Defy skill they will eat you up quickly. Dungeons in general are also very crowded with mobs and don't fit well with the range you want as an archer.

Cloron's Lair

This is in general a lvl 40+ though some classes can survive on floor one sooner. Still this is a higher level dungeon so don't worry about that just yet. Actually if you follow my advice you won't ever go here until 55+ and then only for farming purposes.

MAP TWO: WILLIEOSEU

At around level 20, a bit sooner if you are higher mode, you will be able to move on to map 2. You could also go into Cornwell's Ruins and grind there however as I said I'm not a huge fan of dungeons; I prefer to stay outside. Kills are easier and faster and there is less risk of dying. Dungeons can also be quite crowded with both mobs and other players. And remember, for an archer your goal is to kill before the mob reaches you and dungeons mobs are harder to pull that off with. You really don't ever have to go inside a dungeon. For the most part I never did when grinding my archer. Again keep in mind the general rule of look for greens or yellows. If you find oranges are easy enough to kill quickly then by all means go for it, but reds are almost never appropriate and by that I mean faster than easier than lesser mobs. So long as there is a yellow dot (quest) you should get it because again they point you towards mobs that are suited for your level. There will be some levels where no quests appear. In that case again just look around for mobs that are yellow and test how well you can kill them. Map 2 will last you from around lvl 20 to the mid 30s. You essentially just follow the road west, then it heads south and then it curves east. You will likely then follow the bridge further south until you reach the mid 30s in level, at which point you will go to the portal to map 3.

Fedion

This dungeon is for around lvl 30+ Again as an archer I don't really recommend grinding in dungeons unless you have a party, in which case just follow them.

Maitreyan

This is a lvl 36+ dungeon square in the center of the map. The mobs in here have poison skills, there is not much reason to go in here solo, you will be better off killing the outside mobs; it's faster, it's easy, and it makes you feel like a badazz. The only reason you will need to come here is to do the lvl 43 Epic quest and kill the bosses.

Elemental Cave

Located to the far south of the map, this is a dungeon for levels in the high 40s low 50s so don't worry about this one just yet. We will come back here later.

MAP THREE: ADELLIA

This is a bigger map. Once your reach lvl 40 you can buy a mount and that will help traversing the distances. For the most part the mobs here are just repeats and they usually have the same skills as their lower level counterparts. Dwarfs have slow and darkness, goblins have slap, orcs have double pain (poison), harpies have slow, etc. Again look for yellow mobs and test it out. Your quests will point you in the right direction. There is an epic quest at level 43 that has you kill an orc boss Kiba Tul. He is red at lvl 43 and honestly quite tough, especially if you are not UM. You may need help with him or wait a few more levels if you want to do it solo. The reward for the quest is the water bow but you can't use it until level 45 anyway so there is no rush. There is a favorite spot of mine in the Southeast corner of the map near the portal to the D-Water PvP zone. The Black Breath goblin camp there is a nice spot for the mid to high 40s. There are lots of mobs, they die quickly and I was pretty much able to stand in the middle of the camp and auto attack while watching TV. There is a boss there and if you are not careful you may attack him, if that happens just run to let him reset.

Cave of Stigma

This is a lvl 53+ dungeon. Really the EXP in there is bad so there is not much reason to grind here. The main point of going there is to kill the bosses, which drop lvl 5 lapis and respawn every 30 minutes. But as an archer you won't be able to do that solo and you will like to be lvl 55+ to take part in that anyway. There are too many mobs for a single archer to handle alone, not to mention the bosses themselves.

NOW WHERE?

After map 3 you run out of outside maps. By now you should be in the high 40s. There are a few options where to go now and they depend on the mode and gear of your archer.

Elemental Cave

Now that you are the appropriate level you can head back to EC on map 2. The beginning mobs are earth elemental/non elemental so using your water bow there you will have to be selective and not attack the earth elemental plant ladies. After you level up a couple more times to about lvl 51 you can go further in and target the succubi, which are water element, ghosts, which are non elemental, and mares which are fire elemental. Using your water bow you can stay and grind here until about level 53.

