16-05-2012, 03:12 PM
I might not be the most experienced player around, but I always loved the crossbowman class and played it ever since Warband came out. Since we have no class-specific guides, and no one else seems to be interested in creating one, so I thought that I might be as well the one to make it. I believe that the Sharpshooter is so unpopular because players don't fully understand how the class works. This is why I focused on explaining its main strength and how to use it to be effective.
I am not a native English speaker, but I tried my best to make this guide as well written as I could. I'm sure there still are some mistakes I couldn't find, so feel free to correct me if you find any. I'm aware that I went “a little” overboard with its length, but I have a history of making a 40 page long guide for helicopter pilots in my native language, so I guess we could call this an improvement
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Sharpshooter
The Sharpshooter, as the definition states, is a person highly skilled at shooting. The name of the class however does not fully reflect the actual skill distribution and available equipment that defines his role. Common misconception about the Sharpshooter's ranged combat has led to comparison to Sniper, which in turn created belief that the latter is universally superior as a damage dealer. The conclusion is true, but the Sharpshooter is not meant to be simply a ranged unit. His decent armor, good sword, resistant shield and appropriate skill distribution makes him a good melee fighter while the Sniper needs to rely on his Athletics in order to survive. Maneuverability does not make up for fragility in close combat, so if the Sharpshooter was as efficient over distance as the Sniper while being vastly superior in melee, then we wouldn't need Snipers at all.
To find the best use of the Sharpshooter's abilities we need to take a closer look at the stats and compare them to other classes:
In terms of main melee weapon proficiency, the Sharpshooter looks weak compared to Commando and Pikeman, but is still noticeably better than the Sniper. However, with good Power strike, Ironflesh, and average shield skills, the Sharpshooter has a fair chance against lighter targets, even when outnumbered. The heavy board shield is not as resistant as Commando's top tier shields, but is good enough for brawling and will not break easily. Armor ratings are between Commando's and Pikeman's, so combined with the board shield and high Ironflesh, it makes him the second most resistant class in NordInvasion. The Sharpshooter does not have a great variety of weapons to choose from, but the T4 sword, Ornate Espada is surprisingly good for mere 3000 gold from the marketplace. The weapon is a bit better than a Steel sword, so even though the class has low onehanded proficiency, it is able to do enough damage to stand his ground on the battlefield. If we were to compare his brawling capabilities to other classes, then:
Judging by the stats, armor rating and weapon damage, the Sharpshooter is noticeably inferior to Commando, vastly superior to the Sniper and roughly equal to the Pikeman. The last one has a better damage output, throwing weapons and better athletics, but is much less resistant. That makes him an aggressive fighter that heavily relies on his movement speed. The Sharpshooter on the other hand, has almost twice as much armor and a shield, but half of Pikeman's damage (per hit) and athletics. This forces the player to employ defensive combat techniques, and wear off his opponent instead of killing him quickly. To compare the two:
The Sharpshooter's ranged combat can be described by the following traits:
If the Sharpshooter focuses only on ranged combat and try to compete with the Sniper in terms of kills, he is able to keep up with at least 75% of the Sniper's score. This disproportion between kills per seconds (KPS) and theoretical damage per second (DPS) happens because crossbows inflict twice as much damage as bows and there are many occasions, where a mob dies from a single headshot, where the Sniper needs more hits. Accuracy and projectile trajectory is also an important factor, because bolts fly straight and it's easier to hit over larger distances, not wasting shots and lowering KPS. Therefore, if the Sharpshooter focuses on appropriate targets, he is able to relieve Snipers from killing lesser threats so they can focus on more dangerous enemies. Team's survival depends on shield wall's health, so it is safer to kill an enemy from range instead of just wounding him, letting the slashers to finish them off. Dead enemies are guaranteed to stay put, while wounded ones have a chance of scoring a hit or two before they go down.
To conclude the fighting effectiveness, the Sharpshooter is a hybrid class performing well in both melee and ranged combat. He is not as good as any other class in their respective roles, but being the second best ranged unit and shield wall member while being the third best brawler and slasher, gives him the ability of adapting easily. This ability, not his ranged capabilities, is his distinct strength that makes him unique and useful. He is able to compensate for his team's weaknesses which is invaluable when things are starting to go wrong.
When playing the Sharpshooter, the teamwork aspect is very apparent. The Sharpshooter needs his team in order to survive fights against stronger mobs, while the team needs him to make their mistakes less significant. The team's effectiveness is not simply a function of it's size, but also of it's composition. The Sharpshooter's role is to prevent the decline in team's effectiveness by substituting fallen teammates, depending on their importance.
