Pharaoh's Arrows: A Huntsman Guide

Pharaoh Man

(inspired by Draco's sniper guide, check it out here if you want to be a rifle sniper)

1) Introduction
2) Archer vs. Rifleman
3) Weapon Builds
4) Aiming
5) Maneuvering
6) Stolen strategies
7) The probability factor
7a) Pinned/skewer shots
8) General tips
9) Specific classes
10) Conclusion

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1) Introduction

The sniper is a tricky class to be effective with. The huntsman is trickier still. This guide is an inclusive guide to archer strategy. There are both basic and advanced ideas, so you can scan the guide for basic tips or read it thoroughly for new strategies.

There is an idea floating around that archers are nothing more than spammers who rely on luck to get kills. This is not entirely false. I will explain how you must use probability to tip this luck in your favor. Over time you will see improvement in your technique and your “spam” will become “calculated spam.” This is the main difference between an expert and an amateur.

Once you understand how the bow works you become a fierce threat at every range. The trained huntsman sniper will have one hard counter, the scout, and you can make choices that limit his effectiveness. Great archers fear very little, but it's not an easy journey getting there.

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2) Archer vs. Rifleman

Most seasoned snipers disregard the bow and consider it a toy. I will attempt to show you that there is more depth in the archer class than merely being an inferior rifleman.

The huntsman is so different from rifle that it might as well be a new class, similar to demoknight and sticky demo. An archer thinks, moves, and shoots differently than a rifleman. While you will borrow many tactics from a rifleman, you also borrow from many other classes.

Let's take a look at a pro/con list.

Rifleman:
+Hitscan
+Reliable long range damage
+Prioritizes targets more effectively
+With perfect aim, will always deal damage
+Max damage is higher with full charge (450, kills anything)
+Higher rate of fire
+Can stay charged indefinitely
-Very weak at short range
-Tunnel vision; must be scoped to cause real damage, and a good sneak attack will end you
-Slower charge
-Ideal sniping distance is too far away to use your secondary or melee to aid your team
-Sniper duels come down to “Who's the fastest?”, they must share vision
-Requires pinpoint accuracy
-Telegraphs position with the laser scope before firing

Huntsman:
+Good at any range, notably more effective at close range
+Ideal archer distance allows full use of secondary and melee weapons to complement your bow
+Very fast charge, charged headshots can be made in rapid succession
+More aware of surroundings since there is no zoom; can aim quickly in any direction with a full charge and full vision
+Can kill players without actually looking at them
+Larger projectile size, requires great, but not pinpoint accuracy
+Only telegraphs position (with tracer arrows) after firing
-Notably less effective at long range
-Must use probability and leading to aim, and accept that you may not do damage every shot
-Max damage is lower (360, can't kill overhealed heavies)
-Projectile speed/arc/range changes based on charge, making it harder to lead shots
-Slower rate of fire
-Ideal archer distance involves more people firing on you
-Can only stay charged for 5 seconds without losing accuracy

Of course good players in either category can offset some of the disadvantages, but I'm speaking in general terms.

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3) Weapon Builds

Jarate/Bushwacka
For secondary weapons, I highly recommend jarate for archers; it makes you very versatile. I don't need to tell you what it does.

Unlike riflemen, you want to stay around mid range from the main battle, so your secondary is more important. Save it until there's a problem group that looks like it might push you and your teammates back, then let the jarate do its thing. Keep in mind you can save dying burning medics, and aid your team in a push if they have an uber. Also, you can throw jarate/switch to bushwacka very quickly, and can serve as a backstab or desperation kill in a pinch.

Don't waste it. It's very powerful and if you waste it on one player who will die anyway, then you might not have it to charge with while capping a point, or to extinguish a medic. If you use jarate, use the bushwacka.

Other secondaries
The razorback was made with the rifleman in mind, who may spend several seconds scoped in trying to kill someone. The archer is able to look around much more, even when aiming at full charge, so you can be more aware of spies. Plus, the jarate is a natural counter to the pesky cloakers as well. I do not suggest using the razorback.

The danger shield is more reasonable than the razorback, but you are naturally a fragile, high-damage class. Offsetting one of your many disadvantages doesn't help a great deal, and certainly not at the expense of the jarate.

