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Discover how to create the best Archer build in Avowed, with recommendations for skills, attributes, weapons, companions and leveling progression!
In Avowed, you are thrust into a rich and immersive world, where every choice can shape your journey. For those who prefer a more tactical and ranged approach to combat, the archer build stands as one of the most rewarding and versatile options. Whether you’re taking down enemies from afar or providing support to your party, an effective archer build can turn the tide of battle. This article will delve into the key components of the best Avowed archer build, including the optimal skills, weapons, and strategies to maximize your damage output while maintaining flexibility in various combat scenarios. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or new to the game, mastering this build will ensure you can strike swiftly and decisively, making you a formidable force on the battlefield.
Everything You Need To Know About Archer Build Guide in Avowed
As an Archer using primarily a bow weapon, your ability to attack from long range, deal weak point damage, and stealth damage make it powerful. Similar to the arquebus rifle, the benefits from many damage amplification passives and skills can stack. Consequently, with the right passives you can gain a ton of damage at long range. The downside is that you’ll feel weak in the early part of the game, especially without the right companion setup to to keep the pressure off of you. However, the bow can compensate for some of that because it excels at staying at range and hitting targets with snares and stuns.
The other downside of the bow is it requires aiming. If you’re not a fan of first-person shooters, this could be difficult to gain the max amount of health. Additionally, you must always be aware of your positioning and keep a safe range.
| Archer Build Pros | Archer Build Cons |
|---|---|
| Max Range | Aiming Dependent |
| Multiple Damage Components | Resource Management |
| Huge Damage | Limited Heavy Armor Use |
Archer Build Features & Mechanics
Below are the essential best Archer build features and mechanics for Avowed:
- Background: Vanguard Scout
- Attribute Points: Might, Perception, Dexerity
- Weapon Choices: Bow, One-hand and shield
- Best Skills: Marksmanship, Steady Aim, Flurry of Blows, Staggering Shot
- Recommended Companions: Kai and Yatzli
- Best Consumables: Mulled Musketeer, Tani Cream, Beetle Pie
Related:
Background
The best background choice for the Archer Build is the Vanguard Scout, which determines your starting weapon. Overall, in Avowed your background choice is much more impactful in dialogue, rather than build. Furthermore, you will gain a bow during the events of the game’s starting region. Therefore, you can feel free to choose any background that resonates with your character’s story.
Attribute Points
Might, Perception, and Dexerity are the best attributes for an Archer Build. In Avowed, Might increases damage, Perception increases range and critical chance, while Dexterity increases action speed. Your primary attribute distribution should focus heavily on Might and Perception with small increases in Dexterity. You want to kill targets at range faster than they can reach you and skills will be your primary defense rather than pure raw health. Avowed has a Max level of 30 and you can select 27 attributes by reaching max level.
Below is the distribution of attribute points for the Archer build:
- Might: 10
- Constitution: 2
- Dexterity: 5
- Perception: 8
- Intellect: 0
- Resolve: 2
Weapon Choices
The best weapons for an Archer build in Avowed are a two-handed bow, along with a one-handed melee and shield combination. The bow is a great ranged weapon choice because it excels at ranged damage and fires quickly without needing a reload.
Your secondary weapon choice for an Archer build should be a one-handed sword or axe with a shield. This gives you the ability to swap to something defensive when you’re under pressure from melee attack. However, with an Archer build most of your defensive come from the Arcane Veil skill rather than blocking. If you’re okay on survivability and want to go for high damage, you can use an Arquebus as a secondary weapon. You fire one shot, then quickly swap to the bow, which can be a good one-two combo.
Avoid relying on your melee weapons too much because its not practicable to split the skill point selection between the two. Using a bow and focusing on the range skills will increase the overall power vs. a divided hybrid approach.
Skill Selection
Avowed allows you to unlock skills at each level. Each level gives you one more skill point to place in one of three skill trees. Furthermore, Avowed is flexible and you can mix and match skill trees, but Ranger and Fighter synergize the best. However, you’ll want to visit the Wizard skill tree to take Arcane Veil, which is one of the best defensive skills in the game. Additionally, Blood Magic is a good skill at level 10 in Wizard line if you’re running out of magic and are using Giatta as a healer companion.
