Archery Needs Improvements

[jmberry789]

Hello Eden dev team,

I wanted to share some honest feedback about the current state of archery classes, especially hunters, because right now they feel severely underpowered and underrepresented compared to other stealth and DPS options. As someone who actively plays a hunter, the class just isn’t living up to its intended role.

Archery Damage Is Way Too Low

The most obvious problem is how weak archery damage is. Even with full spec templated hunter, a critical shot on a target usually only hits for about 300 to 400 damage, if were lucky. That is nowhere near competitive when assassins are regularly hitting for 1500 or more with Perforate Artery and follow-ups, often while stacking snare, DoT, and disease poisons on top.

Archery is supposed to be our signature mechanic, but it feels like it’s barely worth using. For example, I would be better off going as a melee hunter instead. A few key issues are contributing to this:

• Archery is treated as magic damage, so increasing Dexterity doesn’t boost the actual damage.
• Add damage effects don’t apply to bow shots at all.
• Damage hasn’t scaled with how much defensive capability most players now have through resists, buffs, and absorb effects.

Assassins Completely Outclass Archers

The imbalance becomes even clearer when you look at what assassins have access to. They get Vanish, Detect Hidden, and very strong openers. They can stack multiple poisons, including crowd control, DoT, and disease, while hitting extremely hard.

As a result, hunters and other archers spend most of their time trying to avoid assassins rather than countering them. We often feel like prey instead of predators, which is the complete opposite of how the stealth meta should feel.

Hunter Pet Is Too Slow To Be Useful

While the hunter’s pet does technically have useful tools like snare and disease, in practice those abilities almost never matter. The pet’s movement speed is far too slow, and its pathing is unreliable. By the time it actually reaches a target, the fight is often already over.

Even when it does connect, its damage is minimal and the debuffs arrive too late to make a difference. It is also very easy to kite, ignore, or kill outright. For something that’s supposed to be a defining feature of the class, the pet ends up feeling like a non-factor in almost every RvR scenario. Improving its speed, responsiveness, and impact would make the hunter feel much more complete.

Little to Offer in Group Play

Outside of stealth groups, archers are rarely wanted because we bring very little in terms of utility or group value. That pushes us into a niche role of picking off scraps on the edges of fights, which isn’t satisfying gameplay and doesn’t make the class feel valuable to a team.

Suggestions for Improvement

Here are a few changes that could help bring archers back into a healthy and competitive state:

• Rework the archery damage formula so Dexterity or weapon skill meaningfully increases damage.
• Allow add damage buffs to apply to bow attacks.
• Increase critical shot multipliers so opening shots actually feel impactful.
• Add some utility to bow shots, like a minor snare or slow, to give archers better control over engagements.
• Improve the hunter pet’s movement speed, AI, and debuff reliability so it contributes meaningfully to fights.
• Consider small utility buffs or debuffs tied to archery that make archers more desirable in group play.

Archery should reward positioning, timing, and smart target selection. Right now, though, we’re punished for playing the class the way it’s meant to be played. A few targeted changes like the ones above would make a massive difference, not just for hunters, but for the overall balance and fun of the stealth game.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Many of us love the archer playstyle and hope to see it brought up to par in future updates.

Respectfully,
A concerned hunter main

[Gehenna]

I completely agree with you, the situation right now is honestly embarrassing.

It feels impossible to actually kill someone with arrows...

Competing against an assassin is basically impossible; their critical damage is extremely high (the rework did on assassins feels more like an April Fool’s joke than anything else), while archery’s critical damage is a joke.

Also there’s basically no positioning for this class !

Too close, and you’ve barely done any damage before you’re in melee; and the damage done with those arrows, even if critical, is nowhere near enough to make the following melee fight feasible.

A little too far, and enemies can just step out of range while the few arrows you shot barely scratch them.

Even in the perfect scenario, hitting someone with critical shots at full range !!
The enemy can simply choose to walk straight toward you and still reach melee while you’re filling him with arrows.

And the pet… well, it looks like it has a broken leg XD
Honestly, we could really use an NPC veterinarian to help keep it functional

[Angelorpheus]

lol archer life is so pathetic outside of the bg, especially in a patch where stealthers are teleporting in your face and do 2 PAs.
yeah hunter pet nerf was really the last nail in the coffin for the class, you invest most of the skill point to get it, and NEVER hits cause they are easily outrun.

