1.7.4 Insane Archer Guide
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:02 pm
Hello - I am bobojoe and this is the first guide that I've written. I am an average player with about 500 hours in TOME and I typically play on Insane/Adventure because I am addicted to auto exploring and that inevitably results in a couple of really dumb deaths. Despite all my shortcomings, I have managed to win on Insane/Adventure with ~10 classes.
The last archer guide (fantastic write up by bpat) was from several years ago and I have recently won on Insane/Adventure with this build so I thought I would share with the community. This is by no means an "optimal" or "best" build but it was certainly viable through Insane. I'm sure a lot of people better at the game then me will disagree with some of my decisions. Here is my winner. Again, several stupid deaths due to auto-exploring like a mad man.
Build TL:DR
Class Talents
Technique/Combat techniques: 1/5/5/5
Technique/Sniper: 4/1/5/0
Technique/Archery training: 4/1/5/1
Technique/Archery prowess: 5/1/4/4
Technique/Combat veteran: 0/0/0/0
Technique/Reflexes: 1/2/0/0
Cunning/Poisons: 1/1/3/0
Generic Talents
Race/Ghoul: 5/5/5/0
Technique/Combat training: 3/1/5/2/0/0
Technique/Mobility: 4/1/5/5
Cunning/Survival: 1/1-5/1/0
Celestial/Chants: 1/1/1/0 (or whatever escort generic category you want)
Archer Thoughts
Archer feels pretty strong throughout but is definitely weakest late T2 and headed toward Dreadfell. It is also pretty stamina hungry due to how many expensive sustains and pre-fight buffs that it requires. However, one you get some decent gear and stamina regen, stamina is kind of an after thought. Playing an archer is straight forward enough - stack a ton of physical damage/penetration and crit/crit multiplier gear and try to kill things in a couple rounds of combat. Not a lot of great defensives though so I went with ghoul to help protect against one shot kills. Honestly, by the time you get blinding speed maxed along with all the attack speed passives, the ghoul speed debuff is largely negated anyways. Plenty of other great races (skeleton for example) for archer and since archers aren't really taxed from a generic stand point, we can heavily invest into a racial tree.
All in all, this run was pretty easy except for mid-game which was a bit of a slog - since neither your damage or defenses are quite there yet. This just requires a bit more patience and using track to pick the best setup for fights. By late game, you are one shotting just about every rare/unique and I easily killed all the stair guardians except one crazy bulwark/skirmisher combo which I had to dance around.
Fights against single targets went like this: starting from concealment (which allows you to headshot anything without it being marked) > headshot or called shot (if caster) > pin down > steady shot or headshot if marked again.
For AOE clear: Framentation shot
Make sure you hit all the pre-fight buffs once you have the stamina pool as well, which was typically: stomeshield rune + perfect strike + blinding speed + trueshot
If whatever your fighting still hasn't died, you need to decide if you can continue to use stormshield to press the fight or if peeling off and resetting is the better option. Luckily, we have plenty of mobility options here: Ghoulish leap (massive 10 range at 5 pts), blink rune, tumble, and disengage. All these movements have a relatively low cooldown which is nice. Once you are in a safe area, you can use Retch to act as a regeneration infusion to top off before re-engaging.
Also, when staging up a fight remember that Ghoul has a slow global speed so you don't want to walk directly into the path of an enemy otherwise they will get a turn before you. A strategy I found that worked for me was to scout using track, then use tumble (which is instant) to get myself into a good position. Then I would follow the pre-buff and fight rotation I laid out above. By the time you do that, tumble is nearly off cooldown.
Anyways, onto the build.
Index
1. Cheat sheet
2. Build rationale and analysis
3. Change log
Cheat Sheet
Stat distribution priority
DEX, STR/MAG (arcane might at 25), CUN
Category Point Order
Inscription, Sniper, Escort Unlock (I unlocked chants) or Inscription, Poisons
Inscriptions
I used Stormshield, Shatter, Blink, and Dissipation. Once I got chants unlocked for the status cleansing I switched Shatter for another Stormshield
Prodigies
Arcane Might and Ethereal Form.
