This section will discuss about FA’s spells, gear and survivability in general terms.

Skills
As FA belongs to the magic faction, most of its spells are MATK-based.
In short, ATK is generally redundant for a FA.

Secondary Effects
FA only has one spell that causes HP down effect – Poison Arrow
FA only has one spell that cause stun – Gravity Distortion
FA has 2 spells that has good down effect – Drilled Shot and Prismatic Arrow
FA has only one spell that has good knockback effect – Shooting Star

However, with the buff [Thrusting Arrow], knockback rate can be increased.
Hence, even lance series, cannon series and critical shot can have good knockback rate when the buff is activated.

Debuffs, Buffs and Recovery spells

FA has two debuffs, Blind and lower Defense.

FA has quite a number of buffs, totaling to 12.
Out of the 12 buffs, 6 buffs can be cast on other players and 6 buffs can only be cast on the FA itself.

In addition, FA is one of the two classes that can heal.
With Greater Heal and Mass Healing, FA is the best Healer.

Armor
FA’s default armor is battleset. As such, Shadow titanium, teragrace and mithril are exclusive to battle FA only.
Wearing battleset allows the FA to have a balance of def, def rate and MATK.

Force Archers are once wizards and some FA become displeased by the loss of MATK when they wield crystals and wear battleset.
As time passed, these purists tossed away their battleset and returned to their original roots.
They found that by wearing martial set, they are able to improve on their INT and have the casting speed of a FA at the same time.
However, to their dismay, they realized that they could only wear up to osmium tier, unlike their wizard brethren who could wear mystic martial and mithril martial.

Now, there are two main groups within the Force Archer class:
The Battle FA, which focuses on having a balance, and
The Martial FA, which focuses on damage dealing.

Weapons
FA’s default weapon is crystal. It specializes in controlling Force rather than intensifying it.
Battle FA will wear crystals until it reached osmium battleset.
Once it has enough INT, a battle FA will switch to wielding orbs so that it can have more MATK.

Martial FA will wield orbs the moment it starts wearing martial set.

Survivability
FA has one of the lowest HP and def among the six classes.
Due to these two weaknesses, FA players should never have the concept that it can tank a large mob as well as FS or WA at the later levels.

To highlight the difference in tanking ability,
A Lv 100 FA wearing teragrace may be hit for around 200 damage with wraith, while a FS in shineguard may be hit for minimum damage.

This section will discuss about the basics of the game mechanics.

HP - Health points. When current HP is fully depleted, your FA dies and will incur a death penalty if the FA is killed by a monster.
MP – Mana points. This will determine whether you can cast spells or not.
When current MP is depleted to an extent, a MP potion in the inventory will automatically be used to replenish current MP.

ATK– Increases the damage of ATK-based spells. Generally redundant for FA.
MATK – Increases the damage of MATK-based spells.
AMP– This is a multiplier that acts on MATK/ATK, depending the AMP is Mag AMP or sword AMP.
If your skill amp is 2.00, then your potential damage from 600 MATK is 600 x 2.00.
If your gear amp is +30%, then your potential damage from 600 MATK is 600 x 1.30

Added damage – This is an additive that is added to your potential damage.
If your skill has 2.00 AMP and +1000 added damage, then the potential damage from 600 MATK = (600 x 2) + 1000
Note that potential damage may be seen on your character screen and it does not take the enemy into account.
Resultant damage is the final damage output after taking the enemy’s stats and various penalties into account.

Def– This stat will reduce the amount of damage inflicted by the enemy.
Note that the enemy has a MIN/MAX damage range.
In addition, there is something called a minimum damage cap, where inflicted damage cannot go below that amount.

ATK Rate– Affect whether you will hit the enemy or not.
Def Rate–Affect whether you are able to evade an enemy’s attack or not.
Flee rate– Reduces your chance of being hit.
Although you can see it on your gear or skills, you cannot see it on your character screen.
It is a hidden factor.

How atk rate, def rate and flee have to do with each other?
The three factors are tied to a hidden factor known as hit rate .
You can also call it dodge rate , if you alter the formula slightly.
In simple terms, hit rate affects your chance to hit.

