Fable Archer FAQ
By vmaranise

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Updates
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1/28/04- Began working on this FAQ. I typed sections 1-4.

1/29/04- Typed section 5, and part of section 6

2/4/05- Typed sections 7 and 8, and made a few final adjustments.

2/6/05- Made all the final changes to the FAQ, ran it through IGN's
79 CPL formatting thing.  I've still got a few things to work out
before it's done.

2/9/05- Finished up the final things I mentioned, and am pretty much
done with this version of the FAQ.

2/10/05- Fixed some info in the Skorm's Bow section.  Turns out that
the link to the video is no longer working.  I fixed a few grammar and
spelling errors.

2/11/05- Third update in three days!  I made the boss info a little
better, and changed the Disclaimer.

2/13/05- I added a FAQ, or "Frequently Asked Questions" Section to
the FAQ.

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Table of Contents
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1)What is an archer
2)What do these stats mean?
3)Equipment
4)Getting Skorm's Bow
5)Combat Strategy
6)Boss Strategy
7)Building the Perfect Bow
8)Frequently Asked Questions
9)Disclaimer

(Note: Before emailing me with a question, please read the FAQ section
of this guide. (Section 8)

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1)What is an Archer?
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An archer is a type of character that focuses only on using the Bow and
Arrow.  An archer finds no need for a sword, as he can hold his own
quite well with the Bow.  An archer may find that one particular spell
is useful.  Multi Arrow.  This spell allows you to fire multiple arrows
in one shot.  This is sort of useful, but not really.
An Archer focuses only on these stats: Health, Toughness, Speed, and
Accuracy.  You may throw in Guile if you find items to expensive, or
would like to learn the art of the Thief, which I would reccomend.  If
you plan on using Multi Arrow, don't worry about upgrading your Magic
Power, except maybe one or 2 levels.  You won't use Mana that much, so
it would be a waste of experience.  Only use your Will XP to upgrade
your Magic Power, as your general XP is too valuable to spend on trivial
things that an archer does not need.

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2)What do these stats mean?
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Health: The Health stat governs the length of your health bar.  The more
you upgrade your Health stat, the longer your health bar is.

Toughness: This is your "natural armor".  More simply, this governs how
much an enemies attack hurts you.  The higher this attribute is, the
more damage you can take.  Level this stat all the way, and you'll find
that attacks from normal enemies barely effect you.

Speed: This governs how fast you can shoot your bow.  It also gives you
more dexterity in melee combat, but as an archer you don't need to worry
about melee.  This stat is farely usefull, it basically makes your shots
more rapid.

Accuracy: This is how accurate you are with a bow, thus how much damage
you can cause.  The higher the level, the more damage you can do.

Guile: This governs how good you are at bartering with Traders for
better prices when buying or selling.  This also governs how stealthy
you are, and you will learn to steal and pick locks in higher levels.

Magic Power: How long your Magic bar is.

Multi Arrow: A spell that allows you to shoot multiple arrows in one
shot.

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3)Equipment
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3a)What an archer needs/does need:

As an Archer, you will not have to worry about buying any melee weapons.
You should sell off any melee weapon you have, to make a small profit.
It is absolutely pointless to collect Legendary Weapons, as you cannot
sell them, and an archer does not need them.  You should however collect
any Legendary Bow weapons you may come across.
Do not sell your augmentations.  These are valuable little items, that
allow you to upgrade your Bow in any way that you would like.

These are all the aug. you can aquire in the game.

Experience-Gives you extra experience when collected.

Health-Slowly increases your health.

Flame-Inflicts additional damage to enemies harmed by fire.

Mana-Regenerates mana.

Lightning-Inflicts additional damage to enemies harmed by lightning.

Piercing-Reduces the effectiveness of enemy armor.

Sharpening-Increases the damage your weapon does.

Silver-Does extra damage to Balverines and Undead.

Note that you cannot undo augmentations.