D-Water Dungeon 2 (D2)

This is an alternative to fighting the plant ladies in EC. If you go here it is located in a PvP map so be warned that Furies are about and can kill you if they wish. I don't recommend this because there are complications with grinding in PvP zones that you don't have to deal with elsewhere.

Cloron's Lair

You could also go to floor 3 of the Cloron's Lair dungeon on map 1. The mobs there are mutants and arachnes. They have magic roots and poison skills so they are not ideal. There are ghosts farther in that better suited to grind on. For the most part though once you reach the 50s you should go to the EC succubi/ghosts/mares with your water bow.

Pando (Skulleron)

This dungeon is lvl 49+ but is not for Normal Mode archers. Even HM and UM will struggle here without good gear. The first few mobs are non elemental. After that they become earth elemental which is bad news if you use the water bow. Grinding here is an alternative to the places listed above but will require a wind elemental bow. If all you have is water you can grind on the non elemental mobs until lvl 53 as an alternative to Elemental Cave. At level 54 you can then start to fight the fire bears / monkeys. Using your water bow for an HM/UM with good gear you should be able to solo these easily enough. From here on there are fire mobs in Pando so with nothing more than your water bow you can make your way towards Calli Puirr as you increase in level.

Stable Erde (Jungle) and Deep Desert 1 (DD1)

The portals to these maps are located in Karis Castle in D-Water. These maps are also PvP zones and you can and will be killed by the Fury while there. Just like Pando a NM cannot solo here, and HM/UM will need good gear. Still they offer much better EXP than Pando does. You will want to be level 53+ to kill here solo. The mobs in Deep Desert are wind and water elemental. You will need to have at least fire bow or an earth bow to do well here. And if you only have one you will have to selectively kill the mobs you are dominant over. It is simply too slow to kill these higher level mobs without having the dominant element over them. The jungle has mobs of all elements including fire so if you have only your water bow the jungle would be a better choice selectively targeting the fire mobs. Again 53+ to solo here.

Deep Desert 2 (DD2)

The portal to this map is in Deep Desert 1. As of EP3 this is the hardest/highest level map in the game and of course gives the best EXP. The mobs are again wind and water elements. You will need to be level 56+ to start soloing here. As far as getting to level 60 goes it's either here in DD2 or it's stay in Pando. The desert is of course much faster but it requires grinding in a PvP zone so it is risky. Pando is completely safe yet the EXP past level 58 becomes very slow. The choice is yours but those are pretty much the options. If you are NM looking to get lvl 60 you will need help regardless of where you go.

There really are no magical spots that make grinding easier. It's as simple as find a green or a yellow mob and try to kill it. Some mobs have bad debuffs or attacks, but you will quickly learn if that's true and avoid them. There are some levels that are easier than others. Sometimes you reach a level where the yellow mobs available may have a bad attack, but the green ones give bad EXP. Don't worry, this is normal you just have to pick a spot and push through it. Grinding is not fun but take comfort in the fact that others have suffered the same experience before you. And if at all possible I recommend partying, if for nothing more than the social aspect.

Just make sure you are killing mobs that are not too hard for you nor too easy because one will take too long to kill and the other will be such bad EXP that you will lengthen your grind time by days or even weeks in the end. In general yellows are good for the first 50 levels. After that, greens become the better choice as mobs get pretty tough and you don't want to have the extra penalties that come with fighting mobs higher level than you.

QUEST GUIDE

Here I will list the few quests that I feel are necessary to do. There really are not many so if you don't want to quest you certainly don't have to. Though again I recommend newer players to do all the quests, the ones I will list below are pretty significant in their rewards. Most quests just give some gold and exp for completing them but there are a few that give rewards, and a smaller few that give rewards so good you should not miss them.

CORNWELL'S RUIN

This quest starts from Alicia Irwen at a tower west of Brunen Ferry. She tells you to kill 4 Cornwell Forest Zombies and 4 Sticky Liquid Zombies. They can be found just to the west of the tower toward cornwell's ruins. The reward is lvl 9 Noble Leather Boots (the best armor for 1-15 PvP zone.)

