I have the Archer on my arsenal,after test it 1 week and half i changed to a shotgun and i never come back. Engies + autoshotgun = win.
The archer is ... very situational. Good against maxes on long range, but against anything else and on any other distance, there are better options.
I like using the archer face first against max suits Its alot better than it might seem With a bit of dodging you can get 2 shots in usually before death
The problem I have with the Archer is that it's TOO niche. What I'd like to suggest is that DBG combine the Archer into part of an NS-30 Vandal for Engineers. Resulting in basically the Vandal with an underbarrel attachment of the Archer. I'm thinking in order for this to be balanced, change the magazine size of the 'Archer underbarrel' to 3 rounds. This would mean, with body shots, you would be need to hit with all 3 rounds in order to down a max. If you feel this would be overpowered, may I remind you that Engineers already have access to Battle Rifles and currently in the PTS, BR's they're getting underbarrel grenade launchers. It's different, I know. But still a precedence has been set. You could literally glue the Archer to the bottom of the Vandal because the Vandal has a top reload animation and the Archer has a normal bottom magazine haha!
i personally like the archer for use against aircraft aswell as anything you couldnt normally hurt without an av turret , suprisingly with a bit of persuasion you can counter snipe with it , but yeah it is situational and sometimes tedious to use , fun anyway. i like the idea of decreasing its bolt time , it would be cool as a semi auto.
Worst purchase ever for me. The niche the Archer fills is way too small and it's not worth the certs / dbc considering you have to dramatically reduce your anti infantry potential. Either devs increase its anti infantry damage or they move it to the turret slot.
I like it and feel its very situational. When 2 sides create a "No Man's Land" it can be fun to pop maxes and scare the heavies with all the RLs with a few headshots that won't kill them. =/ The real "bank" is not being on the front and ammo packing for those around you. It only sucks when your snipers suck and your constantly picked off.
There's nothing worse than pulling a 450 resource max just to get 3-shot from max render range by an engineer who can respawn as many times as he likes for free. Multiply that by all the people in the area who certed the archer. The archer should be an ANTI MATERIAL rifle not an ANTI MAX rifle. Lower the damage to MAXes and buff it some against all other targets. It is not a valid argument to bring any weapon to an extreme and call it balanced. Just because the archer is highly situational, it COMPLETELY DOMINATES in that particular situation. 450 resource MAXes (the same cost as a heavy tank and a galaxy) are 3-shot by an engie who spawns with it for free! That is not balanced.
It's not a very popular opinion (from either fellow Engineers or MAX mains) but, I love this rifle. It's actually fairly decent at killing infantry, you just have to REALLY know your positioning and movement. The two second rechamber is near-instant death if you make even the slightest mistake, but, when the stars align and you do get those infantry kills, it's extremely satisfying. Plus, it's a PRIMARY weapon that can deal damage to anything in the game. That alone is pretty powerful, and while it's niche is in anti-MAX combat, it's 'annoying insect' tendencies against tanks and Sunderer's makes it a really unique vehicle suppression tool. Yes, a driver CAN practically ignore the damage, but, it'll add up eventually if it does. Conversely, I also like to think that the constant, ineffective 'plunk' sounds of Archer fire hitting a tank hull would get super annoying, whether or not I'm right there, it's amusing to think of how red in the face that could make someone. It's also surprisingly good at sweeping bases of turrets in a pretty cheap and safe manner, while it does take ten rounds to drop one turret, you're an Engineer. Ammo is no longer a concern once you get a hexagon and wrench over your head. My only complaint about this rifle is the sound. For what niche it does fill, it is in desperate need of a beefier, scarier firing sound. I don't care if I have to attach a muzzle break and be visible on the minimap for 300 meters, I want the sound of this thing to be terrifying.
I wonder how many people ive pissed off in 1 V 1 confrontations where they get Desperadod to death or Desperado>Knifed
