Imperial Templar build (Archer)

Toonen1988

Hello guys,

I was a away for a few months, but i'm back again! But i've got a big qeustion.

I got a Imperial Templar (archer) Veteran level 2 and i was looking for a good DPS build for PvE and PvP. All my skills and stats are resetted, so it's a good start to build a new archer build.

I was wearing heavy imperial armor, but that shouldn't be very useful as archer.

So, i was planning to wear light and medium armor.

But what is actually a good build?

I've got 50 Attribute points to spend and 142 skill points. My 2 handed bow is max level and Aedric Spear level 39, Dawn's warth level 50 and restoring ligt level 48. Heavy armor is also level 50, but i'm not going to use heavy armor anymore.

So, what would be a very good PvE and PvP build?

Ffastyl

For the armor, keep in mind:
Light Armor offers 1/4th the mitigation of Heavy Armor
Medium Armor offers 3/4th the mitigation of Heavy Armor
Heavy Armor offers 4/4th the mitigation of Heavy Armor

Mitigation is even more important than HP, though HP can make up for a lack of armor. Unless you specialize in shield stacking, shields are less effective than pre-1.6 in PvP. They are of normal efficacy in PvE. Utilizing your active armor ability completes the armor of your choice. Using a separate ability that covers the same vein as the active armor ability will work too, even an armor set.

Onto the abilities. I occasionally use a Bow, but I am in 7/7 Heavy Armor and most often melee. My stats are not optimized for offense, as such I lean more towards support. Despite that, here are the abilities I use with Bow:

Power of the Light / Focused Aim
Radiant Glory / Purifying Ritual
Luminous Shards / Caltrops
Venom Arrow
Radiant Aura
Shooting Star

Focused Aim and Power of the Light both offer Minor Fracture, so using both would be redundant and reduce the effectiveness of each other. Power of the Light will store up damage and release it with a 36% increase, dealing surprise burst damage that can obliterate opponents in PvP by skipping the low health phase. Focused Aim will increase your Bow attack ranges, so you are not left with Snipe as your only option at long range. Both mark the target with a column of light.

Radiant Glory (either morph is good) is a ranged execute, a perfect compliment to the Bow. You will not have to get up close nor rely on huge burst damage to down an opponent. You will not have to get up close to a boss for an execute either. Purifying Ritual is the support alternative purely for PvP. It is basically a low cost Purge and we all know how prevalent status ailments are in Cyrodiil.

This bar is utility, the abilities stated are to be swapped out as the circumstances demand. Luminous Shards I am levelling at the moment, but at the very least is provides a spurt of Stamina and a drought of Magicka to an ally. With a nearly untapped Magicka pool you can hurl a few into the fray and rejuvenate your team. Caltrops is the anti-zerg ability. It may not deal much damage, but it reveals hidden foes and snares zergs en masse. It is also one of the more efficient abilities for gathering agro from a group of enemies in PvE. Use with caution.

Venom Arrow is what you should remember it as: ranged interrupt and standard attack.

Radiant Aura is something I base my builds around: Regeneration. It is harder to come by in 1.6, but not scarce. Radiant Aura now gives a passive 10% buff to all regeneration, and a 20% buff to health and stamina regeneration when activated for allies within 21m.

Shooting Star is Meteor. Meteor is a fun and powerful ultimate that can wreck groups and monsters. But there are some simple ways to counter it (blocking and reflecting) and the bulk of the damage comes from the DoT after impact, dealing ~40% of the impact damage every second. Shooting Star grants ultimate for every target hit, allowing for more rapid deployment of this bomb from Aetherius.

For stats, 20k HP is good, or 16k HP if you have to compromise (outside Cyrodiil). Put the rest into Stamina or Magicka, whichever you use more. Know that Light Armor offer very little protection so use with caution.

Spell/Weapon Power matters more to damage dealt than max stats, and crit builds are not hit/miss due to the change in Impenetrable (it reduces Crit damage bonus rather than Crit chance).

There are a number of variations on any build, so the best advice I can give you is go out there and experiment until you find something you enjoy.

Valyndras

I recently posted a build which might suit you: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/158631/the-aedric-honorguard-templar-archer-dps-support?new=1

Feel free to ask questions.

Toonen1988

Thank you for the information guys!

I'm going to experiment with these builds.