Archer Samus's Guide to Marksman

Hi! I decided to make a crossbowman guide because I don't want to do homework.
Feels Good To Get Buffed
I'll update it later probably

Samus's Crossbowman Guide

Spoiler: Why should you make a Crossbowman?

Pros:

1. One of the better 2nd job classes, iron arrow is really good for mobbing
2. Pretty good in 3rd job too until about 105 thanks to nice training spots and some fun fun skills
3. Usually have cheaper weapon scrolls and books than most other jobs
4. Sharp eyes is great as a party skill and highly desired
5. Better for mobbing / grinding than bowmaster
6. Articuno is much cooler and better than Phoenix
7. With access to snipe 30, is like 3rd best bossing character in the game.

Cons:

1. Weak in 1st job and late in 3rd, pretty reliant on leech from 110-120 unless you want to level veeeeery slowly
2. Slow and awkward to play as early on, needs speed equips or taming mob, though arrow rain in 3rd job will help out a ton
3. 4th job bossing is sub-par without snipe 30
4. 4th job mobbing is limited with pierce being awkward to use and really weak until higher levels
5. Because of the way critical hits work, xbows are at a disadvantage compared to other classes with high crit chance. Critical hits don't double damage but instead just add 100% to an attack (or 240% with SE), so faster hits are rewarded compared to the slower, more powerful hits that marksmen have.

Spoiler: Level-up Guide

1st Job:
Skills and points applied:
Blessing of amazon: 3 or 12
Critical shot: 20
Eye of amazon: 8
Focus: 0 or 9
Arrow blow: 1 or 20
Double shot: 0 or 20

Reasons:

• First skill you should max is eye of the amazon for extra range, and u need 3 blessing of amazon for that
• Max either arrow blow or double shot depending on your preference, technically double shot has more DPM but arrow blow gives u fun big numbers and can KB more easily. Both are worse than lvl 1 strafe anyway
• Add the remaining points either to blessing of Amazon or focus. Personally I prefer focus for the small avoid buff which is actually useful, but having to rebuff can be annoying.

2nd Job:
Skills and points applied:
Xbow mastery: 20
Final Attack: 0
Xbow booster: 20
Soul arrow: 20
Power knockback: 20
Iron arrow: 30
Focus: 20 (personal preference)

Reasons:

• at lvl 30, put your first point into iron arrow. It is a godsend for mobbing, but the damage increase from skill lvl 1-30 isnt that great.
• DO NOT PUT ANY POINTS INTO FINAL ATTACK. It actually makes your damage lower and the skill points are better used on literally anything else.
• With nothing in final attack, you should be able to max everything else and have extra points for 1st job skills if u want. I preferred to max focus for a little bit of extra avoid.

3rd job:
Important to note: Sniper is a very versatile class, and you don't necessarily have to follow any of these builds. However, I would definitely recommend that you have a plan for where you want to grind, etc. and that should effect what skills you decide to do first. If you want, you can start to follow one of these builds but then change anything you think would improve training.

Build 1: Arrow Eruption
Lvl 70: 1 Blizzard
71-72: 1 strafe, 5 mortal blow
73-79: 21 Arrow Eruption
80-89: 19 strafe [20], 10 Blizzard [11], 1 arrow eruption
90-92: 8 Arrow Eruption [MAX], 1 strafe [21]
93-95: 9 puppet
96-99: 9 strafe [MAX], 3 Blizzard [14]
100-102: 7 Blizzard [21], 2 puppet [11]
103-105: 9 puppet [MAX]
106-120: 15 mortal blow [MAX], 15 thrust, 15 golden eagle

END:
Strafe MAX
Arrow Eruption MAX
Blizzard 21
Puppet MAX
Mortal Blow MAX
Thrust 15
Golden Eagle 15

Reasons:

• 1 point in blizzard is incredibly useful first, letting you freeze mobs so iron arrow is easier to use.
• 1 point strafe is already better than max double shot or arrow blow
• 5 mortal blow is needed to unlock arrow eruption
• This build is focused around arrow eruption very early, to take advantage of it at ghost ship, mp3, and windraiders. It also makes typhons a good training spot
• after 21 arrow eruption, strafe is added to take care of 1-2 mobs at a time while 10 blizzard buffs the freeze duration from 1-2 seconds. With this build, u can also train at gobies.
• Next you max arrow eruption as that's likely all you'll be using if you go to vikings.
• lvl 9 puppet has low hp but half the duration of max level, so it is good for placing out of reach so that you can take out mobs easily. Also helps at headless horseman
• Next you'll want to finish maxing strafe for better damage, then bring blizzard up to 21 for 3 seconds of freeze. DON'T max blizzard, it's just a waste of sp because the damage increase is trashy.
• Now max puppet, its the last of your useful skills.
• Golden eagle is nearly useless because snipers can freeze, but you need 15 points in it for frostprey.
• Thrust is good for increasing your speed so you don't need speed equips, but not as important as everything else.
• Mortal blow is dumb but it has some passive use.

Build 2: Strafe first
Working on it

Build 3: Newties-specific
lvl 70: 1 blizzard
71-80: 30 strafe
81-87: 21 Golden Eagle
88-89: 5 mortal blow, 1 arrow eruption
90-99: 29 arrow eruption [MAX], 1 blizzard [2]
100-102: 9 blizzard [11]
103-105: 9 puppet
106-112: 11 puppet [MAX] 10 blizzard [21]
113-120: 9-15 Thirst, 9-15 mortal blow

Reasons:

• For Specifically going to Jr. Newties in the lvl 80s-90s, you are going to want primarily strafe first. For this build, I would recommend going to windraiders in your 70s because blizzard + iron arrow is a good combo there.
• Once you have strafe and enough hp, go to Jr. Newts and kill one at a time. Once you have a high level golden eagle with dependable stun chance, you can move to killing two at a time since eagle should stun one before it hits you. Don't go past lvl 21 for eagle though, it's already 95% stun chance.
• After Newts get slow, you'll probably move to Spirit Vikings so you'll want arrow eruption
• After this, just max everything that's left.

4th job:
Congrats on making it to 4th job! You've survived the long and lonesome road of a sniper. Now you get the rewards! Kinda. Marksman is a long end game road but super fun!

4th Job Skills:
Maple warrior - Standard, everyone gets this. Marksmen have tons of important skills to max first, so its usually saved until late. Its a good damage increase, but most other classes will have it anyway so they can just give it to you.

Sharp Eyes - The world famous archer buff, and it's amazing. You should put points into this almost immediately because it hugely increases your damage, but unlike bowmasters maxing it right away is not necessary and either pierce or snipe will better boost you personally.

Blind - Decreases enemy accuracy. Its okay, but not nearly as important as most other skills. Save this one for a while.

Hero's will - Also standard, useless unless you plan on doing Horntail.

Marksman boost - Increases xbow mastery and damage. Great for buffing your overall damage and even adds weapon attack, but usually putting points into actual attacking skills is more effective than points in this. Still good to have 1 point in it early on for 5% more mastery.

Frostprey - SO MUCH BETTER THAN EAGLE. Typically put 1 point in this at 120, as Articuno is an amazing tool for grinding since it freezes 4 freaking mobs at once. Plus it does decent damage.

Snipe - Part of your bossing damage along with strafe. Its pretty ineffective up to lvl 20, adding a very weak 200k to your DPM from 20 sp. At lvl 30 though, it can add a whoppin' 2.4 mil to your DPM, usually at least doubling your bossing damage if you put points in early on. Put 1 point in this at least, but more depends on your build and skill book availability.

Piercing arrow - your end-game mobbing skill. Charges for a second and then fires an incredibly powerful arrow through 6 mobs. This skill looks really cool and pulls huge numbers, but its not as good as you might think. For one, most other mobbing skills can attack like 6 times by the time you charge one pierce, and it functions very awkwardly in v62 (which the GMs have said they can't change, and I understand that). Despite that, by the time its max level it can take out even skeles in as low as 1-2 hits, even at low levels.

