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In Cabal 2, Force Archers fill in the role of a traditional ranged damage dealer class. The most important thing about being a damage dealer is our DPS, short for “Damage Per Second”. So what does that mean? Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers!
Desiree, my lvl 40 Force Archer with 1k+ attack on Cabal 2 (NA) Pegasus server
The following is a detailed breakdown of each Force Archer skill, comparison of each skill in terms of DPS value, and suggested skill rotations to maximize your damage. Note that this guide does NOT go over which stats to choose and what equipment to wear – see other guides for that. This guide is based on the Cabal 2 NA version as of July, 2015, which has a lvl 40 cap.
SKILLS
The following are skill descriptions complete with experimentally determined values. Please note the following:
* All skill value multipliers were determined experimentally using a lvl 5 Test Dummy with ~1000 matk. They should only be used relative to each other (I will update them after checking against the completed damage formula)
* All skill values were calculated without the flat 5% combo bonus for consistency.
* All values have been normalized against a Basic Attack value of 1000 damage. Damage scaling in Cabal 2 is directly proportional to your Magic Attack value (linear relationship)
* Attack speed is not factored into these values. Attack speed reduces the cast/animation time of all skills. I have not tried stacking enough Attack speed to determine the exact formula, but it looks like it’s a diminishing return multiplier.
* All skill effects were determined experimentally due to the lack of meaningful in-game skill descriptions.
* All skill descriptions were written by me and may not match in-game descriptions.
* Damage values that are constant are denoted with a “c”. For example, “1000c” means a constant 1000 damage every time, whereas “1000” means a range of 900-1100 damage (10%).
* Skills with a DoT (damage over time) component include that damage in the DPS value since it is damage that happens without interfering with other skill casts.
* See here for the raw data
Basic Attack
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 0 MP
Cooldown: 0s
Cast time: 1s
Damage value: 1000c
DPS value: 1000
Requirement: None
Description: Fire an arrow at a target, your auto-attack.
Aimed Shot IV
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 81 MP
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 1.5s
Damage value: 1970
DPS value: 1313
Requirement: None
Description: Fire a charged arrow at target, your basic auto-chain attack.
Scatter Shot IV
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 83 MP
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 1.5s
Damage value: 2011
DPS value: 1341
Requirement: Chain skill after Aimed Shot
Description: Fire more arrows at target, the second attack in your basic auto-chain. Has a chance of granting you the Intense Cold buff for 15s.
Concussive Shot III
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 75 MP
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 1.3s
Damage value: 1801
DPS value: 1385
Requirement: Chain skill after Scatter Shot
Description: Fire even arrows at target, the third attack in your basic auto-chain.
Rapid Shot I
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 50 MP
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 3.0s
Damage value: 969×4
DPS value: 1292
Requirement: Chain skill after Concussive Shot
Description: Fire 4 more arrows at target, the last attack in your basic auto-chain. This is a channeled skill that can be canceled at any time through movement.
Frosty Shot II
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 90 MP
Cooldown: 8.0s
Cast time: 1.5s
Damage value: 2108
DPS value: 1405
Requirement: Intense Cold buff must be active (e.g. via Scattering Shot)
Description: Shoot a magical arrow at the target, only available when the Intense Cold buff is active.
Cold Snap Shot I
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 90 MP
Cooldown: 7.0s
Cast time: 1.3s
Damage value: 2011
DPS value: 1539
Requirement: Chain skill after Frosty Shot. Intense Cold buff must be active (e.g. via Scattering Shot)
Description: Shoot another magical arrow at the target, only available when the Intense Cold buff is active.
Poison Arrow IV
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 57 MP
Cooldown: 6.0s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: 1077c + 615c DoT (every 3s, 8 times)
DPS value: 5997 (includes DoT damage)
Requirement: None
Description: Fire a poisonous arrow at your target, inflicting poison damage over time.
Whirling Shot II
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 49 MP
Cooldown: 8.0s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: 1186 + 403 DoT (every 3s, 5 times)
DPS value: 3201 (includes DoT damage)
Requirement: None
Description: Fire a whirling arrow at your target, inflicting bleed damage over time.
Frost Bolt IV
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 57 MP
Cooldown: 15s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: 1353
DPS value: 1353
Requirement: None
Description: Fire a freezing arrow at your target, immobilizing your target for 8s. The target will then gain an immobilize immunity buff for 10s after the effect has worn off.
Note: If you have the Glacial Arrow (Honor) gem equipped, this will become an AoE attack but increase the skill cooldown to 60s.
