Sniper Guide

a nice sniper guide that i had found. it will be useful for other snipers in our guild

Disclaimer : i do not own or claim to have created this guide in any way shape or form

Non-Donor Sniper Guide


CONTENTS:
Use the Find Function (Ctrl+F) to get you to the respective sections. The words in the brackets ('[ ]') are to be used to find a specific section.

I. Introduction
II. Equipment
III. Cards
IV. Suggested Builds
V. Suggested Weapon Cardsets
VI. Strategies and Pointers

I. INTRODUCTION

Hi! Ash Ketchup here with his first guide ever! This guide will tackle the what's what about non-donor snipers.

II. EQUIPS

Upper Headgear:

Lord Kaho's Horns - Arguably the best upper headgear with the exception of "Pouring Quests" headgears. No slots. Good stats but no additional DEX.
Ulle's Cap - DEX+2, 1 slot.
Apple of Archer - DEX+3, no slots.
Ramen Hat - DEX+4, no slots.
Poring Hat - From "Pouring Rain" quest. All Stats+5, 2 slots. 2nd best headgear there is.
Archangeling Hat - From "Pouring Blood" quest. INT+15, DEX+15, MATK+15%, 2 slots. THE BEST upper headgear.

Middle Headgear:

Binoculars - DEX+1, no slots.
Sunglasses/Glasses - No stats, 1 slot.
Ice Wings - Has a chance of casting Level 1 Frost Nova when attacked, 1 slot. I'd say this is better than the Glasses, cause those are fugly. Be careful though, the Frost Nova autocast can be a nuisance.
Colored Fairy Wing - 5% more SP Regen, 1 slot. Pretty much the similar to the Slotted Glasses, since SP Regen isn't that important anyway. It looks cute though, minus the fuss with Ice Wings when mobbed.

Lower Headgear:

Pirate Dagger - 1% more ATK. Only lower headgear (except for the almighty Crunch Toast) to be of any use.
CRUNCH TOAST - *bows down*

Armor:

Sniping Suit - Most snipers use this. More CRIT chance, 23% reduced cast delay, 1 slot. No DEX though.
Elite Marksman's Suit - 1/3 of the Battleground Sniper Armor Set. 80 of whichever badge from battlegrounds. WAY better than Sniping Suit but only works with the set. (Commander's Manteau+Military Boots+Elite Marksman Suit), 1 slot, Indestructible. Set effect: DEX+3, MaxHP+12%, 10% resist from ranged attacks, 25% reduced cast delay.
Valkyrie's Armor - Backup armor, in case you find yourself faced with a WS user.

Weapon:

+10 Composite Bow - 4 slots, cheap, flexible, inexpensive. Best bow there is.
Gale Bow - 1 slot, has a chance to cast Wind Blade when attacking. Unusual choice, but if you have good INT, this is a nice bow to use. Only works with Wind Arrow equiped.
Double Bound - 3 slots, has a chance to cast Double Strafe when attacking. It only has 3 slots though, but it is a good alternative to the bland Composite Bow.
Valorous Battle Crossbow - Nice backup for the damage bow, in case it gets broken. DEX+2, 55% more damage to Demi-Human, Ignores 20% of Target's Defense, Indestructible, 1 slot. 100 Valor Badges from the Battlegrounds.
Rudra's Bow - 0 slot, 50% resist to Poison, Curse, Silence, Confusion, and Blind statuses, ability to cast Level 1 Heal and Cure. Basically a Sniper's Flame Skull, it can come in handy when you're the trapper.
Grimtooth ]*optional* - Dagger, halves your Hard and Soft DEF, helps with Thana users. If you plan to use a shield, better equip this one as well.

Shield: *optional*

Orleans' Server - Good with Maya. Total ~55% reflect chance with this.
Valkyrja's Shield - A good shield with nice resistances. Good with Thara Frog.

Garment:

Wool Scarf - Half of the Wool Scarf+Tidal Shoes Combo. MDEF+4, 1 slot.
Commander's Manteau - 1/3 of the Battleground Sniper Armor Set. 50 of whichever badge from battlegrounds. 1 slot.

Shoes:

Tidal Shoes - Other half of the Wool Scarf+Tidal Shoes Combo. 5% Water resistance, 1 slot. Set effect: MaxHP+10%.
Military Boots - The last third of the Battleground Sniper Armor Set. 50 of whichever badge from battlegrounds. 1 slot.