Levels 1-10 Skills
In the initial levels of an Archer build you should look to prioritize survivability. Shadowing Beyond is helpful for melee kills or getting away, Arcane Veil for damage reduction, and Tanglefoot for immobilizing enemies in place. As you progress further, then you can select more offensive passives.
Below is a list of the skills for the Best Archer Build for Avowed from levels 1 to 10:
| Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | None | ||
| 2 | Arcane Veil Rank 1 | Wizard | Unlocks Arcane Veil spell |
| 3 | Survivalist Rank 1 | Ranger | Food restores 20% more Health and Essence, and bonus effect durations are increased by 20%. |
| 4 | Steady Aim Rank 1 | Ranger | Holding your Power Attack with a bow or gun slows time by 25%. |
| 5 | Shadowing Beyond Rank 1 | Ranger | Channel the Beyond, becoming Invisible and draining Essence until your next combat action. |
| 6 | Tanglefoot Rank 1 | Ranger | Summon lingering entangling vines that Root nearby enemies in place for 8 seconds. |
| 7 | Evasive Rank 1 | Ranger | Reduces stamina cost of dodge by 25% |
| 8 | Marksmanship Rank 1 | Ranger | Increases damage with bows and guns by 25%. |
| 9 | Arcane Veil Rank 2 | Wizard | Ranged projectiles are reflected |
| 10 | Steady Aim Rank 2 | Ranger | Holding your Power Attack with a bow or gun slows time by 50%. |
Levels 11-20 Skills
At Level 11 of Avowed you should start to take offensive passives like Steady Aim, Marksmanship, and Critical Strike. At this point in the game, your survivability should be pretty strong. Additionally, save your skill points at level 14 and 17 because you can get two powerful choices at levels 15 and 18: Bear Ally and Critical Strike. Bear Ally acts as another tank after rank 2 and dramatically increases your team’s survivability.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Archer Build for Avowed from levels 11 to 20:
| Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Power Slide Rank 1 | Ranger | Your slide passes through enemies and knocks them down |
| 12 | Shadowing Beyond Rank 2 | Ranger | While Invisible, gain increased Stealth Attack Damage and Move Speed. |
| 13 | Marksmanship Rank 2 | Ranger | Increases damage with bows and guns by 40%. |
| 14 | Save | ||
| 15 | Bear Ally Rank 1 Critical Strike Rank 1 | Ranger Ranger | Summon a bear ally Increases critical chance by 10% |
| 16 | Sniper Rank 1 | Ranger | Unlocks stronger recipes |
| 17 | Save | Increases ranged weapon damage against unaware enemies by 25%. | |
| 18 | Bear Ally Rank 1 Critical Strike Rank 1 | Ranger Ranger | bear ally can taunt Increases critical chance by 15% |
| 19 | Survivalist Rank 2 | Ranger | Unlocks stronger recipes |
| 20 | Flurry of Blows Rank 1 | Ranger | Gain maximum Attack Speed, rapid Stamina regeneration, and increased Move Speed for 10 seconds. |
Levels 21-30 Skills
Now that you have reached Level 20 inn Avowed, look to increase Flurry of Blows and Staggering Shot. This gives the Archer build lifesteal, increased damage, and more stun when shooting the bow at range. By now, you should have everything you need to do good damage. Furthermore, you can use Yatzli in your party if you lack AOE.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best Archer Build for Avowed from levels 21 to 30:
| Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Flurry of Blows Rank 2 | Ranger | Gain lifesteal with weapon attacks |
| 22 | Flurry of Blows Rank 3 | Ranger | Increases duration by 5 seconds |
| 23 | Staggering Shot Rank 1 | Ranger | Power Attacks with bows and guns deal +40% Stun. |
| 24 | Inspiring Triumph Rank 1 | Fighter | Killing enemies restores 10% of your Companion’s Maximum Health. |
| 25 | Staggering Shot Rank 2 | Ranger | Power Attacks with bows and guns deal +70% Stun. |
| 26 | Steady Aim Rank 3 | Ranger | Holding your Power Attack with a bow or gun slows time by 75%. |
| 27 | Marksmanship Rank 3 | Ranger | Increases damage with bows and guns by 50%. |
| 28 | Bear Ally Rank 3 | Ranger | Increases the duration by 15 seconds. |
| 29 | Staggering Shot Rank 2 | Ranger | Power Attacks with bows and guns deal +90% Stun. |
| 30 | Inspiring Triumph Rank 2 | Fighter | Inspiring Triumph revives Incapacitated Companions and restores 20% of their Maximum Health. |
Best Archer Skills Explained
The best skills for an Archer build in Avowed are Marksmanship, Steady Aim, Flurry of Blows, and Staggering Shot. These three skills increase your overall damage and crowd control potential. Marksmanship increases the raw damage of the bow while Steady Aim slows down time helping you hit headshots. Flurry of Blows is a buff skill that can be activated before combat and even steals life keeping you alive while increasing damage. Finally, Staggering Shot helps build a stun at range, therefore crowd-controlling enemies at range with burst damage.