Dragon's Breath - knocks back monsters. This is super fun to use and can combo into piercing arrow (knockback --> blizzard --> charge a pierce). Put 1 point in it early on, then eventually you'll want to be able to hit more than 4 at a time.

Build 1: Party Buffer
Sharp Eyes First
Note: add Hero's will whenever you need if this is a build for HT
120: frostprey +1, sharp eyes +1, snipe + 1
121: Dragon's Breath +1, MM boost +1, sharp eyes + 1
122 - 128: Sharp Eyes [29]
129: SE [MAX], Snipe + 2
130 - 151: Snipe [MAX], MM boost [MAX], MW + 9
152 - 161: Piercing Arrow [MAX]
162 - 178: Frostprey [MAX], Dragon's Breath [21]
179+: Max everything else dum dum


Build 2: Bossing
Snipe first
120: Frostprey +1, Sharp Eyes + 2
121: MM Boost +1, D Breath +1, snipe +1
122 - 132: Snipe [MAX], SE +1
133 - 139: SE [MAX]
MM Boost [MAX]
Maple Warrior [9]
Frostprey [MAX]
Piercing arrow + Dragon's Breath [MAX]
Errything else

Build 3: Mobbing
Pierce First
120: Frostprey +1, Sharp Eyes + 2
121: MM Boost +1, D Breath +1, snipe +1
122 - 142: Piercing Arrow [MAX], SE [MAX], MM Boost +2
MM Boost [MAX]
Frostprey [MAX] + D breath [21] + Maple Warrior [9]
Snipe [MAX]
All da other stuff

There's a bunch of other builds you can do too, for example if you have a basically solely SE mule character then you might want MW or Snipe earlier to help out grinding/bossing party more. The important thing is to have a plan of what you want to grind on and how you want to go about leveling up skills beforehand.

Sorry got lazy at the end
More to be added

Spoiler: Training Guide!

Where to train!
lvls 1-10: maple island quests
10-20: quests, hhg, slimes, hpq

21-30: KPQ, the dungeon, quests

30-35: Ariant quests and mobs, ludi quests, teddies

35-40: LPQ, teddies, chronos, zombie lupins, quests
-Zombie lupins are good early on for an xbow, but they aren't nearly as good as they are for hunters

41-50: Platoon chronos, LPQ, Omega sector quests
-Platoon chronos have a great map and drop GFAs to help you get better damage
-LPQ can get you the broken glasses, which is a nice little addition to have
-Omega sector quests are a nice switch up to grinding and aren't bad at all for exp and potions

51-60: FoG, platoon chronos, master chronos, LMPQ, OPQ, Mu lung quests
-These are the first tough levels for a crossbowman, but with some motivation you can make it through no problem
-PQs are always good, but finding a party can be difficult
-Both of the Chronos drop great scrolls (gfa and helm for dex)
-Forest of Golem (FoG) can have high pot costs, but it is good exp and money especially if you have power knockback by now

61-70: FoG, OPQ/PPQ, Ghost Ship
-FoG exp starts to drop off now, but there are still pretty good drops found there
-PQs are still good for exp if u can find a party
-Ghost ship is great exp, early on you might be overwhelmed but try to find a training partner and use power knockback when u need to

71-80: WR, Ghost ship/mp3, Typhons
-Ghost ship solo isn't as fast anymore, but mp3 with a party is great especially as you get Arrow Eruption
-Windraiders in Lower Ascent are amazing exp as long as you don't have a problem getting to them. Again, try to find a party for even better training
-Typhons are high level but they can be very good exp later in these levels, if you went for Arrow Eruption first

81-90: WR, Gobies, Typhons, Vikings, Headless Horseman, Newties, Wolf Spiders
-Windraiders are still very good exp until about 85, make sure you do the exchange quest for their etc drop for some good money
-Gobies are good and are amazing for making money once you've got some levels in both strafe and eruption, but you need both to train here well
-Typhons are still good as an alternative until the mid 80s
- You can start at vikings later on, this training spot is stupidly good with one platform where you just spam arrow eruption. WARNING: if you start here now, you will be bored out of your skull later on but the exp is incredible
-You can start killing headless horsemans around now if you have the hp to handle it (and can find it). Need at least 3k hp to not die in one hit, though there are ways of using puppet at the crossroads to avoid damage.
-Newties are somewhat specific. They can be incredible exp early on, but make sure you have at least 2300 hp to survive their attacks (recommend more for nest golems). You also need to have strong strafe, and it is one of the only times Golden Eagle might be useful.
-Wolf Spiders are nice exp but high pot use, and they're much better if you can find a party. Good drops as well like Illbis and spear atk 30%