ITEM SUPPLY

This quest starts from Sharnie at the Hunters camp to the east on map 1. She asks you to kill Windtail Forest Brown Bears and collect 10 Bearskins. They can be found just of the Hunters camp. The reward is lvl 10 Noble Leather Pants (the best for the 1-15 PvP zone).

ROBBED WOODPILE (Part One), Robbed Woodpile (Part Two), Firewood Delivery

This series starts from Ernest, a Guard at a tower west of Brunen Ferry. It takes you over to Eric at Arbor farm, where you have to then kill Stonepick Goblin Shamans to the south. The quest says to collect 5 woodpiles. ACTUALLY YOU NEED TO COLLECT 15 woodpiles. Bring the 15 piles back and he will send you back to Ernest at the tower, who will give you the lvl 11 Noble Leather Armor (the best armor for 1-15 PvP zone.)

SINGING TREE

This quest starts from Narus Kiron in the Fanselon Institute. You have play talk tag with another NPC to the northeast and then kill Windtail Forest Tree Guards to get 10 Leaf Powders. The reward is the lvl 13 Noble Composite Bow (the best for the 1-15 PvP zone).

VAGABOND BIG BROWN BEAR MOPPING UP OPERATION

This quest starts from Mark Dover, the Protection merchant at Keolloseu Town. He asks you to kill 10 Vagabond Big Brown Bears which can be found north west of Keolloseu at the words PlusWooper Forest on the map. The rewars is lvl 15 Noble Hard Leather Gauntlets (the best gauntlets for 1-15 PvP zone.) These gauntlets are also buyable from an upgraded guildhouse so I you happen to have access to that, you can skip this quest.

LVL 30 DREAD QUESTS

Hard mode and ultimate mode characters have the ability to complete quests for lvl 29-32 dread armors (the gloves and boots are the best for the 20-30 PvP zone, with the exception of a few legend pieces that are out there). To start these quests you must get (sometimes hard to drop) items from certain mobs and then right click them to start the quest. Be patient as you may need to kill these mobs for hours in some cases before you get the item to drop. Yeah it's boring, but we've all done it.

• Lvl 29 Dread Unicorn Gauntlets
  The item you need to start the quest is Poema's Mandolin. It drops from Julia Duiliun who is located on an island in the middle of the lake just southeast of Arktus Ville, the same lake that has Madwing. The quest runs you back and forth from the lake to Haldock Farm, I don't remember the specifics of it but it is not difficult. *In order to start the Poemas Mandolin quest, a previous quest is required. The Failed Experiment quests, which start near Fedion dungeon with the NPC characters Creath Question and Catherine Parke. There are several of these failed experiment quests, and they take you through Apulune, so make sure you do them all. If you right click the Mandolin and it says previous quest needed, you have not finished these quests then.
  
  
• Lvl 30 Dread Unicorn Boots
  The quest item to start this one is called the Monkey Skull which drops from the Swordtail Sealakel Fighters (yes only the fighters). This one usually doesn't take me that long to drop. Again I don't remember the specifics of the quest but it is not hard either.
  
  
• Lvl 31 Dread Unicorn Pants
  The quest item to start this one is called Empty Trunk. The Orc Robbers on the road to Arktus Ville are the ones who drop it. This can be an annoying quest simply because the quest itself involves going far to the south to talk to a Dwarf. He then tells you to find Dwarf explorers and get Two Locked Trunks. These things take as long to drop as the initial quest starting items, so be patient. The location of thes dwarf explorers is on the road just to the west of the Goblin camp, to the south of where the Orc robbers were. There are only 4 explorers and they stand two on each side of the road.
  
  
• Lvl 32 Dread Unicorn Armor
  The quest item to start this one is called the Lens Bow. The sealakel "boss" Priest Depnum is the one who drops it. this one annoys me as his respawn is a few minutes but more because you need a higher level character to help you since you'll want to be able to kill him fast. This one takes me the longest to get to drop. The quest runs you all over the map, to the south near silvaren, but it's not very hard.

