Archery (Skyrim)

''An archer is trained in the use of bows and arrows. The greater the skill, the more deadly the shot''. "Favor the bow, eh? I'm a sword man myself."

- Guard

"Keep that arrow in your quiver, Archer..."

- Guard

Archery is a skill in and is one of the six skills that falls under The Warrior play-style. However, Archery is heavily involved in The Thief's gameplay, especially with the Sneak skill. Archery skill is raised by the use of bows.

Comparisons with other games
Archery is a skill type that has appeared in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall as well. It is similar to Marksman that was in and. Archery, as opposed to Marksman, is considered a combat skill, not a stealth skill.

Mechanics
The weight of the bow also dictates the effort required to pull the string back, or "draw", meaning that the heavier the bow, the longer it will take, and the more powerful the shot. Also note that your stamina will not be drained (as opposed to how it was in Oblivion) unless you unlock and use the Eagle Eye perk which zooms in the view of your bow allowing longer shots to become more easily made. The bow also acts more like a long-range high-precision high-damage weapon (contrary to the short to mid-ranged bows of previous installments), there are certain perks that allow you to hold your breath and use pre-ballistic slow motion while aiming a bow.

Archery is a useful combat ability by itself; it is possible to play through the whole game as an archer, without the need of any melee weapon. With a high Archery skill and a fully upgraded weapon, bows can deal tremendous amounts of damage.

Bows are upgraded via Grindstone, in the same manner as melee weapons.

When carrying too much weight to run, sneaking with a drawn and pulled-back bow slightly decreases speed unless the Ranger perk has been obtained.

Books
List of books that can increase this skill:
 * Vernaccus and Bourlor
 * The Black Arrow, v2
 * The Gold Ribbon of Merit
 * The Marksmanship Lesson
 * Father of the Niben

Trainers
List of individuals that can increase this skill by giving them gold:


 * Faendal (Adept): Riverwood (Lvl 15 - 50) Note:If you make Faendal a follower and ask him to train you in archery you can take back your money by entering his inventory
 * Aela of The Companions (Expert): Jorrvaskr, or the training area behind it, in Whiterun (Lvl 15 - 75) Note : Like Faendal, when Aela is your follower, you can retrieve your money again by entering her inventory.
 * Niruin of The Thieves Guild (Master): Riften (Lvl 15 - 90)
 * Angi at Angi's Camp (Master): 6 levels of free training if you complete her challenges. (Lv 1 - 100)

Bows
The following are the confirmed weapons that benefit from this skill. Damage, weight, and value are base values, independent of skill level and perks.

Note: Table still under construction and may not include every type of bow in the game.

Named Bows
The details are subject to change as some are leveled items. Named bows are especially useful early in the game. However, keep in mind that they will be less effective on high leveled characters.
 * Bow of the Hunt - Damage: 10 Weight: 7 Value 457 - Found in Clearspring Cave.
 * Dravin's Bow - Damage: 12-14 Weight: 7 Value 50 - Found below the Ragged Flagon.
 * Firiniel's End - Damage: 13 Weight: 12 Value: 785 - Target takes 20 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina. (Obtained during the quest Bound Until Death)
 * Froki's Bow - Damage: 6 Weight: 5 Value: 307 - Does 10 points of Stamina Damage.
 * Gauldur Blackbow - Leveled item (Low lvl - High lvl) - Damage (8-14) Weight: (12-18) Value: (225-1315) - Absorbs (10-30) points of Magicka. Drops from Sigdis Gauldurson at Geirmund's Hall.
 * Nightingale Bow - Leveled Item (Low lvl - High lvl) - Damage (12-19) Weight: (9-18) Value: (470-3700) - Freezes the target for (10-30) points" and "shocks target for (5-15) points.
 * Angi's Bow - Damage: 7 Weight: 7 Value: 50 Awarded after completing the Archery challenges at Angi's Camp.
 * Drainspell Bow - A ghost weapon found in the Labrynthian

