The Archery Codex

[u](Section 1 - History and Mechanics)[u]

Archery in Issue 11! It's sharper! It's pointier! It's sticki-... er...

*quietly slips into the Lumiverse and hides all of the Archery pr0n*

Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.

>.>

*cough*

To say that I'm excited to be writing this new Archery guide would be an understatement. I absolutely love Archery! *explodes with glee*

>.>

<.<

*hands out towels*

Sorry about that. Just wipe it off, it won't leave a stain. I think.

*cough*

Archery has had a rough road to travel over the years. Introduced with Issue 5, it was met with mixed reception. The concept was sound and well received, but the implementation left many feeling underwhelmed and the bugs that followed it off of the test server made many others even less enthusiastic about the powerset. In addition, the endurance costs were comparatively higher than the norm for blast sets. By the time Issue 5 had settled in, Archery had fallen into the same gutter as its sister, Trick Arrow, with only the occasional passerby stopping to give it some spare change.

Time passes, as always, and with time comes fixes and rebalancing. Critical bugs were resolved, such as Ranged Shot preventing any other power to be used for several seconds after firing, and a sweeping review of the endurance costs was underway by the time Issue 7 was in the beta phase. By the time Issue 7 made it to the live servers, there were almost no bugs left in Archery and it was hailed as the most endurance-friendly blast set available. Nevertheless, it still didn't gain widespread appeal, primarily due to the animation times and the fact that the damage output was almost all Lethal, a poor late-game (and PvP) damage type due to the tendency of critters (and players) to have Lethal resistance by then.

The only remaining complaints that any players are likely to have about Archery are the predominant damage type (Lethal) and the potential for higher damage intake due to the lack of a specific damage mitigation secondary effect. I can imagine that some will have minor quibbles with this or that power, or dislike the animations, but Archery is about as close to being on even footing with other blast sets as it's likely to get at this point.

Regarding the animations, Archery is the least flashy powerset in the game. Other than Blazing Arrow and Explosive Arrow, there are no dazzling light shows or pretty colors, it's just a bunch of sharp, pointy sticks and a bow. But the animations are fluid and graceful, beautiful in their understated elegance. From the character poses and movements to the trajectories of the arrows themselves, it all comes together perfectly. BackAlleyBrawler really went all out with these animations, and it shows.

<ul type="square">[*]Redraw
For a very long time it was also believed that weapon redraw hindered the powerset. It wasn't until BackAlleyBrawler finally clarified that all weapon sets have draw times built into each attack that it was finally and completely understood that there was no redraw penalty. With or without a weapon drawn, the animation times were the same.

Of course, with the emergence of Issue 11, many weapon animations have had the extra time removed... whether this will lead to the old weapon draw myth becoming true or not remains to be seen. Archery won't be affected, though, because it also had its animation times reduced across the board, to half or less of their previous lengths in most cases. With or without an imaginary redraw penalty, Archery is much, much faster in Issue 11 than it ever was in the past.

On a related note, Brawl for Archery blasters uses the Kick animation (from the Fighting pool). Fun to watch and it doesn't redraw your bow, but bear in mind that it's also significantly slower than the standard punch animation for Brawl (nearly three times as long, 1.83 seconds versus 0.67 seconds), and has a pause at the end when your character is settled back into the "ready" stance.
[*]Corpse blasting
"Corpse blasting", or having your attack hit a critter that has already been defeated, used to be relatively common for Archery characters that teamed frequently. This was an unfortunate side-effect of the animation times (though, in truth, like many things in the City of * world, it tended to be something that we only noticed when it happened several times and forgot about when it only happened once or twice in a day, like missed attacks. perception plays a very large role in how we play this game, and in an environment of fast-paced combat and constant movement, an extra 1.5 seconds can often be blamed as the source of all of our problems, from that unexpected defeat to accidentally double-tapping a critter). This will be much less of an issue with the reduced animation times, so don't hesitate to queue up your attacks in the middle of frenzied combat. You'll no longer be any more or less likely to shoot a corpse than anyone else using one of the other blast sets. Which is good, because the complaints that the corpses were filing with the developers were piling up. Few things are worse than having to deal with upset corpses whining about being used as pincushions.

Additionally, the first patch after I11 went live included tweaks to Archery's animations that should have removed any delays between when an attack hit and when the damage occurred, thus further reducing the tendency for corpse blasting.
[*]Beneath the surface
All blast sets have what are known as "secondary effects". Energy Blast has a Knockback secondary effect. Radiation Blast has a Defense Debuff secondary effect. In Archery's case, the secondary effect is enhanced accuracy, above and beyond the standard bonus for weapon sets (weapon powers, as a rule, have a small accuracy bonus. this is not true for all weapon powers, such as temp powers or veteran rewards). A single Accuracy TO (Training Origin) enhancement is enough to put an Archery attack very near the accuracy cap when facing +0 critters (an Accuracy TO offers a 7.5% buff, Archery's inherent accuracy is 1.155 and the base chance to hit a +0 critter is 75%. (1.155 * 1.075) * 0.75 = 0.93121875, or 93.12%. the game's accuracy cap (you can't make any attack more accurate) is 95%. the streak breaker kicks in at 90%, and any miss when you have 90% or higher accuracy in your attacks forces the next attack to hit. note that the streak breaker works off of the lowest accuracy in the attacks that you've used in a set period of time, though, so you may still miss when you think you should've hit if you recently used an attack with a lower accuracy. for more details... ask Arcanaville or someone else with a big brain. trying to explain the complexities of the streak breaker would be an entire other guide, one that i'm not qualified to write!).

The additional accuracy is controversial, though, as it is seen as a poor comparison to the damage mitigating secondary effects of other blast sets. It could be argued that the ability to hit foes more often is, effectively, a form of damage mitigation, as it does permit one to defeat foes more quickly, but the argument loses strength when enhancements stronger than DOs (Dual Origin) are considered. By mid-game, most players are slotting SOs (Single Origin) or better, and Archery's accuracy bonus loses its impact in comparison, in all but the most extreme cases. Nevertheless, this is what Archery has, and this is what we have learned to work with as Archery players.

Since Archery does have higher than standard accuracy, characters can rely less on Accuracy enhancements or turn entirely to powers or IO set bonuses that offer Accuracy or ToHit buffs, which in turn allows the player to slot for other attributes or pick up other damage mitigation powers. Whether this is sufficient compensation for a lack of a damage mitigation effect for the secondary, I can't personally say. I find it perfectly reasonable for my play style, but you might not.

Archery has a very good mix of single-target and multi-target (AoE and cone) attacks. Whether you're fighting one critter or many, you've got something useful. It also has very good range on all of its powers. Archery's shortest range is in Fistful of Arrows, and all of the other powers have ranges of 60' or greater. The higher than average ranges allow Archery to fit into a "pure ranged" attack style very nicely, and can be leveraged by the player as extra breathing room for those times when it's necessary to exercise the better part of valor (run away).
[*]DS
DS, or Damage Scalar, is a newer method of calculating the damage of attacks. The old method, BI (Brawl Index) relied on the use of Brawl as a baseline and tended to be inaccurate (especially where powersets were shared by ATs, such as in Archery's case). DS, on the other hand, is very precise because it takes the base damage scale value for a power and multiplies it by the appropriate modifiers to achieve the result. Where BI could only estimate damage, DS can tell you exactly, to the tenth of a point, how much damage an attack will deliver (discounting critter buffs/debuffs), at every level, for every AT on an individual basis.

Because damage scales according to level, AT and position (ranged or melee), I will be listing the base DS for attacks instead of giving straight damage numbers in this guide. The calculation for determining your exact damage with an attack at every level is as follows (per Iakona's PDS guide):

BaseDmg - [BaseDmg * LvlMod * ( 1 - AT_Mod )] = Damage

BaseDmg is variable, increasing at every level from 1 to 50. The variable is expressed as a negative number (which will result in a positive total at the conclusion of the equation).

LvlMod is variable, increasing at every level from 1 to 20. It remains constant from level 20 to 50.

AT_Mod is determined by taking the DS for an attack and multiplying it by the appropriate positional Damage modifier for an AT. All attacks in this guide use the Ranged Damage modifer for each particular AT.
DS * AT Ranged Damage mod = AT_Mod

BaseDmg, LvlMod and the Ranged Damage modifers are all located in Iakona's Power Data Standardization guide.

For those players less interested in having precise damage numbers, DS serves as a relative means of determining which attacks are going to benefit you most in certain situations. Using the DS values, one can easily tell that some attacks "heavy hitters" and others deal less damage. This can assist you in deciding which attack is appropriate at any given time. Using Blazing Arrow, a high DS attack, on a critter with less than 10% of its HP remaining, for instance, tends to be somewhat less than optimal (unless that critter is an Elite Boss or Archvillain) when a low DS attack would do the job just as well.
[*]Accuracy and ToHit
Arcanaville explains it much better than I do, but the basic principle is that accuracy is a factor of many different things, and each of them has a specific place in the way it's calculated. A ToHit buff is different from an Accuracy enhancement, but the same as a Defense Debuff, but not quite the same if the target has resistance to Defense Debuffs, and so on and so forth. The whole calculation is disturbingly long and makes my ears shoot mayonnaise, so I won't cover it here. If you're interested in understanding the complete complexity of Accuracy, have a look at Arcanaville's Guide to Defense.

What I will do is give some basic calculations so you can see the effects of Archery's base accuracy and why it's a positive benefit.

The following examples all use the 1.155 Accuracy that most of the Archery powers have, and don't account for the possibility that some critters might have +Defense or apply ToHit Debuffs to you. I want to keep this as simple as possible, it's just an analysis of Archery's base accuracy and how it interacts with Accuracy enhancements, ToHit buffs and differing critter levels.

Let's say that you're a level 4 Archery character fighting +0 critters in a warehouse mission. Against +0 critters, you have a 75% chance to hit, which the game translates to 0.75. Your attacks have a base accuracy of 1.155.

1.155 * 0.75 = 0.86625, or roughly 87%.

Now let's say that you slotted 1 Accuracy TO into each of your attacks, fighting the same critters. An Accuracy TO will make a power 8.35% more accurate.

(1.155 * 1.0835) * 0.75 = 0.93858188, or about 94%.

Now let's compare that to a power from a different powerset, which has a standard 1.0 accuracy.

1.0 * 0.75 = 0.75, 75%.
(1.0 * 1.0835) * 0.75 = 0.812625, 81%.

As you can see, Archery's inherent accuracy bonus really makes a difference, even at the very early levels of the game. The base accuracy makes even the small benefit of a TO very noticeable and worthwhile, whereas other powersets require the player to slot more heavily for accuracy or rely on other powers to help them hit, or they just miss a lot, then log into the forums and post that accuracy was nerfed.

There's some skepticism over whether Archery's accuracy retains that value at higher levels, because by certain points in the game, SOs or better that offer higher gains are easily available and most players are making use of them. The question at that point mutates from "How much am I getting from this secondary?" to "Is my secondary doing anything to help me at all?" or "Does my secondary provide damage mitigation comparable to that of other blast sets?".

A power with a 1.0 accuracy, slotted with 1 Accuracy SO, would have a (1.0 * 1.33) * 0.75 = 0.9975, 99.75% chance to hit a standard +0 critter. An Archery attack with the same slotting would stand at (1.155 * 1.33) * 0.75 = 1.1521125, 115% chance to hit that same minion.

However, both of these attacks are "capped", meaning the game cuts them off at 95%. You can never have higher than 95% accuracy, even if you have higher than 95% accuracy. The game simply ignores the extra and factors in a base 5% chance to miss, no matter what buffs or debuffs you're using. So the Archery and non-Archery players are on even ground against that +0 critter, with just that one SO.

But when they both start facing higher level critters, things change a little because the chance to hit critters drops as critter level increase in relation to player level. Next, I'll show the results of both Archery and 1.0 standard accuracy attacks against +1, +2 and +3 critters, with a single Accuracy SO. You have a 65% chance to hit +1 critters, a 56% chance to hit +2 critters, and a 48% chance to hit +3 critters.

First, Archery.
+1: (1.155 * 1.33) * 0.65 = 0.9984975, 99.85%, capped at 95%
+2: (1.155 * 1.33) * 0.56 = 0.860244, 86.02%
+3: (1.155 * 1.33) * 0.48 = 0.737352, 73.73%

Now the standard 1.0 accuracy attacks.
+1: (1.0 * 1.33) * 0.65 = 0.8645, 86.45%
+2: (1.0 * 1.33) * 0.56 = 0.7448, 74.48%
+3: (1.0 * 1.33) * 0.48 = 0.6384, 63.84%

Archery pulls ahead as the critter levels increase, easily staying at the accuracy cap against +1s and remaining as accurate against +2s as standard powers are against +1s. When we get to the +3s, both of our theoretical characters start to get frustrated by misses, but the Archery character will miss less frequently.

That's with a single Accuracy SO (or, of course, anything roughly equivalent). Many players tend to slot 2 Accuracy SOs because of the difficulty of hitting +2 and higher critters, so let's examine that next.

Archery.
+1: (1.155 * 1.66) * 0.65 = 1.246245, 124.63%, capped at 95%
+2: (1.155 * 1.66) * 0.56 = 1.073688, 107.37%, capped at 95%
+3: (1.155 * 1.66) * 0.48 = 0.920304, 92.03%

Standard 1.0 accuracy attack.
+1: (1.0 * 1.66) * 0.65 = 1.079, 107.9%, capped at 95%
+2: (1.0 * 1.66) * 0.56 = 0.9296, 92.96%
+3: (1.0 * 1.66) * 0.48 = 0.7968, 79.68%

With 2 Accuracy SOs, both characters are rampaging juggernauts against +1s, and they're going to have roughly the same results against +2s. But the +3s are suddenly a problem for the standard character, while the Archery character easily maintains a comfortable level of accuracy. In fact, the standard character's accuracy has dropped to below 80%, which means he can miss 3 times before the streak breaker forces a hit (see Arcanaville's guide for a more comprehensive explanation, but the basic function of the streak breaker is to award players with a "free" hit if they miss a certain number of times, determined by their accuracy), whereas the Archery character will typically get a forced hit after only one miss (typically, i say, because like everything else in this game, the streak breaker uses more complex rules than it seems on the surface).

