Archer Survey Results

...survey says


INTRO

Overall, I'd say I am satisfied with the survey. Amount of people that replied was beyond my expectation, tho some questions I should have done differently. Some answers were as expected, but some were really interesting and unexpected.

For example, "which elements are you currently using" should have been worded differently, somehow. I am using air+water primarily, but I also have some fire and thunder in my build, and yet, I didn't count them in. I was trying to ask what your build was, and if a particular element is barely used in a build, then I don't actually consider it as a part of the build, does that make sense!? E.g. 80 water/80 air/20 thunder, I consider it an air+water build, but technically, you are using thunder as well.

Important stats and good archer build were very similar in response, as in, instead of defining what a good archer build is, they gave me a combination of stats that work well. I was looking for a different kind of respond. Saying a good build is one with hp regen, mana regen and ws doesn't say much unless that build can finish e.g. LI. Obviously I should have worded it differently, but overall, you get an idea which stats will help you achieve that.

The "Which of the following content have you finished alone?" was meant to be for an archer, since it was an archer survey, tho that's not what I asked, so I received a few response from people who used e.g. warrior.

I will do this survey in 3 parts. 1st part will be over results with some charts, the rest will be separated into people who main and don't main archer, but no charts, just stats.

Some numbers may not add up. I may miscounted some, like, if something received 20 voted, I may have counter between 19 and 21. I'm sorry, there is a lot of shit to count and I am a human after all. Furthermore, some questions were left blank.

Also, I will have to leave white background behind the charts. Cutting it out makes it only look worse, no idea why is it that bad of a quality.

So, buckle up and let's start.

SURVEY RESULTS

Is archer your main class?

Not important, using this stats to separate survey into 2 groups later on.
Out of 69 responses, 54% answer yes, 36% said no while others said something else, which counts as "no" too.




How long have you been playing archer?

Why did I ask this again? I wanted to separate main and non-main archer users into more groups, but after I realized how much work that would be...yea, no, so let's just say this isn't important.

What is your highest level archer?

Out of 69 replies, 33(48%) are lvl 100, 13(19%) are level 101, and 7(10%) between 90 and 99. That makes 77% with the minimum level of 90, meaning you can get a decent idea of what to expect in the end game.



Which elements are you currently using in your archer build?

This is definitely a question I should have worded differently. Like I already explained above, I meant to ask what your build was. It's completely possible people who used 5 thunder points in their build counted it in. Then again, maybe I should count that in? Dunno. I did expect water and air to triumph over everything, did not expect so many of thunder, even fire, users. Earth, well, it's earth.



Is your archer spell or melee based?

68% of the people said it's spell based. People added so much stuff under other, so "only" 68% doesn't show the true colors of how bad melee archer is. You see the red part? That's melee. 4.3% or 3 users. 2 users or 2.9% said it's mixed. Everything else is random, e.g., cancer for PvP, speed build to spaz around and so on.



What is the best element, or a combination of elements, for an archer?

I wasn't sure how to word this question. If I asked for only 1 element, then people would have to pick between water and air, and that's unfair, cause both of them are incredible for archer. In the grand scheme of things, you get a perfect idea of what you should use for maximum efficiency with archer. Surprised with the results? Neither am I. Air for WS items and avoiding hits and water for spamming spells, that's what archer is. Using other SP means you have to sacrifice either water or air, which means reduction in spell spamming or potentially less ws, which isn't good.



What is the worst element, or a combination of elements, for an archer?

And then some say "fire archer isn't bad". I am sorry, but I can't take that answer seriously when it obviously is. Damage reduction isn't worth it in the current state, and going one part fire means you are losing on potential air or water elements. There is no incentive to use fire archer, it's not anything better for PvE compared to some other builds, but when it comes to bosses, it can, and will, fail miserably. I didn't manage to kill Qira using fire, but using crappy air and water build I managed to do it. Earth isn't surprising either. Damage isn't everything, you can get a decent increase via other means, but once again, you are sacrificing water or/and air.



