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Of the many vocations in the original Dragon’s Dogma, Strider ended up being one of the most beloved. It had such immense versatility, from allowing you to use many of your abilities while climbing to having two weapons that could be used seamlessly at once. It was, in a way, quite broken.
InDragon’s Dogma 2, Strider has been split into Archer and Thief, both incredibly deeper as a result of the severance. Archer especially has been given an overhaul making it function without the need for daggers. Read on to get a better idea of everything that Archer vocation has to offer.
Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Archer Vocation
Strengths
The foremost strength of Archer is the ability to keep your distance. You never need to be close to the enemy while still being able to deal incredible damage to them. Taking their incredible evasive moves such as Leaping Punt into account, they can even escape tricky scenarios with ease.
Steady Shot is a great help here, too, as itlets you target the weak points of any enemy without having to get in their face, sometimes literally. This means you don’t have to risk climbing,say a Cyclops, to be able to target its eye.
Taking theirdebilitating arrowsinto account, Archers can also aid their allies as well. Tar to set enemies aflame, water to let lightning course through them more easily, and so on. So long as you have a good aim, Archer gives you all the means you need to survive.
Weaknesses
The greatest strength of Archer also happens to be their greatest weakness. While maintaining distance is essential to them,it can also leave them isolated. Pairing them with a mage gives them more support, but a party of all damage dealers may leave an Archer without sufficient defense if an enemy breaks through the vanguard of a battle.
On top of this,many of the Archer vocation’s abilities lock it in place and with a fixed degree of aiming. This means many of its attacks must be planned ahead rather than reactive as an ill-timed Deathly Arrow may be your own death instead.
In general, Archers are also muchmore about utility than raw damage.This means making them your primary damage dealer may make battles drag on, especially if you’re not always aiming at an enemy’s weak point. It is important to realise that for as strong as they are, they need someone else to take the brunt of the damage in battle and provide supplementary damage.
Archer Weapon Skills
The Archer has a great variety of skills, from simple arrow barrages to debilitating set-ups, giving them utility in many scenarios.
Barrage Shot
Manifold Shot
Fires off a flurry of arrows without restricting movement. Fires even more when upgraded
Sweep Shot
Cascade Shot
Fires a volley of arrows over a wide range, hitting multiple enemies. Fires even more when upgraded
Dire Arrow
Deathly Arrow
Charge up a devastating arrow while locked in place that deals immense damage. Deals more damage and pins light enemies to surfaces when upgraded
Keen Sight
Lyncean Sight
Allows you to zoom in for precise aiming. Is more stable while consuming less stamina when upgraded
Torrent Shot
Tempest Shot
Locks you in place while you unleashes a barrage of arrows with every button press. Can fire even more arrows when upgraded
Whirling Arrow
Spiral Arrow
Fire off a slow-moving area-of-effect arrow that deals damage to the enemy it hits and those around it. Hits for longer and over a wider area when upgraded
Exploding Shot
Erupting Shot
Fire off an explosive arrow that detonates after a set period or when attacked. Fires faster and can be attached while climbing when upgraded
Tarring Shot
Incendiary Shot
Fires an arrows loaded with tar that explodes after a set period or when attacked, dousing those around it in tar. Fires faster and can be attached while climbing when upgraded
Drenching Shot
Deluging Shot
Fires an arrow loaded with water that explodes after a set period or when attacked, soaking enemies around it. Fires faster and can be attached while climbing when upgraded
Blighting Shot
Nocuous Shot
Fires off an arrow loaded with blight that explodes after a set period or when attacked, poisoning enemies around it. Fires faster and can be attached while climbing when upgraded
Heavenly Shot
N/A
A charged shot that has you locked in place for its duration. Consumes all the user’s stamina, increasing the power of the arrow by the amount of stamina consumed
Many skills work slightly differently when used withSteady Shot. For example,Deathly Arrowcan be released at the exact moment it fully charges for massively increased damage.
While a great number of Archer skills can be deployed immediately, many of them require charging or to be briefly locked in place. This means you need to consider the enemies around you before you commit to many of your attacks.
Archer Core Skills
The majority of the Archer’s core skills focus around the damage-dealing aspects of the vocation, though some allow deal with its more evasive actions as well.
Effect
Loose
Fires off an arrow, or stabs a target with the arrow directly while climbing
Front Kick
A weak kick that causes enemies to flinch. Moves you backward if used in the air
Steady Shot
Allows you to manually aim, with the distance of the arrow and its damage determined by how long you aim for
Leaping Punt
Performing a kick while in mid-air after a sprint will deliver a more powerful flinching kick that launches you further backward
Parting Shot
After a Leaping Punt of mid-air Front Kick, fire off an arrow that pushes you further away from the enemy
Swift Nock
Nock all arrows more quickly whether using loose or steady aim
Puncture Dart
Allows you to draw the bowstring back even further, making your arrows deal much more damage at greatly decreased accuracy
Overall, the Archer is a vocation aboutrisk versus reward. Is that extra damage worth missing a shot? Should you move further back before charging your next ability? Thankfully, it lets you remove yourself from harm’s way quickly as well.
Archer Augments
Augments function as a set of passive skills, eight of which can be equipped at once.
Increases damage dealt to enemies not yet in battle stance
This increases your maximum stamina
Radiance
This makes your lantern more efficient, burning brighter while using less oil
Increases the damage dealt when targeting an enemy’s weak point
Avidity
Enables you to climb all things faster, such as enemies and terrain
Important to remember is that unlike Weapon Skills and Core Skills, Augments can be used on any Vocation once they’re unlocked.
The augments of the Archer vocation encourage you to live out the fantasy of a skilled archer. You attack before the enemy knows you’re there, hit them where it hurts, and are then gone before they know what’s hit them.
