Archer Help

[NelsonDaine]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and such. Anyways, I created a new character and I've never built an Archer so that is what I am doing. Any advice, tips, tricks etc for me on how to build a good archer and any tips on how to make money quickly? Thank you!

 

[tat2teel]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!! \m/

Archery, Sneak, and Light Armor as Major Skills
here is a sample build: Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them!

I chose the Heavy Armor Perks in Smithing, cause the best weapons are through that side, and you can get to Dragon Scale Armor from that side

Didn't take Quick Shot cause it's bugged

Enchanting can be your best friend (Paralyze Rocks)

Sneak and Archery (Duh!)

Remember this is just a sample for you, you can ignore a lot of the perks I chose, and mix it up to your liking, I just did that in a few minutes.... ENJOY!!!

EDIT: BTW Thieve's guild, and Dark Brotherhood can make you rich fast

 

[Demoraj]

T'would be best to ask this in the guides section, but t'oh t'well.

 

[Ryokozan]

You can use alchemy to poison arrows to cause extra damage or other effects like paralysis. It also is s a great way of making money, just buy giant toes and wheat from an alchemy store and craft them into potions around 100 gold profit and more as you level up.

 

[XboxDovahkiin]

I am in fact playing an archer too and i find that these tips can be very useful.

-use the best arrows you can get always devote a section of your gold for very good arrows this won't be a a problem though when you get hunters discipline.
- Shoot arrows at empty walls to lure targets than take them out
-A high sneak skill is always a good thing. This helps me get through many boss battles (especially draugr)
-take overdraw whenever you can. It is very useful.

 

[redrkt]

also enchanting is a good thing to have so you can up your weapons damage levels

 

[Jaeger]

Enchanting: Paralyze suck. With Stun Shot, you're paralyzing them before the next kill arrow. The best bow is an Absorb Stamina bow, so you can stay in Slo-Mo longer.

Get Faendal the elf follower. Use the exploit to get to level 50 in archery quick. Sometime after that, hit up Anji in the Falkreath province, she will raise it 7 levels in her training. Have 2/2 of the slo-mo to hit all the targets quick.

Like all the weapon enhancements, critical hit sucks, just take one of the three if you want to go up the tree. But, I see no reason to go up that side. You don't need Paralyze because at 100 skill (plus a Legendary quality bow) you're going to be one-shotting baddies. If you don't kill them, you're stun locking them for the second kill arrow.
.

 

[illuminist]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and such. Anyways, I created a new character and I've never built an Archer so that is what I am doing. Any advice, tips, tricks etc for me on how to build a good archer and any tips on how to make money quickly? Thank you!

alrighty then....I always intend to use a good alchemy potion for making really powerful poisons and on top of that enchant your bow and arrows and poison tip your arrows.

I have been a very high level in archery, I almost got all critical strikes and I guess sneaking is another way of getting better stealth kills with a bow.

so go for sneak perk.

bows to 8 times more damage while sneaking in sneak.

alchemy poison tips on arrows last twice as many hits.

and enchanting in which will improve your archery skills fast and use a ebony bow if you can find one.


p.s
always use the sneak bow crouch position with your bow it does more damage.

 

[RoG Delta]

Def get the x3 sneak damage perk in sneak tree. Enchants that are good: shock, frost or fire all good. Soul trap is good. Always sneak when possible. Get Daedric bow ASAP. If no smithing then go antronach forge route (google). Enchant 4 pieces of apparel with fortify archery. All of that= 1 shot mammoth

 

[illuminist]

when I first start a new game I always use a long bow or a hunting bow and imperial bow.
when I start getting higher through the game I get dwarven bows,orcish bows,elven bows and ebony bows last with deadric bows.

 

[imaginepageant]

If you're not interested in smithing and/or enchanting, the best bow you will find is the Nightingale Bow, obtained through the Thieves Guild questline. Probably my favorite weapon in the game, and I'm heartbroken my new archer character won't be able to get it since she won't be joining the Thieves Guild.

Other helpful gear: Gauntlets of the Old Gods, obtained by siding with Madanach in the No One Escapes Cidhna Mine quest in Markarth, and the Shrouded Cowl obtained by joining the Dark Brotherhood (you can later upgrade to the Ancient Shrouded Cowl by progressing through the Dark Brotherhood questline). Both give boosts to your archery.

