From a Noob to a Pro! (Archer Guide)

This guide will help the unfortunate archers out there who just cant seem to handle the class perfectly.(Beware tons of text inside)

Introduction

Well hello there! This is a guide on how to play a archer better or aleast give some insight on things you might have done wrong in KAG as a archer. This guide will help anyone including pros who have played this game for a long time. If you know most of this then click to another section. Im going try to keep as fun as I possibly can. Also this is my first guide so give me tips on how to improve on it and try to be nice :D. So, Lets get begin!

Basics

Alright so lets start with the basics. Im going to list the following core concepts that will be needed when you play as an archer.

• Cordnation

• Accaracy

• Trickery

• Awareness

Now with them listed lets begin to break it down. Since these go hand to hand I cant talk about one without the other. Lets start with the first one.

Coordnation

• Cordnation
  I can not stress how crucial it is to have this down, Ive seen on mutiple occasion where a archer could easily escape a knight but failed because they used their grappling hook the wrong way or try to back up and run up a wall and proceed to get slashed to ribbons. Accaracy plays a big part in this but some of these sitution tend to happen becasue the player does not have the cordnation to move around a warrior or simply can't make that amazing catch with grappling hook to save them from a knight.
  
  For a example one thing that causes most player deaths is panicking or trying to nock an arrow while running away or simply slowing yourself down. What I mean by this is if your are being chased by a warrior, do not try to look at him while your running, (YOU KNOW THEY ARE THERE) all it will do is slow you down and start to make you panick, trust me I used to do this all the time. What you should do is start forming a plan to escape from the knight, Is there a spot he/she cant get to? Is my team base close enough to run back to? Could I use Trickery and go the opposite way once theres a chance? Those are some of the things you should think about when you are being chased by one or more knights. I could go on but thing some of this is self explanatory. And one more thing, when you run backwards while nocking a arrow, it slows you down! Here two artworks showing the difference between the two.
  
  Wrong way:
  
  
  Right way:
  
  
  Note the youll still be slowed down either way but not as bad as forward nocking.These are the things that get the average archer killed.

Another thing I should touch on is the amount of failed grapples that people try to do in KAG. If you are planning to jump from your tower to another one, make sure ITS NOT TO FAR AWAY! Nothing is funnier then a archer falling from the sky and exploding into little pieces because they missed there grapple.

Accuracy

This is also pretty self explanatory however there are certain things that need to be understood about aiming and nocking a arrow. So when your cursor changes, there are 4 stages for arroow being nocked.

• 2 Dots
  This stage is not that important but it makes you put your arrow back in your inventory meaning you wont misfire however, you could easily just left-click to unnock, but this means you cannot instant shoot a arrow in front of you(Im guessing to be alittle more realistic).

• 3 Dots
  This is when you can finally shoot the arrow however it will fall right in front of you (Dealing half a heart of damage), this may seems uneffective but think of it like this, it falls right in front of you right? What situation would call for that? When your protecting a tower! Shooting it below is the only time that it would most likely be useful but its something to consider. If you are useing this trick, make sure to have alot of arrows because you'll drain ammo immediately.

• 4-5 dots
  Nocking it between these intervals can be a full heart or half a heart depending on how its lands and where its lands(I would say its mostly luck). This still is like the 6-8 dots but its alittle slower and its falls faster but its nice for getting a nice arch-shot when the time calls for it, but generally I find myself shooting at these intervals when im in a close up battle with a knight or archer. But don't always depend on it.

• 6-8 dots
  This is the normal full draw, it always takes a full heart and goes at its full speed and flight, This is generally the proferred nocking power but some times it may be to slow when time calls for it or it is too straight to make a arched shot.
  
  This may seem like alot but its useful and its annoying when you see a average archer type in chat "WUT M8! THAT WAS A FULL HEART SHOT!!" In which the knight who killed him says "Get better scrub".
  So this should clear that up.

Now to the aiming part of this guide. When you aim, do not shoot at where they were previously at, predict where there going and shoot there like most games if you jump and the air you really cant do much so shoot where the person is going to land or just keep shots aimed at the head so if they jump, your arrow will still hit them(around the feet area), I can almost guarantee that your shots will be much better. Now I could go in depth with the dots and where to aim with the dots but I think that is more of a reflex or feel that you have to tone your body to where you like it at.

Trickery

This is probably the least important concept but can easily be the best one. Trickery is like the frosting on a cake, you dont need it but when its applied, Ugh its so good! I wouldnt consider myself the master of trickery but here are a few thing that should go through your head when you proceed to use trickery to the fullest.

• Can people see me?

• Are there things on the map that can better camoflage me?

• If I am cought do I have the required equipment to get away?

• If I get cought could spider walk/run back to base?

The list goes on but two thing I want you to focus on would be number 1 and 2. Number 1 is the upmost important thought you need to have going through your head. If you were to hide in a lot of bodies then you would easily be hard to find but dont be stupid and hide yourself in the middle of a battle because 9 outta 10 of the times it will get you killed. Also if your playing on CTH then use night time to assualt the enemy base or if there is a naturally dark area, then use that as a place to wait and let the waves of enemy knights go forward.

