Introduction

(Last updated 5/30/17)

Hello, people know me as alan. I main PVE Archer on TR. This is a guide to help you min/max your Archer rotation. This should hopefully help you become a better Archer and rise the DPS ranks! Before we start the guide, please note that I play a Baraka. I am a friendly and happy little archer xd. This should give you the utmost faith in the guide! Table of Content Roles of Archer Skills/Glyphs Glyph Pages Tricks & Misconceptions Focus Rotations Gear

1. The Role of Archer

What does Archer do?

Archer is a ranged class with both consistent and burst dps. With recent changes to the class, it has become more than what is used to be, and is currently nearing towards the top of the dps food chain.

Survivability on Archer

This class falls into the Leather Armor category. This means that you’re able to take a couple hits fore death. However, archers have amazing survivability with skills like Backstep and Breakaway Bolt which will be covered later in this guide.

DPSing on an Archer

Archers have a unique playstyle. It is a class that relies on making the most optimal and efficient rotations with some things that I will be calling “Priority Skills”. These are a tier list of skills that you want to focus on using off cooldown.

2. Skills/Glyphs

(Glyphs will be color coded by usefulness as follows)

This is a necessary glyph

This glyph sucks

Arrow (Shoot an arrow at a target up to 19m away)

This is the auto attack. It does little to no damage, but it gives the user a great amount of MP on hit.

Slowing Arrow (5% chance to decrease opponent’s Movement Speed by 50% for 3 seconds) – A very bad glyph, 5% chance to slow on a skill you never use.

– A very bad glyph, 5% chance to slow on a skill you never use. Sapping Arrow (5% chance to stun opponent) – Another bad glyph, 5% chance to stun on a skill you never use

– Another bad glyph, 5% chance to stun on a skill you never use Piercing Arrow (10% chance to deal double damage) – Again a bad glyph, 10% chance to deal 2x damage on a skill you never use.

Arrow Volley (Press the skill button once and lock on up to 5 targets within 18m, then press the skill button again or left-click to shoot at all targets)

Arrow Volley is a lock on skill that deals a moderate amount of damage. This skill can lock up to 5 players and can potentially be a decent filler.

Multiplicative Arrow Volley (Increases number of lock-on targets by 1) – This is ok if you’re clearing mobs and you want it to go by a little bit faster. If you’re ever using this when fighting a boss though you’re losing out on valuable glyph points.

– This is ok if you’re clearing mobs and you want it to go by a little bit faster. If you’re ever using this when fighting a boss though you’re losing out on valuable glyph points. Influential Arrow Volley (Reduces MP cost of Incendiary Trap by 75 for a few seconds) – This is a terrible glyph, if you’re ever going to use incendiary trap after arrow volley you’re doing it completely wrong.

– This is a terrible glyph, if you’re ever going to use incendiary trap after arrow volley you’re doing it completely wrong. Blazing Arrow Volley (Speeds casting of Penetrating Arrow by 40% for a few seconds) – This is good if you’re trying to do mob clearing and stuff like that.

– This is good if you’re trying to do mob clearing and stuff like that. Blazing Arrow Volley (Speeds casting of Stunning Trap by 50% for a few seconds) – This is glyph is terrible, you should never be using stun trap anyways, especially after arrow volley.

– This is glyph is terrible, you should never be using stun trap anyways, especially after arrow volley. Persistent Arrow Volley (60% chance to eliminate cooldown) – This is an decent glyph if you’re leveling.

Radiant Arrow (Charge up an arrow by holding down the skill button then shoot the arrow up to 18m away by releasing the button. Charges to three levels. Overcharging beyond the third-level charge will damage you. While charging up, you can move at half speed.)

One of the best skills in your kit. Deals lots of damage, allows you to move while casting, and has a very very high crit chance.

Slick Radiant Arrow (Eliminates slowed movement restrictions) – This is a crucial glyph, as it allows you to move easily to the back of the boss allowing you to keep dpsing from the back with your RA.

– This is a crucial glyph, as it allows you to move easily to the back of the boss allowing you to keep dpsing from the back with your RA. Sanative Radiant Arrow (Decreases HP consumption by 40%) – Terrible glyph, don’t ever think of putting it on. Even when overcharging the damage taken from it is pitiful.

