Any experienced archers?

[Epsilon]

While im enjoying my paladin very much, i still want an alt to switch back and forth with. One reason so i can switch back and forth from a holy, honest paladin to an evil thief, brotherhood type character to keep things switched up some.

Ive googled a few different things but after reading pretty much useless info i figured you guys could help me more with this. I was going to make a dual wielding orc warrior but that will come later. I hear after you level some Archers are deadly as hell if you play them right. I tried a cqc sneak type thief but that didnt work out but i feel i could play a lot better with a stealth archer and it doesnt hurt to try.

Even though i was planning on making an argonian just because ive wanted to play one im leaning toward the wood elf. Plus i like the idea of having pets even though i hear they dont last long. I know race isnt a huge deal as the game progresses but i feel a wood elf or khajiit would be great to get going with since it seems it will take a little bit before your ranged attacks become effective enough. Which race should i roll with if it was you being new to archers in the TES series?

Also besides a bow would it be best to stay agile with two daggers if i did have to thrown down up close or just a 1h?

What tree's should u put perks in besides archery? is it helpful to put anything in sneak? I was thinking putting perks in archery and light armor maybe but idk lol.Which secondary perks would best? And also what professions should i concentrate on first?

Thanks for any advice you guys could give me

 

[xaraan]

Bow is my favorite weapon. If not for the finishing moves of melee weapons I'd probably never use them.

I'd definitely get my archery up quick, use Feandal in Riverwood for training to get started. Once you get the zoom and slow down time features it's a world of difference. Then when you tack on levels of critical hit chance, knockback, faster movement, faster shooting, etc. It's beast. You definitely want to get your stealth up as well, one to help you stay hidden as you shoot and second to get the bow sneak attack damage.

I also snag magical items that help with bow damage, Linwe's Hood and the Dark Brotherhood cowl both give a bonus.

Either way I've found archery and stealth to be a killer combo.

 

[Epsilon]

Bow is my favorite weapon. If not for the finishing moves of melee weapons I'd probably never use them.

I'd definitely get my archery up quick, use Feandal in Riverwood for training to get started. Once you get the zoom and slow down time features it's a world of difference. Then when you tack on levels of critical hit chance, knockback, faster movement, faster shooting, etc. It's beast. You definitely want to get your stealth up as well, one to help you stay hidden as you shoot and second to get the bow sneak attack damage.

I also snag magical items that help with bow damage, Linwe's Hood and the Dark Brotherhood cowl both give a bonus.

Either way I've found archery and stealth to be a killer combo.

It sounds very tempting to try, who knows i may end up making my archer my main if i turn out to play good with him. I love my paladin but ive been wanting to try a few to figure out who my main will be.

Anyone else who has an opinion let me know id like to hear from a few others as well

 

[Zoridium JackL]

put into archery and sneak, save before you take the slow motion perks though so you can try them out first, some people like them and some people hate them, light armour is probably best but if you're willing to stick with heavy for a while you can get perks (a silent moving one in sneak and a weightless one in armour) that cancel out all noise and make it like cloth, goes for both heavy and light trees, although I would suggest light for the stamina regen.

you'll probably want to take the right side of the smithing tree to go through deadric (and on to dragon if you took light armour) and if you want enchanting you can get that too (although it isn't necessary), alternativly you can go into conjuration for the bound bow, it's the same as deadric bow when you get the mystic perk but it lacks enchanting (abnd you can further upgrade a deadric bow with smithing enchants/potions) although you can get the next two conjuration perks for soul trap and expel deadra enchants automatically) you won't run out of arrows (100 bound arrows with each summon, same quality as deadric arrows) and than you can perk a little up the illusion tree for quiet casting, (be sure to get the half cost perk in conjuration so that you can cast bound bow cheap, and duel cast for 220 magicka). also, if you do choose to smith your bow, put a paralyze/slow enchant on it for those close up enemies.

