This Sniper Guide forms part of the comprehensive ADL build guide that covers everything you need to know for progressing through the Archer job tree.
So you’ve blasted through Archer and Hunter and have made it to Sniper. Unlike with previous jobs, you’ll be spending a considerable amount of time as a Sniper.
As you would have noticed, with each Job change leveling gets exponentially harder. Furthermore, with 2nd Job Breakthrough you’ll have to reach Job Level 70 before changing to Ranger.
But don’t worry, there’s plenty to do during your journey as a Sniper. Let’s take a look at what you can look forward to.
Not there yet? Check out our ADL Hunter Guide
The Sniper
As a Sniper you’ll receive a massive DPS boost. This is largely because of two reasons. First, at this point in the game many of the equipment progression features become available to you (more on this later). Second, Sniper Skills!
Stats
The same 3 Dex, 2 Agi, 1 Luk ratio can be carried onto Sniper.
The Max Atk Speed strategy
Once you have unlocked Ymir’s Notebook you can fine tune your stats with your unlimited free resets.
The aim is to have 480 Atk Speed (with buffs), 60 Crit Rate and the rest in Dex. Why 60 Crit? It’s because Ferity Awakening will give you the remaining 30 Crit (At Lv 5 Additional Crit is applied when target HP <30%).
Stats for Malang Build
This above is the basic stat distribution strategy for Snipers. However should you choose the Malang Snow Crab route you will want to prioritize 120 Luk to make the most of both your Malang Bow and Sniping Suit’s bonus Crit Dmg.
- Malang IV – Crit Dmg +10% when Luk reaches 90
- Sniping Suit – Crit Dmg +3%/4%/5% when Luk reaches 60/90/120
Skills
Below are the skill allocations for a Job Level 70 ADL Sniper in order of importance.
Job breakthrough allows you to extend your Skills beyond their previous maximum limit. You can only add these additional points after you have allocated your initial 40 Hunter skill points.
| Order | Skill | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job Level 1-40 | |||
| 1 |  True Sight (Active: 60sec) | 10 | +5 Base Attributes +10% Atk +10 Crit |
| 2 |  Ferity Awakening (Passive) | 5 | +30% Chance to Crit & Trigger Beast when target HP < 30% |
| 3 |  Trump Tamer (Passive) | 10 | +15% Atk Every time Beast attacks (Max: 3 Stacks) Lasts 3 secs. |
| 4 |  Wind Walk (Active: 300sec) | 10 | +20% Movespeed +20 Flee |
| 5 |  Beastmastery (Passive) | 10 | +60 Beast Dmg |
| Job Breakthrough Level 41-70 | |||
| 6 |  Vulture's Eye (Passive) | 20 | +50% Range +20 Hit Up to +60% Dmg based on range of target |
| 7 |  Trump Tamer (Passive) | 15 | +20% Atk +5% Crit.Dmg Every time Beast attacks (Max: 3 Stacks) Lasts 3 secs. |
| 8 |  Elemental Arrow (Passive) | 20 | +30 Atk +200 Auto Atk (When using bows) +(DEX*5) Atk when using Auto Atk |
| 9 |  Improve Concentration (Passive) | 15 | +10 Agi +10 Dex +5 Luk +5 Crit +5% Crit.Dmg |
Don’t worry about those unmaxed passive skills, you’ll be able to max them once you hit Ranger.
Equipment
Alright, here’s where the fun begins. There are two sets of equipment players tend to lean towards when it comes to the ADL Sniper. They are both based on the chosen primary weapon. Malang Snow Crab and the Mystery Bow.
Malang vs Mystery Bow
Now, there’s a fair bit of debate over which one is better. However the general consensus is that end game wise (EP5.0) the Malang set does more DPS (Weapon Synthesis Overlord Crab Bow – Auto Heavy Arrow is hard to beat haha). However the Mystery Bow set is considerably more affordable.
To give you an idea of how much more affordable let’s take a very rough look at the exchange prices for the two key pieces (weapon + armor) in each of these sets.
| Malang Set | Mystery Set |
|---|---|
| +10 Malang Snow Crab [2] 70,000,000 | +10 Mystery Bow [2] 33,000,000 |
| +10 Sniping Suit [1] 72,000,000 | +10 Ranger Clothes [1] 66,000,000 |
| Total 142,000,000 | Total 99,000,000 |
| Rounded prices taken from SEA Server 16/10/19 | |
Price vs Power
As you can see, the Malang is roughly 40% more expensive than the Mystery Set. Ok, but how much stronger is it? An exact amount would be hard to say as total damage can vary depending on many factors.
