Skills/Archery

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Archery is the skill of fighting at range with bows and crossbows. An archer can strike from up to 10 tiles away, picking off creatures before they reach melee range, and many fights can be won without ever being touched. The trade-off: you have to stand still to shoot, and you need a steady supply of arrows or bolts.

This page explains how archery works, the bows and crossbows, their special moves, ammunition, and how to train to Grandmaster.

At a glance

Skill category	Combat
Weapons	Bow, crossbow and heavy crossbow (see Weapons)
Ammunition	Arrows for bows, bolts for crossbows. One is used per shot.
Works with	Tactics and Anatomy for damage, Healing to stay alive
Special moves	Two per weapon, at 70 and 90 skill
Skill cap	100 (Grandmaster), raised up to 120 with Archery power scrolls
Stats it can raise	Dexterity (mostly) and Strength
Starting gear	Choosing Archery as a starting skill gives you a bow and 25 arrows.

How to shoot

Equip a bow or crossbow. All of them take both hands.
Carry ammunition in your backpack: arrows for a bow, bolts for a crossbow.
Switch to war mode and double-click your target.
Stand still. You can only fire after standing in place for 1 second. Every step you take resets that timer, so running archers don't shoot.
Each shot uses one arrow or bolt. When you run out you'll stop firing.

Range

A bow reaches 10 tiles.
Crossbows reach 8 tiles.
You need a clear line of sight to the target.

Getting your ammunition back

When you hit an animal or monster, there's a 40% chance the arrow or bolt lodges in it, and you'll find it in the creature's backpack when you loot the corpse.
When you miss, there's a 40% chance the arrow or bolt lands on the ground near the target, ready to pick up.
Shots that hit players are always lost.

Buying ammunition

	Ammunition	Used by	Where to buy
	Arrows	Bows	Bowyers (about 2 gold each) and provisioners
	Crossbow bolts	Crossbows and heavy crossbows	Bowyers (about 3 gold each) and provisioners

Bowyers can also craft arrows and bolts from wood shafts and feathers.

Hitting

Every swing rolls to hit. Your chance depends on your skill with the weapon you're holding against the defender's skill with the weapon they're holding (Wrestling if they're unarmed). Distance doesn't change your chance:

Hit chance = (your skill + 50) ÷ ((their skill + 50) × 2)

So two fighters with equal skill hit each other 50% of the time. Here's how it works out:

Your weapon skill	Defender's skill 0	50	80	100	120
50	100%	50%	38%	33%	29%
80	100%	65%	50%	43%	38%
100	100%	75%	58%	50%	44%
120	100%	85%	65%	57%	50%

Magic weapons with an accuracy bonus add to your skill while you hold them: +5 (accurate), +10 (surpassingly), +15 (eminently), +20 (exceedingly) or +25 (supremely). That bonus counts toward both hitting and the 70/90 needed for special moves.

Damage

When you hit, the game rolls the weapon's damage range and then adjusts it:

Tactics is the big one: −50% at 0 Tactics, no change at 50, +50% at 100.
Strength adds +1% for every 5 points.
Anatomy adds +1% for every 5 points, plus an extra +10% at 100.
Exceptional weapons deal +20% and low quality ones −20%.
Magic weapons add flat damage before all of that: ruin +1, might +3, force +5, power +7, vanquishing +9.
Slayer weapons deal double damage to the creatures they slay.
A worn-out weapon hits softer. Damage scales down as the weapon's durability drops, to half at its last point.
Damage against players (and damage dealt by creatures) is halved.
The target's armor then absorbs part of the hit, depending on where it lands (body 35%, legs 22%, head 15%, arms 14%, hands 7%, neck 7%). Every hit deals at least 1 damage.

Swing speed

Each weapon has a speed rating. The higher it is, the faster you swing. Your current stamina matters too: more stamina means faster swings, and a winded fighter slows down. The tables below show seconds per swing with 100 stamina.

Weapons

All of these use Archery and need both hands, so you can't carry a shield. Click a column heading to sort.

Weapon	Hands	Strength needed	Damage	Speed	Seconds per swing*	Range	Ammo	Primary move (70)	Secondary move (90)	Weight	Weaponsmith price
Bow	Two	20	9–41	20	3.75	10 tiles	Arrows	Paralyzing Blow	Mortal Strike	6 stones	about 35 gold
Crossbow	Two	30	8–43	18	4.17	8 tiles	Bolts	Concussion Blow	Mortal Strike	7 stones	about 46 gold
Heavy crossbow	Two	40	11–56	10	7.50	8 tiles	Bolts	Moving Shot	Dismount	9 stones	about 55 gold

* Seconds per swing with 100 stamina. The formula is 15000 ÷ ((stamina + 100) × speed), so a tired fighter swings more slowly.

Special moves

Every weapon knows two special moves: a primary move you can use from 70 skill in that weapon's fighting skill, and a secondary move from 90. To use one:

Open your combat book (the Open › Combat Book macro), or set up the Primary Ability and Secondary Ability macros. You can drag the move icons out of the book onto your screen.
Click the move to ready it. It stays ready until your next hit lands.
When that hit lands, the move goes off and its mana is used up. If you miss, the move stays ready and no mana is spent.

Some things to know:

Mana cost drops with experience. Each move has a base cost, but if your Swordsmanship, Mace Fighting, Fencing, Archery, Parrying, Lumberjacking, Stealth and Poisoning add up to 200 or more, every move costs 5 less mana; at 300 or more it costs 10 less.
Don't chain them too fast. Using another special move within 3 seconds of your last one costs double mana.
If you don't have the skill: "You need 70 weapon skill to perform that attack" (or 90). If you're short on mana: "You need 30 mana to perform that attack".