ATK rate and hit rate sounds similar…?
Yes, because ATK rate is the main contributing factor that affects your chance to hit.
It’s like being surprised that the main ingredient of boiled cabbage is cabbage .

Def rate and flee rate sounds similar…?
Yes, they sound similar because they act against the enemy’s chance to hit you.
However, Flee rate is percentage-based while Def rate is numerical-based, so they function differently in the hidden formula.
Only idiots will think def rate = flee rate because they sound similar.
Might as well say orange = apple because both are fruits.

Crit Rate inc. – Chance of getting a critical damage.
Applicable to normal attack and skills.
Critical damage is always shown in blue, so you’ll know whether your hit is normal or critical.
Base crit rate is 5% and default crit rate cap is 50%. Crit rate cap can be increased by +max crit rate effects.

Critical Damage inc. – Increases the amount of resultant damage by a percentage.
Applicable only for critical hits. That means if you fail to crit, this factor is useless.
Base crit damage is +20%. Crit damage cap is currently unknown.
For example, if your resultant damage is 1000 on enemy X and your crit damage is +900%, your resultant damage becomes 10000 whenever it crits on enemy X.
Depth -0300
This section will discuss about the basics of the game mechanics.

This section will discuss class rank up, skill rank up, Stat distribution chart, Stat ranking chart, Aura and Battle Modes.

Skill rank up

For Magic novice -> transcender, you will gain a total of
+96 DEX, +96 INT, +270 HP and +540 MP

For Sword novice -> transcender, you will gain a total of
+96 DEX, +96 STR, +270 MP and +540 HP

In total, you will gain,
+96 STR, + 96 INT, +192 DEX, +810 HP, +810 MP

Because FA has low HP, you must not neglect sword rank too much as you level up magic rank.
Regardless, a FA must be a dual transcender eventually.

The two subsections below will help you decide how you want to distribute your stats.

As one can see, STR is the most undesirable stat for FA as it does not add any MATK.

Stat Ranking Chart
Note that the points are based on 100 stat points. Hence, 100 STR of blader will get 120 ATK.

Class rank Up
At every 10 levels, you are allowed to take a test to increase your class rank.
Class rank up is fairly important because you may gain stat increase and certain attractive rewards as you go along.
For example, after the Lv 140 test, you will be able to stack two of the same type buffs together.

Bonus for Rank Up

Level 10: Combo possible

Level 20: Aura Mode possible

Level 30: Battle Mode 1 (Multi-Shooter) possible

Level 40: Buff Time 50% UP
Battle Mode 1 + Aura Mode Possible

Level 50: Board Chain Attack Skill Level 1
Battle Mode 2 (Twin Gunner) Possible

Level 60: Battle Mode 2 + Aura Mode Possible
Board Chain Attack Skill Level 2

Level 70: HP Boost
Max HP UP (Values may vary depending on the Battle Style)
Board Chain Attack Skill Level 3

Level 80: Buff Time 100% UP
Board Chain Attack Skill Level 4

Level 90: Combo accessible in Aura Mode
Training Dummy Restriction Removed
Bike Chain Attack Skill Level 1

Level 100: Bike Chain Attack Skill Level 2

- Promotional Quests for Lv. 110 or higher can be played only those who completed the “War Clouds” Quest group.

Level 110: Battle Mode 1 (Combo accessible)
Bike Chain Attack Skill Level 3
Second storage inventory unlocked

Level 120: Buff Time 150% UP
Buff Quantity Limit to 6
Bike Chain Attack Skill Level 3

Level 130: Battle Mode 1 + Aura Mode (Combo accessible)
Buff Quantity Limit to 7

Level 140: 2 Identical series of Buff can be used and overlapped
Buff Quantity Limit to 8

Level 150: Buff Time 200% UP
Buff Quantity Limit to 9

Level 160: Buff Quantity Limit to 10

Level 170: 3 Identical series of Buff can be used and overlapped

Aura Mode

After you complete your level 20 test, you will obtain Battle Aura. Battle Aura has 6 aura codes, ranging from Water, Ice, Fire, Lightning, Earth and Wind.
There is no known stat difference between the Aura Codes for CabalSEA, so just choose the graphical appearance you prefer.

