User talk:GiaGunn

Today we're going to discuss the Sniper class and its role during WoE. We'll be going over the Sniper Pros and Cons and how to effectively capitalize on Sniper strengths to contribute to a teamfight. If you're expecting a PvP centric guide this Guide isn't for you!

PROS

Snipers possess quite a bit of utility over other ranged classes such as Gunslingers, who have a considerably higher damage output, but lack durability and overall utility for the party. Being able to stall enemies with Traps, inflict status with Arrow Shower, and provide your party with the valuable buff Wind Walk makes you valuable for stalling an enemy, and helping your allies move faster.

Range. Don't neglect the range that you have over the vast majority of classes, and do keep it in mind. By staying at max range and assaulting key targets, you can become a constant threat to defenders, or even deterring attackers if they choose to approach out of position. Snipers can kite most classes quite well.

Economical for newer players, even though the class is difficult. You don't need expensive cards or gear to function like many other classes, arrows are unlimited, and you don't really need many consumables; making this class very newbie friendly.

Snipers can be a constant threat to defenders if the enemies choose not to come after you, and coming after you means there's less enemies fighting in the real battle wasting time chasing you. At the same time, when left alone, a Sniper can be a major threat to enemies who cannot deal with your range. Snipers have almost any element at their disposal. Being able to use Holy, Poison and Ghost arrows on demand is a huge advantage, and you don't give up anything to do this unlike many melee classes who are forced into using elemental converters or elemental weapons. Use this to your advantage to guarantee you're always dealing the best damage you can deal, and punish enemies who attempt to null it.

CONS

Snipers are very squishy. As with 2-handed classes, you'll quickly notice that making mistakes will often land you in situations that'll leave you...dead. When I mention earlier that you have that range advantage over most classes, it means that USING this advantage is a serious necessity. You must be mindful of this if you wish to play the class effectively.

Snipers are very vulnerable to magic of any kind. Using a Bow means giving up a shield (GTB). High Wizards and Professors will make your life difficult, and if not kept at bay by yourself and your allies very early in a skirmish, will easily get out of control and either whittle you down and compromise your defense (High Wizard spamming Ganbantein and AoEs) or burst you down (Professor). The bright side is that Wind Walk will allow you to outmaneuver these classes but a properly used Box of Thunder, or Mount Rush ,and Web will usually be the end of you, so be careful.

You can kite most classes to oblivion, but you can't exactly kite everyone: Lord Knights can make your life difficult. PecoPecos and players that utilize Mounts in castle will make your kiting game difficult. Take care to make approaching inconvenient for them by placing traps and keeping your distance. Remember, just because you're geared for PvM DOES NOT mean you're ready for WoE. Snipers have a stigma for being a very easy go-to class for people starting out, but it can be easy to feed the enemy guild with poor positioning and being unprepared. You must not suffer from tunnel vision, you must have many swaps, and some of these are shields or you will get punished very easily.

EQUIPMENT

This section will focus on how to equip your Sniper, whether you're a week old in the server or a veteran, there will be something below for everyone. I've separated the gears to budget and top tier categories based on resources and difficulty.

HEADGEAR

This section will focus on headgear. Now, keep in mind that a typical WoE build will NOT require the use of Bloody Knight Cards. This means that all of your slots can be used for either MDEF, elemental resistance, or utility cards. Keep the Bloody Knight cards for PVM.

Budget

Lord Kaho's Horn [4] = Questable and nothing beats having some juicy Luk and Mdef to bolster your survivability. Otherwise, Black Helm and Wings of Equality work just as well. Note: Ideally +10 refine on these gears are the best option, however +4 will also work until you earn enough money to buy some better refined gear.

Top Tier

Dowry Hat [3] = Best in slot. The added stats and defensive bonuses of this set are the best for Long Range classes. You can quest these or buy them from players (or Cash Shop).