– Terrible glyph, don’t ever think of putting it on. Even when overcharging the damage taken from it is pitiful. Longshot Radiant Arrow (Increases range by 5 meters) – Terrible glyph, don’t ever think of putting it on. You should never be far from the boss anyways.

– Terrible glyph, don’t ever think of putting it on. You should never be far from the boss anyways. Carving Radiant Arrow (Triples the chance to crit) – A great glyph. When you have the proper total crit this skill is has 100% crit rate.

Penetrating Arrow (Charge up an arrow by holding down the skill button, then shoot the arrow at up to 15 targets in a 18m line by releasing the button. Arrow shoots when you release the button. This skill charges up to 3 times. Overcharge after 3rd level charge will damage you. While charging up, you move at half speed.)

Penetrating Arrow is radiant arrow’s slow twin that was never good enough.

Empowered Penetrating Arrow (Increases skill damage by 25%) – More damage better dps. It’s not the greatest skill but nothing else to take with as much value as this.

– More damage better dps. It’s not the greatest skill but nothing else to take with as much value as this. Slick Penetrating Arrow (Eliminates slowed movement restrictions) – We covered this in the section below RA.

– We covered this in the section below RA. Longshot Penetrating Arrow (Increases range by 5 meters) – This glyph is terrible glyph, don’t ever think of putting it on. Never be that far away from the boss.

Rain of Arrows (Shoot arrows in the sky; they descend 15m away and damage targets in a circle when they land.)

The recent changes to Archer have caused Rain of Arrows to work differently. When casted, the first hit whether it is a front, side, or back crit will cause all other hits to be the same (no matter where the boss is facing). You have to be patient when casting it, if the boss is about to turn around cancel the skill by walking in any direction.

Energetic Rain of Arrows (Decreases cooldown by 25%) – This glyph is a must have glyph, one of your top priority skills being up more is amazing.

– This glyph is a must have glyph, one of your top priority skills being up more is amazing. Hastened Rain of Arrows (Speeds casting by 40%) – This glyph is great since Rain of Arrows has a very slow startup speed. If this glyph isn’t on then Rain of Arrows will hinder your rotation speeds due to how slow it takes to cast.

– This glyph is great since Rain of Arrows has a very slow startup speed. If this glyph isn’t on then Rain of Arrows will hinder your rotation speeds due to how slow it takes to cast. Empowered Rain of Arrows (Increases skill damage by 25%) – This glyph is an insane glyph, every tick dealing 25% more damage causes for so much more damage.

Backstep (Quickly back up out of harm’s way)

This is one of the 2 iframes in the archer skill set. The skill can be used to reposition yourself as well as to dodge attacks/mechanics from the boss. Backstep is an extremely useful skill with very low cooldown.

Energetic Backstep (Decreases cooldown by 29%) – Of course you need to take this. Being able to iframe and chase the back more is a must have.

Feign Death (Deceive monsters by pretending to be dead. This resets all aggro on you. You can feign death for up to 1 min. Ends when you use a skill or take damage.)

One of the coolest archer skills in my opinion. At first when you look at it, it seems terrible, but oddly enough it has some really awesome uses. If you use feign death, you immediately lose all aggro and become out of combat in the middle of the fight. This results in switching out gear mid fight, which I will cover more later in the guide.

Energetic Feign Death (Decreases cooldown by 20%) – You’re not going to be using this skill off cooldown anyway, so don’t use this glyph.

Regenerating Feign Death (Heals 3% of total HP every 1 second for 10 seconds) – This glyph is only useful when you cannot trust your healer. This regenerates a great amount of health, 30% of your total health within 10 seconds is great.

Rapid Fire (Hold down the skill button to quickly fire up to 7 arrows 18m away. Each successful hit generates 1 stack of Focus.)

PEW PEW PEW. Rapid fire does the most damage on the first and last hit, with moderate damage on the other 5. This is one of your best skills. Although, the biggest downside is that ping is a very big issue here. If you have above 100 ping this skill is just unusable.

Persistent Rapid Fire (15% to eliminate cooldown) -This glyph is great. Rapid fire recieved damage buffs and a buff to this glyph. It’s awesome to be able to do back to back rapid fires.

