Wanderer
Recruit
(Writing this both to have a specific topic for archery, and because it's a little different here, and it was tough to find information on it when I first started.)
*steps up on a tree trunk in the middle of a combat field, with a herald's staff*
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
All Swadian Recruits are hereby remanded to privy duty until they are able to display successful archery skills, by order of our King!
To assist you in these tasks, the following information has been provided by members of our elite archery forces and some tournament champions who have returned home. Take these pointers to heart, and we'll have you back on your horse with a sword instead of behind it with a shovel!
1 ) The targetting reticule on your bow is designed to show you when you've held the string back to long. It will shrink to a minimum size, and then grow again as you strain the string. You must fire at the minimum point for highest accuracy.
2 ) Watch your arrow! If you see it hit short, aim higher! Over his head? Aim lower! This seems obvious, but your bow will shoot the distance according to the bow, not randomly short or long to any severe difference. Side to side is another matter.
3 ) Using the zoom feature on your bow (accomplished by holding shift) will give you a closeup of your target. Use this to your advantage for watching your shots as well as assisting in aiming.
4 ) Firing when moving is difficult, at best, until you are an elite archer. It is better to pause a second after starting to draw the bow and take the tight shot then wasting arrow after arrow around your target.
5 ) Firing from horseback, a common pasttime, is difficult. You cannot hit infantry targets that are directly next to you easily, if at all. Those directly behind or in front of your horse are about impossible to hit. You need typically a weapons-reach worth of room. Rule of thumb: If they can hit you in melee, you probably won't hit them from ON the horse.
Only shoot off the left side of the horse. Trying to shoot to the right bangs the bow off your horse's head and they get upset. To make sure noone even tries, we've tied the bottom corner of your bow to your left stirrup.
Your best bet, when fighting foot soldiers with a bow, is to run a little ahead of them, stop, fire one arrow, perhaps two, then run away quickly again, and repeat. You will hit more with this activity.
6 ) If you are hit while aiming, you drop your arrow. If you fire your arrow before you get hit (archery war), it will fly true, your head will just hurt.
7 ) Headshots count. They're also hard to get.
8 ) An archery skill under 60 is nearly useless unless you can count their nose hairs. Be happy you hit something.
9 ) You can withdraw your arrow from your bow by right clicking... what the hell is the King talking about here?! Anyway, before you release the arrow, right click, and you'll stop the shot.
10 ) EVERYONE in the land is a better shot then you. Fire, move while pulling on the string, stop once you're close, finish your aim, fire, and move again. If you stay still, even Pirates with rocks will hit you 5 times for each time you hit them at range. Get closer or keep moving.
11 ) Crossbows: Cannot be *reloaded* from horseback. You can, however, shoot once. You must dismount to reload however. Left click a second time to begin the reload. The targeting reticule, however, will not re-expand, giving you all the time you wish to take your shot.
12 ) When in doubt, shoot into a mob. You'll hit something. If you can't shoot into the mob, shoot the horse.
13 ) You silly bowmen aren't used to shields, but guess what they're for? Right! To stop arrows! You're not big enough to punch through them, leave that for the real men with swords! Either wait until they're gonna swing at you and bury your feathers in them, or get off to the side of them since they can only defend forward, because otherwise they're going to block your shots. Also, if you hit someone as they're trying to swing at you, they'll flinch! Amazing what a foot of wood in your stomach will do, no? You get to pull another arrow and try again!
This ends the proclamation by the King! Death to Vaegris!
(Anything I'm missing, other tips, tricks, or interesting tidbits, please inform and post. I'm doing this both as a way to offer some help I was looking for originally, as well as find out what I don't know yet. Thanks.)
*steps up on a tree trunk in the middle of a combat field, with a herald's staff*
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
All Swadian Recruits are hereby remanded to privy duty until they are able to display successful archery skills, by order of our King!
To assist you in these tasks, the following information has been provided by members of our elite archery forces and some tournament champions who have returned home. Take these pointers to heart, and we'll have you back on your horse with a sword instead of behind it with a shovel!
1 ) The targetting reticule on your bow is designed to show you when you've held the string back to long. It will shrink to a minimum size, and then grow again as you strain the string. You must fire at the minimum point for highest accuracy.
2 ) Watch your arrow! If you see it hit short, aim higher! Over his head? Aim lower! This seems obvious, but your bow will shoot the distance according to the bow, not randomly short or long to any severe difference. Side to side is another matter.
3 ) Using the zoom feature on your bow (accomplished by holding shift) will give you a closeup of your target. Use this to your advantage for watching your shots as well as assisting in aiming.
4 ) Firing when moving is difficult, at best, until you are an elite archer. It is better to pause a second after starting to draw the bow and take the tight shot then wasting arrow after arrow around your target.
5 ) Firing from horseback, a common pasttime, is difficult. You cannot hit infantry targets that are directly next to you easily, if at all. Those directly behind or in front of your horse are about impossible to hit. You need typically a weapons-reach worth of room. Rule of thumb: If they can hit you in melee, you probably won't hit them from ON the horse.
Only shoot off the left side of the horse. Trying to shoot to the right bangs the bow off your horse's head and they get upset. To make sure noone even tries, we've tied the bottom corner of your bow to your left stirrup.
Your best bet, when fighting foot soldiers with a bow, is to run a little ahead of them, stop, fire one arrow, perhaps two, then run away quickly again, and repeat. You will hit more with this activity.
6 ) If you are hit while aiming, you drop your arrow. If you fire your arrow before you get hit (archery war), it will fly true, your head will just hurt.
7 ) Headshots count. They're also hard to get.
8 ) An archery skill under 60 is nearly useless unless you can count their nose hairs. Be happy you hit something.
9 ) You can withdraw your arrow from your bow by right clicking... what the hell is the King talking about here?! Anyway, before you release the arrow, right click, and you'll stop the shot.
10 ) EVERYONE in the land is a better shot then you. Fire, move while pulling on the string, stop once you're close, finish your aim, fire, and move again. If you stay still, even Pirates with rocks will hit you 5 times for each time you hit them at range. Get closer or keep moving.
11 ) Crossbows: Cannot be *reloaded* from horseback. You can, however, shoot once. You must dismount to reload however. Left click a second time to begin the reload. The targeting reticule, however, will not re-expand, giving you all the time you wish to take your shot.
12 ) When in doubt, shoot into a mob. You'll hit something. If you can't shoot into the mob, shoot the horse.
13 ) You silly bowmen aren't used to shields, but guess what they're for? Right! To stop arrows! You're not big enough to punch through them, leave that for the real men with swords! Either wait until they're gonna swing at you and bury your feathers in them, or get off to the side of them since they can only defend forward, because otherwise they're going to block your shots. Also, if you hit someone as they're trying to swing at you, they'll flinch! Amazing what a foot of wood in your stomach will do, no? You get to pull another arrow and try again!
This ends the proclamation by the King! Death to Vaegris!
(Anything I'm missing, other tips, tricks, or interesting tidbits, please inform and post. I'm doing this both as a way to offer some help I was looking for originally, as well as find out what I don't know yet. Thanks.)
