The first rank of the Sentinel army is comprised of Archers. These brave warrior women are expert marksmen and use the concealing forests of Kalimdor to their advantage. Their lightning quick ambushes are legendary - for few warriors can match the speed and cunning of the proud Archers. Like all Night Elf women, Archers are able to Shadowmeld at night.

Level: 2 Cost: 130 10 2 Unit Type: Normal Attack Type: Pierce Weapon Type: Missile Armor Type: Medium Armor: 0 (6*) Ground Attack: 17 avg (26 avg*) *(#) = Stats when fully upgraded

Air Attack: 17 avg (26 avg*) Cooldown: 1.5 Hit Points: 245 Health Regeneration: Night Mana: None Mana Regeneration: N/A Range: 50 (70*) Day Sight: 140

Night Sight: 80 (140*) Speed: Average (270) Build Time: 20 Trained At: Ancient of War Requirements: None Transport Space Usage: 1 Production Hot Key: A

Learn how to use ranged units with unit control.

Archers can increase their damage by using the Priestess of the Moon's Trueshot Aura. She is a very good choice if not the best choice when using mass Archers.

It's very important to research upgrades. If you're mostly doing damage to the enemy research the damage upgrades first, then follow up with the armor upgrades. If you're both taking damage and dishing it out alternate between armor and damage upgrades. You should always get the Improved Bows upgrade when using Archers. Rush to it as soon as possible. If you continue to use Archers rush to get the Marksmanship upgrade also.

Archers are the Night Elves' primary defense against air units. If you're having trouble with air units use Archers and make sure you research Improved Bows and Marksmanship.

Archers are very weak against Melee Units that are attacking them so keep Melee units away. If an Archer is attacked by a Melee unit, instruct that Archer to run away and keep running until they give up chase.

If you continue to use Archers in the later stages of the game you should have at least two Ancients of War creating them and research all of the related upgrades.

Use Moon Wells! Select damaged Archers and send them back to heal at your Moon Wells. Then remember to bring them back into battle.

Use Hide! Watch your group selected Archers and double-click on an Archer that is nearing death. Hit I for Hide (at Nighttime) to save them. Use Hide to mess with the enemy. Attack them then Hide, then appear, attack, then Hide again.

Use Archers to spy on the enemy at night and scout for Glaive Thrower. Run them into an enemy town then hit Hide.

Clear out the Creeps! Archers will easily die to Creeps if you rally your Ancients of War to your Hero through Creep camps. Clear out any Creeps that might intercept your Archers on the way to your Hero. You can also set waypoints to avoid running to the Creeps.

Late Game
Archers transition well into Hippogryph Riders. Get an expansion then build 2-3 Ancients of Winds. Research the Mount Hippogryph upgrade. Hot key these buildings and set the rally point on your Hero. Continue to make Hippogryphs by queuing them up. As they are created they will move to your Hero and Archers where you can match them up to create Hippogryph Riders. Eventually you can convert all of your Archers to Hippogryph Riders. This may not be wise to do if the enemy is prepared with Crypt Fiends with Web, Raiders with Ensnare, or other things that can easily kill air units. Keep in mind that by turning your Archers into Hippogryph Riders you can do attacks on enemy towns from the backside (away from towers). You are also creating Archers with the same damage but that cannot be hit by melee units, have greater sight, are faster, and that have more hit points. The only downside of Hippogryph Riders vs Archers is 10 less range and a new weakness to anti-air abilities.

[ Click to Enlarge - 204 KB ] During combat focus all of the Archers' fire on a single unit. Pick units that are almost dead. Double click on an Archer to select all the Archers in the area. In this battle, the failure of one player to focus fire cost them the battle.

Know when to quit making Archers. If the enemy is tearing them up with Blizzard, Chain Lightning, or other spells switch to Huntresses instead. If the enemy is using Footmen with Defend switch to Huntresses. If the enemy Night Elf player is good with Huntresses they can easily kill your Archers so depending on their skill you might want to switch to Huntresses instead.

Archer Counters

All

Rush them with Melee units
Finish them off one by one using focused fire with range units
Use Siege Units

Humans

Footmen - Use Defend to lessen their damage
Mountain King - Thunder Clap
Archmage - Blizzard

Orcs

Tauren Chieftain - War Stomp - run into the middle of the Archers and use War Stomp to stun and kill them. This can also be used to reveal hidden Archers.
Far Seer - Chain Lightning
Shaman - Lightning Shield - use it on an archer and let her fry her massed friends.

Undead

Ghouls - rush the Archers
Lich - Frost Nova

Night Elves

Priestess of the Moon - Starfall
Keeper of the Grove - Entangling Roots
Druids of the Claw in Bear Form

Shadow Meld
The Archer, Huntress, Priestess of the Moon, and Warden are invisible to all other units at Night. The units are only invisible when they are not moving/attacking.

Hide Lie in wait for enemies without attacking. (Will respond to attacks). Units will hold position and hold their fire, so when they are Shadowmelding, they will not break their own invisibility. It's very handy for running away from a battle. The Hide ability is disabled during the day.

Mount Hippogryph Mounts a Hippogryph so that the Archer can attack from the air.

Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 75 75 Ancient of Wind Hippogryph Taming 30 sec.

Elune's Grace (Passive) Reduces the damage taken from Piercing attacks to 65%, and spells and Magic attacks to 80%.

Improved Bows Increases the Archer's and Hippogryph Rider's attack range by 20.

Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 50 100 Ancient of War Tree of Ages 35 sec.

Marksmanship Increases damage of Archers and Hippogryph Riders by 3.

Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 100 175 Ancient of War Hunter's Hall, Tree of Eternity 40 sec.

Strength of the Moon Increases the damage of Archers, Huntresses, Glaive Throwers, and Hippogryph Riders.

Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 125 75 Hunter's Hall None 60 sec.

Improved Strength of the Moon Further increases the damage of Archers, Huntresses, Glaive Throwers, and Hippogryph Riders. Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 175 175 Hunter's Hall Tree of Ages 75 sec.

Advanced Strength of the Moon Further increases the damage of Archers, Huntresses, Glaive Throwers, and Hippogryph Riders. Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 225 275 Hunter's Hall Tree of Eternity 90 sec.

Moon Armor Increases the armor of Archers, Huntresses, and Hippogryph Riders.

Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 150 75 Hunter's Hall None 60 sec.

Improved Moon Armor Further increases the armor of Archers, Huntresses, and Hippogryph Riders. Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 200 150 Hunter's Hall Tree of Ages 75 sec.

Advanced Moon Armor Further increases the armor of Archers, Huntresses, and Hippogryph Riders. Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time 250 225 Hunter's Hall Tree of Eternity 90 sec.