Carraway's Guide to the New Archer: 1.18 and Beyond

[Kiara]

Oh yeah, my bad. Sloppy copy&pasting.

Hi carraway,

No worries. Great guide.

So do you have any thoughts on STR for Archer? Is it really a dead stat / not useful?

Thanks~

[carraway]

It does less than or the same as ATK, point-for-point. I need to do some testing to corroborate, but as far as I'm concerned, it's of very little value to an ARC.

[ChubbyWubby]

Hi Carraway,

What do you think about Mercenary Leggings over Sipahi Crackows?

[NoctisUmbra]

The attribute bonus info that was released for each class was listed as Auto-Attack bonuses. One thing I'm curious about is if these bonus stats, for instance DEX/PIE for Archer, enhance only the standard Light Shot or do they increase Weaponskill damage as well. Could it be that Weaponskill damage is still based off of STR?

[carraway]

Hi Carraway,

What do you think about Mercenary Leggings over Sipahi Crackows?

PIE instead of DEX and 1 less? Definitely worse, but really all of the footwear are so close to each other that it's not going to make a huge difference. However, because the Leggings are unmeldable and offer no DPS increase over meldable alternatives, I don't see a reason to use them at all. Might as well go with the Cobalt-plated Caligae or Jackboots and throw some +HP on them.

The attribute bonus info that was released for each class was listed as Auto-Attack bonuses. One thing I'm curious about is if these bonus stats, for instance DEX/PIE for Archer, enhance only the standard Light Shot or do they increase Weaponskill damage as well. Could it be that Weaponskill damage is still based off of STR?

I did some super-quick testing last night and my observation was that PIE was affecting WS damage as well. I'll do more in-depth testing when I have time, but I'm pretty sure PIE operates similarly for ARCs as it does for LNCs.

[Meatdawg]

Don't forget PIE increases Enfeebling Magic with aids in the success of our WS debuffs landing.

Another reason no Archer should of spent any points in another but dex to 23, pie to 22

[Sigmakan]

Noticed that you dont list Keen Flurry in the list of cross-class actions. Which action would you sub out for it? I'm thinking bloodbath.

[Murugan]

Noticed that you dont list Keen Flurry in the list of cross-class actions. Which action would you sub out for it? I'm thinking bloodbath.

That is probably just an oversight. The usefulness of Keen Flurry on a skill like Quick Knock is so obvious.

[Sigmakan]

That is probably just an oversight. The usefulness of Keen Flurry on a skill like Quick Knock is so obvious.

Oh I agree, I figured as much.

[Murugan]

Barrage has a duration of over 50 seconds, I generally fire off my combos before firing it so their timers can start refreshing. (I also prebuff it when applicable)

Shadowbind/Piercing's damage versus many mobs (with lower defense like the DD/Mage Moogles) is so comparable to that of light shot, that it does not seem worth the extra time spent in animation to use the combo other than to bind, or when fighting high defense bosses only.

I don't know how much Bloodletter's DoT and endgame proc do exactly, but if it is anything significant I wouldn't overwrite it but instead have your archers alternate their combo rotation.

Though Bloodletter does a noticeable amount of damage again especially on high defense mobs, the difference diminishes between it and heavy/light shot on others with less defense. If you are only concerned about your own damage then the small difference it will make to not simply change the orders of your combo at the start (sacrificing maybe at most one less bloodletter in the entire fight? Or more likely 1/3rd or 1/2 of your timer on one bloodletter) might be a good idea.

However, you should consider the damage your group is losing out on by your playing with blinders on trying to get that meaningless #1 spot in the parse results.

edit: de-barbed (sorry it is late as I am writing this)