Are you getting tired of simply pointing and shooting? Have you been looking for a way to spice up your Marksman playthrough? You've come to the right place, my friend.
I have compiled a list of unique and helpful Archery tactics that have been discovered since Skyrim's release. Some of the tactics have been presented in Character Builds but most definitely should not be restricted to them. Hopefully, some of these tactics will get people interested in a skill that seems very limited but, I can assure you, is not. If anyone has a trick/exploit/tactic they'd like to add, feel free to comment below. Enjoy!
The Double Shot
Two arrows can be fired off of one draw. This is achieved by tapping Attack/Sheathe/Attack immediately after firing an arrow. The second arrow will not travel far and will do less damage but ejects instantaneously if performed quickly. The second arrow also applies poisons, enchantments, stagger, and the Bullseye perk's paralyze effect. The second arrow does use enchantment charges. After both arrows are fired, the player will automatically draw another arrow and it will remain nocked even if the player is not holding the Attack button. By holding attack as the bugged arrow is being drawn, it will act normally.
For all you crossbow lovers, this tactic's timing is even more difficult but can be repeated indefinitely. This means Crossbows never have to reload again and will deal full damage twice as fast! Run'n'Gunners anyone?
The Half-Draw
The Half-Draw was a technique that asgard detailed in one of his builds. This technique allows an archer to properly kite enemies while staying out of their weapons reach:
1. Shoot someone until they get within melee.
2. Wait for an attack.
3. The very instant the NPC begins his attack, quickly sprint away, then perform the half-draw (really a partial draw, as sometimes you will be able to draw longer, sometimes shorter, and sometimes not at all, depending on the NPC).
4. If the NPC is in melee again, go to 2, else go to 1.
Many players will try to sprint away as soon as the NPC gets too close to them. This does nothing but waste stamina as most humanoids will sprint right behind you. The idea is to sprint while the NPC cannot (ie. they are swinging their weapon); because you can't gain much ground this way, you have to settle for a partial draw.
Bow Blocking
Again, a technique as simple as it sounds, yet extremely helpful for close-range Archery. There are two ways to block with a bow.
Bow Blocking calculates damage reduction like any other weapon and is affected by the Shield Wall, Block Runner, and Quick Reflexes perks. Also, a big thanks to Knight-Paladin Robert for discovering that Bow Blocking does not require Eagle Eye!
Warning: 3rd person Archers should beware of "jimmy legs".
Exploit Bashes
There are two types of Exploit Bashes and each have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The Crouch Bash
Another shout out to asgard for discovering this odd gem. The player can bash with a bow and follow up by crouching and un-crouching to indefinitely bash with a bow even after Stamina is drained. It may look ridiculous but could be devastating with Block's Deadly Bash perk, Fortify Archery potions, and Marked for Death (see below).
The Art of Bashing
A huge shout out goes to James for discovering these gameplay mechanics! Bow Bashes are affected by Block's Deadly Bash perk and Fortify Marksman potions which can greatly increase their damage output! Marked for Death can also increase the damage from bashes because it continually decreases the enemy's Armor Rating, eventually lowering them to negative AR. Additionally, the amount of bash damage is dependent on the base damage of the weapon but no matter the bow, the Deadly Bash perk modifies all bashes with a 5x multiplier.
To avoid redundancies, see James' post here. Long story short, Bow Bashing could be very devastating if the right mechanics are applied. Imagine going through an entire playthrough never having to shoot an arrow but rather punching bandits to death!
The Beatdown
This technique is for two people: archers who are down to their last arrow and archers who just wanna punch shit to death! I recently discovered that the infinite Crouch Bash combos with the Exploit Bash for the fastest damage a bow can deal.
Simply execute the second version of the Exploit Bash and follow up by double tapping crouch approximately every second. If done correctly, the player can repeatedly/rapidly bash for arrow damage without actually firing an arrow but it does require you to have one arrow.
Vampire/Necromage Archery
The Vampire/Necromage combo (perking Necromage as a vampire) affects three Archery perks: Steady Hand, Power Shot, and Quick Shot.
Hands-Free Archery
This may seem obvious but due to the nature of Archery, the player does not have quick access to spells, staves, scrolls, etc. It is very time consuming to unequip a bow in favor of other weapons and often puts the marksman at a momentary disadvantage. In order to overcome the inconvenience, the following is a list of Healing and Summoning Powers/Shouts that can substitute spells, hands free! :)
Hotkeyed potions and poisons are also great, hands-free battle modifiers that should not be underestimated! Just ask any of the Alchemy buffs around here.
