Archer

Archers are a ranged physical damage dealer class. The primary role of the archer is to stand in the background dealing as much damage, as quick as possible, to the enemy. Not only are archers able to deal physical damage but also some magic damage (mostly consisting of metal damage). This makes them very flexible damage dealers, as they will always have an answer to the enemies defense, whether it being magical or physical.

Pros:
 * High critical percentage
 * High accuracy
 * High evasion
 * Can deal both physical damage and magical damage
 * Ranged attack
 * Can deal damage up close without any penalties
 * Fast movement speed
 * Can fly from level 1
 * One of the few classes that can stealth
 * Very useful in mass PK and TW

Cons:
 * Low physical and moderate magical defense
 * Low HP
 * Draws aggro easily if not careful
 * Usually picked second to assassins in squads for instances such as Frostcovered City

Weapons
Archers primarily use slingshots, bows, or crossbows. Ammunition or projectiles are required to use any of these weapons, and some skills may use more than 1 unit of ammunition. Slingshots use shots or bullets, bows use arrows, and crossbows use bolts. Ammunition can only be used with weapons of a certain grade, and the amount of physical damage they deal increases with ammunition level. Some ammunition also have bonuses such as Critical Rate when equipped.

Previously, archers had a damage penalty if they attacked targets that were too close to them, but this penalty was removed with the Wings of Rebirth Content Update. Archers now deal full damage regardless of their distance from the target.

Damage Chart: Lower-Low-Medium-High-Higher Attack Speed Chart: Slower-Slow-Medium-Fast-Faster

Note: Crossbows, Slingshots, and Bows have the same base maximum range.

Armor
There are two recommended armor builds for archers - APS (Attacks Per Second) and DPH (Damage Per Hit). An APS build prioritizes -interval gear to give the archer the quickest possible attack rate at the cost of defense and damage. In a DPH build, attack rate is a much smaller factor and archers prioritize damage and defense. As of recent, the majority of archers will choose the DPH build due to the ineffectiveness of APS in lvl100+ instances due to bosses having a buff deterring APS-based builds, and PvP as players have grown to gain higher defenses and especially attack, making it difficult for an APS-built player to survive. Archers seeking to use the DPH build should focus on getting either Nirvana 3rd Recast Gear or Rank 9 3rd Recast. These armor sets provide the best defenses and damage of their armor class.

Sharding is also an important factor to consider when choosing your armor on an archer. Since archers have moderate magic and physical defense, HP-based shards, such as Citrines, Primeval Stones, or Stones of Savant, are popular with non-endgame players. However, depending on the archers playing style and the types of enemies commonly faced, defensive shards, such as Garnets or Sapphires, may also be a viable option. At endgame, most archers will choose between Attack Level (Diety/Devil Stone) and Defense Level (Jade of Steady Defense, Serenity Stone) shards.

Archers in PvP
Archers are extremely versatile and can be effective at killing both enemies with high magic defense and enemies with high physical defense due to their ability to choose between both magical and physical attacks. Archers also have a high critical hit rate compared to other classes and possess a variety of movement skills that allow them to escape dangerous situations. Below are some tips when fighting against specific classes.

Blademasters: Use Stunning Arrow, Feather Armageddon, and Aim Low to keep Blademasters at bay. If they get close, they will always attempt to stun lock you. If this happens, use your Leaps (Leap Left and Leap Right) and anti-stun skills to escape. The Fortify and Faith genie skills will also help. If the Blademaster is particularly tanky, you may need to purge them if you have a purge bow. Otherwise, use your metal-based skills as frequently as possible.

Wizards: Wizards can be especially dangerous against archers due to their high magic damage and high physical defense with the skill Stone Barrier. Archers should stay at range as much as possible when fighting them and attempt to stun them frequently to keep them disabled. Archers should also be wary of the wizard skill Distance Shrink which allows the wizard to leap away and if upgraded, puts the wizard into Stealth for a short period of time.

Archers: Fighting other archers can be tedious. Evasion, anti-stuns, and even magic/physical defenses make it difficult to deal high damage to each other without one having better gear. Debuffs are essential (Blood Vow, Sharpened Tooth Arrow) and you will need to watch for the anti-stun status so you don't waste your immobilization skills (Aim Low, Stunning Arrow).

Clerics: When facing clerics, archers should begin with Stunning Arrow to immobilize the cleric and follow up with high damage skills such as Quickshot or auto attack. Most clerics will have Plume Shell up which absorbs physical damage. Archers can either continue to attack until the shell is depleted or they can use magic/lightning attacks to bypass the shield. Clerics have high magic defenses though, so this may not be effective.