-This glyph is great. Rapid fire recieved damage buffs and a buff to this glyph. It’s awesome to be able to do back to back rapid fires. Spirited Rapid Fire (Increases MP replenishment by 20% per successful hit) – This glyph gives great mp replenishment and if you’re already using it a lot you will not have many problems with keeping your mana up, there are better places to put points into.

– This glyph gives great mp replenishment and if you’re already using it a lot you will not have many problems with keeping your mana up, there are better places to put points into. Empowered Rapid Fire (Increase skill damage by 20%) – This glyph is a must if you’re able to use the skill. The more damage your priority skills do, the more overall dps you will have. If you have high ping, you can just tap the first hit, it’s still a great filler skill because it does decent damage.

Slow Trap (Set a trap that briefly slows the victim’s movement speed by 70%. The trap lasts for 15 seconds or until triggered.)

This is a terrible skill, it does no damage, takes forever to cast, and it barely even slows bosses. Its only use is when you need to need to keep the mobs crowd controlled and your stuns are down.

Lingering Slow Trap (Increases effect duration by 50%) – Don’t glyph skills that you are never going to use.

Stunning Trap (Set a trap that briefly stuns the victim, The trap lasts for 20 seconds or until triggered.)

This skill is great for keeping mobs stunned, and it’s also a go to skill when you need to stun a boss for mechanics such as dragon in TSHM. It has the same problem that slow trap does where it does no damage and takes too long to cast.

Blazing Stunning Trap (Speeds casting of Penetrating Arrow by 30% for a few seconds.) – This is just a gimmicky glyph for a mediocre skill.

– This is just a gimmicky glyph for a mediocre skill. Lingering Stun Trap (Increases effect duration by 25%) – This glyph is just like the slow trap glyph, no point in ever having it on. It may have its own uses in PvP, however.

Velik’s Mark (Mark a single opponent and do 10% extra damage whenever you hit it.)

This skill just gives you more damage. Aim to have 100% uptime on this skill.

Influential Velik’s Mark (Reduces MP cost of Poison Arrow by 31 for a few seconds) – This gylph reduces the cost of a skill we never use, it is not good.

– This gylph reduces the cost of a skill we never use, it is not good. Lingering Velik’s Mark (Increases effect duration by 25%) – I love this glyph. No one likes having to use velik’s mark in the middle of a fight. That one second of just sitting there marking is annoying, so we can just add more time before reapplying mark.

– I love this glyph. No one likes having to use velik’s mark in the middle of a fight. That one second of just sitting there marking is annoying, so we can just add more time before reapplying mark. Blazing Velik’s Mark (Speeds casting of Poison Arrow by 25% for a few seconds) – This glyph is bad for the same reason as Influential Velik’s Mark. Buffing a skill that is never used makes for a waste in glyph points.

Incendiary Trap (Set a trap that damages the victim that steps on it and others nearby. The trap lasts for 12 seconds or until triggered.)

This is skill kind of blows. It’s really hard to ever find the team to use it and the animation to place it down is horrible.

Empowered Incendiary Trap (Increases skill damage by 25%) – Not worth the glyph points for a skill you’re never going to use.

– Not worth the glyph points for a skill you’re never going to use. Powerlinked Incendiary Trap (Increases skill damage of Arrow Volley by 25% for a few seconds.) – This glyph tends to look okay, but arrow volley already does medium to low damage and there are much better places to spend your glyph points than here.

Stunning Trap Arrow (Launch a trap 15m in front of you. The trap lasts for 10 seconds or until triggered. Briefly stuns the target and surrounding enemies.)

This is similar to Stunning Trap, but it instead shoots it in front of you. It can be great for stunning bosses when needed if you’re far away, but besides that it should never be touched.

Energetic Stunning Trap Arrow (Decreases cooldown by 30%) – This glyph is not good in any way. It has the same purpose as Stunning Trap, except you can shoot it.

Snare (Launch a trap 15m in front of you. The trap lasts for 10 seconds or until triggered. Briefly slows the target and surrounding enemies.)

Rip debuff glyph. Back to useless skill 🙁

Energetic Snare (Decreases cooldown by 20%) – NO.

Incendiary Trap Arrow (Launch a trap 15m in front of you. The trap lasts for 10 seconds or until triggered. Inflicts explosion damage on the target and surrounding enemies.)

Incendiary Trap Arrow is surprisingly useful. It may seem like just another trap, but the quick casting of this along with the damage it provides is insane.

