Archery may be one of the best skills to focus on in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. A good bow can deal about as much damage as a good melee weapon, and players have the advantage of being far away from whatever it is they're shooting at.
It's no wonder then that archer builds are some of the most common for players to build. A good archer can take down just about any enemy in Skyrim, up to and including dragons and giants. However, the best archer builds are the ones that take full advantage of the game's mechanics, exploits, and perks.
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Archery Basics
- Archers get two sources of damage from each time they fire their bow: the bow's damage and the arrow's damage. Players can deal some incredible blows by combining high-quality bows with high-quality arrows, but even after the good arrows run out a good bow will continue to deal plenty of damage.
- The Dragonborn takes a second or two to draw a bow, and this is more than just cosmetic. If players release the attack button before the draw animation completes, the arrow may misfire and fall short, and it always deals less than full damage.
- If players draw an arrow but don't want to fire, they should press the button that puts their weapon away. This will lower the bow without firing the arrow.
- Arrows go up before they start to drop, so players should aim low when their target is close.
- Skyrim has no locational damage, which means headshots deal no extra damage. Players should aim for the enemy's center mass instead of their head.
- There's no such thing as too many arrows. Every kind of arrow in Skyrim weighs nothing, and so players should collect every arrow they come across. Even if players think they have enough high-quality arrows, they can always sell off their weightless iron and steel arrows at the nearest blacksmith.
- Stealth and archery go hand-in-hand. Sneak Attack damage is less for bows than it is for melee attacks, but players can fire multiple times as enemies search for their location.
- Isolated high points are the best spots to attack from. If a melee enemy can't find a path to the player's position, it won't duck for cover or run away, making it a great target (although they won't stand still). However, this kind of spot is less useful against other archers.
- When the Dragonborn has a bow equipped, the off-hand button has them punch with the bow. This doesn't do much damage, so players should keep a melee weapon for when enemies manage to close with them.
- Bosmer (Wood Elves) start with +10 Archery skill, while Redguards and Khajiit start with +5.
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Perks And Other Skills
Most of the Archery perks are valuable to an archer build. Overdraw is obviously useful since it increases bow damage in 20 percent increments, and Critical Shot has a chance to deal even more damage on top of Overdraw. Critical Shot doesn't always trigger, and so players should focus on Overdraw first.
Hunter's Discipline is a useful perk since it means players will get more of their arrows back after each fight. Ranger makes archers more mobile, and this means they can back away from enemy blows while still firing arrows.
On the other branch of the perk tree, Eagle Eye lets players zoom in their view by pressing the off-hand button while an arrow is drawn. Doing so will also drain stamina. However, this doesn't make the arrow fire faster or straighter, so it isn't that useful. Steady Hand slows time while zooming in, but it still doesn't change the arrow's arc.
The perks past Eagle Eye are much more valuable. Power Shot causes most enemies to stagger when hit by an arrow half of the time, which slows them down and opens them up to more shots. Quick Shot speeds up the drawing part of the animation, letting players fire more shots in less time. The 100 Archery perk is Bullseye, which has a 15 percent chance per shot to paralyze an enemy for a few seconds.
A few other perks are useful for an archer build. The Sneak perk Deadly Aim improves the Sneak Attack bonus for an arrow from 2x to 3x, and players can get it as early as Sneak 40. Like any other build, Enchanting and Smithing perks allow players to build better weapons and enhance them with useful effects.
An archery build can work with light or heavy armor. Light armor is generally more useful since it works better with sneaking, but Heavy Armor and Sneak perks like Conditioning and Muffled Movement can negate the armor type's disadvantages.
A useful magic skill for archers is Conjuration. The right summon spell can bring in a melee creature that enemies will focus on, giving players more time to fire from a distance. And unlike normal companions, players don't have to worry about friendly fire when shooting at a summoned companion. Also, players with 50 Conjuration can learn Bound Bow, which creates a summoned bow and arrows that last for 2 minutes. This bow is as powerful as a basic late-game bow, but not one that players have tempered to Legendary status.
Enchanting and Alchemy can also improve an archer build by adding Fortify Archery to equipment and potions. While a player's natural Archery skill maxes at 100, enchanted items and potions can raise this number even higher, and each point of Archery improves ranged damage by 0.5 percent. This means all the usual exploits for improving Alchemy and Enchanting can apply to an archer build.
An archer build is easy to understand and quick to develop, making it a favorite for new and old players alike. All players need to do is find a good bow, get a melee weapon for backup, and then try not to run out of arrows.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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