What class would make the best archer

[compmenacer]

I know I want to go ranged I also have not played in a long time and am going to start off with absolutely nothing fresh account. I was looking at rogue and ranger but then I saw something about a wizard/archer also. I would just like some direction on what would be the best for someone starting from scratch and going ranged.

[MrMortimur]

What style you would prefer would be rather important. If you want to shoot from hiding, ranger or rogue. If shooting from the open is all you want to do, ranger/rogue/warrior would likely be your strongest starting choices. I'd also say that a bard and a monk would be fairly successful even at the lowest levels and it would only get easier as you gained a few levels.

[compmenacer]

I am thinking open archer if that's viable would ranger be the better choice ?

[waywardgs]

You can make almost any combination work in gs. It might come down to what other secondary skills you're interested in. Picking boxes, skinning, spells, all that kind of stuff.

[neimanz1]

bard- most powerful
rogue-highest as
ranger-balance & highest ds

[compmenacer]

The ranger spells seem more interesting to me to augment my hunting just not sure of a training path as I have never played ranged in gs before. Bards make good open archers ?

[NinjasLeadTheWay]

Rangers make the best archers. Hands down. I'll elaborate when I am not using my phone.

[compmenacer]

Guess I will roll a ranger up and wait for the elaboration :)

[Jumpkick]

Rangers can be fun , but like someone else said ... Any combination can work. GS can be more about role play than min/max more than any other game I have played. If ranger speaks to you, do it. If bars sounds fun, do it. If rogue is intriguing , don't we have too many rogues.

[Tgo01]

Stop being a wuss. Do empath archer.

[compmenacer]

Went with human ranger ended up in ice mule I never get landing. I'm not sure on training path yet but I would like to skin and be decent at casting and open aiming. I am unsure about if cm is needed I hear some people say no and some 1x. Looks like my points are going to be tight. I am also starting with absolutely nothing so hopefully I can rake some coin in with skinning. I would appreciate some training advice from someone that has gone this route before.

[Jumpkick]

Make sure to check out the archery guide. Otherwise, get some levels under your belt and make sure to use the fact you have 10 stat conversions so set them up to be maximized for your first 30 days.

http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?49785-quot-The-Art-of-the-Bow-quot-GSIV-Archery-Guide

[SHAFT]

I like my wizard archer. Pew pew pew

[Gelston]

Sorcerer Archers #1

[compmenacer]

Im thinking i should of started of with a 2 hander for the first 10 levels bow is taking 5 or more shots to kill a rat :)

[Jumpkick]

Good choice!

[SHAFT]

Im thinking i should of started of with a 2 hander for the first 10 levels bow is taking 5 or more shots to kill a rat :)

First 30 days of every profession should swing a claidh. Fixskills before it's up. Arrows suck.

[Homur]

I'm no archery expert, but it seems like if you plan on fighting from the open then you will be sacrificing alot of the advantage of being a ranger; +30 AS & instant hide. From what I've seen, archery is a pretty ridiculous attack form, so if you stick with it you'll probably still crush things either way. Like everyone else said though, set your strength to 100, Agility/Dexterity/Logic at 90, and swing a claidh for your first 29 days to grind out those really boring levels.

If you get frustrated with the ranger though, maybe consider a monk. You get a massive amount of dodge, good redux & pseudo heavy armor eventually, some good stat and dodge boosts from Combat Manuevers (I'm assuming you're not going to be buying silver & won't be able to afford enhancives for awhile), and a few nice spells to boot. All good stuff to keep you alive in the open.

Given that no one mentioned Monks yet, perhaps I'm missing something and they make rotten archers (checking the TPs it looks like 38PTP/43MTP sets you up decently with 2x CM, ranged, PT, dodge, perc/.5x spells,HP). Ambush is a bit expensive and would probably have to wait awhile and Monks don't seem to have much to offer others in terms of buffing others aside from their focus spells, but if you're mostly looking to solo treasure hunt -- it seems like a Monk might fulfill most of your needs. At least on paper.

Mechanics wise, you could roll a dwarf, join CoL, and be able to tap into all three of your resource pools (stam/mana/spirit), carry a good chunk of loot, mitigate some of your TD deficiency from robes, and also hit a 3 second RT with your bow pretty quickly.

Sort of makes me want to roll up an archer monk now. Good luck & welcome back!

~Homur

[Buckwheet]

I'm no archery expert, but it seems like if you plan on fighting from the open then you will be sacrificing alot of the advantage of being a ranger; +30 AS & instant hide.
~Homur

Spike, camo, shoot. I do it all the time with zero hiding skill. Yes it will take some time to get to that. So if you are buying silvers, invest in ewave wearables and its the same thing.

[radeek]

I've played archers in almost every way imaginable. ALL can be not just good, but great. However, even though my ranger is by far my favorite archer to play, I have to say that for pure murderous killing potential I have to go with a rogue. And I'm not talking about a hiding rogue either. Open shooter but loaded with ambush, perception, dodge, PF, cmans and armor training. It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful this archer is. But as I stated earlier, ALL archers have the potential to be not just good, but great.

[Donquix]

a halfling ranger archer has got to be one of the safest hunt race+class+style combinations in the game. ranged defense/offense capabilities, ranger control/defense spells, minor spiritual spells for spirit TD, and natural halfling bonuses for ETD and maneuver defense. Killing power slightly reduced over other race choices but, dead is dead.

[SpiffyJr]

a halfling ranger archer has got to be one of the safest hunt race+class+style combinations in the game. ranged defense/offense capabilities, ranger control/defense spells, minor spiritual spells for spirit TD, and natural halfling bonuses for ETD and maneuver defense. Killing power slightly reduced over other race choices but, dead is dead.

This, x 10000000.