Magic Archer

[balearadu]

Hi.
So I'm really confused on building your character,I wan't to be a Magic Archer.I've seen online that you need to be a Ranger for like the first 30 levels and then Sorcerer or something like that in order to do a lot of damage,when I started playing I was Strider till level 25 and after I switched to Magic Archer,I am 32 now.
Should I keep playing as a MA ,or do I need to switch to Sorcerer so I can have better stats later on ?
Thank you.
Edit: I'm asking .cause I keep seeing stuff like minmax or something like that,like If I don't switch to Sorcerer now that I'm level 32 and play with this class till 90/100 ,I am missing out on damage later on when I switch back to MA ?

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

if you want to be a good magic archer..... you need a lot of stamina, because MA skills require lot of stamina, and enough HPs to avoid OHKOs.
If you want to do tons of damages you need magic rebalancer and stack it 4 times before starting to attack.

Min-maxing is mostly a myth.

What give you your damage output is having the appropriate augments and weapons.
- Magic archer is a caster, stack magic improving augment (acuity, attunement first, then there's circonstancial augments like autonomy, bloodlust,.... mostly uselessly overkill when you already use magic rebalancer).
- you also need articulacy and the wyrmking ring (cast time)
- then you need your best magical bow and.... forget trying to DPS with your dagger, you simply cant be good at physical attacks and magical attacks at the same time, there's not enough augment slots to take them all, MA dont have good physical skills, and, no matter what, your magic bow damage output is so much better... that trying to use daggers to DPS will just be a waste of time.... so prefer utility daggers (aka debilitation applying ones) and utility dagger skills (instant reset first, magick rebalancer second, then ensnare is a pretty nice pick since it instantly lock light ennemies and slow down giant ones).
Same goes for the staff, prefer a debilitating weak one, your bow spells are way better than mage spells...

Something you need to know is that getting magic attack before level 100 come with a cost: lowered stat growth for health and stamina.
Avoid leveling as a caster before level 100 if you value your health and stamina. That include mage, sorcerer, magic archer (and probably mystic knight too, cant remember from the top of my head...).
That said, the game is well designed.... the best "stat build" for a given vocation is often to play as that vocation from level 10 to 200.... meaning that if you want to be a magic archer at level 200, just be one from level 10.... you'ill be fine.
If I remember exactly, magic archer stat focus is magic defense.... guess what's the biggest threat for a ranged attacker like MA ? magic attacks (if ennemies are able to melee you, you did something wrong). Also MA has a couple skills using holy, with the ability to absorb a part of the damage they deal. And what decid how much HPs you get from that absorbing ? Your magic defense.

Oh and if you worry about golems or gobelin shaman..... you wont meet a lot of them, just carry 4 conqueror periapts and a purely physical dagger.Use them when you got to take care of a golem... another option is to bring a strider pawn with you....
For gobelin shamans, 4 stacks of magic rebalancer will boost your magic attack enough to overcome their magic defense and so your magic bow skills will wreck them big time.

[balearadu]

So I should just keep leveling as MA,my pawns are a Sorcerer(mostly for healing,buffs),and 2 warriors.I seem to be doing good damage on enemies,not like my warrior main pawn but ok,didn't have problems with chimeras or the dragon near the catacombs that go to Gransys.
Also do the augments increase in stats the more you level that vocation ? Like if I switch to Fighter and level that vocation to max,will all his augments that I buy be maxed out also ?
Thank you.

[Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah]

1-10 strider 11-200 MK

Sanctuary
Magic strength
Magic strength
Strength
Strength
Articulacy or Opportunism

with BB3 armor it will be essentially impossible to die and with the right rings your TTK will be literal seconds for anything including bosses.

[balearadu]

Hmm ok,so I need to level Mage and Sorcerer for their Magic Damage buffs,the faster cast buff,I'm guessing it helps if I level them to max vocation rank ?
I guess I need :
Acuity,Attunement,Clout,Articulacy,Vehemence and Sanctuary ?

[Aether]

"Generally", min-maxing is pointless.

The reason being, is that yes, min maxing is totally a thing. Having the Absolute perfect stats, levels, items exist in pretty much any RPG that's ever existed, Dragons Dogma is no different.

The problem is, On a spreadsheet, there IS a "Best build".

IN practice though its the difference between killing a boss in 5 seconds, rather then 6. Sure, in some games it'll make a difference if you really focus on that t ype of gameplay, but generally its not going to matter too much in the long run. What it boils down too, is HAVING FUN.

I've never used a min-max build, and I absolutely love Dragons Dogma, because I get to mess around and have fun as my particular build. Might take me a bit longer to kill a boss, but its more enjoyable for me that way too.

And that's the other thing. Some people genuinely enjoy tweaking builds to have the absolute best build possible (no knocking people who enjoy this mind.) Play in a way you have fun.

[balearadu]

Oh,I don't care about min-maxing yet,maybe when I will make a second character in the future.I don't wan't the fights to be over that fast anyway.I was just confused and what to level in order to have some nice damage,cause videos or discussions online confused me on what to level.
I'm guessing I have to level Sorc/Mage/MK in order to get the augments I need and then just keep playing as Magic Archer ?

[Old Goat]

If you have the ring of perseverance you will get exp DCP for each kill. DCP drives the train for available augments so you'll have to actually play as a sorc or mage to get the augments that increase magic (you can still level up in whatever vocation you want).

[balearadu]

Nice,I didn't buy that many augs and spells anyway so I already have quite a lot of points,by the time I level the vocations to reach the augs I need I will have enough I think.

[Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah]

Originally posted by balearadu:

Hmm ok,so I need to level Mage and Sorcerer for their Magic Damage buffs,the faster cast buff,I'm guessing it helps if I level them to max vocation rank ?
I guess I need :
Acuity,Attunement,Clout,Articulacy,Vehemence and Sanctuary ?

Maxing augments lets you just build whatever, within the framework given.

Most of the game's activities have at least two or three various augments that enhance something about that activity.

[cyäegha]

leveling other vocations - in a practical sense - is just for the purpose of obtaining augments
worrying over stat-padding and min-maxing is genuinely pointless as there is a complete order of magnitude between your innate stats and the stats imbued upon you by your equipment

realistically the only way you can actually bone yourself is if you spend the entire game playing mage or sorcerer and then try to switch to a stamina-intensive close combat vocation as your health and stamina will be... miserly at best

[balearadu]

Ah,like playing 1-90 Sorcerer then switching to Warrior,well I only wan't to play Sorc/Mage until I get to the augs I need,after I will just switch back to Magic Archer.Seems pretty easy to level,I've been running around,exploring the area around Gran Soren and I already Leveled Sorcerer 2 levels.

[zadymek]

Originally posted by balearadu:

Seems pretty easy to level,I've been running around,exploring the area around Gran Soren and I already Leveled Sorcerer 2 levels.

My advice: make it as fast and efficient as possible, as it will get dull before you know it.
When I need a bit of DCP I usually rest till night and slaughter two waves of wolves all around at Vestad Hills and goblins at the beach nearby. Also some wolves may be found at the excavation site at Estan Plains by day.
Bring underleveled Pawns and XP boosting periapts, if you have any, to speed it up even further.

[balearadu]

Originally posted by zadymek:

Originally posted by balearadu:

Seems pretty easy to level,I've been running around,exploring the area around Gran Soren and I already Leveled Sorcerer 2 levels.

My advice: make it as fast and efficient as possible, as it will get dull before you know it.
When I need a bit of DCP I usually rest till night and slaughter two waves of wolves all around at Vestad Hills and goblins at the beach nearby. Also some wolves may be found at the excavation site at Estan Plains by day.
Bring underleveled Pawns and XP boosting periapts, if you have any, to speed it up even further.

Well I will try and get the Ring of Perseverance from BBI,saw a video that shows how to get it easy without fighting,just running for it,then I guess I will just go in the hills to the west of Witchwood,a lot of goblins,wolves,saurians there that give good xp.
I don't mind the grind,I think I wasted like 20 hours just wandering around before going to Gran Soren,explored all the locations and killed everything,up until some fort in the North,Shadow Fort or something like that,don't know if I should go there, the name isn't very inviting :D.

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

Originally posted by balearadu:

Hmm ok,so I need to level Mage and Sorcerer for their Magic Damage buffs,the faster cast buff,I'm guessing it helps if I level them to max vocation rank ?
I guess I need :
Acuity,Attunement,Clout,Articulacy,Vehemence and Sanctuary ?

you dont need clout and vehemence.... magic archer can use daggers true, but it's still a caster, same as sorcerer and mage, main purpose of daggers on MA is to get access to double jump instant reset and dodge roll.
There's plenty of more usefull augments to get than trying to boost a stat that is used by your weakest weapon available. Only case you will need to rely on physical attacks is against golems.... just carry a handfull of conqueror periapts and pop them when you need to get ride of a golem.

Same goes for sanctuary or any defense boosting augments.... even for melee vocations they are a waste of augment slot (exception of "charger" warriors). Sanctuary is even worse since it boost your defense only when your health is critical (aka if you got 3K health left and an ennemy deal 3K damage to you, you die and the augment wont do a thing).... it would make sense if you also took equanimity/exhilaration to play a "critical" set-up (keep your health critical to have both augments activated at all time, works even better if you got a high health build) or a vengeance warrior (audacity+temerity+act of vengeance, take the hits untill you get critical, release act of vengeance).
TL;DR: niche use mostly useless to a magic archer.

Instead get augment that improve your mobility (sinew, leg strength) or that protect you while you are casting spells since magic bow skills are spells (gravitas, inflection).

And if you are tempted to climb ennemies to dps them with scarlet/hundred/thousand kisses... err... just switch to strider, you picked the wrong vocation.
Though I dont imply that it's useless to grab a giant ennemy, climb to the weak spot and land a few hit.... it's just that as a MA you only do that after you've stuck 2 volleys of explosive rivets in that weak spot.... and a couple dagger hits will be enough to explode them before you jump off to prepare the next 2 volleys.... no augment set-up, daggers or skill spamming will do half the dps of any of your magic bow skills... unless your target is immune to magic (also bring a pair of glove of might for golems).

[Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah]

you dont need clout and vehemence.... magic archer can use daggers true, but it's still a caster, same as sorcerer and mage, main purpose of daggers on MA is to get access to double jump instant reset and dodge roll.

Utter ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Immolation+Red Star Dagger skills have higher DPS output than any other grapple skills or even any other dagger attacks except HelmSplitter. Secondly the split damage from immolation occurs as Impact and a monster on their butts takes even more damage. There is no higher TTK implementation versus bosses in the game except gamble and unlike gamble you're not meandering around the map building your charge.

Same goes for sanctuary or any defense boosting augments.

Using a single slot to literally absorb any incoming damage to 1 and continuing to attack is better than any block skill other than MK's HPB or APB.

Maybe try playing the game on hard or with World Mod quarantine.