What is the best archer spell?

No surprises here. Without bomb arrow archer would be really bad to use.



What is the worst archer spell?

This one was a real shock for me. Why is arrow shield so close to arrow storm? IMO, it shouldn't even be a contest between arrow shield and arrow storm. Arrow shield is literally the reason I was able to solo Qira and Wybel. It's supposed to be a defensive spell, and yet it does incredible amounts of damage. On top of that, as long as you have it, no melee can hit you. Arrow storm on the other hand is a close range spell that branches out too steeply. It needs a complete rework. So, either I am missing something here and arrow storm is a lot better, for some reason, or people don't know how to use arrow shield.



Important archer stats and defining a good archer build were merged together, for exact reason stated above. This paragraph, along with bad archer build, will be discussed later on when I separate main from non mains.

Solo'd content

Results are as expected. I never tried LI because I don't find gear to be worth it. In order to use e.g. the best air accessories, I'd need at use at least +25 more air points, meaning I wouldn't be able to use other gear. Simply not worth it. It's also something I mind about this game, not being able to use certain gear because of the restrictions, instead of not using gear because it doesn't fit it.



Builds that solo'd the content will be discussed later on. You are free to take a guess, tho I am pretty sure you know what kind of builds were used.

MAIN ARCHER PLAYERS

Here we go into 2 separate groups. Mains and non mains. I did this so I can compared the results between them, to see if maining the archer creates a different game approach, and if so, by how much.

I'm sorry, but no charts here, only some statistics. It would required too much time which I currently don't have

Player level (37 people total)

Out of 37 people, 18(49%) people are 100, 10(27%) are 101 while 6(16%) are between level 90 and 99. That means 92% of the people are at least level 90.

Which elements are you currently using in your archer build?

This one I am rather pleased about. There were so many different builds they are hard to list all in here. Surprisingly, there was a decent amount of rainbow users (4).Listing individual elements is possible tho. So, in people's builds, the following elements occurred the number of times:
Earth - 6
Thunder - 16
Water - 19
Fire - 10
Air - 17

Is your archer spell or melee based?

30(81%) people said spell, 1(2.7%) said melee, while 2(5.4%) said both.

What is the best element, or a combination of elements, for an archer?

There were a lot of combination here. Combination wise, this are most notable ones:
Water+air - 15
Thunder+water+air - 5
Thunder+water - 3

Individual elements were mentioned the following amount of times:
Earth - 2
Thunder - 11
Water - 24
Fire - 2
Air - 26

What is the worst element, or a combination of elements, for an archer?

Combination wise, this are most notable ones:
Earth+fire - 7
Earth+thunder - 4

Individual elements were mentioned the following amount of times:
Earth - 18
Thunder - 6
Water - 2
Fire - 23
Air - 3

What is the best archer spell?

Bomb arrow - 27
Escape - 7
Arrow shield - 1

What is the worst archer spell?

Arrow storm - 22
Arrow shield - 13

Here the race between arrow storm and arrow shield isn't that close, but still, too close imo.

Good archer stats and good archer build

Out of 24 valid responses (some people skipped, some wrote idk, some wrote bs), the general consensus seems to be that you need WS and mana regen. Out of 24 people, 21(88%) said WS was important, 20(83%) said mana regen is important. Other important stats that are worth mentioning seems to be health regen with 9(38%) votes. Some other stats were mentioned, but not so frequently. Like agility. It seems agility by itself isn't that important, it's nice to have, but the purpose of going air seems to lean towards being able to have more WS rather than being able to avoid hits. Fair share of people mentioned you need a decent survivability, like defense and ele defense, and decent damage, which I think is given.
There is one reply I really liked, in the "How would you define a good archer build?". The answer was: "Can beat legendary island." I agree with that. If your build can do that, it should be, and is, considered good. Another decent answer was: "At least a couple of bosses can't 1 shot you". I guess I could work with that too, if we are talking about stronger bosses, not e.g. level 50 ones.