Number 2 Is something that has to be touched on, This is also really important becuase if there is a nice area to hide or set up an ambush then why dont stuff there to make it a good spot to hide by putting stuff in that area? For example, TREES. Trees are amazing places to hide in(if knights arent trying to destroy them)because they can make areas really hard to see players in and you can get height a advantage if you shoot from the trees and also set up ambushes with your friends you are playing KAG with them. Generally they are the best because you could move the seed around to make a place that will be bushy and a hard place to fight in(besides you :3).

Another thing that can be used is dead bodies, this is more common then trees but yes they work just as well as trees however you can usually see the arrow coming out of your quiver thus, making you more revealed. Dead bodies should be use in bumpy areas so you can hide with bodies bellow, on top, and in front of you. This is alot more cocky then the tree idea so be careful not to let people see your doing that idea or you'll have the enemy knights always slashing through every dead bodie they see.

Another thing we should talk about is misdirection, since most kinghts are blood thristy for archer kills, they generally wont thing there actions all the way through besides, "STAB STAB STAB STAB STAB, WHY IS HE NOT DEAD! STAB STAB STAB SLASH STAB STAB STAB UGH HES STILL NOT DEAD!!!" that what I think goes through most knights heads(lol xD) and trust me on numerous occasions ive seen kinght do anything to get a kill, even killing themself in the process. So why let them? One way I dodge knights are by simply using water bombs but if you dont have water bombs with you then my risky but rewarding way of getting by is throwing myself at them. This will confuse most knights and they will start to stab everywhere and if you get lucky with a few quick Spiders walks then you'll have he/she chasing you the other way which gives time to pelt them with more arrows or form a better escape plan. And sometimes if you have a knight who likes to solely stab then try running up a wall and jump while nocking a arrow, usually it works and provide you a shot at a defenseless knight most the time. Or run up a wall and drop a 3 dot water bomb down at the knight to stun him and give you a chance to hit him with a arrow or two(this trick was way easier when the the 3 shots were seperate shot and not shot at the same time like a shotgun).

There are more ways to do these thing but I think the value of finding this yourself would be better.

Awareness

WATCH AROUND YOU! It really cant get any simpler then that. Once again ive seen archers and even knights be so focus on something that something like a bomb would blow them up right in front of them! This generally happens when a player look at something far away and really cant see there character but you have to restrain from doing that because it will generally get you killed. If you have to see something from far away, then just zoom out while keeping lookout on your character to make sure he/she is not about to get shot or exploded on.

There is really nothing else to say about this because its common sense but still very important.

Advance

You are almost through the guide! If all the things ive said previously has been applyied or your a average player looking for extra tricks, then this is the place. Ok, so we will start by looking at a few moves and then one move that is attempted alot but people get wrong on mutiple occasions.

Spider Walk

So the Spider walk is the a way of getting through the map faster, The way its done is by grappling the ground then jumping to technically pull you forward. As shown here:


It looks weird in this gif because of it being flat terrain(which you will barely encounter in a mutiplayer match) but that hows its done and with a some practice, you should be about to sling yourself around areas to keep knights off you, and if your ready for it, trying to nock a arrow while your speeding through the spider walk(very diffcult if you dont practice like I did). This move is very common with a proper placement, this will keep you away for dangers like bombs and kegs and if your fast enough, arrows.
Now on to the next one!

Basic Swing

This is probably the most failed move ill seen in this game by far and its so super easy. This move gives you amazing speed when you use it under or sometime over an object, and many people have atempt it but never had luck. Now im here to clear it up so I can stop facepalming myself when a archer does a swing and hits the top of of the celling and falls. Im going to show a example of a bad swing and a example of a good swing.

• Bad Swing(What a typical archer does):
  

• Good Swing:
  

You basically want to get it right around the far end of the object your trying to swing under. Now this may not work for every situtation but this is a start for those who didnt know how to do it at all, so yea swing under things is possible in this game .-. If you practice it on mutiplayer servers, you'll find yourself swinging off object to safety or spider walking it to a safe location. Also if your cordnation is on key, then try nocking a arrow while swing to save time and give a slightly better chance at suriviving against a enemy knight slaughter

• Swing N Shot:
  

• Over Swing
  

Grapple Stomp

I really dont recommend this idea but its has worked on some occasions. What you do is jump just high enough to grapple down on the ground hard enough to render as a stomp and make the enemy loose a heart because of the impact. Its hard to do but can be useful for those who dont want to waste arrows or something down that line. It works alot better when you spider walk then do it by its self so you can have the element of surprise.(Sorry, I find this really hard to explain :p)

Grapple Stomp:

Arrow types

Ok, so I just remembered a very valueble tip about arrows. Now a day you see archers shooting special arrows out the doors more then you see them use them for a actual use. Not only do you waste money doing that but you also could end up accidently screwing your team over(With bomb arrows -.-). So heres my tips on how to properly use arrows to your full advantage. Lets list them real quick and analyze them.