Full credit goes to James for his input on these two Archery perks:
Hunter's Discipline
I could never find any information about what this perk actually did so others may also be interested. When you hit an NPC with an arrow it has a 33% chance of being added to their inventory which can subsequently be looted if you kill them (this is why enemies will sometimes equip the arrows you're shooting at them if they are stronger than theirs). With this perk taken this chance is modified to a 66% chance. I see people saying this perk is worthless all the time, I don't understand this mentality.
Power Shot
There are two parts to this perk that need to be mentioned, regular bows and crossbows. Stagger can be thought of as an animation that takes 'X' number of seconds to complete from start to finish, if your enemy is only being affected by a stagger magnitude of 0.5 then the animation will be half as long as it's full length. It sounds more complicated than it really is.
Basically when you take this perk every time you attack an NPC with your bow the game will do a dice roll, if it lands on positive you will also shoot out a spell that staggers the enemy. Crossbows come pre-enchanted with this perk so if you take Powershot and use a crossbow you get two seperate dice rolls. This is a very important difference to note. Crossbows with Powershot do not have a 100% chance to stagger (I see people posting this all the time), they have two individual 50% chances...and if both dice rolls happen to land at the same time you will hit the enemy with a 0.5 stagger magnitude rather than the base 0.25. Skyrim math is fun!
Ranger's Roll
Silent Rolls can be performed without the perk by crouching with a drawn bow, holding sprint, nocking an arrow and immediately sheathing it. Remember to never let go of sprint during the process. After exiting the roll, another can be performed by nocking and sheathing an arrow . This can be done continually until the user runs out of Stamina.
It is worth noting that these rolls don't use Stamina. Rather your Stamina constantly drains as if you were sprinting. This actually allows the player more Silent Rolls at a quicker pace when compared to taking the perk and performing the basic Silent Roll.
Advanced Archery Gameplay
That's all for now folks! Although much of this is probably common knowledge, I figured I'd bring it all to one common place for the archers of TSB.
Are you getting tired of simply pointing and shooting? Have you been looking for a way to spice up your Marksman playthrough? You've come to the right place, my friend.
I have compiled a list of unique and helpful Archery tactics that have been discovered since Skyrim's release. Some of the tactics have been presented in Character Builds but most definitely should not be restricted to them. Hopefully, some of these tactics will get people interested in a skill that seems very limited but, I can assure you, is not. If anyone has a trick/exploit/tactic they'd like to add, feel free to comment below. Enjoy!
The Double Shot
Two arrows can be fired off of one draw. This is achieved by tapping Attack/Sheathe/Attack immediately after firing an arrow. The second arrow will not travel far and will do less damage but ejects instantaneously if performed quickly. The second arrow also applies poisons, enchantments, stagger, and the Bullseye perk's paralyze effect. The second arrow does use enchantment charges. After both arrows are fired, the player will automatically draw another arrow and it will remain nocked even if the player is not holding the Attack button. By holding attack as the bugged arrow is being drawn, it will act normally.
For all you crossbow lovers, this tactic's timing is even more difficult but can be repeated indefinitely. This means Crossbows never have to reload again and will deal full damage twice as fast! Run'n'Gunners anyone?
The Half-Draw
The Half-Draw was a technique that asgard detailed in one of his builds. This technique allows an archer to properly kite enemies while staying out of their weapons reach:
1. Shoot someone until they get within melee.
2. Wait for an attack.
3. The very instant the NPC begins his attack, quickly sprint away, then perform the half-draw (really a partial draw, as sometimes you will be able to draw longer, sometimes shorter, and sometimes not at all, depending on the NPC).
4. If the NPC is in melee again, go to 2, else go to 1.
Many players will try to sprint away as soon as the NPC gets too close to them. This does nothing but waste stamina as most humanoids will sprint right behind you. The idea is to sprint while the NPC cannot (ie. they are swinging their weapon); because you can't gain much ground this way, you have to settle for a partial draw.
Bow Blocking
Again, a technique as simple as it sounds, yet extremely helpful for close-range Archery. There are two ways to block with a bow.
Bow Blocking calculates damage reduction like any other weapon and is affected by the Shield Wall, Block Runner, and Quick Reflexes perks. Also, a big thanks to Knight-Paladin Robert for discovering that Bow Blocking does not require Eagle Eye!
Warning: 3rd person Archers should beware of "jimmy legs".
Exploit Bashes
There are two types of Exploit Bashes and each have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The Crouch Bash
Another shout out to asgard for discovering this odd gem. The player can bash with a bow and follow up by crouching and un-crouching to indefinitely bash with a bow even after Stamina is drained. It may look ridiculous but could be devastating with Block's Deadly Bash perk, Fortify Archery potions, and Marked for Death (see below).