Taking only Accuracy enhancements (or IO set bonuses) into account, the results show that Archery's attacks will tend to require less of a focus on enhancements (or bonuses) to get the same effect as attacks with standard accuracy, or allow the Archery character to hit critters more frequently and reliably and force the streak breaker to kick in sooner and more often. Slotting one fewer enhancement can mean more slots for defensive powers, or the ability to dedicate slots for special IOs that offer ways to improve your survivability (such as procs that cause status effects on critters). Slotting eqivalent enhancements, on the other hand, translates to defeating critters more easily and faster, cutting down on the amount of overall time spent in combat. Less time in combat means you're affected by fewer status effects and take less damage over time than the characters with attacks that have standard accuracy, and that also improves your survivability. Whichever way you prefer to view it, Archery's base accuracy is helping you. Whether or not it's helping you as much as another secondary is something each player has to decide for him or herself.

So what about ToHit buffs?

ToHit works differently from Accuracy. Where Accuracy is multiplied by the base of the power, ToHit is added to the base chance to hit. As stated earlier, your base chance to hit a +0 critter is 75%, or 0.75. If you have a 10% ToHit Buff affecting your character, the 10%, 0.10, is added directly to the base 0.75, giving you an 85% chance to hit that critter, and that's without taking any Accuracy enhancements/buffs or Archery's inherent accuracy into account.

An attack with standard accuracy: 1.0 * (0.75 + 0.10) = 0.85, 85%.
An Archery attack: 1.155 * (0.75 + 0.10) = 0.98175, 98%.

As you can see, ToHit's end result is similar to Accuracy, but smaller buffs are required to achieve that result.
[*]Going deeper into Accuracy and ToHit
At the end of this guide is a complete list of different final accuracy results for Archery attacks using various slottings of Accuracy enhancements and ToHit Buffs. The tables cover all three ATs, critter levels from +0 to +3, 0 through 2 Accuracy SOs, and 0 through 3 ToHit Buff enhancements in Tactics (and Targeting Drone, for Archery/Devices blasters). Aim (defenders and blasters) and Build Up (blasters) are also covered, but only with 0 through 2 Accuracy SOs, not with ToHit Buffs (because Aim's buff is so high that its default value is sufficient for practically any situation; and Build Up is only slightly more than 1% higher than Targeting Drone, so players who want to slot it for ToHit can get a very good estimate of its effects by referring to the Targeting Drone tables; and because i'm so tired of running all of the different calculations that i just can't do any more. i wasn't even going to include Aim or Build Up when i started, so be happy that they're even included at all). If you know what level critters you'll be fighting most of the time and want to get an idea of what to slot or whether or not to use Tactics/Targeting Drone, a quick look at the appropriate table will tell you what you need to hit your preferred final Accuracy with Archery's attacks (excluding Ranged Shot and RoA, as they have different base Accuracies than the other powers).

PvP slotting and various effects are also not covered, but not because I'm avoiding PvP in this guide, but because the base chance to hit players is very close to the base chance to hit +3 critters and as such, the percentages listed for +3s in the tables will give you a very close approximation of your final accuracy in PvP. You will, in fact, have a slightly higher final percentage than what I've listed for +3 critters, so those numbers are, as far as I'm concerned, satisfactory for PvP substitution.

The tables also do not account for any debuffs on either you or your target(s). I created the tables so players who wanted to figure out the best way to slot based on the powers they selected would be able to get an answer quickly and easily, not to cover every conceivable combination of powers in the game. Use the tables for that purpose, deciding how to slot, whether or not you want to use ToHit powers and how to slot those to achieve your preferred level of Accuracy against various critter levels or in PvP, nothing more and nothing less.

Why did I choose SOs as the baseline for the calculations? Well, there simply isn't any easier baseline to use. I didn't want to use common IO values because there's no specific IO level that "everyone" uses, and IOs increase in value as they increase in level. I couldn't do the numbers using level 50 IOs because that would've excluded everyone below 47. Nor could I use the level 30 IO values because I suspect that many players are going to eventually slot higher level IOs when they can afford them, which would in turn make the tables just as useless. I certainly couldn't use IO sets or set bonuses because there's no way to be sure everyone is going to be using IO sets. SOs, however, have a set value that can be used as a reference point, and that value is going to be exactly the same for level 50 characters using +0 SOs as it would be for level 25 characters using +0 SOs. Additionally, SOs are almost exactly the same value as level 25 IOs (33% for SOs versus 32% for IOs), so the reference point crosses over into IOs smoothly at that level.

The tables aren't going to be useful to everyone, thanks to IOs. A year ago, those tables would've been the end-all and be-all of Archery slotting for accuracy, but these days the range of options and possibilities are so vast that it's nearly impossible to cover them all. I wish I could make tables for every level of IOs and set bonuses, but I don't know if I could even finish something that massive. It would definitely take several months, and I just don't want to put that much time into that much math. I'm sorry, but even my adoration of Archery can't be stretched quite that far.

Still, for those who do want exact Accuracy calculations using higher level IOs, IO sets and set bonuses, or other ToHit Buffs, you can find your own results very easily by referencing Arcanaville's guide and using the equation she gives. A simplified version of that equation would be...

(1.155 * 1.A) * (0.THB + 0.Base_Hit_Chance) = Accuracy%

1.155 is Archery's native accuracy.

1.A is the total value of your accuracy buffs, from enhancements and set bonuses, expressed as a decimal value, 0.A and added to 1. If you had a single Accuracy SO in the attack, which gives you a 33% increase, then the actual number for the calculation would be 1.33, or 0.33 added to 1.

0.THB is the total ToHit that you have, expressed as a decimal value. If you had a 10% ToHit Buff, then you would enter 0.10 in that spot.

0.Base_Hit_Chance is your chance to hit a critter or player. 0.75 for +0 critters, 0.65 for +1 critters, 0.56 for +2 critters, 0.50 for players (PvP) and 0.48 for +3 critters.

Accuracy% is the final result of the calculation, with the decimal moved two places to the right. That's your final Accuracy percentage. So if you had a final result of 1.05392, your Accuracy would be 105.39%.[/list]

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[u](Section 2 - Powers)[u]

All powers are listed in the following format:
Power Name
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: The earliest level at which a player can select a power, as determined by AT.[*]Effects: This entry outlines precisely what it is that a power actually does.[*]Recharge: How long it takes for a power to become usable again after it has been used.[*]Animation: The length of time it takes for your character to go through the act of using a power.[*]Duration(s): How long the effects of a power last. Note that a power's Duration begins at the end of the Animation, not when the Animation begins.[*]Range: The maximum distance that this power can be fired to, discounting Range enhancements or buffs. You may use a power at any distance between 1' (right under your nose) and the listed range.[*]Endurance: How much Endurance it costs to use a power.[*]Accuracy: This entry gives the base Accuracy of the power. To determine your actual chance to hit, multiply the base power Accuracy by the appropriate modifier for the critter level.[*]Accepted Enhancements: The types of enhancements that can be used with the power.[*]Slotting recommendation: This is the suggested enhancements and number of slots to dedicate to the power. For this guide, assume all enhancement suggestions to be at least SOs. HOs and level 25 or better IOs are acceptable substitutes.

The values of IOs vary according to level, schedule and whether or not they enhance multiple aspects of a power (such as a set IO that enhances Accuracy/Hold).

Certain powers can be used in lieu of enhancements, such as Hasten, as they provide the same benefit or net result as specific types of enhancements. Other powers, such as Tactics, provide a net effect that may be close enough for your taste, and as such can also be used as a substitute for specific enhancements.[*]Usable IO sets: The IO set types that a power accepts. The IO set names or specific IOs in a set will not be listed, because of the sheer volume of space that would be required. You can look up IO sets and which IOs are in each set with Mid's Hero Designer, ParagonWiki or Red Tomax's City of Data.[*]Notes: Commentary on a power, explanation of usage, existing bugs and various information.[/list]
Snap Shot
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 1 (all)[*]Effects: Damage (0.84 DS blasters, 0.68 DS defenders and masterminds)[*]Recharge: 3 seconds (blasters), 2 seconds (defenders and masterminds)[*]Animation: 1 second[*]Duration: Instant[*]Range: 80'[*]Endurance: 3.54 (blasters and defenders), 4.42 (masterminds)[*]Accuracy: 1.155[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: See Notes[*]Usable IO sets: Ranged Damage[*]Notes: Snap Shot is an attack that I recommended avoiding in my previous TA/A guide. At the end of this new guide, I've set aside a section to explain exactly why, so I'm not going to get into that in the notes for the power.

Defenders - You're stuck with it. If you slot it, I wouldn't advise using too many slots. It doesn't need Recharge Reduction, unless you're trying to use it as a proc triggering device by loading it full of special IOs and spamming it. It certainly doesn't need Endurance Reduction. If you've got any powers, IO bonuses or special IOs, or buffs that increase your chance to hit, put 3 Damage enhancements in it and leave it alone. Otherwise, 1 Accuracy and 3 Damage, and even that makes me cringe. Or pack it with procs and pray, if that's your happy place. Personally, I'd rather swallow broken glass than use this on my TA/A.

Masterminds - In your hands, Snap Shot deals almost exactly the same damage as a blaster's Brawl. You've got plenty of better choices throughout your career, unless you're making a "petless" mastermind. If you're absolutely determined to take it and use it, it's your character, just don't expect anything remarkable out of it. If you do take Snap, 0-1 Accuracy and 3 Damage, or try sticking some procs into it and see if they make it a little more useful.

Blasters - Totally, completely different situation. TAKE SNAP SHOT. Yes, I said TAKE SNAP SHOT.

The changes in Issue 11 have a profound impact on Snap Shot for blasters. The base damage scale has been increased to 0.84 (only the blaster version), and the Ranged Damage scale for blasters has been increased from 1.0 to 1.125 (separate change, roughly two weeks after I11 went live). Together, these two changes result in Snap Shot dealing almost the same damage that the "old" (pre-I11) Aimed Shot used to deal, and almost as much damage as Fistful or Explosive. Yes, the damage output finally makes it worth taking and using, for blasters. The new scales make an enormous difference for this previously hideous attack.

This is a good thing, too, because the combination of increased recharge time for Aimed Shot and decreased animation times across the board mean it's no longer possible for blasters to create a sustainable ranged attack chain with Archery unless Snap Shot is taken. It also fits well with the change to Defiance that allows blasters to fire tier 1 and 2 attacks (or tier 1 powers from their secondary) while mezzed.

Take it, slot it, use it. 0-1 Accuracy, 3 Damage and 1-2 Recharge (you'll want the Recharge Reduction because the recharge time was also increased for blasters, to 3 seconds). For blasters, it's a very worthwhile attack.[/list]
Aimed Shot
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 1 (blasters), Level 2 (defenders and masterminds)[*]Effects: Damage (1.32 blasters, 1.00 defenders and masterminds)[*]Recharge: 6 seconds (blasters), 4 seconds (defenders and masterminds)[*]Animation: 1.67 seconds[*]Duration: Instant[*]Range: 80'[*]Endurance: 5.2 (blasters and defenders), 6.5 (masterminds)[*]Accuracy: 1.155[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reduction OR 1-2 Range OR 1-2 Endurance Reduction[*]Usable IO sets: Ranged Damage[*]Notes: Aimed Shot is one of the staples of every Archery character I create. It's fast, it's easy on the endurance bar, it hits hard enough to make me happy and it recharges quickly. All three ATs should have this attack and plan to use it. This is where Archery really starts, it's the power that should've been the level 1 power.[/list]
Fistful of Arrows
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 2 (blasters), Level 4 (defenders), Level 8 (masterminds)[*]Effects: Damage (0.91 DS)[*]Recharge: 8 seconds[*]Animation: 1.17 seconds[*]Duration: Instant[*]Range: 50' (blasters and masterminds), 40' (defenders)[*]Endurance: 8.53 (blasters and defenders), 10.66 (masterminds)[*]Accuracy: 1.155[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reduction OR 1-2 Range OR 1-2 Endurance Reduction[*]Usable IO sets: Targeted AoE Damage[*]Notes: Fistful of Arrows is a solid attack. The damage output is respectable, it animates very quickly, the endurance cost and recharge time are both reasonable and it even looks nice. Masterminds take a small hit in the endurance cost, but it's manageable. Defenders have a shorter range, but again, it's manageable. For blasters and defenders, it makes a nice addition to your standard attack chain (see Snap Shot's notes for more information on using Fistful in an attack chain), and with only 2 other choices for multi-target attacks, it's not a bad idea to have it to round out your AoE abilities. Blasters will find it very nice for pairing up with Explosive Arrow for some lightweight AoE fun. For all three ATs, I recommend taking, slotting and using Fistful. Masterminds, this is the last Archery power you'll have access to, so enjoy it.

For all ATs, I also strongly recommend slotting Damage/Range enhancements in Fistful. Extending the range will give you the ability to pick one spot to stand or Hover and do your blasting, instead of moving around to get into and out of various ranges. Using Damage/Range enhancements means more sharp, pointy sticks in the air, and that's why you're playing with Archery. [/list]
Blazing Arrow
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 6 (blaster), Level 10 (defender)[*]Effects: Damage (1.96 DS lethal), DoT (5 tics of 0.125 DS Fire)[*]Recharge: 10 seconds[*]Animation: 1.83 seconds[*]Duration: Instant (Lethal damage), ~4.6 seconds (Fire DoT)[*]Range: 80'[*]Endurance: 10.2[*]Accuracy: 1.155[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reduction OR 3 Damage and 3 Recharge Reduction[*]Usable IO sets: Ranged Damage[*]Notes: First, disregard the in-game text description for Blazing Arrow. It does not have lower accuracy than the other Archery powers. This comes directly from Castle, the description is wrong, Blazing Arrow has the same 1.155 accuracy base as the rest of Archery.