Unfortunatly I don’t have both bows to do a test. Players have reported the Malang being roughly 10% more stronger. Aditionally, after Weapon Synthesis, the Auto Heavy Arrow is hard to beat when it comes to single target DPS. However…
Note: With Crit.Dmg enchantments Mystery Bow can also be very strong (DPS wise). However getting the right enchantments is possibly harder than the extra zeny needed for the Malang set.
Consider Progression
You should consider how the choice will affect your progression. Whilst the Malang Bow is superior, it really only shines when paired with the upgraded Sniping Suit.
Also for it to compare to the Mystery Bow it would of course also have to be double slotted (super expensive).
This means whilst the end game Malang set is stronger, it also takes longer to progress to that stage. A drawback is that you will be stuck with a weaker bow for longer ie Transitioning to Malang Snow Crab [2] takes longer.
Oh and the savings you get from running the Mystery set can be put towards other damage increasing upgrades. Like Damage Increasing Cards! Factoring this in, it becomes more like Mystery Set +40 mil worth of cards vs Malang Set. As you can see the decision can get a bit complex.
But if zeny is not a factor, then for sure go with the Malang Set.
Farming vs MVP
Whilst hitting big numbers is awesome against MVP monsters it doesn’t make as much of a difference when it comes to farming general monsters. Whichever bow you choose, both bows have the capacity to easily 1-2 hit monsters. Factoring in a bit of lag, your farming rate will likely be the same.
You Have Time to Decide
Still Can’t decide? Don’t worry you have time. Why? Well, the 2 Slot Cross bow with duel cards will in many occasions deal more damage than a single slotted Mystery or Malang Bow (Given you have the optimal cards of course).
So feel free to stick with the Cross Bow [2] until you can afford to make that massive upgrade.
Equipment
Below are examples of end game recommended equipment sets (Malang and Mystery) that you can aim for as a Sniper.
| Slot | Malang Set | Mystery Set | Card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Malang Snow Crab [2] | Mystery Bow [2] | Various |
| Off-hand | Nile's Bracelet | Nile's Bracelet | n/a |
| Armor | Sniping Suit [1] | Ranger Clothes [1] | Archer Skeleton Star Card (Str +2, Atk +5%) |
| Garments | Undershirt [1] | Blueeve Cape [1] | Baphomet Jr Card (Agi +2, Crit +5) |
| Footgears | Sack Teddy Shoes [1] | Sack Teddy Shoes [1] | Male Their Bug Card (Atk Spd +3%) |
| Accessory** | Gloves [1] | Gloves [1] | Greatest General Card (Auto atk has 3% chance +10% Dmg) |
| Accessory** | Brooch [1] | Brooch [1] | Kobold Card (Str +4, Crit +10) |
| Headwear | Golden Antenna [1] | Golden Antenna [1] | Rocker Star Card (Dex +2, Atk +20) |
| Face | Eye of Dawn | Eye of Dawn | n/a |
| Mouth | Blow Gun | Blow Gun | n/a |
| Back | Quiver | Quiver | n/a |
| Tail | Marchosais' Tail | Marchosais' Tail | n/a |
| **For your 2 accessory slots feel free to use either Gloves, Brooch or a combination of both. | |||
A few things to note:
- You can slot your Niles after reaching Ranger.
- Rune Boots is another footgear alternative. It’s quite expensive though.
- You can use Cramp Card (Headwear) before getting Rocker Star Card. These two can eventually be replaced with Andre Star Card.
- Dragon Scale Stripe is another face alternative, but Eye of Dawn is free.
- You can use Cat Ear Beret before you unlock the Golden Antenna. Firmament Horns is superior but it is a gacha item.
- Marchosais’ Tail can be replaced with Guts Wing or Windperch Drake however they are also both gacha items.
- Quiver can be replaced with Sakura Puppet, however you may want to avoid the bleeding damage during farming.
- You can use Cross Bow [2] and Tights [1] before switching over to your desired set (Malang vs Mystery).
Upgrading Gear
Enhancing
As usual enhancing is quite straight forward, max it for your weapon and accessories when you can.