Accessories:

Gloves - DEX+1, 1 slot.
Orleans' Gloves - DEX+2, 1 slot. BEST for non-donors.
Bow Thimble - 3% more ranged ATK. Good only for donors. 1 SLOT for it to be effective, even for donors.
Ring of Flame Lord - Autocasts a bunch of useful skills, including Pressure (cuts your target's SP) and Critical Explosion (more CRIT!). I do not recommend using Ring of Resonance with this as it may destroy your DPS with Sonic Blow, but I wouldn't say no to Asura.

III. CARDS

Headgears:

Orc Hero - Stun Immune. Too good to be missed.
Marduk - Silence Immune. Also too good to be missed.
Vanberk - Helps you break perma-crit, only by a chance though.
Nightmare - For those pesky Sandman snipers.
Gemini-S58 - A pair of this plus Valkyrja's Armor (with at least 80 VIT and 90 AGI), will make you immune to three statuses including Sleep and Stone Curse! Worth for non-donors since 80 VIT is barely enough to make you a Thana-bait.

Weapons:

Marina - Freeze, mini-Stormy Knight.
Metaller - Silence, rarely used since many people have Marduks.
Plankton - Sleep, alternative to Marina/LoD since only a select few use Nightmare.
Magnolia - Curse,
1. Slow Walking Speed, VERY Slow Walking Speed;
2. 20% LESS ATK (its like removing a TG/Hydra);
3. A mini MayaP, why? Because even if you hide, you still have that "Shadow of Death" looming behind you, that everyone CAN see.
Metaling - Strip Weapon. Better than WhiteSmith. Why? Even if you break someone's weapon, they CAN still re-equip with another weapon, OR ValkR, OR Golem. If you strip, they CAN'T equip a weapon for a while. Only thing that comes against strip (with your godly DEX) is FCP. This can be unreliable though, since auto-Strip starts working when your target is within a 5-cell radius of you.
Golem - anti-WS, you can still be stripped though.
Incantation Samurai - The card which makes all Vanberks cower in fear. Ignores DEF of enemy, even on skills, CRIT doesn't carry over on skill usage. Be careful of this though, as it drains your HP over time.
Hydra - 20% ATK against Demi-Humans. Too good to pass on.
Skeleton Worker - 15% ATK against medium-sized monsters (includes ALL players, except babies). Add this too.
Turtle General - The best non-donor card, 20% ATK to ALL MONSTERS (including humans), and casts Magnum Break by chance, for additional Fire-Based ATK.
Lord of Death - The Holy Grail of Status Bows, this has Stun, Curse, Silence, Poison, and Bleeding rolled into one neat little package. Also casts Coma by a measly chance (but I highly doubt it). Recent tests show that LoD doesn't work on ranged attacks outside 5 cells though (like Metaling), as part of an eAthena update. Unlike Metaling though, LoD isn't that useful within 5 cells.
Abysmal Knight - Staple for all Emperium breakers, this adds 25% more damage to Boss-class mobs, and this includes Emperiums.
The Paper - Poor man's variation of Turtle General, if you have the so-called "perma-crit." "Perma-crit," or critlock, is when you always get criticals when alt-clicking someone.
Orc Skeleton - Another staple for Emperium breakers, this adds 20% more damage to Holy-class mobs.

Armor:

Evil Druid - Undead property. Deadly. Completely immune against Freeze and Stone statuses, will make SinX's poison, as well as Shadow attribute completely useless. Can't be healed, as well as Holy attacks (Magnus, Resu, Turn Undead, etc.) hurts more.
Pest - Yes this is TRULY a pest. If you have more than 77 base INT, this has a 9% chance of stoning your enemies when they attack you.
Marc - Unfrozen. 'Nuff said. 5% Water resist.
Ghostring - Can be very expensive to some (like me), but it can be pretty handy at times. Most pallies bow down to it (they have too much perma-neutral skills), also can be anti-Asura. But why bother using it vs. Asura, we have very low HP anyway. :tretard:
Cornutus - Makes your armor unbreakable. In case you get faced with a WS user.
Demon Pungus - Has a chance of putting your enemies to Sleep by 6% when they attack you. Skeleton Prisoner is also a good choice, but it wastes you a weapon card slot in order to maximize it.

Shield: *optional*

Maya - for those single-target magic users, especially ninjas.
Thara Frog - 30% less damage from Demi-Humans, good tandem with Grimtooth dagger.
Flame Skull - LoD, Shield Version. Has a chance to cast Stun, Blind, Curse, and Stone when attacked, plus a 30% resist to these statuses. Real nifty Shield Card to use against those 'point-click' players.

Garment:

Raydric - 20% less from Neutral attacks, but only a few people use Neutral element as most opt to use elemental attributes.
Noxious - The name says it all, "Anti-Sniping!" 10% less from ranged attacks and 10% less from Neutral attacks, very useful since you are Ranged yourself.