The SMG is the only real alternative to jarate. Your arrow does lots of damage, but it requires precision and if you leave them at 1hp, you have to hit them with another arrow or luck out with a melee to confirm the kill. A well placed arrow and a burst from the SMG will take down many foes. If you care about K:D, the SMG is a fine weapon. I believe that the swiss-army-jar is more useful in most situations than the extra kills you will get with the SMG, and jarate is useful even while you're firing arrows. If you're firing the SMG, you're not firing arrows. Perhaps the SMG would be good for a lone ranger or flanking archer, if you just can't stand the idea of following your teammates around all the time.

Other melees
If you use the jarate, use the bushwacka. It's the perfect crit-machine with hardly a drawback at all. If you don't, then use any other knife you choose. Draco's sniper guide goes into more detail if you decide to use another melee.

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4) Aiming

Aiming is normally the most important part of being an effective sniper. However, with the bow, it comes down to more practice than strategy. You just need to get a feel for how fast arrows travel at what level of charge, get used to leading shots at close, mid and far ranges, and how far above the head you need to aim if you're going for a headshot. This will be frustrating at first, but trust me, you eventually get a feel for it.

Bodyshots are legitimate ways to deal high damage. Unlike rifle snipers, your bodyshots charge quickly and do lots of damage (almost as much as a 0% rifle headshot). You risk missing a lot if only aiming for the head, and eventually you will recognize times when you will easily hit the headshot, or whether you should just take the bodyshot.

Aiming is much easier if the target is unaware of you. The reason you want to stay with a group is because you want your targets shooting at them, dodging them, and ignoring you. This will let you watch their movements until you can release a good shot. If your heavy-medic just spun up in front of their heavy-medic, an arrow in either target will turn the battle in your favor. Just watch and see whether a headshot on the heavy or a bodyshot on the medic makes the most sense. If it looks like your pair will win the fight, more enemies will still be running towards/shooting at your pair, and you can choose a different target and eliminate him before he can cause any damage. You can change between aiming at a close/mid/far target with no time lost at all, so scan the battlefield before you release an arrow. Aiming is very important because of your slow fire rate, so you don't want to miss, even if you're attempting to kill an important target far away. It's usually better to take the guaranteed bodyshot at close range than to try and headshot someone far away if your teammates are in a hard fight. Wait until they're safe, then start taking riskier shots.

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5) Maneuvering

The absolute most important factor in being an effective archer is maneuvering. Archers are an excellent support class, but they are unreliable solo fighters. You are at your best when running right beside, or right behind, a teammate or (even better) a group of teammates. I prefer medic+(soldier, heavy, demo) as my buddies. Run slightly behind them and put arrows and jarate in their targets. You will keep each other alive and be able to push much farther than if separated. Since you have low HP, try to stay slightly behind them and constantly check for flankers or spies.

If you're lucky enough to have the option of two groups going into an enclosed area, such as a tunnel, and another going to a wide open area, go in the enclosed area. You suddenly only have two directions to shoot arrows (front and behind) instead of the open area, where opponents can appear and dodge in any direction. When defending, you can hold a tunnel all by yourself if you give yourself plenty of room to retreat.

Always be ready to turn around and run at full speed away from the conflict. You are fragile and have a high damage output, so staying alive is (usually) more important than maybe getting one more kill at the risk of your life. If isolated or separated from your group, and in a 1v1 fight, alternate between running away at full speed and launching arrows behind you to deter your opponent. Try to lead pursuers into friendly players rather than leading them off into nowhere, where they can catch and kill you.

Alternatively, you can try to flank the opponents. If you get in a position where you can see a group, you can do a lot of damage if they don't know you're there. Your glowing arrows act as tracers, so eventually people will start chasing you (or even worse, snipe you) but even if you don't kill anyone you can break a few of them off from the group so your teammates have an easier time with those remaining.

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6) Stolen strategies

Like the scout, you are fragile and do lots of damage. Try to use your teammates to protect your fragile HP since you don't have his mobility.

Like the soldier, you have fast, linear projectiles. Learn to lead your shots.

Like the pyro, you have a powerful support tool in the jarate, like the airblast. Don't hesitate to put out a burning dying friend if you don't think you'll use it in the next few seconds.

Like the demo(knight), you can switch from high-damage projectiles to high-damage melee in a split second. Don't underestimate the power of jarate+bushwacka, especially if your target isn't paying attention to you. It only takes two whacks to kill a heavy if he's occupied.