• Arrows(normal)
  These arrows are the basic arrows you start with, they dont have any special effect when hitting a enemy player besides the casual stun that can happen to knight that are charging up a slash(I may be wrong)

• Fire arrows
  These are arrows are have the abillity to burn its target on hit, it intially does 1 heart of damage and then another heart of damage with the fire effect. Super effective on wooden structure. And one last important info about these arrows are that they make enemy player's character go crazy in there movement and make the enemy player run all over the place.

• Water arrow
  These arrow are non-damaging arrows however they provide a stun effect (around 3 seconds) if it hits around its target (it has a small aoe). These arrow also can not be blocked by shields and can remove burning effects on structures and players.

• Bomb arrows
  These arrows do 2 hearts of damage to a non-shielded enemy, they can blow up parts of a structure(its has a lesser effect on walls that have a background strengthening it) and can do 1 heart of damage against a enemy knight using his/her shield(unless hit from the back).

So since we have the details down, now its time to start look at combinations! Keep in mind that I personally use the water arrows as a way to start a combination so these are I my personal ideas I discovered :3

Ok so lets look at fire arrows and water arrows(These are perfect combinations). Lets say your trying to attack a knight who keeps shielding himself? No problem, just dap him with a water arrow and while hes stuned for around 3 seconds, you can hit him with a fire arrow to make his character go crazy in which he will no be able to block for the duration of the fire effect and can safely finsh him/her off with some normal arrows. Of course you want to be careful because some knights might understand the change in the character movement and will change accordingly and be on the offense before you can move to safety.
(Water, Fire)

If you do this to archers, its a gurantee kill unless they find a water source to get rid of the fire effect.

Next one is fire arrows, water arrows, and bomb arrows(alittle more complicated). Alright, so lets use the same scenario as above. Except this time you want to go on the defensive side. What you could do is have some patience and wait for the enemy knight to draw his sword thus, making him/her vulnerable in which you could shoot a fire arrow, wait for the burn effect to go away and then hit them with a water arrow and then finsh them off with a bomb arrow which does 2 heart of damages because he/she is not blocking.
(Water, Fire, Bomb)

(Had to make it choppy to fit it into the requirements for gifs)

I could go on but I think some if this can be explored on your own time. But keep in mind, if your accuracy is not good enough, then these might be more difficult to pull off.

Conclusion

Oh and one very important tip, if a knight plans to blow the black off you with a bomb then give alittle favor and shoot a water bomb at them right before they throw it :D.

Alright you've passed the archer guide! Now you should be able to make the archer nation proud and rek some knight peasants >:D I hope this guide was helpful and if it was then give a 5 star rating! Also leave a comment if theres something I missed in this guide or simply leave a compliment , Ill be updating this guide with more trick and moves as I find them, Maybe I might make a knight guide :x Depends! Happy sniping fellow archers, hope to see you ingame!

Group!

Hey if you are looking for some people to play with on kag or want to help this group, then join Kag's Finest! Me and atheist made this group (atheist made some other guides for kag to)! Make sure to add me as a friend and also put your clantag name on kag to King Arthur's Finest! so we can recognize you in-game!

If your a lazy bum then here is the link to it!
Steam Group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/KingArthurGoldFinest

Updates!

"HAH NERDS STILL KILLING FILTHY ARCHER PEASANTS WITH BOMBS! HAH "

Then the bomb update came.....

"WUT YOU ♥♥♥♥♥ DEVS, YOU SUXS THEY WERE MY ONLY WAY TO GET KILLS!!!!!!!"

All archers cheered and celebrated for the long awaiting update.......


Whats up guys? I just thought about this guide and realized that there are other things that are more viable now that I did some experimenting.

• Half shots
  Ok so ive went through details on how they work and they do come in handy but ive just now realized just how powerful they can be in certain scenarios. As some of yall know, you dont have to fully draw for the arrow to be a full heart of damage, and this may seem not really important considering how fast the drop is for a arrow. However, through going into matches and just only half drawing (unless I had bomb arrows), this proved so much easier to kill just about anyone. The reason for this is most people tend to miss shots purely because of the fact that they may not be used to arrow drops. Though I cant really explain it but give it a try, just try half drawing more then full drawing and youll see the differentence in your reloading times and etc but that all I got for now.

[japodis1]

"how to be gay guide"

[fenn]

hey, i noticed for fire arrows you just put " they make enemy player's character go crazy in there movement and make the enemy player run all over the place.", but fire arrows just make players always go towards the mouse, they can still jump and duck on their own accord though

[Friend~Chip]

good guide :)

[fun haver]

you fool

[olivia rodriguez]

Man, I love your spelling.

[Aneyh]

Ay if yall have been looking for me, Im on vacation and havent had time to do anything KAG however I should be back soon to finish this guide up

[PeggleFrank]

Great guide. I added you on steam to ask you about referencing this in my own guide, once I get around to writing it again.

[Barbarossa]

This still isnt what pro means ffs, no one gets paid to play this game.

[Oodle]

Oodle approved,

[FlyEmris]

Two thumbs up man!!!!!!! xD