Monsters and Memories Archer Guide

01The Archer at a Glance

The Archer is the mobile ranged marksman of Monsters and Memories — a leather-wearing bow specialist who fights with physical skill, crafted specialty arrows and tinkered traps rather than magic. You shoot while you move, leap out of danger, net and snare anything that closes in, and deliver heavy single-target damage from the back line.

The official class page calls the Archer a “High-Mobility Marksman Tinkerer” and describes it as “physical ranged DPS with no magic.” The class rewards preparation: the arrows, traps and stance you bring into a fight matter as much as the buttons you press in it.

02Is the Archer Right for You?

The Archer is a solid first class for players who want to deal damage and stay out of the thick of melee. You don’t need to learn mana management, but you do need to learn range, threat and movement: stay far enough back, let the tank hold the mob, and have an escape ready when something turns on you. Archers can find it hard to adventure alone, so plan on grouping.

03Choosing Your Race

Six races can be Archers at Early Access. Your class adds +2 STR, +4 DEX and +2 AGI to your race’s base stats, and you get 10 bonus points to spend at creation. Starting values before bonus points:

Spending your 10 bonus points

Archers want Dexterity first, then Agility, Strength and Stamina. Your class bonus already covers DEX well, so bonus points are best used to round out your weaker stats.

• Recommended for most players:+4 DEX / +3 STA / +3 STR. More damage, and enough health to survive the mob that slips past your tank.
• Wood Elves and Deep Elves start low on STA — put 5 there.
• Ogres already have STR and STA to spare; put most of your points into DEX and AGI.
• Don’t spend anything on INT, WIS or CHA. Archers use no magic.

High Elves are listed as a future Archer race on the official site but aren’t playable at Early Access.

04Recommended Traits

You pick one trait from each of four categories at creation (see the New Player Guide for the full lists). For an Archer:

05Getting Started

Your starter quest

Every Archer begins with a class starter quest that teaches the basics and hands out your first gear. For the full step-by-step walkthrough, with every NPC, location and reward, see our Archer Starter Quest Guide. Individual quest pages: Archer Starter Quest (Night Harbor) · Archer Starter Quest (Faelindral).

Where to buy abilities

• Class abilities are bought from your class vendor in your starting city. Ask a guard for directions if you can’t find it.
• Traps other than Caltrops come from Tinkering schematics rather than the vendor, and need the trap in your bags to use.
• Underdocks starts (Goblins, Deep Elves, and some Humans and Ogres): ask a guard for the Archer trainer, and see our Underdocks and Ail’Vorith pages. Boats connect the Underdocks with Night Harbor.

06Your Toolkit

Archer abilities come in lines: you learn an ability, then buy stronger ranks roughly every ten levels. Levels shown are when the first rank (and each upgrade) becomes available. Most shots need a bow and arrows. You also gain Dual Wield at level 10 and Double Attack at 15 for the times you end up in melee.

07Abilities to Prioritize, Levels 1–28

You won’t always be able to afford every ability as soon as it unlocks. This is the order that matters most for a new Archer:

Past level 28, the pattern continues: upgrade Quick Shot and Piercing Shot first, then Barbed Arrow and Point Blank, then Strafing Barrage and Splintering Shot. Anticipate (30) and Smoke Bomb Arrow (34) are the big utility milestones.

08Playing in a Group

In a group you’re the back-line damage and the problem-solver: pile damage on the kill target, stop runners and casters, and keep enemies off your healer.

Before the pull

• Pick your stance: Marksman (from 24) when you’ll be standing still behind a solid tank, Skirmisher when the fight will move around.
• Check your quiver: regular arrows, plus Net Arrows, Pitch-Wrapped Arrows and Smoke Bomb Arrows for your specialty shots.
• Lay an Alarm Trap on the approach you’re not watching, or an Immobilizing Trap where adds usually come from.
• Find high ground if you can. Your High Ground trait adds bow damage when you’re above your target.

