I'm trying to make my character exclusively an archer, but I'm finding archery really under powered. I got a 50 in archery and it still takes forever to take down an opponent while I'm getting hammered. So far I'm putting perk points into archery and sneak and that's it. Is there something else I could be doing to make archery more effective?

Upgrade your bow at a smith and use alchemy poisons.

You may have to spend some money for training to give yourself a headstart because archery shines at higher levels plus the leveling is very slow. If you combine archery with sneaking you can pretty much breeze through the entire game with almost zero challenge even without tampering your bow. This is a problem that goes back to morrowind and Bethesda never address it.

For other tips, use light armor, invest more points in stamina than usual and try using the environment to your advantage.

It sounds like you're on the right track, it just takes time and perks for it to get good. Use a follower that likes to charge into combat and start with sneak attacks. Go hunt deer, they don't fight back and raise your skill. Mudcrabs are easy targets too. Smithing helps a lot. You might not want to but it's the only way to max your damage output.

First equip your character with enchanted smithing armor,bracers,ring and necklace.Then go to as many alchemist shops as you can to procure blacksmithing potions,Elixir perferred as it is the most potent.Smith the best bow you can at your present level wearing the smithing clothing and jewelry.Take the weapon to the grindstone,drink the potion and smith the bow.I always enchant my bows with fire damage as it seems to work best against most all enemies.Make sure to purchase the best quality arrows that you can find and your Archery set-up will be a very formidable weapon indeed.Poisons are optional at this point and used only on the strongest enemies.I like the "Aversion To Fire" potions also!

This is one of those items i have never used but it may have some potential if it works right. Do you know if the extra fire damage count from the first shot after i apply the poison or i have to shoot a second time?

I don't find that you need any of that enchanting / alchemy / smithing combo. I have recently played two archers, one a cloth wearing bound bow user, and one a light-armored crossbow user. I survived from level 13 on Solstheim at master difficulty with the crossbow user, and my armor rating was only ~100. I'll note down a couple of important things about archery, in my view:

• Invest in archery whenever you can - when you level up and there's a perk in archery available, take it. The most important perks are the slow time perks, and the stagger perk. With those you can pretty effectively kill any enemy one on one.

• You will need to increase your archery power somehow - alchemy (fortify marksman potions) is temporary and enchanting is unnecessary. Smith your bow up as best you can (buy a blacksmith potion, wear any enchanted smithing items) whenever you can. Wear any fortify archery enchanted items you can find - a good quest to do early on is Forsworn Conspiracy as you get some useful gauntlets. I've found fortify archery circlets to be very common loot drops. You definitely don't need to invest much into any of these trees if you don't want to, however. For my crossbow user my smithing got to 50 (purely from making steel bolts). I didn't use enchanting or alchemy at all. I realise bows are less powerful compared to crossbows, but that is somewhat negated by the fact that you can find some good enchanted bows which you don't get with crossbows.

• Learn when you should cancel your attack and dodge backwards (learn to dodge if you don't know already). Zooming in to slow time gives you a huge advantage in every engagement.

• Use whirlwind sprint if you want to get away from an incoming attack. I find having one word of this loaded allows me to distance myself from my opponent very effectively.

• Use poisons on difficult opponents. It's perfectly ok to realise when you're outmatched and need to level the playing field.

• Sneak attacks are the best way to start a fight, so try to stay hidden every time you enter a new location. Be careful. I will add, however, that investing too much into sneak can easily make archery a 'click and die' affair. With only 2 base perks in sneak (at sneak level 50) I'm consistently able to get off multiple sneak attacks on multiple enemies as they wander around looking for me.

• Learn how to dodge enemy arrow fire, either by ducking behind cover or simply by waiting for them to shoot then moving to either side.

• Move backwards as you engage an enemy (having the Ranger perk helps immensely here). This way they won't close ground on you quite as fast as they would if you were just standing still.

Hope this helps.

Only few of my characters use archery as a main skill and most of them are using stealth too. My warriors carry a crossbow sometimes, but never invest perk points in archery.

It's the only skill i "train" because i like the target practice at

I would like to see these kind of training sites for all skills and remove the current pay-to-level up system (or don;t remove it, i don;t use it anyway).

Play on novice. Level only archery. Put all perks into archery (you'll fill the archery tree and max out at player level 17 with 100 in archery). Put all level ups into stamina. Get yourself an ebony bow by taking out the ebony bow wielding deathlord at the end of Lost Valkygg. Another great bow is Auriel's Bow combined with Sunhallowed Arrows. Like the ebony bow, both are available player level one, providing you with a powerful weapon early on.

For me, it's summed up in 3 words.

Sniper

Sniper

Sniper

For my current character, the first that's concentrating mainly on archery, ( a hunter type using Hunterborn, Campfire, Wet&Cold, iNeeds) I am agreeing with this. I don't put all perk point in archery, but the majority are. The points not put into archery are distributed to fit her rp.

It works the same as poison,apply to bow and it is used on the next hit.Malign Aversion is stronger and deadly aversion is just that...deadly.The thing I love about this game is each person has their own likes and dislikes about how things should be in the game....the way I do it may not be the way someone else does it.All my characters are archers so this system has been refined by me through hundreds of different play throughs and it works a treat.

Previous posters have covered a lot of good points, but I think it's important to know that the type of bow you use can make a difference as well. Lower weight bows will fire faster, higher ones, slower. Damage typically corresponds with weight so, higher weight = higher damage. The downside to a heavy bow is that it can take ages to get a shot off. Heavy bows make good sniper weapons.

If you want to be a combat archer, look for a lightweight bow (imperial bow, hunting bow) with a damage enchantment. Or use poisons for extra damage. If you can find Bow of the Hunt, even better.