Now that that's out of the way, wow. Blazing Arrow is a great attack. It hits hard, it's got a small DoT, it's got twice the range of similar attacks from other blast sets, and it even costs a little bit less endurance. The DoT is, according to Castle, supposed to be a chance to hit per tick, but testing and City of Data indicate that the ticks aren't checked, all 5 hit. For comparison, Fire Blast's Blaze checks each tick with an 80% chance to occur. Even more, Blazing Arrow's damage outpaces Blaze's damage if Blaze doesn't get a minimum of 4 ticks, which makes Blazing Arrow the highest consistent damage non-snipe ranged attack available to heroes.

There should be no reason, no excuses at all for not taking Blazing Arrow as soon as it becomes available, for either blasters or defenders. Period. If you pass this attack by, your Archer card will be revoked and you'll be staked out naked on a rooftop next to a ravening horde of Rikti monkeys.

Yes, I mean it.[/list]
Aim
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 8 (blaster), Level 16 (defender)[*]Effects: Accuracy and Damage buff (8.0 ToHit, 5.0 Damage DS)[*]Recharge: 90 seconds[*]Animation: 1.17 seconds[*]Duration: 10 seconds[*]Endurance: 5.2[*]Accepted Enhancements: Endurance Reduction, Recharge Reduction, ToHit Buff[*]Slotting recommendation: 2-3 Recharge Reduction, optionally 2-3 ToHit Buff[*]Usable IO sets: To-Hit Buff[*]Notes: This is a standard Aim, just like most of the other blast sets offer. 37.5% +ToHit and 62.5% +Damage for blasters, 50% +ToHit and Damage for defenders. You aren't required to take Aim, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have it. I rarely pass this one up as a blaster, but I also don't try to cram it in at an early level, instead fitting it in when I've got a little more wiggle room in my builds, usually in the mid to late 20s.

As a defender, I actually passed on Aim completely. Between the native accuracy of Archery and the effects of my primary (Trick Arrow, Acid Arrow in particular), I never actually needed the ToHit Buff and I didn't consider the damage buff to be high enough to warrant replacing any of the other powers that I needed or wanted. However, many defenders are likely to want Aim. My choice to skip it was simply that, my choice.

Archery's Aim will draw your bow.[/list]
Explosive Arrow
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 12 (blaster), Level 20 (defender)[*]Effects: Damage (0.90 DS lethal/smashing), Knockback (50%/critter)[*]Recharge: 16 seconds[*]Animation: 1.83 seconds[*]Duration: Instant[*]Range: 80', 15' AoE centered on targeted critter[*]Endurance: 15.2[*]Accuracy: 1.155[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Knockback, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1-2 Recharge Reduction OR 1-2 Endurance Reduction[*]Usable IO sets: Targeted AoE Damage[*]Notes: I have a love-blah relationship with Explosive Arrow. As a blaster, I love it, but as a defender, it just never put the pickle on my sandwich.

Blasters will get a lot of mileage out of Explosive Arrow. The damage is almost the same as Fistful's, it's got great range and it fits into the AoE power of the set very well. For normal play, just using this and Fistful while alternating Aim and Build Up can really help you move along through missions. When the Knockback happens, it's a nice bonus that can help keep you out of the hospital. And once you have Rain of Arrows, it's the premium follow-up attack to finish off a spawn, due to the range and number of targets (Fistful is limited to 10, being a cone, whereas RoA and Explosive both affect 16). A full RoA/Explosive/Fistful combo buffed by Aim and Build Up is a truly devastating thing that you'll wish you could do every 30 seconds or so... oh, wait, you can!

But it's not quite as nice for defenders. The knockback can be a problem if it sends critters flying out of an AoE debuff that's keeping you alive, and the damage, despite being only 0.01 DS less than Fistful, somehow feels far less impressive (a perception thing, probably because the damage it deals is displayed as two seperate, smaller numbers, one for Smashing and one for Lethal). The endurance cost is also nearly twice that of Fistful, and you definitely notice its impact on your endurance bar. As a defender, I found that I always had something more useful to use than this attack, and eventually respeced out of it. I haven't missed it.

Explosive does deal some Smashing damage, and in a powerset that's heavy on Lethal, that does give it some additional merit. And the Knockback is directional, based on your position in reference to the spawn or critter, not radial like some AoE powers with Knockback, so you won't be scattering critters all over the globe, they'll just go flying away from where you were standing when the power was activated.

It also gives you some pretty nice multi-target damage potential when you use it with Fistful, and if you've played long enough to get Rain of Arrows, you'll probably be jonesing for AoE output every second that RoA is down. Fistful + Explosive fills that need rather well.

The two complaints I have about Explosive Arrow are the endurance cost and the recharge time. Fistful deals slightly more damage, recharges in half the time and costs nearly half the endurance. The chance for Knockback simply doesn't justify nearly doubled recharge and endurance, in my opinion, so if your build is tight, take Fistful and skip Explosive.

Also, the graphic for this power is simply gorgeous. A wreath of flame that expands out from the point of impact. Sometimes, it's worth having just to enjoy the lovely explosion.

And no, I have no idea why an attack that displays a fire graphic is dealing Lethal and Smashing damage. I don't make the sharp, pointy sticks, I just put eyes out with them![/list]
Ranged Shot
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 18 (blaster), Level 28 (defender)[*]Effects: Damage (2.76 DS)[*]Recharge: 12 seconds[*]Animation: 4.67 seconds (3 seconds Interruptible + 1.67 seconds)[*]Duration: Interruptible (3 seconds), Instant[*]Range: 150'[*]Endurance: 14.4[*]Accuracy: 1.386[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Interrupt Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 3 Damage, optionally 1-3 Range OR 1-3 Interrupt Reduction, optionally 1-3 Recharge Reduction[*]Usable IO sets: Ranged Damage, Sniper Attacks[*]Notes: If you've been paying attention to the numbers I've been listing with each power, you'll notice that Blazing Arrow deals almost as much damage as Ranged Shot. This isn't an error, Blazing Arrow really is that powerful. That, in turn, makes Ranged Shot somewhat less appealing, with a higher endurance cost and recharge time and much longer animation. Ranged Shot does have nearly twice the range of Blazing Arrow, so it's not entirely overshadowed by Blazing Arrow.

You're likely to either skip this attack, or take it with the intention of using it frequently. There isn't really an in-between position. It isn't a bad attack, despite being a snipe, it's simply not terribly impressive in a set with an attack like Blazing Arrow.

If you are going to take it and use it, Ranged Shot makes a great companion to Blazing Arrow for hitting things really hard from really far away. Buffing up Blazing with some extra Range gives you the capability to use it from almost the same distance that Ranged offers, so you can hit two individual critters with snipe-damage attacks, or focus both attacks on one to deal a lot of damage quickly (a common tactic for Archery players in PvP).

Nevertheless, if you're looking for something to skip, Ranged Shot is probably at the top of your list, again because Blazing Arrow is just that good. Ranged also becomes available at a time when you're likely to have developed your play style to the point that it just won't fit in well, so don't work yourself into a frenzy trying to find a reason to take it or use it, you've got a really good list of attacks already.[/list]
Stunning Shot
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 26 (blaster), Level 35 (defender)[*]Effects: Disorient (mag 3), Damage (0.25 DS)[*]Recharge: 20 seconds[*]Animation: 1.83 seconds[*]Duration: Variable (use Ranged Stun modifier for AT and BaseMez table in Iakona's guide to determine exact length at any level)
*Base value: 10 seconds
*Blaster: 10 seconds (level 26), 11.92 seconds (level 50)
*Defender: 13.4 seconds (level 35), 14.9 seconds (level 50)[*]Range: 60'[*]Endurance: 10.2[*]Accuracy: 1.155[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Disorient Duration, Endurance Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 1 Accuracy, 2-3 Disorient Duration, 1-2 Recharge Reduction, 1-2 Range[*]Usable IO sets: Ranged Damage, Stun[*]Notes: Stunning Shot is a very reliable, useful power. It's the only control in Archery (disregarding the soft control from Explosive Arrow's chance for Knockdown), so characters in need of damage mitigation will find it extremely welcome. It also benefits from Archery's inherent accuracy bonus, making it even more potent as a control.

Regarding the in-game description, Stunning Shot is a mag 3 Stun, not a chance to Stun. All critters of lieutenant or lower level will be Stunned if they're hit. It won't Stun bosses or higher, but it does stack with other Stuns, and stacked Stuns will work on bosses.

Blasters should pick this up immediately, regardless of which secondary they're using. Energy Melee, Electric Melee and Devices have Stuns that can be used with Stunning Shot. For blasters using Fire Melee, Stunning Shot provides some much needed damage mitigation that's lacking in the secondary. Ice Melee blasters are likely to find it less useful due to the additional control and debuff options offered by that secondary. I'll say again, though, that the additional accuracy is a very strong incentive to take it, because controls that don't hit aren't doing much for your survivability. Regardless of your secondary, having a very accurate control that can take lieutenants or lower critters out (or be stacked with your other Stun to disable a boss) is a good thing.

Defenders have less reason to take Stunning Shot. It comes so late in the game that a defender isn't likely to have a pressing need for a (or another) single-target control by then. It's not useless for defenders, it's just less useful because their primaries should be fleshed out well enough to provide sufficient damage mitigation by level 35. Defenders playing with a primary that lacks any controls are going to get a lot of utility out of this power, whereas those with primaries that are already heavy on control will probably want to skip it. Dark Miasma, Force Field and Storm Summoning defenders have access to Stuns that can be stacked with Stunning Shot.

Whichever AT you're playing, don't slot this for Damage. It's not an attack, the damage is a side-effect and you will most certainly be disappointed if you try to use it as such.[/list]
Rain of Arrows
<ul type="square">[*]Availability: Level 32 (blaster), Level 38 (defender)[*]Effects: Damage (variable, 1.35 DS * 1-3), Avoid (critters)[*]Recharge: 60 seconds[*]Animation: 4 seconds[*]Duration: 1 second, 3 ticks[*]Range: 80' (blasters), 90' (defenders), 25' AoE centered on targeted location[*]Endurance: 20.8[*]Accuracy: 1.0 (special)[*]Accepted Enhancements: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Range, Recharge Reduction[*]Slotting recommendation: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reduction OR 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reduction[*]Usable IO sets: Targeted AoE[*]Notes: First, Rain of Arrows is not a "rain" power like Rain of Fire or Ice Storm. Functionally, Rain of Arrows is identical to "nuke" powers, like Nova or Blackstar, with the one difference being that it's used from range instead of PBAoE. You activate the power, a targeting circle appears on your pointer, you select the location where you want Rain of Arrows to occur and click, and the power animates. At the end of the animation, the power summons a pseudo-pet that applies a PBAoE "nuke" at the targeted location. It can hit once, twice or three times, just like other "nukes".

The "Rain" part of the name comes from the graphic that's displayed when the power animates. Your character leans backward, draws the bow, fires an arrow into the air, and dozens of arrows come raining down from above.

Then you get up and go change your clothes, because the excitement and amazement of seeing so many sharp, pointy sticks come thudding down into your foes has made you soil yourself.

&gt;.&gt;

&lt;.&lt;

What do you mean, just me? O_o

*cough*

Right, anyway, as I was saying, treat Rain of Arrows as a "nuke", not a rain. The DoT only lasts a second, not 15 seconds, so there's no long period during which critters could run out of the AoE. Critters will aggro on you at the end of the "lean back and fire" animation, before the damage is applied, but not before that (unless you've already aggroed them). If you're in a team, you may not generate enough Threat to aggro the critters, in which case, yay you, blast away (blasters will be more likely to "steal" aggro when using RoA, due to the damage output). The hit checks aren't made until the pseudo-pet spawns. You can fire Rain of Arrows around a corner or from behind something that blocks line of sight, as long as you can rotate your camera angle enough to fire it where you want it (this is a bit of an exploit, as it very clearly bends the "line of sight" rules in the game, but there isn't anything stopping you from doing it and it's not actually "against the rules").

Rain of Arrows has no endurance recovery penalty, unlike all other "nukes", and the endurance cost listed is exactly what it states. There is no recovery penalty and no full endurance drain, no crash of any kind. Well, unless you're the victim of RoA... poor critters.

All of this, plus the base 60 second recharge time, means Rain of Arrows is the best nuke in the game, period, end of story, discussion over. Yes, it's all Lethal damage, but as comparatively low as the recharge time is and complete lack of any penalties for using it, so what. You can use it five times as frequently as "real nukes", other than Full Auto, and it even outstrips Full Auto in the number of targets it can hit (16, versus 10 for Full Auto) and how it's used (location-targeted AoE that can be fired from behind cover, whereas Full Auto is a cone). This is a power that you can and should use both solo and in teams.

Blasters with Aim, Build Up, Explosive and Fistful can tear through +3 minions in seconds. Even without Explosive or Fistful, minions have very little chance to survive a buffed Rain of Arrows. I can't count the number of times I've had other blasters send me a /tell asking me to stop using Rain of Arrows on every spawn, when I was in a team, because there's almost nothing left for them to fight. Whether or not lieutenants are defeated will depend on their relative level, but even they'll be hurting. Bosses will, obviously, take much more damage to deal with, but for the amount of damage that RoA does in the time that it does it, it's even good to use against bosses (presuming you don't have aggro. you don't want to spend 4 seconds with a boss beating on you, after all!).