Below are the most useful skills and passives for an Archer build in Avowed:
- Shadowing Beyond: This ability allows you to be invisible and move stealthily, reducing Essence drain during invisibility.
- Staggering Shot: Boost the stun dealt by power attacks with bows and guns.
- Steady Aim: Slows down time when aiming power attacks with bows or guns.
- Marksmanship: This ability increases your damage output with bows and guns.
- Bear Ally: Summons a bear to fight alongside you, drawing enemy attention.
- Flurry of Blows: Buff skill increase damage and attack speed
Companions
Kai and Yatzli are the best companions to choose for an Archer build in Avowed because Kai has useful tank abilities, while Yatzli can provide the AOE damage you are lacking. You will encounter Kai immediately after the tutorial in Avowed. As you spend companion skill points, focus on his taunting skills Fire and Ire and Leap of Daring. You want to reduce cooldown and increase range so it hits the max targets. Kai does become less effective after Bear Ally Rank 2 at level 18. Consequently, you can swap him out for another companion if you want more damage and have good survivability.
Marius is the second companion the game you recruit and he’s an okay stand-in for Yatzli. He’s a good companion but not a great secondary choice for an Archer build since you are already built for single-traget damage. Therefore, look to swap him out for Giatta as you progress, then eventually Yatzli. She helps with AOE damage and status effects. Focus on reduced cooldowns or status effect passives to increase your damage.
Kai
Below are the recommended skills and upgrades for Kai and an Archer Build:
| Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire and Ire | Unbending Defense | Leap of Daring | Second Wind |
| Quick Reload | Iron Will | Leap of Pride | Refreshing Wind |
Yatzli
Below are the recommended skills and upgrades for Yatzli and an Archer Build:
| Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essence Explosion | Minoletta’s Missile Battery | Arduous Delay of Motion | Blast |
| Scrappy Casting | Speedy Salvo | Frost Aspect | Affliction Blast |
Archer Gameplay & Tips
To maximize the effectiveness of your Archer build, you’ll want to engage from the furthest range while staying crouched to trigger unaware stealth damage. Focus on hitting the enemy’s weak points, typically marked by a diamond-shaped symbol above their head, as these spots yield increased damage. To trigger unaware damage, crouch in tall grass, where your UI will indicate you’re hidden.
Before engaging, make sure to pre-buff with Flurry of Blows and any godlike abilities you have. Prioritize attacking the highest-damage threat, often a spellcaster healer. Use Tanglefoot to stun any enemies that get too close, and direct Kai to taunt them. If you’re forced into melee range, summon the Bear Ally to absorb some of the damage. When expecting heavy incoming damage or facing multiple enemies, activate Arcane Veil to protect yourself or disrupt the enemy’s advances.
From there, methodically eliminate the highest-priority targets until the battlefield is clear of threats.
Weapons and Armor
Beginner Weapon and Armor
| Slot | Item | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon 1 | The Long Touch | +10% Critical Hit chance while Fine Aiming |
| Secondary Weapon | Last Light of Day | Restore health on enemy kill |
| Off-Hand | Unflinching Duty | 5% to avoid melee damage |
| Armor | Blackwing Armor | +30% Sneak Attack Damage |
| Gloves | Blackwing Gloves | +1% Critical Hit Chance +10% Critical Damage |
| Boots | Blackwing Boots | +1 Dex |
| Trinket | Night-Mistress’ Favor | Regen essence near companion |
| Ring | Wayfarer’s Ring | 20% health and essence from food |
| Ring | Vindictive Band | Crits deal poison damage |
- The Long Touch: In Dawnshore head northeast to find the Paradisian Military Surplus shop and purchase.