For FA, Aura Mode adds ATK, MATK, Def, Def rate, Atk rate, Crit rate, Crit damage and HP restore.
For Lv 9 Aura Mode (Ice), it adds +46 ATK, +70 MATK, +110 Def, +90 Def rate, +1000 Atk rate, +10% Crit rate, +10% Crit damage and HP restore +2 (per 2s).

1. Battle Aura can be stacked onto Battle Mode 1 and Battle Mode 2 later.
2. Battle Aura is the only power up that can combo with shooting star
3. Battle Aura is the only mode that adds crit rate and crit damage.
4. Combo can only be used after a certain rank is achieved.

Battle Mode 1

After you complete your level 30 test, you will obtain Multi Shooter.
Multi Shooter adds ATK, MATK, Def, Def rate, Atk rate and HP restore.
For Lv 8 Multi Shooter, it adds +75 ATK, +75 MATK, Defense +110, ATK rate +900, Def rate +80 and HP restore +5 (per 2s).

Multi Shooter is a weird Battle Mode that is only suited against small mobs.
1. It changes the limit of your attack spells to 1, regardless the spell is gravity distortion or drilled shot or whatever. Piercing effect is also lost during Multi Shooter.
2. It splits the spell and attacks a number of targets within range. So far, I observed that the max number of targets is 4.
If a FA cast Gravity Distortion on a mob size of 20+, the player would usually expect it to hit >15 mobs.
During Multi Shooter, if the same FA casts GD, it will observe GD splitting into 4 and each GD will randomly choose one target.
Instead of hitting >15 mobs, each GD hits one and only one target, totaling to 4 for the entire spell.

3. Shooting star cannot be used during Multi Shooter.
4. Combo can only be used after a certain class rank is achieved.

Battle Mode 2

After you complete your level 50 test, you will obtain Twin Gunner.
Twin Gunner adds ATK, MATK, Def, Def rate, Atk rate and HP restore.
For Lv 6 Twin Gunner, it adds +120 ATK, +120 MATK, Defense +175, ATK rate +700, Def rate +60 and HP restore +5 (per 2s).

Twin Gunner is rather special.
1. It is one of the few Battle Modes that promote the use of normal attack.
During Twin Gunner, normal attack is based on MATK and a certain amount of added damage is included when normal attack is used.
Up to two targets can be attacked at the same time and at any direction.
The resultant damage is actually broken up into a series of shots but most won’t realize this aspect when they activate auto-attack.

2. Fatal Shot can only be used during Twin Gunner.
This special skill can only be used against a single target. It is based on MATK and a certain amount of added damage is included.
The skill has 2 secondary effects: HP down –20 and Down.
For a high level FA, this unique skill is probably one of the weakest skills it has ever used.

3. Combo is currently unavailable during Twin Gunner, even at Lv 170.
4. Shooting star can be used during Twin Gunner.

Appearance differences

Stat Differences

With Topaz Orb +7 - 56/445/111 (STR/INT/DEX) [121 M.Atk]
Osmium Martial Set +7: 84/445/84 (STR/INT/DEX) [340 Def / 592 Def Rate]
Osmium Battle Set +7: 111/278/223 (STR/INT/DEX) [364 Def / 480 Def Rate]

For Osmium Battle, you need a min. of 111/445/223 = 779
For Osmium Martial, you need a min. of 84/445/117 = 646
If we input the excess points into INT, then osmium martial has 84 / 578 / 117

Armor-wise, Osmium battle has 24 def –112 def rate compared to osmium martial
Teragrace battle has 64 def 96 Def rate more than Osmium battle, so adjust accordingly.

Hence, Osmium battle has
+7.258 ATK, -20.608 MATK, 31.182 Def, +143.1 ATK rate, -23.649 Def rate.

