Warband was just released, so I expect a lot of new(er) players will arrive in the coming days and weeks. This guide is mostly for them, but it might be useful for some beta testers as well. I only played the beta for its few weeks, but archery has definitely been my strong suit so far. However, I’m not new to the archery mechanics of Mount & Blade as I have played the original game for years now. Against human opponents, though, the tactics change considerably. You have to know how to deal with more unpredictable moves from your opponents.
When I play an archer, I think of myself as a support class. I try to take out the most immediate threats to not only myself, but my teammates. Even if you don’t manage to kill every target, if you’ve put an arrow or two into them, you make the fight much easier for whoever has to engage them next. Don’t get caught up on getting kill shots. You’ll go through times when you wound 4-5 targets but see someone else beat you to the deathblow and then have other times where you land the killing blow 4-5 times. The way I see it, as long as enemies are consistently dying, things are going well. One of the most satisfying things I do is hit (and interrupt) an enemy engaged in combat with an ally and see that ally finish him off a second later. If not for my arrow maybe that fight goes differently and my ally dies instead. Also, since being an archer involves finding good vantage points, you have a good view of much of the battlefield and can report a lot of useful information to your team such as enemy troop movements. If you’re a defender in a castle siege you can alert your team when your gate is at risk of being opened or when your flag is being threatened by the enemy.
Also, note that I tend to be more of a cautious, calculating player, especially when I’m playing as an archer. This means I don’t take unnecessary risks just to pad my kill column because the death column is just as important, sometimes more so if you are defending and have a longer respawn time. There are times to play riskier, such as when you are out of time to take a flag or you are one of the few available to get down to the flag and defend. I also think that being patient and careful is an easier way to see your improvement. Your kill count will increase as you become more proficient at firing faster and more accurately. As such, I am writing this guide to follow a survival-oriented fashion of play.
If anyone reading this has any additional advice which would make this guide better feel free to offer it. Also, if you feel I am mistaken about something or have overlooked anything, let me know. I am sure there are more than a few little tactical nuances and tricks I haven’t noticed yet or just forgot to mention.
I’ll close by listing a few of the things I feel are most important to keep in mind when playing as an archer. I will go into detail about these aspects later in the guide. They are:
• Target priorities
• Utilizing good vantage points
• Survival skills
• When and how to properly fire into a crowd
