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My playstyle: Am I helpful or a nooisance to my team?

Discussion in 'Archer' started by Fate, Apr 28, 2012.

  1. Fate

    Fate Studying seashells

    Messages:
    593
    Nooisance = Noob + nuisance

    I have been playing archer for a while, I will post my gamestyle and usual reactions to different situations so you experts can provide additional tips if necessary. Thank you!

    Build phase
    - I actually switch to builder in this phase, I don't know much about different building schematics, but I help build the basic towers whenever I can. Also I try to create an archer's nest. As the build phase ends, I try to collect at least 10-15 arrows from a tree before the phase ends, so I can go support at the front lines.

    First big clash
    - I go with the first wave of knights that rush out, but wait until they get further ahead. I try to support them by firing a volley of inaccurate arrows to keep the enemy knights and possibly archers that get too far ahead under a suppressive fire. If I spot a lone archer sniping targets, I try to get them before they get my teammate.
    - If the center of the map is a hill, then I try to stay on our side of the hill and shoot arcing arrows, possibly further than the knight frontline to shoot the builders and archers.

    Mid-game combat
    - I try to be on an elevated ground, be that an Archer's nest, a tree or even a hill. I try not to give away my position if I am on a tree before firing. My target priorities are Archers, then Builders and then Knights. If my teammates are under attack by knights, I will support them by firing fast and inaccurate arrows. If there is only one or two enemies, I try to pick them down with fully charged shots.

    --Mid-game combat: We are under attack
    - If enemy team is assaulting our base, I retreat to an Archer nest or elevated ground/tree. I try to support our Knights by providing suppressive fire against the enemy team. If I spot an enemy Archer who is sniping my teammates, I try to take hit him with a fully-charged arrow with the first surprise, to force him to flee. If he does not flee, I try to kill him before he kills me, if he is in an unfortified position. If not, I change my location.
    - If there is no higher ground or the Archer's nest is compromised, I fall back and shoot overarching arrows over the tower, firing them in a rapid succession in an attempt to hit the invading team.

    --Mid-game combat: We are assaulting their base
    - If we are assaulting, we have a lot of knights attacking their base. I will try to be more accurate to take down any surprise Archers and Builders. I always move slightly behind the main Knight line, maintaining a higher ground.
    - If higher ground is not possible, I try to find a spot where I am protected by a hill or an obstacle I can prone behind. I shoot arching arrows in an attempt to snipe and kill enemies or stun Knights with fully-charged arrows.

    Late game combat, 0 lives left on either/both team.
    - In late game I make every effort not to die.
    - If our team has 0 lives, then I double that effort. I try to be accurate with every shot. I retreat back when injured and advance if with full health. I make more effort in keeping my location hidden and finding secure and higher vantage points.
    - If enemy team has 0 lives, I try to keep the enemy team suppressed by a constant volley of arrows at their general location. I try to hit them from afar and if they are in a ditch, I try to shoot high angle arrows into their trench.
    - I apply different variations of previous two points if both teams have 0 lives, concentrating on my survival and suppressing enemy.


    My general habits in every situation.
    - I make effort not to die, a life lost is a minus to my team.
    - I try to be hidden and unexpected. I use Archer nests, hide behind Knights with shields up, I climb trees and hide in the leaves.
    - If our main force is advancing, so do I, but I keep a wide eye in an effort to notice any enemies trying to sneak past us, for example, by tunnelling. I keep well behind the main Knight force to support them with arrow fire and avoid bombs by enemy team.
    - I pick up arrows from myself, the ground, my allies and corpses.
    - I aknowledge great ways that my enemies kill me (such as an awesomely placed bomb, arrow and the like).
    - I add momentum to my arrows if I need to shoot farther than my shot charge allows.


    (I know this seems kind of an attention-seeking post, but I want people to criticize the way I play as an Archer, especially from skilled Archers)
     
  2. Contrary

    Contrary The Audacious Paramount of Explosive Flight Donator Tester

    Messages:
    2,196
    Ctrl + F "catapult"

    "phrase not found"

    useless
     
    Piano, Serolfic, Gofio and 2 others like this.
  3. Fate

    Fate Studying seashells

    Messages:
    593
    Thank you for being very constructive.
     
    JacKD likes this.
  4. Contrary is just trying to force some meme, ignore him.
     