DOLIN'S NEW TECHNIQUE

It's been a while since I've done this quest. I don't know the name of the quest but it starts at level 29 from Dolin, the blacksmith in Arktus Ville. You have to collect 30 spirit cores and return to him, he will give you the normal lvl 30 Unicorn Helm. This would be useless if you happen to have a slotted helm already.

LAVENNE'S NEW TECHNIQUE

It's been a while since I've done this quest. I don't know the name of the quest but it starts at level 35 from Lavenne, the blacksmith in Silvaren. You have to collect 30 mare cores and return to him, he will give you the normal lvl 36 Ebony Helm. This would be useless if you happen to have a slotted helm already.

KARL'S NEW TECHNIQUE

Starts from Karl Bierhawk, the blacksmith in Stronghold on map 3. You have to collect 30 Pint Cores and return to him, he will give you the normal lvl 44 Soron Helm. This would be useless if you happen to have a slotted helm already.

BRAD'S NEW TECHNIQUE

Starts from Brad Stone, the blacksmith outside the city of Apulune. You have to collect 3 lvl three endure lapis and 15 dark mages stones and return to him, he will give you the normal lvl 51 Dragon Helm. This would be useless if you happen to have a slotted helm already.

LVL 25 EPIC QUEST

I don't know what it's called. It starts to the west of Haldock Farm on map 2, in the field with th antelopes there is a tree by the side of the road and an NPC standing there. The quest has you kill a fury assassin NPC located in the antelope field. I remember him being very easy but I suppose that depends on your mode and build. The reward is a lvl 25 Eagle Strike bow. The bow is not bad, but if you are PvPing in 20-30 a heroic siege bow is better. Nevertheless the reason we are doing this quest is to unlock the later EPIC quests so we can get teh lvl 45 water bow.

LVL 35 EPIC QUEST - The Wind Blowing from Silvaren, Captured Orc the Boss of The Assult Troop, The Path of Conviction, Report the Result to Tiris, Remuneration of Conviction

I'm not completely sure what level this quest is available at. Most people call it the lvl 35 epic quest, it is around the mid 30s. It starts with Len Starshooter in the camp just south of Maitreyan dungeon. You then talk to Tiris BlueArrow in Silvaren to the south. You then play messenger and go back and forth between people just talking to them. Then you are charged with killing some Orcs. Palcum, and some Blood Wolf Attackers. YOu need to collect 12 heads of blood wolf attackers and the head of Palcum and return to Silvaren. Again play messenger until finaly Tiris gives you the reward, which is a fairly poor armlet. Back the reason you need to do this quest is because if you don't you won't be able to do the next epic, which is what we really want.

LVL 43 EPIC QUEST - A Messanger of PanteraArk, Rakusian's Epistle, Rakusian's Second Epistle, The Elf Embassy, Search For The Wisdom of Sage, Remedy Made From the Essence of Magic, The Report About Destroyer, The Adept Armorer, Elfen Aqua Bow, To Rakusian Again, Liquidation of the Past

Perhaps the most important quest in the game. It gives the water elemental Elfen Aqua Bow as a reward. This is the reason we bothered with the other two EPIC quests. It starts in Stronghold from Floralis Starshine, she gives you an Epistle item that you need to then right click to start the quest. You then have to go kill 15 WarEdge Orc Soldiers and 7 Squad Leaders. They are to the east of stronghold, just follow the road and you will run into them. Upon returning the quest you will get another Epistle, you have to click. Now you go to WarEdge Clan Town (to the west of the map) and kill 15 Orc Warriors and Kiba Tul, be warned Kiba Tul is RED at level 43 so depending on your class and mode you may need assistance to kill him. Return this quest and you will be sent to Rakusian Justice, in Apulune, who will then send you to Mulus Torero in Aelbeageu (on map 1). He asks you for 99 Rilians (HP pot bought from any liquid medicine merchant), 30 spririt cores, and 20 adamars stones. After giving him these things he sends you back to Apulune, who will then send you to Alius Magicartisan in Silvaren. Now you just need to collect 90 Gold Abels (dropped from the foxes/monkeys near Albeageu, 20 more adamars stones, and 20 magic leather (these drop a lot from the wolves and bison outside the northern gate of Karis Castle (pvp map). After all this you will get the lvl 45 Elfen Aqua Bow as a reward, and yes it is worth it.

