New player: how does archery work?

Cuckoorex

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I made a warrior and was grinding it out melee style, but then I thought maybe I should try a bow and snipe from afar...but how do I aim the bow? I just have the "attack" button but no way that I can see to target enemies at range.
 

VDX_360

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The range attack with the bow will automatically aim for nearest enemy in range. Takes a bit of experimenting to get the hand of it.

The most practical use of a bow for a warrior is using the range attack to provoke an enemy into coming to you, such as when entering a room full of monsters. You can hit one and have him charge out of the room at you. Takes some experimenting too.
 

Cuckoorex

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So you just point yourself in the general direction and hope it hits someone? And then they close on you so fast that you pretty much would only get one shot or maybe two off before you'd have to switch to melee? Seems like there's not much use for a bow or any archery skills if that's the case.
 

Sounkeng

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Cuckoorex":1q8997h4 said:
So you just point yourself in the general direction and hope it hits someone? And then they close on you so fast that you pretty much would only get one shot or maybe two off before you'd have to switch to melee? Seems like there's not much use for a bow or any archery skills if that's the case.

That's not how it works. It auto-targets the closest enemy
 

Cuckoorex

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But the closest enemy that has already "noticed" you and is engaging you, right? By that I mean if there are, say, a group of orcs in your line of sight but they haven't turned hostile yet, they're not considered enemies, so they aren't targeted? That's what I'd like to be able to do: I see a big group of enemies on the far side of the room and I start picking them off (or at least targeting and hitting them) as a kind of sniperish attack.
 

ZeroesHero

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Cuckoorex":1vsags55 said:
But the closest enemy that has already "noticed" you and is engaging you, right? By that I mean if there are, say, a group of orcs in your line of sight but they haven't turned hostile yet, they're not considered enemies, so they aren't targeted?

Enemies don't have to notice you to be enemies. It will still target them.
 

VDX_360

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Arrows hitting (and provoking) enemies that haven't noticed you yet is the key to using a bow to lure enemies out of a room one (or a few) at a time, esp for warrior class. Stand by the door, hit any monster in the room, who than charges you, you switch to sword, kill the monster, re-equip the bow, and re-peat.

There are a few archer skills that make bow a more lethal weapon (Archery, Rapid Fire, Precision Shots... etc) but unless you are going to develop as a bow hunter, the use of a bow is limited. Also note that Agility gives bonus to bow attacks so agility builds do more range damage than strength builds and Archery skill gives a stun chance.

Here's a video of someone's archery build taking on the orc lair. Not my video but shows the use of skills and one's Companion to make short work of the orc lair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bInSG-IehPw
 

VDX_360

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If you're really motivated for an archery character, go with a rouge-Rouge archers can be lethal. They get a few skills (Archer, poison, etc) that really helps archers. Warriors are best using bows on a limited basis.

On a Companion note, Grissenda (the Warrior) seems to be the best overall companion for a Rouge archer. Make her a solid agility build (light weapons with shield) so that she has the highest defense and she'll serve well as crowd stopper letting you pick off the enemies as they attack her.
 

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