91-100: VIKINGS, Headless Horseman, Boss Quests, ToT, Nightshadows, Squids, Newties, Wolf Spiders
-Vikings are the best exp and probably meso you can get at these levels, but as I said it can get very boring quickly
- You should be more able to survive horseman now even without washing, and the exp is still amazing for the time it takes to kill one
-For a bit of a change, you can try doing some boss quests (ex: Eliza, Zeno) for surprisingly good exp and fame while you're at it
-ToT could be good with a party starting around now, but bring a big party
-Nightshadows are pretty good and they have some easy snipe spots with arrow eruption, netting u big money and exp
-Newties can still be decent, but only early on and again you need a specific build for it.
-Squids also exist. They can be good with freeze, arrow eruption, and puppet.

101-120: Vikings, headless horseman, Nightshadows, Himes
-Ugh. You know the drill. Exp from both of these gets worse, though if a bunch of horsemen are alive then killing them with a friend can still be quite fast.
-Nightshadows aren't great either, but doing the exchange quest might motivate you to level
-Himes aren't dependable, but if the boss isn't there and u have a nice party it'll make for great exp
-Though I wouldn't recommend leeching, crossbowmen can make pretty good money and leeching is so much faster compared to grinding at 110+ that if you are either bored or a competitive leveler, just go for it.

120-125: Job quests, headless horseman/ Bigfoot, himes, Netwies
-Before 4th job starts getting good. SE gives you a huge damage increase, and so to fill time for it to last more than 5 seconds you can do job quests and grind for your 4th job mount
-Headless horseman should be faster to solo now, but with a partner exp is still good
-You can help duo bigfoots with friends now thanks to SE, but soloing them is still slow
-Himes is still decent exp with a party
-With frostprey, you can almost afk at newties and just hold down strafe while you watch something else. The exp isn't stellar, but its good to just relax.
-I don't include Skeles because until piercing arrow gets to a high level, you will be almost useless there and it's pretty much just leech. (In terms of pure damage, Iron Arrow is stronger than Pierce until I think lvl 21+)

125-135: Skeles, Bigfoot, Anego, Papulatus, himes, ToT
-By now, where you train is very dependent upon which build you want to do, mainly either Buffer, Bosser, or Grinder
-Skeles and ToT are both good with parties and grinding with pierce, for Skeles I'd recommend having a bishop (though unfortunately most don't want a MM)
-Bigfoot, Pap, and Anego are going to be your main exp if you want to be a bosser, usually going the route of snipe/SE first. Pap is reliable but can be very dangerous on 2nd body, bigfoots in Forgotten Path are pretty easy to kill (but Twisted Path ones are a nightmare solo) and Anego is amazing with a party.
-If you are a buffer, meaning you max SE first for parties, bossing with someone (especially a nightlord) will help you level hella fast since you'll be able to mow down bigfoots

135+: Skeles, Bigfoot, Anego, Papulatus, himes, ToT, Zarms
-Mostly the same, but as you get higher level the bossing path begins to get faster (assuming bosses are spawned...). However, this is highly reliant on snipe 30. With it, you can start soloing anego and bigfoots very quickly
-by 135, you will start leeching off of zakum arms, so grinding at them and Zakum in general will net much better exp for you.

Spoiler: MORE THINGS

Spoiler: Equip guide!

Equips for Xbows are essentially the same as for bowmasters, you just need 5 less str to wear xbows.

In this guide, I'll mostly just talk about end game equips since that's what you'll be dumping the most money into.

Spoiler: HP WASHING

Q: Should you wash?
A: Yes