But the epic quest is not done yet. However, the reward for the next part is not very good. But if they ever update the game and add more epic quests, you will need to complete this one before being able to do the later ones. As of now though there is no particular reason to finish it, especially if you have trouble getting the boss kill. Anyway, you will be sent back to Apulune and then charged with killing Ankylul WildDark and Azman ElfVein, the boss and mini boss of Maitreyan dungeon. You will almost certainly need a party for this. If you are higher level UM you could probably kill Elfvain alone, but for Anky you will probably need others there either to tank him or heal you or help kill him faster. Anky has a spawn time of 4 hours after he is killed and people like to kill him for the things he drops so it can make questing him difficult. The reward is a pair of Panteras Ark Gauntlets (lv 45, +5 STR, +5 DEX, +5 REC, +5 WIS, +52 MP, +76 SP, +142 HP.) They look nice and match legend soron armor but they are statistically not very good and not worth the hassle if you can't get the Anky kill the first time or two.

PANDO LAPIS QUESTS

Available at level 50, 53, and again at 55 for Hard Mode and Ultimate Mode only (you can do it three times). This quest starts from a drop called Vail Distinquishment Mark. I believe most if not all mobs in Pando drop it. The fire bears/monkeys definitely do, as well as the non elemental gnomes and larvae and monkeys. Once you get the drop right click it to start the quest. It has you run around playing talk tag but eventually have to collect peices of lapis. Read the quest window it will tell you where each kind drops. Once you kill those mobs and collect the necessary lapis you return them and the blacksmith in Pando will give you an item called something like imperfect lapis. Right click that and you will get a RANDOM lapis between lvl 4 and lvl 6 (not lvl 6 stat lapis but lvl 6 debuff lapis). Each time you do the quest you have to kill different mobs for the lapis peices. When I did them I got lvl 5 INT, lvl 5 Forbid, and lvl 5 REC. A lvl 6 lapis is NOT guaranteed.

KITING GUIDE

As you may or may not know archers are a ranged class. And when at close range, very close range actually, you get damage penalties. You do nearly half damage when the target is right next to you. So it's important to stay back a bit so this doesn't happen. The technique for doing this is called kiting, which is just a glorified way to say, run around. This came up in another topic so I'll pretty much just paste what I said there.

There is two techniques that I use. I like to keep my left hand on the 1 2 3 and W keys. I use W to move forward of course and I can reach most of the skills via the 1-5 keys without stretching too much. Anyway I use my other hand on the mouse. So I run forward with W but I turn by holding the right mouse button on moving the mouse. That's what feels best to me as it's similar to a FPS. Anyway I say this only because I know some people rarely use the mouse so I wanted to explain how I control the game. So as far as kiting...

Technique 1: I attack a mob and if it gets close and it's not dead (then it certainly is near dead). So I use the mouse to click the ground slightly behind where I am standing which causes me to run to that spot. after which I press 1 (which I have normal attack set to) or some other skill button to attack again and I repeat if necessary when the mob gets close again. I'm not trying to avoid damage with this move, just trying to maintain the distance a bit so I still hit for full damage.Kiting doesn't have to be any harder or more complex than that. Press 1 to shoot, click the ground a bit behind me and repeat.

Technique 2: If I know for sure a mob will not be dead or near dead when it gets to me, or that it will hit me very hard I use a preemptive kiting strategy. I attack a few times and before it reaches me I click on a spot farther to the side of me and I continue shooting as I click my way to the side. The reason this works is because while I start moving as the mob is still running to me, the mob is usually not smart enough to adjust for my movement. Thus it keeps running to where I was when I started attacking him. But alas I am no longer there. Still he tags up to that spot before turning and then coming to where I now am. If you pause or slow certain mobs sometimes readjust and go straight for you sometimes, but most of the time it works. It's useful to buy some more time, but it's not often needed since now almost all mobs except bosses are pretty easy to take down before they reach me. And if they are not I simply find ones that are rather the spend extra time and energy with excessive kiting techniques.