[jmberry789]

It’s like I said before, I’m not asking for them to make archery overpowered, just to make it viable. Right now, we’re just picking off scraps from the Zerg or other players fights. Inside of the BGs, sure they’re fun, but at 50 plus they’re not fun.

[jmberry789]

I completely agree with you, the situation right now is honestly embarrassing.

It feels impossible to actually kill someone with arrows...

Competing against an assassin is basically impossible; their critical damage is extremely high (the rework did on assassins feels more like an April Fool’s joke than anything else), while archery’s critical damage is a joke.

Also there’s basically no positioning for this class !

Too close, and you’ve barely done any damage before you’re in melee; and the damage done with those arrows, even if critical, is nowhere near enough to make the following melee fight feasible.

A little too far, and enemies can just step out of range while the few arrows you shot barely scratch them.

Even in the perfect scenario, hitting someone with critical shots at full range !!
The enemy can simply choose to walk straight toward you and still reach melee while you’re filling him with arrows.

And the pet… well, it looks like it has a broken leg XD
Honestly, we could really use an NPC veterinarian to help keep it functional

I completely agree with everything you said. It’s honestly frustrating how little impact archery has right now, no matter how well you play. Positioning is supposed to be one of the most skillful and rewarding parts of being an archer, but instead it feels pointless. Whether you’re up close or at max range, the end result is the same — the damage just isn’t enough to matter before the fight is already decided.

You’re also right about assassins. The difference in burst damage is ridiculous. When they’re hitting for 1500+ on an opener and our biggest critical shots barely break 400, it stops being about skill and just comes down to imbalance. The bigger issue is that archers aren’t balanced around everyone being fully templated out. Most players in RvR are, and when you factor in all the extra resists, buffs, and absorbs that come with that, our damage falls off a cliff.

And the pet comment made me laugh because it’s so true. It really does feel like fighting with a companion that’s permanently limping behind you. For something that’s supposed to be a key part of the class, it ends up contributing almost nothing.

All of this shows the bigger problem: archers aren’t struggling because players are doing something wrong. We’re struggling because the class just hasn’t kept up. Until the damage, positioning mechanics, and pet functionality are fixed, hunters are going to keep feeling like they’re playing a weaker version of the game than everyone else.

[jmberry789]

lol archer life is so pathetic outside of the bg, especially in a patch where stealthers are teleporting in your face and do 2 PAs.
yeah hunter pet nerf was really the last nail in the coffin for the class, you invest most of the skill point to get it, and NEVER hits cause they are easily outrun.

Yeah, exactly. It’s honestly crazy how weak the class feels right now. Outside of battlegrounds, archers might as well not even exist because we just don’t bring anything threatening to the table. And unless you’re grouped up or following the zerg, the class feels almost useless in any real RvR situation.

I completely agree about the pet too. It’s supposed to be one of the main reasons to play a hunter, but investing so many points into it just to watch it jog behind targets and never land anything is beyond frustrating. It’s hard to justify spending that many spec points on something that has almost no real impact in fights.

At this point it’s not even about trying to make the class overpowered. We just want it to feel functional and worth playing again.

[mightymagantus]

I got 3 shotted by a hunter (me = Scout)
Critical hit was 1k damage, followed up by two times 700 damage.

No, actually...the damage is good.

[columba7486]

I completely agree. Archery has been nerfed into the ground. at 50+19 archery, 404+ dex, full bonuses, IF I hit a caster, I often hit for less than 200 hp. It's a joke.

[Nunki]

I completely agree. Archery has been nerfed into the ground. at 50+19 archery, 404+ dex, full bonuses, IF I hit a caster, I often hit for less than 200 hp. It's a joke.

What did they change within the last three months?
I did play with a Scout buddy in duo and he regulary 2-3 hitted any caster.
Also, why did you write "IF I hit a caster", why wouldn't you?
Which abilities do you typically use on a caster?

[Lefreak777]

100% in agreement with everything, Hunters are the wrost class in game, by far. No offensive advantage and only RR5 for defense. ( for running away ) If i 3 shot you , your temp is weak, you lowbie or You forgot to remove your Mythirian.