If you're planning on using bows exclusively and not switching to one-handed for melee battle, keep as big a stockpile of arrows as you can. Pick up all that you find and buy all that you can afford. The first time I played a pure archer, I was surprised at how quickly arrows ran out when they were all you were using!

I personally don't care for pairing alchemy with archery, for the simple reason that I never seem to remember to poison my arrows when I'm in battle. But this is a highly subjective matter. If you're already used to going into the menu to take potions or apply poisons to weapons, it'll work for you. If not, skip alchemy.

Patience will be your best friend. You don't want to find yourself surrounded by three or four heavy-armored bandits pummeling you with warhammers if you're a light-armored archer, and to avoid that, you need to stay hidden. You can't be shooting arrows left and right at everyone you see. Shoot one arrow at one enemy, wait while he looks around, and once you're fully hidden again, shoot a second arrow at him. Repeat until he's dead. Then move onto the next enemy. With luck, talent, and patience, you'll be able to take out whole groups of enemies without once being seen—or getting hit.

If you're going to use magic at all, make sure you build your Illusion skill and keep up to date on Calm spells, which you can use when you are spotted, to give yourself time and opportunity to hide again. If you aren't using magic, the Kyne's Peace Shout does the same thing.

My last tip: practice makes perfect. My first character used bows for ranging, but fought mainly with an axe. And I sucked at it. Now that I've played a pure archer and shot thousands upon thousands of arrows, I've gotten pretty great at it, if I do say so myself. So if you find, at first, that your arrows aren't hitting their mark very often, stick with it. It'll get easier as you go!

 

[Streets]

I like what everyone has said so far. I want to add a bit about the Bound Bow. I don't know if you are using magic at all or not, but if you get into Illusion you can pick up Quiet Casting, Muffle and Invisibility, and as Imagine said, the most recent Calm spells. Quiet Casting will help you stay hidden while you cast Bound Bow when sneaking.

What are the advantages of Bound Bow?

It is the strongest bow in the early and mid game. If you don't go Smithing, it will remain the strongest bow. The Bound Bow has base damage 24, which is equal to an Exquisite Daedric bow (65 Smithing without perk), or a Level 46+ (this is too late game for me to be relevant) Exquisite Nightingale bow (65 smithing, doesnt get 2x perk). If you do progress smithing, the earliest the Bound Bow will become outclassed is at 80 Smithing when you can take the Ebony perk and make an Epic Ebony Bow, or 65 Smithing if you can somehow get a Daedric Bow into your posession in the earlier levels. If you go the light side of Smithing, you will need 91 Smithing and a Legendary Glass bow to beat the Bound Bow.

The Bound Bow also comes with 100 Daedric arrows every cast (essentially unlimited), meaning you will need to constantly be using Daedric arrows to equal or surpass the damage of the Bound Bow with the physical bows I mentioned.

You can start using the Bound Bow as early as level 2 or 3. You can pick it up from Fort Amol, use the Novice Hood from Helgen, put your first few level ups into Magicka, and perk points into Novice and Mystic binding (20 Conjuration), then you can go about your standard Assassin build. Carry a physical bow of course in the early levels when Magicka is tight and you don't yet have Quiet Casting.

When the Bound Bow becomes outclassed by either a high Enchanting skill or Smithing skill, you can still keep it handy and use the Soul Trap perk and Banish perk for a utility bow, so it isn't wasted in the end.

I understand it requires a certain playstyle and desire to use the Bound Bow and it isn't for everyone. But since no one had mentioned it yet I thought I would chime in, and since I happen to love the Bound Bow I got a bit carried away with the length here. Oops!

 

[ShadowGambit]

Check out my Sniper Mage Build. That may give you an idea.

http://skyrimforum.com/threads/sniper-guide-assassin-mage-long.11228

I do totally agree with Streets about the bound bow. That will be your best friend for some times, till you get your Alchemy/Enchanting high enough. You can even totally skip Smithing PERKS, if you can accept a 15% decrease in output damage, which at the end, its not very important when you already do 2K+ dmage with your sneak attack. You do need Smithing at 100 though, even without perk.