Equipment priority
HP (early), physical dmg, physical penetration, physical crit change, increase crit damage, defense, stun/confusion/silence resist, resist all.
Weapon Choice
Nothing special here really, just remember that your bow is essentially a stat stick and doesn't contribute to damage number directly. Ideally, you want to get a bow with the max range as soon as possible (range 10). Your quiver is where the raw damage numbers come from. You want a quiver with high base damage and good crit rate. From their, the rest of the equipment priority is the same.
Class Talents
Technique / Combat techniques
[1] Rush: one point to get us to the next tier. no reason to really use this at all as an Archer.
[5] Precise Strikes: This is a pretty heavy stamina sustain but at 5 pts we get 24% increase crit change and a ton of accuracy. These are all great things, especially for a Ghoul. Note that there is a 10% decrease in attack speed but we have plenty of talents which will make up for this. 5 pts.
[5] Perfect Strike: This is part of our pre-fight buff routine. Just a massive amount of accuracy - you will basically never miss while this is active. Heavy stamina cost early and is prohibitive so only max later on. 5pts
[5] Blinding Speed: 5 pts as soon as possible. 40% increase global speed help negate the Ghouls main issue - global speed reduction. You will use this as part of your pre-fight buff routine the whole game.
Technique / Sniper
[4] Concealment: This talent if critical in realizing the power of the Archer. It gives a massive increase in range for three turns after you use a non-instant, non-movement ability. So, if you have a +-10 range bow and use Headshot out of concealment - you can hit things from 13 spaces away! This is out of range of most mobs auto sense. There is also a nice defensive buff for a couple turns. Set this to auto use and forget about it. 4pts for diminishing returns.
[1] Shadow Shot: This is useful in putting you back into concealment when enemies are nearby but, honestly, never really used this in my playthrough. 1 pt, more to taste.
[5] Aim: Amazing ability but comes at a whopping 50 stamina sustain. Increased change to mark target by 12% and increase damage by a flat percentage based on how far we are from the target. Also increases projectile speed and accuracy. This should be maxed around starting the prides. 5 pts
[0] Snipe: I skipped this talent altogether. It takes one turn to use and another turn before it activates. It does have a nice defensive attribute to it but I almost always had something better to be using. 0 pts
Technique / Archery training
[4] Steady Shot: This is our default attacking talent on a 3 turn cool down. Good damage increase and high chance to mark target. 4pts for diminishing returns.
[1] Pin Down: This is really a one point wonder. I used this all the time to pin dangerous melee enemies for two turns. It also guarantees the next auto or Steady Shot will crit. 1pt, more to taste.
[5] Fragmentation Shot: This is your best friend for AOE clearing. With 5 pts it will a massive 6 tile wide death shot which can even one shot rares. 5 pts for maximum radius.
[1] Scatter Shot: This acts as a panic button to help peel melee mobs off of you and apply stun. Really only used if dangerous mobs were in melee range. 1 pt wonder.
Technique / Archery prowess
[5] Headshot: This is your single target nuke. You can use this out of concealment without the target being marked. With the accuracy bonus it will nearly always hit, and you can use if on mobs that are behind other mobs. I used this out of concealment almost every time unless I needed to AOE or there was a dangerous caster that needed to be silenced with Called Shots. 5 pts.
[1] Volley: Really never used this except as a backup, crappy AOE. Does more respectable damage if used on a marked target but I never really needed to use it. 1pt.
[4] Called Shots: Amazing talent for putting negative effects on enemies. Mainly here for the silence - which is 5 turns at 4pts. Will also disable and slow global speed on enemies if they are marked or if you use out of concealment. 4pts for max silence duration.
[4] Bullseye: Great passive which grants flat attack speed buff that triggers on marked consumption. 4pts for diminishing returns.
