Selecting skills right is key in Archero and can be the make-or-break moment for your runs. You will always have different choices and making the best out of it is vital for your progress and success of your runs, no matter if that’s regular chapters, expedition or event runs!
I think packing a general tier list isn’t making it because the skills also have synergies with your weapon and also the other skills you already selected!
Attention, this is a guide about the best skills in the original Archero game, if you’re looking for the best skills in the new Archero 2 game, please click here.
For that reason I created a full tier list that will also take your weapon and other skills into account to help you always making the best choice when you have to decide which skill you want to pick 🙂
Important! Don’t miss out on any rewards as the developers started posting gift codes again! You can find all active codes here in our updated gift code list for Archero.
Angel’s Picks
Every other room you will find an angel that will give you the choice between a nice amount of healing or a skill boost (boosts on base stats, Strong Heart).
I’d say in 95% of all times it’s a clear pick for the skill as you can also get healing from red hearts, chests or other skills. The only reason to get the healing is before you hit a boss room or late room in a chapter and you’re really critical on HP and don’t want to risk your progress.
The skill is long-term always the better choice 🙂 Also, make sure to check my updated hero tier list to see if you’re using the best hero that you should use.
Skill Selection Tier List
So, I have all skills sorted into tiers plus give them an extra rating depending on the weapon, so you can see which skill works better or worse with the weapon you are using (by the way, check out the best weapon ranking for Archero here), as synergies apply to the skills.
Tier S+Rage adds +% damage what you lost -% in HP. (E.g 10% HP means +90% DMG) and can give you a crazy burst that is always directly translated. Be aware, it's not that you have to lose a certain percentage to even gain something form the skill, also 5% lost HP means 5% more damage so it useful all the time and everywhere.
Tier S+Multishop fires 2 times front arrow shortly after each other, but -10% DMG & -15% ASP. It has more synergy with a weapon like the staff as it always hits with the targeting and less viability with a weapon that can miss and is slower, like the Gale Force.
Tier SDiagonal Arrows will add 2 more arrows but has no damage reduction, so it can be better than additional front arrow, especially with staff where the bulbs will travel towards the middle and you get basically +2 front arrows out of this skill. Combine with Bouncy Walls!.
Tier SFront Arrow +1 fires 1 more front arrow, but -25% DMG each, and is pretty similar like Multishot when it comes to the synergies of weapons.
Tier SExtra Life will revive you instantly when you die so will extend your gameplay. There are discussion that taking another skill might prevent the death and when you die you very likely will die again soon, but I believe that's pretty nonsense. The extra life is awesome and I'd pick this over many other abilities anytime.
Tier SRicochet hits up to 3 more enemies (nearby), each bounce -30% DMG. Works amazing with the staff as this will travel and search for the next target and barely misses (combine that with Bouncy Walls and you have dozens of searching missiles on the board).
Tier A+The boot make you move faster and that will already give you the advantage to get more shots in. Also increases your dodge chance so a really strong one. Especially great with slower weapons when you have to switch position a lot.
Tier ADwarf is often overlooked and people only see the smaller hitbix where targets can hit you, but it will also increase your CRIT by 10% and that makes it a really solid skill for all setups.
Tier AWingman let your pet jump in and block shots occasionally. There's no know chances or how often this happens, but it happens frequently enough that I rate this as a strong ability in Archero.
Tier ADodge Master will give you a flat 20% additional dodge chance, effectively reducing the damage taken by 20% which is a lot as you never be able to prevent getting hit.
Tier ASlow Projectile will make all enemy projectiles 40% slower, that's a lot. Doesn't affect melee mobs so be careful to not pick in challenges with a ton of melee mobs!.
Tier ACrit will not only increase your chance for a critical strike by 10%, it will also improve the damage by 40% so it will give your overall damage a nice boost and it can also stack multiple times when you choose this skill multiple times.
Tier AAttack Speed is always a nice pick, it will increase your attack speed by 25% and stack up so you will effectively gain 25% more damage plus the synergies from other abilities and I can't see any situation where you can't use that well.
Tier ASummon Bone Warrior & Wolfhound are great as they charge into the enemy and can even stop bosses from casting. Needs time to build up but look like they could be carry skills.
Tier ASummon Wolfhound is great as he charge into the enemy and can even stop bosses from casting. Needs time to build up but look like they could be carry skills.
Tier AAttack will increase your damage by 15%, which is less than attack speed but still a valuable ability.
Tier AInvincibility Star can be controversial. I feel it proccs enough to make a difference, especially if there's a lot going on and can be really valuable in boss fights, but not too reliable. Still a strong one.
Tier AAgility give you +0.3% dodge per 1% missing HP (up to +30% dodge). Compared to Dodge Master it's more but you have to be lower than 33% of your health to get the same effect, that's why I rate it a little lower.
Tier AThe thing about Crit Aura is that it will increase +50% Crit Chance for 2 seconds, every 8 seconds. This might sound random and occasionally but give your damage output a good boost, especially if you have some Crit abilities already in your stash so the crit damage is increased as well.