With Mithril Orb +7: 67/536/134 (STR/INT/DEX) [145 M.Atk]
Osmium Martial Set +7: 84/445/84 (STR/INT/DEX) [340 Def / 592 Def Rate]
Osmium Battle Set +7: 111/278/223 (STR/INT/DEX) [364 Def / 480 Def Rate]
Forcium Battle Set +7: 152/381/305 (STR/INT/DEX) [492 Def / 672 Def Rate]

For Osmium Battle, you need a min. of 111/536/223 = 870
For Osmium Martial, you need a min. of 84/536/134 = 754
If we input the excess points into INT, then osmium martial has 84 / 652 / 134

Armor-wise, Osmium battle has +24 def –112 def rate compared to osmium martial
Teragrace battle has 64 def 96 Def rate more than Osmium battle, so adjust accordingly.

Hence, Osmium battle has
+6.527 ATK, -18.602 MATK, 30.264 Def, +120.15 ATK rate, -38.048 Def rate.

For Mithril Battle, you need a min. of 152/536/305 = 993
For Osmium Martial, you need a min. of 84/536/134 = 754
If we input the excess points into INT, then osmium martial has 84 / 775 / 134

Armor-wise, mithril battle has +152 def +80 def rate compared to osmium martial

Hence, Mithril battle has
+14.153 ATK, -40.578 MATK, +164.906 Def, +230.85 ATK rate, 221.233 Def rate.

Playstyle Differences

As martial FA has higher MATK than battle FA, it is usually oriented to offense mode.
Subsequently with higher MATK, spells are more effective with martial FA. This includes the fabled Critical Shot, which has low AMP and low added damage.
With higher damage output, martial FA can kill faster.
In addition, it will move to the next tier of vampiric gear earlier.

The main weakness of martial FA is def and it affects its survivability to an extent.
As FA’s HP and def is rather low in the first place, having even lower def will lead to its death even faster.
In order to reduce the frequency of being hit, a martial FA needs more skill than a battle FA because every mistake brings it closer to death.
With average uncrafted gear, the martial FA is unable to optimize its damage output and its survivability will suffer greatly when mobbing 5 ectoleafs in MF.
Consequently, a martial FA needs good crafted gear so that it can optimize its damage output while minimizing its survivability issue.

There are some FA who think that by wearing osmium armorset, their survivability is better.
Let's see if armorset FA is viable, when compared to battle FA.

With Topaz Orb +7 - 56/445/111 (STR/INT/DEX) [121 M.Atk]
Osmium Armor Set +7: 278/223/111(STR/INT/DEX) [388 Def / 432 Def Rate]
Osmium Battle Set +7: 111/278/223 (STR/INT/DEX) [364 Def / 480 Def Rate]

For Osmium Battle, you need a min. of 111/445/223
For Osmium Armor, you need a min. of 278/445/111
If we input the excess points into INT, then osmium battle has 111 / 500 / 223

Armor-wise, Osmium armor has +24 def -48 def rate compared to osmium battle
Teragrace battle has 64 def 96 Def rate more than Osmium battle, so adjust accordingly.

Hence, Osmium Armor has
+11.884 ATK
-36.884 MATK
+26.97 Def
-151.2 ATK rate
-151.715 Def rate

With Mithril Orb +7: 67/536/134 (STR/INT/DEX) [145 M.Atk]
Osmium Armor Set +7: 278/223/111(STR/INT/DEX) [388 Def / 432 Def Rate]
Osmium Battle Set +7: 111/278/223 (STR/INT/DEX) [364 Def / 480 Def Rate]
Forcium Battle Set +7: 152/381/305 (STR/INT/DEX) [492 Def / 672 Def Rate]

For Osmium Battle, you need a min. of 111/536/223
For Osmium Armor, you need a min. of 278/536/134
If we input the excess points into INT, then osm battle has 111 / 608 / 223

Armor-wise, Osmium armor has +24 def -48 def rate compared to osmium battle
Teragrace battle has 64 def 96 Def rate more than Osmium battle, so adjust accordingly.