Kiting is mainly about keeping full damage, not necessarily preventing yourself from being hit. Except when soloing bosses or mini bosses, where you may want to run very far away, stun them and shoot until they get close, then repeat, because some of those mobs hit very hard and pots have recharge times. You may need to kite like a defender in some of those situations (run around not attacking for the sole purpose of letting the blessing regenerate your HP as your pots are cooling down) But against normal mobs just a little inching backup while shooting is usually enough to maintain that distance. Keep in mind though that a mob will only stray so far from its spawn point so you can't run too far back or it will reset. If that is the case you will have to inch sideways and then double back towards the spawn point when kiting to keep it from reseting. But again, if you find you have to kite too much just try to find easier mobs and kill faster and thus level up faster.

What about ranged mobs - mobs that attack from afar and thus don't get close to you? Well, ranged mobs are actually more dangerous as they can start damaging you as soon as you attack them. Against normal mobs your defense doesn't matter too much because they spend most of the fight time running to you and by the time they get close enough to attack they are dead or close to it. With ranged mobs you will burn more healing pots or rest a lot more between fights. The archer mobs in Pando are pretty much the worst mobs in the game for archers precisely because they are ranged and they hit hard as ****. You don't have to kite such mobs but you will waste far more time resting between every fight. Unless two of them get on you, then you just die trying to run away. Ranged mobs are not good for anyone, and archer is really no exception. The reason we don't need high defense is because we are not meant to take many hits.

On a side note some mobs, like the nightmares in Cloron's lair, have a sweet spot where you are close enough for them to attack you but far enough to keep full damage. Sometimes I have to inch ever so slightly back to try and find it, but when I do I can just sit there shooting since they don't hit very hard. In that sense, mobs that have a slight range are good, but not ones that have full range like casters or archer mobs would have. That way, they have to get close to hit you but they don't get so close as to half your damage. If you have to kite too much you may want to consider fighting easier mobs. But in the end (at least for a UM) you will be strong enough to not need much kiting anymore.

HOW TO MAKE GOLD WITH AN ARCHER

How can I make some serious gold? A question I've asked myself many times lol. Now that I've got you drooling over the potential of what your archer could be, I may as well tell you some tips on how to get the gold so you can buy the stuff. For experienced players most of what I'm gonna say will not be new information. Admittedly I don't have a magical way or bright creative ideas about how to make gold, but these are the few ways I know of. UM itself is expensive, but when you get that uber gear bug watch out cuz now we are talking billions upon billions of gold needed for such things.

So how can you make money within the game as an archer. We are at a slight disadvantage when compared with fighters. Fighters are a bit better at soloing bosses. And I am mainly speaking of solo farming here because for me at least that is usually how it goes. So there are a few things I know how to do as an archer to get some significant gold. You will of course have to be higher level to farm the stuff worth millions, 53+ preferably higher.

DUAL LAPIS - About the best way to make some significant gold as a 53+ archer. Go to the desert or jungle and just kill. You'll get exp if you are not too high, even at 57 I get enough exp to move my bar, not much, only a few percent for 3 or 4 hours but still it helps and that is not on stone or anything because the main point is lapis. Just an example, given the current market of duals last night I spent about 3 hours, collected 25 lapis, 2% exp, and sold them all and made about 80-90 mil. Not bad for 3 hours playtime and some afk selling overnight. Now this is the best way to make gold in my opinion as lapis is a disposable commodity and always in high demand. However, the portals are not always open, even if they are sometimes fury is there, there is risk, especially in UM as if you start losing runes now you are cutting into your profit. It also likely means you need to at least use a prev item drop but the cost of a 7 day will easily be recovered, as said, 3 hours 80 mil, I think I can afford to buy a item drop with some of that lol. The biggest problem is if the maps or your spot is not open when you want to farm.