As you will read in my build, I nearly don't use One-Handed. Only in last resort. My bow and my Atronach will do the job quite well.

I also don't use destruction much, as my bow, at the end will be better. Also, I put alteration to get the 30% resist and use spells like Detect Life and Paralyze. But some people remind me that Shouts can do the job quite well.

 

[ShadowGambit]

Here are also some tips about Archery:

Weapon:
Light Bows and Heavy bows are DIFFERENT. They shoot differently and the arrow trajectory is not the same. I find it easier to be on target with a Light Bow. Also, Light bow fires faster. Heavy Bow does more damage per shot, and are better for very long shot

The Bound bow acts like a Heavy bow, as it is designed following the Daedric Bow.

My favorite bow is, for the end game, the Elven bow. It is one the bow with the Highest Dps (the highest being the Hunting bow). The reason is also that I only need to invest 2 points in perks to get Elven Smithing. And with the perk, Fully Upgrade Elven Bow will do more damage than a Daedric Bow upgraded with no perk.

Spoiler: Daedric bow cannot be found in the early game. But if you prefer heavy bow, the Boss in Lost Valkyyg carries an Ebony Bow. You can get him from level 8-10 I think. Also, an Elven Bow can be stolen in Aela the Huntress room at the companion place in Whiterun.

Arrows:
A lot of people are hunting for Deadric Arrows. Yes they are the best arrows (not really. For me the best are the Bound arrows, same stats but free... hehehe).

But remember this: An iron arrow does 10 damage, so 14pts less than the Deadric arrow. Ok, that will make a big difference in the early game. But you cannot find Daedric arrows in the early game. But because arrow damage are added only at the very end in the damage calculation formula, it doesn't benefit from the different multiplier like Overdraw or Sneak Attack, or even potions.

So, in the end game, when your bow is doing 2K+ damage, firing a Daedric arrow will only add 14 damage compares to an iron arrow. LESS THAN 1% differential. At the end, I don't see the point of hunting for Deadric arrows. Finding some is great, but not necessary. i'd rather pickpocket any arrows I can find, regardless of their quality.

Critical:
As I posted one of my earlier post, I find that Critical damage are a joke.

Critical damage bonus are a joke. | Skyrim Forums

I would only take Critical 1/3 in the Archery tree, just because it is necessary to take other perk after. I usually don't even touch the left side of the archery tree though.

Potions:
Always carry Potion of Fortify Archery with you. The max potion you can get +147% potion. That will more than DOUBLE your damage output.

One of the reason I go full Alchemy. poison and Paralyze can be nice too.

 

[Jaeger]

He won't get his Enchanting skill high fast if he's messing with the Bound Bow.

Do Azure Star quest.
Use a physical bounding bow.
After every kill of a humanoid, recharge the bounding bow with the Black Star. Raises enchanting fast.

You can't do that with the Bound Bow spell because you're not getting exp from all the recharging.

 

[ShadowGambit]

Well he can fill all gems only with his bound bow. Then enchant all the items he made to get his Smithing to 100...

 

[Epic Keith]

Easiest way for beginners,
Take all your dead enemies items and sell it to the nearest shop keeper

 

[ShadowGambit]

How does it increase your enchanting? It does increase you Speech though...

 

[Streets]

How does it increase your enchanting? It does increase you Speech though...

Haha yeah! I think he was talking about easiest way to make money? Hopefully he meant all you have to do to be a great archer is to sell dead enemies items. I have found good ways to make money in the early game is by making potions, even if you aren't using Alchemy. Blue Butterfly wing + Blue Mountain flower is a good one, of course Giant Toe and Wheat, but a bit hard to come by. Deathbell or River Betty + Salt Pile is another good one. Usually you can buy Imp Stool and Canis Root from the Alchemists, and that makes a Paralysis poison which is handy (could save your life if you get caught) and expensive. Hanging Moss also fits in there somewhere. That's how I usually make my first 10k or so, then it's off to enchanting things with hopefully Banish, Paralyze, or Absorb Health for ridiculous gold payouts.

 

[Epic Keith]

Blue Butterfly wing+Snowberries= Enchanting

Forgot the smithing one