The first half of this discussion will be of use for new archers. I assuming that you are buying the skill at this point and not starting with an advanced character already at 50.
The continuation is good for those above 50 skill and are looking to gain.
For both halves. Try to use GM made bows for your training. The give decent damage, but not as much as magical and slayer bows. Remember the more you hit the target, the more likely you are to gain.
On Haven island there is Lizardman and corpser spawn South of the mapmakers. From the front door of the mapmaker head due South and cross the bridge. Once you set foot off the bridge you are on the island in question. The Lizardmen have a small three hut camp on the NW end of the island, although they will appear all over the island along with Corpsers. This is a great place to train your archery skills. There is vegetaition that can snarl your feet, but there is plenty of open ground to work upon. Your can easily gain 3 points off each monster you slay when you start with a skill of 30 or below. Once your skill reaches 50 you will gain 1 point per kill. Sometimes there will be no gain per kill after you have passed 50. This is an area where you WILL learn how to bait and lead your kills. Where you WILL learn to heal. And this is also a great spot for working on chivalry. Should you find yourself in mortal danger, the guard zone is about halfway across the bridge. At the most you will have four lizardmen attacking you at once. This is a wonderful way to learn how to use the terrain to your advantage as you heal, stall your enemies, and target the healthier ones to slow them down.
Should you wish to train bowcraft and fletching the corpsers have a steady supply of boards and logs. I have not seen any birds land upon the island, but on the south end is a boat that has been tied off and left as a bridge. You can cross this boat to find birds to gather feathers from.
Should you decide to try something larger, after crossing the boat contiue SW. There you will find Ettins and another bridge. Be advised that the area with Ettins is often hunted by Young characters that may have found more excitement than they intended, and may be in need of assistance.
This last bridge leads to an island with Ratmen, Giant Spiders, and the Undead. Once your skill passes 50 you can hunt the Undead to continue your skill gains, the Giant Spiders to collect spider silk for your mage friends, and the Ratmen for food. There are also Headless ones on this part of the islands. Although the headless ones may be a minor distraction to you at this point, the may serve a quite useful purpose. Mostly, skill gain. I have killed freshly spawned Headless ones on this part of the island and found "Slayer Intruments" upon their corpses. Ophidian slaying lutes, Lizardman slaying tamborines (did you know these work against Ancient Wyrms as well?), and Orc and Troll slaying drums.
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So now you have reached the 50 mark and the small islands of Haven are becoming a bore. Never fear there are other places to advance your skill. Before you set out on adventure though, you can actually get to 65 real skill in archery off the lizard men and corpsers if you like.
The fun way to gain skill is to wandering around killing every monster you can, and learning which ones you can't. Now that you are between 55 and 60 this could be quite entertaining. If you are after the skill and not the journey at this point there are two places I highly recommend. They will provide excitement and will take you to GM and above.
1: Ilshenar Sacrfice.
Once you come out of the gate head SW to the mountain. Follow the mountain to the north west. Be wary of Brigands and the ratman settlement ahead. There are rat mages and rat arhcers there. While they are good for gains and free arrows, they can hit hard and fast at times. Nothing like trying to take out two mages and an archer while a little ratman is hitting you in the legs. Although you can get decent gains here there is a better spot within a screen of you, and that is where we are headed. At the North West corner of the rat settlement is a cave in the mountain. Head into the cave and turn south right away. There are more rats in the cave ahead of you if you continue West. Follow the path to the point where it forks. Now you have 2 choices. Either follow the path to the West and enter "The Diamond Room" or follow the path to the South and enter an open cavern area. Both rooms spawn 2 earth elementals at a time. The Diamond Room has a pond in the center you can use to seperate the earth elementals and possibly keep yourself alive longer. The open room is just that, open. Nothing to slow down the earth elementals while you heal. Something you can do is lure one elemental out of either room and into the main passage to work 1 on 1. Safer that way, but not as exciting. Remember - You are a ranged fighter! The earth eles not only hurt you physically, but they drain your stamina! You can find great loot here though. Walked out with a +10 taming ring one day.
We will revisit this cave later in the discussion.
2: Ilshenar Spirituality.