WEAPONS / GEAR DROPS I'm not talking about farming bosses or Cloron Troll or Loca etc. Though as a high level UM archer one could probably easily take Loca even with the other farmers there, but that's not my style, the drops are not heroic and thus not worth enough to me and the spawn time coordination, just not worth it to me but that is an option. I am speaking more of NPCing crappy heroic or even normal weapon drops. They can net you upwards of 100k each and it's easy and fast to just dump them into an NPC. But those drops are random in dungeons and thus not worth the time waiting to get enough to drop. There are mobs that are guaranteed to drop everytime. I am speaking of the mini bosses, well not so much the mini bosses but the mobs within the mini boss rooms in Maitreyan and Cloron dungeons. Those mobs are guaranteed to drop two or three pieces of gear everytime they die. If you were to clear the whole cloron troll room alone you can net about 7 mil in NPC food with the chance to get a good dread that can sell for 5 mil alone.

LESSER LAPIS? If you are not 53+ you won't be able to solo farm dual lapis, but you can still farm level 3/4 lapis in dwater dungeon 2. Level 3 lapis has lost a lot of value as of late. You can buy them in upgraded guildhouses and although a lot of people don't have access to that, a lot do, which means the demand is down as they are in cheap unlimited supply for a lot of people. Level 4 still holds value, especially when making pure build armor to maximize a single stat where duals/lvl 5 may not fill all slots. Anyway you'll wanna be about 50+ for lvl 4 farming. If you wanna farm level 3s only you can go to dwater dungeon 1 around level 40 or so for that but again they are not as valuable as they used to be.

WHAT ABOUT BOSSES? As an archer you won't be able to out-dps a fighter for example against Cloron Troll. Anky you perhaps could but careful as that's a quest boss and will get you banned if you are not there to help questers steer clear of Anky. So farming legend gear to make gold is kinda out of the reach of most archers solo.

WHAT ABOUT STIGMA? Again since you're not a lvl 60 fighter you likely will have no chance to get the kills in there, but even with no competition you can't take stigma alone as an archer. There are too many mobs to deal with and we get very few AoE skills and none of them are of much use unlike a fighter's massive damage short cooldown AoEs.

SELLING AP Always an option, and perhaps the fastest and easiest way to get in game gold is to use real money in this way. You can potentially get turnovers as high as 10 mil per 100 ap if you wait for the right promos, still that puts it at $100 for 1 billion in game gold. $100 for a UM mount, $200 for a piece of goddess armor, etc. Easy to start spending a ton of real money if you use this route. I don't do it because honestly a single piece of gear is not worth that much to me anymore. Just don't get carried away if you choose to do this.

If you are willing to put in more playtime you can reduce and even eliminate the need to spend any real money at all without sacrificing your gear or mode and consequently your gaming experience. But if you are short on time and want fast gold there is no better way then buying and selling AP items.

POOR MAN'S ARCHER

OK, but what if you just don't have the in game funds. How can you be successful whithout breaking the bank? That all depends on your definition of "successful".

Until lvl 53+, when you'll have the ability to make some serious gold finally, you don't need very good gear. You get the gear that is used for the 1-15 PvP zone for free from quests. By putting nothing more than lvl 3 lapis in that (you don't even have to lapis it at all) it will last you until the level 29-32 Dread gear, again free from a quest. If you are on a budget using lvl 2 and 3 lapis would work. You get a good water epic bow at level 45 so honestly for the first 50 levels nearly all your gear is free, and there would be only minimal costs if you choose to lapis it.

After lvl 50 things are different, gear is more important and more expensive; but if you don't have a way of obtaining the drops in game you have to buy them from people who do. So until lvl 53 gold and gear shouldn't be a big issue, and after 53 you now have some in game avenues to fund yourself. Nobody has to be poor, everyone has the ability to make gold in the game, it just depends how much time you want to spend doing it.

NOW GO PLAY

Thanks for reading. Hopefully this has helped you and will make the game a more enjoyable experience. I hope you enjoy playing as an archer, or hunter if that is your choice. If you've read this far you get a special surprise, an Archer/Hunter image for your desktop. This guide is not meant to replace actual experience so get out there and play.