Hi,

Get a beverage and some cookies, as I will try and help you while I will share my vision. I repeat this is my vision on a character that will strongly focus on a bow. I do not claim that it is the best build or the only build in any way shape or form.

Before starting I want to share that I personally am not a huge fan of lonewolf glass cannon combination or any leech/zombie shenninigans so I will refrain from combining any of them, however I did take up glass cannon. The second thing you might want to take note of is the fact that in act I your ranged dexterity based character will mostly play a supportive role, using crowd control (CC) via special arrows or using the 1st aid or doctor skill. Piercing damage deals less damage versus undead so that further decreases your archers damage output.

With my own archer type of build I noticed that around level 8-10 depending on how strong the gear you have found is, you will start to notice the attack potential of this build.


So let's start of with assuming we're in the character creation screen.

First thing I did was getting dexterity to 8 and perception to 7, there is merit in saying if you take glass cannon you want constitution or if you want more AP/turn then take speed. My choise take up on perception is based on the following:

- Perception increases chance to hit, attacks that miss deal 0 damage so it is important to have atleast some to hit covered.
- It will likely be your only character that will invest in perception so it is nice to be able to spot traps and find hidden treasures rather easily. (This can be overcome by resummining a spider, since it seems to have high perception but that is kinda tiring)
- Perception also increases the number of start AP (it is based on the following formula 2+(Speed+Perception)x0,5 *rounded down* You will see that you will start with 8 AP every combat, which translates into 2 auto attacks. Or you can alternatively, shoot a knockdown arrow, pass the turn and then next turn you 2 auto attacks with a 100% chance to hit and +50% damage bonus.

After setting the attribute points I was looking at the talents for a while and was looking at what my goal was and how I wanted to reach that, Taking up good starting is kinda hard and for me there were only 2 starting talents to take (keep in mind I dont use lone-wolf nor any zombie/leech shennigans) when looking at it from a point which would improve overall damage by your archer.

- Bully, +50% damage done to targets that are crippled, slowed or knocked down. As an archer you can actually apply two of three status effects yourself. Those are knockdown and slowed and both use a special arrow, both have a 100% chance to apply the effect (before target saving throws) Keep in mind that when you choose this talent the knockdown arrow becomes one of your best friends, buy every knockdown arrow you can get your hands on, or knockdown arrowhead or anthler. The knockdown arrow provides you with a lot things. Namely CC and either in the same round or a round later you can actively use your +50% damage bonus.

The other talent I somehwat reluctantly took was:

- Guerrillia, another +50% damage bonus but this time ONLY when you are sneaking. Keep in mind that I took this talent only because I know it will be a powerhouse midgame-lategame however early game it is a huge huge faillure due to how the stealth mechanic operates in this game. Out of combat you can go into stealth and there is no cost involved. Once you are in combat going into stealth has an AP cost of 6-rank_sneak. So basicly you will not be using this in combat untill you have 5 ranks in sneak which will roughly be level 12 (or earlier if you buy items that give you extra skillpoints.) The idea is to let sneak be at a maximum of 2-3 depending on how much + sneak you have found on gear. It is thus wise to actively search for decent pieces of gear that offer +1 sneak. (alternatively you can use void essences to increase the sneak level on your gear.) Taking up this talent requires you to have atleast 1 rank in sneak so I went and bought 1 rank in sneak leaving me with 4 of my 5 skillpoints.

Lone wolf is also a really good talent to take, however I would not recommend it for a first playthrough or a playthrough on easy. The talent is very strong and wehn combined with the glass cannon talent you will get calls from Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger if you want to star in their next movie: Army of one. But on a more serious sidenote, take it instead of guerrillia if you want it.


Why no arrow recovery? 20% is too low and we will only shoot special arrows if we deem the situation in need of it, the idea of the build is to fire as many auto attacks as possible from our starting position. A moving archers shoots less; that is another reason why high perception is not a terrible choise as it will decrease that to hit pentalty for targets far away. With enough perception and + sight there will be times that you will shoot 19m+ and still have like 94%+ chance to hit.

Ok so as I stated earlier only Bully and Guerrillia I deemed worthy, next up are our skillpoints.

My take on the archer is a pure dexterity based class that will straight up fire a "barrage" of arrows and will acts a support class if the situation demands it.