I would reccomend the Sharpening Aug. it makes your Arrow do more
damage.  I also like the Fire, Lightning, and Experience Augmentations,
they re pretty useful.  I will discuss later in this FAQ how to build
the perfect bow.

As an Archer, you must understand how to kill without being killed,
which is easier said than done.  Most enemies in the game will rush you,
and early on, when you have a weak bow, this can become a problem.  This
is why it is a good idea to go for Skorms Bow as soon as possible, which
would be right after you beat the first quest, the Wasp Queen.  Getting
Skorm's bow will be discussed later in the FAQ, just wait a little bit.

3b)What an archer should buy:

You should ignore Will Potions completely, I can say that with 100%
confidence.  Even if you plan on using the multi arrow spell, you will
find enough will potions to make up for what you need.

In Fable, you have an unlimited supply of arrows, so you won't have to
worry about buying any of those.

If you are having a hard time, health potions would be a nice
investment.  These may come in handy early on, because if you do not
have a powerful bow, you will get hit a lot.

That's pretty much it.  You could buy food if you want, it heals you,
but not as much as a potion.  Also, don't buy fatty foods (meat, pie,
etc.) unless you want your archer to have a fat arse.

3c)Clothing:

Although each Suit has an armor rating, it really means nothing.  You
could run around in your undies the whole game, and you would still take
the same amount of damage as if you were wearing a Suit of armor with
900 armor rating.  Therefore, wear what you want.  Sell any clothes you
have, that you don't want.  The only thing clothing is for is to govern
your attractiveness and scariness, and give you an alignment modifier.
I prefer the Assasin Suit, it just looks damn cool, but hey, if you
prefer the Bright Dress...go for it.  Fable is about making your own
descisions.

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4)Getting Skorm's Bow
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This is actually pretty dificult to do, it's all about perfect timing.

4a)What is Skorm's Bow?

It is a very powerful Bow, sporting a lightning and sharpening
augmentations, and capable of 264 damage.  To get it you must get to the
Darkwood Chapel of Skorm.  Your sacrifice at the CoS must meet certain
conditions, or your sacrifice will not get you anything except evil
points.

4b)How do I get it?

Before we begin, let me tell you one thing: This takes trial and error.
you may not get the Bow your first try, or you might get it on your
first try.  You just have to keep doing it, and it will work eventually.

I had a link in the original version of this FAQ, of a video of how
to get the Bow.  Unfortunately, it is dead for one reason or another,
I have no idea why. It's really too bad, the video showed a perfect
method of getting Skorms Bow.  Now you will just have to do it with
a text description.  Sorry...

Basically, here's what to do:

(Note: It is a good idea to do the Wasp Queen quest before attempting
this.  The WQ is the first do-able quest in the game.  You will need
money to hire the Mercenaries required for this sacrifice.  Unless you
have some other way that you would rather make money, this is the
easiest way.  Also, for those of you that still don't know the answer to
this: No, you cannot do the other quests at the beginning of the game.
They were left in the game by accident, and even if you get the required
Reknown to do them, they dissapear.)

Walk to the Chapel  of Skorm.  Teleport to Oakvale, and hire the
mercenary there.  Teleport back to the Chapel, then teleport to
Bowerstone.  Hire the merc there, and recall back to the Chapel.  Now
SAVE YOUR GAME in a new slot, in case you mess up.  It is likely that
you will, so you need something to fall back on.

Now enter the chapel, and stand in front of the worshipers.  now you
must wait unitl midnight.  This is when the clock (upper right corner of
screen) has night on top, and the sun on the bottom, and the horizon
line is completely flat.

(I have noticed that if you just stand there and wait for the clock to
move, it takes FOREVER.  If you leave and go back into Darkwood, you
will be at the trader camp.  Here you can play Blackjack.  It's a fun
game, and if you're worried about losing gold, just bet 1 gold each
hand.  The clock moves a lot quicker this way.  Also, if the day and
night divider are at the opposite sides that you want them to be, you
can use a golden carrot or moonfish to switch up the time.  I have found
that sometimes this makes the clock advance too far, it's just a random
thing.)