Empowered Incendiary Trap Arrow (Increases skill damage by 35%) – This glyph is one of the greatest things that could be offered to this skill. Nothing can really make this glyph better besides pure damage increase.

Thunderbolt (Shoot a concussion arrow up to 24m away. The shock will cause damage and knock enemies back. It cannot knock back bosses or BAMs.)

Thunderbolt got an insane buff making it your best skill now. It is a Balder’s Vengeance (Gunner Nuke) every 28 seconds. It has 100% crit, fast casting speed, and BIG DADDY DAMAGE. The only downside to this skill is the animation lock and inability to turn after casted.

Hastened Thunderbolt (Speeds casting time by 30%) – Thunderbolt is a very slow skill to cast without this.

– Thunderbolt is a very slow skill to cast without this. Empowered Thunderbolt (Increases skill damage by 20%) – More damage on hardest hitting skill.

– More damage on hardest hitting skill. Carving Thunderbolt (Triples the chance to crit) – This makes the skill have close to, or once gained enough, 100% crit rate. Since this skill does the most damage of any skill, this glyph is good to take.

Sequential Fire (was known as Final Salvo) (Fire a quick, damaging arrow after casting Radiant Arrow, Penetrating Arrow, or Thunderbolt, which cancels the stagger animation. A successful hit generates 3 stacks of Focus.)

The skill is both one of your best skills and also one of your worst skills. Why is it one of your best skills? It animation cancels 3 of your priority skills. Why is it one of your worst skills? Sequential Fire damage is extremely pitiful, dealing little to no damage.

Blazing Sequential Fire (Speeds casting of Penetrating Arrow by 30% for a few seconds.) – This gets overwritten by Focus, making it a hazardous glyph rather than a good glyph.

– This gets overwritten by Focus, making it a hazardous glyph rather than a good glyph. Energetic Sequential Fire (Decreases cooldown by 35%) – A great glyph since there is no more resetting on this skill.

– A great glyph since there is no more resetting on this skill.

Close Quarters (Strike a foe in front of you. Press the skill button twice to make a second attack that may stun the foe.)

An ok movement skill, but horrible damage. You can use this to get close to the boss to land breakaway bolt, since it doesn’t hinder the casting time of breakaway bolt.

Empowered Close Quarters (Increases skill damage by 20%) – This glyph is only bad due to the bad damage that Close Quarters already does. Since most of the time you’re only going to be using it for its first tick which only crits for 150k-200k, so it won’t be worth it.

– This glyph is only bad due to the bad damage that Close Quarters already does. Since most of the time you’re only going to be using it for its first tick which only crits for 150k-200k, so it won’t be worth it. Fleetfooted Close Quarters (Increases Combat Movement Speed by 50 for 3 seconds) – NO

– NO Lingering Close Quarters (Increases effect duration by 40%) – This glyph is referring to the stun duration that the skill has. It is quite a short stun duration, so maybe it has a place in PVP. Although it serves no purpose in PVE.

Breakaway Bolt (Shoot an explosive arrow that damages within 4m, then step backward.)

This is your other iframe and movement skill. It has a couple seconds cooldown longer than backstep, but still an amazing skill. Also, it’s decent dps if it hits the boss.

Powerlinked Breakaway Bolt (Increases skill damage of Penetrating Arrow by 25% for a few seconds.) – Use this glyph if you’re high ping since penetrating arrow will be used a lot more often because you can’t use Rapid Fire as effectively.

– Use this glyph if you’re high ping since penetrating arrow will be used a lot more often because you can’t use Rapid Fire as effectively. Fleetfooted Breakaway Bolt (30% chance to increase Combat Movement Speed by 10 for 8 seconds) – This glyph, just like all the other movement speed glyphs, are not worth the points. It’s much better to put points elsewhere.

– This glyph, just like all the other movement speed glyphs, are not worth the points. It’s much better to put points elsewhere. Slowing Breakaway Bolt (100% chance to decrease opponent’s Movement Speed by 40% for 6 seconds.) – This glyph is similar to why Slow Traps are irrelevant, there is almost no point to slowing the boss as it will never really be that slowed. There are better places to put your points.

