Coming out of retirement.

[Xyl]

So I am turning back on my account after a year and I got a 30ish train rogue that IDKWTF to do with. I've read that archery is BOSS but im not sure I wanna shoot a bow/crossbow. My main interests will be picking, so I know ill need 2x-3x in those. Any other help on hunting areas, tactics, that sort would be appreciated. I was thinking of going ohe/shield but that just seems so BORING. Any help would be welcome.

[Kitsun]

The TPs work out best if you go Archery and Lockpicking since there is overlap in the Perception training. If you find Sword/Board boring and archery isn't appealing, you've got either TWC or THW but those are fairly TP heavy and you'll need to sacrifice somewhere.

Level 30 areas should be pretty abundant. Ice, RR, Landing, Sol, EN and Teras I think all have shit in that range.

[Scintillion]

Go with a giant rogue, fully optimized stats, and maxed out in all combat skills. (3x hiding, 2x CM, 2x shield, 2x OHE/OHB, etc.)

[Jace Solo]

Turn him into a monk!

[Terzl]

So I am turning back on my account after a year and I got a 30ish train rogue that IDKWTF to do with. I've read that archery is BOSS but im not sure I wanna shoot a bow/crossbow. My main interests will be picking, so I know ill need 2x-3x in those. Any other help on hunting areas, tactics, that sort would be appreciated. I was thinking of going ohe/shield but that just seems so BORING. Any help would be welcome.

Xyl,

I like to think of three basic ways to approach combat: Power (slow RT, high DF weapons), Speed (low-RT and/or precision weapons) or Balanced (spells/ambushing).
Each of these combat styles has pros and cons depending on the situation, level, opponent and personal style. Each can be powerful and fun to play.

The reason why archery is so deadly is because with the right training and gear, you can obtain speed (3-4 sec RT) and precision (1-kill eye shots).
This combination can be overwhelming in both PvE and PvP. The less time you are "exposed" to a creature the less chance it has to damage you. Couple that with the ability to kill an opponent with a single shot and there aren't many styles that can be faster AND more deadly.

That being said, if due to training or level your aim is slightly off or your round-time approaches 5-6, archery will feel very weak. Shooting a bow at 5+ seconds is not as effective as swinging a weighted hand axe from the shadows. But drop the round-time to 3 seconds and land shots to the eye and you're in another world.

Not to mention archery-themed benefits from societies, lower opponent ranged DS, easy access to a 10x weapon, ability to shoot from the shadows, etc. ;)

Terzl

[DaCapn]

I have no experience with archery at those levels but sword/board will do you very well for another 20 levels. I found the advantages of archery later on to be way too attractive. The overlap with picking and the diminished importance of CM is nice, as was mentioned. 2x in picking skills is sufficient through 60s. Most builds that I've played with for fun were too expensive TP-wise to fit picking in.


Check out Krakii's guide regarding Archery if you want more details. Have fun.
Just to be clear, Krakii is someone has a penchant for popping in and correcting people on the officials (sometimes GMs concerning items of their own design). He's the namesake for (and not the owner of) krakiipedia. BriarFox (who, to my knowledge doesn't have a KP account) wrote "The Art of the Bow" as a guide in the archery category here and it was put up on KP. This comment is more for the sake of attribution than anything else. The guide is definitely well written and I consider it to be comprehensive.

Also, it's worth noting that even if you're talking about a 7 second arrow shot, if you're still hidden, it's equivalent to hide/ambush RT with a handaxe. Obviously, that's more time in offensive and the RT isn't broken up, but you're also still in hiding. I'm sure anyone can weigh the pros/cons there, but it does bare mentioning that ranged is basically at worst the same speed as handaxe ambushing.

[Terzl]

Also, it's worth noting that even if you're talking about a 7 second arrow shot, if you're still hidden, it's equivalent to hide/ambush RT with a handaxe. Obviously, that's more time in offensive and the RT isn't broken up, but you're also still in hiding. I'm sure anyone can weigh the pros/cons there, but it does bare mentioning that ranged is basically at worst the same speed as handaxe ambushing.

You are right, it's the same speed - but completely different damage factors (handaxe vs arrow) and hence my comment about it not being as "effective."

[DaCapn]

You are right, it's the same speed - but completely different damage factors (handaxe vs arrow) and hence my comment about it not being as "effective."

That's actually an area where ranged has an advantage. Compared to the handaxe (the heavier OHE), composite and long bows have a higher DF vs. leather, scale, and chain. The singular advantage to melee weapons for ambushing is that you get critical weighting from ambush training.

Everything else favors ranged. Ranged RT is capable of being shorter, you can aim at any body part regardless of respective height, it does puncture only which has the lowest crit-kill rank threshold of any of the mundane damage types (you could sort of file that with the DF), it doesn't require additional training to remain hidden while attacking, it's very easy to have an (effectively) +50 weapon (+40-45 would be considered "baseline").