[RED] Archer Skill Builds

 Spoiler

I have one point in Dodge and I can't tell exactly. If they are, the window of affect is very small since Dodge's duration is 1 second, and Phoenix/Frostprey attack every 3.03 seconds.


New Builds:

2nd job: After Mastery, get Physical Training, then your mob skill. Eagle/Hawk for very last because they suck and are useless. Double Jump is max or nothing. Not too useful for the early 2nd job since the maps don't require too much mobility at all.

3rd job: My opinion is that stronger characters go Arrow Eruption/Rain first. The long range and high mob count are best taken advantage this way. It also depends heavily on map architecture. Weaker characters would benefit with Inferno/Blizzard first in my opinion.
First point at level 70 goes into Inferno and Blizzard. Then, learn 1 Eruption/Rain to take advantage of the range available from it, as well as hitting platforms below you.

1 point into Drain Arrow if you're a Ranger, 1 point into Dodge, and 1 point into Phoenix/Frostprey. Dragon Pulse is useless if you're going Arrow Eruption. Pushing monsters away will not help if you need them closer. If you're going Blizzard first, go with a single point into Dragon Pulse.

Rangers:
Inferno First
1 Inferno first, 1 point Arrow Rain, 1 Drain Arrow, 1 Evasion Boost, 1 Phoenix, max Inferno. Max Concentration, Evasion Boost, Arrow Rain. Add more Drain Arrow if you need it to heal more, should be plenty fine at level 1 if you're strong. Goal is to have Arrow Rain maxed at around 100 if you're actually training (i.e. Pirates, high mob areas)
After, max Phoenix, Puppet, Drain Arrow, Mortal Blow, rest into Strafe (Level 11)
Arrow Rain First
1 Inferno first, 1 Arrow Rain, 1 Drain Arrow, 1 Evasion Boost, 1 Phoenix. Max Arrow Rain. Max Concentration, Evasion Boost, then Inferno. Same as above for the rest.

Marksmen:
Blizzard First
1 Blizzard first, 1 point Arrow Eruption, 1 Dragon Pulse, 1 Evasion Boost, 1 Frostprey. Max Blizzard, 16 point or more Dragon Breath if you want more damage, max Concentration, Evasion Boost. Finish Dragon Breath if you haven't max Arrow Eruption. Max Frostprey, Puppet, Strafe, total 6 Mortal Blow
Arrow Eruption
1 Blizzard first, 1 point Arrow Eruption, 1 Evasion Boost, 1 Frostprey. Max Arrow Eruption, Concentration, Evasion Boost. 1 Dragon Pulse, max Blizzard, Dragon Pulse, Frostprey, Puppet, Strafe, 6 Mortal Blow.

Strafe is always useless. Only needed maxed for Ultimate Strafe for Marksmen. Puppet isn't useful from what I've seen. It does not guarantee aggro. This may be a bug to be fixed in the future, I do not know. Mortal Blow is not useful unless you're weak. No skill is replaceable for Marksmen, and it's more beneficial for Bow Master's Hurricane to begin with.

I don't want to put an exact order since it's quite flexible, but the order above is what you really want to aim for. Never really want to go for all three attacking skills before Concentrate though. You can push Evasion Boost back if you don't want it so early. It's a preference thing.

Since it's so much easier to level, I think the exact order of pre-4th skills isn't all that important, just so long as the important ones are gotten, which you've covered.

4th job
1 Hurricane, 1 Advanced Final Attack, 1 Spirit Link
1 Bow Expert, 1 Elite Puppet, 1 Ultimate Inferno if you need it
Max AFA first, then Hurricane for damage.

I like this. I actually don't know where people will be training at early 4th job as LHC will be ruined. Well, that's not true. If I recall, just the party bonus will be taken away, as will most of the hp, but they'll still be viable and good xp mobs.

Spirit Link and Sharp Eyes give about the same amount of damage. Might need some more research.

Critical Shot: 1.1575x damage
With SE: 1.325x
1.145x increase

Spirit Link is a 1.15x increase

Since bossing is just starting to open up at this level (low 14x), I think the benefit of SE for party buffing is less than the benefit of Spirit Link. Since the increase of damage is similar, I consider the extra 40% hp, little extra def and m.def, and the little elemental resist to be more effective than buffing the party.

At 151, even though I think Expert actually adds more damage (20% more mastery, +15% min crit dmg, and 30 passive atk), getting SE for the party should take priority here. It'll be finished at 162 and by that time you'll probably start going on HT and possibly Czak runs, and SE will be expected.

161, max expert.

170, now it gets more difficult. You'll have Max Hurricane, SE, Expert, Spirit Link, AFA, as well as 1 in E.Puppet and U.Inferno. I'm of the opinion that getting MW isn't a priority if you don't have to. Archers will have soo many good skills, and most other classes will be done getting their important skills by now that they can work on MW, but we still have many good skills left to get.

What's left is Elite Puppet, Marksmanship, U.Inferno, Illusion Step, and Heros Will.

I'm a bosser, so i'm going to talk from a bossing perspective.
170-174 Marksmanship.

Now, i'm still at a bit of an impasse about whether to get IS or E.Puppet. While E.Puppet is strong, tanks dmg and gathers agg (if it works properly), IS also stacks with the new Dodge, and gives 40 dex.

I will say, though, that I don't think U.Inferno is a viable option at this point. Training is mostly done at bosses or in Dark Ereve or Monster Park where Hurricane will be plenty sufficient, and the 9 points for U.Inferno would best be spent elsewhere.

I guess it depends on what the player wants. I think i'll be going for E.Puppet as it's a smaller SP investment to max, and they are both very nice skills.

So, for me, at 175 i'll be doing 1 in Hero's Will (breaks sed and pot lock, if you boss, you want this) and then max out E.Puppet.

180, IS or MW. If you have the money, go for MW30 as you'll likely start soloing some bosses around this point with good funding, and mw30 provides better damage boost than IS for the 30 points. Although, if your funding isn't stellar, or you only really go on group boss runs, someone else will likely have more MW and it'd be best to go with IS. Depends on funding for this one.

190, IS or MW, whichever you didn't just max.

We don't have enough SP