So you've decided to take up the path of an archer have you? Well, its quite a glorious one, let me tell you. Archers are among the strongest of adventurers throughout Dereth, and playing one is quite an experience! But don't let me fool you, its not an easy choice. We must pay for supplies to create our arrows, and good bows are sometimes hard to come by. So sit back, and let me enlighten you. Also note, these are my opinions on what good attributes and skills are. There are 2 paths for an archer, to support yourself, or have a mule character support you. These may not be the ultimate choice for an extreme amount of gameplay, but you will have fun with this character, and that's what we all play the game for isn't it?

First off, I suggest picking Sho as your Heritage. Generally there are more magic Sho bows than anything. But Aluvian or Gharu'ndim are also fine. I once saw a Gharu'ndim bow that was quite powerful. But according to research of many, the ratio of good Sho bows to Aluvian/Gharu'ndim bows is unparalleled. The Sex and Appearance of your character do not effect gameplay, so chose them by how you wish your character to look. Next, chose Custom Character at the Profession screen. Make your attributes as follows:

Strength: 60
Endurance: 40
Coordination: 100
Quickness: 80
Focus: 40
Self: 10

You can add or subtract 5 without having much of an impact on gameplay. Note, I personally did not use this exact template, but I wish I had. I started my character with more Strength, and less Quickness than I should have. But I have tested this template on a friend's character, and he can kill monsters much easier than I, and he is 2 levels lower than me! In case you are wondering, I started my character with 80 strength, and something like 50 quickness. I think there were a few other things changed too, but I am fairly happy with he way that my character is coming along.

Now onto Skills. For this, I have two templates:

Template One
Specialize: Bow
Train: Arcane Lore, Healing, Item Enchantment, Mana Conversion and Melee Defense.
Since this character doesn't have fletching, you'll need to make a mule character. You can use the Tradesman guide to help you create a mule.

Template Two
Specialize: Bow and Arcane Lore
Train: Healing, Fletching, Item Enchantment and Melee Defense.

Note, this leaves out an important skill, Lockpicking! You'll want to add it at level 7. You should also add Life/Creature Magic. You don't need both, just chose the one that suits you the best. If you used Template Two you should work Mana Conversion in there, too. I'll leave that for you to decide :)

I suggest starting in Holtburg for a few reasons. 1) Its a great starting city! People take this city for granted, they think its just a laggy pit of doom for some reason. I really enjoy this city. It has many places for you to level at, and the prices aren't that bad either. 2) Like I mentioned, levelling. I got my character from level 1 to level 10 here in about a week of good solid playtime.

Now, your in Holtburg, and you've just checked out your inventory and seen all the cool stuff in there. First thing first, drop your Welcome Letter and Calling Stone. Then equip your bow and arrows, and throw your fletching items and healing kit into your extra bag. Now run to town and sell all your magic stuff. You may be wondering why. Well, I don't believe that you really need magic until about level 20. By then you'll have tons of extra exp. to boost into your magic skills (if you haven't been) and you'll be able to cast some decent Item spells by then. You'll get by just fine. If you don't want to sell all your initial magic components then that's ok too. But you still need to run to town, you have to buy some things before you get started. If you sold your components and wand, then you should have around 150 pyreals. You can get certain pieces of studded leather with this, I suggest Pauldrons but its up to you. If you didn't sell your components, then I say buy some fletching items.

Now, its time to do and do what everyone loves to do! Go out and kill everything you see! A few notes on hunting around Holtburg. There are many dungeons for you to go into, but I suggest the Cave of the Alabree. A lot of people don't even know it exists. You can find it at 42.3N 29.3E. Its full of Gnawer Shreths, and incredibly easy creature that gives mild exp. I recommend it, because of the loot. Its not much, but mostly ever Shreths drops spell components. If you spend some time in there, that starts to add up, and on trips to town you'll be picking up pieces of studded leather like its nothing! The Holtburg Dungeon, at 43.6N 32.4E, is full of Drudge Skulkers, and is home to one of the SoLL keys. The Skulkers give pretty good exp., and are fairly easy. The only problem is they don't give as much loot as the Shreths. But if your looking to gain levels easy, that's the way to go. Now, you can fight in these dungeons till about 3-4, maybe 5 on the Holtburg Dungeon, but soon you'll notice the lack of exp.

By now you should have a better bow (just look in the weaponsmith for a Shouyumi, but you should really get a Yumi or Longbow) and full Studded Leather, maybe some Chainmail pieces. Your going to want to raise your Coordination, because its the most important attribute for an archer. After Coordination, you should raise Quickness, and Endurance/Health/Stamina. Then comes Strength, then Focus, and finally onto Self/Mana, which you should raise every now and then. At level 5 your going to want to hunt out near the Golem Hill and Holtburg Redoubt. If you go here: 38.8N 35.6E and head South, you'll enter some woods. This is a great place to level to 8, just one rule. Don't be stupid and attack things that can whoop on you. At level 8, you can probably kill Mud Golems at the Golem Hill (38.6N 36.7E). There are usually a lot of people there, so I don't suggest going there during primetime hours.

This is the best information I can give you from my experiences as an Archer. A lot of melee players think we are overpowered, but don't worry about them, you'll learn to get used to it :) I'm happy to help anyone with any problems they are having, so you can look me up, Daknel Solsun on Frostfell, or go to the ACStratics IRC channel. Info you'll need: irc.stratics.com #asheron. I can also be contacted by email: acss@stratics.com Good luck!