When it is the correct time, a merc will take his pay, telling you that it is
midnight.  A merc will always take his pay on the hour, so if the clock
is in the correct position, and he takes his pay, then it's midnight.
You will know that he takes his pay when you seem to randomly lose gold
for no reason.  Don't worry, it's just the Merc taking his pay that he
has earned.  He mine as well enjoy some gold before he dies, right?
Sacrifice the merc by talking to the worshiper, and skip the talking.
Now sac the next merc.  You must make both sacs after the midnight pay,
but before the next payment.  This is easy, you have plenty of time.  If
it worked, you get Skorm's Bow.  If not, reload your save and try again.
Congratulations, you now have the best bow in the game!

Rememeber, don't get frustrated, just keep on doing this, and you
will eventually get it right.

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5)Combat Strategy
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The strategy you will use is pretty much the same for every enemy you
face.

As a general rule, don't stand still.  You should keep moving around,
and always have a charged arrow at the ready.  You can actually roll
while charging or shooting an arrow, it is quite simple.  All you have
to do is press Y while you are still holding the X button, and the Hero
will roll while keeping the Arrow charged.  This is a great way to
charge your arrow while avoiding enemies.

Also, continue to move.  Strafe left and right, and retreat, while
charging your arrow.  Keep pelting the opponent with a constant barage
of charged arrows, and they won't be able to even reach you.

Also, always charge up your shot if you're in battle.  The second you
fire, charge another arrow, and let it fly.
This may seem like a shallow strategy, but it works for all normal
enemies, very effectively.  There's really not much else to say, the
Shooting portion of this game, although fun, is not terribly deep.  You
can beat the game as an archer by continously running backwards and
firing arrows at the oncoming enemies.  Follow these guidelines,  and
you will be a very affective archer.

One final thing.  If you are using the arrow spell, try to keep it
always on, to do more damage.

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6)Boss Strategy
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6a)Queen Wasp

This is simple.  Just stay away from her, and shoot at her.  She will
spawn little wasps, but they aren't a big deal.  You can easily kill them
with a slightly charged arrow.

6b)Whisper

This is the most annoying character in a game, ever.  She's also easy to
beat.  Simply stay away from her, and shoot her.  When she does her
little jump flip thing, charge you arrows and let her have it when she
lands.  Just keep away from her while shooting.  She's slow enough
that she won't hit you.

6c)Twinblade

This guy is easy, he just takes awhile.  Do the rolling charge to avoid
his attacks.  Eventually he will get his blades stuck in the ground,
this is when you should shoot him in the back.  You can see the attack
coming, he wil raise his twin blades (haha, I made a funny) and then
smash them down into the ground.  He will then stand there in his "I'm
clueless" mode, and you can attaack him from there.

6d)White Balverine.

This guy is pretty simple, keep rolling around, and shoot when you get
the chance.  The only thing that makes this difficult is that he summons
other Balverines, which get in the way.  Also, he has a large amount of
HP, so it will take awhile.

6e)Scorpion King

You'll fight this guy in the Arena, alongside Whisper.  Whisper
distracts him, so you can basically just sit back and shoot him.  Just
watch out for his charging attack.  Be sure to roll out of the way.

6f)Kraken

Another easy boss.  Shoot his tentacles with arrows, then blast his face
with more.  Very easy.  Just watch for his tentacles, and roll out of the
way.

6g)Maze

While he's using physical shield, just roll dodge his attacks, while
charging your arrow.  Let him have it when he takes his shield down.

6h)Jack of Blades

This is one of the easiest bosses I've ever fought.  Just circle and
roll around him, charging arrows, and blast him when your ready.  When
he starts to float, keep launching arrows at him, and he will go down.
This battle is a pain though, because he summons minions to attack you.

6i)Thunder

This is Whisper's older brother.  Looks like you're gonna put the smack
down on him as well.  Just keep rolling and circling him, and shoot when
you want to.