Bad archer stats and bad archer build

Many different "definitions", but the ones that stand out are, being slow or not having enough WS with 12(50%)of votes, going tanky with 8(33%), using melee or not having enough mana regen both with 5(20%). Fair share of people mentioned dying a lot, or not having enough HP or defense, makes your build bad.

Which of the following content have you finished alone?

Qira -13
Wybel - 12
LI - 5

There was a rather pleasant amount of different builds that solo'd the above content. If we list the individual elements:

Earth - 2
Thunder - 3
Water - 5
Fire - 2
Air - 5

Interestingly enough, people that solo'd all 3 used either water or/and air in their build. Other than 1 person mentioning freedom, other elements weren't mentioned.

NON MAIN ARCHER PLAYERS

Player level (32 people total)

Out of 32 people, 15(47%) people are 100, 3(13%) are 101 while 6(16%) are between level 90 and 99. That means 75% of the people are at least level 90. Less than compared to main users, but that makes sense.

Which elements are you currently using in your archer build?

Again, many builds, but the following elements were mentioned:
Earth - 5
Thunder - 10
Water - 15
Fire - 10
Air - 15

Not that different compared to mains, other than fire. Keep in mind ~25% are under level 90, meaning they may not have a build, so they are using whatever.

Is your archer spell or melee based?

16(50%) votes for spell, 1(3%) for poison, 3(9%) for both, 2(6%) for melee, 3(9%) for speed.

What is the best element, or a combination of elements, for an archer?

There were a lot of combination here. Combination wise, this are most notable ones:
Water+air - 13
Thunder+water+air - 5
Thunder+water - 3
Thunder+air - 4

Individual elements were mentioned the following amount of times:
Earth - 1
Thunder - 11
Water - 20
Fire - 1
Air - 29

Not that different compared to mains.

What is the worst element, or a combination of elements, for an archer?

Combination wise, this are most notable ones:
Earth+fire - 13

Individual elements were mentioned the following amount of times:
Earth - 21
Thunder - 9
Water - 2
Fire - 24
Air - 3

Seems even those who don't main archer agree going with fire and/or earth is a no-no.

What is the best archer spell?

Bomb arrow - 18
Arrow storm - 4
Escape - 8
Arrow shield - 4

What is the worst archer spell?

Arrow storm - 16
Arrow shield - 14
Bomb arrow - 2
Escape - 1

Here arrow storm and arrow shield are neck to neck. Not quite sure why.

Good archer stats and good archer build

Out of 22 valid responses, once again WS triumphs with 19(86%) and mana regen with 10(45%). Other stats were mentioned, but not by a lot. Again, decent damage and decent survivability should be taken into account when making a build.

Bad archer stats and bad archer build

Stats that stand out are slow or not enough WS with 5(22%), being glassy or tanky with 6(27%), and using melee with 4 (18%). Again, the opinion doesn't seem to differ much compared to mains.
There was one person who said, "Archer is bad, I'm getting 1 shot". Ironically, he was using a fire build.

Which of the following content have you finished alone?

Qira -8
Wybel - 5
LI - 4

Here, the amount of different builds was a lot less different. Most common ones were air and water. Individual elements:

Earth - 1
Thunder - 1
Water - 3
Fire - 1
Air - 3

People that solo'd all 3 content were using mostly water in their build, but there is also a rainbow build and earth.

CONCLUSION

Archer seems to be one dimensional if you want to use an effective build. Spell triumphs over melee by a "fair" margin. Melee for archer is really terribly designed. In other games, melee between classes is the same, as in, 1 melee hit hits 1 target. In this game, archer's arrow hits 1 target, but warriors melee can hit several at a time. Also, since you are supposed to be sniping from afar, hitting a target becomes a lot less likely. In other games, there is a "lock-on", click on a target and you will hit it, but not here. All of the above makes archer's melee hard to use, unreliable and unrewarding, which is a shame, as you just lost a potential viable playstyle.