– This glyph is similar to why Slow Traps are irrelevant, there is almost no point to slowing the boss as it will never really be that slowed. There are better places to put your points. Energetic Breakaway Bolt (Decreases Cooldown by 25%) – It serves the same purpose as backstep, just does damage !!!!

Restraining Arrow (Shoots an arrow up to 18m, decreasing the target’s Movement Speed by 50% and Attack Speed by 15% for a short time.)

A quick skill with decent damage, I love this skill because you’re able to fit it in between skills.

Lingering Restraining Arrow (Increases effect duration by 50%) – This glyph is not good for why we use Restraining Arrow, but from looking at the glyph it may have its own uses in PVP.

– This glyph is not good for why we use Restraining Arrow, but from looking at the glyph it may have its own uses in PVP. Sapping Restraining Arrow (20% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds) – This glyph is the same reason why we don’t use Lingering Restraining Arrow.

– This glyph is the same reason why we don’t use Lingering Restraining Arrow. Energetic Restraining Arrow (Decreases cooldown by 20%) – Energetic Restraining Arrow is useful if you cannot use rapid fire and you need to put points elsewhere.

Poison Arrow (Shoot an arrow dripping with lethal poison. The arrow flies 18m, inflicting damage to the target and additionally inflicting 3,128 damage every 2 seconds for 12 seconds. Can be stacked up to 3 times.)

There is a lot of controversy around this skill and whether it is a viable skill or not. To determine whether you should use it or not depends solely on ping. If your ping is so high (250+) to the point where Arrow Volley and Rapid Fire both become unusable then you want to use Poison Arrow. Otherwise I would not bother touching the skill. I will cover more about Poison Arrow later in the guide. The stacks are not worth it because of the damage not being fixed. Damage modifiers to not apply to Poison Arrow.

Lingering Poison Arrow (Increases effect duration by 40%) – This glyph is bad, and if you’re forced into using Poison Arrow that does not mean you want to stack it. You’re only going to be using it for the damage it deals on it. The damage over time on the skill is pitiful.

– This glyph is bad, and if you’re forced into using Poison Arrow that does not mean you want to stack it. You’re only going to be using it for the damage it deals on it. The damage over time on the skill is pitiful. Blazing Poison Arrow (Speeds casting of Radiant Arrow by 30% for a few seconds) – This glyph is actually great if you’re using Poison Arrow as a filler. Speeding the cast up for a skill you’re going to use off cooldown is great.

Web Arrow (Shoot an arrow up to 18m, inflicting damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 33% for 7 seconds.)

By far in my opinion one of the worst skills that this class has to offer. From the minute you receive the skill it is quite obvious how garbage it is. It deals little to no damage and takes almost 1 second to fully cast for extremely low damage.

Lingering Web Arrow (Increases effect duration by 40%) – Increasing the effect duration on a skill you will never use accomplishes nothing. Although maybe in PVP this may be worth taking.

– Increasing the effect duration on a skill you will never use accomplishes nothing. Although maybe in PVP this may be worth taking. Fleetfooted Web Arrow (60% chance to increase Combat Movement Speed by 10 for 12 seconds after a successful hit.) – No

Sniper’s Eye (Increase Power by 30, Attack Speed by 8, and Movement Speed by 16. Increases damage to Monsters by 7%.)

Not too much to say about this skill. It is an amazing skill and without it Archers would be much weaker in fights. Think of this as equivalent to Assault Stance on Warrior.

Influential Sniper’s Eye (Reduces MP cost of Web Arrow by 13 for a few seconds) – Uh

Tenacity (Call on inner reserves to instantly replenish 360 MP. Briefly increases resistance to stun immensely.)

The only time you want to be using Tenacity is when you have nothing up and you need to be able to get ready to embrace some sort of crowd control or debuff. Since Archers have no mana issues there should never be a situation where you have to use this skill for mana.

Balancing Tenacity (Doubles balance for 15 seconds) – This glyph is terrible since you’re never going to be really using Tenacity in the first place, let alone wanting to put any skills into such a situational glyph.

– This glyph is terrible since you’re never going to be really using Tenacity in the first place, let alone wanting to put any skills into such a situational glyph. Spirited Tenacity (50% chance to replenish 6% of your total MP every second) – This glyph actually gives tons of MP back, but since Archers don’t have any mana problems there is no place for this glyph.