- Last Light of Day: found during Dawntreader’s quest in the Eothasian temple within Dawnshore (location Pilgrim’s Path).
- Unflinching Duty: found in the Strangleroot area looted next to an Aedryan Soldier’s Corpse in the north.
- Blackwing Armor: Spoiler regarding your assassin quest at the end of Dawnshore.
- Blackwing Gloves: Loot the backpack found at the top of the Aedyran Embassy in Paradis, Dawnshore.
- Blackwing Boots: Bought from Extremely legal goods in Philosopher’s alley in Northern Paradis.
- Night-Mistress’ Favor: Complete the side quest a lady never tells, speak with Concerned Couresan north of Pearl District in Paradis Dawnshore.
- Wayfarer’s Ring: Can be found from a skeleton south of Runyd’s Home in Dawnshore to the west of Shrine of Woedica.
- Vindictive Band: Complete sidequest Cabin Fever, started in Claviger’s Landing, Dawnshore by NPC Dehengen.
Endgame Weapon and Armor
| Slot | Item | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon 1 | Ancient Alacrity | Slow the hit enemy by 15% for 5 seconds. |
| Secondary Weapon | The Emperor’s Reach | Boost Attack and Movement on kill. |
| Off-Hand | Bastion of Solace | +75 Maximum Health, +50 Maximum Stamina |
| Armor | Councilor’s Garb | +50% Sneak Attack Damage |
| Gloves | Gloves of the Strangler | +15% Sneak Attack Damage |
| Boots | Councilor’s Shoes | +2 Dexterity |
| Trinket | Cartographer’s Companion | +1 Dex, +2 Perception |
| Ring | Ashfall’s Legacy | +10% Attack Damage +20% Critical Hit Damage |
| Ring | Sigil of the Arcane | +20% ability cast speed. -20% ability Essence cost. |
- Ancient Alacrity: Locked behind a door in the same room as Sibelius boss within the Solace Lava Tubs, in the Galawain’s Tusks region.
- The Emperor’s Reach: Found stuck in a dead body in the middle of the Ancient Lakebed in Shatterscarp.
- Bastion of Solace: Reward from Mihala if you choose to save Solace Keep from the lava build up in Galawain’s Tusks.
- Councilor’s Garb: Destroy Councilor Kostya During Our Dreams Divide Us Still in Galawain’s Tusks.
- Gloves of the Strangler: Location is Dawnshore. Behind a secret door on the outer wall of Paradis, slightly southwest of the Paradis Hightown gate.
- Councilor’s Shoes- Kill Councilor Koysta and save Solace Keep during Our Dreams Divide Us Still in Galawain’s Tusks
- Cartographer’s Companion: Looted from a dead body near the Shrine to Galawain in Galawain’s Tusks.
- Ashfall’s Legacy: Reward for completing Warden’s Legacy quest in Galawain’s Tusks.
- Sigil of the Arcane: Found in Shatterscarp inside a lockbox inside a puzzle door at Shark’s teeth.
Consumables
Mulled Musketeer is the best consumable in Avowed because it grants +40% action speed and reload speed. The Tani Cream allows you to gain +2 Dexterity and +5% maximum stamina. Beetle Pie is another consumable that provides you +2 Might and +10% damage. You need to take three points into the survivalist skill in the ranger tree. Once unlocked, you can craft advanced food and buffs that drastically increase your survivability, damage, and regeneration.
FAQs about an Archer Build in Avowed
What is the best ranged weapon in Avowed?
The best ranged weapon in Avowed is the bow Ancient Alacrity because it buffs your movements speed, while also slowing down the enemy.
Which is the best Background for an Archer build?
Vanguard Scout is the best background for an Archer build in Avowed because because the dialogue options it unlocks will fit best with a ranged playstyle.
Which are the best skills for an Archer build?
The best skills for an Archer build in Avowed are Steady Aim, Staggering Shot, Marksmanship, and Flurry of Blows because they boost your crowd control and overall damage potential.
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