Defenders have absolutely no reason not to take Rain of Arrows, either. Even without Build Up, even considering the defender Ranged Damage modifier, it's a powerful attack. No matter which primary you're playing, Rain of Arrows fits. With the variety of buffs and debuffs available to defenders, it's very easy to bring this attack up to blaster levels, making it that much more worthwhile.

There is an Avoid built into Rain of Arrows (Avoid tells critters to get out of the damage zone), but the damage is dealt so quickly that it's very, very rare for anything to escape (and when they do, it's always because they were at the very edge, weren't aggroed to anything and weren't ordered to retaliate by the AI).

The accuracy for Rain of Arrows is a special case. The base accuracy is 1.6, but the power summons a pseudo-pet, which has a base accuracy of 1.0. The pseudo-pet's accuracy overrides the power's accuracy, so the final, real accuracy of RoA is 1.0. Yes, it makes about as much sense as an alligator in a chiffon wedding gown, but that's how it works.

Even with additional accuracy, though, it can and does miss. Each tick is checked individually, per foe. Most of the critters in the AoE will be hit twice, some will be hit three times, some only once. I have never, in all the time I've been using RoA, seen any critters take 0 damage, and I can't think of a single instance of the first tick ever missing either. Using Aim and Build Up or Power Build Up before Rain of Arrows is a good idea, not only because they help it hit more often, but because they all increase the damage as well. Higher accuracy means more ticks hitting and more damage delivered, and that is Rain of Arrows, damage delivered on a silver platter with a side of "ZOMG!".

Some players will decide to skip slotting Accuracy enhancements in favor of using Aim and Build Up, or Tactics and/or Targeting Drone. For those not slotting Accuracy enhancements, 3 Recharge Reduction in Aim or Build Up and 1 in Rain of Arrows will get you to roughly equivalent recharge times for your ToHit buff and RoA (~45 seconds).

Personally, I prefer having the attack available as frequently as possible. 2 Recharge Reduction will get the recharge time down to ~36 seconds. A third enhancement will drop it to ~31 seconds, but the diminishing returns at that point make it less worthwhile, so I only slot 2. I'm an unrepentant fan of sharp, pointy sticks, and RoA has them in spades, so my goal is never to have synchronous buffs with my RoA, but instead to have RoA up as much as possible so I can fill the screen with wetness-inducing artificial forests of arrows.

O_o

STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! &gt;.&lt;

How quickly do the DoT ticks land? 0.8 seconds from when the pseudo-pet spawns to the last tick. I spent about two weeks flying around Brickstown with my Archery/Energy blaster, street sweeping. My tactic was very simple - find a spawn consisting solely of minions, hit Aim and Build Up and fire Rain of Arrows from maximum range. Nearly every spawn was defeated, the entire spawn, before their return attacks landed. Because of how the game works, that meant that almost none of that damage occurred. The minions had their attacks in the air, but because they were defeated before the attacks landed, the game simply deleted their damage. I took damage from one or two attacks, on average, for every spawn of 10-16. That's how fast Rain of Arrows works. Again, though, the damage doesn't occur until the end of the character animation (the "lean back and shoot into the air" part), so anything that happens to be moving about may leave the targeted location before the pseudo-pet is summoned and the actual damage begins.

A fun quirk of RoA is that it's not ground-based. You can fire it in any direction, including at walls and straight up in the air. The AoE is a sphere, so it can be used to hit the rare flying critter, but this aspect is mostly useless, just something that you can do for giggles.

There simply is no downside to Rain of Arrows. There's no reason at all that you shouldn't take it, slot it and use it like it's going out of style, regardless of whether you're a blaster, blapper, defender, offender or even an "aura-rocker". This power is everything that's good about "nukes", with none of the penalties. Go absolutely crazy with it.[/list]

---

[u](Section 3 - Building and Playing Archery)[u]

Archery commentary and tactical breakdown

Archery fits both single-target and multi-target styles very well. Despite Fistful and Explosive having base damage scales below 1.0, the high damage scale of RoA and the frequency of its availability makes it very easy to play Archery as both single-target and multi-target by level 33/39 (when you've been able to dedicate some slots to RoA).

Blasters will find their AoE happy place a bit sooner and more easily than defenders, as they'll not only have Explosive and RoA sooner, but can also use Build Up (except Devices) to buff the damage output significantly. Defenders are limited to Aim (and Power Build Up if they choose the Power Mastery APP), and their longest ranged AoEs come at later points in the game, but a Fistful + Explosive combo deals only a little less damage than Tenebrous Tentacles + Nightfall, so it's not a lost cause. Watch out for that Knockback, though, it really can be problematic if you're not careful.

Masterminds are limited to only the first three Archery powers, so they won't be building a high damage AoE combo, but let's be honest here, masterminds are walking AoEs anyway. Building a full Archery attack chain is also next to impossible for masterminds, so the attacks are best used as fillers to assist henchmen in fights.

<ul type="square">[*]Blasters: If you're still reading this guide, I'm presuming that you're interested in Archery as a ranged attack powerset, not as a supplement to melee combat (blapping). If you are building a blapper with Archery, there isn't much advice or help that I can offer, other than to avoid trying to use Ranged Shot or RoA in melee combat. This guide is written for and from the viewpoint of ranged combat. And coffee. And some of those delectable cherry cheesecake danish.

Develop your single-target chain early, get comfortable with it and expect to be using it throughout the game. Archery has some fantastic AoE potential, but AoEs don't defeat lieutenants and bosses, single-target attacks do. You'll also get better +Damage buffs from the newly improved Defiance if you're using single-target attacks from your primary (Archery, duh), which will help put some extra punch into your AoEs.

Ranged Shot will have some added value for blasters with the new Defiance. The long animation results in a very nice Damage buff, so Ranged will give you a nice boost for the next few seconds of your attack sequence, getting you started on the right foot. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, you can build up plenty of +Damage by simply sticking with your regular attack chain, but this extra benefit may make the snipe more attractive to some players. You could also try to use it as a normal attack, by slotting it with Interrupt Reduction enhancements, but always keep in mind that it's risky. It can still be interrupted and it will still have a long animation.

Regardless of what attack chain you develop, I recommend using Fistful at least every four to six attacks. It's fast, it's cheap, it recharges quickly and the damage that you deal to the critters near your target will reduce the time you have to spend on the spawn as a whole (as noted in my Snap Shot diatribe, Fistful = better DPS). Especially if you've built up a healthy +Damage buff from Defiance.

I am unable to give a definite sustainable Archery attack chain while I'm writing this guide. I can't log into my account, so I can't test. Running through some quick calculations, however, the closest I can get to a sustainable chain is to alternate Snap Shot with each of the other attacks. Snap/Blazing/Snap/Aimed/Snap/Fistful/Repeat. However, this chain relies on every attack having a minimum of 66% +Recharge (such as 2 Recharge Reduction SOs), and there are still delays (primarily Snap, which would have a recharge time of 1.8 seconds with 2 Recharge Reduction SOs, not quite fast enough to be fully recharged after Aimed (1.67 second animation time) or Fistful (1.17 second animation time)). You may find yourself having to rely more on your secondary than you have in the past, or slipping in Explosive or Stunning when possible. Alternatively, a bit of extra +Recharge might be just enough to close the gaps (common IOs above level 30 and various +Recharge bonuses from IO sets and special IOs are generally easy to acquire).

Once you have access to Rain of Arrows, your entire combat sequence will change. Open on every spawn with Rain of Arrows, buffed by Aim and/or Build Up, and follow it up with Explosive or Fistful. This is a viable method even when soloing, and RoA's fast recharge makes it very easy to do for every spawn. Decimate the minions quickly with your AoEs and cone, then focus your single-target attacks on the lieutenants or boss(es). Don't forget to use your controls, even if it's just Stunning Shot, to mitigate some of your incoming damage, or you'll likely find yourself making kissy faces with the ground. I got mono the last time that happened. Trust me, you don't know where that ground has been and you probably don't want to know. Don't worry about building up your Defiance buff at this point, you're going to have plenty of damage output with RoA, Explosive and Fistful, especially if you're using Aim and/or Build Up.

Late game, expect to spend a lot of time mezzed, and glad you built up enough +Recharge (through enhancements, bonuses, Hasten or whatever) to get Snap and Aimed recharging quickly, as you'll be able to shoot those two attacks even while mezzed. Since they're both single-target, your Defiance damage buff should accumulate quickly, too. With Snap and Aimed delivering more damage these days, and the Defiance buff, being mezzed may not be the tactical nightmare that it used to be. Nevertheless, keep a Break Free or three available, just in case.

All of the blaster secondaries can be played with Archery, with varying results.

Energy is the strongest for players who want to go with "pure ranged" characters. You get Build Up very early, Boost Range and Power Boost later, and don't have to take any melee attacks other than the default first one unless you want to (and even the default melee attack is useful because it's a powerful Knockback). Total Focus hits extremely hard, and many Archery/Energy players pick it up for boss fights, both for the damage and because it's a mag 4 Stun (Stuns bosses with one hit). It also has Stun, a melee mag 3 Stun (almost like it was named for what it does... spooky!) that you can stack with Stunning Shot to Stun a boss, or you can use Stunning Shot on one critter and Stun on another one. Energy is my favorite secondary to play with Archery, though I avoid the melee attacks (personal preference. if i want to punch things, i'll play my Kinetics scrapper, Electron Girl).

Devices lacks Build Up, but you get some extra damage and damage mitigation tools in its place. Web Grenade will Immobilize a lieutenant or below, Caltrops will give you a small AoE Slow, Targeting Drone buffs your chance to hit (ToHit buff) and Perception, Cloaking Device will give you a small amount of Defense and reduce the distance at which critters will aggro to you (it's a concealment power, like Stealth or Stealth IOs), Smoke Grenade is the blaster equivalent of Flash Arrow or Smoke (TA power and Fire Control power, respectively), and most of the other powers are damage dealers of varying utility. Devices is the "utility belt" powerset, so if you're looking for something like that for your Archery character, this is it.

Ice offers a lot of control and debuffing to offset the general lack in Archery. An Immobilize, PBAoE Knockdown patch, cone Slow, PBAoE Sleep and toggle Slow aura can all be useful in increasing your survivability. And, of course, Build Up. One thing to note is that a few players recommend using Ice Slick to control critters before using RoA. Don't bother, you're wasting time doing it that way. By the time you've placed your Slick and gotten the critters into it, you could've already decimated the spawn with RoA and followed it up with Explosive or Fistful. RoA is one step shy of an IWIN button for blasters, there's no need to try to extend your combat time and waste powers, just RoA the darned spawn and get on with it!

Elec's Lightning Clap (and Thunder Strike) will stack with Stunning Shot, and the Knockback can be useful if used intelligently, but there isn't much else that synergizes with Archery in this powerset (other than Build Up). There's also a Hold in the set, at level 38, and the rest of the melee attacks have a chance to Sleep foes (except Thunder Strike, which is a Stun). Power Sink will go a long way toward resolving any endurance issues you might have (you don't get it until level 35 though). And Thunder Strike, like Total Focus, is a powerful attack, and available sooner than TF (but it won't Stun a boss by itself).

Fire will significantly increase your AoE potential, if you still think you're going to need more AoE damage by the time you've acquired and slotted RoA. Consume, like Power Sink, wouldn't be a bad choice if you go into Fire. Hot Feet will give you a PBAoE Slow to control the flow of combat a little more, and again, it has Build Up.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Players are pairing Archery up with all five of the blaster secondaries these days, and enjoying their characters immensely. They all have something to offer. Pick the secondary that you feel is going to be the most fun, fit your concept best or be the play style that you're looking for.
[*]Defenders: Archery as a defender secondary lacks some of the oomph that it has as a blaster primary, but it's no less of a single-target and AoE machine. You're going to have some issues building a good attack chain, because of the reduced animation times and possible necessity of using Snap Shot (yes, i know, some of you think it's peachy, but this is my guide and i don't like it for Dancing Hawk, so ), but depending on your primary, you'll also likely have other powers that you can use in your chain, so it should be a smooth ride.

The same advice regarding single-target and AoEs that I gave for blasters is applicable here. Develop your single-target chain, then start getting yourself prepared to switch to AoEs as you near level 38. Take me at my word on this, you are going to want to use RoA as often as possible once you see it in action.

Dark Miasma is a popular choice for Archery defenders. Tar Patch's resistance debuff really puts some extra sharp and pointy into your sharp, pointy sticks, as well as keeps everything neatly confined so you can torture them at will. Howling Twilight's effects include a mag 2 Stun, which you can stack Stunning Shot with to make those mean, ugly bosses stop hitting you and/or your friends. You get a powerful heal for yourself or your team and lots of ToHit debuffing to help you avoid needing that heal much of the time. Dark also has some extra controls (a single-target Hold and a cone Fear), and you even get your own pet... floating... nebulous... poo man.

&gt;.&lt;

ANYWAY, Empathy is also, surprisingly, a popular pairing for Archery. Don't ask me why, don't ask me for play tips, I've never even attempted to play Empathy. I suppose as long as you're not an "aura rocker", you'll have plenty of time to blast, and Archery certainly fits the bill.

Force Fields is another choice for players who want to spend most of their time blasting. Get your bubbles up and get down to the business of making critters look like cactus'. Cacti. Whatever. Repulsion Bomb's Stun stacks with Stunning Shot, though you're likely to be yelled at if you use it on a team. I don't know why, it's absolutely hilarious to see the ragdoll animations when critters go flying, but apparently mass Knockback effects like that are frowned upon.

Kinetics has gained popularity over the last year for Archery players. Despite some of the powers being melee-oriented, the buffs and debuffs do work well with Archery and offer a lot of extra utility. Take it from someone who tanked two AVs (seperately, not together. i'm a Lumatic, not stupid) and a Monster as a Kin/Elec scrapper, Kinetics is powerful in the right hands and can really perk up Archery as a defender secondary.