Fear poisons and enchantments are also useful for an archer. Force the enemy to keep their distance while you pepper them with arrows!

I just started a new Breton assassin. PERMA has the first perk of the archery tree set for Eagle Eye. She will only take the first of that set and it will be the only Archery perk she will take. She will be strong in Alchemy and the use of poisons. Bows, for the most part, will be more of a delivery system than anything.

I enjoy taking my time with my characters at range. An all day event of sniping allows for a gentle stroll into enemy camp at dusk.

Hmm, sounds effective to me!

Mine will be big on alchemy, in a few areas.

Get a better bow and improve it and some have a faster draw speed too and keep your distance, the further the better. Heavier bows have a longer range and do more damage but take longer to draw. There is an .ini tweak that increases the damage range to extend as far as the arrow travels othewise the range is very short i.e. even if you do manage to hit them they won't take damage. And keep backing away to maintain distance. Range is key with archery.

Enchant with fire/paralysis if you're into enchanting. The perks are essential the slow time and 3x damage while sneaking i.e. sniper mode and Zoom. Theres another that gives a chance of paralysis, also very useful. If you're into mods Duel - Combat Realism makes arrows stagger the target on impact which seems more realistic and will really slow them down if you keep up the hit rate.

Archery is overpowered if anything. I can basically exterminate anything with it.

Like the others have said, it takes time to build skill/perks. My current bow is ebony, smithed to legendary, and has a dual enchantment which I believe is 35% fire damage AND 25% shock damage. On top of that, I have a several pieces of apparel that are (enchanted with increase archery 20%) which stack to give me 40% to 60% additional damage over the base bow. Add all that to some good arrows like Dragon Bone or Daedric and it's a potent combo.

Combined with the 3x sneak attack bonus, and it gets ridiculously overpowered against all but boss level opponents. To compensate for that, I usually equip lesser arrows like Dwarven or Orcish for regular opponents. With the more powerful arrows, a sneak attack on a bandit who's up on a wall at one of the forts, usually results in not only a one shot kill, but watching them get catapulted backwards off their perch. Sometimes I've had to spend quite a bit of time looking for the bodies to loot, because it's hard to tell where they landed!

I think archery tends to be over powered. I play a wood elf who only uses archery. Early on I dumped most my points into archery, sneak, and light armor, then started working up my enchanting, smithing, and alchemy skills. By level 15 or so archery was insanely over powered. I could sneak through a dungeon sniping off baddies from a distance and their friends wouldn't even react, making my sneak damage devastating. Combining the Slow Time shout with your archery is another good tip.

Honestly, I'm a little puzzled by your struggle with Archery. I'm only on my first playthrough, (but it's been a really long one), and I only use a bow. Like ever. and I've never had much trouble at all. I suppose at this point you've gotten to learn the tactics of an Archer; Maneuvers, strategies, effectiveness. Might I suggest, because I used it for quite a while, and it will definitely help you while you figure out what will best help improve your effectiveness in Archery. Pick up Faendal, the Archer to follow you. Depending on your level, that is; if you're above level 30 then you should probably go for Durak, the Dawnguard crossbow user, or, if you would prefer a magic using follower get a good one and give them some good gear. I don't mention melee because what will happen is they will charge to attack, and very easily and frequently get in your line of sight/fire, making it very easy to accidentally hit and/or kill them. Next, again depending on your level, Meeko the Dog is good for a while, or get a Dawnguard dog or a death hound. Some people don't like followers, but they are VERY helpful as a progressing archer, because what happens, is, as you approach your enemy(ies), your dog will charge, and gain the full attention of the enemy(ies), allowing you and a ranged follower (archery or magic) to attack the enemy(ies) while they're distracted. This is also effective to sneak and get in critical hits before you are spotted, by which time he should be well on his way under. Also, the enemy will normally attack the dog until he is in last stand mode, then your follower, who will normally be closer than you, until he/she is in last stand mode, then you. This gives you a considerable amount of time to take him down. I am able to use this tactic wearing heavy armor and very limited sneak perks, so that would be ideal. Only because if the enemy has not fallen by the time he targets and attacks you, you'll definitely need the adequate protection to defend yourself while you finish him off, or wait for the others to distract him again. A heavy armored archer is a relatively unorthodox way to play, but it can be very effective if you do it right. I hardly ever need to use potions even, and never use healing spells, unless it is, by default, a significantly strong opponent, a boss of some sort. So, this is the advice given from a committed archer. If it works for me, it can work for you. Shoot on, my Patowan.

1. Sneak


2. Conjuration-- (a) use conjures to distract enemies while you snipe, and (2) bound bow is the best to be had at lower levels.


3. Alchemy, primarily for poisons, but also for buffs


4. illusion, use fear to keep enemies at a distance while you snipe

My main character is pure archer and I have absolutely no problems killing anyone, and I don't use any potions.


What I did was steal an elven bow, then use the perk focus, always max all archery perks as they come available and sneak shoot.


Then when it's a lot of people attacking you, just dodge back and move sideways right when the enemy in front of you lifts the sword, he will miss you.


Always kill the casters first while dodging the melee, use your focus for every hit and to easily hit the distant casters.


After casters die no one can kill you, its just a dodging and farming enemies game, if you are getting caught by their swords use unrelentless force on them all to give you some space to breath.


Also when you can, get slow time and spam it when there's lots of enemies.


Put all the points in health



Ps: I'm a noob, but this has worked flawlessly for me, I playing on masters not legendary btw.

Use bow bash properly. Wait until the enemy is just about to attack to stagger them with it. Then backstep and nock an arrow.

"Sneak" when ever possible. It will increase your bow damage x3....