[Ch1efer]

Archer

-Notch, Draw, Loose-

Archers are the uncontested masters of the bow and arrow in all its forms. Devoting themselves entirely to this ages-old technology, they are most respected, and most feared, for their virtuosity in such battle tactics as sharpshooting and high angle-fire. Archers excel at adeptly seeking out the most suitable ground for releasing their barrages, and are experts at deftly determining which type of arrows will best fell their quarry. Military trained Elezen are generally considered to be the most skilled among archers, but tales of Miqo'te hunters and their prowess with the shortbow have also become commonplace across the realm.

When quivers run empty, as they are wont do, archers are also know to be formidable adversaries at range with nothing more then a simple rock.




The enduring popularity of the bow is a testament to its elegant design, but this simple weapon would be of little worth without the surpassing skill of those who master it—the archers. Projectile techniques such as high-angle fire enable archers to assail their foes with deadly precision even at great distances.

Constant assessment of the battlefield enables them to carefully determine the most advantageous ground from which to loose, as well as the nature of the arrows best suited to their enemy. Together with the longbow sentries of the Elezen military, the shortbow hunters among the Miqo'te are widely regarded as the most skilled with a bow. The guild's teachings cover a variety of projectile weapons, down to the simplest throwing rock.



Role

Archers possess a situational awareness in combat which allows them to assault enemies from great range while simultaneously providing support to their companions.

Though weak at close range limited by their quivers, an archer's expertise in positioning and arrow selection can easily determine the outcome of battle.

Abilities

• Replenish - Invoke a blessing of renewal, consuming MP to replenish your projectiles to capacity.
• Chameleon - Blend in with your surroundings, consuming TP to reduce enmity.
• Quickstride - Quicken your strike, increasing movement speed by.
• Retrieval - Search your surroundings, consuming HP to find and gather projectiles.
• Hawk's Eye - Your eyes gain hawk-like precision, increasing the accuracy of your next attack.

Weapon Skills

• Shadowbind - Fetter an enemy's shadow, rendering the target immobile.
• Wide Volley - Launch a wide-ranged assault, increasing attack power and dealing damage to the target and nearby enemies.
• Quick Nock - Nock and release with blinding speed, shooting multiple arrows at a time in a cone before you. Increases attack power and deals projectile damage.
• Scouring Strike - Deliver a debilitating blow, increasing attack power and dealing projectile damage. Removes a single enhancement effect from your target.
• Shrieker - Loose an attack with a terrifying sound, dealing projectile damage and causing the target to flee in terror.

Taken from http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/



What are your thoughts on archers? What type of bows and/or arrows do you think they will get? Longbows, shortbows, crossbows? Throwing rocks almost sounds like fun too.

I would really like to see a master in the field of archery use guns, or just have another discipline all together for guns and gunblades.

Discuss.

This post has been edited by Ch1efer: Mar 14, 2010 - 11:24 AM

[Hugbees]

Quote

I would really like to see a master in the field of archery use guns, or just have another discipline all together for guns and gunblades.

I would like to see another class for guns myself, for two reasons:

1. It shows personality. Do you prefer guns or bows? The class says it all :)

2. The Archer has very Robin Hoodish armor on, I can't imagine someone wearing that using a gun. A gunner class would be so much cooler looking :P

Overall Archer doesn't seem like a bad class, very primary, I probably won't go too deep into it unless they reveal something big that catches my interest about it.

[Ch1efer]

Yeah, I do agree that a gunner class should be separate, but to be able to be a gunner you should have to master archer. I think that would be a good way of doing things.

[beoulve]

I wouldn't be surprised if they gave archers guns as well since more than likely the abilities that benefit guns are likely included on the archer class. But this is a new game so who knows what they'll do...

[Control]

so archers have (as of now unofficially) been said to be the "solo" job. Their abilities of crowd control must be the main contributing factor. The concept of guns as of now are very slim, besides the large cannons on the flying construct in the trailer there doesnt seem to be a place for them, besides cannons came before guns, it's easier to make a big boom than a small controlled boom.

If guns are included though then the class will be very interesting and would probably catch my attention rather easily.

[Ch1efer]

If guns are included in this game, it will more then likely be another class, which has yet been announced. I'm expecting guns to be included and for more classes to be announced eventually.

[Momotaru]

I wonder if there will be more Disciplines of War, right off the bat. It seems like they have enough bases covered for now.. Do they really need more? My theory is 5 classes per discipline at launch.


And yet, there's a guy in the XIV logo, holding a gun (just below the 3oclock Elezen).

If multiweapon theory turns out to be true, I can see guns a potential alternative to bow and arrow, as an archer... But I really don't feel this to be so.



Right now, I'm going to guess guns will come later, probably in the first expansion.
And per expansion, I imagine they may add a class to each Discipline, or perhaps, they'll add one for two classes, and in the next expansion, follow through with another class per the remaining Disciplines.

[TempestKin]

Momotaru, on Mar 10, 2010 - 7:56 PM, said:

I wonder if there will be more Disciplines of War, right off the bat. It seems like they have enough bases covered for now.. Do they really need more? My theory is 5 classes per discipline at launch.


And yet, there's a guy in the XIV logo, holding a gun (just below the 3oclock Elezen).

If multiweapon theory turns out to be true, I can see guns a potential alternative to bow and arrow, as an archer... But I really don't feel this to be so.



Right now, I'm going to guess guns will come later, probably in the first expansion.
And per expansion, I imagine they may add a class to each Discipline, or perhaps, they'll add one for two classes, and in the next expansion, follow through with another class per the remaining Disciplines.