Like the heavy, it takes you a few seconds of preparation before dealing full damage. “Spin up” your huntsman before going around corners (jumping isn't necessary most of the time).

Like the medic, you are putting yourself in a position that you can be fired upon so you can be most effective, but slightly behind the main combat classes. Perfect your jumping/weaving/dodging techniques.

Like the rifleman, you can take out long range targets when nobody else can. Keep an eye out for angles to hit engies behind sentries.

Like the spy, killing is much easier when the enemy is unaware of you. Also, you get two points per preferred kill (backstab and headshot). Enjoy your MVP ranks for no reason.

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7) The Probability Factor

This section is full of advanced techniques. Beginners can skip this part for now, as it assumes that your aim and maneuvering are perfect.

At long range, you don't know which way a target will run. You have to try and predict his movement and place an arrow where he might run, but you could easily guess wrong. Let's say a pyro is running at a crossroads in the map and he could run up some stairs or down a hallway. At this point, you don't know whether he will advance in either of the two directions, retreat where he came from looking for a spy, or stand still and taunt. This is a bad time to release an arrow. If you guess at what he will do, you have a 25% chance to hit, even if your aim is perfect.

Wait until you see him turn and look at the stairs, then start running up. Now you know his path. Now you release the arrow. Your low firing rate makes every arrow count, and you can't afford to make a bad guess when a few seconds of waiting could become a 100% hit.

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Now let's say there's a soldier on high ground firing rockets at you. There's also an engy across the map tanking his sentry. If you kill the soldier now you get to live and get the guaranteed engy kill, but it's a hard shot. Let's call it 33%.

If you miss, the soldier will kill you, and the engy lives. In this situation you just release the arrow at the engy (100%) and concentrate on dodging the rockets. If you bodyshot the engy and he doesn't die, dodge more rockets and fire at the engy again. You don't want to get involved with an extended dodge/hide/fire battle with the soldier when there's a kill available. Kill the engy, then you're free to retreat or fight as you see fit. If you fight the soldier, you may kill 0 people (66%), or 2 people (33%). If you kill the engy, you kill at least 1 person (100%), possibly 2 (less now, since the soldier got to fire more rockets. Let's call it 20%, but you already got one kill).

This isn't always the best choice. If time or teammates are at stake, take the original 33% soldier shot.

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If in a fight that you're sure you'll lose, you have some options. Release one last ditch arrow and try to save your life, or release your jarate and splash your attacker before you die. If you have any friends around at all, just release the jarate and go for mutually assured destruction. If you're far away from any friends, release the arrow. Try and think of the probabilities of you killing the opponent and surviving to a health pack, and the probabilities of a teammate killing him after you jarate. Sometimes dying is the right option if it helps the team.

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You prioritize targets differently than riflemen. You don't think “What's the highest priority target I can see?”, but rather “What's the highest priority target I have the highest chance to hit, and will be the most useful to my immediate group?” Even if you have a 100% to hit a heavy with 10 health and on fire, you're better off taking a 50% shot at a spy charging your medic. Your arrows are game-changers. Don't waste them on people who your teammates are about to kill anyway. Trust your teammates. If they have things under control, even if there's a battle in close range, go ahead and pick your long range targets. If they are at risk of dying, switch to close range and help them out.

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You know those scenes in films, where a guy with a sniper rifle sees a target run behind a building and keeps his scope at the same level as his target, moving it at the same rate the target was moving across the wall, until the target emerges from the other side of the building and his scope is in the perfect spot? This is a great way to use the huntsman. If you see someone run behind some cover, you can “follow” his path behind the cover and lead your shot so your arrow passes through his path the second he emerges, and headshot him before he even gets a chance to see you! Sure, you only connect if your target keeps running at the same rate and same direction as he did before he was hidden by the cover, but your arrow certainly has a chance to hit, and it's better than waiting until he emerges, sees you, and starts firing on you or ducking back behind the cover.

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7a) Pinned/skewer shots

In chess, there are moves called “pinning” and “skewering”. These are where one of your pieces is threatening an important target, which is standing in front of another important target. This is a great position to be in because if one of them moves, the other one is still threatened. This is the best possible archer shot you can hope for, and the basis of getting lots of kills. There are no big differences between the two in TF2 like there are in chess, so I'll just call them “pinned shots”.