Radiation Emission... now this is the odd bird in the nest. Rad is a perpetually and universally popular powerset, but I don't think I've ever seen a Rad/Archery yet. I know I haven't run into one on Pinnacle or the test server, but I can't recall seeing one post in the forums, either. That in itself is a bit odd, because Rad seems like it would complement Archery relatively well. AM adds a nice bit of damage and shaves off some of the recharge times. RI not only applies a very strong ToHit Debuff, but also a Defense Debuff that could conceivably allow you to skip slotting Accuracy enhancements in any of your attacks. EF adds a wallop to your already buffed arrows, too, with its resistance debuff, and you even get LR, a Slow that applies a Regen debuff, and EM Pulse, one of the better holds in the game. Tack on a reasonably decent PBAoE Heal that also affects you for a nice bonus, and Fallout and Mutation make excellent teammate abus-... um... utilities. Maybe I'll have to start a Rad/Archery to see if there's a reason they appear to be rare.

Sonic is similar to FF, a mostly "set and forget" powerset that will leave you plenty of time to blast. Get the resistance shields up and go to town with Archery. Sonic has some cards hidden up its sleeve, though. Two Resistance Debuffs (one has to be used with a teammate as the toggle anchor), Liquefy and an enemy phase shift for emergencies are all very nice tools. There aren't many Sonic players, though, Archery or otherwise, due to the medical problems that the graphics used to cause (some people still suffer headaches and nausea with the new graphics, but apparently many less than before), so Sonic/Archery is rare territory at the moment.

Storm/Archery is another popular combination. Lots and lots of Slows, some Resistance debuffing, some ToHit debuffing, even some damage output, Storm is all about soft control and debuffing that borders on hard chaos. It's not a wonder that players like to throw sharp, pointy sticks into the mix. If you've ever seen footage of a hurricane and how it can turn even simple things like 2x4s and pieces of straw into projetiles (or lived through one), that's about what you can expect with Storm/Archery.

And for Trick Arrow/Archery players, I have a more thorough and in-depth coverage in my TA guide, The Trick Arrow Enchiridion, section 4!
[*]Masterminds: You poor boys and girls get the shaft (pun!), being stuck with only the three lowest tier Archery powers. That's more than any other villain gets, though, so never pass up the chance to flaunt it in front of them! Show them that you brought sexy back with those sharp, pointy sticks!

Masterminds don't get enough attacks to develop any kind of chain, unless you can somehow manage to get roughly 120% +Recharge, which would permit you to chain Snap/Aimed/Snap/Fistful with no gaps (Fistful would recharge about 0.04 seconds before you got back to it in that rotation, but even the tiniest bit of latency would mask that). Yes, it is possible, but something to keep in mind is that your Ranged Damage modifier is the same as controllers, 0.55, so the damage output of these attacks is going to be a bit on the low side. And you don't have Containment to make those attacks hit harder (though some of your secondaries do have Resistance Debuffs, which are powerful damage multipliers).

The three Archery attacks for masterminds tend to be more suited to helping your henchmen, if you take them at all, and if you aren't tied up with commanding and keeping them alive. Such is the life of a criminal genius, always buried in paperwork and never enough time to go out for a little fun and mayhem.

Three of the mastermind secondaries are essentially the same defender primaries, so scroll back up and take notes (hey, i made the defenders scroll up and read the blaster part, stop poking me!) on those powersets. Dark, FF and TA.

Poison and Traps are new ground to me, as I tend to play only heroes (i have CoV and i've made some characters... but i love Archery too much to level any of my villains. sorry). I'd recommend turning to some mastermind guides for advice, I'm just not qualified to go any further into mastermind territory. [/list]
Snap Shot and DPS
For a very long time, a heated controversy raged over Snap Shot. I know because I'm the one who started it. The core of the argument was over Snap Shot's DPS and whether or not it made the attack worth taking, slotting or using in favor of another attack (namely, Aimed Shot).

When I wrote my original guide, I very bluntly stated that Snap Shot should be skipped, or ignored if you couldn't skip it. As the responses to the guide piled up, I attempted to explain the reasoning behind my recommendation, but I'm afraid I was somewhat less than clear in my disagreements at that time. I simply pointed out that the DPS wasn't better, regardless of what it might appear to be on paper, and cited personal experience.

The criticisms of my recommendation came from people who either felt that they might as well use Snap Shot, since they had to take it (defenders), or those who thought that the faster animation time made up for the pathetic damage it dealt. "I use it because it's there", "I use it because I like the animation" or "I use it because it's better than wasting a good attack to finish off a mob", those are justifications that I can understand and support. Those are choices based on necessity or character concept.

Stating that it was better DPS, though, was simply spreading misinformation based on vacuum theorizing about DPS. Now I'm going to lay the DPS myth to rest, once and for all.

For the purpose of this exercise, I'll be using the damage stats given for Snap Shot, Aimed Shot, Blazing Arrow and Fistful of Arrows from Red Tomax's City of Data site, with a level 50 defender as the example.

Snap Shot - 24.58 damage, 47.93 damage with three Damage SOs
Aimed Shot - 36.15 damage, 70.49 damage with three Damage SOs
Blazing Arrow - 94.35 damage (including DoT), 183.98 damage with three Damage SOs
Fistful of Arrows - 32.89 damage, 64.14 damage with three Damage SOs

An average +0 minion's HP at level 50 is 430.8.

Our hypothetical level 50 defender using Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful/Aimed would've dealt 459.59 damage in 9.71 seconds of animation time, just enough to finish that average +0 minion. Snap/Aimed/Snap/Blazing/Snap/Aimed dealt 468.75 damage in 9.01 seconds of animation time. Looks like a slight increase in total damage and decrease in total animation time, right?

If you were only fighting one critter, yes. In every other case, no, you actually lost overall DPS and wasted time. And in the reality of the City of * game, you are fighting more than one critter in almost every situation.

In an average spawn, you'll be facing three critters. Using Snap/Aimed/Snap/Blazing/Repeat, or any combination thereof, means you were spending 9.01 seconds to defeat every single one of those critters and only dealing damage to them individually. However, by using Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful/Repeat, you were dealing damage to multiple critters every time Fistful hit (presuming, as always, that you were fighting more than one critter at a time, and that you had the good sense to line up your cone properly). That, in turn, increased your overall DPS by reducing the total number of attacks required to finish the spawn, and therefore the time spent.

Using Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful, the second minion in the spawn would've been defeated with only one cycle of your chain, shaving 1.67 seconds off of your overall attack time for two minions. In 17.75 seconds, you would've defeated two critters with this chain. Using the Snap Shot outlined above, it would've taken you 18.02 seconds. Essentially, the time you thought you'd saved by using Snap Shot, you gradually lost as the size of the spawn increased. In a spawn of 3 minions, the result was a clear loss in DPS, not a gain, due to the additional time spent per critter when using Snap Shot... and 3 is the standard spawn size at the first, third and fifth difficulty settings. In spawns larger than 3, the time differential grew, and thus the DPS differential grew.

So what about skipping Aimed Shot and using Snap Shot in its place? Some players chose to do this, but it was another idea that I strongly opposed because it ignored recharge times. It simply wasn't possible to build a chain with Snap Shot that rivaled the DPS unless Aimed Shot was included, because of Blazing Arrow's recharge time. Without Aimed Shot, there would've been a minimum of 0.97 seconds delay in the chain's cycle (presuming a Snap/Blazing/Snap/Fistful/Repeat cycle). A ~1 second gap in your chain isn't optimal for DPS, and it certainly didn't beat the DPS of a chain with Aimed Shot. It was possible for blasters to work around that with their secondaries, but that opened up a totally different question - why freaking bother using Snap Shot at all if you have better attacks from your secondary to build into a chain?! For defenders, it would've provided a space to insert one of their primary powers, but, again, that wouldn't've increased their DPS, it just would've filled the gap.

Thus my recommendation not to skip Aimed.

That brings up the final hope for a superior DPS chain with Snap, using Fistful to create a Snap/Aimed/Snap/Blazing/Snap/Fistful chain. The total damage of that chain was 462.40, and the total attack time rose to 9.37. That chain would've offered the best option for improving your DPS using Snap Shot while also accounting for the fact that spawns include more than one critter, but then you would've had to slot up four attacks to do the same thing you could've done with three attacks. I can't speak for everyone, but to me, slots are a precious commodity and wasting 2-5 of them on a power that I not only could've lived without, but could've placed in powers that gave a more dramatic and noticeable boost to my survivability was a lot more important than some misplaced need to make a pootastic power usable. It certainly wasn't worth the slots when you could make the "sacrifice" by not using Snap at all and achieve nearly the same DPS.

So there you go. That was the underlying foundation of my argument against using Snap Shot, for any of the ATs that could. The determined statement that "it's better DPS, this piece of paper said so!" was wrong. Don't misunderstand me, I highly respect pieces of paper. Some of the Lumiverse's most revered residents are pieces of paper. They're well loved for their wisdom and knowledge, and wow, can they dance. But they aren't always right, and in this case, the piece of paper that said Snap Shot's DPS was superior for any Archery attack chain was just plain wrong. One potential chain showed a slight, very slight increase in DPS, but the cost exceeded the reward.

Power Pools
Figuring out which pools to use is always something of a challenge. Many are so useful that it's difficult to limit oneself to just 4 pools. And for every player who's focused completely on creating the "strongest" character, there's another player who's determined to build his or her character exactly according to a specific concept, even to the point of picking less effective pool powers for "flavor". And with Archery being available to such a diverse spread of ATs, it's nearly impossible to point to any specific pool or power and say, "That's the one."

Fitness is probably going to be a relatively popular choice to get Stamina, as the reduced animation times for Archery mean the powerset is going to be somewhat more endurance-heavy than it was before. Fitness also fits (no pun!) the reason most players are likely to make an Archery character, the concept of a "natural" character.

<ul type="square">[*]Blasters: Medicine and whatever pool you choose for your travel power are good options. Concealment offers Stealth, Invisibility and Phase Shift, all useful. Leadership's buffs are on the low side for blasters, but if you have the extra endurance, they may be worthwhile. Going into the Fighting pool for Tough and/or Weave may also catch your eye, depending on how you're building your blaster.
[*]Defenders: Leadership and Concealment give you some extra buffs for your team, and Medicine for the primaries without status protection buffs or heals. All three of those pools also benefit you as a solo player, so they're good choices across the board.
[*]Masterminds: Leadership stacks nicely with Supremacy, and Concealment may allow you to maneuver your henchmen into combat positions or get through tougher missions without fighting all the way from the door. Flight or Teleportation for the group movement powers are also desirable for masterminds. If you're building a "petless" mastermind, picking up Air Superiority and one or two other attacks would probably be a very smart idea, as you won't have more than 3 Archery attacks. Medicine will also be useful if your henchmen (or you) need heals but don't have anything else available.
[*]Travel Powers: Hover/Fly is very complimentary for Archery, as it allows you to stay out of melee range, position your cone and AoE to the best effect, and make a rapid escape when necessary. Masterminds who want a team movement power for their henchmen can pick up Group Fly here if they don't mind the speed (or lack thereof) and don't intend to get into fights while using it (25% ToHit Debuff).

Combat Jumping/Super Jump are good for those who want to keep their feet on the ground (most of the time, anyway). You can bunny hop all around spawns with Combat Jumping, and Super Jump is always a solid choice for a travel power.

Super Speed gives you about the same level of concealment as Stealth, and it's fast, but it lacks vertical movement and unlike many powersets, nothing in Archery requires you to zoom into melee range to use. If it floats your wax lips, get it, but it doesn't offer much that supports Archery.

Teleport is... well, it is what it is. If TP is your thing, go for it. Team Teleport is at the 4th tier, for masterminds, if you're still looking for a team movement power.

All of the pools with travel powers also offer various other useful powers, though the degree of usefulness will vary by AT and player-specific needs/wants.[/list]
APPs/PPPs
Every character in the game gains access to special pools when he/she reaches level 41. For blasters and defenders, they're called APPs, Ancillary Power Pools. For masterminds, they're Patron Power Pools (PPPs). APPs and PPPs were designed to help fill out some of the missing options in each AT, giving them access to powers that their primaries and secondaries usually don't have. They work like the regular power pools, with the first two powers becoming available at level 41, the third power becoming available at level 44 and requiring you to take one of the first two powers before you can select it, and the final power opening up at level 47 but only if you've taken any two other powers in the pool. Unlike the standard power pools, you can only pick one APP or PPP, not four.

Which APP or PPP you select, or if you even select one at all (there's no requirement that you take an APP or PPP, you can always pick more powers from your primary, secondary or one of your power pools), is going to be up to you. There isn't enough room in this guide or time in my day to cover all of the APPs and PPPs, nor explain what each power can do and how it might be useful from an Archery standpoint, so my advice to you is to download Mid's planner (linked in the first section of this guide) and look them over for yourself. Get an idea of what's going to fit your concept, what you think might be fun to use, or which pool or power(s) will help you the most.

Blasters and defenders will have options ranging from resistance/defense powers to extra attacks to status effects to buffs and more. There's something for practically any play style in the APPs, and many powers are useful for Archery characters.

Masterminds have a more limited selection, as their PPPs are all the same (one "armor" power, one cone attack, one AoE Immobilize and one single-target Hold), differing only in the details (such as damage type or what level a power becomes available).

Stamina
Always a subject that sparks debate, do we need Stamina for our Archery characters?

As with most things I've mentioned in this guide, every player is going to have a different experience and expectations. Up to I10, Archery players didn't tend to need Stamina, though many (dare i say most?) did take it, for the convenience it offered.

The reduced animation times in I11 really did change the feel of Archery, though, and also made a significant impact in one of the major reasons that Archers could get by without Stamina, the tendency to recover some endurance over time while animations played out. Archery feels faster now, and it is faster, and it's also going to lead to your endurance bar dropping faster.

