Advanced Class Discussion: Half-Elves

The Half-Elves are known for their speed and keen sight, making them the best race suited for long-range combat. Here, we’ll take a look at some more details surrounding the Half Elf, and what you, as a player, can expect from them.

A high-level Ranger. Click on the image to enlarge. The Half-Elf Archer / Skills
Most of the Archer’s skills are composed of buffs or passive skills:
Frozen: Increase water elemental damage and resistance, chance to decrease target’s movement speed.
Long Shot: For every level of this skill, increase the range of your attack.
Nimble: Increase DEXTERITY by 10%.
Fatal: Increase critical damage based on your DEXTERITY.
Evade: Increase evasion rate by 10%.
There are other attack and debuff skills available, such as Double Strike (shoot two arrows at once), or Ensnare (decrease target’s movement speed by 30%), which can be effective for Player versus Player combat in high levels.

However, one good route to take in building your Half-Elf character is to prepare for your second job class at level 50. That is, you might want to spend skill points only on the most important yet basic skills in your Archer class, then spend all the other saved skill points on your second job class upon reaching level 50. This should give you a substantial boost once you enter the more competitive level 50 and above range.
The Second Job Classes
Upon reaching level 50, you now have to decide what kind of archer you want to be.
Do you want to be an archer specializing in crossbows capable of strong, single-target attacks? Then choose to be a Ranger.
On the other hand, if you want to become an expert in area-of-effect skills and the bow and arrow, then be a Scout.
Scout or Ranger: Which is better?
Before we can answer that question, let us place the Ranger and the Scout classes in different scenarios.

An archer strolls around the elven town of Vena. Click on the image to enlarge. Player versus Player
The natural answer to this question would be the Ranger, since strong attacks are what make your class stand out in combat. In addition, Rangers have the Winged Foot ability to grant their party enhanced movement speed and the Disappear skill to grant them “hidden” status.
Scouts, however, have an array of bow skills that deal damage to multiple targets at once, from the “Drill Shot” to the “Pouring Shot”.
This would be slightly different in a TOWNSHIP BATTLE, though. Rangers would be best suited in picking out mages and healers from the back ranks, while Scouts would be better in supporting a guild’s damage dealers through their artillery, harassing approaching attackers.
Levelling / Farming
Scouts have the edge in levelling and farming due to their ability to take out multiple enemies at once.
When it comes to BOSS HUNTING, however, Rangers gain the edge due to their single-target attacks.
Stats
There should only be one character stat in a Half-Elf’s eye: DEXTERITY. Increasing DEXTERITY will increase ranged attack damage as well as accuracy.
Some VITALITY would help, of course, although the option to become a full-offense “glass cannon” (having no VITALITY) is still available.
Advanced Combat Techniques: Kiting
If there’s one thing you should learn as an archer, it’s “kiting”. Kiting is defined as the action of shooting your target from afar and moving at the same time, to maximize the distance between you and your target. This is especially important for Half Elves, because they’re not good at taking damage. Movement is their only defense.

A young Archer hunting Tigerspiders. Click on the image to enlarge. You can start by simply moving with your keyboard while attacking your target. Just press any of the movement buttons (W, S, A or D) while shooting. Because you’re firing at the same time, you’ll move at a slower speed. Eventually, your target will reach you.
How do we further keep our distance? Through the smart use of skills, of course.
Use the Frozen attack buff to imbue your arrows/bolts with the water element, slowing down enemy movement speed. For levelling purposes, just using Long Shot and Frozen should be enough to get you by!
Or, you can also use Sprint in case of emergencies. This should come in handy during Player versus Player scenarios, where there are times when you don’t have the first attack.

A Scout in Champion’s Armor, in her hometown of Kai’non. Click on the image to enlarge.