Perks
The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up



Usefulness

 * When using the Steady Hand perk, draw the bowstring then zoom in long enough to shoot, then un-zoom while you draw the bowstring again. This allows the player to be a lot more accurate with his/her arrows while not losing as much stamina as he/she normally would from keeping zoom held in.
 * Arrows do not have flat trajectories. There is an arc built in, similar to ballistics. The player has to compensate for the arc; the greater the range the less likely the arrow will hit where the cursor is pointing. The archery skill affects how high or low you must adjust for the distance with higher skill compensating more & making the shot easier.
 * Using the "Steady Hand" perk, it is possible to load a game in a semi-permanent state of slow motion. To do this, simply load a save while you have slowed time using this perk. To put time back to the correct speed pull out your bow and zoom in again or reload Skyrim.
 * Arrows make a noise when they hit walls and items. The player can use this to draw enemy attention away from him/her, allowing for sneak shots at an enemy's exposed back.
 * If the player has drawn an arrow but does not wish to use it, there is a 'release' key (R default on PC, X on the Xbox 360, and Square on the PS3). Use it to save arrows and to avoid making unnecessary noise.
 * The player can easily capture souls by enchanting a bow with the shortest duration soul capture spell (1 sec). Even with petty soul gems, the player can get many uses from the enchantment.
 * The player can find an Ebony Bow in Lost Valkygg near Labyrinthian early in the game. The item is drastically better than any other bow available at the time. WARNING: At lower levels a shot from the Draugr Deathlord can be a one-hit kill, paired with his use of its Unrelenting Force shout, it's a hard fight.
 * Using the Steady Hand perk, which slows time and zooms in, the player can pop out around a corner, take a shot, and pull back extremely quickly. This is a great way to stay stealthed when engaging multiple enemies in a dungeon. Keep in mind, there are some 'invisible wall' issues, so make sure the shot is well clear of any walls or items.
 * Using the Extra Effect perk, the player can place a 1 second soul capture and another damaging enchantment on a bow. Coupled with the Star of Azura, this makes for a devastating combination.
 * The player can get infinite arrows by picking up arrows from NPCs practicing archery. This can be done relatively early in the game with the guards practicing in the Dragonsreach Great Porch. Other such examples are Thrynn and other guys in the The Ragged Flagon - Cistern (Thieves guild ) in the city of Riften, you'll find him practicing archery from 10am to 6pm. The player can get better arrows by pickpocketing all the arrows and replacing them with better ones. See also - Solitude, because they starting shooting from 8am til 8pm. Don`t forget regularly take arrows, because they vanish after a while.
 * If the Archery skill is over level 30, guards at cities will occasionally say: "Favor the bow, eh? I'm a sword man myself..." and sometimes, "Keep your arrows in your quiver, archer".
 * Small/normal sized enemies can be easily staggered with a quickshot when they recover, paired with the paralysis perk and a paralysis enchantment (with absorb stamina set to low-mid and the first enchant to get a lot of several second paralysis rolls per gem) can make it a great tool for sitting behind melee allies by shooting with slow time after watching their kill animation a few times. Poisons and potions can also be applied to improve this style further (any stamina potions + paralysis poisons work well).
 * A 0.8% damage raise is gained with all bows per Archery skill level. This stacks with Overdraw, making it possible to acquire a total of 190% extra damage with bows.
 * A good supply of arrows can be gained by giving one to your follower. The follower will shoot an infinite amount of those arrows and you will be able to collect them after combat finishes.
 * Getting a headshot with a bow does not increase the damage dealt.
 * If a follower is a trainer, you can simply train the desired skill, and take the money back from him/her.
 * Though the Quick Reflexes bug, it is possible to shoot an arrow, walk in front of it, and be hit by it. The arrow will fly though the player and he/she will not take any damage.
 * A player may find Archery extremely useful during the civil war quest line. There will be lots of enemy archers taking cover in fortifications, especially during fort assaults. These archers will prove tough to get to with enemy heavy infantry protecting the entrance of the fort.
 * Additionally, perks in the Archery talent tree allow for deadly guerrilla style tactics; when fighting outside a skilled archer will be able to move quickly throughout the terrain and coupled with a mediocre to good sneak rating, ambushes on enemy patrols and camps will yield excellent results -- one may be able to drop an entire camp without moving if he is in a good enough position.
 * If you're overencumbered, pulling out your bow and keeping an arrow drawn speeds up your movement, and crouching with an arrow drawn increases movement speed even more.

Leveling Archery
The best way to quickly level Archery is as simple as this: Acquire Shadowmere, a Legendary Daedric Bow, and some Daedric Arrows. Stand right next to Shadowmere and spam attack so arrows are quickly lobbed into him. No full drawing necessary.

There's a cabin in the southwest corner of the map by Falkreath that a woman named Angi lives in. She trains in archery for free by letting you shoot targets. Gains you several levels easily! (Confirmed: You'll find it by ascending the mountain range from Falkreath. You'll level up your skills by shooting at targets, although it gets more challenging with each round.)