Hence, osmium armor has
+11.884 atk
-36.884 matk
+26.97 def
-151.2 atk rate
-151.715 def rate

For Mithril Battle, you need a min. of 152/536/305 = 993
For Osmium Armor, you need a min. of 278/536/134 = 948
If we input the excess points into INT, then osm armorset has 278 / 581 / 134

Armor-wise, Osmium armor has -104 def -240 def rate compared to mithril battle

Hence, osmium armor has
+5.247 atk
-17.622 matk
-106.43 def
-230.85 atk rate
-391.515 def rate

Let’s refresh a little.
AMP – An amplifier that acts on MATK
Added damage – An additive that is directly added to the potential damage.

Secondary Effects

Down – A secondary effect that makes a target fall onto the ground.
Knockback – A secondary effect that knocks the target back and also fall onto the ground.
Stun – A secondary effect that stuns the monster. Ineffective against certain monsters. Duration is reduced against players.
HP down – A secondary effect that reduces the monster’s HP. Can be resisted by higher-level monsters.

Limit Effects

Limit 1 – Single-target spell
Limit 1 (Piercing) – Any mob in the spell’s range will be affected.
Limit 2 – Any mob that is around the spell’s target may be affected
Limit 3 - Any mob that is around the spell’s target may be affected. Area of Limit 3 is bigger than Limit 2.

SP Cost

For Lv 2-9: You need 1 SP each to raise the skill level – Total: 8 SP
For Lv 10-12: You need 2 SP each to raise the skill level – Total: 14 SP
For Lv 13-15: You need 3 SP each to raise the skill level – Total: 23 SP
For Lv 16-18: You need 5 SP each to raise the skill level – Total: 38 SP
For Lv 19-20: You need 10 SP each to raise the skill level – Total: 58 SP

AMP Bonus

Whenever you raise a skill level to the next tier, 0.05 AMP will be added to the skill.
Tier 1 – Lv 1 – 9
Tier 2 – Lv 10 – 12
Tier 3 – Lv 13 - 15
Tier 4 – Lv 16 - 18
Tier 5 – Lv 19
Tier 6 – Lv 20
Hence, at Level 20, the spell has 0.25 AMP than when it is Lv 9.

Get Regeneration. It can last you until it get replaced by the Vital Family (Vital Bless/Force). Note that its max level is 4.
You can max Regeneration at Expert (0)

Get Power Shot and any arrow. Power Shot can last until Explosive Shot replaces it.
Leave the arrow at Lv 1 as Critical Shot will replace it soon.

Apprentice

Lv 18 Critical Shot - 1.35 Mag Amp. +98.7 added damage. +95% critical damage. CD = 2.1s. MP = 32
Lv 20 Critical Shot - 1.45 Mag Amp. +103.1 added damage. +105% crit damage. CD = 3.2s. MP = 36

Get both buffs and max them. Repulsive Armor is a keeper.
You can max Repulsive Amor at Regular (47)
Getting Precision is useful at this stage because it takes a while before Thrusting Arrow becomes available.
With Precision activated, your hit rate will be quite adequate, even at lakeside.
You can max Precision at Regular (47)

For attack spells, ignore all blast spells. Get only Critical Shot.
Critical Shot is a keeper. It has high crit rate and high crit damage so it has great worth during low levels.
You can max Critical Shot at Regular (47)

Regular

Lv20 Terra Lance - M.Amp = 1.85, added attack = +85.9, CD = 4.8s
Lv20 Aqua Lance - M.Amp = 1.75, added attack = +101.8, CD = 4.0s
Lv20 Fire Lance - M.Amp = 1.75, added attack = +114.7, CD = 4.4s

About Blind, read the Expert subsection.

For the inexperienced, they would think Eagle Eye would replace Precision because both add ATK rate and Eagle Eye also adds +1 range.
Unfortunately, this is a misconception because both are of different-type buffs and they can stack.
Eagle Eye is a [Strengthen Body] type and it will override same-type buffs like Regeneration and the Vital Family until a certain rank is achieved.
At lower levels, precision is sufficient to cover for the ATK rate while regeneration or vital bless will save you pot cost.
At higher levels, Vital Force will become irreplaceable.
Hence, Eagle Eye actually has no place until Lv 140.