The Art of Bashing
A huge shout out goes to James for discovering these gameplay mechanics! Bow Bashes are affected by Block's Deadly Bash perk and Fortify Marksman potions which can greatly increase their damage output! Marked for Death can also increase the damage from bashes because it continually decreases the enemy's Armor Rating, eventually lowering them to negative AR. Additionally, the amount of bash damage is dependent on the base damage of the weapon but no matter the bow, the Deadly Bash perk modifies all bashes with a 5x multiplier.
To avoid redundancies, see James' post here. Long story short, Bow Bashing could be very devastating if the right mechanics are applied. Imagine going through an entire playthrough never having to shoot an arrow but rather punching bandits to death!
The Beatdown
This technique is for two people: archers who are down to their last arrow and archers who just wanna punch shit to death! I recently discovered that the infinite Crouch Bash combos with the Exploit Bash for the fastest damage a bow can deal.
Simply execute the second version of the Exploit Bash and follow up by double tapping crouch approximately every second. If done correctly, the player can repeatedly/rapidly bash for arrow damage without actually firing an arrow but it does require you to have one arrow.
Vampire/Necromage Archery
The Vampire/Necromage combo (perking Necromage as a vampire) affects three Archery perks: Steady Hand, Power Shot, and Quick Shot.
Hands-Free Archery
This may seem obvious but due to the nature of Archery, the player does not have quick access to spells, staves, scrolls, etc. It is very time consuming to unequip a bow in favor of other weapons and often puts the marksman at a momentary disadvantage. In order to overcome the inconvenience, the following is a list of Healing and Summoning Powers/Shouts that can substitute spells, hands free! :)
Hotkeyed potions and poisons are also great, hands-free battle modifiers that should not be underestimated! Just ask any of the Alchemy buffs around here.
Full credit goes to James for his input on these two Archery perks:
Hunter's Discipline
I could never find any information about what this perk actually did so others may also be interested. When you hit an NPC with an arrow it has a 33% chance of being added to their inventory which can subsequently be looted if you kill them (this is why enemies will sometimes equip the arrows you're shooting at them if they are stronger than theirs). With this perk taken this chance is modified to a 66% chance. I see people saying this perk is worthless all the time, I don't understand this mentality.
Power Shot
There are two parts to this perk that need to be mentioned, regular bows and crossbows. Stagger can be thought of as an animation that takes 'X' number of seconds to complete from start to finish, if your enemy is only being affected by a stagger magnitude of 0.5 then the animation will be half as long as it's full length. It sounds more complicated than it really is.
Basically when you take this perk every time you attack an NPC with your bow the game will do a dice roll, if it lands on positive you will also shoot out a spell that staggers the enemy. Crossbows come pre-enchanted with this perk so if you take Powershot and use a crossbow you get two seperate dice rolls. This is a very important difference to note. Crossbows with Powershot do not have a 100% chance to stagger (I see people posting this all the time), they have two individual 50% chances...and if both dice rolls happen to land at the same time you will hit the enemy with a 0.5 stagger magnitude rather than the base 0.25. Skyrim math is fun!
Ranger's Roll
Silent Rolls can be performed without the perk by crouching with a drawn bow, holding sprint, nocking an arrow and immediately sheathing it. Remember to never let go of sprint during the process. After exiting the roll, another can be performed by nocking and sheathing an arrow . This can be done continually until the user runs out of Stamina.
It is worth noting that these rolls don't use Stamina. Rather your Stamina constantly drains as if you were sprinting. This actually allows the player more Silent Rolls at a quicker pace when compared to taking the perk and performing the basic Silent Roll.
Advanced Archery Gameplay
That's all for now folks! Although much of this is probably common knowledge, I figured I'd bring it all to one common place for the archers of TSB.
So you think your the neighborhood archery expert or something? Some of this is only common knowledge because of your Boiche Seeker!
I really like the exploit bashing because I have been looking for a way to transfer the enchantment 100% of the time when bashing and not just some of the time.
Great work!
So you think your the neighborhood archery expert or something? Some of this is only common knowledge because of your Boiche Seeker!
I really like the exploit bashing because I have been looking for a way to transfer the enchantment 100% of the time when bashing and not just some of the time.
Great work!
There's a East Empire Company thing where you can get hit by exploding arrows and they can be used if you try to fire an arrow with none equipped.
There's a East Empire Company thing where you can get hit by exploding arrows and they can be used if you try to fire an arrow with none equipped.