Thanks a bunch everyone.
So getting the targe is part of the main questline? I can't just got grab it when I go to the fort to get bound bow? They seem relatively close together right?
How to play an archer
- Thread starter mike208
- Start date
Thanks a bunch everyone.
So getting the targe is part of the main questline? I can't just got grab it when I go to the fort to get bound bow? They seem relatively close together right?
Psiberzerker
Author
Not even close. The Targe is at the bottom of a Dwarven Ruin (Full of Falmer) far to the notrh on an NPC that will try to use it against you if she wins the fight she's already in. It's on the same quest you need to do to face the Ultimate Boss of the entire game. Most of the way through the main questline, actually... You need to build up you Block anayway, a steel shield will do until then. it just adds damage against certain enemies.
Erqiosk
New Member
- You're right, Quiet Casting isn't necessary if you're only using the BBow. If, however you want to go for BSword or any other magic school, I reccommend picking it up!
Psiberzerker
Author
OK, yeah, but this isn't an Assassin thread, or an Illusion thread, it's an Archer Builds thread. In that context, Quiet Casting is Optional. Other than that, I agree. It's badass, but not a real high priority for the build at hand.
Erqiosk
New Member
Just giving my opinion here, as OP asked for a fun way to play sneaky archer. And as I already said: just going sneak/archery might get boring after a while. This would add some variety to the build
OK, so I got the tome for bound bow(which according to what I'm seeing is equivalent to a daedric bowwhich does 19 base damage, is this correct? But the arrows do a damage of 24? So using bound bow is still better then the dwarven bow I just got from a chest with a base damage of 20 and ancient nord/iron arrows I currently have that do 9-10 damage. The math makes sense, I just wanted to be sure.
Psiberzerker
Author
Yes, and with Mystic Binding, the Bow's damage goes up to 24. This is massively powerful at low level. You can make more powerful with a Grindstone, but nothing comes that way out of the box, and you don't have to hunt up arrows.
imaginepageant
Slytherin Alumni
Archers are by far my favorite to play. I started out using archery for ranging, and a sword and board for melee combat. Then I tried to use archery only, no other weapons whatsoever, and it was interesting (and definitely helped me learn how to be an archer), but it could get too difficult and rather frustrating, especially early on when my Sneak skill was low and I'd inevitably be discovered and ganged up on. For awhile now I've been playing a character whose primary focus is on stealth and archery, but when the fight gets too close for comfort, she whips out her dual daggers and a full-strength Elemental Fury shout, turns into a veritable tornado of blades, and finishes off even the toughest foes in a matter of seconds.
I absolutely love this build and recommend it highly. If you're using archery as your primary method of attack, you won't have a lot of opportunity to build up your one- or two-handed skill to be able to hold your own in melee battles, especially at later levels when your enemies' skill will far outmatch your own. Without muscle, you'll need the advantage of speed to survive. That's where Elemental Fury comes in. It will work best with daggers, since they're the quickest weapon to begin with, but I suppose using dual swords wouldn't sacrifice too much speed and they would give you a higher damage rating (especially once paired with relevant one-handed perks). Keep them well tempered, and unenchanted in order for the Shout to work. Wear an Amulet of Talos to help with the Shout's cooldown, but even without one, I rarely have to Shout twice before everything around me is dead.
Here is an example of the sort of perk spread I'm using with this build. You can see she also focuses quite a bit on alchemy; poisons (particularly paralysis and Fury) come in very handy, and Invisibility potions are my very best friend. I should also mention that I went up the heavy side of the Smithing tree since I was using heavy bows and daggers, and stuck to Thieves Guild and Nightingale armors, neither of which require any of the light side Smithing perks. You may need to take those perks, depending on what armor you're wearing.