In order to be useful to his team, the Sharpshooter needs to know which roles are most important in every situation. For example, when a Sniper or a Slasher dies, the game continues, but enemies are killed slower, so there is a bigger load on the shield wall. On the other hand, if a player that is a part of a shield wall dies, the enemy gets past the defense and the game ends quickly. Of course, the shield wall will fall eventually, if the load becomes too big to manage, so it is also very important to have enough damage dealers in order to survive. It is crucial to read the situation properly, so the Sharpshooter can use his abilities to help the team with maximum effectiveness.
If we wanted to estimate the Sharpshooter's effectiveness as a substitute for each role in an organized team, we would compare the stats and possible damage output. From my limited experience, the effectiveness rates are as follows (with 100% being the best class in respective role):
That would give us total of 280% effectiveness, which would lead to conclusion that one Sharpshooter is worth 3 soldiers. This is not correct, as he can perform only one of the above tasks at once. That on the other hand misleadingly hints that he's worth minimum 60% of a soldier, which is not correct either, as his versatility is not taken into account. The Sharpshooter is a valid class, as useful as any other. It is best suited for calculative players, skilled both in ranged and melee combat in order to be efficient. This is different from other classes which are specialized in either melee or ranged combat and require the player to master only one set of skills. This may be the cause of unpopularity of the class, but the player who chooses to be a Sharpshooter will not miss out on any aspect of the gameplay.
The Sharpshooter requires 4 items in order to use his full potential:
On lower levels, the Sharpshooter is also a useful class. Due to low athletics and slow reload speed he is not able to solo, but is easy to level up because of high damage and accuracy of his crossbows. Even a Light crossbow is able to kill a peasant with a single hit to the torso, so he has an advantage over low level Archers. This changes once they get stronger bows and are also able to kill mobs with a single hit. The Crossbowman will not be an efficient melee killer until he gets the T4 sword, Ornate Espada. Good armor and resistant shield, however, will provide a decent survivability. Once becoming the Sharpshooter, most of the normal mobs will die from a single slash to the torso and he will be almost as good melee fighter as Commando. By that point however, the player will be able to play on hard mode servers, where the only way to single shot enemies is to slash their head if they don't wear a helmet.
After becoming the Sharpshooter, there still is some room for improvement with 13 class points left by the level 52. There are two viable paths the player can take to supplement his abilities. Those are:
Judging by the stat increase, the Heavy Infantry path focuses on polishing the skills that the Sharpshooter already has. It boosts relevant melee skills allowing more damage output, while making the class tougher with more Ironflesh and Shield skills.
The Skirmisher path focuses on increasing the versatility of the Sharpshooter by adding a possibility to use throwing weapons and polearms. Skill boosts are less significant, apart from precious 3 points of athletics.
Versatility is very important for the Sharpshooter, but the Skirmisher path adds more weapons to carry and they can't be used effectively because the class is already a pack mule with his 4 (5) available items. It gives him possibility of becoming a polearm slasher, but doesn't increase overall performance as this role. Damage output does not increase because the Skirmisher path levels polearms with two handed proficiency.
The Heavy Infantry path boosts two handed to 120 and one handed to 185 which is very useful. With main melee proficiency this high, the Sharpshooter no longer needs to be defensive with his fighting style as it's equal to level 39 Commando's and level 52 Pikeman+Heavy Infantry. Sharpshooter's slashing capabilities are now greatly improved, but two handed weapon proficiency is still not high enough to make him the second best slasher class. The Heavy Infantry path is also superior in terms of skills as it boosts Ironflesh, Power Strike and Shield one point more, while the Skirmisher is only better in terms of Athletics. If we account for all of the above observations, the Heavy Infantry path is a better choice in every aspect.
I am not a native English speaker, but I tried my best to make this guide as well written as I could. I'm sure there still are some mistakes I couldn't find, so feel free to correct me if you find any. I'm aware that I went “a little” overboard with its length, but I have a history of making a 40 page long guide for helicopter pilots in my native language, so I guess we could call this an improvement
.Beginner's guide to the Sharpshooter class
Sharpshooter
- One who is highly proficient at shooting.
-
[li]The second military grade of proficiency in the use of rifles and other small arms.
- One who holds this grade of proficiency.
-
[li]The second military grade of proficiency in the use of rifles and other small arms.