Technique / Reflexes 1.30
[1] Shoot Down: This is nice since it is instant and uses very little stamina and will completely destroy a targeted enemy projectile. Very helpful. 1 pt wonder.
[2] Intuitive Shots: This is a small layer of defense and a little offense that at 2 pts give a 22% change to completely evade a melee attack and will counter attack for 50% damage. 2pts.
[0] Sentinel: I didn't have the point to invest into this. It is a nice interrupt so if you can find a point or two, use it here. 0-1pts.
[0] Escape: Again, didn't have any points to invest here. This a substitute for a movement infusion with a stamina regen so if you can find an extra point, this is a good place to put it. 0-1pts
Cunning / Poisons
[1] Apply Poison: We aren't utilizing poisons for this build for extra damage, only the debuffs from Vile Poisons. 1 pt for diminishing returns, more to taste for better apply %.
[1] Toxic Death: 1 pt filler to get to...
[3] Vile Poisons: 3 pts gets us access to flat damage reduction debuff, reduced healing debuff, and talent fail debuff. We aren't building for posion damage so no need to 4-5 pts here. 3pts.
[0] Venomous Strike: We aren't building nature damage so this talent isn't helpful. 0pts.
Technique / Marksmanship
[5] Master Marksman: This is our greater weapon focus. Max asap. 5pts.
[1] First Blood: Great passive at 1 pt. Creates a bleed on targets above 90% health and restores some stamina when using Shoot/Steady Shot/Headshot. 1pt.
[1] Flare: Nice 1pt investment for a 2 turn blink and guaranteed mark. I didn't use this a whole lot but was very helpful when I needed to get a mark or see a stealth enemy. 1pt.
[4] Trueshot: Part of the pre-fight buff routine. Flat attack speed increase, marking chance +50%, and no consumption of ammo. 4pts for diminishing returns.
Generic Talents
Undead / Ghoul
[5] Ghoul: solid strength and con buff. Really helpful early game to pump up HP some. 3pt early then eventually max.
[5] Ghoulish Leap: 10 range TP at 5 pts. We need all the mobility we can get. 5pts
[5] Retch: This acts as our regeneration infusion. Keep in mind that it does take a turn to use. I typically used this after I had retreated from a fight and needed to regen health. 5pts
[0] Gnaw: We aren't in melee range so no need to this. 0pts.
Celestial / Chants
[1] Chant Acolyte: We use chants as status clears so I always had the chants off by default. 1 pt to get access to chants.
[1] Chant Illuminate: 1 pts filler. Does give very slight stamina regen. 1pt
[1] Chant Adept: This allows us to switch to different chants to clear statuses and allows us to get rid of the Shatter Afflictions rune in favor of another stormshield. I always activated and deactivate the chant at the same time to make sure it would go on cooldown. 1pt.
[0] Chant Radiant: We aren't doing light or fire damage so this is not helpful for us. 0pts.
Technique / Combat training
[3] Thick Skin: Flat damage decrease. Always great - I should have maxed but forgot to float my accuracy points. 5pts
[1] Heavy Armour Training: 1 pt to allow us to wear heavy armor non-body pieces.
[5] Light Armour Training: I decided to max this since we will be wearing robes/light armor and Ethereal Form give us great defense rating. This helps push our defense really high. 5pts
[2] Combat Accuracy: You can float points here and max Thick Skin instead. I was lazy and forgot to but this accuracy is help early game. Late game we have so much accuracy these two points do not matter. 0-2pts float.
[0] Weapons Mastery: We are using bows. Not for us. 0pts.
[0] Dagger Mastery: We are using bows. Not for us. 0pts.
Technique / Mobility 1.00
[4] Disengage: One of our mobility options. 4pts give us 6 pts TP... just be mindful of positioning as it can be janky sometimes. 4pts.