Shoes:

Matyr - The best non-donate footgear card in my opinion. AGI+1, MaxHP+10%.
Green Ferus - Alternative to Matyr. VIT+1, MaxHP+10%.

Accessories:

Wickebine Tres - Strip Armor. Removes enemies' Tao, Gloom, ED, Unfrozen, or whatever card is in their armor and doesn't allow them to equip armors for a while. Same as Metaling.
Violy - FROST JOKE. Good on WoE for stunting enemies' progress. Or at least those who are not cautious enough to wear Unfrozen.
Smokie - Hide. Completely immune against all AoE spells except for Heaven's Drive. Useful at times.
Errende Ebecee - Anti-Snipers. Won't work if they are Double Strafing you though. Skills now can activate Errende's Pneuma.
Zerom - DEX+5 (when 255), if you would want to break max DEX.
Wind Ghost - Good for pushing back targets if you don't have time or is too lazy to Charge/Phantasmic Arrow him. Doesn't work in WoE.
Marine Sphere - Mandatory against champs for pushing them out of their pneumas. This, when coupled with Smokie, will be the champ's nightmare.
Poisonous Toad - Also useful against Pneuma-camping champs with Poison Spore tandem. This card has better control compared to Magnum Break.
Poison Spore - Important tandem with Poison Toad, this lets you cast Envenom, which when partnered with Poison Toad, allow you to "push" your target back.

IV. SUGGESTED BUILDS

The stats here refer to the final stats (with recommended equips and buffs).
STR: You don't need much, but you will need a bit of STR for Weight. Also increases bow damage by a measly amount.
AGI: Get this up to 196 ASPD. It's best if you get the max ASPD without buffs, as for precautionary measures.
VIT: 100 VIT is best for basic builds, as more you will get Thana-bait.
INT: You might need this for SP. About 100~110 INT is needed. Also useful for specialty bows such as Gale Bow.
DEX: The main bow damage factor. Max this, 'nuff said.
LUK: For CRITs and Auto-Blitz chance. Get this to high amounts, if you are after CRIT-lock and Falcon-lockdown.

Pure DS Sniper/The Castle Defender
STR: 88+10
AGI: 112+39
VIT: 168+12
INT: 104+26
DEX: 255+105
LUK: 3+14

This build focuses on the Double Strafe skill, which doesn't need much LUK as you are not focusing on the auto-blitz strategy. On the WoE side, try to lug around a Grimtooth dagger as your VIT renders you Thana-bait. Remember, the more you stay alive inside a castle, the longer your traps stay. Note: Pneuma now can activate even on skill usage such as DS.

The Auto-Blitzer/Lock-Down Sniper
STR: 67+9
AGI: 113+38
VIT: 89+11
INT: 125+25
DEX: 252+98
LUK: 137+13

This build focuses on CRIT and the Auto-blitz strategy, which locks down single-targets on the ground. This is good for zerked characters as they can't cloak or use skills on you, that is assuming they aren't using Errende or Shinobi (+SinX). Also, this build is good for Gale Bow users, as your INT is enough for a respectable Wind Blade damage. In PvPs use Wind Ghost card, and you'll see how effective this is against non-cloakers/Errende users.

The Emperium Breaker/MVP Hunter/Crit-Lock Sniper
STR: 23+9
AGI: 113+38
VIT: 89+11
INT: 25+25
DEX: 254+106
LUK: 197+13

You don't need much INT here as skills doesn't hit the Emperium (including Auto-blitz). LUK here is for CRITs, which you need to deal maximum damage to the Emperium (and MVPs), as Incantation Samurai doesn't work against it. Also, if you opt to use Sniping Suits (which help with the CRITs) than the Battleground Set, use Zerom Cards so that you will break max DEX. You may also use Abrasives which will help you break Perma CRIT against the Emperium, at least 104 CRIT.

V. SUGGESTED WEAPON CARDSETS

Basic Status Bow
Marina - Magnolia - Metaling - Golem
Note: "Aim to disable" is the motto of this bow. Golem is for making it unbreakable, allowing you to disable for extended times.

Poor Man's Damage Bow
Incantation - Hydra - Hydra - SW
Note: Best Double Strafe damage output for poor people.

Rich Man's Damage Bow
Incantation - Hydra - Hydra - TG OR Incantation - Hydra - TG - TG
Note: Best damaging bow for non-donors. Both have same damage, but prefer 2 TGs over one if you want a more of an "all-rounder" bow.

Emperium Breaker's Bow
AK - AK - Paper - OS
Note: The best combination for Emperium Breaking, assuming you have "perma-crit."