Archery In Haven And Hearth: A Guide

Archery in Haven and Hearth allows players to make and use bows, slings, boar spears, arrows, and quivers, as well as build archery targets. Players can also construct archery towers to attack siege equipment, but these decay after about eight days.

Archery is useful for hunting, as it allows players to chase down and kill animals with relative ease. However, some players have criticised the feature for making hunting too easy. There have also been complaints about the impracticality of archery in PvP situations, with suggestions that it should be made a defensive weapon.

Bow and arrow types

In Haven and Hearth, bows are medium-ranged weapons that come in different types, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Here is an overview of the different bow and arrow types available:

Sling

The sling is the best option for beginners. It requires only six strings to make and is the fastest to aim with. The ammunition used is stones, which can be easily found anywhere in the game world. The damage calculation for a sling is 60 * sqrt(quality of the sling / 10). For example, a Q300 sling would have a maximum damage of around 328. The minimum damage depends on the target's agility and the player's perception; higher perception results in more damage.

Wooden Bow

The wooden bow, also known as a woodbow or a hunter's bow, is an upgrade from the sling and requires the archery skill to use. It aims twice as slow as the sling, making it more challenging to hit targets. The damage calculation for a wooden bow is 75 * sqrt(quality of the bow / 10) + arrow damage. The quality of the arrows used is essential, and it is recommended to have arrows of equal or higher quality than the bow. Using a merchant's robe can help with inventory management when using a wooden bow, as it requires both hands to equip and also a quiver for arrows.

Ranger's Bow

The ranger's bow is the most powerful ranged weapon in the game. It aims six times slower than the sling and three times slower than the wooden bow, making it the most challenging to use. However, it deals significantly more damage. The damage calculation for a ranger's bow is 300 * sqrt(quality of the bow / 10) + arrow damage. Due to its slow aiming speed, it is recommended to have at least 140+ marksmanship skill before using this bow effectively.

Arrow Types

There are different types of arrows that can be used with the wooden bow and ranger's bow. These include stone arrows and bone arrows. The quality of the arrows affects the overall damage dealt. Metal arrows are also mentioned but it is unclear if they are implemented in the game.

Speciality Bows

Some players have suggested the addition of speciality bows with unique characteristics. For example, a "Primitive Bow" that is accurate at point-blank range but loses accuracy at longer distances, or a "Hunter's Bow" that is effective at close to mid-range. These suggestions aim to add more variety to the archery system and provide players with more strategic options.

Tips for archery

Archery in Haven and Hearth has been described as useless and abusive. However, it can be a fun and exciting way to hunt animals, especially foxes. Here are some tips to improve your archery skills:

• Aiming at the tile beneath the animal can help with overshooting.
• Using a sling and rapid-firing stones may be more effective in certain situations than using a bow.
• The quality of your arrows is important. Higher-quality arrows will reduce the quality of your target.
• Fletching arrows can make them fly further and improve accuracy.
• Different types of bows have different ranges and accuracy. For example, a "Primitive Bow" is accurate at point-blank range but becomes less accurate at greater distances, while a "Ranger's Bow" is accurate for at least a screen-length.
• An archery tower can be used to attack siege equipment but not animals or other players.

Archery in PvP

One suggestion is to make archery a defensive weapon by allowing players to shoot from tower roofs or build archery posts during sieges. This would require attackers to have archers on their team to defend their melee fighters and give defenders a chance to hold their base with bows. Another idea is to add a fifth colour for archery, increase bow damage, and introduce moves that create openings for either archery or melee attacks, favouring coordination between the two.

Other players have suggested merging the archery and melee combat systems, allowing archers to shoot while moving, and introducing crossbows that would be easier to use but require the player to remain stationary for some time while loading. Additionally, it has been proposed that the creation of arrows be rebalanced by adding sinew, which would be harder to obtain at the start of the game, and removing regular stone arrows in favour of more powerful and historically accurate flint arrows.

Some players have also offered tips for improving archery accuracy and damage. These include aiming at the tile beneath the target, increasing perception to improve accuracy and damage, and using higher-quality bows and arrows. Overall, while archery in PvP may currently be underpowered in Haven and Hearth, there are a variety of suggestions for changes that could make it a more viable option for players.

Archery towers

The effective use of archery towers in a defensive strategy has been outlined as follows:

> Defender builds towers further into the base, forcing new catapults closer to the walls. As new catapults are deployed, the defender can rebuild the advanced Archery Towers to target the advanced catapults. The advanced towers can potentially be targeted by the rear catapults, but those can only fire so often.

Archery, in general, is a low-tech and useful way to deal with most animals in the game. However, the use of a bow and quiver limits the player by disabling other weapons, tools, and backpack use.

Hunting with archery

Archery Mechanics

When shooting a target with a bow, your first click on the animal will bring up an aim meter. This vertical bar slowly fills with colour the longer you aim. The longer you wait for the bar to fill, the higher your chances of hitting the target. However, your target may try to attack you if you take too long. Additionally, your accuracy and damage depend on the quality of your bow and arrows. Stone Arrows, for example, are weaker than Bone Arrows, and the quality of crafted arrows is capped by the player's carpentry skill.

Hunting Different Animals

The strategies for hunting vary depending on the type of animal you're targeting. For smaller animals like rabbits and chickens, you'll need a 2x2 set of empty squares in your inventory. Wait for the animal to stop moving, then left-click on it. When it's in your way, right-click to pick it up. You can then choose to kill it or butcher it, depending on whether you need the meat or the skin. For toads and rats, you only need a single empty square in your inventory, and they can be punched or struck with a weapon. Foxes, on the other hand, require a more strategic approach. You can use a boat to stay out of their reach and shoot them with a sling and stones.

Advanced Strategies

Deer can be challenging because they come in herds and heal each other, extending the combat phase. It's easier to take them down with multiple players. For bears, the hardest targets, you can use ranged attacks from a safe distance, such as a boat or shallow water. They have a lot of HP, so you may need to restock on ammo. Working with a friend can be helpful—they can distract the bear while you resupply.

Aiming Tips

To improve your accuracy, you can use the "ctrl+left-click" function to move while aiming. Additionally, the quality of your equipment and your marksmanship skill impact your effective marksmanship. The higher your marksmanship, the easier it is to aim. For example, if you have marksmanship 35, a q70 bow, and q45 arrows, you will aim with an effective skill of 35.

Frequently asked questions