[1] Evasion: Heavy stamina cost but it is instant and 1 pts gives 33% evasion chance and a small increase defense rating. I rarely used this in my playthrough though. 1pt.
[5] Tumble: This is one of my favorite talents. Instant, 4 range TP on a 6 turn cool down. I used this almost every fight to position myself for concealment openers and to retreat when need be. 5 pts max ASAP.
[5] Trained Reactions: This is one of your main defensive talents. 5pts gives nearly 40% damage reduction on any hit that does more than 15% of your hp. Just be cautious as this can chew through your stamina if you are getting hit alot. 5pts.
Cunning / Survival 1.00
[1] Heightened Senses: helpful to see invis mobs. 1 pts
[5] Device Mastery: Device Mastery is still great. If you plan on using any item with a talent on it, this will greatly enhance it's effect. 5pts if planning on using those or 1pts if not.
[1] Track: A must have. Archers suffer greatly from bad position and they generally struggle to handle multiple mobs in a long term fight. This prevents those problems. Also makes High Peak and the Prides much less dangerous. I'd plan to unlock this by Dreadfell. 1pt.
[0] Danger Sense: Didn't have any pts for this. 0pts.
Prodigies
Arcane Might: This just give a huge flat increase to damage by adding a 50% modifier of your magic stat. Hard to undersell how much more damage this will grant you.
Ethereal Form: This is a great defensive talent that provides some offensive resistance penetration (25%). It provides a flat 25% resist to all elements as well as boosting defense rating based on Dex/Mag (whichever is higher). After taking this at 42, my defense spiked to over 100 and basically made most of the prides and High Peak a cake walk.
Inscriptions
Runes
Stormshield (2x): these things are so great - really make you able to absorb a bunch of turns worth of complete negation of damage. We use two once we get Chants on board to help with cleansing statues.
Shatter Afflications: we will use this to cleanse statuses until we get chants.
Dissipation: Pretty much mandatory to help clear the sustains off magic users. Also helpful in a pinch to clear yourself of magic debuffs.
Blink: Blink gets a lot of hate because it's not instant, but by late game you can find runes that give 10+ range for a short cool down. This is pretty much mandatory for a ghoul who needs all the escape mechanisms they can get.
The last archer guide (fantastic write up by bpat) was from several years ago and I have recently won on Insane/Adventure with this build so I thought I would share with the community. This is by no means an "optimal" or "best" build but it was certainly viable through Insane. I'm sure a lot of people better at the game then me will disagree with some of my decisions. Here is my winner. Again, several stupid deaths due to auto-exploring like a mad man.
Build TL:DR
Class Talents
Technique/Combat techniques: 1/5/5/5
Technique/Sniper: 4/1/5/0
Technique/Archery training: 4/1/5/1
Technique/Archery prowess: 5/1/4/4
Technique/Combat veteran: 0/0/0/0
Technique/Reflexes: 1/2/0/0
Cunning/Poisons: 1/1/3/0
Generic Talents
Race/Ghoul: 5/5/5/0
Technique/Combat training: 3/1/5/2/0/0
Technique/Mobility: 4/1/5/5
Cunning/Survival: 1/1-5/1/0
Celestial/Chants: 1/1/1/0 (or whatever escort generic category you want)
Archer Thoughts
Archer feels pretty strong throughout but is definitely weakest late T2 and headed toward Dreadfell. It is also pretty stamina hungry due to how many expensive sustains and pre-fight buffs that it requires. However, one you get some decent gear and stamina regen, stamina is kind of an after thought. Playing an archer is straight forward enough - stack a ton of physical damage/penetration and crit/crit multiplier gear and try to kill things in a couple rounds of combat. Not a lot of great defensives though so I went with ghoul to help protect against one shot kills. Honestly, by the time you get blinding speed maxed along with all the attack speed passives, the ghoul speed debuff is largely negated anyways. Plenty of other great races (skeleton for example) for archer and since archers aren't really taxed from a generic stand point, we can heavily invest into a racial tree.