Move	Base mana	What it does	Weapons
Concussion Blow	25	Deals 10 to 30 extra damage on top of the hit. The bigger the gap between the target's health and mana (as a percentage), the more it hurts.	Primary: Crossbow
Dismount	20	Knocks a mounted target off their mount, and they can't remount for 10 seconds. If you're on foot they also take 15 to 25 damage. You must be on foot to use it, and you can't mount up yourself for 10 seconds afterwards.	Secondary: Heavy crossbow
Mortal Strike	30	Mortally wounds the target: they can't be healed by bandages, healing spells or heal potions for 6 seconds (players) or 12 seconds (creatures).	Secondary: Bow, Crossbow
Moving Shot	15	Fires a normal shot. You still need to stand still for a moment before each shot.	Primary: Heavy crossbow
Paralyzing Blow	30	Freezes the target in place for 3 seconds (players) or 6 seconds (creatures). They can't be paralyzed this way again for 8 seconds after it wears off.	Primary: Bow

Training Archery

Every shot can raise Archery, whether it hits or misses.
Pick targets that are a fair match. If you're guaranteed to hit, the shot teaches you nothing.
Below 10.0 you gain on every attempt, sometimes several tenths at once. Above that, each attempt has a chance to gain 0.1.
The harder the attempt is for your skill level, the better your chance to gain. Your chance also drops as you get closer to your Archery cap and to your total skill cap of 700.
If you've set Archery to go down (the arrow in your skills list), gains elsewhere can lower it to make room under your total cap. Lock skills you want to keep.
Reaching 100.0 adds Archery to the Skills Mastered count on your achievements.
Shooting also trains Tactics and Anatomy on every hit.
Archery buttes: if you find one, stand 5 or 6 tiles straight in front of it, lined up with it, and double-click it with arrows or bolts in your pack. It teaches Archery up to 25.0. Each shot scores points (bullseye 50, inner ring 10, middle ring 5, outer ring 2), and the arrows that stick can be gathered back by double-clicking the butte from right next to it.
Bowyers, rangers, ranger guildmasters, bard guildmasters and thieves will train you for gold: up to a third of their own skill, at most 42.0, for 1 gold per 0.1 points. Ask them (or use their context menu) to train the skill, then drop the gold on them.

Stats: each successful use has a smaller chance (under 1%) to raise Strength and about a 2% chance to raise Dexterity by 1 point. Each stat can rise at most once every 10 minutes, and only if it's set to rise.

Suggested path

Archery	Where to train
0 to 25	Practice on an archery butte. Stand 5 or 6 tiles straight in front of it with arrows or bolts in your pack, and double-click it to shoot. Double-click it up close to gather your ammunition back. It stops teaching you at 25.0.
25 to 50	Weak creatures that hit back softly: Giant Rat, Mongbat, Skeleton, Zombie, Headless One, Ratman.
50 to 70	Tougher camps: Orc, Lizardman, Gargoyle, Ettin.
70 to 90	Bigger targets with lots of health: Troll, Ogre, Earth Elemental. Your primary move opens up at 70.
90 to 100	Strong creatures you can still win against, such as Ogre Lord, Lich, Wyvern. Your secondary move opens up at 90.

Because you fight from range, you can safely train on creatures that would beat you in melee, as long as you have room to back away.

Power scrolls

Power scroll

Archery tops out at 100.0 unless you use a Archery power scroll. There are three kinds: exalted (110), mythical (115) and legendary (120). Double-click one to raise your Archery cap to that number: "You feel a surge of magic as the scroll enhances your Archery!"

Archery power scrolls come from champion bosses: Barracoon, Lord Oaks, Mephitis, Neira, Rikktor, Semidar and Silvani. Each champion boss leaves 6 power scrolls in random fighting, magic, bard and animal skills, handed out among the players who helped kill it. Each scroll is a 110 (60%), 115 (35%) or 120 (5%).
A scroll only works if it's higher than your current cap. Otherwise: "Your Archery is too high for this power scroll."
Champion power scrolls are cursed: they always drop when you die, even from a blessed container. Use them or bank them quickly.
Raising the cap doesn't raise your skill. You still have to train the extra points.

Messages you'll see

Message	What it means
You need 70 weapon skill to perform that attack	You don't have enough skill for that special move yet (70 for primary, 90 for secondary).
You need 30 mana to perform that attack	Not enough mana for the move you readied.
You do not have any arrows with which to practice.	You tried to use an archery butte without arrows (or bolts for a crossbow).
You aren't properly lined up with the target to get an accurate shot.	Stand directly in front of the archery butte, in line with it.
You are too far away from the target to get an accurate shot.	Move to within 6 tiles of the archery butte.
You are too close to the target.	Back away to 5 or 6 tiles from the archery butte.
You gather the arrows and bolts.	You collected the ammunition stuck in the archery butte.
You feel a surge of magic as the scroll enhances your ~skill~!	A power scroll raised your skill cap.

Tips

Stop, then shoot. The one-second stand-still rule is the most important thing about archery. Step back, wait, fire.
Kite carefully. Shoot until a creature gets close, back off a few tiles, and shoot again.
Always loot your kills. Arrows that stuck in the creature are in its backpack.
Carry plenty of ammo. Ammo is light, so a few hundred arrows is a normal load.
Tactics is not optional. At 0 Tactics you deal half damage. Train it alongside Archery.
Bow or crossbow? The bow shoots fastest and farthest; the heavy crossbow hits hardest but slowly.