There are some training exploits which allow you to make trainers your Follower, train from them, then take your money back without stealing. But the below information is about how actual use or a skill levels your skill, not training.

The equation governing skill gain in Archery is thought to resemble something like this:


 * Bwd = Base weapon damage
 * Bad = Base ammunition damage
 * lm = Leveling Multiplier (rest, stone, etc)
 * x = Damage Translator
 * bool(DamagingHit) = 1 or 0, true or false
 * skillXP += bool(DamagingHit) * (lm(Bwd + Bad) / x)

As you can see, this first relies that you engage a damaging hit. Therefore, you must attack a creature which has hit points, and you must take away hit points. So the equation doesn't even trigger if they pass a block or dodge roll.

Upon a Damaging Hit, your skill experience raises based upon the Base weapon damage and the Base ammunition damage. One thing to note here is that there is nothing in the equation for perk increases, sneak multipliers, or enchanting damage additions. These considerations make no difference.

The division by x is to represent that the base damage is not directly translated into skill experience.

Another point that wasn't directly mention is draw amount, and the Overdraw perk. As I said, perks are not taken into account. Overdraw is a perfect example. As a matter of fact, any draw for leveling archery is not taken into account. If you spam attack so the arrow is only slightly lobbed into Shadowmere, it counts for just as much as a full or overdraw, because those are not variables in the equation.

Another way to quickly level Archery is available. This method requires you to join the Dark Brotherhood. Upon entering the Falkreath Sanctuary, jump onto the ledge that oversees the pool and training area. This can be done by jumping from the nearby staircase. Once you have landed upon the ledge, wait until Veezara sits on the ground, completely in view (assuming he is not already there), and then proceed to enter sneak mode and shoot him. You can constantly shoot him, as it is unlikely that anyone will see you (unconfirmed), and level up your skill. This is also a somewhat efficient way to level up your Sneak skill.

Bugs

 * The Ranger perk may cease to function entirely, though it may begin functioning again at a later time.
 * Archery skill may drop to starting level, indicated by red highlighting of skill and not induced by disease. Leveling up Archery has consequently shown to fix issue.
 * When shooting someone while sneaking and unnoticed they may 'dodge' your arrow by sidestepping it at an extreme pace.
 * World models consist of two pieces, the model that you see and a simpler, invisible collision box that determines where you and other things will impact the model. As in Oblivion and many other games that use this or a similar engine, the collision boxes in Skyrim are carelessly fitted to the shape of the terrain that your character sees in the game, which can be extremely frustrating. One common occurrence is to try to snipe through a hole or a gap in a wall, or over or around the edge, only to find that your arrows are bouncing off the invisible collision box, or even more ridiculous, sticking in the air.
 * If you are trying to hit a moving NPC (not tested on creatures), and they are moving left or right (with respect to you), such as when you're trying to sneak attack someone, the natural response is to aim a short distance ahead of them - aim where they will be, rather than where they are. Unfortunately, the arrow will not shoot where your cross-hair is, and rather, where the NPC is currently standing, making for a very frustrating miss. It's unsure whether this is actually a bug, intentional, or just an accident due to poor/careless auto-aim programming.
 * When shooting certain kinds of arrows, the bow string might go 'limp' and the arrow will fly its minimum distance and with minimal damage. It happens even if the bowstring is pulled back fully,with lighter bows and arrows and even when staying still. To fix , try using a different bow or arrows until the glitch ceases. Especially frustrating when engaging powerful enemies or when using Magic bows who lose charge per shot regardless of a hit or miss.
 * The perk Bullseye will sometimes cause a slowmotion kill to leave the enemy unharmed and instead paralyze them. Needs confirmation on other platforms.
 * The "BullsEye" perk will can quite often take effect on targets that are being killed by the shot. This results in the ragdoll become permanantly paralyzed. While not really affecting gameplay, it can be very amusing, as character who are killed sitting down will remain in that position, even when dead and being dragged around.
 * Additionly, if the above bug occurs with a Khajiit character, the body will become detatched for the tail. The tail will stay in the position in which the NPC was killed, and the base of the tail will stretch to where ever the body flies or is dragged to.
 * The "BullsEye" perk will often take effect on targets not hit by the arrow. Often, when aiming at a target from around a corner or wall, the arrow will get stuck in the invisible collision box and the target will still become paralyzed.