Idea Archer Rework (nerf/buff combo)

*I've made a few edits since my original post on this topic*

As many well know:
Some complaints when fighting against archers include:
- Bowspam (cannot be stressed enough - despite how hard MANY have tried to stress this, heh).
- No way in an open-area for most classes to defend against barrages of snipe shots.
- Many wish to do away with the long distance snipe instakill altogether.

Some complaints when fighting as an archer include:
- Very underpowered in melee combat, as well as combat that starts off ranged and becomes melee.
- No effective way to keep juggernaut-sworded classes away without resorting to latency-reliant bowspam.
- Many wish to do away with the long distance snipe instakill altogether (this complaint poses a problem for both archer haters and archer lovers, so it's fair to list it under both categories).

My revised proposed changes and their predicted effects:
Archers get the often-suggested regenerating quiver of arrows.
- Archers would start with an upper limit of 12 arrows.
- Arrows would regenerate at the same rate as elf arrows (since this mechanic already works well with elves).

Archer snipe damage & archer knockback effects are completely voided if a target blocks & crouches.
- Normal damage would still apply from the Damage Bow (see below) as if a hit was taken without blocking at all. This acts as both a buff and a nerf for the archer, and it is dependent on how far the bow was drawn before the shot was taken as normal.
- Knockback bowspam would decrease if archers learn what's best for their survivability in close combat since the effect can be blocked, the arrow count is limited over short lengths of time, and arrows shot by the Punch Bow (see below) would cause no damage.
- Players would be able to defend themselves against anticipated archer snipes - even while in open areas - but at the cost of slowing down dramatically while doing so.
- Ninjas crouching and blocking to heal after pearling up onto a ledge or treetop would not be completely immune to assault if archers are onto them since full damage from Damage Bow (see below) arrows would still apply. However, in this case, the crouching blocking ninja would not suffer the devastating snipe shot damage, and would still be healing in the meantime if they decide to hold their sword rather than the next pearl they'd like to throw.
- Assassins might get annoyed because enemies may start blocking more often when anticipating snipes in archer-targeted areas.
- Any class that cannot block will need to maintain old strategies to avoid being hit with snipe damage from far away or knocked back if hit, depending on which of the 2 bows is used (see below).

Archer snipes cause +10 hearts of normal (armor-reduceable) damage rather than true (unreduceable) damage.
- Snipe range remains an unchanged 30+ blocks.
- Classes without armor would still be instantly killed by a snipe shot unless they're successfully blocking & crouching in time.
- Classes with stronger armor, typically balanced by normal or hindered movement, would suffer less snipe damage thanks to the armor they wear (which actually makes more physical sense too).
- The 10 hearts of snipe damage would be above and beyond the normal damage from the Damage Bow (see below) if the snipe is not blocked. The normal damage from a Damage Bow shot applies regardless of blocking or blocking & crouching.

Introduce 2 different bows for archers to carry and choose between.
- Arrows are shared between both bows.
- The "Damage Bow" has Power I and causes its damage upon hitting regardless of whether or not a player is blocking, or crouching & blocking, scaling up based on how far the bow was drawn before being fired as normal. It either has the normal knockback/stun effect from being hit by an arrow (with no Punch enchants at all) or it has no knockback/stun effect at all when hit with this bow (as if the target were using an anti-knockback hack program) -- this part of my suggestion leans toward the latter, but only if making it possible is not unreasonably difficult to do. Lastly, only this bow can score the snipe/headshot damage bonus from 30+ blocks away if not cancelled by a crouching & blocking target.
- The "Punch Bow" causes no damage but has (the triumphant return of) Punch II's knockback if and only if the bow is fully drawn before taking the shot - and if the target is not crouching & blocking. Arrows are exhausted from the supply whether or not the bow is fully drawn, but unlike the Lobby area an arrow still shoots out - but it would simply have no effect if not fully drawn (possibly just that *smack* sound if the target is hit with it). This bow cannot score a snipe/headshot at all.
- Archers would need to switch between bows and redraw the bowstring to switch between effects.
- Knocking back and causing damage would no longer occur simultaneously from archer arrows.
- Enemies who crouch and block won't be knocked back from the Punch Bow, but they won't be able to charge in unhindered and they'll take full damage from the Damage Bow if the archer switches, and still has enough arrows to shoot with.
- Surprising an archer with melee combat should actually prove more effective for an attacker, between the archer likely spending at least a few arrows on distant snipe shot attempts on other enemies plus the fact that the fight is beginning with the unsuspecting archer suffering damage from the first surprise attack.