I personally prefer not to use companions, ever, but especially not with a stealth build, since companions (including summons) have this terrible habit of rushing in bellowing a war cry and blowing your cover and any hope you had of getting those sneak bonuses. Sure, they might make for a nice distraction, but they also cause all of your targets to move, making it harder to hit them. And what happens when your companion's on the brink of death and the six Draugr they'd been fighting then turn to you? Chances are you'd have been able to quietly pick off at least half of them from the shadows before they realized you were there, if it weren't for your companion's blundering about. If you've never played an archer before, I'd suggest doing a handful of quests both with and without a companion to see which style you like more, as an archer.
As for gear, the Gauntlets of the Old Gods (acquired by siding with Madanach in the No One Escapes Cidhna Mine quest) and the Shrouded Cowl (acquired by either joining or destroying the Dark Brotherhood) or Krosis (acquired by defeating the eponymous Dragon Priest at Shearpoint) each give you a 20% bonus to archery. The Nightingale Bow (acquired partway through the Thieves Guild questline) is, in my opinion, the most badass bow in the game, almost to the point of being overpowered.
I absolutely love this build and recommend it highly. If you're using archery as your primary method of attack, you won't have a lot of opportunity to build up your one- or two-handed skill to be able to hold your own in melee battles, especially at later levels when your enemies' skill will far outmatch your own. Without muscle, you'll need the advantage of speed to survive. That's where Elemental Fury comes in. It will work best with daggers, since they're the quickest weapon to begin with, but I suppose using dual swords wouldn't sacrifice too much speed and they would give you a higher damage rating (especially once paired with relevant one-handed perks). Keep them well tempered, and unenchanted in order for the Shout to work. Wear an Amulet of Talos to help with the Shout's cooldown, but even without one, I rarely have to Shout twice before everything around me is dead.
Here is an example of the sort of perk spread I'm using with this build. You can see she also focuses quite a bit on alchemy; poisons (particularly paralysis and Fury) come in very handy, and Invisibility potions are my very best friend. I should also mention that I went up the heavy side of the Smithing tree since I was using heavy bows and daggers, and stuck to Thieves Guild and Nightingale armors, neither of which require any of the light side Smithing perks. You may need to take those perks, depending on what armor you're wearing.
I personally prefer not to use companions, ever, but especially not with a stealth build, since companions (including summons) have this terrible habit of rushing in bellowing a war cry and blowing your cover and any hope you had of getting those sneak bonuses. Sure, they might make for a nice distraction, but they also cause all of your targets to move, making it harder to hit them. And what happens when your companion's on the brink of death and the six Draugr they'd been fighting then turn to you? Chances are you'd have been able to quietly pick off at least half of them from the shadows before they realized you were there, if it weren't for your companion's blundering about. If you've never played an archer before, I'd suggest doing a handful of quests both with and without a companion to see which style you like more, as an archer.
As for gear, the Gauntlets of the Old Gods (acquired by siding with Madanach in the No One Escapes Cidhna Mine quest) and the Shrouded Cowl (acquired by either joining or destroying the Dark Brotherhood) or Krosis (acquired by defeating the eponymous Dragon Priest at Shearpoint) each give you a 20% bonus to archery. The Nightingale Bow (acquired partway through the Thieves Guild questline) is, in my opinion, the most badass bow in the game, almost to the point of being overpowered.
Psiberzerker
Author
Those are good choices, but if you're going to do either the Dark Bortherhood, or Thieve's Guild quest lines (Even Both) then you can eventually upgrade to the Ancient Shrouded Cowl, or Linwe's hood, which brings you up to 45% more damage with the GotOGs. Also, I like the way the Ancient Shrouded (Or maskless regular SC) mates up with the high collared Nightengale Armor better than the Shrouded body. The GotOG generally glitch to brown handwraps, which don't look so bad. I also like the Savior's Hide with any forsworn, or Stormcloak Officer's gear, purely for badass looks. The Magic Resistance is kind of nice as well.
jonathan90
well known member
I think that when you hold down your sneak range bow long enough, you can get a longer distance and more powerful shot.
The longer you sneak with your bow, the more damage you will inflict on your enemy. And all depends as well on your stamina when zooming in.