– This glyph actually gives tons of MP back, but since Archers don’t have any mana problems there is no place for this glyph. Energetic Tenacity (Decreases cooldown by 20%) – This glyph is not too great due to the fact that Tenacity is something never to be used off cooldown. Thus making this glyph irrelevant.

Find Weakness (While active, your next attack is considered to be an attack from the rear, regardless of your relative position. Effect lasts 8 seconds, or until you hit a target)

This is a very cool skill, but it’s very situational. The animation cast makes it really hard to use.

Chase (Charge forward up to 16 m)

The only time you want to be using Tenacity is when you have nothing up and you need to be able to get ready to embrace some sort of crowd control or debuff. Since Archers have no mana issues there should never be a situation where you have to use this skill for mana.

Energetic Chase (Decreases cooldown by 20%) – Useless

3. Glyph Pages

Glyphs for both Low and High Ping

This is the only glyph page I would use on archer. The only thing I’d reconsider is getting rid of is Sequential Fire reset for Velik’s Mark duration. If you have high ping, you might also consider getting Powerlinked Breakaway Bolt instead of Rapid Fire reset.

4. Tips

Tricks

Recoil Repositioning

Thunderbolt, radiant arrow and penetrating arrow all have recoil after being casted. This is usually canceled by sequential fire. If you’re needing to reposition quickly you can hold off a second before using sequential fire. I would only do this if you’re really min maxing since this scenario rarely happens.

Overcharging

Penetrating arrow should NEVER be overcharged

If radiant arrow has focus buff, overcharge 4 ticks (max)

If radiant arrow has no focus buff, overcharge 2 ticks

5. Focus

Focus

(Stack Focus 10 times to reduce charging speed of Penetrating Arrow and Radiant Arrow)

A new, broken passive with the archer revamp. Focus increases the charging shot’s casting speed by 40%. You can use both charge shots in the duration of this buff. It is gained by using sequential fire and rapid fire. Each hit of rapid fire gives 1 stack (7 total), while sequential fire gives 3 stacks. You can manage your focus through the use of priority skills. Make sure to look for when its going to run out so you can efficiently add more after the buff goes away.

6. Rotations

This section is going to be a lot different than most rotations you will see on other classes. This is because archer does not have a set rotation, and it all comes down to what I mentioned at the beginning of the guide called priority skills.

Priority Skills

These are the skills that you are going to want to put emphasis on. There are the best skillson the class, and the only ones you want to be using.

Thunderbolt

This is now your best skill. It has very high crit, lots of damage, and fast casting speed. Drop everything to use this.

Rain of Arrows

Good for when the boss is about to move or turn soon. Only use when thunderbolt, radiant, and rapid fire or down. Or, use over rapid fire if the boss is going to turn/move.

Rapid Fire

Every hit of the skill usually crits, and it’s really fast to come out. Use this skill if thunderbolt and radiant can’t come up.

Radiant Arrow

Better than penetrating arrow,. Faster, moredamage, and similar cooldown. Use whenever you don’t have to thunderbolt.

Good Skills

Penetrating Arrow

Radiant arrow but doesn’t crit so just pray.

Incendiary Trap Arrow

This skill is quick and comes out pretty fast so always try to use this if you can’t cast a full penetrating arrow.

Skill Priority List

Archer cannot just do single rotations, it just doesn’t fit their kit. So instead, it goes based off of priority. This means that we don’t have a set rotation, and we go based off the skills that are available in the current situation. There are basic starting rotations, but once you’ve started there is nothing that comes to a clean rotation every x amount of time.

→ → = → → → →

Sample Starting Rotations

If starting from the back

→ → → → → → → follow priority list (ez)

If running to the back

→ → → → → → → → follow priority list (ez)

Tips

Ideally, 2 thunderbolts per enrage and none unenraged. Sometimes changes if party DPS is too high or low.

Use velik’s mark as filler if skills aren’t up and it’s getting low on the timer.

If you’re casting penetrating arrow and one of your priority skills is coming off cooldown, you can end the charging early to cast TB/RA/RF/ROA

RF > ROA if: boss isnt moving

ROA > RF if: boss is going to turn/move

If you have the option to, chase the back with a charge shot instead of using backstep / breakaway bolt. Only use those skills if thunderbolt is up and you need to cast it IMMEDIATELY.