The Sharpshooter, as the definition states, is a person highly skilled at shooting. The name of the class however does not fully reflect the actual skill distribution and available equipment that defines his role. Common misconception about the Sharpshooter's ranged combat has led to comparison to Sniper, which in turn created belief that the latter is universally superior as a damage dealer. The conclusion is true, but the Sharpshooter is not meant to be simply a ranged unit. His decent armor, good sword, resistant shield and appropriate skill distribution makes him a good melee fighter while the Sniper needs to rely on his Athletics in order to survive. Maneuverability does not make up for fragility in close combat, so if the Sharpshooter was as efficient over distance as the Sniper while being vastly superior in melee, then we wouldn't need Snipers at all.
To find the best use of the Sharpshooter's abilities we need to take a closer look at the stats and compare them to other classes:
Skill \ Class | Sharpshooter | Commando | Pikeman | Sniper |
One handed | 135 | 190 | 80 | 100 |
Two handed | 80 | 185 | 80 | 80 |
Polearm | 20 | 80 | 160 | 20 |
Archery | 20 | 20 | 20 | 245 |
Crossbow | 280 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
Throwing | 20 | 20 | 190 | 20 |
Power draw | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Power throw | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
Power strike | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
Ironflesh | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Athletics | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
Shield | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
In terms of main melee weapon proficiency, the Sharpshooter looks weak compared to Commando and Pikeman, but is still noticeably better than the Sniper. However, with good Power strike, Ironflesh, and average shield skills, the Sharpshooter has a fair chance against lighter targets, even when outnumbered. The heavy board shield is not as resistant as Commando's top tier shields, but is good enough for brawling and will not break easily. Armor ratings are between Commando's and Pikeman's, so combined with the board shield and high Ironflesh, it makes him the second most resistant class in NordInvasion. The Sharpshooter does not have a great variety of weapons to choose from, but the T4 sword, Ornate Espada is surprisingly good for mere 3000 gold from the marketplace. The weapon is a bit better than a Steel sword, so even though the class has low onehanded proficiency, it is able to do enough damage to stand his ground on the battlefield. If we were to compare his brawling capabilities to other classes, then:
| Class | Fighting style | Capability |
| Commando | Neutral | 100% |
| Pikeman | Offensive | 75% |
| Sharpshooter | Defensive | ~70% |
| Sniper | Avoid melee | 40% |
Judging by the stats, armor rating and weapon damage, the Sharpshooter is noticeably inferior to Commando, vastly superior to the Sniper and roughly equal to the Pikeman. The last one has a better damage output, throwing weapons and better athletics, but is much less resistant. That makes him an aggressive fighter that heavily relies on his movement speed. The Sharpshooter on the other hand, has almost twice as much armor and a shield, but half of Pikeman's damage (per hit) and athletics. This forces the player to employ defensive combat techniques, and wear off his opponent instead of killing him quickly. To compare the two:
| Class | Endurance | Killing potential | Maneuverability |
| Sharpshooter | High | Medium | Low |
| Pikeman | Low | High | High |
The Sharpshooter's ranged combat can be described by the following traits:
- The greatest damage per shot (100+) of all ranged classes.
- Supreme accuracy
- Sharpshooter's shots are equally accurate, regardless of aiming time
- Movement affects accuracy to a lesser extent
- Slow reloading
If the Sharpshooter focuses only on ranged combat and try to compete with the Sniper in terms of kills, he is able to keep up with at least 75% of the Sniper's score. This disproportion between kills per seconds (KPS) and theoretical damage per second (DPS) happens because crossbows inflict twice as much damage as bows and there are many occasions, where a mob dies from a single headshot, where the Sniper needs more hits. Accuracy and projectile trajectory is also an important factor, because bolts fly straight and it's easier to hit over larger distances, not wasting shots and lowering KPS. Therefore, if the Sharpshooter focuses on appropriate targets, he is able to relieve Snipers from killing lesser threats so they can focus on more dangerous enemies. Team's survival depends on shield wall's health, so it is safer to kill an enemy from range instead of just wounding him, letting the slashers to finish them off. Dead enemies are guaranteed to stay put, while wounded ones have a chance of scoring a hit or two before they go down.
To conclude the fighting effectiveness, the Sharpshooter is a hybrid class performing well in both melee and ranged combat. He is not as good as any other class in their respective roles, but being the second best ranged unit and shield wall member while being the third best brawler and slasher, gives him the ability of adapting easily. This ability, not his ranged capabilities, is his distinct strength that makes him unique and useful. He is able to compensate for his team's weaknesses which is invaluable when things are starting to go wrong.
When playing the Sharpshooter, the teamwork aspect is very apparent. The Sharpshooter needs his team in order to survive fights against stronger mobs, while the team needs him to make their mistakes less significant. The team's effectiveness is not simply a function of it's size, but also of it's composition. The Sharpshooter's role is to prevent the decline in team's effectiveness by substituting fallen teammates, depending on their importance.