If you have a "snipe affect" on your bow, as you zoom in on your target. you fire quick shots to alert them, and cause them to search in that area.
Then you sneak , and zoom in and fire a shot anywhere to the body, "depends on your light armour and archery,sneak perks"
If you apply poison to your bow, and enchant your weapon with shock damage. You might have a higher range while upright normal assault bow shooting. Even when you hold down your upright bow shot, "hold it down" to get a more powerful shot, and don't just fire too quick or straight away, otherwise you will not be accurate enough, or inflict enough critical damage. I hope that helps....
The longer you sneak with your bow, the more damage you will inflict on your enemy. And all depends as well on your stamina when zooming in.
If you have a "snipe affect" on your bow, as you zoom in on your target. you fire quick shots to alert them, and cause them to search in that area.
Then you sneak , and zoom in and fire a shot anywhere to the body, "depends on your light armour and archery,sneak perks"
If you apply poison to your bow, and enchant your weapon with shock damage. You might have a higher range while upright normal assault bow shooting. Even when you hold down your upright bow shot, "hold it down" to get a more powerful shot, and don't just fire too quick or straight away, otherwise you will not be accurate enough, or inflict enough critical damage. I hope that helps....
Andre2807
Member
I think I've done a fair share of archery in Skyrim. This is just my opinion, but for me there's generally two builds I go with:
Assassin: Sneak, Archery, Illusion, Alchemy, Light Armor and One handed. One handed is only chosen to maximize dagger damage if you happen to have a target very close.
Archer/Beserker: Sneak, Archery, One Handed, Light Armor, Smithing and Enchanting.
The two builds have similar playstyles, the only differnce being the gear chosen and method of killing. The assassin build wears mostly Shrouded/Nightingale Armor. Archer crafts his own Dragonscale Armor with Fortify One Handed, Stamina and Archery enchantments. The assassin does backstab and uses daggers in close combat. The Archer/Beserker shifts to merciless dual wielding. The assassin poisons his bows. The archer enchants his bow with Shock Damage/Soul Trap.
Assassin: Sneak, Archery, Illusion, Alchemy, Light Armor and One handed. One handed is only chosen to maximize dagger damage if you happen to have a target very close.
Archer/Beserker: Sneak, Archery, One Handed, Light Armor, Smithing and Enchanting.
The two builds have similar playstyles, the only differnce being the gear chosen and method of killing. The assassin build wears mostly Shrouded/Nightingale Armor. Archer crafts his own Dragonscale Armor with Fortify One Handed, Stamina and Archery enchantments. The assassin does backstab and uses daggers in close combat. The Archer/Beserker shifts to merciless dual wielding. The assassin poisons his bows. The archer enchants his bow with Shock Damage/Soul Trap.
Psiberzerker
Author
If you wait until the bow is fully drawn, you will get maximum range, but beyond that, there's no advantage. Also, being crouched doesn't add any more range, nor how long you sneak with your bow. Poison, and Enchantments don't affect Range, and the stance (Upright, or crouched) doesn't affect your Range. The only factors that do are 1) material Tier of bow, and 2) whether it's fully drawn. Critical Damage, the Zoom in "Snipe" Effect, and higher Stealth Shot damage come from the Critical Shot (3), Eagle Eye, and Deadly Aim perks (In Sneak.) None of these have any affect on Range. Just thought I'd clear up some ambiguous wording.I think that when you hold down your sneak range bow long enough, you can get a longer distance and more powerful shot. The longer you sneak with your bow, the more damage you will inflict on your enemy. And all depends as well on your stamina when zooming in. If you have a "snipe affect" on your bow, as you zoom in on your target. you fire quick shots to alert them, and cause them to search in that area.
If you apply poison to your bow, and enchant your weapon with shock damage. You might have a higher range while upright normal assault bow shooting. Even when you hold down your upright bow shot, "hold it down" to get a more powerful shot, and don't just fire too quick or straight away, otherwise you will not be accurate enough, or inflict enough critical damage. I hope that helps....
