About Archers in FFXIV: ARR
Archers are one of the Disciples of War classes found in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. This class relies on bows as their weapon of choice. They are best suited for a ranged DPS role because they can deal massive amounts of damage through various projectile-based attacks using a bow. This makes them perfect for kiting enemies.
During the final beta phases and the beginning of FFXIV: ARRs launch the Archer / Bard were the highest sources of DPS in the game. Many players chose this class for running dungeons due to its high-damage attacks. It is, however, expected that the Archer class will end up receiving a nerf in a future update to balance it with other FFXIV classes.
FFXIV Archer Guide
To become an Archer you’ll either have to select it as your starting class during the character creation process or get your character to level 10 and go to the Archers Guild, called Quivers Hold, which is located on the far East side of New Gridania.
NOTES: Archers rely heavily on the dexterity stat which contributes to their overall damage output as well as their ability to block incoming enemy attacks. Once at level 30 in Archer and level 15 in Pugilist players can choose to take on the Bard job, the sub-class of the Archer.
Wanna hit level 50 faster? Wanna grab the best equipment ASAP? Wanna know what the best skill rotations are? Then you’ll definitely want to check out this insane FFXIV guide that includes full 1-50 leveling guides for every class, tips & tricks for getting tons of gil & top tier gear quick, awesome builds, and more!
Skills of the Archer
The majority of the skills that are accessible to the Archer are designed to increase the overall DPS the class can deal from afar. But there are a few other interesting skills, too.
Some of the Archers skills apply various effects on enemies such as blinds & poisons. Other skills are group buffs that give your party boosts to speed. And a couple skills provide your character with AoE attacks.
Here is the complete list of Archer skills:
- Heavy Shot
- Straight Shot
- Raging Strikes
- Venomous Bite
- Miser’s End
- Shadowbind
- Bloodletter
- Repelling Shot
- Quick Knock
- Swiftsong
- Hawk’s Eye
- Windbite
- Quelling Strikes
- Barrage
- Blunt Arrow
- Flaming Arrow
- Wide Volley
Want to power through levels so you can unlock all the Archer abilities? Be sure to read through our leveling guide for FFXIV to learn how to speed things up.
Traits of the Archer
All traits are essentially passive skills that are applied to your player. The Archer has a plethora of traits that perform a number of tasks such as improve your overall damage, increase your chances of getting a crit hit, increase your dexterity (an important stat for Archers), and even shorten cast times on certain actions.
Here is the complete list of Archer traits:
- Heavier Shot
- Enhanced Dexterity
- Enhanced Dexterity II
- Increased Action Damage
- Enhanced Venomous Bite
- Enhanced Raging Strike
- Enhanced Dexterity III
- Enhanced Quick Knock
- Increased Action Damage II
- Enhanced Barrage
- River of Blood
Race & Craft Recommendations
If you want to get the most out of the Archer class you’ll need to pick a race and crafting profession that compliment the class stats and capabilities.
When choosing one of the races to play you’ll want to find one that has the highest dexterity starting stat. For that reason you should choose the Wildwood Elezen race since it starts off with a 23 base stat for dexterity.
For crafting you always want to choose professions that are most useful to the class. In this case you’ll probably want to pick Carpentry or Leatherworking since as a Carpenter you’ll be able to craft the bows your Archer needs for weapons and as a Leatherworker you’ll be able to create light-weight, leather-based armors that your character will wear.
Archer Quests
As an Archer you’ll be given various quests by NPCs located in Quivers Hold, the Archers Guild in New Gridania.
The first few quests are aimed at helping you become acquainted with using your bow and learning the different abilities of the Archer. Later on you’ll basically just be going back to these NPCs to acquire quests that’ll provide you with new skills for your class.
Here is the full list of Archer quests:
- Way of the Archer (level 1)
- My First Bow (level 1)
- A Matter or Perspective (level 5)
- Training with Leih (level 10)
- Violators Will Be Shot (level 15)
- To Catch a Poacher (level 20)
- Homecoming (level 25)
- A Song of Bards and Bowmen (level 30)
- The One that Got Away (level 30)
With the exception of the first quest, Way of the Archer, all of these quests will be issued to you by Luciane, the guildmaster of the Archers Guild. The 1st quest is given to your player by the guild receptionist, Athelyna, instead.
NOTE: We are currently testing different Archer builds and will post the best ones for PvE, dungeons, etc on this page once we have concluded our tests!
Wanna hit level 50 faster? Wanna grab the best equipment ASAP? Wanna know what the best skill rotations are? Then you’ll definitely want to check out this insane FFXIV guide that includes full 1-50 leveling guides for every class, tips & tricks for getting tons of gil & top tier gear quick, awesome builds, and more!
Other Class Guides: Arcanist | Conjurer | Gladiator | Lancer | Marauder | Pugilist | Rogue | Thaumaturge