Think of explosion trap arrow as your best filler, use it in between skills.

Scenario: Radiant arrow comes up in half a second but explosion trap arrow/fillers are up as well as rapid fire. Instead of using rapid fire do the filler then radiant arrow. It’s important to use radiant off cooldown unless you need to thunderbolt.

Uptime Skills

Velik’s Mark

The most important skill to keep up. This skill should be marked on the boss close to, or 100% of the time, as it increases your skill damage by 10%.

Fillers

→ Penetrating Arrow (BREAK Green-Yellow) > Sequential Fire

This is going to be a new and common filler. If your radiant arrow, rapid fire, rain of arrows, thunderbolt are about to come off cd, it’s more worth it to break pen and sequential fire. The likelyhood of pen critting is low and sequential fire does decent damage as well. Also, free 3 stacks.

Restraining Arrow

Best filler hands down. This is because of it’s quick cast time, little ending lag, and decent damage.

Arrow Volley

As mentioned earlier in the guide Arrow Volley is only worth throwing out if every priority skill and Restraining Arrow is on cool down.

Poison Arrow

Restraining arrow #2

7. Gear

Ideal DPS Stats (Unbuffed except for Sniper’s Eye and Prime Battle Solution)

With Mystic: 60 +170 Crit Factor / 72 +213 Power

Crit Factor / 72 Power With Priest: 60 +194 Crit Factor / 72 +201 Power

Weapon

Top line – Increases damage by 9.3% when attacking enraged monsters

Bottom lines – Increases damage by 9.3% when attacking enraged monsters , Increases damage by 6% , and Increases damage by 6.9% when attacking from behind

Fourth line – Decreases skill cooldowns by 7.2%

All of these damage lines are a must have. CDR makes for more fluid rotations.

Chest

Top line – Increases damage of Radiant Arrow by 10%

Bottom lines – Decreases damage taken from enraged monsters by 10% , Decreases damage taken from frontal attacks by 6.9% , and Decreases damage taken by 6%

Fourth line – Increases max HP by 8%

Radiant Arrow damage got a lot better due to focus stacks, damage buffs, and crit increase.

Gloves

Increases Crit Factor by 9 , Increases Power by 5 , and Increases Attack Speed by 2.25%

Standard glove rolls for DPS, no better options.

Boots

Increases Endurance by 4 , Increases Movement Speed by 6% , and Replenishes 2% of total MP every 5 seconds

Standard boot rolls, no better options.

Jewelry

Full Crit Setup

Godsbane Ring ( Crit 4 / Power 4 ) + Keytrap Ring ( Crit 4 / Power 4 )

Godsbane Earring ( HP 4% / Endur 4 ) + Keytrap Earring ( HP 4% / Endur 4 )

Godsboon/Keytrap Necklace ( Power 4 )

Only use this for Harrowhold.

Mixed Setup

Godsbane Ring ( Crit 4 / Power 4 ) + Heavensbane Ring ( Crit 4 / Power 4 )

Godsbane Earring ( HP 4% / Endur 4 ) + Heavensbane Earring ( HP 4% / Endur 4 )

Godsboon Necklace ( Power 4 )

This is the jewelry set up you will most commonly use regardless of whether you have a mystic or a priest.

Brooch

Empowered/Quatrefoil/Marrow Brooch ( Crit 6 / Power 3 )

Quickcarve Brooch ( Crit 6 / Crit 4 )

Belt

Increases Crit Factor by 6 / Increases Power by 3

Innerwear

Increases Crit Factor by 20/16/12/4

Etchings

Weapon/Glove Etching

1x Pumped / 1x Energetic

-or-

2x Energetic

The different in etchings here are really small. I use double energetic because it makes the class feel more fluid.

Chest/Boot Etching

2x Grounded

Endurance is always good.

Crystals

Weapon Red Crystals



Pretty straight forward crystals. Pounding is better than carving since we crit so much already because of Crackshot.

Armor Blue Crystals



Glisteningly Hardy Niveot 1x, Hardy Niveot 3x

The Glisteningly effect is to help you confirm whether a hit was a back crit or not so you can change your positioning or camera angle to get back crits. Archers are not mana hungry.

Jewelry Green Crystals



Keen Vyrsk 4x

Use if you have Priest



Powerful Vyrsk 4x

Use if you have Mystic