I have a clan member who is interested in trying an archer build on a PVP server. I told her that most folks do not do that currently but she wants to try anyway.
I have no idea if it is currently viable or not.
Any suggestions?
What kind of PvP server? That can determine a lot of what you can do with a bow. Official? If private, are mounts allowed? Is it one of those PvP arena servers?
Good point. Just a normal Official PVP server.
Stat wise there only two things I’d say are required. ACC 50 and GRT 20. I’ve seen some ACC 40 builds but I don’t find them that impressive. The rest of the points she can place however she likes, depending on her play style. I prioritize weapon penetration with mods/oils.
I would suggest getting used to horses, they are an archers greatest asset. Spec them for ACC otherwise they are hard to hit things on.
Here’s a few strats, your mileage may vary.
Knocking a mountless enemy with a full charged heavy or by running them over with your horse gives you free shots. I think pets>thralls for archers (especially mounted). If you knock an enemy a pet pounce attack can deal big damage and bleed them leaving them at a big disadvantage or dead. Sabers have the highest pounce damage but don’t bleed on basic attacks - jungleclaws do less pounce but do aoe bleeds on basics making them king for PvE/farming or fights against multiple opponents.
Mount vs mount - use scout saddles to outrun everyone you can, witchfire arrows cause bleed which can’t be cured while mounted. Use them to force dismounts.
Bow is the king of siege. Poison orb arrows/set arrows for thrall killing. There’s a bow that reduces gauntlet durability instead of using arrows to fire. Grass gloves + that bow + 1 explosive arrow to siege for cheap.
Creativity is your best friend with the bow. In one fight against a group built on an apex base I camped their elevators and used knockdown from heavy shots to send their reinforcements falling to their deaths while clan mates sieged from below. Smoke arrows, healing arrows, etc all can have uses if you can be clever.
My advice to her would be run from any fights she doesn’t choose. Stealth, range, and speed are her way to play. Best of luck out there, may her arrows always fly true! 
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You need around 40-60 ACC on the horse to really make a difference.
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It is me when raiding 
Armor stygian raider epic, acc+10 (T4 armorer armor)
star metal bow with acid arrows
star metal bow with poison arrows
Voidforge Bow (get it on siptah) dam +40 pen +20 (T4 carpenter damage + Master Weapon Fitting +5+12) + star metal arrows
acc potion +5, acc warpaint +3
stats +0 +8 +30 +50 +30 +22 +0
Then add poison weapons from siptah, and you can carry ressources for 50 bombs.
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Thanks all
Great advice
Archer builds in PVP don’t get much respect. I think it’s because most PVPers like their clan to be on the front lines and follow the meta.
That said, bows are so versatile. It can poison, explode, knock out, high damage, change your flat tire, etc. Your friend should still learn the meta, but having a bow is fantastic. Poison and Set arrows will be her best friend.
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Yeah just was interesting when she mentioned a strong interest in an archer build and was asking me whether or not it was viable. I had no answer.
Based on these inputs seems like there is some potential (especially as part of a team).
How do you give the horse accuracy? Certain foods?
There was a clan on my server that had 1 person on a horse shooting poison arrows into the fight. It was effective, but easy to shut down once you found her or put on a gas mask.
What does accuracy for a horse even do?
I don’t play in Siptah but I’m fairly sure that this was changed and the bow lost its special ability because there was some exploit
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I heard somewhere it gives the rider more accuracy which is weird, if true
Seeds for best chance at + ACC, Jack of all trade type perks are the only ones that boost ACC for horses unfortunately.
While standing still you have normal accuracy, while moving you have a “bloom” effect that can throw your shots off mark. The greater the horses ACC the less bloom effect. @Taemien may be right about needing a lot of It to make a numerical difference, but from my own experience I feel the difference on one trained in ACC and one not.
I haven’t sieged a place in a bit, took a break to help a friend on a private server build something grand. If that’s true that is a good thing, it was broken. I checked the wiki, but they still have the voidforge bow listed as the old effect.
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I seem to get Jack of All Trades ones a lot from giving horses vines to eat, but that could just be luck.
Also now I’m mourning my last horse’s death, all three perks were of that kind! Got killed by a bomb jar when someone blew open my door last week. He would have been worth a fortune to a good horse archer (not me).
Seeds, like regular seeds increases the Accuracy growth chance by 14%. But you can only reliably raise it by 20pts total (assuming you’re lucky enough). Which isn’t going to be enough to see a real difference.
Two things. It decreases the maximum cone of fire when using a bow on the mount. It also quickens how fast it tightens up when you stop.
But like I said, you need ALOT to see an actual difference.
Not planning on switching to a specialized build, but this thread is giving me a lot of ideas on how to kit out when I do need to go ranged.
Is there any specific saddle that works with ranged riding better?
Scout Saddle. Pretty much goes with everything.