Tier AHeadshot will one-shot a mob. Here's the important thing: only use it when you already picked up 2x Attack Speed increase to really make it viable and get the chance higher. Especially valuable if you encounter chunky mobs that take many shots to kill. A little squishy and rng but overall a skill that I normally don't skip unless there's something significantly better there. 12.5% chance to kill a mob instantly with each attack wave and please mind, additional projectiles won't raise this.
Tier A0.5% additional attack speed per missing HP (+45% attack speed when you have 10% HP left). It's nice and fair, but you can also get that from other skills and most of the time you have 70+%, so it's only 15% additional attack speed. Still solid.
Tier AAdds +60% Attack Speed for 2 seconds, every 8 seconds. Actually a good boost in total and when you look at the final numbers that's like flat 20% attack boost.
Tier B+Can actually be decent, needs more testing.
Tier B+Greatly reduces damage taken during attack action, which can hep but also dealing more damage can help. Long debate, nothing too powerful overall.
Tier B+After moving at some distance, the next attack damage is doubled. Can sometimes hit well but sometimes not.
Tier B+Chance to summon twice the summoned objects which is only powerful in a summon build along Firepower Boost.
Tier B+Bouncy Walls is really situational, combined with loads of additional arrows plus Ricochet and the staff; crazy good and I pick it a lot of times. With other weapons can be pretty useless.
Tier B+Angelic Blessing turns overhead into more max HP. Good on paper but the reality is in the chapters where you can get it's already hard to maintain full HP so you won't benefit too much from it, compared to additional projectiles.
Tier BAll Star attacks trigger radiance when enemies are hit.
Tier BWhen HP is full adds 60% damage. On paper nice but the further you progress the harder it is to avoid any damage to trigger it.
Tier BGiant is not as strong as the Dwarf ability, it will give you Max HP +5% and +40% damage (which you can also get somewhere else) but also increases your hitbox by a lot, especially bad with many mobs!.
Tier BThe pets elental effects on their own aren't that overwhelming in Archero on their own, but they also give your hero: Fire (+22% attack), Ice (+18% attack speed), Poison (+15% HP), Bolt (+15% Crit Damage & +3% Crit Rate) and that's a nice flat buff as well.
Tier BSwords spawn and hit enemies directly, dealing 150% damage and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt effect. When stacked up against bosses that require a lot of moving, they can be helpful, but overall not that impactful in Archero.
Tier BOverdraft is strong, but only if you pick it up when you already have multiple skills. You will gain 20% less XP towards the next skill level, but gain massive 45% attack speed. I wouldn't pick it in shorter chapters in the beginning, though.
Tier BAdds movement speed when you're getting lower, but needs time to get used to as your movement speed changes all the time.
Tier BAttack Plus needs to be taken with a grain of salt. It will permanently increase your attack by 2.25% if you clean a room without taking damage (up to 40% in total). It's a double-edged sword and if you have a long chapter and get it very early, it can be a nice pick (unless there's one of the abilities above), otherwise I wouldn't got for it - for that reason, it's in the B Tier (niche).
Tier BCrit Plus works the same, but it will give you additional 1.5% crit chance with up to 27% in total. Crit can be squishy, you need to pick it up early and combine it with extra crit for the higher damage but then it can really pack a punch.
Tier BAttack Speed Plus gives +2% Attack Speed when you clear room without taking damage (max +36%). I mean a lot of requirements if you can get 25% flat with the Attack Speed ability but still not bad and doesn't require any synergies with other abilities.
Tier BNot too relevant actually, needs more testing.
Tier BWith every you get a crystal heart and have Strong Heart, you will gain 2% attack speed with up to 60%. Early in a match with Strong Heart, this can be amazing, but if you can't get Strong Heart, it's useless.
Tier BShield Guard is, unlike Wingman (where your pets jumps in) squishy and the shields need to rotate right. I don't know why, but i don't trust my Archero life that ability.
Tier BBloodthirst is a controversial one. You will heal 1.5% health for every enemy (and look at an average room with 10 mobs, that's flat 15% healing just by doing what you normally do). I think it's good, especially in chapters with many mobs, not in levels with many bosses, though.
Tier BDouble-sided blade. In rooms with lots of spawns really skyrocket. In boss chapters not strong at all. Will only temporarily increase your attack speed!.
Tier BBack Arrow will give you one arrow without lower damage. Can be good in foors that require a lot of moving and have a lot of mobs. Useless against bosses.
Tier BSide Arrows will be useful only with staff and combined with Bouncy Walls, otherwise most of them will simply go to nothing.
Tier BPiercing is only great in 'Upclose Dangers' so you can hit multiple of those many mobs, otherwise not a good pick.
Tier BWall Walk & Water Walk can be useful in avoiding mobs, but only when there are walls or water in the stages... There's also a 15% attack increase, but you can also pick that up without them, wouldn't choose it for the attack boost if there are no wall/water walking possibilities.
Tier BWall Walk & Water Walk can be useful in avoiding mobs, but only when there are walls or water in the stages... There's also a 15% attack increase, but you can also pick that up without them, wouldn't choose it for the attack boost if there are no wall/water walking possibilities.