In order to be useful to his team, the Sharpshooter needs to know which roles are most important in every situation. For example, when a Sniper or a Slasher dies, the game continues, but enemies are killed slower, so there is a bigger load on the shield wall. On the other hand, if a player that is a part of a shield wall dies, the enemy gets past the defense and the game ends quickly. Of course, the shield wall will fall eventually, if the load becomes too big to manage, so it is also very important to have enough damage dealers in order to survive. It is crucial to read the situation properly, so the Sharpshooter can use his abilities to help the team with maximum effectiveness.
| Threat | Description | Course of action |
| Very high | Shield wall member died | Grab a shield, patch the shield wall |
| High | Big load on the shield wall | Become a Slasher, or a medic. Be ready to substitute or relieve a shielder. |
| High | Barricade destroyed | Check if enemies got past the shield wall. If the breakthrough is big, patch it. If it's not, first kill the units that got past. |
| Medium | Incoming wave | Focus on sniping off targets you can take down with a single headshot, or 2 hits. Let the Snipers handle the rest. Reassess the situation of the team. |
| Low | Wave defeated | Rearm and heal yourself. Reassess the situation. Check whether your team has enough shielders and slashers and substitute them as appropriate. Pick up weapons, repair the shield as needed. Kill roaming mobs. Don't forget to keep the last one! |
| Varying | Damage dealer died | Check how the DD died and make sure nobody else is going to die because of it. Check the load on the shield wall. |
If we wanted to estimate the Sharpshooter's effectiveness as a substitute for each role in an organized team, we would compare the stats and possible damage output. From my limited experience, the effectiveness rates are as follows (with 100% being the best class in respective role):
| Role | Effectiveness | Best class |
| Ranged damage dealer | 75%+ | Sniper |
| Shield wall member | 75% | Commando |
| Brawler | 70% | Commando |
| Slasher | 60% | Commando/Pikeman |
The Sharpshooter requires 4 items in order to use his full potential:
- Sword
- Shield
- Crossbow
- Bolts
On lower levels, the Sharpshooter is also a useful class. Due to low athletics and slow reload speed he is not able to solo, but is easy to level up because of high damage and accuracy of his crossbows. Even a Light crossbow is able to kill a peasant with a single hit to the torso, so he has an advantage over low level Archers. This changes once they get stronger bows and are also able to kill mobs with a single hit. The Crossbowman will not be an efficient melee killer until he gets the T4 sword, Ornate Espada. Good armor and resistant shield, however, will provide a decent survivability. Once becoming the Sharpshooter, most of the normal mobs will die from a single slash to the torso and he will be almost as good melee fighter as Commando. By that point however, the player will be able to play on hard mode servers, where the only way to single shot enemies is to slash their head if they don't wear a helmet.
After becoming the Sharpshooter, there still is some room for improvement with 13 class points left by the level 52. There are two viable paths the player can take to supplement his abilities. Those are:
- Becoming a Heavy infantry
- Becoming a Skirmisher
Skill \ Class | Heavy infantry | Skirmisher |
One handed | +50 | 0 |
Two handed | +40 | 0 |
Polearm | +25 | +60 |
Archery | 0 | 0 |
Crossbow | 0 | 0 |
Throwing | 0 | +75 |
Power draw | 0 | 0 |
Power throw | 0 | +2 |
Power strike | +2 | +1 |
Ironflesh | +1 | 0 |
Athletics | +2 | +3 |
Shield | +2 | +1 |
The Skirmisher path focuses on increasing the versatility of the Sharpshooter by adding a possibility to use throwing weapons and polearms. Skill boosts are less significant, apart from precious 3 points of athletics.
Versatility is very important for the Sharpshooter, but the Skirmisher path adds more weapons to carry and they can't be used effectively because the class is already a pack mule with his 4 (5) available items. It gives him possibility of becoming a polearm slasher, but doesn't increase overall performance as this role. Damage output does not increase because the Skirmisher path levels polearms with two handed proficiency.
The Heavy Infantry path boosts two handed to 120 and one handed to 185 which is very useful. With main melee proficiency this high, the Sharpshooter no longer needs to be defensive with his fighting style as it's equal to level 39 Commando's and level 52 Pikeman+Heavy Infantry. Sharpshooter's slashing capabilities are now greatly improved, but two handed weapon proficiency is still not high enough to make him the second best slasher class. The Heavy Infantry path is also superior in terms of skills as it boosts Ironflesh, Power Strike and Shield one point more, while the Skirmisher is only better in terms of Athletics. If we account for all of the above observations, the Heavy Infantry path is a better choice in every aspect.