All in all, this run was pretty easy except for mid-game which was a bit of a slog - since neither your damage or defenses are quite there yet. This just requires a bit more patience and using track to pick the best setup for fights. By late game, you are one shotting just about every rare/unique and I easily killed all the stair guardians except one crazy bulwark/skirmisher combo which I had to dance around.
Fights against single targets went like this: starting from concealment (which allows you to headshot anything without it being marked) > headshot or called shot (if caster) > pin down > steady shot or headshot if marked again.
For AOE clear: Framentation shot
Make sure you hit all the pre-fight buffs once you have the stamina pool as well, which was typically: stomeshield rune + perfect strike + blinding speed + trueshot
If whatever your fighting still hasn't died, you need to decide if you can continue to use stormshield to press the fight or if peeling off and resetting is the better option. Luckily, we have plenty of mobility options here: Ghoulish leap (massive 10 range at 5 pts), blink rune, tumble, and disengage. All these movements have a relatively low cooldown which is nice. Once you are in a safe area, you can use Retch to act as a regeneration infusion to top off before re-engaging.
Also, when staging up a fight remember that Ghoul has a slow global speed so you don't want to walk directly into the path of an enemy otherwise they will get a turn before you. A strategy I found that worked for me was to scout using track, then use tumble (which is instant) to get myself into a good position. Then I would follow the pre-buff and fight rotation I laid out above. By the time you do that, tumble is nearly off cooldown.
Anyways, onto the build.
Index
1. Cheat sheet
2. Build rationale and analysis
3. Change log
Cheat Sheet
Stat distribution priority
DEX, STR/MAG (arcane might at 25), CUN
Category Point Order
Inscription, Sniper, Escort Unlock (I unlocked chants) or Inscription, Poisons
Inscriptions
I used Stormshield, Shatter, Blink, and Dissipation. Once I got chants unlocked for the status cleansing I switched Shatter for another Stormshield
Prodigies
Arcane Might and Ethereal Form.
Equipment priority
HP (early), physical dmg, physical penetration, physical crit change, increase crit damage, defense, stun/confusion/silence resist, resist all.
Weapon Choice
Nothing special here really, just remember that your bow is essentially a stat stick and doesn't contribute to damage number directly. Ideally, you want to get a bow with the max range as soon as possible (range 10). Your quiver is where the raw damage numbers come from. You want a quiver with high base damage and good crit rate. From their, the rest of the equipment priority is the same.
Class Talents
Technique / Combat techniques
[1] Rush: one point to get us to the next tier. no reason to really use this at all as an Archer.
[5] Precise Strikes: This is a pretty heavy stamina sustain but at 5 pts we get 24% increase crit change and a ton of accuracy. These are all great things, especially for a Ghoul. Note that there is a 10% decrease in attack speed but we have plenty of talents which will make up for this. 5 pts.
[5] Perfect Strike: This is part of our pre-fight buff routine. Just a massive amount of accuracy - you will basically never miss while this is active. Heavy stamina cost early and is prohibitive so only max later on. 5pts
[5] Blinding Speed: 5 pts as soon as possible. 40% increase global speed help negate the Ghouls main issue - global speed reduction. You will use this as part of your pre-fight buff routine the whole game.
Technique / Sniper
[4] Concealment: This talent if critical in realizing the power of the Archer. It gives a massive increase in range for three turns after you use a non-instant, non-movement ability. So, if you have a +-10 range bow and use Headshot out of concealment - you can hit things from 13 spaces away! This is out of range of most mobs auto sense. There is also a nice defensive buff for a couple turns. Set this to auto use and forget about it. 4pts for diminishing returns.
[1] Shadow Shot: This is useful in putting you back into concealment when enemies are nearby but, honestly, never really used this in my playthrough. 1 pt, more to taste.