    Gofio and aaaaaa50 like this.
  5. killatron46

    killatron46 Cata Whore Donator
    1. MOLEing Over Large Estates - [MOLE]

    Messages:
    808
    He is also trying to get 1K post count.:p


    I think in general your play-style is helpful, however you won't get much points with your team if you:

    " I make effort not to die, a life lost is a minus to my team."

    Which seems to be your underlining statement for everything you do, dying as an archer is a good thing, faster than walking back for arrows anyway!
     
  6. Fate

    Fate Studying seashells

    Messages:
    593
    But is it good even when lives are limited? Especially if we have no more spare lives left? So far I have been playing on Beo's CTF that has 150 tickets, I mean, lives for each team.
     
  7. killatron46

    killatron46 Cata Whore Donator
    1. MOLEing Over Large Estates - [MOLE]

    Messages:
    808
    There is a balance between rushing out and dying every 5 seconds and sitting in the tower without dying the whole game. Every person has to find their own spot along the line. I tend to die more often as I'm always right on the front lines (or as far forward as possible).

    Also, don't ask Carver, hes the worst archer ever.
     
    Gofio, Kiofspa and Kouji like this.
  8. Fate

    Fate Studying seashells

    Messages:
    593
    Okay then, but if I am sitting on a tower while an enemy squad is attacking, is providing suppressive fire (fast, semi-accurate arrows) towards the enemy knights a boon to my team, even if I don't rack any kills, but manage to damage the knights and possibly force them to pay more attention and become less aggressive and more defensive?
     
  9. Raron

    Raron KAG Guard Tester

    Messages:
    543
    (Beos ctf has always changing tickets)

    Anyway archer are a bit over-powered in ticket games (a bit less seen in Beos ctf due to nature of the maps which are rarely open and have a lot of players on little ground).

    Basicly I stick to 1 way of playing trough whole game.
    Anyway hints :

    -Trees should prevent you from reciving damage from high ground (this may or may not be broken in this build).
    -Practice archery a bit with time you will have a "feeling" where arrows will hit and will have more kills.
    -Always be mobile if on open to make it harder for enemy to spot you.
    -Always look your back since enemys can easly sneak up on a concetrated archer
    -Always team up with several archers so your not a easy target
    -Oh and hide behind a grass :P Though it doesnt look very hidden the enemy is almost never expecting it and often misses (of course you can only repeat that once or twice before they realize your doing it rahter often.
     
  10. Contrary

    Contrary The Audacious Paramount of Explosive Flight Donator Tester

    Messages:
    2,196
    I think if I wanted to have 1k posts I would by now.

    I responded facetiously as this is a nonsense thread. No one can say he isn't helpful and he knows it. It's like when people do moderately well (at a game or test or whatever) and they go "no... I'm terrible... The worst..." to fish for compliments. He just wants to tell people how he plays, but doesn't want to risk the possible negative feedback if he posts it as a guide.
     
    jerloch and BeasterDenBeast like this.
  11. Kouji

    Kouji Cold, Uncaring, Sadistic, Evil and Cruel Meanie Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator Tester
    1. MOLEing Over Large Estates - [MOLE]
    2. REKINS OF SEAS: Super Crew of Ultimate Havoking 2: Return of King of KAG: Chapter 420blazeit - REKIN

    Messages:
    2,910
    You play somewhat similarly to me, although you worry about your own life a little more.

    I tend to have a horrible K/D. It tends to stay around 1:1 and rarely goes above 2:1 even though I play archer. I play as archer like a knight though which is why my K/D tends to be lower. By playing archer as a knight, I mean that I'm actively helping push forward with friendly knights. I don't get as many kills as I could if I just stayed back, but I help out friendly knights by breaking enemy shields, taking out archers and assisting in kills. Although my K/D tends to be worse than most other archers, I help my team in general raise their K/D which I feel is more important since it means the other team loses more tickets. On unlimited games, this usually ends up meaning we are able to gain more and more ground.