Headgear Cards

Elemental Resistance Boosters - Leib Olmai = 10% Fire resist / Leaf Cat = 10% Water resist / Giant Hornet = 10% Wind resist / Giearth = 15% Earth - resist / Permeter = 15% Shadow/Undead resist. Mix and match these as you please to make up for your lack of a shield --especially if you are finding that you are dying to a particular thing (such as Storm Gust, or Firebolt Prof etc.)

Status Immune Cards: Orc Hero for Stun Resist, Nightmare for Sleep Resist, Marduk for Silence Resist, Giearth for Confusion resist, Evil Snake Lord for Curse/Blind Resist. The hard CC's resists are a must to have in your headgear. Orc Hero and Nightmare --every other status is treatable with Green Pots/Royal Jelly/Panacea. Having the other cards in some headgear swaps are useful if the enemy is using a particular status that you find that you cannot deal with. Maya Purple Card: This is utility-based, and actually ideal on a Sniper who doesn't really want to bother with too much STR to carry Boxes of Sunlight. Always having vision of the hidden can be very beneficial due to your superior range to sound the alarm on sneaky intruders with Detect or Arrow Shower.

Tips & Tricks

Gibbet Card: If you want to run MDEF instead, this is your best bet; keep in mind however that your HG of choice MUST be +5 or below.

ARMOR

Budget

+0/+4 Glittering Jacket [1]: This is probably the best choice when you're new. You get +5 Mdef which adds to your overall survivability. It's a bit of a pain to get but Kiel isn't hardcore camped compared to other MVPs so def worth grabbing if you can.

+0/+4 Tights [1]: Same as above, but a bit more offensively focused. It's the go-to for Archer classes with the added +1 Dex and relatively easy to get (mob drops or at @go market).

Elemental Armors

You can mix and match any of these Armors to provide you with some more survivability especially if the enemy is heavy on AOE mage spells. Elemental armors allow you to slot a Marc Card AND endow yourself with a specific element. Keep in mind that using Elemental Armors negate your gear set effects. Earth and Water armors are dropped by mobs in Unholy Path - the rest are available via mobs in game.

Top Tier

+0/+10 Tannin Armor [1]: This is probably something you're going to want to get yesterday. It's a set armour that provides you VIT +10, LUK +15, DEX +20, AGI +15, MDEF +9, Max HP +7%, Max SP +5%, DEF +2, CRIT +10, ATK +3%, FLEE +40, Max HP +2000. This Armor gives you damage and survivability all in one. This set allows you to pick off stragglers and survive in some extensive team fights.

Armor Cards

Marc Card: I can't stress this enough. THIS IS THE CARD THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE ON 99.9% OF THE TIME. A Frozen Sniper is a useless Sniper. A Frozen Sniper is a dead Sniper. You might as well @warp or Butterfly Wing out of the castle at this point. There are a lot of sources for Freeze - whether it is Storm Gust or a Clown's Frost Joke. Good guilds will utilize all of these to punish those who think they can get away with putting on a Ghostring. If you keep your distance, skills such as Asura or Acid Demonstration will not be hitting you. Please Please Please Please main an Unfrozen armor.

Armor Cards:
Please note that some of these swaps are SITUATIONAL (i.e who you are facing during GvGs or Precasts).

Found yourself facing a Creator/LK/SinX alone in the corner of a Castle? No risk of Freezing? OK - try these cards.... Ghostring Card: An option against those pesky Creators and Paladins who like to burn and poke people. Sacrifice isn't a joke and neither is Asura. Angeling Card: Good overall Elemental Resistance -however, if they swap to a Shadow Element, say hello to the Shadow Realm. Evil Druid Card: Situational, but dangerous. You can avoid being Frozen and Stone Cursed/Cursed. Many LKs and enemy Snipers and Gunslingers use Holy element; the choice is yours whether the benefits of this outweigh the consequences.