[5] Aim: Amazing ability but comes at a whopping 50 stamina sustain. Increased change to mark target by 12% and increase damage by a flat percentage based on how far we are from the target. Also increases projectile speed and accuracy. This should be maxed around starting the prides. 5 pts
[0] Snipe: I skipped this talent altogether. It takes one turn to use and another turn before it activates. It does have a nice defensive attribute to it but I almost always had something better to be using. 0 pts
Technique / Archery training
[4] Steady Shot: This is our default attacking talent on a 3 turn cool down. Good damage increase and high chance to mark target. 4pts for diminishing returns.
[1] Pin Down: This is really a one point wonder. I used this all the time to pin dangerous melee enemies for two turns. It also guarantees the next auto or Steady Shot will crit. 1pt, more to taste.
[5] Fragmentation Shot: This is your best friend for AOE clearing. With 5 pts it will a massive 6 tile wide death shot which can even one shot rares. 5 pts for maximum radius.
[1] Scatter Shot: This acts as a panic button to help peel melee mobs off of you and apply stun. Really only used if dangerous mobs were in melee range. 1 pt wonder.
Technique / Archery prowess
[5] Headshot: This is your single target nuke. You can use this out of concealment without the target being marked. With the accuracy bonus it will nearly always hit, and you can use if on mobs that are behind other mobs. I used this out of concealment almost every time unless I needed to AOE or there was a dangerous caster that needed to be silenced with Called Shots. 5 pts.
[1] Volley: Really never used this except as a backup, crappy AOE. Does more respectable damage if used on a marked target but I never really needed to use it. 1pt.
[4] Called Shots: Amazing talent for putting negative effects on enemies. Mainly here for the silence - which is 5 turns at 4pts. Will also disable and slow global speed on enemies if they are marked or if you use out of concealment. 4pts for max silence duration.
[4] Bullseye: Great passive which grants flat attack speed buff that triggers on marked consumption. 4pts for diminishing returns.
Technique / Reflexes 1.30
[1] Shoot Down: This is nice since it is instant and uses very little stamina and will completely destroy a targeted enemy projectile. Very helpful. 1 pt wonder.
[2] Intuitive Shots: This is a small layer of defense and a little offense that at 2 pts give a 22% change to completely evade a melee attack and will counter attack for 50% damage. 2pts.
[0] Sentinel: I didn't have the point to invest into this. It is a nice interrupt so if you can find a point or two, use it here. 0-1pts.
[0] Escape: Again, didn't have any points to invest here. This a substitute for a movement infusion with a stamina regen so if you can find an extra point, this is a good place to put it. 0-1pts
Cunning / Poisons
[1] Apply Poison: We aren't utilizing poisons for this build for extra damage, only the debuffs from Vile Poisons. 1 pt for diminishing returns, more to taste for better apply %.
[1] Toxic Death: 1 pt filler to get to...
[3] Vile Poisons: 3 pts gets us access to flat damage reduction debuff, reduced healing debuff, and talent fail debuff. We aren't building for posion damage so no need to 4-5 pts here. 3pts.
[0] Venomous Strike: We aren't building nature damage so this talent isn't helpful. 0pts.
Technique / Marksmanship
[5] Master Marksman: This is our greater weapon focus. Max asap. 5pts.
[1] First Blood: Great passive at 1 pt. Creates a bleed on targets above 90% health and restores some stamina when using Shoot/Steady Shot/Headshot. 1pt.
[1] Flare: Nice 1pt investment for a 2 turn blink and guaranteed mark. I didn't use this a whole lot but was very helpful when I needed to get a mark or see a stealth enemy. 1pt.
[4] Trueshot: Part of the pre-fight buff routine. Flat attack speed increase, marking chance +50%, and no consumption of ammo. 4pts for diminishing returns.
Generic Talents
Undead / Ghoul
[5] Ghoul: solid strength and con buff. Really helpful early game to pump up HP some. 3pt early then eventually max.