Some +Recovery, or a combination of more +End and an appreciable amount of Endurance Reduction, is going to be wanted by most Archers, I suspect. If you don't want to get Stamina, then consider going into Fitness at least up to Health and get the +15% and +10/20% IOs to get yourself 25% +Recovery, plus whatever you can stack up in IO set bonuses. Or focus your IO build on +Recovery and/or +Endurance bonuses. Regardless of how you do it, I think you're going to find yourself wanting some maintenance for your blue bar, and Stamina is simply the easiest option to get. If you're determined not to get Stamina, you'd be wise to at least slot some Endurance Reduction enhancements in your attacks, to lighten the load.

Hasten
Should you?

I don't see the point. Hasten is a great power for getting those excruciatingly long recharge times down to more manageable levels, but Archery doesn't have anything that suffers from excessively long recharge times. Archers can also make attack chains relatively easily, so they're not in the same situation as some other sets that have trouble creating sustainable chains without significant recharge buffs.

As much of an RoA freak as I am, I can't even bring myself to take Hasten for that power. There are 7 other sharp, pointy sticks to play with while I'm waiting for RoA to recharge, and I want to use them all, not spam RoA.

Where you would normally slot 2 Recharge Reduction enhancements in powers, Hasten would allow you to save those slots, but as I frequently point out when asked, it also means you're giving up those two slots worth of +Recharge every time Hasten expires and you won't be getting them back until Hasten has recharged. And that's... well, sucky.

You can also very easily stack up five of the 6.25% +Recharge bonuses from IO sets with Archery, and a 7.5% +Recharge, so if you're building with that goal in mind, you may find that you need Hasten even less than you might've previously thought. The sets that you'd be slotting into the attacks and Stunning Shot will reach those bonuses with 5 slots, and generally give you at least as much Accuracy, Damage and Recharge Reduction as if you were slotting 1 Acc/3 Dam/2 Rech (and potentially more), plus some Endurance Reduction or Range as a bonus, so you're typically going to see better results from that than you'd get from Hasten.

If you are thinking of taking Hasten, base the decision on whether it would benefit your other powerset and treat any time saved with Archery attacks as a bonus.

IOs (Invention Origin enhancements)
As I stated in my TA guide, I'm not going to tell anyone which IOs are "best" for them. The range of options available are simply too great to point to a single one or a very few and say that those will be the right options. Different players are going to want different things from IOs and IO sets, and what works for one players isn't necessarily going to be what another player considers optimal, or even playable.

You can use IO sets to accumulate bonuses, or you can use the IOs from sets individually to enhance various aspects of your powers. Pursuing anything with a single-minded intent can lead to problems, though, so be careful with your choices. IOs aren't going make you into a great Archery player, but they will allow a less skilled player to improve in some ways, and a great player to really do a lot more. But IOs are, at their most basic, really just a way for us to customize our characters even more than costumes. They allow us to personalize our characters in ways we've never been capable of before, and they help us fill in some of the deficiencies in our characters so we're more well-rounded or give us ways to strengthen our better aspects even further.

IOs won't walk your pet and pick up its poo, or wash your car, or do your laundry. Don't build a character to be so utterly reliant on IOs that you're incapable of functioning without them or when the set bonuses disappear (which happens if you exemplar below the levels of the IOs themselves). They don't play the game for you, they give you new ways to look at how you play the game.

A good way to start, and in general use IOs is to enhance individual powers in such a way as to save one or more slots over what you would spend using SOs or the equivalent. You don't have to use all of the IOs in a set, and you don't even have to use IOs from the same set to accomplish this. With the right combinations, you can get the same results with 4 or 5 IOs that you would've gotten from 6 SOs, ending up with results equal to or better than the suggested SO slotting in the descriptions above.

When you've decided which set bonuses you think are going to help you the most or give you ways to improve your approach to how you play your Archery character, start slotting those IOs to get the bonuses and watch your progress. In some cases, you're not going to see much difference unless you accumulate very high bonuses, in other cases you might notice the differences right away. When you achieve a goal, give yourself a little extra of that bonus type as a buffer, for those times when you're in over your head, then start looking at your build again. Do you need more of that bonus, or is there another bonus that you think may add more value?

For instance, +Regen alone isn't going to do a whole lot for most blasters because there simply isn't enough available in the form of bonuses and special IOs, even if Health is taken, to really improve a blaster's survivability. The blaster needs something more. +HP is one answer, and a very good one, because having a larger pool of HP means that +Regen is doing more and also that the blaster has a greater margin of survivability. But those two may still be not quite enough for the average blaster, so what else helps increase survivability and works in concert with +HP and +Regen? +Resistance/Defense. With +Resistance/Defense added to the build, the blaster is taking less damage, which in turn means the extra HP is extended even further and the +Regen has more time to work its magic.

Some IOs can also replace a power completely. A +Stealth IO can be substituted for Stealth or Cloaking Device (discounting the Defense aspects of those powers), or a -KB IO may alleviate the need for Acrobatics. IOs like that save you power selections and potentially allow you to expand your build much further.

Regardless, it's your character, build it how you feel it's going to work best. You're certainly welcome to post your IO build, in this guide's thread or in the appropriate forum, and doing so will not only give you valuable feedback but also give others ideas and perhaps even help you make some choices. I know I'm always looking for something interesting and fun to do with IOs, so by all means, show off what you've created.

PvP (Player versus Player)
The reality of PvP in this game is that practically anyone you encounter is likely to have some Lethal resistance, and that's going to make it difficult, so your best tactic is to utilize the fact that Archery attacks are difficult to trace back to the source. Hang back, find a comfy spot to hide and unload your attacks from the furthest range you can manage. Catching other players off guard won't typically mean they'll have their Resistance powers turned off, but it will usually buy you enough time to get one or more extra attacks in and deal enough damage to make up the difference.

Ranged Shot and Blazing Arrow are your two main tools. Fire one of them off, then follow up immediately with the other, you'll deliver a tremendous amount of damage in very little time.

Stunning Shot, because it's a Stun, is going to be more effective than Holds because the most common protection, Acrobatics, does nothing to protect against it. You won't be Stunning any of the melee ATs (unless you just got very lucky and caught one with his status protection down), but most of the ranged ATs don't have access to any Stun protection, making them much more vulnerable to this control. The big FF and Sonic PBAoE bubbles, and the various gadgets that grant the same effects, do protect against Stuns, so don't waste this on them.

Most of your PvP combat will be with single-target attacks. The AoEs that are so incredible in PvE are much less impressive when you're facing real players who can and usually do move around frequently. If you can catch a player, or a small group of players with RoA, that's great, but in general, locking yourself into that animation for that long will just get you laughed at and beaten up. Explosive and Fistful are best saved, too, for PvE or as fillers while you're waiting for your better single-target attacks to recharge. Fistful is also a bit less wanted here, because of the shorter range.

Use your primary or secondary in every way that you can. Blasters will want to close to range and deliver that killing blow if they think they can get away with it, and it's a good tactic for fighting individual players. Defenders will want to hang back and find ways to use their primary and Archery together to disable and defeat players, or assist their teammates.

Archery/Energy blasters have something of an edge over any other type of Archery character, as they have access to Boost Range. The use of that buff can make it next to impossible to spot the character, and because Blazing Arrow's damage output is almost as high as snipes, Archery/Energy is the sniper build. Put 3 Centrioles or Dam/Range IOs into Blazing Arrow for this to get the range closer to Ranged Shot's, use Boost Range and you'll be shooting from so far away that very few players will ever see you and even fewer will be capable of returning fire.

Archery's high accuracy comes into play in PvP, too, because the base chance to hit in PvP is only 50%. Higher base accuracy means better totals when slotting Accuracy enhancements and using ToHit buffs, and that in turn means greater chances of hitting in PvP. It also means Archery attacks can generally be less heavily slotted for Accuracy, typically saving a slot that can be used for other things, like Recharge Reduction, Damage or Range.

---

[u](Section 4 - Accuracy tables)[u]

Acc = Accuracy enhancement, Single Origin (SO)
THB = ToHit Buff enhancement, Single Origin (SO)
T = Tactics
TD = Targeting Drone
+0, +1, +2, +3 = critter levels

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Defenders +0 +1 +2 +3

Aim (0 Acc) 144.38% 132.83% 122.43% 113.19%
Aim (1 Acc) 192.02% 176.66% 162.83% 150.54%
Aim (2 Acc) 239.66% 220.49% 203.23% 187.90%

T (0 Acc, 0 THB) 101.06% 89.51% 79.12% 69.88%
T (0 Acc, 1 THB) 103.95% 92.40% 82.01% 72.77%
T (0 Acc, 2 THB) 106.84% 95.29% 84.89% 75.65%
T (0 Acc, 3 THB) 109.00% 97.45% 87.06% 77.82%
T (1 Acc, 0 THB) 134.41% 119.05% 105.23% 92.94%
T (1 Acc, 1 THB) 137.84% 122.89% 109.07% 96.78%
T (1 Acc, 2 THB) 142.09% 126.73% 112.91% 100.62%
T (1 Acc, 3 THB) 144.97% 129.61% 115.79% 103.50%
T (2 Acc, 0 THB) 167.76% 148.59% 131.34% 115.97%
T (2 Acc, 1 THB) 173.56% 153.38% 136.13% 120.79%
T (2 Acc, 2 THB) 177.35% 158.18% 140.92% 125.58%
T (2 Acc, 3 THB) 180.95% 161.77% 144.52% 129.18%

Masterminds +0 +1 +2 +3

T (0 Acc, 0 THB) 95.29% 83.74% 73.34% 64.10%
T (0 Acc, 1 THB) 97.02% 85.47% 75.08% 65.84%
T (0 Acc, 2 THB) 98.75% 87.20% 76.81% 67.57%
T (0 Acc, 3 THB) 100.05% 88.50% 78.11% 68.87%
T (1 Acc, 0 THB) 126.73% 111.37% 97.55% 85.26%
T (1 Acc, 1 THB) 129.04% 113.68% 99.85% 87.56%
T (1 Acc, 2 THB) 131.34% 115.98% 102.15% 89.87%
T (1 Acc, 3 THB) 133.07% 117.71% 103.88% 91.59%
T (2 Acc, 0 THB) 158.18% 139.00% 121.75% 106.41%
T (2 Acc, 1 THB) 161.05% 141.88% 124.63% 109.29%
T (2 Acc, 2 THB) 163.93% 144.76% 127.50% 121.16%
T (2 Acc, 3 THB) 166.09% 146.91% 129.66% 114.32%


Blasters +0 +1 +2 +3

Aim (0 Acc) 129.94% 118.39% 107.99% 98.75%
Aim (1 Acc) 172.82% 157.46% 143.63% 131.34%
Aim (2 Acc) 215.70% 196.52% 179.27% 163.93%

Build Up (0 Acc) 103.95% 92.40% 82.01% 72.45%
Build Up (1 Acc) 138.25% 122.89% 109.07% 96.78%
Build Up (2 Acc) 172.56% 153.38% 136.13% 120.79%

T (0 Acc, 0 THB) 94.71% 83.16% 72.77% 63.53%
T (0 Acc, 1 THB) 96.33% 84.78% 74.38% 65.14%
T (0 Acc, 2 THB) 97.94% 86.39% 76.00% 66.76%
T (0 Acc, 3 THB) 99.17% 87.61% 77.21% 67.97%
T (1 Acc, 0 THB) 125.96% 110.60% 96.78% 84.49%
T (1 Acc, 1 THB) 128.12% 112.75% 98.93% 86.64%
T (1 Acc, 2 THB) 130.27% 114.90% 101.08% 88.79%
T (1 Acc, 3 THB) 131.88% 116.52% 102.69% 90.40%
T (2 Acc, 0 THB) 157.22% 138.05% 120.79% 105.45%
T (2 Acc, 1 THB) 159.90% 140.73% 123.47% 108.14%
T (2 Acc, 2 THB) 162.59% 143.41% 126.16% 110.82%
T (2 Acc, 3 THB) 164.60% 145.43% 128.17% 112.83%

+0 +1 +2 +3
TD (0 Acc, 0 THB) 102.65% 91.10% 80.71% 71.47%
TD (0 Acc, 1 THB) 105.86% 94.31% 83.91% 74.67%
TD (0 Acc, 2 THB) 109.06% 97.51% 87.12% 77.88%
TD (0 Acc, 3 THB) 111.47% 99.92% 89.52% 80.28%
TD (1 Acc, 0 THB) 136.53% 121.16% 107.34% 95.05%
TD (1 Acc, 1 THB) 140.79% 125.43% 111.60% 99.31%
TD (1 Acc, 2 THB) 145.05% 129.69% 115.86% 103.58%
TD (1 Acc, 3 THB) 148.25% 132.89% 119.06% 106.77%
TD (2 Acc, 0 THB) 170.40% 151.23% 133.97% 118.63%
TD (2 Acc, 1 THB) 175.72% 156.55% 139.29% 123.95%
TD (2 Acc, 2 THB) 181.04% 161.87% 144.61% 129.27%
TD (2 Acc, 3 THB) 185.03% 165.86% 148.60% 133.26%