Slot 1: Stone Sword -- unchanged.
Slot 2: Steak (4) -- unchanged.
Slot 3: Damage Bow.
Slot 4: Punch Bow.
Slot 5: Arrow stack.
Slot 6: <empty>
Slot 7: <empty>
Slot 8: Compass -- unchanged.
Slot 9: Nether Star -- unchanged.

 

I'd love to include a poll! Great idea - however, I'm new to the forums and so far I have no clue how to include a poll for user feedback.

I chose 24 because I've read things like "quivers typically held 24 arrows" and "laws called for a minimum of 24 arrows per bow" when searching Google for how many arrows medieval quivers typically held. Also, elf arrow supplies don't regenerate nearly fast enough to keep a mad bowspammer at it for long - and archers would've needed to wait to build up to that point while shooting nothing else if they only start with 6 arrows right off the bat. I've revised this to a starting stack and upper limit of 12 arrows, and while maintaining the 2-bow concept, the Damage Bow was buffed with Power I since an archer really SHOULD know how to effectively kill with a bow, far away or close up...but the lower arrow count would still leave the archer either wielding the sword or swinging his bow at advancing enemies, ha ha.

To avoid the snipes/headshots, the player has to essentially stop...which, for example, would allow chasers to catch up far more easily to pummel the enemy flag carrier. If they're not advancing toward their base, the flag will be returned more easily this way. If the path a flag carrier takes has more cover, then there's less need to defend against suspected snipes ... and any snipe shots that do manage to get through would be far less likely to be blocked because it wouldn't be as expected. I've also changed snipe damage to no longer be an instakill since researching more about archer changes seems to be leaning toward this trend.

As for knockback, it is equally annoying from mages and elves - but archers need it more than both of these other specialty classes. To eliminate that would be comparable to taking away the damage spell from the mage class completely. It's occasionally a necessary last resort to build enough of a gap to get away or run out from being cornered. With 2 stacks of arrows, Punch II would be insanely irresponsible...but giving the archer a choice between damage output and knockback while having to share a total arrow count compares to an elf deciding whether to use arrows to shoot players or to leap up into flight.

The most positive feedback on my thoughts, and still the -1. I dramatically need to improve how I convey my ideas...lol.

===================================================================

I'm predicting that if archers have enough arrows built up to shoot snipe shots at a flag carrier, the carrier may effectively block some or even all of them if their timing is good, but they're slowing down a lot in the meantime...even against shots that would've missed anyway. This would actually allow other players with other types of classes the chance to catch up and score a carrier kill rather than relying on only archers for the task. Granted, the archers would still be crucial because even if the first snipe shot attempts miss, simply hearing the arrows hitting the area would alert a flag carrier to the chance of being sniped and that might entice them to start shielding themselves against it and slowing down.

===================================================================

Ha ha, I'm new to the forums so I can't relate to your comparison but probably a safe bet that you mean that archer battles would take a LONNNG time. Remember archers would have limited arrows though, so (now, a revised) 15 or less shots would be fired in a burst at the most before being completely empty from a totally full quiver (between the regen time and the 12 max). For some fast-shooting archers, that's only about 15 seconds of fully-drawn shots at the absolute most - and between skill limitations and latency/lag, they're probably not all going to hit. So long before then, you'd probably already be chipping away at their hearts like a Minecraft wolf on a bunny (and by that I don't mean the Killer Bunny variety).

In my experience, the annoyingly long fights are typically against skilled kiting mages - who cannot block at all of course, so the mages wouldn't gain or lose a thing from these archer changes.

Now, in case you meant archer vs. archer combat, blocking can only work when wielding a sword, and no return snipes can be fired unless currently wielding a bow. I might be misunderstanding what you were getting at, but I don't think archer battles would go on too long - I just think they won't always be quite so short quite so often.

===================================================================

What problems were not addressed in my suggestion? I tried to explain how at least the complaints I mentioned would be improved by the changes, unless there are other problems with archers that you meant. Perhaps some of my revisions may have helped a bit since your post - hopefully I've made improvements since then that are more sensible.

===================================================================
===================================================================
===================================================================

* I'm currently planning to eliminate this post and replace it with revisions and a POLL since I'm unable to introduce a poll in this current post *

===================================================================
===================================================================
===================================================================