Anyone figure out a how to build for archery?

[Sawtaytoes]

I have one bow, and I think I saw a shop that sold another one. I haven't had a better bow since and ended up eventually selling it even though I'm doing a Dexterity build.

I think, to use the bow, you need to have a ton of Focus and items that gain focus faster like that ring (something similar for your realm) which gives you a huge boost to max focus and focus gain. Not sure what kinda armor your need.

As an archer, if you concentrate on Dexerity, you can offset the low damage of the Short Bow. With Focus, you'll have a lot of "power" to work with. You'll wanna bring and create a bunch of focus potions too since that's like refilling your quiver.

I have a ring that doubles your focus and gives you a 26% boost to focus gain. I wonder if that works when using focus attacks (like arrows) too! The issue with the bow is it can't be your primary weapon, but I'm wondering if you can go in close with a dagger; dash away, and then shoot with the bow.

Since you're ranged, you probably don't need to focus on health and could afford to only invest a bit in stamina (not certain).

Archery is like a big puzzle as are many other builds. If I had different starting weapons, I wonder how I would've built my character. Without the ability to respec, I can only make assumptions unless I start over.

[ViviD_Dreams]

i think i have stored a bow which focusses on dex alone
and right now im playing with double daggers that have the perk where you gain 3% focus when you deal damage...combined with extra focus gain, i just need 2 or 3 hits and easily get 100 focus
so i guess, just look out for a 1handed weapon with focus on damage dealt and you might be able to use bow almost all the time.
another way (maybe) is to use this channeling-skill that replenishes focus but costs health, i think?
anyway since im playing mouse and keyboard, im avoiding a bow build since i would have to hold ctrl for that and i absolutely hate that :D

[Sawtaytoes]

Yep, channeling requires health. I tested it out with no health upgrades and quickly realized that was a bad idea.

The issue with dual-daggers is you can't have a secondary. So even if you unlock that ability for 2 of them (I haven't done this yet) my assumption is you can't ever swap to the bow for range (with no in-hand weapon) and swap back to dual-daggers.

I was in the same boat as you. Early on, dual-daggers worked well for me. But I really wanted to try the bow. By the time I swapped to a Hunter's Knife and Shield, I found I couldn't really handle upgrading that knife, the shield, and the bow at the same time. I can now, but not at the time when I first got that bow.

[VonFIDDE]

Been running spear and bow, there is a sweet legendary bow that got good mix of shots. Save the focus for tougher mobs kinda, feels good but squishy went way too much into Dex.

[khazad_doom]

grab a 1-handed weapon and enchant it with X% of max focus recovered on dealing dmg. you can also slot a gem with the same effect into your 1-handed weapon and also into your bow. focus is easy to stack in this game atm. everytime i hit, i recover 21 focus and my ice shot costs 20 focus. blocking doesnt count as hit and missing wastes focus as well. but otherwise, full archer build is absolutely possible atm.

[Sawtaytoes]

That's great to hear! So you're saying even though your bow is a secondary weapon, your the upgrades on your primary weapon and help your bow keep focus on hit! Great :).

And VonFIDDE, I think you mean Infuse it with focus gain, not enchant it :p. I get those confused as well!