Barbarians: Barbarians are typically built to be offensive or defensive; the strategy for facing each is different. When facing offense barbs, archers should use a similar strategy to when fighting a Blademaster (maintain distance, evade stun locks, use metal skills). Defensive barbs are another story. They may not be able to kill you, however you will have difficulty killing them. Archers facing defensive barbs should attempt to purge and debuff the barb as much as possible. Use Sharpened Tooth Arrow, Blood Vow, Stunning Arrow, Aim Low, Arrow Inferno, Blackwing Arrow, and Lightning attacks in this situation. You may also need to auto attack them with a purge bow in order to be able to kill them.

Venomancers: Venomancers can annoy archers constantly through purges, puff birds, and stuns while also being able to deal high magic damage. In fox form, venomancers are very tanky and difficult to kill. In human form, they have enough immunity and anti-stun skills to run away or tank your hits. If you notice you're taking a lot of damage when you attack, the venomancer may have Blazing Barrier on which reflects your own damage back to you.

Assassins: Effective assassins can stun lock archers regardless of distance or immunity. When facing assassins, archers will typically get stun locked immediately. The first priority will be breaking out of this stun and then stunning the assassin or create distance by either knocking them back (Feather Armageddon) or moving quickly (Leap Left/Leap Right, Elven Alacrity). Debuffs are usually ineffective against assassins because of their Tidal Protection which can negate them. Instead, focus on using metal attacks and maintaining an anti stun buff with Wings of Protection. Leap Left/Leap Right should be used frequently because even though sins can easily catch up to a leaping archer, it will interrupt their attack pattern and make it more difficult for them to stun lock.

Psychics: Psychics are difficult classes for archers to fight mainly because of their Soul of Silence. Every time you hit a psychic, you have a chance to trigger their Soul of Silence which will silence you for a number of seconds. Psychics with high soulforce have a very high chance of silencing anyone attacking them. The best way to take down a psychic is for multiple people to attack them or try to kill them in as few hits as possible. Watch out for Soul of Retaliation, which can reflect skills and damage back to you, and Soul of Stunning, which can stun the attacker, especially for a long period of time if the psychic has high soulforce. Psychics can also become immune to physical damage for a period of time using Psychic Will. If this happens, use this time to either gather chi and position yourself. Otherwise, you can also use your metal attacks to bypass the immunity to physical damage, but it may not be as effective due to psychics having higher magic defense.

Seekers: Equivalently geared seekers with buffs will be nearly impossible to kill for most archers. Instead, archers should focus on purging the seeker to decrease their defense and defense levels. When facing a seeker, archers should stun, freeze, and seal them as much as possible while auto attacking with a purge bow. Once the seeker is purged, use skills such as Thunder Shock, Lightning Strike, Sharpened Tooth Arrow, Stunning Arrow, and Quickshot.

Mystics: Mystics are one of the most effective support classes due to their quick and powerful heals along with their resurrection buff. Archers should prioritize killing them by stunning them and doing a high amount of damage before the stun runs out.

Archers in PvE
When it comes to grinding, archers work almost effortlessly as they have knockback, stun, and slow skills. They also have two shields: Winged Shell and Wings of Grace. Winged Shell will only be a dependency in the early levels; however, it remains a very good safety net and means to escape damage at high levels. It is also good for PvP in later levels. Wings of Grace requires a spark so it is an OK skill, but is later replaced by far better skills.

Archers are good damage dealers to have in a party for instances. One reason is their Sharpened Tooth Arrow skill. At level 10, it will reduce a target's maximum HP by 16%. When a target has 1,600,000 HP, it effectively deals 256,000 damage. The effect can be increased to 20% with the sage version. This makes killing bosses faster. The level 100 skill, Blood Vow, will reduce max hp by 18% as well as increase damage taken by target by 25%.

Note that the sage form of the venomancer skill Soul Degeneration will also decrease max hp by 20%.

Archers in Territory Wars
Archers play a very important role in Territory Wars as they help to kill the enemies fast and push them back. Like in PvP, archers are mostly standing at the back making sure that the people that are almost dead, dies. The skills Sharpened Tooth Arrow and Barrage of Arrows are two of the most important skills here. Sharpened Tooth Arrow are used mostly on barbarians to lower their max HP so they are killed faster, but is also very useful on all other classes. Barrage of Arrows is the best AoE skill that archers have. It can kill a handful of lower levels or help to kill catapults.

Basics

 * Archer Builds
 * Archer Low to High Level

Skills

 * Archer Demon vs Sage
 * Archer Skill List
 * Archer Glyphs
 * Archer Skill Books