Get Explosive Shot. Although it is a little weak, it is a limit 2 spell, so it is quite good for mobbing until it gets replaced.
You can replace it when you get a cannon spell or Shadow Shot.

Whether to get a lance spell is up to you.

Lv20 Poison Arrow - M.Amp = 1.85, added attack = +178.7, CD = 4.4s, HP-67 per 2s for 10s
Lv20 Stone Cannon - M.Amp = 1.95, added attack = +128.3, CD = 5.3s
Lv20 Fire Cannon - M.Amp = 1.85, added attack = +154.7, CD = 4.8s
Lv20 Crystal Cannon - M.Amp = 1.75, added attack = +176.1, CD = 4.3s
Lv20 Lightning Cannon - M.Amp = 1.95, added attack = +190.6, CD = 6.1s

Blind and Lower Defense are both debuffs and both reduces a certain stat by a certain amount.
As both have the same casting speed and cooldown time, it is up to the player whether it wants to get one or neither.
For some FA, they use it for luring purposes. For me, I prefer to use Lower Defense because it increases the speed of killing for my party.

There are mixed feelings about Poison Arrow.
You can max Poison Arrow at A.Expert (78)
Poison Arrow has a longer casting time than cannon series so its dps is affected.
A mob that is not affected by any secondary effect is free to retaliate as the FA executes Poison Arrow.
Although the HP Down effect helps to kill a mob faster, it does not kill a mob and it cannot be refreshed until its current duration finishes.
In addition, you do not gain EXP from its effect.
Furthermore, HP down effect of Poison Arrow is not 100% chance to activate.
At higher level, I observed that mobs start to resist HP down effect frequently and some bosses seem to be completely immune to it.
One way to utilize Poison Arrow is to cast it as the opening spell or as the second spell and ignore it until its HP down effect finishes.
This way you would lose as little dps as possible.

Whether to get a cannon spell is up to you.

A. Expert

Lv20 Shadow Shot - M.Amp = 1.85, added attack = +163.3, CD = 3.2s
Lv 19 Shadow Shot - M.Amp = 1.80, added attack = +162.2, CD = 2.7s

Get Vital Force and Mana Condense and max them.
You can max Vital Force at A.Master (36)
You can max Mana Condense at Master (94)

You can ignore Sharpness because it is redundant for FA.
In addition, it cannot be stacked onto ATK-based classes until a certain rank is achieved because their own buffs are better.

Get Shadow Shot. Shadow Shot is a Keeper.
You can max Shadow Shot at Master (94)
Shadow Shot is stronger than Fire Cannon in damage per cast.
In addition, it has a fast cast time of 1.3s, fast cooldown time and a limit of 2.
There is no doubt that Shadow Shot is one of FA’s best spells.
When to max it is up to you.
If you are alternating between Shadow and critical, you can leave it at Lv 18.
Once you use more skills, you should consider maxing it.

Master

Lv20 Drilled Shot - M.Amp = 1.75, added attack = +374, CD = 6.4s

Get Greater Heal and max it. This spell is a keeper.
You can max Greater Heal at A.Master (110)

If you don’t have an issue with HP at the current point, you can consider getting Vital Bless.
Vital Bless caps At Lv 9 at G.Master (100). Lv 9 - Regens +15 HP (per 2s)

Resist Intension will interfere with Mana Condense. Whether to get it is up to you.
You can max Resist Intension at A.Master (57)

Drilled Shot. Whether to get it is up to you.
This is the first spell where added damage is more than 300 at Lv 1. As a result, the added damage may be sufficient for you to 1-2HKO an enemy.
Furthermore, this is also the first spell where the Down effect is good, rather than average.

Drilled Shot has 2 phases of animation.
1st Phase – You shoot the spell into the ground.
2nd Phase – the spell emerges from the ground.
Note that this may give the wrong impression of some FA players. The damage factor actually kicks in as normal.

However, DS also has flaws.
This is also the first spell where the casting time is more than 2s and it has to be 2.7s at default.
In addition, its AMP and added damage is insufficient to compensate for its long casting time, rendering DS weak in DPS.
Although the spell sounds nice, its limit is still 2.