GARMENTS

+0/+5 Ragamuffin Muffler: Use this to get some extra MDEF if you're using an MDEF build. +0/+10 Muffler [1]: Pretty straightforward here. What you'll want is a Noxious Card for Neutral Resist as well as some Long Range Resist. Ideally you will have multiple Muffler swaps with elemental resistance (listed below).

Garment Cards

Elemental Resistance Cards: Jakk Card = 30% Fire resist / Marse Card = 30% Water resist / Dustiness = 30% Wind resist / Hode Card = 30% Earth resist / Marionette Card = 30% Ghost resist / Isis Card = 30% Shadow resist / Myst Card = 30% Poison resist / Raydric Card = 20%. Mix and match these to survive different scenarios. Elemental resistance should be what a Sniper strives for, because you need to make up for your lack of a shield.

If you can get Event Resist Cards they are even better with an additional 5% resist vs their respective elements and +45 Hit.

WEAPON

Budget

+10 Composite Bow [4]: There isn't much to say when it comes to weapons, a +10 Composite bow is fairly easy to hunt and refine. It offers 4 slots and decent damage at +10. +4-+10 Seeker [4]: Offers +15 Dex and available for 60m (or cheaper with Merchant Discount) @go Market. Better yet, you can find some better deals at @go 1 from the vendors.

Top Tier

+10 Soul Seeker: Honestly, pretty much the same as the Seeker with the exception that it gives you +10 Vit and +5 Luk. Very negligible if you are on a budget. However, most people have a +10 Soul Seeker as you can donate for +10s fairly easily. If you're a sucker for +5 Luk stat, this is the Barely Best in Slot.

Fortune Sword: Yes, you will need this. When walking into a dangerous Emp room, it might be wise to swap to Fortune Sword + a Cranial/GTB Shield. Why? People camp the entrance, and bows provide pretty lousy resistance overall. +20 Perfect Dodge will still help with the various Assassin Crosses camping portal. In order to survive the shit show that'll be going on in the doorway, put this on until you can find a safe place where surviving allies have grouped up to start using your Bow and then quick swap. Bows are your main weapon, but you can't exactly snipe people if you died during the rush. There is also no point in DSing in the middle of an enemy team; please don't be that guy! Focus on regrouping inside your allies or repositioning to a better (safer) space.

Weapon Cards

Hydra Card and Skel Worker Card: Ideall you will want 3x Hydra Cards and 1x Skel Worker. Top Tier: Event Hydra Cards: Best in Slot, an added 5% Demi Human damage and +10 Hit per card. Status Cards: Mix and match your bow with the various 5% chance to cause *status* when attacking. You really can't go wrong here as you'll be able to tell fairly quickly which resist cards your enemies are using and which ones they aren't. Whichever they aren't resisting, use that cards.

SHIELDS

Snipers are bow users, but having a few shields to swap to is crucial. If you practise having this on your hotkey, you'll be able to swap to Fortune Sword + Shield and back to a bow again rather easily. Guard and Buckler is the way to go, with Tharas in the former and GTB in the latter.

+4-+10 Guard/Buckler [1]

Shield Cards

Thara Card and Golden Thief Bug are the must haves for WoE.

SHOES

Sleipnir: Best Shoes in Game so far, they are very solid. This is because the Slepnir still has the superior stats when it comes to defences such as your MDEF and HP/SP. The added movement speed is also a nice boost.

ACCESSORIES

Budget

Rosary [1]: Best slotted Budget Accessory in game. +3 Mdef and +1 Luk - adds some survivability and some Luk (perfect dodge is never a bad thing).

Top Tier

Dex Ring of Vigor [1]: Still the best rings for WoE. Say what you want, the other Rings are just for PvM at this point. This adds Dex +5 and +2 Mdef which again gives your squishy class more survivability. Haste adds movement speed which won't stack with your WW buffs (movement speed cap) and the Reaping rings offer crit rate but surviving/utility is what makes the sniper class shine during WoE.

Accessory Cards

Alligator Card: Easy to get, and offers you some durability. I'd recommend working a few of these into your build or having them as swaps if you are the ONLY Sniper/Trapper for your guild and need to survive.