There is a scout jumping around and attacking some teammates in front of you at mid-range. There is also a heavy standing off to the side of him at long range, too far away to attack your teammates. Do you fire at the spastic scout who is an immediate threat, or at the heavy which is an easier target, but less of a threat?

You do both. Adjust your position, and line up a perfect shot at the heavy. Now wait until the scout jumps around where you're aiming, and let it fly. You have no idea which way the scout will jump or dodge, but now you have a chance of hitting him. If you miss your shot, you still have a chance of hitting the heavy.

This method works even with moving targets. Let's say the pyro in the example above is at the same crossroads, and you don't know which way he will run. However, if he chooses to run up the stairs, that will put him in the same path as a running sniper. Go ahead and fire the arrow as if you're leading him up the stairs, even if you don't know for sure. If the pyro chooses the stairs, he takes an arrow. If he chooses any other direction, you still have a chance to hit the sniper. I'm not saying you'll hit either target, but you are always trying to increase your chances, which is the essence of good archery.

If you have an option to take a regular shot at a challenging target, or a pinned shot with challenging targets, take the pinned shot. Even if you miss, you are increasing your chance of hitting something. If you're lucky enough to see a group of people, just spam arrows at head-level at a particular target. You can try for the medic, but since everyone's running around he might dodge one way, and a soldier might run right into your arrow. That's fine. That's how the bow works.

Sentries are great for pinned shots. Keep a charged shot at a sentry and wait for someone to run in front of it. Fire at head-level and hope you hit. If not, the sentry takes a hit, and there's a chance that someone will help you with a sapper or rocket. If nothing else it keeps the engy from getting too adventurous.

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8) General tips
Basic
- The high ground is a great place to be.
- Remember you can't fire in mid-air, but you can charge your bow. The ability to start your charge in mid-air is a huge advantage for the bow over the sniper rifle. It makes any corner into the best cover possible. Jump out, start your charge the moment you jump, by the time you land its over 75% full. Fire, then get back into cover. Most classes can't kill you when you are doing this.
- You're great at taking out sentries, but you need a little help if you can't hit the engy first. Try to follow a soldier or track a friendly spy, and launch an arrow as soon as a rocket hits or the sapper goes on.
- Your ammo goes quickly and is sometimes hard to find. Make sure to pick up weapons whenever you can, and try not to fire arrows that have a low chance of hitting something. Right-click relaxes your bow.
- Don't be afraid to go melee on people. Jarate+bushwacka is very fast and quite deadly. An advantage archer has over rifleman is he's usually in the position to aid with charges and use his body to cap.
- Remember, you can look everywhere while fully charged. If someone kills your target, just scan quickly and find another one.

Intermediate
- Charge and retreat with your team! You are directly supporting them by being there. Follow ubers in and try to unleash some arrows at whoever you can while the enemy scrambles away from them.
- Don't watch your arrow after firing it. As soon as you release the arrow, start looking for more targets, or turn around and run. Your arrow doesn't care if you're watching it. It will still kill.
- Practice until you know exactly when you have a full charge when pulling back the bow without looking at the meter. It's around a second after the “draw your bow” sound stops. It's fast, but there's a lot of difference between half-charge and full-charge shots. If everything goes great, you'll only fire fully charged shots every time.
- Everything will not go great, and you will not fire fully charged shots every time. Practice “tapping”, or firing 0% charged shots. They go much slower and have a much deeper arc. This will be the only way to survive surprise encounters with aggressive scouts or pyros. Aim a bit higher over their head than you usually do, and tap the fire button. An arrow will leak out pathetically from your bow, but if you get the headshot they die.
- Find a friendly pyro. Fire arrows are amazing. In a pinch you can run up to a friendly pyro and act really suspicious so he spy-checks you. Try using fire arrows on scoped snipers, as it guarantees the bodyshot kill.