My total of 5 skillpoints were divided as followed:

Expert marksman - 2 (3 points)
Scoundrel - 1 (1 point)
Sneak - 1 (1 point)

Why no points into bow/crossbow? Well because at some point in the game there is a fairly huge chance they will become copletely redundant. If that wasnt the case then yes I would have loved to points into bow/xbow. However due to this we can use either bows or crossbows without feeling that we are not using full potential. However I lean towards a bow and not a crossbow. (personal preference or legolas syndrom)

Why no points into geomancer or withcrat? Well, I like to do stuff and make sure that what I do has a close to 100% to work and casting Oath of desecration with a success chance of 70% is not to my liking, I have little of no need for other witchcraft spells, absorb the elements come to mind but fairly high action point cost and not a 100% success rate with 5 intelligence. On the geomancer spells... well, since I tend to favor the perception type of build I have less need for bless, I don't want a spider with gimped stats either. (Yes summon spider is good even with 5 int, however it's chances to hit are horrible so it only functions as a meatshield.) In my playthrough my other character started out as a wizard and that character took summon spider and also took a point in witchcraft however I did not take oath of desecraton. (I bought it from the vendor on top floor of Cyceal inn the first chance I got with my wizard.)

Why take scoundrel? Well that should be fairly obvious at 4 action points a self haste (Fast Track)is a very big damage increase earlier in the game and if you expect encounters you can actually use it right before the start of an encounter and start hasted. The second skill Walk in Shadows I took for two reasons.

- Steal stuff from under peoples noses; cheesy, corny but it gets the job done.
- It gives you an escape mechanism in combat for just 3 AP.

As marksman skill I took Tactical Retreat just because it is another escape mechanism and not only that in combination with invisibility you can do a few fun tricks aswell. It's more or less fancy play syndrom but nonetheless pretty fun. I will give an example. Tactical retreat in between all enemies, use Walk in shadows, when Madora get's her turn make sure that you have max. AP the next turn, so use what you can but make sure to have as much AP as possible. -Important- In my playthrough my archer held one of the pyramids and the other pyramid was held by madora (she was the only melee in my group of 4, if you have a better melee give it to that one instead.) On Madora's next turn use her pyramid and then dust devil and whirlwind away. Like I said fancy play syndrome but it's fun. However Tactical retreat also works with some support skills we will take later on, if a character really is in dire need of some sort of cure, we can allways TR and then 1st aid, doctor, scroll or w/e.


After this you basicly have gotten your archer playready, however it does not end yet.(did you refill your glass yet, now is a good time)

We have the basics but we have to make sure we go to correct route so we can be that action hero later on.

As far as attribute distribution goes, I can not tell you how to distribute them, as you will end up with different items then I did. I can only tell you that by the end of chapter I, which should roughly be around level 9-10 you want to have the following stats: (keep in mind this is BUFFED)

STR:5, DEX:8+, INT:5, CON:9, SPEED:9, PER:11

You can alternatively switch SPEED and PER, however then you have to make sure that CON = SPEED.

The reason as to why we took these stats I will explain a bit later, let me first tell you, how I decided on what talents to take and how to distribute my skillpoints.

Starting with talents, we will get a talent at level three, however we will NOT use it untill we are level 5, we will then buy glass cannon with that talent point. (at level 5 your unbuffed stats will look something like: 5,8,5,5,5,9)

Our next talent point is gained at level seven and we will NOT use it, we will wait untill we have 5 ranks into Expert Marksman and then we will buy Quickdraw.

Skillpoint distribution is fairly simple, you will put everything into Expert Marksman untill it is maxed, after that you might want to throw some points into sneak (depending on your total sneak) you might want to invest 1 point into bodybuilding and willpower and then max out tenebrium skill.

Regarding the talents on level 11, 15, and 19 take what you want or save them untill you can trade them for ability points.

Ok back to the 5 8+ 5 9 9 11 (BUFFED), this should be accomplishable somewhere between level 8-10. Atleast on my playthrough without using cheatengines, tormented soul or sextant I managed to get 5 12 5 9 9 11 on level 10. Once again, just make sure to distribute your points that synergizes with the items you find.


CON: 9 = Max AP: 16, 7+con=Max AP
SPEED: 9 = Ap/Turn 16, (Speed-1)x0,5 rounded down)+4)x2=Turn AP
Perception: 11 = Start AP 12, (SPEED+PER)x0,5 rounded down)+2)= Start AP.