Exile Cards: +35 Dex - great damage boosters especially if you slot them in your Dex Rings.

Smokie Card: A crucial swap. Gives you Level 1 Hide which is more than enough to escape AOEs or being targeted even for a moment. It can mean the difference between life and death so incorporate this into your build.

BUILD SPREAD

I'm sure that most of you are aware of a Sniper's basic stats, so I won't delve into too much here, but I'll advise on the stats to help you along should you need any.

STR: Won't need much of this unless you struggle with carrying Yggs and pots. Otherwise leave this at 1 and quest some gym passes for yourself. AGI: Get enough to hit 195 ASPD WITHOUT your sniper buffs. Snipers are open to Quagmire as they can't main GTB. Quagmire will remove your buffs. Ideally, enough stats to hit 195 ASPD without buffs and add +25 agi to take into account Quagmire. You'll also want to add some more agi if you get Slow Graced. DEX: Max this for damage output. Main stat dump. VIT: Now, you can play a little dangerously here. If you add some Vit you will be able to survive more stray Magic attacks. However, Investigate and Acid Demonstration will HURT. Coordinate with your guild if you are tanky enough with your resists to run a low Vit or if you are going to be Devo'd and you can adjust Vit accordingly. INT: Not a bad stat to invest in if you are struggling with SP. Otherwise stick to blue pots. LUK: Put all remaining stats in here. Once Dex is maxed and your ASPD is sorted out. LUk will increase your crit rate especially hitting high flee targets --it will also help you avoid getting hit by crit attacks via Snipers/GS/SinX.

BASIC CONSUMABLES

Yggdrasil Seeds: Long delay cooldown but can bring you from 1 health to full when used.

Blue Pots: Needed for SP. Slight delay cooldown.

Panacea: Remove curse and status inflictions (except hard status). Slight delay cooldown.

Green Pot: Remove status (except Curse and hard status). No cooldown.

The combinations of course are not limited to this, and you should experiment with consumabls to suit your situation at that given time for which items to stock up on.

Stock up on various Arrow Elements for damage and Status Arrows. Arrows are infinite so having just 1 in your inventory is enough.

WOE ROLE

On the offensive, you should concentrate on sticking near the back of skirmishes and trapping up the flag-in to delay reinforcements from arriving whenever you reach the Emp room and start setting up. You can also Arrow Shower enemy traps as well as Spring Trap to remove traps from range. Detect/Arrow Shower are pretty important skills for revealing Cloaked and Chase walked Enemies that are trying to get into your stack.

On the defensive, you want to keep traps up (Level 1 Ankle Snares have the longest duration) and keeping your distance. Remember, once you die your traps disappear!! Ganbantien destroys traps - so try to trap with some space in between so one Ganbantien doesn't destroy multiple traps. Kite back and trap if you are being pushed back -- swap to a shield with GTB/Thara and focus on delaying the enemy!!

KEY DUTIES TO REMEMBER

Detect key targets such as E-Callers who attempt to divert pressure from themselves by spamming Cloaking/Hide/Chasewalk. Never let E-Callers have a stress free moment. Detect them constantly, Arrow Shower status, stall them with Traps. Make an enemy's life hell, even if it means you die in the process. A dead enemy breaker/ecaller means your Emperium is much safer.

When attacking a castle, trap up the enemy's flag-in region with a designated team to kill off people trying to enter again. Trap up the entire walkway with Ankle Snares. Your auto attacks are a lot stronger than you think! There is a delay on Double Strafe and Sharpshoot. Sometimes its better to just auto attack targets from afar than getting in range to Double Strafe/Sharpshoot.

CONCLUSION

This guide should serve as a starter base to help new Sniper players get some guidance for WoE. There may also be some things that more experienced Snipers can take away. Remember, you aren't just there to kill people --Sniper's are far more valuable for the utility they provide to their team.