Advanced
- If your group is dominating anything that gets in their way and you don't have a clear target, spamming at an entrance or a faraway tunnel is fine, as long as you have the ammo to do so. Be mindful of whether anyone is guarding a path that could lead enemies to you, and if you know enemies are pressing that point you can fire arrows even without seeing a target. You have a low chance to hit, but a chance nonetheless.
- Riflemen will kill you if you let them. However, if you know where they are, you can pop out for a fraction of a second and send an arrow in the general direction of their head, and immediately hide behind cover. Your arrows are too fast for most snipers to dodge, and if you're fast they won't even know you fired it. Wait until you know they have a bead on a teammate and you know their exact location before sticking your head out.
- Since you can aim and see in any direction quickly, try to "fake out" opponents. If you see a faraway spy, pull back an arrow and aim it at a tunnel, keeping the spy on the side of your screen instead of your crosshairs. He might decide you're an easy target and run in a straight line towards your back. Once you set his movement, it's easy to spin around and release a headshot.
- Your skewer taunt comes out fast and stuns ubers. This is a silly technique, but technically a viable one. Most of the time you're better off stalking the uber and raining jarate on them the split second it ends.
- Pyros can reflect your arrows and kill people with them. However, the chances of this are so low this should not affect your gameplay. Only consider this if a pyro has consistently proven he can reflect your arrows back at you if he's aware of you.
- Huntsman arrows can fly through any enemy projectile (including enemy huntsman arrows) and destroy them. The chance of this happening are even lower than getting killed by a reflected arrow, so don't charge up to a kritzed soldier and try to shoot his head through a crit rocket. Well, you can, but make damn sure you're recording first.

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9) Specific classes

- vs. Scout – This is your hardest fight. The scout is way too fast and you fire a very small projectile with slow reloading time. Try to stay with friends that can kill him quickly. Wait until you see a double jump and aim at where he's landing. Tap an arrow at his head if you're desperate. Good luck.
- vs. Soldier – He's big and slow, but if he gets close he'll kill you. Run away and pepper him with arrows. Don't be afraid to attempt an airshot if he jumps. A fully charged airshot will kill him after one jump.
- vs. Pyro – Don't get ambushed, and pyros are no problem. Alternate between running away and firing head-level shots at him, since most run in straight lines.
- vs. Demo – Try not to fight him directly, as he fires faster and does more damage than you. Get him distracted, or alternatively charge him directly with the sword since he he's weak at direct combat. Demoknight charges are free kills for you.
- vs. Heavy – Chew these guys up and spit them out. The huntsman counters heavies at any range.
- vs. Engy – Try to stay at far range. You are very strong vs. engies at long range. Try to hit him with arrows, and if you see his sentry taking damage concentrate on that. Fully charged arrows almost kill a sentry, but not quite.
- vs. Riflemen – Pop out quickly and find out where their position is. Wait until you know he's aiming at someone else, or adjust your position slightly if he saw you (move a few feet left or right if peeking over a hill, or step from the other side of cover if he's looking for you). Send an arrow his way and immediately hide again. Do not watch the arrow to see if it hits. A fully charged bodyshot will probably kill snipers with damage spread on, and will do 120 damage if it's off. Headshots will always kill.
- vs. Spy – Splash them as soon as you see them. Fire an arrow if they run. Cleave them in half if they don't. If they're trying to re-flank, pursue them. Don't follow them into enemy territory or if another teammate decides to follow them. A jarated spy is easy pickings for most classes.

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10) Conclusion

Thanks to anyone who read any of this guide, and special thanks to those who read all of it. I tried to write a comprehensive guide that covered basic and advanced techniques. There's always something to learn, though, so if you have something to add, tell me and I might fit it in. I hope that everyone learned something about playing archer well.

Now get out there and make your own luck.

Last edited by Pharaoh Man on Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:35 pm; edited 2 times in total

atatme · Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:27 pm Post subject:

Spot on Pharoh, but there are a few things I would like to add on based on my own archer experience:

I would like to re-emphasize how powerful archers are in narrow hallways. When there aren't many places for your target to dodge to, it makes them extremely predictable (with a good archer's accuracy increasing into the upper 90%s). When playing archer, try to find a long narrow hallway that you can use to your advantage.

Also, the ability to start your charge in mid air is a HUGE advantage for the bow over a sniper rifle. It makes any corner into the best cover possible. Jump out, start your charge the moment you jump, by the time you land its over 3/4 full. Fire, get back into cover. Most classes can't even kill you when you are doing this.

The SMG is great for finishing off body shotted characters, but I like it because it allows you to fight scouts after your first arrow. With a scout you have whichever arrow you have nocked when he shows up. If you hit him with that arrow you are fine, but that is a tough shot. If you miss, he has to be pretty bad to not have you dead by the time you have reloaded with a new arrow. With the piss, you are dead. I can switch to my SMG and still fight him and in some cases, kill him.