During the fight

1. Let the tank build aggroGive the tank a few seconds before you open up. Point Blank and Barbed Arrow are good low-threat openers.
2. Stack your damageKeep Barbed Arrow bleeding, fire Quick Shot on cooldown, and use Piercing Shot for your heavy hits. Put Exposing Shot on named mobs for the whole group.
3. Stop the healers and castersPiercing Shot cuts incoming healing by 50%. Interrupting Shot and Net Shot stop casts.
4. Control the runners and addsSnaring Shot or Net Shot on anything fleeing at low health. Piercing Shot rolls its damage twice below 20% health, so finish runners with it.
5. Drop threat when it turns on youDisengagement leaps you away and sheds threat. Relocate (26) and Anticipate (30) buy more time. Don’t run toward your healer with a mob on you.

09Soloing and Kiting

Archers are one of the harder classes to solo, but good movement goes a long way.

• Use Skirmisher: the developers call it the Archer’s primary solo stance — faster movement, faster casts and a shorter Strafing Barrage cooldown.
• Kite, don’t trade blows: snare the mob, then fire Strafing Barrage while backing away. Caltrops and an Immobilizing Trap between you and the mob buy extra distance.
• Open big: Sniper’s Blind before your first Quick Shot for extra damage, then follow with Piercing Shot.
• Reset when it goes wrong: Net Shot to pin the mob, Disengagement to leap away, and Relocate to vanish briefly.
• Pick easy targets: mobs that con blue or white, away from others. Social mobs that bring friends are hard to kite.
• Mind your ammo: kiting burns arrows fast. Salvage Arrows after every fight and restock often.

10Leveling Path

A suggested route for an Archer. You’ll level fastest in groups, so aim for dungeons over open-field grinding whenever you can find a party.

See Where to Level in the New Player Guide for more spots, and each zone page for maps and named mobs.

11Gear to Look For

Your bow matters more than any other item: nearly every Archer ability deals a percentage of weapon damage, so compare damage against delay (a lower delay fires faster). After that, stack Dexterity and Agility, then Strength and Stamina. Wear leather, and don’t neglect AC and HP — you’ll take a hit or two whenever a mob slips past the tank.

Early gear (roughly levels 1–16)

Upgrades for later

Stats from our item database. Item levels aren’t published, so “early” is based on where they drop. Check that an item is usable by Archers before you chase it, and browse the database for more DEX/AGI leather and bows.

12Stances, Arrows and Traps

Stances

• Skirmisher (4): +5% movement speed, 20% shorter Strafing Barrage cooldown and 20% faster cast times on every ability. Your default while leveling and soloing.
• Marksman (24): more damage on Piercing Shot and Splintering Shot, and a chance for your ranged attacks and abilities to land critical hits. Best when you can stand still.
• Both persist until you cancel them, so you only swap when the fight calls for it.

Arrows and specialty arrowheads

• Regular arrows go in your ammo slot; most shots need them. Salvage Arrows recovers arrows from nearby corpses.
• Specialty arrows are crafted with Fletching and kept in your quiver — you don’t need to equip them. Net Shot needs Net Arrows, Flare needs Pitch-Wrapped Arrows, and Smoke Bomb Arrow needs its own crafted arrow.
• Flare does more than light the way: it reveals invisible enemies, is one of only two tools that can negate a Rogue’s Stealth, and detonates your Oil Trap.

Traps

• Caltrops (12) is learned from the vendor; the other traps come from Tinkering schematics.
• Trap abilities need the trap in your bags as a reagent, but only have a 5% chance to consume it, so one trap lasts a long time.
• Alarm Trap warns you when something enters an area (no damage or threat). Oil Trap stays put until you detonate it with Flare. Immobilizing Trap roots the first target for 20 seconds and is now harder to break with damage. Poison Gas Trap deals poison damage in a tight area.

13Common Archer Mistakes

• Opening too hard, too early. Let the tank build threat before your big shots.
• Standing too close. Keep your distance; Point Blank is for emergencies and openers, not a place to live.
• Running out of arrows. Salvage after fights and restock every trip to town.
• Forgetting your stance. Skirmisher while moving, Marksman when standing still.
• Ignoring the healers. Piercing Shot’s 50% healing reduction wins fights against casters that heal.
• Kiting blind. Check the ground behind you before you back up.
• Skipping your tradeskills. Fletching and Tinkering keep your specialty arrows and traps flowing.

14Archer FAQ