if you want another weapon go with daggers because you can get the sneak bonus (plus shrouded gloves makes it 30X damage) and if you went with smithing you can craft deadric (although I would recommend getting mahrunes(?) razor), although if you have a bow you probably won't need a CQC weapon, bows are all distance weapons, although on my sneak archer I have bound bow in my right hand and a shield in my left, a good setup because you're always ready to defend and can get yourself some space while you cast the bow.

remember that when you kill someone with a bow other enemies nearby will notice and try to find you, so make use of vantage points and use you're sneak abilities well, you won't find much that can stand up to a X3 archer shot, so get that sneak perk ASAP.

also, a lighter bow will fire arrows faster, but at lower damage, keep that in mind, although you'll usually want the higher damage because it's accuracy that counts not quantity.

and if you're willing to put in the effort alchemy can be a really worthwhile pursuit on any sneak character, this goes double for archers, you can put poisons on any bow (including a bound bow) and if you take the perk in the pickpocket tree (recommended) you can reverse pickpocket them right into you're enemies inventories to damage them.

remember, it's the first shot that has the most riding on it, so position yourself for every skirmish.

P.S. my main is a level 81 sneak archer, so I know what I'm talking about.

 

[Epsilon]

put into archery and sneak, save before you take the slow motion perks though so you can try them out first, some people like them and some people hate them, light armour is probably best but if you're willing to stick with heavy for a while you can get perks (a silent moving one in sneak and a weightless one in armour) that cancel out all noise and make it like cloth, goes for both heavy and light trees, although I would suggest light for the stamina regen.

you'll probably want to take the right side of the smithing tree to go through deadric (and on to dragon if you took light armour) and if you want enchanting you can get that too (although it isn't necessary), alternativly you can go into conjuration for the bound bow, it's the same as deadric bow when you get the mystic perk but it lacks enchanting (abnd you can further upgrade a deadric bow with smithing enchants/potions) although you can get the next two conjuration perks for soul trap and expel deadra enchants automatically) you won't run out of arrows (100 bound arrows with each summon, same quality as deadric arrows) and than you can perk a little up the illusion tree for quiet casting, (be sure to get the half cost perk in conjuration so that you can cast bound bow cheap, and duel cast for 220 magicka). also, if you do choose to smith your bow, put a paralyze/slow enchant on it for those close up enemies.

if you want another weapon go with daggers because you can get the sneak bonus (plus shrouded gloves makes it 30X damage) and if you went with smithing you can craft deadric (although I would recommend getting mahrunes(?) razor), although if you have a bow you probably won't need a CQC weapon, bows are all distance weapons, although on my sneak archer I have bound bow in my right hand and a shield in my left, a good setup because you're always ready to defend and can get yourself some space while you cast the bow.

remember that when you kill someone with a bow other enemies nearby will notice and try to find you, so make use of vantage points and use you're sneak abilities well, you won't find much that can stand up to a X3 archer shot, so get that sneak perk ASAP.

also, a lighter bow will fire arrows faster, but at lower damage, keep that in mind, although you'll usually want the higher damage because it's accuracy that counts not quantity.

and if you're willing to put in the effort alchemy can be a really worthwhile pursuit on any sneak character, this goes double for archers, you can put poisons on any bow (including a bound bow) and if you take the perk in the pickpocket tree (recommended) you can reverse pickpocket them right into you're enemies inventories to damage them.

remember, it's the first shot that has the most riding on it, so position yourself for every skirmish.

P.S. my main is a level 81 sneak archer, so I know what I'm talking about.

Thanks very helpful info, i think ill give it a shot and see how it works out for me wish me luck lol

 

[Shadowbane]

If you want a pet, wiki "Meko the dog" its really the only pet you get in this game

 

[Jaeger]

YouTube search Skyrim wolf pack.

 

[Daedric Death Master]

i am on level 95 achery and i do find it to be an extremely valuable tool in combat and stealth
i enter almost every combat scenario under sneak, and drawn bow, and if possible from an elevated position using legendary daedric bow enchanted with paralize. the slow time perk also does wonders if your aim is a bit dogde.