So in other words you will start with 12 AP, have a max of 16 ap and will gain 16 ap per turn, this relates into the following:

12 AP = 4 auto attacks, it is also roughly 2 special arrows, with enough sneak it is a total of 3 sneak attacks.

Without glass cannon it is still roughly 2 special arrow attack but only 3 auto attacks.

16 AP = 5 auto attacks, with enough sneak a total of 4 sneak attacks, 2-3 special arrow attacks. Since 16 can not be divided by 3 I suggest using ranged power stance with the 5th auto attack so you will not lose any AP.

Getting near the end, just hang on ;),

What Expert Marksman skills did I take? Well there are a total of 14 Expert Marksman skills and I think roughly 9 are a must have.

I ended up with the following:

- Tactical Retreat - 1
- 1st aid - 1
- Ricochet - 1
- Ranged power stance - 1
- Doctor - 4
- Treat poisoning - 4
- Ranged precision stance - 4
- Barrage - 7
- Mute - 7
- Rapture - 10
- Arrow spray - 13

This is also the order in which I obtained them and the number at the end is the level required to learn the skill. As you can you see I take all 3 debuff skills, mostly for versatility, mute and rapture are just plain insane. I use tactical retreat for versatility aswell. I rarely use the stances, only when I have an action point spare will I use power stance. Power stance is also better for crossbow then it is for bow, due to % of damage gained per % of action increased. I only use ranged precision stance when my chance to hit is 80% or lower and even then I usually change tactics and will use barrage, ricochet or arrow spray because they have no chance to hit, however they also don't add any elemental damage from the bow to attacks.

I did not take Infect, because it is a 3.0 meter cast and the whoel idea of this built is to stand still adn shoot things from afar. I did not take Survivor's karma because well.. it is the worst Expert Marksman skill as it is only usefull outside combat and the bonus it gives is so small it is just not worth it, very flavorful ability but that is where it stops. I did also not take minor charm due to having rapture.


Tip/advice: If you are trying to mute or rapture a target with a decent amount of willpower make use a scroll of drain willpower to increase the odds in your favor.


I guess this is where it ends, the post has become somewhat elongated, however you can not say that I have not tried to help you. :P

As a last bit of advice, buy any scroll of Oath of desecration and drain willpower you can get your hands on. Same goes for teleportation. Make sure to buy/craft knockdown arrow every chance you get. Slowdown arrows are a nice backup but don't expect to use them a lot. Make sure to have water arrows (yes I am aware they really suck damage wise.) but depending on how many characters have blitz bolt it can actually be a great setup for a stun, wet characters have a 20% or 30% chance (not sure) to get stunned. In terms of arrows being able to apply debuffs, don't use or craft str dex, int or perception. If you want to debuff something use the con or speed debuff arrow or ofcourse the curse debuff. The con debuff arrows works un such a way that the damage dealt by it is useless however once the effect wears of the hitpoints are NOT retroactively added, so depending on the maximum health and constitution of your target those arrows can indirectly deal hundreds of damage. Your next special bread and butter arrow should be stun arrow, followed by freeze arrow, make sure not to use physical damage or fire damage on a frozen character as it has +40% fire res and +65 armor, so when you use freeze arrow, do it because your mage(s) will bombard that target with water spells. Buy a sextant if you see one, but with using it untill you have a level 14 weapon (that is the level the bonus changes from +1 perception to +2, later it will become +3 however that is so late that game might have alrdy ended.) If you have multiple tormented souls (+str and +dex on weapon) you can use one early on if you find a decent legendary bow, however it will give a better bonus once you find weapons that are level 14.

Since you are a bully make sure to give your melee battering ram and crushing fist depending on your setup mages can use either slow current or midnight oil, although I prefer midnight oil because it will have your fire arrow have more use.

I also suggest turning in all other talents past 11 for attribute points, however if you like you can take up elemental ranger, however this is more often then not a pain in the bum. If your poison immune target is standing in posion you really don't want to heal him. If you did pick up lone wolf then you will end up with a lot of ability points, if that is the case I recommend grabbing atleast willpower and body building 3 higher. Or instead you can get Intelligence to like 10 eventually and then you pick up some "wizard" spells to boot aside from that the best sarongs ingame require an intelligence of 10 to be worn aswell. However my personal opinion is that it is not worth sacrificing 4 attribute points just for some extra spells or wearing a sarong.


Well if you actually read all of this, props to you as boy did I ramble on... It was not my intention however I played an archer in my 1st playthrough and absolutely loved it.

Have fun giving it your own twist!

With kind regards,

Rashar.