UO Archery Skill Guide
Archery is a ranged weapon skill that uses bows and crossbows. It shines in PvM for safe damage at range and in PvP for burst with special moves. Archers rely on stamina for swing speed and benefit from high Hit Chance Increase (HCI) and Damage Increase (DI).
Archery is a combat skill in Ultima Online, rated as Easy difficulty to train. This guide walks you through everything you need to raise Archery from 0 to grandmaster, including the most efficient training methods, the targets and items to use at each skill range, and the gains you can expect along the way. Whether you are building your first character or optimizing a finished template, the breakdown below will help you train Archery as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Below you will find an overview of what Archery does, a step-by-step training guide, recommended skill ranges, any bonuses Archery provides, and the templates that pair well with it. If you would rather skip the grind, UO King can deliver a ready-made character or the gear you need to support a Archery build on your shard.
Archery is the ranged combat skill that controls bows, crossbows, and other missile weapons. It kicks in on its own the moment you enter combat holding an archery weapon, and it decides how often your shots connect as well as how likely you are to dodge incoming attacks. Because archers strike from a distance, positioning and movement matter, and firing generally requires you to stand still to loose the shot.
Gains are awarded when you swing and hit with an archery weapon. Faster swings = more checks = faster gains.
| Skill Range | Targets / Notes |
|---|---|
| 0.0 – 40.0 | Buy from an Archer/Bowyer NPC; then train on mongbats/headless |
| 40.0 – 70.0 | Skeletons, lizardmen, earth elementals (kite safely) |
| 70.0 – 90.0 | Ogres, trolls, ettins; keep distance and use trapped box for self-heal breaks |
| 90.0 – 120.0 | Daemons, rotting corpses, paragons; run a slayer bow if available |
0.0 – 40.0
40.0 – 70.0
70.0 – 90.0
90.0 – 120.0
Raising Archery unlocks the special maneuvers tied to each ranged weapon:
- At 70 skill you can perform a weapon's primary special move.
- At 90 skill the weapon's secondary special move becomes available.
- Skill gained along the way steadily raises your chance to hit and lowers your chance to be hit.
Archery covers bows and crossbows, and your effective damage scales with Strength, Dexterity, Anatomy and Tactics along with any Damage Increase and Swing Speed Increase on the weapon. The table below lists each archery weapon with its strength requirement, damage, speed and baseline DPS.
Archery weapons — strength requirement, damage, speed, and DPS (data from Stratics).
| Weapon | STR Req. | Damage | Speed | Swing Delay | DPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow (2-H) | 30 | 17 - 21 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.47 |
| Composite Bow (2-H) | 45 | 16 - 20 | 4 | 4.00 | 4.5 |
| Crossbow (2-H) | 35 | 18 - 22 | 4.5 | 4.50 | 4.44 |
| Elven Composite Longbow (2-H) | 45 | 15 - 19 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 4.53 |
| Heavy Crossbow (2-H) | 80 | 20 - 24 | 5 | 5.00 | 4.4 |
| Magical Shortbow (2-H) | 45 | 12 - 16 | 3 | 3.00 | 4.67 |
| Repeating Crossbow (2-H) | 30 | 11 - 15 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 4.73 |
| Yumi (2-H) | 35 | 13 - 17 | 3.25 | 3.25 | 4.62 |