Player:Pinejon/scrolls/Handbook of Rank/Page1

Archer

The self sustained Archer.

Either 70+ Chain or 80+ Studded
70+ Great helm
Any shield 50+
Medium or longbow 70+ (start off with longbow then switch to medium if desired, archery sub skill only affects specific aiming % but you won't be using them that often)
70+ weapon of choice
Bowstrings 50+ (Always have a few extras on you. I have 10 in my backpack at all times)
3 Quivers

The self sustained archer is someone who enjoys PVPing but doesn't want to be in the front lines. The Archer will eventually reach a point where he can make and imp his own bows and arrows, and he can then sell the extras for a profit, or to fund his need for tools and armor. The Archer doesn't wear plate armor as it slows him down too much. He prefers either high ql Studded (80 or 90+) or chain (70+) or a mixture of the two. When wielding a bow enemy archers will see that you are not wielding a shield and will target you so not only must you have shield skill but you must also practice being able to unequip your bow and equip you shield as quickly as possible. This is made easier by keeping the left arm and right hand part of the body section open and visible at all times. Your shield must also be moved to the top of the inventory screen for easier access. Make sure you practice this a few times and try to be able to do it in under 5 seconds (Quicker is better). A normal scenario is you have your bow equipped and are flinging arrows at the enemy, one of them notices and 3 people begin to shoot at you, you rotate your left side towards them diagonally and then unequip your bow and equip your shield, you then activate your cotton and begin to heal yourself. Once the enemy realizes you have a shield equipped AND a great helm on they will stop attacking you. If they don't then continue to heal yourself as you block the majority of their shots and start collecting free arrows.

You will want to eventually have three sets of carpentry tools.

1 Pure Coc high ql tools (Skill set) 70+coc (70ql when you start out and then eventually 80 or 90)
1 Set of WoA + CoC high ql tools (Quick imping set) 70+WoA, any CoC
1 Set of on the go tools. These should be 5-10 over your fletching skill. WoA/CoC is optional. This set should be easily replaced if lost.

Your skill set is what you will use in combination with sleep bonus to get your fletching and bowyery up. This should be done in a relaxed setting, most likely at your home village or on a war deed where nothing is going on.

Your quick imping set is what you will be using when you need to spam out a lot of arrows either for an order or when you are low on arrows.

Your on the go fletching tools are what you will take with you when you go hunting or when you ride out to PVP.

For logs what I normally do is make an entirely separate BSB just for these specific logs. I then make shafts from each log until it is 4kg and put it in the BSB. That way it doesn't decay and you can take it with you for long trips without it having to slow you down at all.

You can get a CoC log as well for grinding, just make sure you don't put it in the BSB!

You can divide your quivers however you like but most people end up doing something like this:

High QL War arrows
Med QL war arrows
Picked up arrows for sorting later

You can have more quivers if you want, like a quiver of 30ql hunting arrows for using to shield/helm check people. Mess around with it and figure out what works best for you.

Some people have a quiver of enchanted arrows, these are 70+ and have humans demise and an elemental enchant on them (FA, FB, RT, Venom). These can be used when a high level player has sustained a foot shot or something similar that slows him down and is currently being ganked. You will want to equip these as quickly as possible and start shooting them for maximum damage. Since these represent a large investment I would only use them on high value targets.

To be honest though, it isn't worth the effort if you don't have a lot of money or time on your hands as they don't do much more damage. The difference between a 50ql arrow and a 70ql arrow is not high but is enough to notice a difference.

The enchants for you bow are pretty standard, you don't want WoA because the effect is very small. You will want nimbleness, bloodthirst and coc.

If you have people that can give you high ql logs/bowstrings/bows/arrows and you wish to get into PVP as quickly as possible then you can ignore woodcutting, bowyery, fletching, repair, ropemaking. You will have to buy arrows though so you will need to buy silver from the shop or take up another craft to make money with. You can also survive off of just looting arrows during and after battles, but being a self sustained archer is so much better for you in the long run. In the end it all comes downt to play style and this is just a guide, tweak the skills to fit what you enjoy.

And now for the skills. I have put an Astrix next to the skills that are bare minimum needed to actually be usuful in a pvp battle (damage wise).

Stage 1 Archer
40 Shield skill *
50 Archery *
50 Fletching
50 Woodcutting
50 Bowyery
20 First Aid *

Stage 2 Archer
50 Shield skill *
30 Weaponskill
50 Fighting skill
50 Defensive fighting
30 Normal fighting
70 Archery *
70 Fletching
70 Woodcutting
70 Bowyery
30 Ropemaking
30 Repair
30 First Aid *
30 Animal taming

Stage 3 Archer
70 Shield skill *
50 Weaponskill
70 Fightskill
70 Defensive fighting
50 Normal fighting
90 Archery *
90 Fletching
90 Woodcutting
90 Bowyery
50 Ropemaking
50 Repair
50 First aid *
30 Animal taming
30+ Body control

After stage 3 you can pretty much go in any direction you want. Grinding any skill that gives you more body control is always good. You can continue to work on your front line pvp skills as well to help in ganks or eventually work up to being able to fight on the front lines as well. Most people end up being an Archer/Fighter mix.

Remember that this is just a guide, it is ment to give you ideas and a place to start but nothing is better then just trying it out for yourself, different things work better for different people. Experiment! Think outside of the box.

--Zao 09:34, 20 July 2011 (UTC)