Water and air triumph over all other elements. Water because bomb arrow, and air cause you need WS and agility to no die. Going fire or earth isn't reading enough nor does it works well with archer. Ironically enough, going full glass or full tank doesn't work for archer. Glassy builds are usually a smart choice against bosses, as you are giving them less time to land a hit, but they are heavily reliant on a players skill. Tanky builds are easy to play, as they are safer, usually more fun as you die a lot less, but since they lack in damage, sometimes end-game bosses give them trouble, as developers don't want to reward that kind of a playstyle, which is understandable. IMO, I'm all for as many different builds and playsytles as possible.

Best archer spell is bomb arrow, which is expect, but I did not expect so many votes for arrow shield as the worst spell. Again, either I am missing something crucial here or people don't know how to play archer, as shield is a very important defensive spell.

When creating a build, you want to focus on mana regen and WS, while having enough survivability and decent damage. You can go with other builds or elements, but if you want a good, effective build, then that's your priority.

IMO, archer needs a complete rework. From spells to defense. Let's wait for refactor and see what changes.

 

Damn, I can't think of any Archer-related puns, I guess I can do nothing but bow down to this thread's effort, for it makes me quiver.

 

make another one please, this is amazing

 

I don't have time to read this right now, looks very interesting though. I'll be sure to answer any future surveys if you make them.

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Nice.

 

I just want to comment on the arrow storm vs arrow sheild as being the worst spell for a bit, I will likely have more to say later.

I'll agree that arrow storm doesn't fit archer, but don't discount its strength. When I'm playing with someone tankier in LI, it's my main spell for damage. On a few bosses, I can get them in the air (Uppercut, Multihit, Arrowsheild) look up, and cast arrow storm a couple times, and the boss just dies. I hit absurd DPS that can't be ignored.

Same for the geyser pit boss altar actually

 

The quality of this survey far exceeded my expectations, good job!
I'd like to see others like this one, preferably on mage/warrior.

 

I do agree with you about arrow shield. It’s basically the only guaranteed way you can protect yourself from being one shot by melee mobs.

 

for when the assassin one?

________________________________

ez:
you simply dont need arrow shield if you cant protect yourself from projectiles since you can run away from melee mobs
and if not, idk

 

It’s guaranteed though, agility doesn’t always work and walk speed is only so good until LAG

 

Charge spam.

 

Well done, very detailed, data is great, I award you with an excellent. I do want to see one with Assassin as it I'm itself is sometimes a very awkward class. But it is still fun. So if possible, please do one for Assassin.

 

It's also overpowered with its damage and longevity, even with the high mana cost. It's almost more powerful than bomb arrow with its base damage.

 

Arrow Shield isn't the worst spell because it's bad, it's the worst spell because it's too good.

Ignores sustainedKnockback for upward momentum to combo into Arrow Storm on certain enemies, water damage allows Archer to hit all elements with its spells naturally, inflicts just as much damage as Bomb Arrow, more if Arrow Rain hits, and inflicts Blindness for the longest amount of time in the game, 5 seconds.

 

Thank you, will think about it.

Even after you explained it to me, I still don't get it. Why couldn't you use bomb arrow? As far as I'm aware, if you want huge dmg with storm, you need to get very close, which isn't worth it since you are risking getting hit. Even in geyser pit I never found a reason to use it.

Thank you, will think about it.

Not sure, we'll see.

Thank you! Will consider it.

Yea, I'd be even fine with 0 damage.

Oh, is that why people chose it? So something like Mage's heal!? That's a good point, fair enough.

 

mah fav number

 

Soooo... Arrows shield is bad because its good?...

 

Something that's too OP can be just as bad as something that isn't strong enough, both are flaws in balance.

 

Sometimes leaving something alive is the bigger risk. Arrow storm gives an absurd number of stun frames (Which I intend to post something on later) which actually makes it pretty safe to use. Bomb arrow is slower damage in general, where arrow storm can melt a threat before I get unlucky with my agility

I also use dodge (Air powder special) so I want to be close anyways

 

Alright, will be an interesting read if you ever post it. Do tag me, thanks.