+0 +1 +2 +3
T + TD (0 Acc, 0 THB T, 0 THB TD) 110.74% 99.19% 88.79% 79.55%
T + TD (0 Acc, 0 THB T, 1 THB TD) 113.94% 102.39% 92.00% 82.76%
T + TD (0 Acc, 0 THB T, 2 THB TD) 117.15% 105.60% 95.20% 85.96%
T + TD (0 Acc, 0 THB T, 3 THB TD) 119.55% 108.00% 97.61% 88.37%
T + TD (0 Acc, 1 THB T, 0 THB TD) 112.35% 100.80% 90.41% 81.17%
T + TD (0 Acc, 1 THB T, 1 THB TD) 115.56% 104.01% 93.61% 64.37%
T + TD (0 Acc, 1 THB T, 2 THB TD) 118.76% 107.21% 96.82% 87.58%
T + TD (0 Acc, 1 THB T, 3 THB TD) 121.17% 109.62% 99.22% 89.98%
T + TD (0 Acc, 2 THB T, 0 THB TD) 113.97% 102.42% 92.03% 82.79%
T + TD (0 Acc, 2 THB T, 1 THB TD) 117.18% 105.63% 95.23% 85.99%
T + TD (0 Acc, 2 THB T, 2 THB TD) 120.38% 108.83% 98.44% 89.20%
T + TD (0 Acc, 2 THB T, 3 THB TD) 122.78% 111.23% 100.84% 91.60%
T + TD (0 Acc, 3 THB T, 0 THB TD) 115.18% 103.63% 93.24% 84.00%
T + TD (0 Acc, 3 THB T, 1 THB TD) 118.39% 106.84% 96.44% 87.20%
T + TD (0 Acc, 3 THB T, 2 THB TD) 121.59% 110.04% 99.65% 90.41%
T + TD (0 Acc, 3 THB T, 3 THB TD) 124.00% 112.45% 102.05% 92.81%

+0 +1 +2 +3
T + TD (1 Acc, 0 THB T, 0 THB TD) 147.28% 131.92% 118.09% 105.80%
T + TD (1 Acc, 0 THB T, 1 THB TD) 151.54% 136.18% 122.35% 110.07%
T + TD (1 Acc, 0 THB T, 2 THB TD) 155.80% 140.44% 126.62% 114.33%
T + TD (1 Acc, 0 THB T, 3 THB TD) 159.00% 143.64% 129.81% 117.53%
T + TD (1 Acc, 1 THB T, 0 THB TD) 149.43% 134.07% 120.24% 107.95%
T + TD (1 Acc, 1 THB T, 1 THB TD) 153.69% 138.33% 124.51% 112.22%
T + TD (1 Acc, 1 THB T, 2 THB TD) 157.96% 142.59% 128.77% 116.48%
T + TD (1 Acc, 1 THB T, 3 THB TD) 161.15% 145.79% 131.97% 119.68%
T + TD (1 Acc, 2 THB T, 0 THB TD) 151.58% 136.22% 122.39% 110.10%
T + TD (1 Acc, 2 THB T, 1 THB TD) 155.84% 140.48% 126.66% 114.37%
T + TD (1 Acc, 2 THB T, 2 THB TD) 160.11% 144.74% 130.92% 118.63%
T + TD (1 Acc, 2 THB T, 3 THB TD) 163.30% 147.94% 134.12% 121.83%
T + TD (1 Acc, 3 THB T, 0 THB TD) 153.19% 137.83% 124.01% 111.72%
T + TD (1 Acc, 3 THB T, 1 THB TD) 157.46% 142.09% 128.27% 115.98%
T + TD (1 Acc, 3 THB T, 2 THB TD) 161.72% 146.36% 132.53% 120.24%
T + TD (1 Acc, 3 THB T, 3 THB TD) 164.92% 149.55% 135.73% 123.44%

+0 +1 +2 +3
T + TD (2 Acc, 0 THB T, 0 THB TD) 183.82% 164.65% 147.39% 132.05%
T + TD (2 Acc, 0 THB T, 1 THB TD) 189.14% 169.97% 152.71% 137.38%
T + TD (2 Acc, 0 THB T, 2 THB TD) 194.46% 175.29% 158.03% 142.70%
T + TD (2 Acc, 0 THB T, 3 THB TD) 198.45% 179.28% 162.02% 146.69%
T + TD (2 Acc, 1 THB T, 0 THB TD) 186.51% 167.33% 150.08% 134.74%
T + TD (2 Acc, 1 THB T, 1 THB TD) 191.83% 172.65% 155.40% 140.06%
T + TD (2 Acc, 1 THB T, 2 THB TD) 197.15% 177.97% 160.72% 145.38%
T + TD (2 Acc, 1 THB T, 3 THB TD) 201.14% 181.96% 164.71% 149.37%
T + TD (2 Acc, 2 THB T, 0 THB TD) 189.19% 170.02% 152.76% 137.42%
T + TD (2 Acc, 2 THB T, 1 THB TD) 194.51% 175.34% 158.08% 142.74%
T + TD (2 Acc, 2 THB T, 2 THB TD) 199.83% 180.66% 163.40% 148.06%
T + TD (2 Acc, 2 THB T, 3 THB TD) 203.82% 184.65% 167.39% 152.05%
T + TD (2 Acc, 3 THB T, 0 THB TD) 191.20% 172.03% 154.77% 139.44%
T + TD (2 Acc, 3 THB T, 1 THB TD) 196.52% 177.35% 160.10% 144.76%
T + TD (2 Acc, 3 THB T, 2 THB TD) 201.84% 182.67% 165.42% 150.08%
T + TD (2 Acc, 3 THB T, 3 THB TD) 205.83% 186.66% 169.41% 154.07%
</pre><hr />

Archery/Devices blasters will note that a total of 58% or higher enhancement to ToHit in Targeting Drone will allow them to hit +2 critters with 90% accuracy (which puts them at the streak breaker's 1 miss allowed point, so it's effectively the same as having capped accuracy), and be capped against anything below without slotting a single Accuracy enhancement in their attacks.

*/Archery defenders will need about 77% enhancement value for ToHit in Tactics to achieve 90% against +2 critters with no Accuracy enhancements, which will be extremely difficult to achieve.

Masterminds can't get Tactics up high enough to get better than roughly 80% against +2s (and that only with the same difficult as defenders trying to reach 90%) without Accuracy enhancements or some other method of increasing hit chance in addition to Tactics (Tactics has a base 7.5% for masterminds).

For PvP accuracy stats, use the +3 tables for all three ATs. Everyone has a base 50% chance to hit in PvP, which is only 2% higher than the base chance to hit +3 critters, so these calculations will actually be ever so slightly less than what your hit chances in PvP are against other players without +Defense.

---

My God...it's...it's so...beautiful!

*sobs*

Thanks Lumi

---

[ QUOTE ]
My God...it's...it's so...beautiful!

*sobs*

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you!

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks Lumi

[/ QUOTE ]

It was my pleasure.

---

As a long time Arch/ fan let me just say..,,

WOW! Great guide! Fun to read and awe inspireing with the details. Bravo!

---

[ QUOTE ]
As a long time Arch/ fan let me just say..,,

WOW! Great guide! Fun to read and awe inspireing with the details. Bravo!

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a delight to be able to write it. It really was. I adore Archery in ways that probably aren't healthy.

Oh, and I got a PM from a Rad/Archery defender! IT EXISTS! The player says that it's a very, very nice combination. I'm even more tempted to make one now.

---

Curse you, Luminara. You're making me consider rolling an Archery Blaster.

I have too many alts as it is!

---

Petey Quick, SL50 Ene/Ene Blapper - Cynapse, SL50 Inv/Ene Tanker
Witchblaze, Fire/Fire Blaster - Lo Ping, MA/Regen Scrapper
Astre, Fire/Kin Controller - Terri Volta, Rad/Rad Defender - Solarkinetic, Peacebringer

Yusaku's Guide to the Energy/Energy BLAPPER

[ QUOTE ]
I have too many alts as it is!

[/ QUOTE ]

You can never have too many.

---

But still I fear and still I dare not laugh at the madman!

One man's "meh" is another man's "zomg". - Leatherneck

Procrastination meter coming soon.

While I know you don't want to spend a lot of time on the Epic pools, what is your thought about using Munitions Mastery for a "double-nuke" (RoA + LRM Rocket)? My hope is that while the long recharge of LRM makes this a rarely-used tactic, it should be a really hard hit when combined with Aim and Build Up...

---

[ QUOTE ]
While I know you don't want to spend a lot of time on the Epic pools, what is your thought about using Munitions Mastery for a "double-nuke" (RoA + LRM Rocket)? My hope is that while the long recharge of LRM makes this a rarely-used tactic, it should be a really hard hit when combined with Aim and Build Up...

[/ QUOTE ]

Frankly, I think it's overkill for anyone but /Devices. I have no doubt that it'll really deal a lot of damage, but RoA already deals a lot of damage, enough to really decimate practically any spawn if you use Aim and Build Up, and I haven't even seen what it could do with some Defiance +Damage on top of that (and you do have some headroom for that, because even with Aim, Build Up and 95% +Damage from enhancements, you're still roughly 143% below the damage cap).

The minions are going to be defeated with RoA. Gone. Nada mas. I suspect that the Defiance buffs that you could stack up before using RoA would take care of the lieutenants as well. So that's going to leave... what, two or three bosses, if it's a really massive spawn? Just doesn't seem like the best use of something as powerful as LRM Rocket, polishing off two or three critters.

Now, since /Devices has no Build Up, the tactic would definitely be useful for Archery/Devices. Tossing LRM Rocket into the mix makes more sense for this type of blaster, it completely makes up for the +Damage that they don't get from BU. And if you know that the spawn is going to be composed of critters with Lethal resistance, like Crey or Malta, then it also makes sense for any other type of Archery blaster. But for average spawns, even +3s, RoA should be more than enough damage output for Archery/* with Aim, BU and some Defiance stacked, and LRMR really just feels... pointless. Wasted.

While I'm at it, I also don't think the "Use Ice Slick, then pull, then use RoA" or "Use Flash Freeze, then RoA" tactics really have a point either. By the time one finishes dropping that Ice Slick and pulling, or putting the spawn to sleep with Flash Freeze, you could already be in the process of defeating the spawn with RoA. RoA, as absolutely gorgeous and wonderful as it is, isn't a fine cup of coffee or night with a beautiful partner. Stop trying to stretch it out and make it last, just shoot the darn thing! Flash Freeze will be of limited value anyway, since it won't Sleep bosses, so you'd actually end up just giving them time to get out of the RoA AoE by using FF first. And instead of pulling into an Ice Slick, you could RoA the spawn and use the 0.8 seconds that it takes for RoA to deal its damage to step around a corner/tree/rock/box/whatever and drop that Slick. Saves time, completely denies any chance of minions or most lieutenants hitting you, leaves only the bosses to come running into the Slick and cuts your damage taken much better than doing it the other way around.

---

[ QUOTE ]
Curse you, Luminara. You're making me consider rolling an Archery Blaster.

[/ QUOTE ]

*waves hands mysteriously*

O_o

*puts down duck and tries the hand wavey thing again*

Dooooooooooooooo eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Be the ball. Er... bow. Be the bow.

[ QUOTE ]
I have too many alts as it is!

[/ QUOTE ]

Then one more couldn't hurt, right?

---

Thank you, Lumi... thank you. *mops up tears of joy*
That was beautiful.

---

Rule number six of an empathy defender is NEVER underestimate a blaster's ability to die. I don't care if he has CM, Fort, both RAs, bubbles (both FF and Sonic), and is fighting next to a Storm defender with hurricane on. If there is a way to die in that situation, the blaster will find it.

[ QUOTE ]
RoA, as absolutely gorgeous and wonderful as it is, isn't a fine cup of coffee or night with a beautiful partner. Stop trying to stretch it out and make it last, just shoot the darn thing!

[/ QUOTE ]

Luminara, you have a lovely way with words.

That said, I will still keep my Ice Slick for the floppy-fun goodness that is watching Freakshow Tanks fall flat on their back.

But still, you are a 'trip'. ) Cookies for you and one of the best guides I have seen yet!

---

Arc #6015 - Coming Unglued

"A good n00b-sauce is based on a good n00b-roux." - The Masque

Very impressive guide.

I recently rolled an arch/em blaster and been having a blast *snicker* rolling him through the lowb levels. Like last night - tanking for a PuG and absolutly shreading mobs with Fist &amp; EA. I did keep my pocket emp busy though

I rolled this toon on a whim, more than anything else. But, recent experience and your guide have made me very happy about my decision

/stands up
Hello, my name is NeoShinobi...AND I LIKE SHARP, POINTY STICKS, TOO!

---

Very nice guide, a worthy successor to the other of yours I was using for my TA/Archery and was considering for an Archery/Fire or Archery/Ice blaster. Kudos.

---

Great guide, fun to read, perfect on info.

Inspired me to make an Archery/NRG -- and it's a very fun, active toon to play. Now 42 and largely kitted out with common IOs and a few specials.

A few things:

1) RoA is amazing and up a ton. I also got the comment on a team (as you mention) to stop killing everything and leave some for the other guys That said, it doesn't do OMGBBQ dmg - it's more like a bone-smasher to everything in its radius. BU+AIM+TF still puts way more hurt on a single target.

2) ROA + Explosive + Fistful = Joygasm.

3) I'm a little bummed at archery's damage overall. HeroStats doesn't track RoA but it does on everything else. The archery attacks are doing less dmg than my Plant/Fire dom does under domination and Firey Embrace - his Blaze hits for 220+ and tics, same (around) for Incincerate. Blazing arrow is checking in at more like 203 and the other attacks less. I feel my DB/WP scrappr does more dmg. From everything I read I thought they had really boosted blaster dmg but it doesn't feel uber yet -- my Stone Melee / Elec brute certainly does more.

4) lethal resisant mobs suck - robots of all kinds I'm looking at you!

---

"Sometimes you have to roll the Hard Six." -- Adama
Teabagging Ms. Liberty - http://kk-comics.com/allmmproject/rsf21.jpg

[ QUOTE ]
1) RoA is amazing and up a ton. I also got the comment on a team (as you mention) to stop killing everything and leave some for the other guys That said, it doesn't do OMGBBQ dmg - it's more like a bone-smasher to everything in its radius. BU+AIM+TF still puts way more hurt on a single target.

[/ QUOTE ]

RoA with 3 ticks deals a total of ~253.38 damage unenhanced (factored to include the new 1.125 Ranged Damage modifier for blasters).

TF deals 197.97 damage unenhanced.

Bone Smasher deals 144.59 damage unenhanced.

