Stand or run?

[Supergroovegear]

This may seem like a silly question that I have to ask and it applies more solo play.

As a ranged attacker, there should be some distance between the archer and its target. This is no issue if the enemy is also a ranged attacker, but with close combat enemies, am I supposed to run and shoot or just stand there and take it while I shoot?

I know archers have weapon skills which can slow or stop an enemy in its tracks. These are not always effect especially against enemies at a relatively higher level.

[Meleeh]

I stand still and shoot if my combos are on CD. I haven't noticed anything like RNG was in FFXI (close to the enemy = better ACC but weaker hits, further from the enemy = lesser ACC but harder hits).

[Supergroovegear]

Thanks. I am not to sure if I am playing the class properly thats all. It seems inherently flawed to stand and let the target run up to me and hit me. Yet its damn hard to play while the character is running and selecting whiuch weaponskill I want to use next either on gamepad or by keyboard.

[Estellios]

If you're soloing its fine to let the enemy come to you. The only time you need to have distance between you and an enemy is to start your combos. The initial weaponskills are the only ones that have distance requirements. Just run away when the enemy is in the middle of attacking or using a skill and fire off the combo starter, the distance requirement isn't too large. Alternatively, you can use Shadowbind (try increasing your PIE if you are having trouble getting the Bind effect to land) to get some distance or gain TP on the first enemy in a chain and use that TP to start the combo to engage the next enemy.

There is no longer any sort of accuracy penalty for standing near enemies, as it hurts soloing. You can get TP from your melee swings in between bow shots, anyways.

[Supergroovegear]

If you're soloing its fine to let the enemy come to you. The only time you need to have distance between you and an enemy is to start your combos. The initial weaponskills are the only ones that have distance requirements. Just run away when the enemy is in the middle of attacking or using a skill and fire off the combo starter, the distance requirement isn't too large. Alternatively, you can use Shadowbind (try increasing your PIE if you are having trouble getting the Bind effect to land) to get some distance or gain TP on the first enemy in a chain and use that TP to start the combo to engage the next enemy.

There is no longer any sort of accuracy penalty for standing near enemies, as it hurts soloing. You can get TP from your melee swings in between bow shots, anyways.

Thats all really useful stuff. Thanks

[DeadRiser]

Many times when grinding raptors with archer (in a party though) I'll solo a raptor and pull him away from the group and bind him so he doesn't wack away at anyone. It's really fun to do this, I don't know why xD So technically it is almost soloing in a group setting.

But yeah, I prefer running and shooting if they hit me extremely hard. Just make sure you don't run into other mobs that aggro.

[Estellios]

Many times when grinding raptors with archer (in a party though) I'll solo a raptor and pull him away from the group and bind him so he doesn't wack away at anyone. It's really fun to do this, I don't know why xD So technically it is almost soloing in a group setting.

But yeah, I prefer running and shooting if they hit me extremely hard. Just make sure you don't run into other mobs that aggro.

This is actually what you are supposed to do in a party. You start your combo on a link, you get hate and it runs towards you, then you Shadowbind for an EXTREMELY long duration with the combo as crowd control, while you help the party kill the other enemies. Crowd control is not only the mages using Sleep like it was in 11, but unfortunately many players haven't connected the dots. Bind in this game is super useful and lasts a generous amount of time compared to 11.

[Conradus]

This may seem like a silly question that I have to ask and it applies more solo play.

As a ranged attacker, there should be some distance between the archer and its target. This is no issue if the enemy is also a ranged attacker, but with close combat enemies, am I supposed to run and shoot or just stand there and take it while I shoot?

I know archers have weapon skills which can slow or stop an enemy in its tracks. These are not always effect especially against enemies at a relatively higher level.

Answer: Have a tank to hold the mob. If you are solo or otherwise can't have somebody hold the mob for you, then, yeah, you pretty much have to stand there and take it. Trying to run away from a mob that's not heavy or bound is fairly futile.