I think we'll see more disciplines of magic, and war before we'll see them of land and hand after awhile. I think along the lines of gun class, it may fall into the realm of magic.

Even in FFXI to a lesser extent Corsair had magic ability in the form of quick draw, which enhanced other magical debuffs, and offered some crowd control down the line.

We could see a class more along the lines of gun mage. I could see elemental barrage, and other attacks along those lines.

I really think with the Archer class we'll only see a focus on bows and not really a look at other weapons at least for this class. Mostly because it really seems to focus on this class.

[TempestKin]

Sorry for the double post. However, I figured I could add in the info we got so far, as was post by Eorzea. I also referenced what was another classes abilities in FFXI. I.e. ws, or abilities. Which I bolded.

Quote

Archer

Archer Abilities:
Replenish: Fire off multiple arrows at one time (the description says all of your arrows) [ Barrage from Ranger class, it's a classic ]
Chameleon: Erase your presence to avoid detection [ If it allows you to loose aggro = thief's hide ability ]
Stride: Be able to move quickly for a short period of time [ Thief's flee ability ]
Retrieval: Gather up arrows in exchange for some HP
Hawkeye: Increase the accuracy of your next attack [Similar to sharpshot, but not as long of a duration]

Weapon Skills:
Shadow Stitch: Bind the enemy [Was a dagger ws usable by many classes]
Wide Volley: Attack your target and other enemies around it
Quick Knock: Use multiple arrows in rapid succession to attack enemies in a fan like AoE attack
Snakebite Arrow: Attack and remove enhancing magic from the enemy
Shrieker: Attack the enemy and cause it to retreat

Developer Comments:
Iwao – More than anything, their role is to attack enemies from a distance. After that, it all depends on the technical abilities of the archer. If they attract too much attention from the enemy, they could get in trouble as they don’t have a high defense. So you have to think about where you are going to stand and the best way to attack the enemy without capturing their interest. This class has to look at the big picture.

Sato – Archers also have a lot of abilities they can use to put some distance between them and their enemies. I hope people use those in their battle strategies.

Iwao – The type of arrow you pick is also important. There are arrows for doing direct damage but you can also use arrows to affect the status of your enemy and thereby help out your party members.

The big thing that I noticed, is the large amount of crowd control offered up by the Archer, including making a mob run away. Also a lot of the status and debuffing/enfeebling abilities which are rather nice. This is gonna be a very... unique class compared to how it was in FFXI. It may be able to hold it's own a lot more effectively compared to Ranger class.

Edit :

Quote

Abilities

* Replenish - Invoke a blessing of renewal, consuming MP to replenish your projectiles to capacity.
* Chameleon - Blend in with your surroundings, consuming TP to reduce enmity.
* Quickstride - Quicken your strike, increasing movement speed by.
* Retrieval - Search your surroundings, consuming HP to find and gather projectiles.
* Hawk's Eye - Your eyes gain hawk-like precision, increasing the accuracy of your next attack.


Weapon Skills

* Shadowbind - Fetter an enemy's shadow, rendering the target immobile.
* Wide Volley - Launch a wide-ranged assault, increasing attack power and dealing damage to the target and nearby enemies.
* Quick Nock - Nock and release with blinding speed, shooting multiple arrows at a time in a cone before you. Increases attack power and deals projectile damage.
* Scouring Strike - Deliver a debilitating blow, increasing attack power and dealing projectile damage. Removes a single enhancement effect from your target.
* Shrieker - Loose an attack with a terrifying sound, dealing projectile damage and causing the target to flee in terror.

I added in the new english version of the abilities and such taken from what Momotaru posted in the famistu thread. [Thanks momo]

Combined with the info about firearms in the blacksmith's descriptions. What is everyone's opinion?

Personally I am excited about replenish! That should definitely make affordability of the job much much easier.

This post has been edited by TempestKin: Mar 13, 2010 - 10:29 AM

[Satan]

Perhaps there will be guns, I just had an idea though. Perhaps an up close skill could use a gun, like a black powder pistol.

[Inaaca]

A previous interview has confirmed that Archers will never use guns. They won't even be using crossbows.

However, guns do exist already in the Alpha/Beta, and even though the class hasn't been officially released as playable yet, the Muskateer appears to be well on its way as a gunner class.

[evyueth]

Inaaca, on Jun 24, 2010 - 11:48 AM, said:

A previous interview has confirmed that Archers will never use guns. They won't even be using crossbows.

However, guns do exist already in the Alpha/Beta, and even though the class hasn't been officially released as playable yet, the Muskateer appears to be well on its way as a gunner class.

You have a link? I like to read more about it if you don't mind.

[Inaaca]

Released info stating archers will only use bows:
http://www.beyondvan...su-and-dengeki/

Info on the Muskateer's Guild that exists in the Alpha/Beta (Listed under Coral Tower).
http://www.beyondvan...-may-19th-2010/

[evyueth]

Inaaca, on Jun 24, 2010 - 2:28 PM, said:

Released info stating archers will only use bows:
http://www.beyondvan...su-and-dengeki/

Info on the Muskateer's Guild that exists in the Alpha/Beta (Listed under Coral Tower).
http://www.beyondvan...-may-19th-2010/

Thank you very much.

[Merrick]

Man i've always done mage classes but after seeing some videos i think i may want to try archer. I'm just scared of doing this because what SE did previously with the RNG from ffxii. Would really suck to get far with a class and it be dropped down a peg or three. Hopefully they'll have like a brd or cor type of class as well. You guys all thinking of starting off with archer?