Ah yes, Ilshenar again. This time your main concern is your karma. If you have negative karma do not bother going. The pixies here will lay you to waste before you even get near our goal. Leave the passage from the shrine and head North East. For you tamer types, this is where you find your unicorns. Continue to the North East till you reach the next mountain, you will pass a dirt patch with skeletons, farther south on this dirt patch are Skeletal Knights and Imps. But they are not our concern now, we will discuss this area later. Just hit the mountain and follow it to the West (up). You will come to a passage in the mountains that seems to run North at first. In reality it leads into a Harpy nest. You can count on 2 Stone Harpys and 6 Normal Harpys to spawn in here at a time. As soon as one dies, another spawns to replace it. Here is the beauty of this location: You run into the nest area and target as many harpys as you wish to handle, you will get at least two more than you bargained for anyways, and lead them out of the nest to the grass. You are leading them out for 2 reasons. As they die you will not suddenly have another upon you, it will spawn in the nest. Secondly, you will want the room to run and heal. The majority of your gains will come from the stone harpys although you will get some from the normal ones. Remember -You are a ranged fighter! Do not go toe to toe with these stone harpys, their attack not only does physical damage but takes stamina as well. Now the Harpys move faster than the earth elementals, keep on your toes and be ready to run and heal if need be. You are going to have the whole flock after you by now. The more you hurt a target the slower it moves. I would recommend trying to injure a few of these things as you go instead of focusing on one. Slow them down first then pick your kills. Remember all the boards and logs I told you about from corpsers? Hope you kept them. You are about to have more feathers than you know what to do with. You may never buy an arrow again once you get used to working this spawn. Got bardic friends? Save some of the slayer instruments from the stone harpies for them. Jewelry as well! If you are just a glutton for punishment or excitement, don't lure them out of the nest. But I highly recommend you lure them out. So much safer that way.
No matter which place you go to GM and above your skill with the bow remember to maintain distance when you can. You are a ranged fighter! If you are out on your own doing this, don't be afraid to run away and heal before you come back to finish the kill. Should you die at either location, there is a shrine where you can go rez. I have died in both spots, was able to rez at the shrine, and loot my body on my own. It wasn't easy and it was very exciting/nerve wracking.
So now you are a Grand Master Archer. Congratulations. What do you want to kill now? I said we would discuss two areas later in this discussion, it is later.
1: Ilshenar Sacrifice.
Remember I told you to turn South as soon as you got inside the cave? Here's why. If you continue West inside the cave you will come to another cave opening. In this second cave you will find the following: Lich, Bone Magi, Bone Knight, Lava Lizard, Wraith, and the Skeletal Dragon! I have seen two Skeletal Dragons spawn in there at the same time. Really not the kind of place most people like to go hunting alone. I recommend you take some friends.
2: Ilshenar Spirituality.
So you are wondering what is so great about that dirt patch with the skeletons and imps? Well aside from watching them fight with pixies, nothing. It is what lies south of that dirt patch that is so interesting. The dirt patch has as passage leading into the mountain as well. The stone columns are hard to miss. This leads to the South East Dungeon as it is known. Here you will find Imps, more undead and Daemons! No need to head to the Fire Temple when they are waiting so close to your training grounds. Ok, this is just as dangerous if not more dangerous than the cave with the skeletal dragon. Take backup and take some common sense. You will have a hard time looting your body should you die in here. This is where the insurance policy may come in real handy for you.
There is even a bonus area near by. Ever wanted to do a champ spawn but did not want to go to Felucca because of Murderers and Thieves? Never frear, there is a champ spawn here. You will NOT get a powerscroll for completing this spawn, just the satisfaction of knowing you did it or were part of it. Due South of the Harpy nest is the Lord Oaks spawn. Now you know why you saw so many Shadow Wisps about earlier. They are part of the spawn. Kill enough of them and you will become a Knight of Valor. Not to shabby.
On a final note always remember to gather your arrows from your kills and upon the ground. The arrow you save, may be the one to save your life.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed our little discussion on archery and have taken something usefull from it. But now my hands are tired from typing and my bows are calling my name.
Strength & HONOR!
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An archers work is never done. Let us continue in a brief fashion.
Speaking of Ilshenar. Comapssion can be quite the usefull shrine to visit. Especially once you have reached an 80 skill level. You will find many a rat arhcer in the areas SE of the shrine. These rodents with the bows are a nice supply of arrows, the occasional m agic item/weapon, skill gains, karma, and fame. I really like that each archer you slay will provide you with 50-65 arrows. Quite nice of them.
The catch, watch out for the rat mages. They can hit hard and fast. They do seem to enjoy the Explosion / E-Bolt combos. Once you slay one though you have a chance of getting a necro scroll. Not to mention more fame and karma.
If you head SE from the shrine you will eventually hit the water, turn south and look for a bridge. The bridge leads to the Ancient Citadel. A team of archers can have a lot of fun here. "How" you ask? Easy, by taking turns luring out Rotting Corpses. Have a character with decent chivalry on hand. Somebody will have to cure that poison with Cleanse by Fire. You can make some good money this way and further your knowledge of the most noble of the fighting classes. The Archer! Remember, there is strength in nubmers here. If you go alone, you might find yourself out numbered. Or at the very least, very lonely.
One additional note: When heading to the Ancient Citadel, if you run into a gargoyle you went the wrong way. Four of the appear in a row and lead into a snow covered patch of ground. The only way out is back past the Gargoyles. But they don't worry you, do they? They shouldn't. The Rat Mages are harder than the gargoyles.