Kill Shot I
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 232 MP
Cooldown: 7.0s
Cast time: 2.0s
Damage value: 3001
DPS value: 1501
Requirement: Immobilized target
Description: Fire a deadly shot at an immobilized target (e.g. via Frost Bolt).
Volley IV
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 117 MP
Cooldown: 4.0s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: 1599
DPS value: 1599
Requirement: None
Description: Fire a rapid series of arrows at your target.
Volley Bombardment II (typo’d as “Arrow Bombardment II” in-game)
Target: Single
Rooted: No
MP cost: 88 MP
Cooldown: 3.0s
Cast time: 1.7s
Damage value: 2576
DPS value: 1515
Requirement: Chain skill after Volley
Description: Fire a second rapid series of arrows at your target.
Arrow Bombardment II
Target: AoE
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 128 MP
Cooldown: 6.0s
Cast time: 2.0s
Damage value: 4121
DPS value: 2061
Requirement: None
Description: Launch a bombardment of arrows at and around your target.
Explosive Shot I
Target: AoE
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 120 MP
Cooldown: 5.0s
Cast time: 1.7s
Damage value: 1968
DPS value: 1158
Requirement: Chain skill after Arrow Bombardment
Description: Trigger a gravity attack at the site of your arrow bombardment.
Grenade III
Target: AoE
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 118 MP
Cooldown: 10.0s
Cast time: 2.0s
Damage value: 2059
DPS value: 1030
Requirement: None
Description: Throw a damaging grenade to damage your target and surrounding enemies. If you have the Quick Throw buff active, this skill will have no cast time. All grenade skills share the same global cooldown.
Flash Grenade III
Target: AoE
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 128 MP
Cooldown: 10.0s
Cast time: 2.0s
Damage value: 1775
DPS value: 888
Requirement: None
Description: Throw a blinding grenade to damage your target and surrounding enemies. Targets hit will have their accuracy reduced by 1400 for 10s. If you have the Quick Throw buff active, this skill will have no cast time. All grenade skills share the same global cooldown.
Quick Throw
Target: Passive triggered buff
Rooted: N/A
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Cast time: N/A
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Every time you use a skill, there is a small chance of gaining the Quick Throw buff for 6s. When the Quick Throw buff is active, grenade skills have no cast time (but still have a cooldown).
Purifying Bolt II
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 64 MP
Cooldown: 15.0s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Remove a positive buff from the target.
Note: If you have the Mass Purifying Bolt (Honor) gem equipped, this will become an AoE attack but increase the skill cooldown to 60s.
Paralyzing Arrow
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 70 MP
Cooldown: 18.0s
Cast time: 1.5s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Fire a paralyzing arrow at your target, sleeping the target for 15s. The target will then gain a paralyze immunity buff for 10s after the effect has worn off.
Smokebomb
Target: Self-AoE
Rooted: No
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 60.0
Cast time: 0.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Reduces your aggro of mobs around you. In my testing, this skill is broken and does nothing (or the skill is extremely ineffective).
Accurate Aim IV
Target: Party buff
Rooted: No
MP cost: 50 MP
Cooldown: 0.0s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Buff your party, granting party members +198 accuracy for 60 minutes.
Deadly Focus IV
Target: Self buff
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: 55 MP
Cooldown: 60s
Cast time: 1.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Regenerate MP over time, recovering +217 MP every 3s for the next 15s.
Note: If you have the Sharp Mind (Conquest) gem equipped, you will instead recover +434 MP every 3s for the next 15s but increase the skill cooldown to 90s.
Rapid Evasion
Target: Movement skill
Rooted: No
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 30.0s
Cast time: 0.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Slide backwards 10m from your current position
Note: If you have the Perfect Evasion (Conquest) gem equipped, cooldown will be increased to 45s but you will be granted a buff that will increase your Evasion by 2000 for the next 10s.
Dash
Target: Movement skill
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 15.0s
Cast time: 0.3s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Move forward 6m from your current position (all classes have this skill)
Battle Mode: Power of Concentration
Target: Transform
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 300s
Cast time: 3.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Transform into Battle Mode for the next 70s.
BM 1A (no official name yet, first attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 1.2s
Damage value: 4508c
DPS value: 3757
Requirement: In Battle Mode state
Description: Shoot a magical bullet at your target while in Battle Mode.
BM 1B (no official name yet, first attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 1.8s
Damage value: 6462c
DPS value: 3590
Requirement: In Battle Mode state, chain skill after BM 1A.