    The biggest difference between you and myself though is where we position ourselves with other knights. I tend to try to stick right in the middle of them while it seems that you try to stay away from them. Both ways are fairly valid ways of playing archer well in my opinion. The difference though is that you are less likely to die than me since you are more safe from danger. Although by playing back there, there is one thing you have a harder time doing and that is harassing. I'm the kind of archer that arrow climbs buildings and shoots down arrows from the top of the enemies tower. By doing this, I rarely get kills (since a single archer by himself can't really take out many knights since they can just shield), but I still can help my team. By harassing the enemy, they slow down their movement, they focus on not dying (and therefore not protecting their tower) and this allows my team time to move forward and assault. Also, because of my harassment, most players tend to go after me (since they see me as a bigger threat for some reason or an easy kill). If I see people coming after me, instead of going away from them, I actually move further into their base (preferably near trees) and distract a good 5 knights there. While I'm doing this, their team is down 5 knights which give my team an advantage. Also, while I might not get any kills while doing this, I'm still helping the team which is the important thing.

    That said though, it's a rather risky strategy, so in order to not make it feel like I've wasted lives, I do try to go for 1-2 kills or 3-7 assists before dying. This way I still assist my team though killing people.

    Defensively though, I probably play the same way as you, although I don't really like playing defensively.

    Anyways, in my eyes, if you can at least get 1 kill or 3 assists per life and can still assist your team in other ways, then you are playing in a way that's helpful to your team.
     
    airvortex, Sarathos, Kiofspa and 3 others like this.
  12. Speedwagon

    Speedwagon Shipwright

    Messages:
    15
    You should make sure to put this in your resume, possible employers would be very impressed.
     
    Piano, Filio and Ej like this.
  13. Fate

    Fate Studying seashells

    Messages:
    593
    Thank you for your feedback. And well, Contrary is quite correct. I am still too newb to make an actual guide, so I wanted some feedback on my playstyle since I seem to like Archer the best. And well, I have an inner guilt from my first day as I messed up big time on a server :x
    Fishing for compliments was not my real intention, like I mentioned, I wanted actual criticism, which I got and appreciate. Thank you everyone.
     
  14. justi01

    justi01 Haxor

    Messages:
    318
    No worries Fate, i've seen you around on Beo's quite a lot. Your good. Better than most of the other people i see wandering around! However, you've killed me one to many times my friend...This can only mean war...
     
  15. Hella

    Hella The Nightmare of Hair Global Moderator Donator Tester

    Messages:
    1,655
    Just so you know, it isn't that hard to kill Justi, so don't take to much pride in it.

    Then again, I have seen you in action, and you're definitely a valuable player. It's always fun to have you on the team! :D
     
    justi01 likes this.
  16. JimmyNic

    JimmyNic Shopkeep Stealer

    Messages:
    72
    Sounds reasonable to me. My biggest problem with players in build phase is them hindering what I'm trying to make, either through trying to build there own thing where I'm trying to build or standing in the way of what I'm trying to build (Knights are especially bad for this during build phase, especially at the front line). That and the fact most people neglect to throw buildings up near the front.

    Priority of who to shoot depends on situation. In certain situations I'd say trying to take out the builder can really hinder the opposition, especially when they are coming up to a forward base that cannot be easily bypassed without a builder. Knights are obviously less vulnerable to arrow fire generally, and archers are usually more of a threat to archers when you are nested, so I agree with you broadly speaking.

    A life is worth the same whether or not your spawns have run down. The biggest mistake people make is not retreating often enough to heal, and also builders not building quarters further forward to encourage them to do so.

    The other stuff seems alright to me, but I rarely play archer.
     
  17. Miaow

    Miaow The Fanciest Pants always wins Donator Tester

    Messages:
    289
    Making shops and protecting them is always a good idea during build phase :)
    Make up your mind early when a knight gets a bomb out to throw at you. Run at him or away, but make sure to decide early. Or shoot him.
     
  18. Donfuy

    Donfuy Shipwright

    Messages:
    13
    Fuck yeah, playing archer as a knight. There are little things more rewarding than killing a bunch of knights when in a tight spot. It's kinda funny how the knights mentality work, reminding me of the orcs morale on Dawn of War. If there's more than 2 knights after you, they tend to keep their shields down, allowing you to kill them very easily, specially with trees around.
    But beware; if said bunch'o'knights kills ya, the 2/5 overload might burn your insides.

    So huh, as to the op: yo dawg dont be afraid, use trees more often to get behind the enemy knights, as they're sometimes too busy fighting the other knights, or even use yourself as a distraction. The only thing I really didn't like to read was when you mentioned "volleying from afar", but oh well.
     
  19. Archers can be very fun with adequate support. I tend to do best when I have a knight protecting me or competent builders building bunkers.