Well, that's all the bosses.  Seems as if they are all very easy.

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7)Buiding the Perfect Bow
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If you read the beginning of this guide, you might have noticed that I
mentioned this section.  With Augmentations, you can basically build
your own Bow, however you want.  First you'll need a Bow to augment.  I
would reccomend the Master Longbow.  It does 180 damage, and has 3
augmentation slots.

I would suggest that you use the sharpening augmentation for all 3
slots.  This gives you 3 upgrades to the damage it does.  Sure, putting
a Flame aug. gives it a flame around it, and it does fire damage, but
the 3 sharpening will make it do the most damage.  It still won't be
nearly as good as Skorm's Bow, but if you can't get SB, or you just
don't want it, this is the way to go.

I', going to go against what I just said, and tell you another method
of upgrading it.  If you're making it to look cool, try a fire, lightning,
and sharpening augmentation.  This gives it a cool little effect where
the flames and lightning will sometimes start circling the arrow.  This
looks cooler, although it does not do as much damage as 3 sharpening's
would.  However, the game isn't hard enough that it will make a difference

Remember, this is your game, not mine.  Put anything you want on the
bow, I really could care less.  This is the way that gives it the most
power however.

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8)Frequently Asked Questions
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This section has a list of questions that seem to be asked about
Archers, or Skorm's Bow, or anything that has to do with this guide.

Q: Can you still get Skorm's Bow near the end of the game?
A: You can get it at any point in the game, after you've graduated
from the Hero's Guild.

Q: Does armor really not make a difference?
A: OK, so I was overexaggerating a little bit.  Armor makes
a very small difference.  For the most part, it is pretty
useless.  The Toughness stat is all that matters.

Q: I killed the two Mercs needed to get Skorm's Bow, what do I do
now?
A: Get used to not having the Bow!  Actually, you may still be able
to get it, it will just be harder.  See, the sacs you make must be
someone who is of good morallity, and there is no way to tell if
someone is morally good or evil.  Unlike your character, NPC's do
not have horns or butterflies, so it is impossible to know.

You could try making some villagers follow you, hire all the other
Mercs, and start sacrificing like crazy when midnight rolls around.
I have no idea if this will work, it more than likely won't.  You'll
just have to make do without the bow.

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9)Disclaimer
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You may use this FAQ on your site, under certain conditions.  You
should email me, and ask permission, and provide a link to the
site you intend it to be used on.

Note that just because I get an email asking permission doesn't mean
I'll allow it.  There's a good chance that I won't however, because
I don't want to send emails to 10 different sites evry time I update.
It just depends.  If I get the time, I will let you use it though.

I probably won't care so long as you ask me permission 1st, but if
the site is something like 'l33thaXX0r.com' then...no...just no.

When you send me email:

Please make it readable.  Use propper grammar, spelling, and puncuation.
Also, in the subject line, indicate that you have a question about
Fable, don't just leave it blank.  I get SPAM/ads occasionally, and
if it has no subject, these seem to be an indication that is nothing
I would care about.  I added this to my Disclaimer because last night,
I got the following email:

"hi mm i read ur pure archer faq on game spot for the game fable. i thought
this faq was very good and i enjoyed reading it but there was ine thing i
was wondering and that is when i was trying to get skorms bow befor i read
this faq i wasted the mercs and didnt get it and so what i was wondering if
u have the time to answer this e-mail is can u think of any other easy way
to get skorms bow. the bows are my fav weapons and i cant get skorms bow. i
am refusing to complete the game without it so plz answer this e-mail. thx
for ur help."

First of all, he says that he read it on Gamespot, even though it's on
Gamefaqs.  Now lets look at the grammar, spelling, and punctuation
errors.  I know what he's asking, but it's just extremely annoying to
get an email like this.  On top of everything else, the subject was
"no subject".  Please refrain from sending me awful attempts at the English
language like this.

You can contact me at [email protected], or on AIM, with the same
screen name.

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