It's not uncommon for RoA to only hit with one or two ticks, and TF will deal more damage in those cases, but a full 3 ticks of RoA on anything outstrips TF by a sizable margin (barring Lethal resistance).

[ QUOTE ]
3) I'm a little bummed at archery's damage overall. HeroStats doesn't track RoA but it does on everything else. The archery attacks are doing less dmg than my Plant/Fire dom does under domination and Firey Embrace - his Blaze hits for 220+ and tics, same (around) for Incincerate. Blazing arrow is checking in at more like 203 and the other attacks less.

[/ QUOTE ]

With the number you listed for Blaze, I can discern that you either have it massively overenhanced for +Damage, or have ~8% +Damage from IO set bonuses in addition to Blaze being fully enhanced up to ~95%, or a combination of overenhancing Blaze and some +Damage from set bonuses. You're also factoring in Fiery Embrace, which is an 85% +Damage buff (to Fire, 68% to everything else). And your dominator is level 50.

For Blazing Arrow, you're using only the enhancements, no Aim, Build Up or Defiance buffs, and at level 42. And it appears that you've got it underenhanced for +Damage, looks like around 75% (base damage for all ATs at level 42 is 52.4628, DS for Blazing Arrow is 1.96, Ranged Damage modifier for blasters is 1.125, so {1.125 * 1.96} * 52.4628 = 115.68. so in order to achieve ~203, the enhanced value would have to be 75-76%, or 115.68 * 1.75 = 202.44). None of that is taking Defiance into account, as that would mean you've slotted Blazing even less with +Damage and I really don't want to try to figure all of that out.

Level difference also matters. The higher your level, the more damage your attacks will deal. It's an incremental increase, but it adds up, just like status effect durations or hit points.

It's a lopsided comparison. You've got Blaze buffed to the gills and an 8 level lead with your dominator, whereas you're using Blazing Arrow with what appears to be ~75% +Damage from enhancements and no other buffs.

Heck, in 8 more levels, you'll be dealing more damage with Blazing Arrow, even if you limit yourself to just enhancements, unless you leave it underenhanced.

I'm not attacking you, I'm just trying to show you why Blazing Arrow is looking unimpressive in your particular case. If you give it a fair shake, it'll reward you.

As for the other attacks, Snap Shot still lags a little behind the "bottom feeders" in other blast sets, but it makes up for it with the greater accuracy native to Archery, lower endurance cost and faster recharge. Aimed Shot is very good now, and Fistful/EA are generally in line with similar cones and AoEs from other blast sets. The single-target and multi-target damage in Archery is very good, even when compared to sets like Fire or Ice, but if the enhancements aren't there and the buffs aren't used, it's not going to be any different from any other set under similar restrictions.

[ QUOTE ]
I feel my DB/WP scrappr does more dmg. From everything I read I thought they had really boosted blaster dmg but it doesn't feel uber yet -- my Stone Melee / Elec brute certainly does more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you comparing a brute with plenty of Fury, or a DB scrapper's combo potential, or are you looking at base numbers and making reasonable and accurate comparisons? I'm not asking to put the spotlight on you, I honestly don't know how brutes or scrappers compare to anything (i play one melee character, Electron Girl, my Kinetics scrapper), but I have to question your conclusions based on the other two points to which I've responded (RoA versus TF/BS and BA versus Blaze on different ATs). I think you're giving Archery the short end of the sharp, pointy stick with comparisons based on very unequal situations.

[ QUOTE ]
4) lethal resisant mobs suck - robots of all kinds I'm looking at you!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm still traumatized by the spawn of 8 +1 Clockwork that my TA/A had to fight back in the early days. And those dirty, rotten, cheating Crey Tanks with their superspeed and high Lethal resistance. &gt;.&lt;

---

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
RoA, as absolutely gorgeous and wonderful as it is, isn't a fine cup of coffee or night with a beautiful partner. Stop trying to stretch it out and make it last, just shoot the darn thing!

[/ QUOTE ]

Luminara, you have a lovely way with words.

[/ QUOTE ]

I try. I don't always succeed, but I do try. I love words even more than I love sharp, pointy sticks.

[ QUOTE ]
That said, I will still keep my Ice Slick for the floppy-fun goodness that is watching Freakshow Tanks fall flat on their back.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do! Absolutely do keep using Ice Slick that way! No-one should change their play styles or try to force themselves to stop using powers that they like just on the basis of "I read it in a guide". This is Co*, the game was designed to make as many different play styles and powers useful as possible, so by all means, don't ever change anything because I make a suggestion or recommendation. It's the different things that we all learn to do that makes the game better as a whole. I love seeing people doing different things and playing different ways, it's just such a delight to know that we can make the game itself adapt to us and our choices.

Customizable characters. Customizable costumes. Customizable powers. Customizable combat. That's what makes this game worth playing over any other, and every time someone comes up with some new tactic or decides to go a way that I wouldn't, it just reminds me how lucky I am to be able to play something so adaptable and flexible. I like to be more direct with my attacks, you like to play a different way, and neither is better or worse because the game was designed with variety in mind. That's just marvelous, it really is.

---

i have a 50 rad/arch and must say it is one of the most impressive combos ive seen. As of yet im the only one of my kind ive seen on Champion but i think you may see a few more. The dmg output outpaces any other defender combo ive played by a pretty wide margin, and from what ive seen just barely loses to fire/fire basters, with the delay on RoA being the main problem. With IOs you can get Rain up in about 18 sec and procs in explosive and fistfull really add to the dmg. Combine taht with the safty of RI the debuff on EF and the dmg buffs from AM and Assult and you have an AoE monster that can take waaaay more heat then any blaster and put out dmg that will make some of them cry All and all i think the only reason rad/arch is so rare is the bad rap archery has had for so long, but those of you thinking about it give it a run its great

---

[ QUOTE ]
i have a 50 rad/arch and must say it is one of the most impressive combos ive seen. As of yet im the only one of my kind ive seen on Champion but i think you may see a few more.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're not alone in terms of powerset combos on champion. Konoko (If you're familiar with him) runs a rad/arch lowbie from time to time. He's running a Fire/EM atm, but I'll point him at you if he has questions.

I might run one myself at some point, as the synergy between RoA, EF, and LR are striking.

---

I have a 40 rad/arch on Virtue...works really nicely (although I had to obviously skip the Explosive Arrow). I finally made an arch/elec blaster...having lots of fun with that, too. Would never have taken Explosive Arrow on the blaster without this guide saying that it was quite nice. And it is! I am just having issues fitting in the two main blaps now, hah.

---

Enemy Resistances - Damage, Mez and Defense
Enemy XP Mods
(Drag my avatar into your mp3 player!)

Special treat for Archery blasters tonight. I managed to tear myself away from my latest obsession, an Energy/Rad blaster on Liberty (shut up, i can make anything i want and i don't HAVE to follow the AT rules! ), to do some testing with my level 39 Archery/Energy blaster on Pinnacle, Sand Wasp. The tests were performed last night, but I needed time to collate the information, get a bit of verification from Castle on a question and reflect on the results.

First, Snap Shot. As I expected, the damage output is almost point for point exactly the same as Aimed Shot used to be before the I11 changes. The difference is very small, so all of the players who are used to Aimed Shot's old damage will feel very comfortable using Snap Shot now. Due to the extremely fast animation, the Defiance buff that Snap grants is small, so using it in a chain is a case of building up a lot of small buffs very quickly, as opposed to using slower attacks to build up fewer, larger buffs.

Snap/Aimed/Snap/Blazing appears to be a very solid single-target chain now, building up a reasonable Defiance buff total quickly and maintaining it easily. However, this chain does require quite a bit of +Recharge overall in order to be fluid. Sand Wasp's current slotting is a mix of 3 Ruin (all level 40) and 2 Thunderstrike IOs (levels 34-39), giving Snap Shot and Blazing Arrow 84.76% +Recharge, and Aimed Shot 61.58% +Recharge, plus 13.75% global +Recharge from IO sets. That's nearly 100% +Recharge total for Snap and Blazing, and over 75% for Aimed, and there's still a very short pause before Blazing Arrow finishes recharging.

Nevertheless, this was with very inexpensive IOs (5/6 Sting of the Manticore in Ranged Shot and 5/6 Stupefy in Stunning Shot, and the Ruins and Thunderstrikes in the three single-target attacks), so it's neither difficult to achieve nor overly burdensome to accomplish.

With the total +Damage from enhancements, Assault and the 3% bonus from Sting of the Manticore, Snap Shot was dealing slightly over 99 damage. To the best of my memory, Aimed Shot prior to I11 was hitting for 105 or 106, so as I said, the final result for Snap is very acceptable as a blaster power now. To put it in more graphical terms, Snap Shot alone should be hitting for roughly 1/4th of a +0 minion's HP bar.

Regarding the attack chain, I did notice that the overall Defiance buff was smaller than I was seeing with Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful, but I can't offer an opinion on which chain provides superior DPS at this time, for a couple of reasons. First, while I was seeing higher damage totals using the Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful chain, I was also having to pause more frequently while waiting for recharge times to finish, so I couldn't give an honest and fair estimate of actual DPS of that chain until I can get enough +Recharge to make the chain fluid again (my one disappointment with the animation time changes, this chain relied on the animation times to be fluid). And second, Aimed Shot is bugged at this time. It has a short (0.33 to 0.66 second) pause after the animation ends, during which no queued power will activate. This bug affects both defenders and blasters, and I expect it to be affecting masterminds as well. The problem is simple, the animation time isn't synchronized to the activation time properly, and I've already notified Castle, who in turn has asked BackAlleyBubbles to fix it so I don't start eating babies or snorting fire, but there's no estimate available on when it will be fixed. Therefore, any DPS comparisons that I attempt would be faulty until the bug is resolved, and I'd prefer to wait rather than try to work around the limitation to do the necessary testing.

Aimed Shot hits hard now. I was so excited by what I was seeing that I completely forgot to record the damage (though i did take several screenshots, i'll have to go digging to see what i captured). Even with just Snap Shot's Defiance buff, I was hitting +0 minions for between 40% and 50% of their health. Very impressed with the New and Improved Aimed Shot(tm) and how it interacts with Defiance. Win-win for Archery.

I was surprised to note that Stunning Shot was providing a Defiance buff, roughly 12-13% (after using Stunning Shot, Snap Shot was dealing 105 or 106 damage). I didn't pay much attention the the pre-I11 Defiance change discussions, as I was still up to my ears in guide writing at that time, so discovering that Stunning Shot and my melee powers from /Energy were buffing me was very nice (only have Power Thrust and Stun).

Blazing Arrow went from a powerhouse to a freaking nuclear missle. At one point prior to the respec (i respeced Sand Wasp before conducting the tests last night in order to properly slot up Snap Shot, which i had taken at 38 but not fully slotted because i intended to use it as a cheap place to stick some set IOs for bonuses), I hit a critter for 363 damage with Blazing Arrow. That was without Aim or Build Up, either, just the enhancements, Assault, the 3% from Sting of the Manticore and Defiance. That was using the Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful chain. Using Snap/Aimed/Snap/Blazing, I was seeing a much smaller damage total with Blazing Arrow, even on the third cycle when the amount of Defiance buffs I could achieve and maintain had leveled out, but it was still hitting extremely hard, much harder than it ever did prior to I11. I know that a lot of players tend to, or want to, use Blazing Arrow first or sooner in their attack chain, but I think everyone will see much more benefit from using it later, or even last in the chain, when you have a healthy Defiance buff built up. I've never seen lieutenants fall over so quickly, and I've fought a lot of lieutenants with a lot of different characters! Even Lethal resistant Warwolves felt the sting of Sand Wasp last night when she started pumping fire into their veins with Blazing Arrow.

Finally, Rain of Arrows remains on the 1.0 Ranged Damage modifier. I did expect this to be the case, because Rain of Arrows isn't a true attack, but a power that summons a pet that performs the attack, but I had been hoping that it would benefit from the blaster changes in some way. But all is not lost, it turns out that RoA did get a buff, in a curious way.

Rain of Arrows buffs itself with Defiance. None of the other attacks that I tested were doing this, so it took me a while to figure it out, but it makes sense in light of how RoA works. Since it summons a buffable pet that gains the benefits of any buffs on the character, it gains the buff from Defiance because the buff is applied when the power animation begins. "Normal" attacks that simply do what they do, attacks that don't summon a pet but instead deliver their damage directly, don't gain the immediate buff from Defiance because the buff doesn't exist until after the power begins to animate and the damage is already factored by that point. But because RoA is different, it ends up gaining its own Defiance buff.

I was limiting my tests to one +0 minion at a time in order to minimize any anomalies, so I never got around to testing whether RoA's Defiance buff increases with more critters in the AoE, but I did note that all of the damage ticks were exactly the same, so Defiance does not buff the power on a per tick basis, that much I do know.

Overall, at the level at which I was testing, the buff from Defiance was small (but certainly enough to throw me into total confusion while i tried to figure out why the power was dealing more damage than i'd calculated, using the same equation that had perfectly predicted Snap, Aimed and Blazing's damage), and it may end up being little more than an interesting quirk, but it was certainly nice to see that even RoA had become, in at least some small way, even better with I11.

That concluded the time I had for testing, and cleared most of my list, but I do intend to revisit the DPS options using different attack chains after the Aimed Shot bug is fixed and I get enough +Recharge to make accurate comparisons. I am still quite enamored with my old Aimed/Blazing/Aimed/Fistful chain because it offers a lot of potential extra DPS via hitting additional targets with Fistful, so I'll be scrutinizing both chains carefully at some future date to determine which is optimal and whether achieving "optimal" is the best option based on how difficult it is to get the chain to be fluid again.

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Interesting reading. I was always using Snap Shot, so this validates the build I'm already using on my Archery/Ice.

I am also happy to notice that both Ice Patch and Shiver now buff my damage (if not by much).

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