Description: Shoot another magical bullet at your target while in Battle Mode.
BM 1C (no official name yet, first attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 2.7s
Damage value: 9769c
DPS value: 3618
Requirement: In Battle Mode state, chain skill after BM 1B.
Description: Shoot even more magical bullets at your target while in Battle Mode.
BM 2A (no official name yet, second attack in Battle Mode)
Target: AoE
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 2.3s
Damage value: 7754c
DPS value: 3371
Requirement: In Battle Mode state.
Description: Shoot magical bullets at your target and surrounding enemies while in Battle Mode.
BM 2B (no official name yet, second attack in Battle Mode)
Target: AoE
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 1.0s
Cast time: 2.7s
Damage value: 8846c
DPS value: 3276
Requirement: In Battle Mode state, chain skill after BM 2A.
Description: Shoot more magical bullets at your target and surrounding enemies while in Battle Mode.
BM 3 (no official name yet, third attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 10.0s
Cast time: 2.7s
Damage value: 10769c
DPS value: 3989
Requirement: In Battle Mode state.
Description: Charge up and shoot a powerful magical bullet at your target while in Battle Mode.
BM 4 (no official name yet, fourth attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Single
Rooted: Yes
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 10.0s
Cast time: 1.7s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: In Battle Mode state.
Description: Fire a paralyzing shot at your target, sleeping the target for 15s. The target will then gain a paralyze immunity buff for 10s after the effect has worn off.
BM 5 (no official name yet, fifth attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Movement skill
Rooted: No
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 10.0s
Cast time: 0.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Slide backwards 10m from your current position.
BM 6 (no official name yet, sixth attack in Battle Mode)
Target: Self heal
Rooted: No
MP cost: N/A
Cooldown: 15.0s
Cast time: 0.0s
Damage value: N/A
DPS value: N/A
Requirement: None
Description: Recover 20% of your max HP and MP.
SKILL CHAINS
The following are the list of current Force Archer skill chains as of lvl 40
Quick Shot
Aimed Shot -> Scatter Shot -> Concussive Shot -> Rapid Shot
-> -> ->
This is your basic auto-chain, for use when you’re super lazy. It is recommended you cancel/never learn Rapid Shot as it has terrible DPS.
Cold Shot
(Intense Cold state) -> Frosty Shot -> Cold Snap Shot
() -> ->
This is your off-chain whenever your Scatter Shot happens to trigger the Intense Cold buff. The DPS is pretty decent, but getting it is unreliable. It gets slightly better at lvl 42 when the Freezing Arrow chain skill becomes available.
Volley
Volley -> Volley Bombardment
->
This is your bread-and-butter single-target DPS skill. Use it for PvE and PvP.
Annihilation Bow
Arrow Bombardment -> Explosive Shot
->
This is your AoE chain for when you have a lot of targets. The first skill is good for single-target DPS if you cancel the chain.
Death Bow
(Frost Bolt) -> Kill Shot
() ->
This is your “spike” damage chain. With the current lvl 40 cap, however, the damage is not really worth it until lvl 50 with Annihilating Arrow becomes available.
Battle Mode 1 Chain
(Battle Mode) -> BM 1A -> BM 1B -> BM 1C
() -> -> ->
This is your single-target chain while in battle mode. BM 1A does the most damage, but cancelling and repeating BM 1A would make you lose the 5% combo bonus.
Battle Mode 2 Chain
(Battle Mode) -> BM 2A -> BM 2B
() -> ->
This is your AoE chain while in battle mode. BM 2A does more damage than BM 2B, but cancelling and repeating BM 2A would make you lose the 5% combo bonus.
DPS Comparisons
Here’s an ordered list comparing the equalized DPS (damage per second) values of all Force Archer skills
* 5997 – Poison Arrow IV
* 3989 – BM 3
* 3757 – BM 1A
* 3618 – BM 1C
* 3590 – BM 1B
* 3371 – BM 2A
* 3276 – BM 2B
* 3201 – Whirling Shot II
* 2061 – Arrow Bombardment II
* 1599 – Volley IV
* 1539 – Cold Snap Shot I
* 1515 – Volley Bombardment II
* 1501 – Kill Shot I
* 1405 – Frosty Shot II
* 1385 – Concussive Shot III
* 1353 – Frost Bolt IV
* 1341 – Scatter Shot IV
* 1313 – Aimed Shot IV
* 1292 – Rapid Shot I
* 1158 – Explosive Shot I
* 1030 – Grenade III
* 1000 – Basic Attack
* 888 – Flash Grenade III
So what conclusions can we draw from this chart? A few things (some obvious, some not):
* Battle Mode is very high DPS (obviously) at roughly 2x damage all around.