Refining
Aim for +5 for your weapon and accessories as there is a “hidden” refine bonus damage multiplier (You can read more about it here).
A +10 Cross Bow is nice but if you’re going for Malang you can just stick with a +6 Cross Bow until you are ready to make the switch.
Enchanting
Once you hit Base Level 70 you should look at unlocking Advanced Enchantment.
Try to get some damage enchantments on all your gear first (even if its just a bit of +Atk).
After deciding on your long term set (Malang vs Mystery) you can start aiming for specific enchantment stats on your weapon and armor.
For Malang this would be Dmg Inc and for Mystery it is Crit Dmg that you are searching for.
Here are some recommended enchantments for each equipment slot and the highest stat you can aim for (not an exhaustive list):
| Slot | Enchantment | 4th Enchant |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Crit Dmg +10% Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +40 Dex +10 | Arch Dex + Hit Effect Ranged Atk Inc. 10% Sharp Agi + Luk Effect Crit Dmg Inc +20% |
| Head | Crit Dmg +10% Atk +60 Dex +10 | Zeal ASPD + Crit Dmg Effect Auto Atk Dmg Inc +10% |
| Face | Crit Dmg +10% Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +60 | |
| Mouth | Crit Dmg +10% Atk +60 | Zeal ASPD + Crit Dmg Effect Auto Atk Dmg Inc +10% |
| Back | Atk +60 | Sharp Agi + Luk Effect Crit Dmg Inc +20% |
| Tail | Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +60 Dex +10 | Arch Dex + Hit Effect Ranged Atk Inc. 10% |
| Armor | Crit Dmg +10% Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +40 Dex +10 | Arch Dex + Hit Effect Ranged Atk Inc. 10% Sharp Agi + Luk Effect Crit Dmg Inc +20% |
| Garment | Crit Dmg +10% Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +40 | |
| Footwear | Crit Dmg +10% Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +40 | |
| Accessory | Crit Dmg +10% Phy Dmg Inc +4% Atk +40 |
Off-hand enchantments are introduced in Episode 6
So When Did You Upgrade?
I was used a +10 Cross Bow [2] up until Base Level 93 before I made the switch to +8 Mystery [2]. Depending on how expensive materials are and your available finds, you can make the upgrade much earlier.
Pets
We briefly touched on pets in the Hunter Guide. You can stick with your Yoyo pet or you may upgrade to the Mandragora Seed pet which can give your character an additional 10 Crit (That’s 30 Luk worth!).
Looking to catch a new pet, we have the 100% catchrates here!
Leveling/Farming
| Monster | Level | Size | Property | Weakness (Converter) | (Base+Job Exp)/HP | Notable Drops | Suggested Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orc Archer | 71 | M | Earth/Demi-Human | Fire | 0.018 | Glass Bead | Orc Village |
| Rideword | 88 | S | Neutral/Formless | n/a | 0.013 | Brigan | Glast Heim Hall |
| Penomena | 105 | M | Water/Fish | Wind | 0.024 | Crystal Bone | Clock Tower B1 |
| Orc Lady | 109 | M | Earth/Demi-Human | Fire | 0.048 | n/a | Clock Tower B1 |
| Cruiser | 111 | M | Neutral/Formless | n/a | 0.034 | Box Wrapper | Toy Factory 1F |
The above are some of the best farming options for ADL Snipers. You can try them all however you will likely find that Orc Archer, Rideword and Penomena are the three best alternatives. Whilst Orc Lady provides great EXP the drops are just horrible.
A Few Tips
- Start with orc archer. There are two locations in the top left area of Orc Village (See Above) where you can reach 3 Orc Archers (Just be aware that this is also a popular spot for Hammerfall Whitesmiths).
- Whilst farming Orc Archers use stay alert and open up a private chat room to prevent their Arrow Repel skill from knocking your character out of position.
- Use Menblatt Card to deal extra damage to Orc Archers
- Use Desert Wolf Card to deal extra damage to Ridewords
- Use Drainliar Card and Flora Card to deal extra damage to Penomena
- Feel free to stay at Penomena all the way up to Ranger.
- Level 90? Do Space Rift, Super Boost is very valuable as a considerable amount is required for the end tier accessory upgrades.
You will roughly be between Base Level 70-105 as a Hunter.
Once you hit Job Level 70, it’s time for Ranger!
Next Up: ADL Ranger Guide