[5] Ghoulish Leap: 10 range TP at 5 pts. We need all the mobility we can get. 5pts
[5] Retch: This acts as our regeneration infusion. Keep in mind that it does take a turn to use. I typically used this after I had retreated from a fight and needed to regen health. 5pts
[0] Gnaw: We aren't in melee range so no need to this. 0pts.
Celestial / Chants
[1] Chant Acolyte: We use chants as status clears so I always had the chants off by default. 1 pt to get access to chants.
[1] Chant Illuminate: 1 pts filler. Does give very slight stamina regen. 1pt
[1] Chant Adept: This allows us to switch to different chants to clear statuses and allows us to get rid of the Shatter Afflictions rune in favor of another stormshield. I always activated and deactivate the chant at the same time to make sure it would go on cooldown. 1pt.
[0] Chant Radiant: We aren't doing light or fire damage so this is not helpful for us. 0pts.
Technique / Combat training
[3] Thick Skin: Flat damage decrease. Always great - I should have maxed but forgot to float my accuracy points. 5pts
[1] Heavy Armour Training: 1 pt to allow us to wear heavy armor non-body pieces.
[5] Light Armour Training: I decided to max this since we will be wearing robes/light armor and Ethereal Form give us great defense rating. This helps push our defense really high. 5pts
[2] Combat Accuracy: You can float points here and max Thick Skin instead. I was lazy and forgot to but this accuracy is help early game. Late game we have so much accuracy these two points do not matter. 0-2pts float.
[0] Weapons Mastery: We are using bows. Not for us. 0pts.
[0] Dagger Mastery: We are using bows. Not for us. 0pts.
Technique / Mobility 1.00
[4] Disengage: One of our mobility options. 4pts give us 6 pts TP... just be mindful of positioning as it can be janky sometimes. 4pts.
[1] Evasion: Heavy stamina cost but it is instant and 1 pts gives 33% evasion chance and a small increase defense rating. I rarely used this in my playthrough though. 1pt.
[5] Tumble: This is one of my favorite talents. Instant, 4 range TP on a 6 turn cool down. I used this almost every fight to position myself for concealment openers and to retreat when need be. 5 pts max ASAP.
[5] Trained Reactions: This is one of your main defensive talents. 5pts gives nearly 40% damage reduction on any hit that does more than 15% of your hp. Just be cautious as this can chew through your stamina if you are getting hit alot. 5pts.
Cunning / Survival 1.00
[1] Heightened Senses: helpful to see invis mobs. 1 pts
[5] Device Mastery: Device Mastery is still great. If you plan on using any item with a talent on it, this will greatly enhance it's effect. 5pts if planning on using those or 1pts if not.
[1] Track: A must have. Archers suffer greatly from bad position and they generally struggle to handle multiple mobs in a long term fight. This prevents those problems. Also makes High Peak and the Prides much less dangerous. I'd plan to unlock this by Dreadfell. 1pt.
[0] Danger Sense: Didn't have any pts for this. 0pts.
Prodigies
Arcane Might: This just give a huge flat increase to damage by adding a 50% modifier of your magic stat. Hard to undersell how much more damage this will grant you.
Ethereal Form: This is a great defensive talent that provides some offensive resistance penetration (25%). It provides a flat 25% resist to all elements as well as boosting defense rating based on Dex/Mag (whichever is higher). After taking this at 42, my defense spiked to over 100 and basically made most of the prides and High Peak a cake walk.
Inscriptions
Runes
Stormshield (2x): these things are so great - really make you able to absorb a bunch of turns worth of complete negation of damage. We use two once we get Chants on board to help with cleansing statues.
Shatter Afflications: we will use this to cleanse statuses until we get chants.
Dissipation: Pretty much mandatory to help clear the sustains off magic users. Also helpful in a pinch to clear yourself of magic debuffs.
Blink: Blink gets a lot of hate because it's not instant, but by late game you can find runes that give 10+ range for a short cool down. This is pretty much mandatory for a ghoul who needs all the escape mechanisms they can get.