* Against single targets (e.g. bosses), single-target BM 1 attacks are better than AoE BM 2.
* For PvP, you want to chain-cancel spam BM 1A (tap left/right before the animation finishes) since it has the shortest cast time and highest DPS. For PvE, it doesn’t really matter since the DPS is more or less the same.
* DoT attacks (Poison Arrow and Whirling Shot) do a lot of damage, but incur that damage over time, so you want to fire them off early. For PvP though, be careful when you use them as the DoT will break your sleep (Paralyzing Arrow).
* Arrow Bombardment is your highest DPS non-BM skill, so you want to use this on cooldown. The follow-up chain skill, Explosive Shot, is very low DPS, so should not be used unless you are AoEing.
* Volley is both very high DPS as well as spammable, so you want to weave this into your DPS rotation as much as possible. The follow-up chain skill, Volley Bombardment, is also high DPS, so it should be chained.
* Frosty Shot and Cold Snap Shot have decent DPS, but they depend on the Intense Cold state, so you should not rely on having this in your skill rotation.
* Kill Shot’s DPS is high, but it requires the target to be immobilized, and Volley Bombardment’s DPS is higher and with a shorter cast time. Until lvl 50’s Annihilating Arrow becomes available, I don’t think this skills is worth using.
* The Quick Shot chain’s DPS sucks a lot (but at least it’s easy to use)
DPS Rotations
Here are some common/suggested DPS rotations. Note that all rotations are meant to fit in a 15s window as that is the effective DoT window for Whirling Shot (you can try to optimize for maximizing Poison Shot, but that’ll get messy. Numbers in (brackets) are what you would get if you managed to combo the entire rotation (+5%)
The Lazy Man’s Rotation
This is literally just the basic auto-chain rotation. Easy to rack up 50+ combos on bosses and you’ll never run out of MP, but you fail as a DPS class.
-> -> -> -> -> -> ->
Total duration: 14.6s
Total damage: 19316 (20281)
Average DPS: 1323 (1389)
Slightly Less Lazy Man’s Rotation
This is the basic auto-chain rotation but with DoTs. At least you’re trying, somewhat.
-> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> ->
Total duration: 16.6s
Total damage: 21579 (22657) + 5090 DoT
Average DPS: 1606 (1671)
Desiree’s Lazy PvE DPS Rotation
This is the lazy DPS rotation I use for PvE. The difference from the one below (maximized version) is that I overlap the DoTs cause I’m usually too lazy to keep track of which stage I’m on. Still really effective DPS.
-> -> -> -> -> ->
Total duration: 9.4s
Total damage: 14734 (15471) + 3054 DoT
Average DPS: 1892 (1970)
Desiree’s Maximized PvE DPS Rotation
This is the max DPS rotation I use for PvE (e.g. dungeon bosses). The rotation is longer than 15s so there will be a brief 3s where there is no Whirling Shot DoT, but you do get in one more Poison Arrow DoT tick. The rotation is also significantly harder to combo with (I’ve never been able to), but your average DPS is still significantly better than the lazy-man rotation, even without the 5% bonus. Note that with this rotation, you WILL run out of MP pretty fast. With the Sharp Mind (Conquest) gem and the Instant Alertness (Abysmo), however, you should be able to last for a very long time and by the time you run out, it’s usually also time to go Battle Mode against the boss (during which you can recover back to full MP for free using the BM 6 skill).
-> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> ->
Total duration: 18.3s
Total damage: 29175 (30633) + 5705 DoT
Average DPS: 1906 (1985)
Desiree’s PvP Rotation
Force Archer in PvP is about kiting, so you’ll pretty much be running around spamming Volley->Volley Bombardment and Basic Attack. If you ever do get to a point where you can safely CC and attack your target, however, this would be the rotation you want to use:
-> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> RUN!
And that’s it for now, hope this guide was helpful!
Hopefully ESTgames will properly update all the skill descriptions soon (and add skill names to the Battle Mode skills), as well as fix Smokebomb.
~Keripo (Desiree)
Cabal 2 Official forums: http://forum.cabal2.playthisgame.com/forum/cabal-ii-discussion/class-discussion/force-archer/126396-desiree-s-detailed-force-archer-dps-guide