 

[Shew]

I play almost exclusively with my bow.. it was one of the first skills i maxed and the skill tree too, I turn down the crosshairs to half and really aim for windage and distance I get some massive damage legit for a great distance and it takes awhile for a responce if there is one to get to me. usually I manage to take out everything without being noticed, but if they do close I usually time my strike to counter theirs and be a ender. Single sword also cause how else would you switch back and forth realistically with dual weilded swords.

 

[Elsabob]

I have a sneaky archer and they are really fun. Particularly in dungeons or areas where you've got things to hide behind - it took me a little while to get the hang of it and build up the perks/skill but now I can one-shot a large proportion of the enemies, and don't actually get hit much at all (I'm level 26, so not really at the ninga levels yet!). They're nothing like sneaking silently around a Dragur dungeon, listening to their wheezy breathing and trying to work out where it's coming from.

At the beginning of the game I did find I needed to use some sort of melee weapon when there were too many enemies, as I wasn't doing quite enough bow damage. Mostly I went unarmed with the Khajiit Claws though, as at 15 damage a Claw they were better than most low-level weapons. I still carry melee weapons just in case, but I've hardly used them. Once you start finding armour and jewelery that increases your bow damage then you should be fine with just bow. (I've got the Shrouded Cowl from the Dark Brotherhood, which increases it by 20%, a necklace which increases it by 30% and a ring I enchanted myself which gives me an additional 16%)

I would definitely get the sneak skill tree, as you're going to want to have loads of time to get into a good position to shoot. Running enemies are so much harder to hit. Also there is "Deady Aim" on the sneak skill tree, which gives you x3 damage with a bow when you're undetected.

Dragons are where I had a problem at first, because they are *really* hard to hit when flying around, and my little Khajiit can't take the damage they deal once they've landed. I've also yet to successfully sneak up on one, which means that I can't get the x3 damage But I kinda like the challenge. I dodge a lot, and also use poison and enchanting to maximize the damage from each shot. Using a follower is really good here too, because they can lure the dragon to the ground where it makes a much easier target.

 

[Straumgald]

I like to use the concentrated poison perk with 22 second paralysis poisons for crowds. Kill one enemy with a sneak shot, then apply poison. Hit two other enemies on the sides with paralysis, throw on a good 100+ damage health/slow poison and kill the remaining. You still have some time until the other ones wake up. If you start at max range you can usually kill them all without getting into melee range.

 

[Vandal]

My first run through was an archer by the time I decided to complete the main quest line I was in the high 40's. I was also one shotting everything using the sneak perk for bows. I enjoyed it but towards the end it got boring because it was so easy.

 

[Epsilon]

Thanks everyone, i think you all sold me on making one. Something different to try i hardly ever played archers in any games

 

[Wolfchant]

on a good day, i can clear a dungeon without ever getting seen, good archery + good sneak + good bow/arrow combo = great satisfaction as you watch a guy question what's happening when you pierce his neck with a well aimed arrow

 

[Epsilon]

Just started my archer today, so far very fun. Im better than i expected at it maybe my FPS experience is helping me out some with this. Cleared a couple of dungeons and the few times i was spotted i was able to kite them enough to keep distance and not get hit too often

 

[Straumgald]

Yah my Archer doesn't like getting hit, has like 200 armor. Can't take too many hits, that's why you preload paralysis poisons on your blades too.

 

[Zoridium JackL]

oh, and don't dump too many points in health, my archer has 220 magicka, and something like 440 health : 440 stam. I can sit there for five minutes while a dragon wails on me and not need to do anything, that coupled with the fact that I never get hit means that it's wasted points, put you're points into stamina, you only need around 220 health (if that really), and only go to 220 magicka if you're going for bound bow, that is just enough to allow you to duel cast it with the relevant perks.

 

[Phobos]

that is just enough to allow you to duel cast it with the relevant perks.

I have been wondering what was a good combo and came to about the same conclusion. I spent enough points to be able to use bound bow early on and now spending points on stamina for more zoom time.

 

[Straumgald]

Bound bow actually that good?

 

[Phobos]

Bound bow actually that good?

Yeah its pretty beast and i notice a change as a continue to level my archery stats. I can also poison if need be which makes it that much better than starting bows.