User:Brave Sir Andrew tactics

I'll Add my personal tactics here. Currently the archer section is written very generally, I guess I'll modify that so it's more useful and shorter.

I'll work on knight next...

The Archer class

The archer has different tactics and loadouts depending on the game mode and the enemy's preference of classes (heavy classes or lighter ones).             
If the enemy has lots of knights, no point in choosing the short bow with Broadhead Arrows. You won't do any damage. After you join a server, you should check the scoreboard for what the enemy consists of, then choose your loadout. Archers uses are limited, because they don't do quick damage. Therefore on objective style maps they tend to be not so effective. They are more effective on Last man standing mode, where each kill counts and there is plenty of time.

Stats In context

Stats-wise, the archer is very similar to man at arms. He differs slighty in having less armor, slighty less backpedaling and strafe speed, and NO dodge. Otherwise he is the same, which means he should actually be able to fight in close combat too. Just as the Man at arms, he can't survive many hits: 2 hits from the bigger weapons will make him dead. Therefore as an archer you should always try to evade 1 vs 2 fights. Using only the short weapons available, you can't fight multiple enemies as well as a longsword or polearm can.              

Take note though that you are not a man at arms. You can easily be 1 hit by the biggest weapons, crossbows and the warbow. The Man at arms can take a hit from those with about 10% health left. The archer's margin of error is much smaller than the other classes.

Primary Weapons Use

The Archer has 3 main types of weapons he can choose from: crossbow, bow, and javelin. Each of the weapon types vary enough to require different playstyles. The difference between them is slower reload speed = More damage and projectile speed VS Faster reload = Less damage and projectile speed.

Crossbows

You can choose between 3 types of crossbows. The main difference between them being slower reload speed with more damage and bolt speed, compared to a faster reload with less damage and bolt speed.            
The first standard crossbow is a good all around: lots of damage and it reloads pretty fast. One-shot kills archers if you hit them in the chest.            
The light crossbow loads fast, but is hard to use effectively because it doesn't do enough damage to one-shot archers without headshots.            
Heavy crossbow: slow reload, but can one-shot archers and man at arms alike to the chest. It's very good for hit and run tactics, but clearly lacks in rate of fire because of its insanely slow reload. In general, it's a good idea to get close when using crossbows, because you only have one shot before a slow reload. Get closer, shoot, then run to safety and reload.

Bows

You can choose between 3 types of bows. Each bow is very different.

The initial bow is pretty balanced, moderate in both speed and damage. It's good for changing styles: attacking, defending, and retreating. It does not however, excel at any of them.

Shortbow is fast shooting with low damage. Good for firing an arrow while on the move. You can stay pretty close to your teammates and cancel the enemies strikes and annoy them. Not much of a killing weapon, but a good support weapon.

The warbow has high damage and a low rate of fire. It is best for shooting at targets far away. You can change to broadhead arrows to one-shot archers to the chest which is practical, but makes you less effective against knights and vanguards. A good bow for killing the enemy, but you have to stay far away from the frontlines to avoid being attacked while you wind up the bow, and that is a defining factor in the bow's use.

Javelins

Very high damage throwing spears, that's the javelin: good for hurling at unprotected/unknowning enemies. It can kill archers and man at arms with one hit to the torso. They are hard to hit the enemy with due to slow windup and a heavy arc when thrown.

My favorite loadouts are:

Warbow with broadhead arrows or heavy crossbow. Then secondary shortsword normally or cudgel if there are many enemy knights.

Secondary Weapons Use

Of all of the secondary weapons for the archer, the best to choose from are the Shortsword and the Cudgel. Both are great weapons. They are fast, and have decent range and damage. The daggers are useful if you wish to attack the enemy as quickly as possible with a minimal chance of a counter attack, as their counter is one of the worst. It is recommended to stick with the Cudgel and shortsword at first, as the daggers are only useful in the hands of someone that knows what they're doing.

Cudgel
The cudgel is a blunt weapon, it does more damage to knights than a shortsword, due to the fact that the knight has a lower defence rating against blunt weapons than their sharp counterparts. It's overhead attack is a powerful one, and can quickly destroy an enemy knight within three hits. It may just look like a wooden club but it's very effective.

It's deadly using comboing with overhead, but you may get hit before the next swing comes if they attack instead of blocking your attack. Be careful when you use it, as you may find yourself trading hits and getting your head chopped off because the enemy knight ignored your attacks.

Shortsword
The shortsword is a good, all-around secondary. It's good to combo with and does decent damage for its speed. It can take a mere three hits to eliminate an enemy vanguard. Learning how to use this weapon will benefit you greatly in close combat. You can kill any of the enemy classes with it using a quick flurry of hits.               
A good combo is stabbing followed by an overhead. It's very fast and some enemies will have problems blocking it, and to your joy, you may kill him with one 3-hit combo!

Melee Fighting as archer

Fighting Knights Tactics

Though you may find yourself in a tight spot fighting with the tiny shortsword against a shield-bearing knight, you must attempt to bypass his shield. While stabbing is best used targeting the right side of the enemy's body, the stab itself is aimed more at the right side. The Kite shield and Tower shield are very good at protecting from strikes coming from the right side, so a slash followed by a stab is a bad idea. As you can't sneak past the shield due to the short length of the shortsword, a good tactic is to use the less damaging overhead strike while jumping. Hitting on his left side targeting his head, you can often get past the shield. After a few of these strikes, he may start blocking up, allowing you to stab from the left side. Changing between those attacks you may overwhelm less experienced knights.

Additional tricks/"exploits"

Pavise 100% back protecting while reloading

Normally when you reload your crossbow with a pavise on your back you will show some part of your ass. You are not protectet by the shield there. This can be avoided by looking high up before starting a reload. If you do this you will have you back straight and won't show your ass to the enemy. Note: You can get more easily shot from above if you do this. So adjust when you use it.