Tier BSpinning Orbs are combinable. Spawn two spinning swords around your hero that hits with 100% damage when enemy touches it and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt. Only B Tier for Upclose Dangers!!! Also synergize with attack speed increase so can get fast.
Tier BSpinning Swords are combinable. Spawn two spinning swords around your hero that hits with 100% damage when enemy touches it and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt. Only B Tier for Upclose Dangers!!! Also synergize with attack speed increase so can get fast.
Tier B
Tier C+When summons disappear they can drop hearts or mp, nothing really too exciting and only minimal helpful in a heavy summon bbuild.
Tier C+decreases the amount of status bar (fury) the form change will take. Its nothing or just a real little amount. It will also increase the amount of time you can stay in the form change, while also giving more fury from damage taken.
Tier CElemental Effect for all projectiles. Fire (15% equipment damage 7 times), Ice (freeze enemy for 2 seconds and 10% damage), Poison (35% equipment damage per second until mob dies), Bolt (25% damage to close enemies), Dark (90% additional bonus damage after 1 second to surrounding enemies). Overall just not that much of additional damage, maybe the freeze can be useful.
Tier CElemental Meteo. Star enemy directly and deals 200% damage when hit enemy and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt effect to them. Meteor hits random area and deals 200% damage when hit enemy and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt effect to them. Not that strong.
Tier CStar Attacks. Star attacks enemy directly and deals 200% damage when hit enemy and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt effect to them. Meteor hits random area and deals 200% damage when hit enemy and apply burn/freeze/poison/bolt effect to them. Not that strong.
Tier CYou'll get two freeze projectiles on your back with Phantom Sword (like you would from from Chilling Blast, they won't deal much damage). Maybe in Upclose Dangers, but overall not too viable as you change position anyway and the projectiles miss a lot.
Tier CWhy is XP Gain not in B Tier? Well, you get more Xp and can potentially pick up 3 more skills max, but it's a bet. You might struggle, die or get horrible abilities to choose from (Archero can be tough some time), so I don't pick it frequently.
Tier CShadow Samurai will add a melee hit here and there but appears to be quite RNG heavy. Turns out this is not good and only a pick if you have bad options as you won't gain much with it.
Tier CHP Aura will give you +2.5% Max HP when you clear room without taking damage (max +45%). Extra HP is not needed that much and the conditions are also heavy, so this is no good skill pick in Archero.
Tier CEach attack can spawn a Shadow Bat or Shadow Clone that deals 100% equipment damage every second. The problem is, after some skills and all the other multipliers, your equipment damage makes a small percentage so it's not dealing that much overall damage.
Tier CEach attack can spawn a Shadow Bat or Shadow Clone that deals 100% equipment damage every second. The problem is, after some skills and all the other multipliers, your equipment damage makes a small percentage so it's not dealing that much overall damage.
Tier CBlast Skills are only here for the Challenges and Events with many mobs in a room, favored 'Closed Up Dangers'. When an enemy dies will create an AoE effect around it, either freezing surround enemies (Chilling Blast), deal 100% equipment damage (Death Bomb) or 30% in 8 directions (Death Nova).
Tier DIncreases Elemental Damage. Hard to rate, depends on how many elemental damages you have (or if you use Silvan), but normally nothing to use.
Tier DElemental damage can crit. in the long run the same as increased elemental damage but more random.
Tier DYou will get some more coins but also suffer more damage. Only for farming in stages that you can beat comfortably. But then you should farm in a higher stage for more outcome. Actually not useful.
Tier D0.5% additional healing from red hearts per missing HP (+45% healing when you have 10% HP left), just trash.
Tier DPet Multishot makes your pet shoots two times (-10% and -15% attack speed damage each arrow). Your pet isn't dealing that dramatic damage in most Archero stages that you would really feel a difference from it.
Tier DSame as the Multishot for pets, just not making any real difference at the end of the day.
Tier DRed Hearts heal +20% base heal, +40% heal power and heart drop rate. Just no.
Tier DSummoned objects get a front arrow, only valuable along Double Payback for a lot more summons so you can scale well.
Conclusion
That’s it, were at the end and I hope I could help you put one or two more skills on your Archero menu and maybe show you one or two ones that aren’t that great as they appear.
Best Skills Guides for similar games:
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Does the skeleton or hound interfere with the melee attack?
How is “Inspire” only B tier? Attack speed boost is A+ tier and adds 25% attack speed, inspire adds 25% as well, plus another 25% after killing an enemy.
So, Inspire is at least as good as ASPB! This means it should be S tier.
Water and wall walker abilities give you 15% attack boost, which should definitely put them higher on this list.
I strongly disagree with ricochet being an S tier skill for Tornado. The biggest advantage Tornado has is infinite pierce. A line of 10 mele enemies can be coming towards you, and Tornado can hit every single one, and apply any elements you have. And most of the time tornado will hit the same enemy twice, because it bounces back and returns to you after it hits a wall. If you get ricochet, suddenly all that pierce goes away, and 95% of the time the tornado won’t hit enemies a second time on the way back. Ricochet is an easy F tier for Tornado, because it is actively detrimental.
The skills are not updated